This week your basket contains: onions, leeks, pumpkin, Delicata squash, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, and Brussels sprouts.

This is the second of two larger than normal baskets you will get this month. Because both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Friday this year, we will be skipping deliveries on those two days.  We will be resuming a normal schedule on January 8^th, 2021.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN ORDERING GOAT CHEESE, Fraga will not have cheese again until March.  In most years they try to stagger the timing of the birth of the kids to ensure that they have goats who can be milked at all times.  However, this summer during the wildfires, they took in another farmer’s flock. According to Lise, all the goats got rather excited by the introduction of new boys and they all got pregnant at the same time!  We will let you know when they can start delivering cheese again.

In this recipe we consider the list of root veggies to be a suggestion.  Use whatever you have on hand.

POLENTA WITH BRAISED ROOT VEGETABLES

1 cup polenta

1 scant teaspoon salt

4 cups water

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 to 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (optional)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 pound rutabaga, diced

1/2 pound carrots, diced

1 medium parsnip, diced

1 large or 2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice

Pinch of sugar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter or oil a 2-quart baking dish. Combine the polenta, salt and water in the baking dish. Place in the oven on a baking sheet. Bake 50 minutes. Stir in the butter, and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the polenta is soft and all of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the cheese, if using. While the polenta is baking, cook the vegetables. Heat the oil in a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots, kohlrabi and parsnip, and then season with salt. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, and stir together for about a minute until fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes with their liquid, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 15 minutes until the tomatoes are cooked down and fragrant. Add lots of freshly ground pepper, taste and adjust salt, and remove from the heat. Serve the polenta with the vegetables spooned on top.

In the recipe below, you can use the Delicata in this week’s basket along with last week’s Kabocha (if you still have it) or even the pumpkin that we sent along today.

DELICATA SQUASH WITH ROSEMARY, SAGE, AND CIDER GLAZE

2 medium delicata squash (about 2 pounds) or other firm winter squash

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup very coarsely chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

1 1/2 cups fresh unfiltered apple cider or juice

1 cup water

2 teaspoons sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Squash. If using delicata squash, peel it with a vegetable peeler, cut it lengthwise in half, and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Cut each piece lengthwise in half again, then crosswise into 1/2-inch -thick slices. Other types of squash should be peeled with a chef’s knife, seeded, cut into 1-inch wedges, then sliced 1/2-inch thick. Herb Butter. Melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over low heat. Add the sage and rosemary and cook, stirring, until the butter just begins to turn golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not brown the herbs. Cooking the herbs in butter mellows their flavor and improves their texture. Cooking the squash. Add the squash to the skillet, then the apple cider, water, vinegar, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat at an even boil until the cider has boiled down to a glaze and the squash is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and season with pepper, and additional salt if needed.   From Epicurious.com