1 large roasting chicken, cut into pieces or five split chicken breasts (about 4 pounds) Water
1 onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and diced
6 Tbsp. butter or extra virgin olive oil
6 medium leeks, white and tender green parts only, sliced
6 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill or 1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

TOPPING
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup butter, cut into pieces
1 cup buttermilk

Place the chicken in a large pot. Cover with water (6 to 8 cups). Add the onion, garlic, parsley and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer, and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes, until the chicken is tender. Turn off the heat and allow the chicken to cool in the cooking liquid.

Cook the rutabaga in boiling salted water to cover until just tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain.

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the chicken from the broth. Discard the skin and bones. Chop the meat into bite-size pieces.

Strain the broth and discard the solids. Skim off any fat that rises to the top. Reserve 3 cups liquid for the potpie and refrigerate or freeze the remainder to use in another dish.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until all the flour is absorbed into the oil.Whisk in the 3 cups reserved broth and stir until thickened and smooth. Stir in the chicken, rutabagas and dill. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Keep hot while you prepare the biscuits. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Set out a 9- by 13-inch baking pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the buttermilk and process to make a soft dough. Knead a few times on a lightly floured board. Pat out the dough to a thickness of about ½ inch. Cut into 3-inch rounds. By gathering the scraps and patting out again, you should get 12 biscuits. Pour the chicken mixture into the baking pan. Place the biscuit rounds on top. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the biscuits are golden and the chicken mixture is bubbling.

Let stand for a few minutes before serving. Serves six.

Some combinations are just so inevitable that it hardly seems necessary to provide a recipe. Still, colcannon, an Irish dish, isn’t served that often, considering its terrific flavor and the healthy way it upgrades mashed potatoes. This is a hearty fall dish that makes a wonderful accompaniment to meatloaf or baked chicken. It can also be served as a vegetarian main dish. It is important to cook the cabbage slowly to coax all the sweetness out of the vegetable. If you like, grate a large carrot and add it to the cabbage mixture for color and more vegetable goodness.

6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
2 medium leeks, trimmed and sliced, or 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 pounds baking or russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
1/2 cup milk or cream, warmed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large skillet, melt 3 Tbsp. of the butter over medium heat. Add the cabbage and leeks and sauté until very tender and sweet, about 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, combine the potatoes with salted water to cover in a small saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and boil gently until completely tender, 15 to 25 minutes. Drain the potatoes well. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher, press through a ricer or whip in a standing mixer until you have a light texture. Beat in the remaining 3 Tbsp. butter and milk. Fold in the cabbage mixture. Season to taste generously with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Recipe adapted fromServing Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman (Storey Publishing). Copyright 2005, 2007 Andrea Chesman.

This old-fashioned cake has a wonderful aroma and substantial crumb. Any combination of cooking apples will work nicely, but Bill Suhr recommends using Cortland, Empire, and/or McIntosh apples—“with an emphasis on the Cortland.”

CAKE:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
2 cups cooking apples, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick (about 3 medium apples)

TOPPING:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy; add egg and beat until smooth.Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; add alternately with milk to butter mixture. Stir in oats.

Spread half the batter in the pan; arrange the apple slices over the batter and top evenly with the remaining batter.

Combine sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl; mix in melted butter. Sprinkle evenly over the batter. Bake until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve hot.

“It may have been fate, but my wife happens to make the best apple pie I’ve ever tasted in my life,” says Barney Hodges, who knows a thing or two about growing and eating apples. The secret is in blending the crust ingredients as briefly as possible; be sure not to overwork the dough to keep the crust tender.

CRUST:
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt, or more to taste
¾ cup vegetable oil (preferably canola)
8 Tbsp. cold water

FILLING:
8 large pie apples, such as Cortland, Empire or a
combination
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cinnamon, or more to taste
3 pats unsalted butter (about 1½ Tbsp.)

Preheat oven to 375°F.

To prepare crust, in a large bowl mix flour and salt together with a fork. Make a well in the center.

In a small bowl or 2-cup measure, whisk together the oil and water. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients, blending with a fork until it forms a ball (about 20 strokes).

Divide dough into two pieces and roll each between sheets of wax paper to a 16-inch round.

To prepare filling, peel and quarter the apples, then thinly slice (about ¼ inch thick); place in a large bowl. Add sugar, flour and cinnamon; toss lightly to combine.

To assemble pie, press the larger dough round into a 9-inch pie plate. Spread apples evenly into crust, and scatter the butter pats over. Top with the smaller dough round, trimming to fit; crimp edges to seal. Pierce in several places with a fork and bake until crust is golden brown, about 1 hour.

