Meal Planning around the Farmers' Market

Photo by Norah Burke

The Matthews Community Farmers Market has switched to winter hours, but there’s still plenty of fresh local produce to plan your week around. I stopped by with my two oldest hooligans this past Saturday looking for inspiration for the coming week. I scored an Instant Pot on Black Friday, so I’m eager to experiment with new recipes in my new toy.

Lest you think life in the Burke household is Pinterest perfect, my plans were scratched twice this week for pasta on Tuesday and Happy Meals on Thursday. Meal planning is great, but in a house as hectic as ours, flexibility is key. I also live for simple recipes that take almost no time to prepare, cook with minimal supervision, and are unlikely to be rejected by my picky eaters.

The Farmers Market Fresh Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken, Mustard Greens, Kale, Mixed lettuce, Carrots, Bell Peppers, Butternut Squash

Photo by Norah Burke

The Plan:

Saturday: Chili & Cornbread

Dare I share my top secret chili recipe? For this one I used fresh bell peppers from the market. I “cheated” on the cornbread by using a mix.

Sunday: Teriyaki Chicken, Rice, Vegetable Medley

My first Instant Pot recipe of the week. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can make this recipe by marinating defrosted chicken in the sauce and baking it for ~30 minutes (consult safe cooking temperatures for chicken), or by cutting the chicken into chunks and sautéing in the sauce on the stovetop. I used a recipe from Keeping it Simple Crafts, but my family agreed the sauce was too sweet, so next time I’ll return to my own teriyaki sauce recipe:

• ½ cup soy sauce

• 2-3 Tablespoons honey

• ¼ cup olive oil

• 2 teaspoons ginger

• ½ Tablespoon garlic powder (or 2-3 fresh cloves, minced)

Monday: Ham & Bean Soup with Mustard Greens

Our second night in the IP. I worked from Sweet and Savory Meals’ Ham and Bean Soup recipe.

As it looked to make a LOT of soup, I halved everything. I’m not a huge soup fan, and I didn’t want to end up with a fridge full of leftovers if this was a flop. This recipe used Farmer’s Market peppers and carrots in the soup itself, and I topped it with sautéed mustard greens, also from the market. The soup was good, albeit a little thin (I guess I have a preference for stews), and the mustard greens were spicy and delicious.

Photo by Norah Burke

Tuesday: Tacos – To Pasta Night

One of those days where my husband and I are overworked, overtired, and getting colds. So plans were scrapped in favor of boiling a pot of noodles and sauce.

Wednesday: Meatloaf, Squash

I love squash. It’s my favorite winter vegetable (I’m sure some will argue that it’s not a vegetable. But it’s orange, so I’m making it count). I like to cut a squash in half, remove the seeds, and roast it at 350 degrees in a pan cut side down with 1/2” of water for 45 minutes. Then I flip it over, add a tablespoon of brown sugar and a pat of butter, and roast for another 15 minutes. Incidentally, the timing makes it a perfect companion for my meatloaf, which also takes an hour to cook.

Norah’s Super Kid Friendly No-Gross-Chunks Meatloaf:

• 1 lb ground beef (I use 93/7)

• 1/3 cup bread crumbs (I use Progresso Italian style)

• 1 Egg

• 1 Tablespoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• If using lean ground beef: 1 – 2 Tablespoons of olive oil

• Combine all ingredients (don’t overmix), form into a loaf shape and bake in a pan (not a loaf pan, I leave it freestanding in a 6x9 glass pan) at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Refer to safe cooking temperatures to make sure it’s done.

Thursday: Leftovers to Fast food

Another one of those days, but now the cold has set in, and all the food has been so good we don’t have enough leftovers for everyone. So I took two of my children out to look at holiday lights around town and pick up Happy Meals.

Friday: Pork Roast, Braised Kale, Sweet potatoes

Using the last of my farmer’s market vegetables, tonight I’ll be braising some kale and serving it with mashed sweet potatoes and roasted pork.

That’s the week! Barring a snowstorm, I’ll be headed to the market tomorrow morning to find more fresh, local inspiration for a week of dinner.

Hand Turkey Placemats For the Thanksgiving Win

If you’re already planning your Thanksgiving table, we have a fun printable Hand Turkey How-To to add to the kids’ places. Right click and save the image, then print it on 11 x 17” paper on a laser printer or copier. If you have neither send it to Kinko’s. Add some crayons or colored pencils to the place setting. Who doesn’t love a good ol’ fashioned hand turkey on Thanksgiving? It’s an heirloom and a crumb catcher all in one.

