WINTER! I have to use that term loosely as I write from my home in Northern California, an hour from San Francisco, where the daytime temperatures are in the high 60's to low 70's. That's not to say, it hasn't been freezing - mostly at night. It has been fascinating to track the weather around the world in these past few weeks. For some reason Santa Rosa has a 40º temperature range - wider than any other place I've found. Hmmmmm. Well, some of the local farms lost some fields of crops this past week and it forces us chefs and farm eaters to GET REALLY CREATIVE with what was left standing. I'm here to say - it can be done! In fact, I've been inspired to create a project for the new year called:
MY FARM STAND CHALLENGE: shopping, cooking and eating from my local farm stand (with backup from my local farmer's market and community natural food store - no more Whole Foods!!!
You can follow along with my progress if you wish. Starting in January, I'll be posting pictures of the fields, recipes featuring what's coming out of said fields and CSA boxes, nutritional information and food cost comparisons to help paint a picture of how we can save money AND our health by shopping locally and seasonally. I hope to pass this field data along to the upper ups of the community to encourage more school gardens, community food parks, gleaning opportunities, etc. and hopefully raise the consciousness of commercial food businesses, city planners and politicians in order to avoid the prevalence of food deserts, empty calories, fat-sugar-salt packaged foods/staples, ETC.
I've been featured at the farmer's markets of Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Windsor, Guerneville and Petaluma for the past year (at least once a month) doing food demos, handing out my repertoire of recipes and gathering local lore from market attendees and vendors. What a rich bounty of connection and nourishment! I intend to keep the vibe going into the next year and will be looking to you for input as to what you would most value coming from a NUTRITION AND EVOLUTION-BASED CHEF. I'm always looking for indoor venues for teaching, demos and support groups - so if you know of any commercial kitchens that can double as teaching and gathering spaces, I'm all ears. So far, I've looked into spaces in Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Windsor and Healdsburg, so other surrounding communities are yet to be covered. Do tell!
If you are reading this from farther afield, not to worry! With the miracle of the internet, I will be focusing on creating some ways for us to connect and learn from each other ONLINE in the form of tutorials for specific vegetables, recipe breakdowns in the form of videos demos plus worksheets, check lists and journals to use to personalize the information. If it makes sense, we can create groups to share our experiences and keep in touch. It's the best way I can see how to overcome my FRUSTRATION of not being able to meet you in person and take you on the CULINARY ADVENTURE you are seeking, if not CRAVING! More on all this to come........
WHITE WINTER ROOT SOUP
serves 4
2 T. coconut oil (or butter, grapeseed oil)
1 large white onion, peeled, diced
4 leaks, trimmed, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
2 parsnips, peeled, diced
1 salsify root, peeled, diced
2 large white potatoes, peeled, diced
1 small celery root, peeled, diced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
water or stock to cover
drizzle of olive oil to finish
a few drops of lemon juice to finish
a few drops of chili oil to garnish
a pinch of chopped parsley to garnish
In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium low heat. Add onions and leeks and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another few minutes without browning. Add parsnips, salsify, celery root and potatoes and toss in pot until coated with onion juices, stirring for a few minute per vegetable added. Add salt and pepper and sauté. This will caramelize the vegetables and bring out flavors before adding water or stock.
Add enough water or stock to cover vegetables. Bring to low boil. As soon as boil is reached, reduce heat to lowest simmer. Simmer until roots are soft enough to mash with a fork or back of a spoon. Add more stock if necessary. Taste for salt.
Remove soup pot from heat. Using an immersion (hand) blender, begin to purée the soup and continue until uniformly smooth. Check for seasonings. Use a few drops of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to enhance/adjust flavors. Continue to blend until completely smooth. Garnish with a few drops of chili oil and chopped parsley and serve.
Make up a pot of soup on the Solstice, light some candles and revel in the longest night!
All blessings for the holidays and I'll see you in the new year,
Jennifer
