November 11, 2006

I'm still working backwards to make up for the missing weeks. This was a mid-week accompaniment to a rather staid roast chicken breast.

Stuffed Baby Acorn Squash

1 baby acorn squash (4 inches in diameter)
1/2 log Lynnhaven herbed goat cheese
2/3 cup mashed potatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the squash in half, seed and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until becoming tender. Meanwhile, mix the herbed goat cheese with the mashed potatoes.

When the squash is tender, fill with heaping spoonfuls of the potato/cheese mixture and return to the oven, baking at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until the top is brown.

The Lynnhaven cheese is a mild fresh goat cheese rolled primarily in rosemary and lavendar. The herbs are quite pungent on their own, but mellowed by the potatoes they don't overwhelm the squash or other dinner items. While reminiscent of twice-baked potatoes, the contrast of squash flesh and the stuffing was quite surprising and made for an immensely successful side dish.

November 18, 2006

Last weekend, I made an incredible discovery at the Gorzynski Farm stand. I picked up a bunch of greens that I thought was a collection of mixed kales: some leaves were flat: green with red spots and deep maroon, others were curly: light green and green with red spots.

Much to my surprise, I learned that all four leaf types were from the same head of the same mustard green plant. Mr. Gorzynski cross-bred it himself and calls it "Red Beard". It can be used raw, braised and sauteed. It tastes like a dark leafy green with an incredibly sharp mustard flavor with an underlying horseradish bite.

FANTASTIC!!!!

Back again!

Hey all,

I've been having a heck of a time getting my blogs to post, so I'll be working my way backwards with the highlights of the past few weeks.

This past weekend, I missed the market because I was in the homeland for Thanksgiving. Albeit not a farmer's market, my mom and I drove out to Zittau, WI to the Union Star Dairy to get any number of cheese products: curds, string cheese, hot pepper muenster and my very favorite: hickory nut muenster. The hickory not flavor is such a mild mellow taste, unlike any other nut and it goes so very well with the cheese. I highly recommend it. Orderable, along with many other cheeses at www.unionstarcheese.com.