An Amazing Surprise **RECIPE ALERT**

To continue my penance to you all for having taken such a long hiatus, I wanted to share an amazing recipe that you should all go make RIGHT NOW.

Do you ever have one of those kinds of cooking adventures where you think, "Hey, this recipe kinda looks nice," and then you proceed to be blown away by how incredible it is? Oohing and aaawing through every bite? Yeah, this recipe is one of those.

It came about a few weeks ago when we were just loaded up on Swiss chard and leeks from the farm box. We both love chard and leeks and were looking for a recipe where we could use up a whole bunch of either, but ideally both together. Also, being the late eaters we are, on this particular evening we knew we were getting a late start on dinner and needed something relatively fast. I found this recipe for a leek and chard tart and thought it fit the bill perfectly.

And did it ever! This tart was not only quick and easy but the flavors were just astounding. Truthfully, I didn't expect much out of something whose base ingredients were a leafy green and a mild onion. Yeah, doesn't sound terribly exciting, does it? But somehow they are balanced perfectly and the full savory flavors just come out and hit 'ya with every single bite. This recipe alert doesn't even need a full backstory to go with it. Just go out and make it. Now!

Well.... no backstory but of course I can never post a recipe without some notes. First, I did go with the store bought puff pastry. Remember, we were looking for efficiency. If you are lazy (or efficient) like me, just run to Whole Foods and pick up a package from the frozen section. You can't say the ingredients don't fit the Au Naturale mantra:

Second (and this is small), we only had about 1/4 tsp of thyme left in the container so we supplemented with dried oregano. Finally, the recipe calls for heavy cream. We took a risk and substituted skim milk instead, mainly to make it healthier. I feared that the skim might "water it down," so to speak, but like I said this tart was absolutely packed with flavor. If full cream could add anything more, well then, I'll eat my hat.

Thanks to both Smitten Kitchen and Epicurious for providing this recipe (I found the same one cross-listed on both sites). Enjoy!

Swiss Chard and Leek Tart
Serves as many as you can slice up. But officially: 8
Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 bunch Swiss chard, ribs removed, leaves chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 1/4 cups whipping cream (We used skim milk)
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Instructions:
Roll out pastry on floured work surface to 12-inch square. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1 inch. Fold under; crimp edges. Cover; chill.

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add leeks and thyme. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover; cook until leeks are very tender but not brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add chard; saute until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cool.

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 425°F. Whisk cream and next 5 ingredients in large bowl. Mix in cooled leek mixture. Pour filling into crust.

Bake tart 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake until filling is puffed and just set in center, about 15 minutes longer (this only took our oven about 10 minutes longer). Transfer to rack; cool 10 minutes.

We inhaled half of it it before it occurred to me to take a picture.

I'm Not Dead Yet: Self-Promotion and **RECIPE ALERT**

Happy post-Thanksgiving, everyone!

I think there is something going around. A flu of some sort, but one that only affects bloggers. I know that I have gone my longest stretch yet without posting-- oh, the humanity!-- but other bloggers I know have remarked with a combination of guilt and curiosity that they, too, have been woefully ignorant in blogging over the past month. And other blogs that I follow I noticed have had a few cobwebs themselves. Daylight savings time malaise, perhaps? Too bundled up under heavy blankets to bother pulling out a pen... er, keyboard? Who knows. I'm not using this as an excuse for my pathetic lack of posting, dear readers. But I do find it most curious. And with that I apologize in advance for what will most likely be a long post, as I expound on so many things floating around in my brain. 

Anyhoo, just because I haven't been busying myself with the never-ending to-do list in my personal life doesn't mean I haven't been Au Naturale-ing myself up. Quite the contrary! The fall CSA share has been keeping me busy and my ears have perked up on some food-related items in the news that I shall be waxing poetic about in some following (and timely, I promise) posts. But first... shameless self-promotion time!!!

I have decided to dip yet another toe in the bottomless pit that is social media and sign my Au Naturale persona up for a twitter account. Now you can get your Au Naturale musings in carefully proportioned character limits at any time! This will help relieve the pressure valve of ideas and half-written posts that sometimes just can't get written when I want them to. (See exhibits A, B, and C, which will be the onslaught of musings to follow in the coming days.) It also is unabashedly a way to get the blog out there more, as I've gotten some great feedback and would love to recruit more loyal readers. I swear though, this is not a criticism of any of you, you've been great! Please don't take it personally. I promise I love you all. In the meantime, please follow me at @AuNaturaleFood. 

