Oh Tannenbaum and Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

We had our first snow of the season this weekend.

The temperature dropped from the 50's to the 30's within hours and big fluffy snowflakes drifted down all night long.

We could not have asked for a more perfect setting for our annual Christmas Tree cutting day.

Every year, ever since the kidadults were littles, we bundle up in coats, hats, scarves and gloves and drive up north to The Quick Family Farm to cut down our Christmas tree.

Then, as tradition mandates, we stop for lunch at Johnny's Hot Dog Stand in Butzville. Yes, that's right. Butzville. You can imagine the jokes my kids tell and how they have progressed over the years... actually, I should say digressed...

The Quick Family Christmas Tree Farm

Looking for the perfect tree

Even Holly Bear got to go this year. She LOVED the snow!

This is it!! This is the one...

Finding and cutting the perfect tree is hungry work.

Johnny's Hot Dog Stand - Hot dogs, french fries and a drink are the only items on the menu. Notice they only serve two beverages - Birch Beer or Buttermilk, in big, heavy frosted mugs.

Guess we're not the only family who follow this tradition. See all the trees on top of the cars?

Because it is tradition I had a bite or two of my Johnny's Hot Dog and shared the rest with Holly Bear. This evening's dinner, after the tree decorating is done, will be something a little more healthful.

Do you and your family have a "tree" tradition in your house?

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie (serves 5)

4 large potatoes (preferably Yukon Gold) peeled and diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and diced

3 large carrots, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cuts

2 stalks celery, diced into 1/2 inch

2 medium turnips, peeled and diced

1 overflowing cup of mushrooms (your choice) thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup soy protein or vegetable burgers, crumbled (optional)

1/3 cup (or more) half and half (or milk if preferred)

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Smoked Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place potatoes in large pot of salted water. Bring to boil, then lower heat to medium and cook until soft - about 10 minutes.

While potatoes are cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms and turnips. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Saute until vegetables are soft and begin to color. Add garlic and continue to saute until fragrant and veggies are nicely browned. Add 1 1/2 cups of liquid from the cooked potatoes to the skillet and bring to a simmer. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of butter, chopped vegetable protein and parsley. Heat through.

Butter an oven proof casserole. Add vegetable mixture and spread evenly on bottom of casserole.

Mash the potatoes with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and the half and half. Season with salt and pepper. Spread over vegetable mixture in casserole. Sprinkle with just a bit of smoked paprika.

Bake for 20 minutes until piping hot. If desired, run under broiler to crisp and brown the mash potato topping.

Enjoy on a snowy, winter's eve.

A Cook's Notes: You can use the vegetable or soy protein if you like - I have made this both with and without. If you want a beefy tasting pie, use baby portabella mushrooms.

A Locavore Dinner - Spinach & Mushroom Tarts with Pan Seared Scallops and Baby Greens Salad

I'm back from the market and I am psyched! This is why I love this store so much. You walk up to the front of it and BAM before you're even inside, they have this sign posted.

You can easily pick out what has been delivered and from where, complete with the Farm's name.

The produce section in this market is a thing of beauty.

So, what did I buy? Well, I have the shitake mushrooms that I grew my very own self. As soon as I walked in I spied fresh baby spinach - all bright green and crisp. I couldn't resist. I'm going to pair the spinach with the mushrooms and make a tart. They also had some lovely baby lettuces, but I have those in my garden and they need to be picked. So I'll make a small salad with a simple vinaigrette.  

Normally, a tart and a small salad would be plenty for dinner, but I wandered into the seafood department. And bless my soul - the fishmonger man was just putting out wild caught New Jersey day boat scallops. I just know they serve these lovely darlings in heaven. I could not resist and I bought a pound of them. 

So I had my main ingredients - but what about the other stuff needed to make the tart? After a little label reading I was able to buy organic, heavy cream and unsalted butter from a dairy in NJ, greek yogurt from a NY dairy and organic, free range eggs from Pennsylvania. My goal was to only buy fresh products from NY, NJ or PA; the tri-state area being about a 100 mile radius from my home. The only thing I couldn't find was locally grown and processed whole wheat flour, so I'm using Hodgson Mill's whole wheat pastry flour. Sigh - even the pioneers brought stuff with them, right? 

