The Farm to Table

Part dos of mom and dad's time in Portland.  Time with loved ones always involves food and drink, no?  We are foodies, and I think one of my goals for this blog, apart from sharing with all you faithful readers (whether you are out there reading or not), is to keep a little archive of our recipes, a box full of index cards that doesn't get smeared with butter and oil.  We find a lot of our recipes online anyway, and print them out then fish them out of a too-stuffed file folder on the shelf.  And here I know exactly where to go to find them.

We cooked in a lot with mom and dad here, which I love.  And we went out a little too.  I'll let recipes and pictures tell the story.  We'll start at The Farm Cafe on Burnside...

Best beet salad in town

Mom was daring with the tofu

Snapper & Acorn squash

Fall vegetable galette...obviously being enjoyed

On the home front...

Roasted Squash Risotto with Chicken Apple Sausage
adapted from Aidells (yeah, the recipe on the package from Costco.  We don't always use Gourmet)

2 cartons low-sodium vegetable broth
2 T butter or olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 links Chicken Apple Sausage (Aidells is pretty good, and we made it again with some from New Seasons that I dare say was a little superior)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine (I prefer Chardonnay, but we made it with a Reisling too)
2 cups roasted squash (butternut, acorn, summer, winter...)
1 tsp fresh rosemary
salt and pepper
Asiago or parmesan

Roast the squash: cut in half, spritz or brush with olive oil then roast in 350˚ oven 45 min or more until soft when stabbed with a fork.  Let it cool before gutting it out.

Place the stock in a large pot on the stove and bring to a simmer.

In a large heavy skillet or big stock pot, over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Stir in the onion and sauté until fragrant. Add the sausage and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes, until the sausage begins to brown slightly. Add the rice and stir to coat with the olive oil. Stir in the wine and one ladle of the stock. Stir until the liquid is almost absorbed. Add the squash and another 2 ladles of stock. Cook, stirring, until almost absorbed. Continue adding stock and stirring until the rice is plump and tender, about 15-20 minutes. Add the herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat. Garnish with Parmesan.

We made some Chebe bread with it too:



Gluten Free Pao de Quejo ~ Cheese Bread
Makes 12 – 1 1/2 inch wide biscuits/rolls
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups tapioca flour/starch
2 cups shredded cheese
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons herbs (paprika, dill, chili flakes)
2 teaspoons dried chives
Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 450F.
2. Mix together all ingredients in your mixer well.
3. Form in to balls (about 1 1/2 inches or 2 inches) and slightly flatten. like what is in the picture… or leave them as puffed balls! You decide!)
4. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
5. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until golden brown