Front Porch Farm

Super & Simple Scalloped Potatoes

a farmer's wife — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:51:43 +0000

My mother-in-law has the most fabulous recipe for scalloped potatoes. It is rich and delicious yet the most simple of recipes to make!

Line greased pan with peeled, sliced raw potatoes (we slice them using the attachment to our Kitchen Aid to get nice thin slices).
Sprinkle salt and pepper over every few layers.
Pour whipping cream and milk over the potatoes.
Bake uncovered until it starts to brown, then cover with foil until all the potatoes are fork tender (several hours total cooking time).

Thanksgiving Squash Braid

a farmer's wife — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:54:15 +0000

My sister-in-law’s recipe is a favorite “special occasion” bread in our family…

2 1/2 t. yeast
2 T. warm water
1 c. cooked, pureed winter squash
1/3 c. warm milk
1/4 c. soft butter
1 egg
3 T. brown sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
3 1/2 c. flour

Glaze: 1 egg, 1 T. water, beaten

Dissolve yeast in water. Combine remaining ingredients, adding flour gradually to make soft dough. Knead, let rise until double. Divide dough into thirds. Roll each third into 18-inch rope. Place on greased baking sheet. Braid ropes together, pinch ends. Cover and let rise until nearly double. Combine glaze ingredients; brush over braid. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden.

Winter Squash Enchiladas

a farmer's wife — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:01:00 +0000

It always frustrates me when a recipe calls for winter and summer squash in the same dish. Maybe they are ready at the same time where you live, but not here! However, thanks to our amazing new greenhouse, tomatoes are ripening during both winter and summer squash season. And our pepper plants are safe inside the greenhouse, too. Thus, it calls for making Mexican dishes with winter squash: a fun, if not authentic, challenge.

I tried a recipe for enchiladas before that used only winter squash, peppers, and garlic as the sauce. But it was a bit dry and “squashy” for me. This time, I put into the blender cooked winter squash, some hot peppers, and some tomatoes. Inside the flour tortillas, I used leftover venison taco meat and the last bit of the purple cabbage and green tomato salsa, rolling the tortillas tightly into the pan. I spread them with a can of un-healthy, fattening, non-organic cream of mushroom soup, just because I love the flavor it adds to my enchiladas! Then I topped them with a generous amount of blended squash, peppers, and tomatoes (all grown organically, of course), making sure the sauce made it down in between and below the individual enchiladas.

Smothered in cheese and cooked ‘til bubbly and slightly browned, it was moist and delicious!

tomato soup

a farmer's wife — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:20:00 +0000

Our favorite tomato soup recipe turned out extra-pretty this week with the
addition of yellow heirloom tomatoes.

It's a simple recipe: just saute diced onion and garlic in butter. Then add
diced tomatoes and a bit of beef broth, then salt, pepper, thyme, and
parsley to taste. Simmer for a few minutes and it's the perfect side to go
with grilled cheese sandwiches or any Italian meal!

of homemade tomato sauce

a farmer's wife — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:29:00 +0000

Have you ever tasted homemade tomato sauce? From tomatoes grown in the dirt around your home. Tomatoes that have been chopped on your kitchen counter. Tomatoes that have simmered for hours on your kitchen stove. Until the extra liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes have reached the smooth perfection of…homemade tomato sauce.

Last week I made homemade tomato sauce. Then I diced up a leftover chicken breast (from a whole chicken that had boiled on my wood stove in a cast iron pan), and tossed it with pasta, artichoke hearts, mozzarella cheese chunks, and some Italian herbs. Topping it with my homemade tomato sauce, making sure some cheese was near the top to peek its way through, I popped it in the oven.

The bubbling and browned delight that came out was absolute perfection. Most especially because of the homemade tomato sauce.