Now back to the exciting stuff. Besides the fun that is the new and interesting items in the CSA box-- celery root, anyone?-- it's been a blast to share this Autumn bounty with my more handsome half. As you may remember we decided to split a full box for the fall and it's been all kinds of fun to find recipes to fit our fresh and fabulous groceries, instead of the other way around. I've also been enjoying going back to basics quite a bit too. Sometimes it's just nice to enjoy a salad of fresh greens, carrots, peppers and celery and appreciate the flavors in their most pure and unadulterated form (and oh, Lordy, the carrots are amazing!)

Sharing has some other advantages, too. Sometimes it's easy to split everything up based on personal preferences; for example, brussel sprouts always go into the BF's take-home pile as he adores them and I most assuredly do not. Squash in any form goes into mine for the same reason. The one problem with always getting the spoils of what the other doesn't want is that you inevitably end up with sooooo much of just one thing. My boyfriend has had to blanch and freeze pounds of brussel sprouts that will no doubt last him through the end of the season and then some. And my squash? Thank goodness those things last a while because I still have 3 butternuts and an acorn hanging around even after already using a few others. And that, my fine friends, is where this week's recipe alert comes in.

Earlier this month I was on the road yet again for work, this time to the fine state of Iowa. I got on the plane healthy and rearing to go and a mere hour and a half later I stepped off sick as a dog. I was distressed not only because this was the second time I had gotten sick in as many months, the first being immediately after I got back from Israel, but it is not pleasant meeting with clients when you're sniffling and sneezing and snotting all over them while trying to close a business deal. It's also just not pleasant being sick in Iowa. Those of you who have spent any time in that state know what I am talking about (and I say this with all due respect and affection for all the fine people of the Hawkeye Nation). 

So for days I subsisted on nothing but soup and tea. When I got home I was convinced that my blood was actually turning into a form of soup, I had been eating it so much. But yet I was still not well so the quickly tiring soup diet had to continue. And to me, there would be nothing better to indulge my weary body than homemade butternut squash soup. As a fun bonus, it would also be a great opportunity to get to use my new kitchen toy, a stick blender that my bro and sis-in-law got me for my birthday. Thanks, guys! Side note: if you do not have one I whole-heartedly recommend picking one up! A must for any kitchen!

Fear not, though, if you don't have one, as this soup is still easily made without fancy kitchen gadgets. It is a flavorful, succulent, silky soup just perfect for cold winters days. Even better, it freezes beautifully so you'll never have an excuse to go back to the canned stuff. I still have some from last season that, on a day when I didn't have time to make a fresh batch, I simply defrosted and heated up. Tasted just as fantastic as if I had made it yesterday. 

The only note I have on the recipe below is in regards to the milk: it is up to you how much you want to add depending on if you like your squash soups on the thicker or thinner side. I generally don't put much more than a quarter cup in just because I like my squash soup pretty thick. And really, is fresh sage not the most underrated herb ever??? Don't skimp on it. Your taste buds and belly will thank you. Bon appetit!

Autumn Squash Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 3-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 7 cups)

1 8-ounce sweet potato, peeled, diced

2 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low salt broth

3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage or 1 tablespoon dried sage leaves (trust me, go for the fresh!)

1 1/2 cups (about) low-fat milk

Instructions:

Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cover and cook until tender, stirring often, about 5 minuts. Add squash, sweet potato, stock and 2 tablespoons sage; bring to boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to processor and puree until almost smooth but some texture remains. return mixture to liquid in Dutch oven. (Alternatively, puree directly in Dutch oven with a stick blender.)

Stir in enough milk to thin to desired consistency. Simmer soup over medium-low heat 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before continuing.) Stir in 1 tablespoon sage and serve. 

A Box By Any Other Name.... **RECIPE ALERT**

Ah, the seasons. They just keep rollin' along. We are now officially in the midst of Fall. The trees have changed, most leaves have fallen, and it's getting dark now by 6pm (boo). I'm feeling pretty confident that we're well past our last late-season warm spell. It makes me sad, as summer is my favorite season of the year for many reasons. While I do enjoy the fall and many of the lovely trappings that come with it, I think I become forlorn because that means winter is just around the corner, and the next summer is oh so far away.

Summer ended in another way for me, too, a week ago: I picked up my last summer CSA share which, while small, was really quite the beautiful bounty as it was almost totally different than anything I got all season:

carrots, pie pumpkin, bell peppers, sweet potato, swiss chard, celery, broccoli

And for a bit I thought that would be it for the season. Sure, I plan to frequent the Farmer's Market for the last few Sundays they are open, but I wasn't really considering signing up for the Fall/Winter CSA share that Iron Creek was offering. I thought of how hard it was for me to get through a half box each week, and I was concerned that I would just be torturing myself to go the distance.

