Pastured Pork A-plenty

Well it's officially fall now and I would swear that yesterday there were no leaves dropping and today they fall like a busted open down pillow! Well, when the wind's blowing anyway. Haha! Colors are starting here on the farm and the days have what we call a "fall light." It begins somewhere in late August and all of a sudden about sunset, things look more red, pink and crisp? Did I say crisp-yeah, that's right. I know no other way to express it but the trees look more green or yellow or brown, depending on the species. More crisp-or maybe........more vivid is the term.

Now is also the traditional time to 'put up' foods for the upcoming winter, which by the way Farmer's Almanac predicts this one approaching to be very snowy. When we have a garden, not decimated by said generational woodchuck family, I can,freeze and dry all foods that I am able to-unless I don't get it all harvested. Which happens.....we're all human, right? I am therefore not as constructive as a squirrel, I admit. Imagine if as humans we could just dig holes in the garden and bury our cache-pate, cheese, prime rib? I guess that would lure all critters except the acorn hypnotized.

Anyway...everyone who knows us is aware of the woodchuck debacle of this year's garden. But good news on the horizon is that our pork is ready again! Please feel free to phone 802.893.2963 or email info@sheepcheese.com to find out how to order.

Heavenly Free Potatoes

I have a secret to tell......well! It's no secret, no longer! I tell everyone in sight. I purchased organic potatoes to plant in my garden about two years ago from Maine Potato Lady . I searched out unique varieties that stored well into winter, had excellent flavor and high disease resistance. I planted them and harvested huge yields due to adding lots of our own composted animal manure. So the following year I attempted to plant the little unused potatoes to continue it on. It wasn't to be. Tiller was broken and no garden happened. So then later in the year, my husband, dumped out the tub filled with those little unused potatoes from 2 yrs ago and this year they started, much to our shock, to come up. Then as we needed to add more compost to the garden, load after load with the tractor, they still grew! As I eagerly planted my garden with heirloom varieties, several basils, heirloom tomatoes, beans etc a dastardly woodchuck ate the entire thing to the ground overnight. Alas, it was also too late to re-plant this year due to cheese making and starting up the new sheep cheese season.

But! Lo and behold, my cheese making assistant and I discovered a few random potato plants creeping up thru the soil even though my husband continued to add compost on top of the baby shoots. We decided to watch them. And believe it or not, the woodchuck either didn't want them or didn't see them. I really don't care which it was but finally the other day on a summer-like afternoon, I dug 'em. Much to my thrill, there they were! Free potatoes, organic, beautiful, not diseased...and plump. My heavenly free potatoes, I call 'em-thanks Mother Nature. You do pity me sometimes. It's the little things like this that keep a farmer going.


And then the bounty of 'free' fries............cooked dry, salt and pepper, on a cookie sheet 400 degrees F for about 45 mins. To die for!

Tailgate Tart

When the first crisp fall days sneak in, think nights in the 50’s making for good sound sleep. Others get excited for apples- I go for savory treats. Dishes that are fun to make, creative, and easy to travel with. Easy enough to bring to a friend’s house for a party or a tailgate………let’s see…….what can I make? I often ask myself. Something that will catch the eye, is within my budget, adult friendly/kid friendly and most of all easy to transport. Enter, the tart. There are many variations of the tart. Some savory, some sweet. Some made with a pâte brisée, pâte sucrée, and even a pâte sablée, or sandy pastry. Never mind. But I really like one with a light and layered, puff pastry. I make no demands on myself to make the pastry as experts have mastered frozen ones in the freezer section. I love making all kinds of pastry with homemade pastry dough, like the pâte brisée, but this time I need something in a hurry. I usually do not make things in a hurry. Cooking is my therapy, if you will, even though I make cheese all day long and look forward to standing in my kitchen and putting things together while listening to some Diana Krall or even Latin guitar. I know, nerdy. Perhaps, not so. It all comes down to being able to turn off the TV, news, doom and gloom of our lives and just relish the chopping, grating, and ritual of the ‘cook’. And be silent. And not to mention the scents. Scents affect our lives in mysterious ways from our deepest emotions to launching memories from our childhood-good or bad. So I snatched up some newly harvested River Berry Farm onions at farmers market and made my way back to the farm. Waiting for the ‘idea’. This is how I cook. I await the thought that comes to me on my way home from long farmers market days. It eventually will slide to the forefront of my brain, as it sits on hiatus while driving. Oh! A caramelized onion and blue cheese tart. Hmmmmm. I have puff pastry (the frozen kind) in my freezer, just got the onions from River Berry, and our own blue cheese in the fridge.