Before we get to the recipes let me say this, buying locally grown (organic and sustainably farmed) and produced products cost me about 10% more than buying "brand" products. Not a bad investment in our health and our community. I figure I'm still up on the green scale because I took my own reusable "green" bags to hold my purchases (which reminds me of an event that still makes me see red instead of green, see my side vent)

Side Vent: When I worked in a glass tower in the sky (ie: corporate world), one of my vendors sent my whole team green grocery bags at the holidays. They are heavy duty canvas, attractive and roomy with wide handles. I thought that was a great client gift! One of my co-workers was less than thrilled with the gesture and sent me their bag, saying that after taking the bags home and showing them to his wife "they just don't fit our lifestyle".  DON'T FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE? WTF?? We're not talking major changes here folks. It's a bag. Not like, oh, we had to give up raising llamas and emus.. it just didn't fit our lifestyle. It's a bag for the love of god. "DON'T FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE?" Does global warming fit your lifestyle? Does dependency on foreign oil fit your lifestyle? Do land fills stacked to the heavens with nonbiodegradable plastics fit your lifestyle? Every time I use one of those bags and I think of this person my normally sunny disposition turns dark and I know that people like that are the very reason this planet and this country are in trouble. Phew. 

Sorry. Now where was I? Oh, yes, the recipes. 

Spinach and Mushroom Tarts: (makes four small tarts)

Tart Crust:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (you an also use all white, all purpose flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 cup greek yogurt (I know! But trust me, this is the easiest, flakiest, most delicious crust you will ever make) - you can use sour cream instead - but I'm cutting fat and calories.

Place first three ingredients into the well of your food processor. Process one or more times to lighten. Add butter and process until a coarse meal forms. Add yogurt and process until dough comes together. Turn dough out on counter, shape into disk. Cut into four equal parts. Roll out individual rounds and fit into small tart pans. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before filling. 

Mushroom & Spinach Filling:

About 12 ounces fresh spinach, steamed, drained and rough chopped. 

About 6 ounces shitake or other type mushroom

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

5 eggs

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced

1/2 teaspoon each salt & pepper

Steam the spinach, squeeze any moisture from it and give it a rough chop.

Saute mushrooms in 1 teaspoon butter. Cool

Beat eggs with a whisk, add heavy cream and whisk to combine. Add thyme, salt and pepper and whisk to combine.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lay spinach out on bottom of tart crust, dividing among tarts. Layer mushrooms the same way, dividing evenly. Pour egg mixture over spinach / mushrooms. Bake in center of oven for 30 minutes or until set. 

A Cook's Note: You can make one big tart - use a pie tin and call it a quiche. Increase bake time to about 45 minutes. 

Pan Seared Sea Scallops with baby lettuces: (serves 4)

1 pound wild, day boat sea scallops, dried

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon white balsamic or white wine vinegar

4 cups baby mixed lettuces, washed, heaped on a platter

Melt the butter in a saute pan until froth subsides. Pour off butter, reserving it in a small bowl. 

DO NOT WIPE OUT PAN. 

Dry your scallops* by patting with paper towels. Salt and pepper them on both sides.

Heat up the pan you melted the butter in. It will have some butter residue in it. When almost smoking, add scallops. Don't crowd them. Cook for 2 minutes, turn, cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to platter with baby lettuces. 

Quickly, place reserved melted butter back in saute pan, warm. Add vinegar, salt and pepper and stir quickly to combine. Drizzle warm vinaigrette over scallops and lettuces. 

Enjoy. 

* This is important. In order to get a golden carmelization on your scallops they need to be dry. 

A Cook's Notes: you can use shrimp instead of scallops. Dry them and make the same way, increasing cooking time by about a minute. 

HEY! If you are striving to eat more local, support your community's farmers, being green, I'd love to hear about it. Be sure to leave me a comment on your triumphs, struggles, ideas. 

Home Grown Mushrooms and Three Bean Salad

I'm going to the market in a few minutes to see what's up for dinner. I need to find something to match the mushrooms that I grew myself! How much fun is fungi? I'll post a recipe later with my finds at the market - I'm shooting for my once weekly totally locally sourced dinner tonight. 

Last night I didn't feel like going to the store (again) for vegies for cole slaw. After rummaging around in my cupboards I found three cans of beans. Also had half of head of celery and a shallot so I threw this together. Even my picky eaters ate this up (with seconds):

Three Bean Salad: (makes enough for 4 with lunch leftovers)

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (this is important, the beans must be rinsed)

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 medium shallot, minced

6-7 stalks celery, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup white vinegar

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

salt & pepper to taste

Mix beans, shallot, celery and herbs in large bowl. In shaker, mix oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Shake vigorously, pour over bean mixture, mixing well. Chill until ready to serve. 

A Cook's Notes:

I'm going to have some of this over baby greens for lunch. Yum - vegetarian, high fiber, low cal, high in proteins.