How Sweet It is!

Many families have their own Thanksgiving favorites, and my family enjoys having glazed sweet potatoes as part of our holiday meal.  These bright orange tuberous vegetables are a staple around the world, and are available at this Thursday's Pathfinder Produce market at the Village Commons from 2 to 5 p.m.  Thanksgiving is next week, November 28, so please stock up on your fresh fruit and vegetable items, as our market staff will be home enjoying the holiday.

Thanksgiving this year coincides with Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, an occurrence that won't happen again for 79,043 years.  (The last time it happened was 1888).  There have been many clever jokes and visual puns, all in the sense of fun, about Thanksgivukkah.  This week's recipe, sweet potato latkes, is our light hearted contribution to the seasonal humor.

http://recipes.womenshealthmag.com/Recipe/baked-sweet-potato-latkes.aspx

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) belong to the plant family Convolvulaceae, and is only distantly related to the regular potato (Solanum tuberosum).  Although sweet potatoes are sometimes called yams in the U.S., the two are botanically distinct.  The sweet potato plant is a vine, and is related to varieties of ornamental morning glories.

Botanists believe that sweet potatoes were domesticated more than 10,000 years ago in Central or South America.  It is also speculated that sweet potatoes were transferred to Polynesia between 700 to 1000 AD by ancient mariners, who most likely propagated the plants using vine cuttings. The first Europeans to eat sweet potatoes were members of Columbus' crew in 1492. 

Sweet potatoes are popular on every inhabited continent, and are considered staples in underdeveloped countries, as they are fairly easy to cultivate and are relatively pest-free.  China is the world's largest producer, and uses the crop as animal fodder.  In the U.S., North Carolina leads all other states, growing almost 40% of our nation's crop.

Sweet potatoes have been an important part of the diet in the United States for most of its history, especially in the Southeast. From the middle of the 20th century, however, they have become less popular, with the average annual consumption of 3 to 4 lbs per person.

Nutritionally, sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and beta carotene, as well as vitamin B6, manganese and potassium.  The sweet potato was ranked highest for overall nutritional value when compared to other vegetables in a 1990s study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Enjoy the week, and don't forget to stock up for two weeks at Thursday's Pathfinder Produce market!

Cranberry Creations

November is in full-swing, with its snow flurries and shorter days, and everyone is starting to plan their Thanksgiving meals and special baking projects.  We will be offering all our flavorful fruit and veggie fare at Pathfinder Produce right on through the season, and hope that you'll try our fresh produce market to obtain your ingredients.  We'll be open on Thursday afternoons, from 2 to 5 p.m. (Please note the market will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, November 28).

A Thanksgiving turkey would be incomplete if it were not served with cranberry sauce, in my opinion.  Most of us go the canned route, but I think this year I may venture into making it myself.  A friend recently shared a picture of a batch she had made on her Facebook page; she's a big advocate for home cooked foods, and the crimson colored jars really looked tempting.  I bought some berries at last week's market, and the directions are provided on the produce bag:  they seem simple, so as they say “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Cranberries are also wonderful additions to relishes, salads and muffins, and the dried, sweetened berries are a nice alternative to raisins for snacking or dressing up your morning oatmeal.  Our Pathfinder Bakery makes a great orange-cranberry muffin, but here's a nice pumpkin-cranberry recipe from the Ocean Spray website (www.oceanspray.com), which has a lot of recipes to explore.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup pumpkin (I am assuming this is canned pumpkin, but not the pie mix pumpkin)

1 5-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Dried Cranberries

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

Directions:  12 muffins

·        Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease muffin tins.  (I’d probably use paper inserts just for ease of cleaning).

·        Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.

·        Combine remaining ingredients in a separate mixing bowl.

·        Add liquid ingredients to dry, mixing just until the dry ingredients are moist.

·        Fill each muffin cup 2/3 of the way full with batter.

·        Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  (I would test with a toothpick to make sure they’re thoroughly cooked).

·        Remove from tins; cool on a wire rack.

There are many web articles offering information on cranberries’ historical importance and nutritional background.  Related to the blueberry and huckleberry, there are four varieties of cranberries, all native to North America.  The plant is a running vine, and the name derives from “craneberry,” as early European settlers thought parts of the plant looked like the heads of cranes. Algonquian tribes, who called the berries Sassamanash, are thought to have introduced the berries to starving English settlers in the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the berries were credited in historical references as a preventative to scurvy.

The first commercial cranberry farm was started by Henry Hall on Cape Cod about 1816.  The crop soon became popular in Europe.  Today, cranberries are a major commercial crop, with a fifth of the world's supply coming from British Columbia; Wisconsin and Massachusetts are the largest producers in the U.S.  Most American cranberries are grown by farmers who belong to cooperatives, a strategy which gained popularity in the early 20th century as it offered uniform pricing and shared marketing costs.  Until the 1960s, most berries were sold during the holidays; since that time, the industry has branched out into products that are enjoyed throughout the year.

