HOW IN THE WORLD TO USE ALL THIS YELLOW SQUASH.
The squash plant is a vigorous fellow (or fella, respectfully). Often, we'll get three of four yellow squash per plant, per picking (not per week). So if we have a hundred plants, by my math we wind up with at least half-a-bazillion squash every week (or thereabouts).And so we bring it all to market and at first the shareholders are excited to see something summery, then after a couple weeks they begin to look fatigued. "More squash, huh?"But squash is underrated. It has a lot of versatility in the kitchen––no doubt about that. It can be used raw, cooked, baked, fried, sautéed, stuffed, broiled, pickled, etc., etc., etc.. In fact, you can even use squash in cookies and breads like you would zucchini. The flavor is milder, but we like it that way.So let's just throw out some more specific dishes so you are not throwing out your squash. First, try grating it raw into a salad with some sweet peppers, lettuce, and tomatoes. Toss all that in a light vinaigrette, and top with some grated cheese. Whose to stop you from adding some bacon or a hard-boiled egg? Not us. Grating the squash, in fact, is a great (sorry) way to use it. Grate it into tacos, grate it into coleslaw, grate it overtop of a casserole. Just look at whatever you're cooking and think, "How can I squash this?"I really like to slice the squash and toss it in olive oil, salt and pepper then broil it or grill it. Let it crisp up a bit under the broiler. Add a little bit of thyme and grate some parmesan overtop then stick it back under the broiler for another minute. Get your camera ready––your kids will fight over it.Squash, like okra, also makes a good, dehydrated, veggie-chip snack. Slice it thin, dehydrate it, then toss it in some salt and herb mixture. There is so much flesh involved with this crop that the cook is only limited by his or her imagination when using it.Squash fan already? Tell us how you use it!- Jesse.
MANAGING INSPIRATION.
I recently had a rare, unmitigated evening to spend with Netflix. And it was outstanding––for lack of a more accurate word. This is probably old news to normal humans, but I discovered that Netflix had done an original series called "Chef's Table" which was, to put it mildly, the most inspiring thing.For those of you who don't know, I used to cook professionally. You can read about this in my smash hit series of memoirs Bringing Wine Home (Book Three out next year... maybe), but I actually moved to New York to cook professionally. After a while, though, I realized what I'd truly moved to NYC to do was drink, so I did that professionally for a few years instead to, ahem, staggering success.That being said, I still have a deep affection for, and a personal interest in, cooking. In chefs. In kitchens. As a farmer, I'm always looking to better understand the modern chef. As an ex-cook, I enjoy seeing how the world of cooking is changing. And few things have more throughly updated me than this series.Indeed, all of the featured chefs and restaurants in this series left me feeling profoundly inspired about food, about farming, about cooking and how these world's can collide. And it has also left me with this giant douse of inspiration with which I have no idea what in the world to do.One thing is for certain, Chef's Table definitely italicized, underlined and put in bold my desire to grow the most flavorful, most nutritious food I can. There is moment in one episode where chef Dan Barber asks a plant breeder if he can breed a smaller, more flavorful butternut squash for him. The breeder looks back at Barber, wipes his glasses––his own glasses, not Barber's––and says something to the effect of, "In all my years of plant breeding, no one has ever asked me to breed for flavor." And suddenly, a million loose chords in my brain connected themselves and the resulting light will not turn off.We really don't think enough about flavor as consumers, nor as farmers. We think about yields. We think about symmetry, gloss and appeal. We grow in greenhouses and under lights to better control the environment and push for food out of season––flavorful or not, perfect looking food. And although Hannah and I completely understand the need for this kind of farming, and have nothing against anyone who grows this way, we have no real interest in it for ourselves. We want to grow healthy food, outdoors. Even if it's harder. Even if it's less profitable. Even if it's uglier. As Masanobu Fukuoka put it in One Straw Revolution, "...proper nourishment is inseparable from good flavor." Great flavor, that's what we're after––that's where the health is.
Anyway, from time to time I run into something as inspiring as this series and my whole view of the world changes. It happened when I first read Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, and decided to be a chef. It happened again when I read Kermit Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route, and my entire perspective on what wine could be––nay, should be––shifted. Then of course, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, planted the seed that ultimately grew into farming. What the seed from this documentary will turn into is hard to say. But it's germinating. I can feel it. And I'm curious––if I may lightly abuse the analogy––to see what fruit it will bear. I'll bet it will be tasty.- Jesse
MORELS, MORELS, MORELS!
Morels are a type of mushroom - and they have been consuming all of our time and energies these days. If you have never tasted one, then you can't possibly understand how these little fungi can distract the attention of busy farmers in the spring. We literally will drop whatever important task we are working on and spend an entire day hunting for them after a good rain - and we have had great success so far this year.
As soon as Ira started finding them in the woods a few weeks ago, Jesse and him have been having a little competition, with delicious results. Last week, we enjoyed a meal of morels, stuffed with freshly ground lamb and asparagus. The luxury of farming at its finest.
- Hannah.
VALENTINES LUNCH.
Jesse and I went a little bit over the top last year, for our first Valentines Day together. We were still living with my parents, going through a kind of rough time with the first farm - in fact, we were so stressed about it, the next morning we randomly hopped in the car and drove off to New York City! ANYWAY - we are in a much, much different place this year. And since both of us had to work last night, we decided to have a simple little lunch date. We have become rather fond of doing a "lunch" for special occasions, because it is usually much cheaper, there is less pressure to go somewhere fancy, and we end up having a lot more fun. We went to Woodlands, probably our favorite restaurant in Nashville if we are being honest. Indian vegetarian buffet. What could be better? We are hoping to do a lot more Indian cooking this year, especially when we have our wood stove up and running....sounds perfect for lots of lentils and rice and curries. We are on the lookout for a good Indian food cookbook - any recommendations?- Hannah.