With or without a garden, there are good reasons to take time this fall to make a few jars of pickles or relish. If your family is tired of the green beans that still appear in your CSA allotment, instead of composting them, turn them into jars of Crisp Dilly Beans. If you overdo it at your local orchard, simmer some of those apples into aromatic Apple Catsup. And nothing spices up a gray September weekend better than the scent of Pottsfield Pickle. Each delicious treat also makes a wonderful gift for the season to come.

Besides, you’re saving something other than produce. These recipes are themselves part of our local, regional flavor, passed around from neighbor to neighbor like Pa’s Pickle, printed in town and church cookbooks, served at chicken pie suppers.

CRISP DILLY BEANS

This recipe came to me on an index card, typed by my mother. It adapts easily to the amount of beans you have on hand. I have made as few as two pints and as many as seven, the maximum for the kettle that I use for my hot water bath. My mother recommends using spring water if you want to ensure crispness. (Mine are sometimes limp when I use well water.) Crisp or not, these dilly beans add a wonderful tang to a winter salad. If you only want to make one or two jars, skip the water bath processing, and keep them in your refrigerator.

PICKLES:
2 pounds green beans, cut in pieces to fit your canning jars (4 to 4 and 1/2 inches for pint jars)
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
4 cloves of garlic
4 large heads of dill or 8 Tbsp. dill seed

BRINE:
2 cups water
1/4cup salt
2 cups vinegar

Stem beans and pack tightly in jars. To each pint add 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 clove of garlic, and 1 head of dill or 2 Tbsp. of dill seed. Heat together water, salt and vinegar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over the beans. Seal and process for 15 minutes in the boiling water bath.

POTTSFIELD PICKLE

This recipe comes from Peacham Pantries, Old and New, Bicentennial Edition (1976). When our children were young, my sister and I would meet at my parents on a fall Saturday. We’d each bring several ingredients, my parents would provide the onions and cabbage and we’d spend the morning turning the handle of the vintage 1954 food grinder. These days, with teenagers, we make smaller recipes on our own and I use my food processor to chop the vegetables. This recipe can be halved successfully, and I often do, because the full batch makes at least 10 pints, depending on the size of the cabbage and the bunches of celery. The flavor of the celery is more important than its volume, so the skinny stalks grown in loose bunches, found in some Vermont gardens, are fine.

3 pints green tomatoes
3 pints ripe tomatoes
6 red peppers
1 quart onions
1 medium cabbage
2 bunches of celery

Chop all vegetables medium fine and mix together in a large stockpot. Add 1/2 cup salt and let the mixture stand overnight. In the morning, drain the mixture. Add 3 pints of white vinegar, 6 cups of sugar, ½ cup mustard seed, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. cloves. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 25–30 minutes. Fill the clean hot jars with the hot mixture and seal. Process for 15 minutes in the boiling water bath.

APPLE CATSUP

My mother searched for this recipe for years. Her mother was not the best cook in the world, and this was one dish my mother remembered fondly. She was afraid the recipe was lost forever until she learned it could be found under “Sausage” in the original From Peacham Pantries cookbook, circa 1950. Reducing the catsup in the oven is a technique I picked up from Stocking Up (see the sidebar). It decreases both the risk of scorching and the time it takes for the catsup to thicken. This recipe is delicious with pork and lamb, as well as on a cheddar sandwich.

Cook and puree enough apples to make 2 quarts of applesauce.
Cortlands or another tart cooking apple are best.

To the applesauce add:
2 cups sugar
1 or 2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 large onions (about 2 cups) chopped fine.

Stir all together. Add 2 Tbsp. salt and 1 cup of vinegar. Pour this mixture into a roasting pan and place it in a 325-degree oven. Stir it from time to time, moving the mixture from the edges to the middle, until it is reduced to the thickness of apple butter. This will take between three and four hours. Fill prepared jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

4 semi-Boneless Cavendish quail
2–3 pears, cored and sliced
6 strips bacon, chopped
1 bunch green onion, chopped
3 Tbsp. Wood’s Cider Jelly
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
4 ounces mixed greens or arugula, washed
Salt and fresh ground pepper

Season both sides of the Cavendish quail with salt and pepper.

Heat 2–3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, place quail breast-side-down and cook for 4–5 minutes. Flip them and brown the other side for another 4–5 minutes.

Remove browned quail from the pan and place on a plate to rest. Using the same pan, add bacon and cook until lightly browned. Add pears and green onion and cook for 2–3 minutes.

Next, add cider jelly and sherry vinegar to the pear/bacon mix, cook until pears are just soft and there is still liquid in the pan. Turn off heat.

Toss salad greens in bowl with olive oil and place on serving platter. Spoon pear mixture over greens, place quail on top and serve.

