Sweet, sour and distinctly southern

Ever eaten a scuppernong?  We've noticed lately that a lot of folks around here haven't, and that's a shame.  Scuppernongs are a relative of the more commonly known muscadine grape.  They are larger than muscadines and greenish-bronze in color.  They grow really well here in the south and have been cultivated for more than 400 years.  They are often used to make wine, jams and jellies, but they are absolutely delicious raw.

If you are one of the many folks that has yet to try a scuppernong, make sure to try one when you stop by the stand or market.  Here are some tips on how to enjoy your very first scuppernong experience.

Get hands on:  Scuppernongs (and muscadines) have quite thick skins.  When you grab a 'nong, hold the whole thing in your mouth with your thumb and forefinger and bite down on the end until the fleshy insides "pop" out of the thick skin.  The "pop" is what makes this fruit so fun to eat.  You'll get a rush of sour sweet flavor.
Savor the flavor:  Scuppernongs are like table grapes on steroids.  They are thicker, heavier, sweeter and more sour.  You'll want to chew slowly so you can sort out the seeds from the yummy flesh.  It  won't hurt you if you swallow them, but they do impart a bitter flavor if you accidentally take a bite.
Give back to Mother Nature:  Like all the best fruits of summer, scuppernongs give back to the earth in the form of seeds and skins.  We believe they are best enjoyed on a porch where you can just toss the skins and spit the seeds, but they are actually quite delightful anywhere, as long as you've got somewhere to stash the debris.

Hope you'll consider giving this native grape a try!

Introducing Asian long beans!

(Disclaimer:  These are not Native Sun beans in the picture.  I had to nab a picture of the internet of this beautiful legume because my camera was not cooperating.)

This is an Asian long bean.  If you've been by the farmer's market or the farmstand lately, then you have already been introduced.  Its flavor isn't too far afield from your standard green bean, but it's string-less and it's beautiful!  I can't say that there is a right or wrong way to eat these beans, but I do have a few suggestions.

Don't be afraid to eat them raw.  As is usual in our household, we had our eyes opened to this practice by our son.  He thinks they are delicious raw and even I was swayed.  I prefer my raw beans cut up and placed atop a bed of arugula with a healthy dose of balsamic vinaigrette dressing, but to each their own.

Treat them like a southerner would.  What can I say?  I pretty much grew up in Georgia and I like a well-cooked bean.  I know it's not gourmet, but it is the taste of home.  Chop these bad boys into 1 inch sections and throw in a pot of boiling water with a little bit of bacon grease (or fatback!) and a healthy pinch of salt and cook until soft.  Bean enthusiasts are shaking their heads in disgust, but those of us that are sopping up the bean juice with a hunk of cornbread are quite content.  

When in doubt, roast!  I have a strong aversion to any food that squeaks when I'm chewing it.  This sometimes happens with green beans and I'm always on the look-out for how to avoid that unfortunate side effect.  Roasting has done right by me in this regarding.  A 450 degree oven, a roasting pan or cooking sheet lined with parchment paper and a generous dousing of olive oil and sea salt and maybe a seasonal herb.  Keep an eye on them until their skin browns and crisps, about 10 minutes at our house.  Pull them out and flip over with a spatula and roasts another 5 minutes or so.  Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and serve warm. 

Farmer Brent's Veggie Lasagna

We are very busy on the farm right now between the constant bean harvest and chasing down vicious squash vine borers, so the kind of meals we like are the kind that we can make on a lazy (rainy!) Sunday evening and enjoy for a few nights before we have to think too hard about cooking again.  That's what's so great about a big ol' batch of lasagna.  It taste just as good on Day 3 as it did on Day 1.  We use zucchini slices instead of lasagna noodles.  We've also heard that eggplant slices work really well as faux noodles. 

Farmer Brent's Veggie Lasagna

2 large zucchini, sliced thinly longways

16 ounces cottage cheese (could also use ricotta)

1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup minced basil

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced

1 large egg

Salt and pepper

6 cups tomato sauce

1/2 onion, diced.

3-4 cups mozzerella (depending on your preferred thickness for the cheese topping)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (I refer to this temperature as "casserole temperature" - it seems like every casserole recipe since the dawn of time suggests this temp.)

Prep your zucchini by slicing thinly.  A grater or a mandolin is very helpful.  

Heat a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add a little olive oil and saute up the onions until translucent.  Stir in tomatoes and let heat up over medium-low heat. Mix cottage cheese, parmesan, basil, egg, sun dried tomatoes, 2 cups of mozzerella and salt & pepper in bowl.  Spread 1/4 of the heated tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9 x13 baking dish.  Place a single layer of zucchini slices on top.  Put 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture down on top of zucchini and spread evenly.

Continue layering this way.  For the final layer, put zucchini down and top with remaining sauce.  Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

Pull from oven, remove foil and top with remaining mozzerella.  Continue cooking for 20-25 minutes or until cheese in browned.

Enjoy with a delicious salad!

Stuffed Zucchini with Barley, Sausage & Tomatoes

We've been growing these cool round zucchinis for the last couple of seasons and we really enjoy them.  They are great for your typical zucchini applications - sauteing, grilling or steaming - but their shape makes them extra fun for stuffing and roasting.

