Simple, fresh, and delicious, endive is a kind of lettuce that’s related to the daisy. Endive’s spoon-shape leaves are often used raw  to present small bits of savory food as appetizers. I was first introduced to endives when visiting France, where it’s wrapped in thinly-sliced ham, covered with shredded cheeses and baked until soft and bubbling. YUM!

Unfortunately, I developed the annoying habit of calling it en-deeev (that’s how the French say it), but I’m grateful to have been introduced to this simple, versatile leaf!

Try this at home

Here is a collection of recipes you might like to experiment with if you’re new to the endive:

• Tuna Tartare With Thai Curry on Endive
• Grilled endive  with 5 sauces to choose from
• Braised endive in mustard sauce (thanks, Martha)
• Endive and prosciutto gratin (a variation of the dish I tasted in France)

For even more endive recipes, visit the endive’s own website (sponsored by California’s endive commission). Amazing variety!

It may be odd-looking, but it’s really not gross at all. If you like any of the veggies from the Brassica family — broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower — you’re bound to love kohlrabi!

Its funny-sounding name is from German “kohl” = cabbage and “rabi” = turnip because of its shape. Unlike a turnip, however, the ball-shape grows just above the ground.

Kohlrabi tastes just like broccoli, with the same crunch and just a little bit more sweetness in the purple variety.

How to cook kohlrabi

Even though its identity stumps many chefs, kohlrabi is used in dishes all over the world. Hint: choose smaller bulbs (they’re sweeter) and peel if you prefer a more tender consistency.

• Raw with dip
• Kohlrabi and Squash Empanadas
• Indian yogurt curry with kohlrabi (where they call it noolkol)

The next time I pick some up, I’m going to try making a sauce like this one with mushrooms and serve it over kohlrabi. YUM!

We’ve entered the starch and leafy greens portion of the season. But so delicious!

Fruits

• Apples
• Pears

Vegetables

• Beets
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Chard (rainbow and Swiss)
• Collard greens
• Endive
• Leeks
• Lettuce
• Kohlrabi
• Kale
• Mustard greens
• Onions
• Peas (winter crop)
• Parsley
• Parsnips
• Potatoes
• Pumpkins
• Radish
• Rutabaga
• Scallions
• Spinach
• Squash (winter)

Mushrooms

• Chanterelle
• Yellowfoot
• Hedgehogs
• Truffles

Okay, so we’re a little slim on the fruits in winter, but look at the delicious list of vegetables to choose from, all fresh and local. And if you’re like me, you froze some of the summer berry goodness for this time of year. I made a strawberry-blueberry smoothie for breakfast this morning.

Stay tuned for delicious recipes this month with the ingredients above! And consider buying farmer’s markets gift certificates for holiday stocking stuffers!

Do you have a favorite fall food?

I felt like a kid at Christmas, showing up 10 minutes before my favorite farm stand opened. I was so excited! They had “canning tomatoes” cheaper by the pound, but they were greenish — no thanks! Instead I picked up almost 20 lbs of fresh Roma tomatoes. Yum!

If you’ve ever been curious about canning, it’s not as hard you might think. However, unlike cooking, you can’t be creative with canning. You have to follow every single step. The stakes are high — botulism is odor-free, taste-free, and deadly. So, visit the USDA and Extension Service websites (in Nerdy Food Stuff) for full details.

That said, the fear factor is far outweighed by the satisfaction of gleaming jars of summer-ripened goodness in your cupboard. Come January, when the cold and damp seeps into my bones, I’ll be so happy to make a bowl of my own tomato soup. Or chili. Or lasagne. You get the idea. Use care, and you’ll enjoy your harvest.

Here’s how it went!

Tomato halves in water

17 lbs of tomatoes in pint jars — hot pack method

Ingredients: Tomatoes, lemon juice, salt

1. Wash tomatoes

2. Boil them for 30-45 seconds and then plunge into ice water to ease in removing skins.

3. Remove core (optional), remove skins, slice in half and squeeze out seeds (also optional). My hands were too messy to take photos of this part.

4. Cover tomatoes with water and boil for 5 minutes.

5. Add 1tsp of salt and 1Tbs of lemon juice to each jar. Put tomatoes into prepared jars, adding cooking water until there’s 1/2 inch headspace. (I also prepared some heirloom red and yellow tomatoes – aren’t they gorgeous?) Squishing in as many as possible is encouraged.

6. Wipe rims for a good seal and put lids and screw bands on.

7. Put jars into the rack (pictured here) and lower into the boiling water. Wait until water begins to boil again and start timer for 40 minutes.

8. Using a jar lifter, put jars on towels to cool for 12 hours. The white stuff on the lids and jars is evidence of how hard our water is. It wipes off easily with a towel and a little vinegar/water solution.

• Two cool things happen at this point. One is that after you remove them from the pot, you can see the contents continuing to boil inside the jar.

• The other satisfying part of this stage is, as the jars begin to cool, you start to hear the little snap the jar lids make when the vaccum sets.

9. Store. When walking by, sneak peeks in the cupboard and grin at how gorgeous they look. Reorganize your pantry for maximum effect. Ask everyone who visits to oooh and ahhh over your beautifully canned produce.

Lessons learned

• Prepare: I forgot that I needed lemon juice and salt — and ran out of both. I made a list of all the implements I used so that it will be more efficient next time (including a sharpened paring knife).

• Budget time: This took way more time than I imagined. I started at noon and finished cleaning up the kitchen around 9. Running out of ingredients added to it, but I found that prepping the next batch could be done while the previous batch processed.
• Follow all the steps: I was tired and trying to rush toward the end, and forgot to wipe my rims before putting on the lid. Two of those cans didn’t vacuum seal as a result. Slow down. Be present in the moment. Canning is kind of Zen.