1 pound Jerusalem artichokes, washed well and sliced (don’t peel)
3 cups celery root, peeled and diced
3 cups onions, diced
2 cups celery, diced
4–5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
herb bouquet (thyme, sage, rosemary tied together in a coffee filter)
salt and pepper
grated nutmeg

Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy-bottom soup pot over medium heat. Add vegetables and sauté until vegetables have become limp and translucent.

Add stock and herb bouquet and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Once the vegetables are soft, remove the herb bouquet (squeeze out all the flavor from the herbs).

Puree soup in small batches in a blender. Top servings with fresh grated nutmeg and chopped fresh herbs.

SHORT RIBS
4 pounds short ribs (bone in)
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1 medium leek, chopped
4 cups red wine
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 bay leaves
1 branch thyme
1 head whole garlic
1 gallon cold water
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil

In a pot or pan large enough to hold the ribs, combine the onion, carrot, leek, wine, vinegar, bay leaves, thyme and garlic. Marinate the short ribs in this mixture for 24 hours, turning to coat once or twice.

Remove short ribs from marinade, strain off and save liquid and vegetables. Season ribs with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottom skillet over high heat. Add the ribs, meat-side-down, and brown them on both sides. Once browned, remove meat and add vegetables from the marinade to the pan and lightly caramelize.

Once vegetables have browned, return marinade to the pan and reduce until all the liquid has evaporated. Add water and short ribs, bring to a simmer. Cover and place in 325-degree oven to braise for 3 hours, or until tender and just falling off the bone.

POLENTA
1 cup artisan polenta
4 cups water
2 Tbsp. butter
3 ounces grated Vermont Cheddar

Sauté polenta with olive oil in a heavy-bottom pot over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, just to warm the polenta. Add water and bring to a simmer. Cover and place in 325-degree oven to bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from oven and stir in butter and Vermont Cheddar cheese.

If you have never roasted cauliflower, you have missed out. Its nutty taste and slightly crispy texture will make all those memories of waterlogged white blobs vanish right away. We have yet to meet a child who didn’t gobble cauliflower up when made this way. It’s also delicious tossed with a medium-size shaped pasta like ziti or gemelli.

Serves: 4-6 as a side dish, 4 over pasta as a main course

Ingredient and Method Note You could substitute currants or regular black raisins for the golden raisins, but the result will be a little sweeter.

1 medium head cauliflower, about 2–3 pounds, cored and
broken into bite-size florets
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt plus more to taste
1 medium leek, white and light green parts only, halved
lengthwise, thinly sliced, and rinsed thoroughly
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375º F with a rack in the second highest position. Toss the cauliflower, olive oil and salt in a shallow roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet and roast for 15 minutes.

Add the leeks to the pan and stir. Roast for another 10 minutes.

Add the pine nuts to the pan and stir. Roast for another 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from oven, stir in golden raisins, adjust seasoning as desired and serve.

This salad is modeled after Rick’s popular and very pretty Harvest Salad. Since arugula is one of the hardier greens from the Market Garden, it survives early frosts and carries through the very end of the season. Its bite provides the perfect foil for the dense, sweet cubes of squash. You can use pumpkin or butternut for the ciderglazed squash, which also makes a nice side dish in its own right. Serves: 4–6

Ingredient and Method Note After you’ve cut your nice even cubes of squash, you will have some perfectly edible bits left over. See the Variation below for ways to use them.

1 3-pound butternut squash or 4-pound pie pumpkin, peeled and seeded, flesh cut into about 20 ¾-inch cubes (see Ingredient Note above)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider or natural apple juice
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
4 cups (5-6 ounces) baby arugula
1/2 cup (about 2-3 ounces) crumbled fresh goat cheese
20 raw, peeled hazelnuts
Cider Vinaigrette (see below)

Preheat the oven to 400º F. In a shallow roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet, toss the squash with the olive oil, apple cider, and salt. Roast the squash for 20–25 minutes, turning once, until it is starting to color and all the liquid has evaporated. Cool the squash.

While the squash is roasting, coarsely chop the hazelnuts and put them in the oven in a small baking dish next to the squash to toast for about 10–12 minutes until golden and fragrant. Make the vinaigrette.

Arrange the arugula on a platter and toss it with about 1/3 cup of the vinaigrette. Top with cider-glazed squash cubes, crumbled goat cheese, and toasted hazelnuts and drizzle with a little more vinaigrette as desired.

Prepare Ahead Tip: The squash can be roasted up to a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving. Hazelnuts can be toasted ahead and, after cooling, kept sealed at room temperature for a few days.

Variation: For another way to enjoy the cider-glazed squash or any odd-shaped left over squash bits roasted up the same way: toss them with pasta, pearl barley or wheat berries and some wilted arugula or baby spinach. Top with goat cheese or a shaving of a good dry-aged cheese, and the toasted hazelnuts if you like.