However, after much discussion with my boyfriend and conversations with my personal farmer, I was swayed to stick with it. The ever-supportive and encouraging BF offered to split a full share with me (after much debate on whether to split a full or half) and Tamera from Iron Creek assured me that due to the types of produce we would be getting throughout the Fall (root veggies, greens, potatoes, etc) they would keep longer and therefore reduce the stress of having to use up a whole box by the next week.

So we wrote a check and now, looking back, I am really really glad we did. Beyond missing the lazy beach days and evenings grilling out on the back deck that are the hallmarks of my summer, I was dreading having to spend my winter at Whole Foods buying organic produce from Chile or Guatemala or someplace way too far away. This Fall/Winter box goes through the middle of December (with some items lasting much longer than that), which means I will hopefully only have to shop for imported veggies for just a few short months until the market starts up again.


It also means that I get to experiment for a bit longer with veggies that I would normally shoo away. No, I have still not developed a taste for beets, and I must admit I do not miss seeing them in my box one iota. But the broccoli, of which I'm not a huge fan, keeps on coming, and now varying and very interesting types of cauliflower are landing in my crisper, too.

Back up a sec-- let me change that broccoli assessment a bit.  Over the summer I found that broccoli was beginning to grow on me (not literally, of course. That would be terrifying). I credit this change with the fact that when I do have a chance to eat a decent dinner on the road, my thirst for veggies has netted me more than a few side dishes of steamed broccoli. And really, I enjoyed them. Probably wouldn't have chosen them if there were other options, but my plate is always cleaned.

I have had about the same original feelings for cauliflower which meant, while eyeing the interesting green variety that had been chillin' in my fridge for a week, I felt the need to give this veggie a second chance. And after yet another week's worth of travel I was excited to dig into my overstuffed fridge for a cooking adventure.

The recipe I settled on--Cauliflower Steaks with Cauliflower Puree-- is really quite awesome.  I therefore share it with you below. And even if you don't have the patience or the inclination to try the whole thing, may I just say that simply caramelizing cauliflower is AWESOMELY DELICIOUS?!?!  Really. Just try it once. It has a nuttiness and a flavor all it's own that is totally different than basic cauliflower. I may just start eating that straight as a side dish as the mood strikes me.

Another cool thing about this recipe is that it can be used as an appetizer, a side, or a vegetarian main course. I decided to go for it as a main and am quite satisfied, although as I type this some Italian-style potatoes are roasting happily in the oven as the second part of my dinner. I would put a photo of the finished dish but really, cauliflower on top of cauliflower does not photograph well. If someone can find an artistic way to capture white on white (or light green on light green, as mine was) you win a prize.

And of course, it wouldn't be a true recipe alert if not for a few notes. You love it! I know! I found and modified a recipe that I found on Epicurious, where one should never discount the comment section. The majority of the negative comments-- that is, the few there were-- slammed the puree for being too bland. My version adds a number of different spices and flavorings that I thought made the puree anything but boring. I also substituted water with vegetable broth and added a touch of aged parmesan reggiano. If you don't want the cheese, don't have veggie broth, are not a garlic fan, or if paprika is too spicy for you, feel free to eliminate or substitute with other ingredients of your choosing. Also, many reviewers said they used a bit of truffle oil with great success. While that version sounds wonderful, alas I do not have truffle oil. Now, where is that shopping list?....

Cauliflower, welcome to my repertoire!
Cauliflower Steaks with Cauliflower Puree
serves 2


Ingredients:
1 1.5 lb head of cauliflower
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or water, if you prefer)
1 cup whole milk (I used skim because that was all I had and I think it worked just fine)
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup (approx) grated fresh parmesan reggiano
salt and pepper to taste
whole peppercorns
paprika to taste
2 tbs vegetable oil plus additional for brushing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250°F. Using sharp heavy knife and starting at top center of cauliflower head, cut two 1-inch-thick slices of cauliflower, cutting through stem end. Set cauliflower steaks aside.

Cut enough florets from remaining cauliflower head to measure 3 cups. Combine florets, 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, and milk in medium saucepan, and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, peppercorns and paprika. Add in a whole peeled garlic clove. Bring to boil and cook until cauliflower florets are very tender, about 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent curdling. Strain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. (NOTE: by the time I strained it I had only about a half cup of liquid left, which ended up being a perfect amount for the puree. I actually wonder if a full cup would make the consistency too watery.)

Spread florets on large rimmed baking sheet, and bake 10-12 minutes until slightly dry. Transfer florets to blender. Add reserved 1 cup cooking liquid in batches (to make sure it doesn't get too watery) and parmesan and puree until smooth. Return puree to same saucepan and increase oven temperature to 350°F.

