Here in the Northern Hemisphere it is harvest season. The bounty of the autumn is ready to be explored and enjoyed. Find your local farmers market. If you don't know where it is at, Google it (more than once I have found farmers markets for bloggers and left the answer in the comments), ask around, find who has what that is fresh, preferably local, though the best of the season is shipped into places where nothing is local. Here I pay a premium for farmers who come to us, or I can drive an hour or two into the country and buy directly at the farms.
Buy what you normally wouldn't, buy what you love.
As the weather turns cooler, it is a great season for soups and stews. A nice mix of chopped veggies, a little wine and stock, and let it simmer.
I made chicken stock a couple of weeks ago. One whole chicken, an onion, a couple of carrots, a couple of stalks of celery, and several cloves of crushed garlic, water, a slow simmer and time. I had 6 cups of wonderful stock to cook with, and poached chicken for a couple of meals. Stock making is simple, toss it all in the big pot, add water and simmer. All it takes is time.
I know there a beet haters out there. Peel and chop just one, and add it to a soup or stew as a background flavor. You will be surprised. If you buy golden beets, you don't get the deep red color.
Sorry, no. I don’t care how you slice that beet. And I’ve tried them as many times as I’m going to. Same for baked beans.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever heard anyone say, they wouldn't eat baked beans.
DeleteI don’t know exactly what it is but I loathe them. Just the thought of them makes me sick. People would tell me I just hadn’t had good ones... so I kept trying. The last time, I was in my late 30s and I said never again.
DeleteSomething deep in your early life. My father felt that way about mushrooms, I would mince them, mix them into the stuffing at Thanksgiving and he would say it was the best he ever had.
DeleteI am a huge fan of beets, any way you care to serve them. My wife not so much, so we rarely have them, other than for picked beets which are generally on hand.
ReplyDeleteAdd them to a nice tray roast, add them to a soup or stew.
DeleteAh, it happens in March here, I think.
ReplyDeleteIt always surprises me at how many people have broken Googles.
Tinned beetroot is lovely. Fresh beetroot tastes like eating earth.
I may borrow "broken googles"
DeleteI do live through the seasons and eat only seasonal appropriate foods. Otherwise I don't think one enjoys them as much. This weekend for example Im making a autumn veggie dish with butternut squash, parsnips, sweet potato and carrots! I'll make a nice butternut squash soup with the other one.
ReplyDeleteAnd i love beets. Cooked or otherwise. I just made pickled eggs and beets.
DeleteI will look for parsnips at the market this weekend.
DeleteI learned from my dear friend Ina Garten to use an entire garlic bulb when I make stock. Just cut off a quarter inch from the drop and drop it in a pot with veggies and spices and such. Then when you strain the broth take the bulb out and squeeze the garlic into the brew and whisk away.
ReplyDeleteIt is getting to be the Season of Soups and Stews and I am looking for ward to it.
Lastly, I am in the no beet crowd. I've tasted them several ways and never once enjoyed them. Oh well, the more for everyone else.
I would love to have lunch with Ina.
DeleteI just roasted some beets from a friend's garden on Monday for my Thanksgiving meal -- DEE-LISH!
ReplyDeleteRoasting is a great way to enjoy them.
DeleteI'm not a beet fan but I will try your suggestion of using a golden beet in a soup or stew and see what it does to the background flavor. I'm trying to like them...it just hasn't happened yet.
ReplyDelete