CIDER VINAIGRETTE
by Melissa Pasanen and Rick Gencarelli

1/2 cup apple cider or natural apple juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup, Grade B for strongest flavor
1 shallot finely minced
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt plus more to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper to taste In a blender or mini food processor, blend together the cider, cider vinegar, maple syrup, shallot and salt. Gradually add the olive oil and blend to emulsify. Adjust seasoning to taste.

SUNSHINE ORCHARD

2 parts Sunshine Vodka
1 part Vermont apple cider
1 tsp. Vermont apple syrup (can be found in co-op or specialty stores)
1 cinnamon stick

Mix Sunshine Vodka, apple cider and apple syrup in a shaker with ice. Microwave a cinnamon
stick for 30 seconds and place in a martini glass. Pour cocktail on top of the cinnamon stick to impart the flavor.

SUNSHINE DAYDREAM
Recipe by Christine Flynn of Gracie’s Restaurant in Stowe, VT

1 part Sunshine Vodka
3 parts Sprite or 7-Up
Splash of orange juice

Serve this in a tall glass with plenty of ice and a slice of orange as a garnish.

VERMONT MAPLETINI

1 part Green Mountain Distillers
Maple Liqueur
1/2 part Sunshine Vodka
2 orange twists

Place all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Give it a hard shake for 30 seconds. Strain into a martini glass and place a fresh orange twist in the cocktail.

This winter root vegetable salad is popular at several schools.

Makes 8 servings, 4 ounces each

Mix:
1 and 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. honey or 2 Tbsp. brown sugar (sweeten to taste depending on vegetables)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. orange juice

Mix all ingredients together to blend.
After lightly brushing the skins (no need to peel if skins are clean) grate:

1/2 pound raw parsnips
1/2 pound raw carrots
1/2 cup raw beets (or 1/4 cup beets, 1/4 cup red cabbage)

Add parsnips and carrots to dressing first and mix well. Then add beets and mix lightly. Refrigerate until serving.

This salad stays crunchy for several days and is a nice, bright winter
alternative

The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking
By Molly Stevens

Braised Potatoes with Garlic & Bay Leaves

I make this simple dish so often, and without thinking, that I really had to scratch my head to come up with an actual recipe. Let me explain: I start by placing as many potatoes as I want to braise in a single layer in any saucepan that accommodates them snugly without crowding. Then I pour in enough water or stock to come halfway up the potatoes and add a generous drizzle of olive oil, a few whole cloves of garlic, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. I pop on the lid, and braise gently until the potatoes are tender. During the last few minutes, I remove the lid, crank up the heat to evaporate the water, and shake the pan back and forth so the potatoes roll around and get coated in the garlicky-olive oil glaze that's forming. The potatoes come out all creamy and delicately infused with the flavors of bay and garlic. Look for small potatoes that you can braise whole. I especially like German Butterball and French fingerlings, but regular supermarket small red potatoes are wonderful too.

Serves 4 to 6 | Braising Time: about 25 minutes

1 and 1/2 pounds small red or white potatoes, scrubbed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup water or chicken stock, homemade (page 448) or store-bought, or as needed
2 bay leaves, fresh if you can find them
2 to 3 garlic cloves, peeled and bruised
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Evaluate the potatoes: If the potatoes are larger than a golf ball, cut them in half. If you are leaving them whole, check to see if they have thick skins by scraping your thumbnail across the skin. If the skin doesn't tear, remove a strip of skin around the circumference of each potato with a vegetable peeler-this will allow the flavors of the braising liquid to penetrate the potato better. If the skins are relatively thin, leave them intact.

2. The braise: Place the potatoes in a saucepan large enough to hold them in a snug single layer without crowding. Add the olive oil and pour in enough water or stock to come halfway up the sides of the potatoes. Tear the bay leaves in half and add them along with the garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. When the water is simmering, lower the heat to medium-low so the liquid simmers gently. Braise, lifting the lid and turning the potatoes with a spoon once halfway through, until the potatoes are just tender when pierced with a thin skewer, about 20 minutes.

3. The finish: Remove the lid, increase the heat to high, and boil, gently shaking the pan back and forth, until the water evaporates and you can hear the oil sizzle, about 5 minutes. The braised garlic cloves will break down and coat the potatoes as you shake the pan. Serve hot.

Variation: Braised Potatoes with Butter & Rosemary
Once you've braised small potatoes a few times, you'll see that the recipe is ripe for improvisation. Feel free to vary the herbs, substitute dry white wine for the chicken stock or water, or use butter in place of olive oil. One of my favorite variations is to use 2 leafy sprigs of rosemary in place of the bay leaves and butter in place of the olive oil. Use chicken stock as the braising liquid and braise as directed.

RECIPE COURTESY OF
All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking, by Molly Stevens (WW Norton)