Scribbling is, of course, a-ok too.

From Sassafras to Filé: Make your own soup seasoning

Amy Peterson’s Matthews-famous (maybe world?) gumbo.

Despite the feeling that the temperatures will never drop below the 80s, fall is on the way. This means it’s your last chance to harvest sassafras leaves before they change color and start to drop.

The leaves on the sassafras tree vary in lobed shape.

Grab a pair of loppers and go find a sassafras tree, usually in the understory of wooded areas, perhaps near a dogwood or another low growing tree. They grow in colonies, so you’ll usually find several of the small trees together. Even if you don’t know it, you’re probably familiar with sassafras, it’s fairly common around Matthews. The leaves can be several different shapes on the same tree: three-lobed, left-hand mitten, right-hand mitten, and sometimes (when young) an oblong pointed leaf. Rarely you might even find a four-lobed leaf, but it’s pretty unusual.

Harvest a small branch of healthy green leaves and find a sheltered spot to hang it. The leaves need air flow around them so they stay green and don’t mildew as they dry. In about 2 days those green leaves will be crispy and ready to turn into filé powder, a magical green, earthy-flavored seasoning commonly use as a thickener in gumbo.

Once you have fully dry, crispy sassafras leaves just trim off the brown stem (don’t worry about the veins) and stuff your leaves in a food processor. Grind and grind until you have a fine powder. It’s that simple: filé is dried leaves pulverized into powder.

Cooking, though, is where the magic happens. As much as I love to cook a big batch of stew when it comes to gumbo you have to turn to a New Orleans native for a tried and true recipe. Enter Amy Peterson, my Louisiana go-to gal. Amy makes a gumbo that’ll make you want to marry her. Sorry, she’s happily taken (hi, Lyell).

Amy bases her gumbo on a recipe from Cooking Up a Storm, a compilation of recipes lost during Katrina. After the storm, the community shared their family recipes in The Times-Picayune of New Orleans as a way to help others rebuild.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo 

Makes about 8 servings

1 (4- to 5-pound) hen (stewing chicken), cut into serving pieces

Salt and cayenne

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup flour

2 cups chopped yellow onions

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

About 2-1/2 quarts chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried powdered or leaf thyme

1 pound andouille sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1/4 cup chopped green onions (white and green parts)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Season the hen generously with salt and cayenne, and set aside. 

In a large Dutch oven, make a roux by combining the oil and flour over medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook for about 30 minutes, or until the roux is dark brown. Add the onions, bell pepper and celery to the roux and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft.

Add the broth and stir to blend well. Add the chicken, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, 2 to 3 hours, or until chicken is fork-tender. Add the andouille and cook for another 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings and add the green onions and parsley. 

As a departure from the traditional rice base, Amy suggested potato salad. Trust me, the lady knows. When you serve up the gumbo, sprinkle 1/2 to 1 tsp. of filé powder on top of each serving.  Enjoy!

DIY Walnut Ink

Tis the season for the nuts to start falling. If you walk the greenways or live near groves of old trees, you may find large green balls on the ground. These are black walnuts, a notoriously difficult nut to crack.

Black walnuts, a close cousin of the English walnuts found on grocery store shelves, are native to the eastern part of North America and were a resource of both food and medicine for North American indigenous peoples. Black walnut was also commonly used as an ink and dye.

Walnut ink is so easy to make, it’s totally a kid-friendly project. Keep in mind that the ink is colorfast, so it will stain.

Go for a walk, gather some nuts then put on some clothes that can get stained. Let’s make some ink.

You’ll need:

• Rubber gloves

• Non-reactive pan that you don’t mind staining

• Black walnuts with husk on, can be green or brown, just not shriveled and dried

• Water

• Rubbing alcohol

• Sieve or cheese cloth

• Glass jar or bottle for storage

Put the walnuts in a pan, add just enough water to cover, and simmer. Then simmer some more. Keep simmering until the water is a dark brown. I decided to experiment and added goldenrod for a yellow hue. Construction nails can be added for a reddish tint as well.

Once the water is a deep, inky brown, using a sieve or cheesecloth, strain the walnuts out. Wear gloves so you don’t stain your fingers. Put the liquid back on the stove to simmer a little while longer. I dip paper into the pan to test the color as it simmers.

After the liquid has cooled, you have your ink! Add a preservative like rubbing alcohol (2 T per cup ink) or a couple of dried cloves for long-term storage.

I prefer using a very fine paint brush for writing, but we’ve also used sticks and feathers. A quill pen from the craft store will work, too, but the alcohol may cause the nib to rust.