Caramelized Onion and Honey Blue Cheese Tart


Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 medium/large onions, sliced into approx ¼ inch rings
splash of balsamic vinegar (for deglazing pan)
1 pkg frozen puff pastry, thawed 30-40 mins
1 large egg, slightly beaten for egg wash
¾ cup Willow Hill Farm ‘Vaquero Blue’ blue cheese, crumbled- rind cut off (can substitute many others-gruyere, cheddar, brie, chèvre…..)
drizzle of honey to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Begin by caramelizing the onions. Heat both olive oil and butter in a large heavy bottomed skillet (necessary to prevent sticking and overheating when you want it to cook slowly). Add sliced onions and cook on medium heat, stirring to prevent sticking every 5 minutes or so.




Cook this way for 25-30 minutes. The onions will become golden in color, sweeten up, and become soft. Turn up the heat to high and deglaze the pot with the balsamic vinegar.


This loosens all those brown tasty bits on bottom of pot. Set aside. Up to this point, you can keep the onions in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days -to prep ahead of time for an event.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Meanwhile, take the puff pastry out of the package and using a small amount of flour roll this out to any shape you like. I like the look of rectangles so I roll out to a 9 inch by 14 inch. This is approx. You can shape it however you like...........Then using a paring knife, cut ½ inch strips from each edge and set those aside. These will be borders for the tart. Brush the egg on each edge of the puff pastry and lay the ‘borders’ back on top. This helps 'glue' the border slices of puff pastry dough to the tart itself. Now, using the tines of a fork, ‘dock’ (poke the pastry all over) the whole bottom inside of puff pastry.


This is essential to prevent the entire bottom of your tart from puffing up too much in the oven. Then brush the tart, borders and all, with the egg. Put this in the fridge to chill about 30 minutes. Then bake 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with the onions, and blue cheese. Put back in the oven for about 5 minutes. You just want it to heat thru.


When ready to serve, drizzle a fine stream of honey over the top. Serve warm or let cool and bring to a tailgate party and serve at room temperature.

Note: Any cheese can substitute-for the kids make one with cheddar and one with blue cheese for a tailgate party. Let your mood guide you!

First Annual Vermont Cheese Maker's Festival Success

Well, after prepping hoards of cheese, making displays and signage-different than that from farmer's market, in order to fit a tiny 4 foot table- and not to mention the over 90 degree temps that day and perhaps more inside the coach barn at Shelburne Farms... we did it! We were placed next to Red Hen Bakery and what a spot! Still oh-so sweaty, but Red Hen's bread is fantastic and a great pairing to Willow Hill Farm cheeses.

For those of you who were unable to get a ticket as they sold out rapidly..what did we bring?

Alderbrook-soft sheep milk pyramid- ripe and milky
Autumn Oak-our flagship semi-hard cave aged earthy mushroomy sheep tomme
Butternut- Alpine style that boasts both toasted nuts and butter on the tongue
La Fleurie- cow's milk bloomy rind more decadent than a Camembert in the nutty arena
Summertomme-herb crusted sheep milk similar to a Brin d'Amour with heady floral notes
Vaquero Blue- a sheep/cow blended blue cheese, cave aged on planks harvested here on the farm-it is both buttery, and sweet, and someone with a press pass I didn't catch his name.....called it the "best cheese there." And then Slash Food blog named it among the Top 10! Quite a compliment, however I defer to so many other beautifully well made cheeses. We got it goin' on in Vermont when it comes to cheese!