To ponder

All told, I spent about $1 per jar on the ingredients alone. I know the produce is fresher than cans at the store, but they’re sold for 50 cents each. I’m trying to figure out how to get my produce as fresh, but less expensively.

Will I do this again? You betcha!

Because of our late spring, you can still find fresh local summer fruit.

Fruit

• Apples of infinite variety
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Cantaloupe from Hermiston
• Grapes
• Melon
• Nectarines
• Peaches (just a few left from Eastern Oregon)
• Pears
• Plums
• Raspberries (believe it or not!)

Vegetables

• Beans
• Cauliflower
• Corn
• Onions (red, white, yellow)
• Peppers
• Potatoes
• Squashes are starting!
• Tomatoes

I picked up a case (12 pints) of fresh Oregon strawberries yesterday, a bunch of asparagus, and more rhubarb — and felt like a kid in a candy store!

Willamette Valley Fruit Company offered a cooking class this week on making strawberry freezer jam, and of course, I attended! I took home four containers of delicious jam from fresh-picked strawberries from their fields. Since then, we’ve been coming up with creative ways to eat it — this morning’s breakfast was by request.

Popovers with strawberry freezer jam

Ever seen a popover? Oh, goodness! They’re heavenly!

And here’s my first one with butter and jam. I was salivating as I took this!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Ingredients

2 C crushed strawberries (1qt fully ripe, whole)
4 C sugar
2 T lemon juice
2 T corn syrup
1 box of fruit pectin
3 plastic containers washed and dried

Instructions

Stem and crush strawberries then measure exactly 2 cups of fruit. Add lemon juice. Gradually incorporate the fruit pectin and mix thoroughly. Let stand for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Stir in corn syrup. Gradually add in the sugar until completely dissolved. Fill containers to 3/4 in from top and let stand unrefrigerated for 24 hours. Store in fridge for up to 3 weeks, store in freezer for up to a year.

Popovers

My family has made these for generations as a special breakfast treat. It’s basically the same batter as in crepes, but the result is light, fluffy and chewy. Yum!

Ingredients

1 C sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 C milk
2 eggs

Instructions

Set oven to 425* and spray muffin or popover tins with oil (or butter them)

In a bowl, mix the milk, salt, and flour until just incorporated. Add in one egg at a time and mix gently. Fill each tin 3/4 to the top and put in oven immediately. Cook for 15 minutes at 425* and then lower the temp to 350* (no peeking – the steam helps it cook). Put in a basket with a towel to help keep them warm. Slather with butter and jam — and enjoy!

Just ask anyone in the Willamette Valley right now.

Actually, it still *is* late. You hear it a farmer’s markets, farm stands, and in the flower fields. It’s so late that the word “strawberry” produced rumors. Things like, “I heard that Jones Farm has strawberries already.” — “Seriously? Isn’t it too soon?!”

But spring is finally here — and summer is fast approaching. And the strawberries aren’t just a rumor.

Here’s the evidence I purchased from EZ Orchards last Friday:

Aren’t they gorgeous?! Like rubies with stems!

Here’s what I made with them:

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

2.5 C strawberries, diced
2.5 C rhubarb, diced
1 C sugar
1 T butter, melted
.25 C all-purpose flour

I made this pie crust without the salt or sugar (technically it’s pâte brisée – which sounds so fancy!) . So simple. So fail-proof. So, so light and flaky and delicious! If your homemade pie crusts have historically been a disaster (like mine!), I highly recommend trying the recipe link above.

Melt the butter, mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Instead of a lattice top, I used a cookie cutter to make shapes out of the remaining dough. Bake at 400* for 20 minutes and then lower heat to 350* for another 20 minutes.

You won’t believe how delicious this is after a long dreary winter and spring!

Enjoy!

Anyway, I woke up this morning craving apples and cinnamon, so I concocted this pancake recipe. It turned out very well. Enjoy!

Autumn cinnamon apple-nut pancakes

Ingredients

3/4 C diced apple (peels on)
1/3 C chopped walnuts
1 1/2 C Krustease pancake mix (the best and a NW company, too!)
1/2 C fresh apple cider
3/4 C water
1 T ground cinnamon

Instructions

Mix the fruit and nuts with the pancake mix first, then add the liquid ingredients. Stir until just barely incorporated. If the batter is too stiff, add small amounts of water, mixing lightly.

With a skillet on med-low heat, cook each pancake until it begins to steam and the edges start to look dry. Flip it over and cook another 1-2 minutes.

Heat up some maple syrup (I know, it’s not local) or just use butter and powdered sugar. These are hearty and delicious!

6-8 apples, peeled and cored
1/3 C water
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 C butter
3/4 C flour
1 C sugar (the recipe called for white, but brown gave it a richer flavor)

Preheat oven to 375*. Peel the apples…

Core and slice them up…

Oil a 9×9 pan and place the apple slices in it. Measure out the topping ingredients.

Sprinkle the apples with cinnamon. Put all the toppings in a bowl and cut with pastry knife until crumbly.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples…

Bake for 45 minutes. The kitchen will smell divine!

Kate’s OMG Smoothie

1 whole, ripe peach
1.5-2 C chopped Hermiston watermelon
.75 C frozen Oregon strawberries
3 T. vanilla bean Tillamook yogurt

You can find all of these at your local farm stand right now! Put all of the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Put in a large glass (or two small ones) and enjoy! You will say “Oh my God!” when you drink it, it’s so delicious and refreshing! The peach skin blends in completely, the watermelon gives it juiciness, and the strawberries add tang.

I drank most of it before I could get out the camera – but here’s what’s left!

Get out and support your local farm stand — enjoy the goodness!