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Brush cauliflower steaks with additional oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add cauliflower steaks to skillet and cook until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes per side. Transfer skillet to oven and bake cauliflower steaks until tender, about 10 minutes.

Rewarm cauliflower puree over medium heat. Divide puree between 2 plates; top each with cauliflower steak.

The Evil Bar of Doom is Franchising!

IT'S EVERYBODY'S WORST NIGHTMARE! RUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!

Actually, it is my worst nightmare. Not only has the Evil Bar of Doom opened an East location, it is directly in my line of sight 8 hours a day.

How can this be, you ask? A bar is a bar, it's not a person. It can't multiply itself.

No, it can't, but my company can hire more people (yay economic recovery... sorta).  Directly across from my office is another office that has lain vacant since the day I moved in. I never really paid attention to the room except for when visiting folks from other offices needed a place to crash for a day, and it was one less person I had to worry about annoying while making loud business calls.

But when I arrived home from Israel there was suddenly a new employee who had taken up permanent residence in that office. In truth I didn't mind. She's a pretty cool person and it has made our isolated little corner a bit more social. But just last week she created a major faux pas-- in my eyes only.

"I have a candy jar at home and had one at my last job, so I'm going to bring it in tomorrow," she enthusiastically told me one day, much to my horror. "Feel free to pop in and take whatever you want at any time!"

Oh, no. No no no. As we all know, I have no willpower. Since moving to my new office last February I've been able to avoid the Evil Bar of Doom's Central location (as I will now call it) by using the auxiliary kitchen by my desk. Yes, I slip on occasion, and I fully own up to my slips. But at least I have had some semblance of control. No longer, though, I fear. Not only is this one closer, but the way my door is situated in relation to her door and the jar of mini-candies sits in a line of sight that I cannot control, the lid mocking me, it's like that the jar screams at me 8 hours a day: "I AM HERE. EAT ME. EAT ME. EEEAAATT MEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

And I do. Really, what can I do? The only option is to keep my door closed all the time, but beyond the fact that doing that will give me a reputation as the anti-social hermit in the office, I will still know that the jar is there.

The good news is that she really does stock it with only the halloween "fun-sized" types of candies, so my gluttony is moderated. The bad news is that I've already raided it on more than one occasion. Every time I do I apologize to her, which is really me apologizing to me.

I need a plan. And fast.  Now that apple season is in full effect I've gone back to bringing a supply with me to fend off the regular 3pm cravings. But really, sometimes an apple can't do what delicious malted Whoppers can.

Any suggestions, loyal readers, on how I can tame the temptation? My first instinct was to ask for recipes for Au Naturale candy bars with which I can arm myself, but that itself is a slippery slope: if I know it's there, I will eat it even if I don't really want it, and I really need to maintain the relatively healthy eating habit I've built for myself. That being said.... recipes? Any other not-as-obvious suggestions? Or do I just give in? Say it ain't so....

Know Your Food, Know Your Farmer

We in the Au Naturale/organic world often say it, but the other week I actually did it.

Two weekends ago my boyfriend and I eagerly jumped on the "Farm Day" invitation extended to us by my CSA purveyor, Iron Creek Farm. Having never done a farm visit like this, and eager to see the fields from which my weekly produce springs forth, of course I RSVPed in the positive.

The Saturday of the apponted day was an unusually cool fall day for so early in the season. DISCLAIMER: Having been in Israel for a good chunk of September, where the weather was most decidedly mid-summer or "desert-hot INSANE", it's been a really wierd transition to be back here. I walked around for two weeks when I got back saying "What happened to September? Did anyone know where it went and how I managed to completely miss it?" I kept expecting that October 1 was September 1. This has been alternately confusing, frustrating, and I'm sure amusing to anyone who has come across me when I've been holding a coat like I've never seen it before and simulaneously scratching my head.

Anyhoo... maybe the day was seasonably cold, despite my screwed-up internal calendar. But off to LaPorte, Indiana we went, and because the wonderful BF was at the wheel (my car having suddenly decided to die a few days prior), we were early. Very early, in fact.

We arrived at an enormous barn just as they slid opened the door to reveal a table with a thermos of hot apple cider (made fresh, of course), donuts, and a crock pot of homemeade squash soup; and really, making squash soup from the squash you grow yourself just cannot not get any more homemade. The boxes of fresh-picked squash sitting in the background and waiting to go to market, ranging from acorn to butternut, just made the setting that much more perfect. The cider warmed my confused and cold extremities and the whole scene warmed my heart and reminded me why Fall isn't so bad after all.