Congrats to all the cheese makers that made this first festival the place to be-my only fantasy would be for it to move next year to the breeding barn at Shelburne Farms (another gorgeous building with much more room AND air flow). Many thanks to Shelburne Farms and Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery (aka Vermont Butter & Cheese Company) for their hard work and determination to make this a destination. I'm sure it will become one-it already did in its first try.

I would also like to thank my assistant cheese maker, pictured here with my husband,


and my other cheese assistant, Tim, unfortunately I was unable to get a picture of him later in the day. Thanks Willow Hill Farm team for coming and making this a pleasurable and great time-and on a Sunday! What a work ethic. 4 out of 6 on payroll serving and cutting cheese to over 1000 people in over 90 degree temps. Even folks from Georgia were hot! Many thanks again, you guys did great!

Cheese Festival Open House Today

Today we are participating in the open studio on farms coordinated with the Vermont Cheese Makers Festival. We have cheese samples, pre-picked blueberries and self-guided tours from 9-5. Come join us!
We hope to see you also tomorrow as well at the Cheese Festival at Shelburne Farms-Aug 23rd, Sunday, from 10-5. visit www.vtcheesefest.com

Grunts & Slumps

Here at Willow Hill Farm, we have a small certified organic blueberry U-Pick operation. It took me a bit to recall when we planted those first small bushes back in 1992. I remember gathering the help of two friends to dig holes by hand and plant into stony, not so well-drained land. Our farm has changed directions over the years beginning with mixed vegetables, heirloom tomatoes, and greenhouse plants. Then we began milking sheep and cows in the mid-90’s. The raspberries, strawberries and currants are no longer as they too suffered the poorly drained soil’s demise. Not so, for the blues though. We are routinely graced with bumper crops in those fields due to our North facing glacial till soil and rocky hills. Sounds like it flies in the face of good gardening? Actually not. Blueberries thrive in an acidic, high water table soil that is a bit rocky or even stony. One imagines the wild ones in their almost shady, raised hummocks in somewhat wet sites. I call it its own ‘terroir’…..Not river bottom, which is what one normally would hope for in the best production of vegetables. Our sole remaining crop 17 years later stands over 7 feet in some spots!

When the weather in July is usually hazy, hot, and humid….alas, maybe not this year- I still hope for it. I become awash in blueberry grunts, slumps, cobbler, pie, crisp, blueberry sauce, and I need to find a simple, fresh and easy recipe that takes the heat out of the kitchen, body and therefore, mind. Something to take me away. Mmmm. sorbet. I like this recipe since it is simple to make, beautiful to look at, and fantastic to eat! And I repeat, oh-so simple. Why sorbet and not ice cream you ask? No custard to make- it’s mix, freeze and go. Less is more.

BLUEBERRY SORBET
Serves 4.

2.5 lbs fresh blueberries/frozen works too (thawed, drained)
2/3 cup water
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

NOTE: Do not omit the corn syrup. It prevents crystallization and makes it creamy and not grainy, like a granita.
Put sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until sugar is dissolved.. Allow to cool off completely.
Place blueberries and lime juice in a blender or food processor and puree until completely smooth. Then transfer blueberry mixture to a fine sieve to remove seeds. Press out all seeds.

Combine this with the cooled sugar syrup and corn syrup .

Success hint: pre-chill blueberry mixture at least overnight. Chill ice cream maker bowl 24 hours ahead of time too. When ready, follow manufacturer’s instructions for the ice cream maker.

This spells summer to me! The almost onyx deep blueberries with their inherent antioxidant health benefits fused with lime and chilled? It’s sublime. Take me away sorbet!