Stuffed Zucchini with Barley, Sausage & Tomatoes

1 cup pearled barley, uncooked

3 cups chicken or veggie broth (we use veggie bouillon cubes)

6 round zucchini, softball sized, hollowed out
1 sausage (we used andouille)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 small onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
6 tsps worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar is tasty!)
Salt & pepper to taste

1.  Put 3 cups of broth (or 3 cups water with a veggie bouillon cube) over high heat to get to a boil.  Once boiling, add 1 cup pearled barley and reduce heat to simmer.  Set a timer for 20 minutes.
2.  Hollow out your zucchinis by slicing the stem end off and using your knife to cut a circular slit about 1/4" in from the outer edge.  This slit makes it easier to get a spoon in to scoop out the inside.  Try to maintain about 1/4" from the outside so the zucchini flesh will cook evenly.  Chop flesh and place to side.

3.  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add sausage and crumble it as small as you can as it browns.  Once brown, set aside sausage but reserve grease.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5.  Add butter or olive oil to pan with sausage grease.  Saute onions over medium heat and cook until translucent.  Add a cup of the chopped zucchini and the garlic and saute a minute or so more.

6.  Mix pearled barley, sausage, cooked onions, garlic & zucchini, chopped tomatoes, cumin, salt & pepper in bowl.  Place mixture inside hollowed out zucchinis using a spoon.  If you end up with extra, put in a container and use as a side dish for another meal or as goodies to mix in with an egg scramble.
7.  Place prepared zucchinis in a glass baking dish or cast iron skillet and put in oven.  Set time for 20 minutes.

8.  Pull zucchinis out and add a tsp of worcestershire sauce to each one.  Then top with shredded cheese.  Put back in oven until cheese has browned, about 10 minutes.
9.  Serve and enjoy!  These keep very well in the fridge for leftovers.

Mango Salsa with Fresh Tomatoes

We ate up most of the mango salsa before I thought to snap a picture, so this is the tail end of the batch.  It was delicious on top of fish tacos.  We pan seared tilapia after coating it in cornmeal and a little cumin and then finished the fish in a 400-degree oven.  We served the fish and salsa on corn tortillas with a hearty topping of greek yogurt sauce and chopped fresh cucumbers.  All in all - delicious!

Mango Salsa

1/2 sweet onion, diced tiny

2 cloves garlic, diced tiny

2 mangos diced, or about a cup of frozen mango thawed

1 medium tomato, diced

1/4 kohlrabi, diced (turnip works too!)

Handful of cilantro, chopped

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Slice of lime

Put onion and garlic in bowl with vinegar, squeeze of lime and olive oil while you dice other ingredients.  The acid in the vinegar "cooks" the garlic and mellows out the flavor a bit.  Mix remaining ingredients in and let sit covered in fridge for at least 30 minutes.  Keeps for a few days in the fridge.

Curried Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1 tsp curry

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp white wine

Stir together and serve with tacos. 

Easy Cucumber & Tomato Salad

This recipe combines a lot of things I look for in a side item.  Vegetable-laden, easy to eat with fork or fingers (necessary when feeding both toddler and adult), and keeps well so I can make it once and have it all week.  Oh yeah, and it tastes pretty good too!

Easy Cucumber and Tomato Salad
2-3 medium tomatoes, chunked
1 cucumber, chunked
1/2 small sweet onion, minced or two baby leeks, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt & Pepper

Combine cut-up vegetables in a bowl.  Mix olive oil, vinegar and salt & pepper and pour over vegetables.  Best after sitting for 30 minutes in the fridge.  Keeps well for a few days in the fridge!  (For fancier looking cucumbers, use a vegetable peeler to remove alternating strips of peel.)

Veggies for Breakfast

Vegetable Frittata 
I just learned the word 'frittata' this year.  When I first heard it, I thought it meant something Spanish and definitely something fancy.  As it turns out, it's actually pretty simple (and definitely really versatile).  And I was wrong about the Spanish part too - 'frittata' is an Italian word.  I should've known; everything the Italians do is delicious.  Basically a frittata is an open-faced omelette and it makes for a hearty breakfast.

Couple of tbsp of olive oil
1/2 cup of chopped onion
4-6 cups of any vegetable chopped (greens like kale, arugula, chard can be sliced thin and included raw; root vegetables like potatoes and turnips should be added to pan first and cooked a little longer than other veggies - other great additions are broccoli, tomatoes and squash)
Handful of fresh herbs, chopped
2 - 3 eggs
1/2 cup cheese (parmesan, goat cheese, cheddar - they're all good)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet set to medium.  Add onion and cook until soft.  Add the vegetables and heat until soft.  (If using root vegetables, add first and let cook down for about 10 minutes before adding greens, etc. If using tomatoes, you may want to squeeze them dry before adding to pan.)  Turn the heat down and add herbs.  Cook until pan is pretty dry.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs and salt and pepper and cheese.  Spread veggies evenly in the pan and pour your egg mixture over it.  Let everything cook undisturbed for about 10 minutes until the eggs are just set. (If you do disturb it, then just strip it of the 'frittata' fanciness and call it a scramble.  It'll still be good!)  Serve it up alone, or top with a little Greek yogurt.

This recipe is great for leftover vegetables too.  Just toss in after the onions and add your egg mixture right away.

Breakfast Smoothie
The trick is to incorporating vegetables into smoothies is balancing the earthiness of the vegetables with fruit and herbs.  Also, this recipe involves juicing.


For the juice:
Bunch of beet greens, kale, spinach or chard
Half handful of mint
(Juice & set aside - Great to make ahead to have on hand for last minute morning smoothies)
For the smoothie:
1 1/2 cups frozen fruit (peaches, mangos and strawberries are good choices - berry mixtures can be a little intense)
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup of your green juice

When you make smoothies, always make sure to add your liquid first so that the blender's blades are never running dry.  Ginger is also a great balancer to 'green' juice.  Sometimes I throw some chai tea concentrate in the mix for a little flair.

**None of my pictures turned out well so I borrowed the images in this post from the web - cannot claim them!