Historically, cranberry beds were started in marshy regions.  Today, special man-made sandy beds ringed with earth berms are used.  During the growing season, cranberry beds are not flooded, but the berry vines are irrigated to build strong roots.  The beds are flooded for the September harvest; mechanical harvesters loosen the berries from the vines, and the floating berries are then gathered. About 10% of the US crop is dry-picked, which is then bagged and sold as fresh berries.

Cranberries are too sour to be eaten by themselves, and are combined with sweeteners in most food products.  Cranberry juice cocktail is more highly sweetened than most sodas to counteract the berries' natural tartness, and the popular dried berries are also sweetened.  Therefore, they should not be eaten in great quantities, especially for those who wish to limit sugar intake.  Raw cranberries have moderate levels of Vitamin C, fiber and manganese.  They are a source of antioxidants, and may be beneficial in boosting the cardiovascular and immune systems.  Research results are mixed on the efficacy of cranberry juice as a treatment or preventative measure against UTIs or promoting renal health.

Enjoy this next week, and we hope you’ll join us this Thursday for Pathfinder Produce!

Cauliflower Power!

Welcome to November, another month full of fabulous flavors at Pathfinder Produce!  We hope you’ll be able to join us on this Thursday at the Village Commons from 2 to 5 p.m. for our fresh fruits and veggie market.  Feel free to share this flyer with your friends to let them know about our convenient and affordable green-grocery. 

We also wish to remind everyone in the Edmeston area that the “Let’s Go 5-2-1-0” program will be hosting its 2nd annual Turkey Trot 5 K race and Family Waddle this Saturday, November 9. The cost to participate is $10 for adults and $5 for 7-12th grade students. Children in 6th grade and under are free with an adult registration. Those that cross the finish line will receive a raffle ticket for prizes and 5-2-1-0 related items. All proceeds benefit the Edmeston Central School Honor Society. Register the day of the event from 7:45 - 8:45, the race starts at 9 a.m.

With my recent posts about different vegetables and fruits, my colleagues have been sharing some new recipes with me.  One friend sent me a sumptuous recipe for roasted cauliflower with a feta cheese dip, but it sounded a bit on the “sinful side” with cream cheese and heavy cream in the dressing.  So I did a bit of searching and found this alternate recipe from About.com.  It offers a non-traditional way to cook cauliflower, adds a bit of zest, and still retains all of the incredible nutrients of this cruciferous vegetable.  I would think one could use dried rosemary if fresh is unavailable.  (http://southernfood.about.com/od/cauliflower/r/Roasted-Cauliflower-With-Rosemary.htm)

Ingredients:

• 1 large head cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons olive or other vegetable oil
• 2 to 3 small sprigs of rosemary
• 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation: 30 min., serves 4

·       Cut the cauliflower florets into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces.

·       Heat the oven to 475°

·       Put the olive oil in a large rimmed baking pan. Put the pan in the oven for a few minutes to heat the oil.

·       Remove the pan from the oven and add the cauliflower. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garlic; Toss to coat with the oil and seasonings. Add the sprigs of rosemary and return to the oven.

·       Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, turning a few times, or until the cauliflower is tender and is browning around the edges.

The Wikipedia article on cauliflower is short but quite informative.  The first reliable reference to cauliflower is found in the writings of Arab Muslim scientists in the 12th and 13th centuries.  The vegetable, which gained a foothold on the European continent in Italy, was still considered rare in the time of the “Sun King,” Louis the XIV of France (1638 -1715).  There are currently four major groups  of cauliflower – Italian, Northwest European biennial, Northern European annuals (the most commonly grown today), and Asian.  There are hundreds of varieties of the plant, of which about 80 are grown in the U.S.  I had no idea, but cauliflower is available in different colors, from standard white, to orange, to shocking purple.

Nutritionally, cauliflower is fiber-rich, low fat, low in carbs, and packed with folates, vitamin C, and phytochemicals like sulforaphane and glucosinolates, which may protect cells against cancer, and carotenoids, vitamin A pre-vitamins that act as antioxidants.  Cauliflower also offers indole-3-carbinol, which helps with DNA repair.  Although most of us boil cauliflower, that is probably the least nutritious way to serve it, as it loses significant vitamins in the process (40-50% loss after 10 minutes cooking time).  Steaming, microwaving and roasting retain nearly all beneficial compounds in cauliflower, and of course, raw is always an option for a snack or veggie trays at informal gatherings.

Cauliflower should be washed thoroughly and cut into evenly sized florets to ensure even cooking, and cooked until soft (butg not mushy).  Dieters may use cauliflower as a low-carb substitute for potatoes, as cauliflower doesn’t have the starch content and can be prepared so it resembles mashed potatoes in texture.  More interesting history, botanical, and culinary information on cauliflower may be found at another website to explore: http://www.sustainabletable.org/1601/real-food-right-now-and-how-to-cook-it-cauliflower.