Farmers' Corn Foibles

It's a miracle that in '09 Vermont summer history, farmers market yesterday was pleasantly steamy. Without complaint all vendors sort of plodded along lacking physical acclimation to the heat. At day's end while packing up, David Zuckerman (Full Moon Farm) asked me how our blueberry crop was faring. Many Intervale farmers have come to pick berries at our farm for over a decade and as a farmer he is no stranger to the vagaries of Mother Nature. As late afternoon traffic criss-crossed as we chatted, he offered to give me some corn that had not sold at the market. What!? How can one go home with corn, I say! I offered to pay for it and he gracefully refused. This is vendor speak. So then I point to some blueberries. Subtle dance is on. He accepts my move. Loads me up with husk after husk. Almost like a medieval fencing ritual, eh?


So today, stuck inside due to soaking rain (which is now the norm- I crave the time to 'cook' as that is basically what I do 5 days a week making cheese) I decide to do up some chili on a Sunday. Sauteed up our grassfed beef, onions, peppers, spices, and black beans.

Then I thought of David's corn. He gave me so much, I'll never be able to use it all before it goes by. Homemade corn bread with bacon and cheddar cheese is a staple in our home, my mom IS Southern, but well, I'm too tired due to the soporific-ness of rainy day, so corn fritters may be something to try in a pinch!

Found a great recipe from King Arthur Flour and made the call that this would satisfy as well as any comfort food. Sorry mom.

From KING ARTHUR FLOUR: (using Full Moon Farm's corn kernels):

CORN FRITTERS

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon butter, melted
3-4 ears fresh corn kernels, cut off the cob and set aside
1-3 cups veg oil for frying

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Whisk in the melted butter and them stir in the corn kernels.

in a large skillet, heat up the frying oil over medium heat. Drop fritters into frying oil (approx 350 degrees F) and fry until tops puff up. Then turn over and finish cooking on the second side. Drain on paper towels and serve warm.


Chili, tequila, corn fritter............what better way to end my week. Thanks Full Moon Farm!

Hail Storm

This year MUST be the wettest on record during the summertime. I have lived in Vermont for 21 years, farming most of those years and have never seen slugs the size one finds in the Northwest! Literally they are happily growing to 5 inches or more. Then again, not to sound too whiny, but it's sacrilege to me, that as a farmer I cannot even have a garden-there is a new litter here to add to the grandpas, grandmas and cousins of said woodchuck lineage at Willow Hill Farm. And someone in his family devoured my entire garden to the ground! Arugula, lettuces, heirloom tomatoes, beans, fennel..........all that I started from seed. Then again, perhaps a blessing in disguise-as most are getting hit by severe blight in tomatoes and the excess water is causing blossom drop and rotting sorts of diseases in most crops. So I really shouldn't fret as we are very lucky to even have a blueberry crop. As I watched a late spring frost affect neighboring farms with strawberries and raspberries, we were dealt some slight frost to the tips of the shoots-apparently nipping only new growth of leaves. Not the flowers, which would have been their death knell. The blueberry flowers in the crop are set the preceding fall and then a confluence of universal factors must be in place to effect a cluster of berries-the next year. It's a wonder there can even be crops?! First, the bud set must happen the fall before, then a winter not too cold or icy, then just enough snow cover, then in spring, a bloom at the proper time without frost-and good weather for our wild bumblebees to pollinate. Which means not too much rain during their peak flying hours of 10-3.....Honeybees are not good blueberry pollinators. The flowers are bell-shaped, hence the honeys are unable to reach inside like a plump bumble can.

So here I am driving to the Intervale a few weeks ago for a Slow Food cheese tasting (hosted by Mara at Half Pint) and all of a sudden I thought we were going to meet up with the Ark! The sky thrusted a downpour and then radio weather warnings screeched on babbling to seek cover and not drive across wet roadways or drown. Back on the farm in Milton, hail was a-flyin' and luckily for us-just our house window screens were shredded but no damage to the solar barn. It's a greenhouse type structure and could have been decimated by Mother Nature's little marbles. Doesn't it seem as though Mother Nature is playing with us this year? Game on, Mother Nature. Us farmers are too stupid to quit.

Brewers' Best

Each year I volunteer for a bit to help out with the Vermont Cheese Council's booth at the Burlington Brewfest. Microbreweries from around the country and into Canada attend this ever growing event. Typically each year for some strange reason, there is torrential rain and steamy sultry heat right after. This day promised different. When I arrived I thought I was overdressed with muck boots on and a heavy rain coat. But within 20 minutes looking across Lake Champlain one could see black rolling clouds heading our way. Boom. It poured and sogged up the already spongy grass filled with long lines to taste the brewers' best on this day.

Back to why I was there. No, not to drink in the middle of the day on a sun filled Saturday when I am always working my stand at the farmers market..........wait! Why not? I was actually there to help prep and plate 100 tastings for the public to be conducted by Ruth Miller and the Vermont Cheese Council's new coordinator, Calley Hastings (Fat Toad Farm). Calley, Mark Fischer (Woodcock Farm), Masha Stern, and myself squeezed under the dripping EZ UP tent to cut assembly line style. What was on tap?

At 12 o'clock position on the tasting plate... Woodcock Farm's bloomy rind sheep cheese, Summer Snow paired with Alchemist's Saison
Around the clock as follows: Willow Hill Farm Butternut Cheese paired with Switchback Roasted red
Boucher Farm Gore-Dawn-Zola paired with Bobcat Baltic Porter
Fat Toad Farm Herbed Chevre paired with Rock Art Magnumus
Shelburne 2-Yr Cheddar paired with Gardner Ale Hard Cider
Why was Boucher Farm in the 3 o'clock position, I asked? Typically blue cheeses are tasted in pairings last as the flavor profiles tend to dominate one's palate and block all others following.
Ruth explained that the beer used in this pairing was the reason for its placing.
Word has it that it was very well attended and all had fun!

Not a Pesto Season

Well, I hate to sound like a broken record, but this may not be a pesto season due to the evil R---! I relish the thought of sensating its heady sensuous and healing aroma to fill my kitchen with bundles to put up for winter in the form of pesto jars-but alas, it's NOT to happen! I complained as much as possible to get husband to 'rent' a tiller, since ours was "broke", and as fortune has it, or not! He cared not to. So finally I won out with threats of not being able to eat like a king through the winter, our own, organic, homegrown, "just think of all the money we'll save........"! Until it occurred. Works every time.

Well, not really. Not in 2008. I went without a garden in 2008 since said husband exclaimed tiller was broken and that was that. I am not capable of lifting a tiller out of my truck so I "just dealt". Worked out fine. We had a CSA share with River Berry Farm, which was great! But........I adore growing my favorite varieties that I used to seed in my own greenhouse business here on the farm (1990's)....... they are not necessarily readily available in greenhouses around here or are classified as 'weirdo' veggies for Vermont. I love on the fringe vegetables like fennel, broccoli raab, bok choy, hon tsai tai, kyona mizuna, asian eggplants, radicchio, fava beans, artichokes, heirloom French musk melons, arugula, savory, and other ethnic herbs........

But not to worry. Enter, Burlington Farmers Market. I managed to lasso the first of the season basil from Lewis Creek Farm (vendor next to me) and greenhouse tomatoes for salad from River Berry Farm (next to me on other side) and arugula from Digger's Mirth. Not to mention the largest perfect radicchio from Arethusa Farm. All local, all fantastic.

In a hurry as ever, I prepped the basil by tearing it up into medium pieces, and yes, I do use the stems unlike purists, throw all into a food processor, with garlic cloves, salt and pepper, fresh squeezed lemon juice (key to taste and keeping it BRIGHT GREEN) grated Autumn Oak cheese, walnuts and extra virgin olive oil.

Sauteed the radicchio, cut into quarters, and then quick braised in chicken stock. Done! Boil up some penne pasta and all's well with the world-even when it's raining.