We sipped cider and chatted with Tamera, one of the owners of the farm, as people streamed in, mostly parents with very young children and I wondered if we missed the whole point of this farm day. They did mention a hay ride, which I'm sure attracted the families, but I was there for research, damnit! All was not lost, though: the hay ride, which was almost cancelled due to a week's worth of rain turning the fields into a mud pit female wrestlers only dream of, went off without a hitch. We, being the non-children bearers of the group, sat on a metal rail at the front of the cart with Tamera to allow the children to enjoy the hay. Oh, and to make sure they wouldn't fall off into the mud. That would have been hilarious, though.

Perhaps I wasn't the only one who was cold

The first thought that struck me-- and surprised me-- was that the fields weren't, well, as "pretty" as for some reason I expected them to be. Granted, there was the mud; and it was getting to the end of the season; but considering that Iron Creek is an organic farm there were some weeds beginning to appear in some of the plots that had been fully cultivated for the season. The mud was a deep, rich black and has more organic component than many farms (I don't remember the percentage) so everything grows strongly there. I'm not complaining though- on the contrary, I'm glad that a farm can just look like a farm and not something out of Home & Garden magazine, although I did catch myself looking closely for baby faces in the perfect rows of cabbage. (Cabbage Patch kids? Hello? Anyone? The packaging artists definitely spent some time on a farm.)  After all, what matters is what's going into my fridge and body, right?  As we bounced along the rows, the beautifully pungent smell of broccoli wafted into my nose and more than a few times I wanted to jump off the hitch and grab some of that gorgeous produce. My BF nudged Tamera and told her to just drop him off in the hot pepper section and he'd find his way home.

I learned something more, though, than just what rows of brussel sprouts look like. Tamera mentioned, as we passed some bee containers, that they have a bee keeper who brings over his bees to help with pollination. You may or may not have read in the news that bees are dying off at an alarming rate, signifying problems on an agricultural scale that lead to much larger wordly problems in the food chain. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this article.) Nobody knows what is causing this phenomenon, but this particular bee keeper has had no problems at all with his bee colonies. One potential reason why?  He only uses his bees to pollinate on organic fields which don't use pesticides. Bee death as yet another consequence of the overabundance of pesticides? Hmm, food for thought, me thinks.

Back at the main farm, we wandered through the enormous greenhouse housing an excellently nifty hydroponics system and the plants that had treated me to early summer tomatoes.

hydroponics in the front

These make my back deck peppers look so pathetic...

We visited with some pigs that Tamera's family keeps for themselves, who were more than friendly and willing to say hi in between happily foraging in the mud.

Sharing a tender moment...

Finally, we had the opportunity to pick our own pumpkins. Originally we were going to actually pick pumpkins from the patch in the fields, but due to the almost certain death-by-mud scenario they had brought up a selection by the barn. All the pumpkins were gorgeous, and as we later learned, ENORMOUS. In a big field, sat up against other brethren pumpkins, they looked proportional. In my dining room, they look mutant.

3 hours, 4 cups of cider, 2 donuts and a bowl of soup later, we headed back to the city. (Disclaimer #2: watch out for that cutoff on 94 from Indiana back to Chicago. We missed it and had to head all the way over to 55. Ugh.) Besides having a fun Fall Saturday activity, I was thrilled to have a chance to chat more with my farmer, learn how much effort it takes to do what she and her family do (Tamera mentioned that her summers are 80-100 hour work weeks) and see for myself how what I'm putting in my body is cultivated. It truly made my CSA experience more personal. Case in point: the next day, at my regular CSA pickup day, I took a few minutes to chat with Tamera and her husband and inquire about the expected overnight frost about which they were concerned. From that conversation I learned that it really, truly was the last week to get any sweet corn as the frost, which had indeed arrived, killed off the rest of the remaining crop. It was a much more enjoyable and fulfilling conversation than my typical, "Hi! I'm here to pick up my half share." 

Really, we all should take these field trips. I think if more Americans saw where their food was coming from and how it was grown, we'd be more conscious of our decisions to buy from Big Ag.

That evening, despite our exhaustion and bad mood from having to drive completely out of our way only to get stuck in inbound Chicago Saturday night traffic (if you know the city, you know the frustration), we decided to stay in and cook even though it would have been easier to just go out and grab something. We were inspired.  Truthfully, I don't remember what we ate. I just remember that it tasted good, and probably even tasted better since I could picture where it came from, just an hour and a half-- and a whole lot of care and love-- away.

Taking Off

Stop me if you've heard this one before:

Business travel blah blah fast food blah preservatives blah blah middle of nowhere blah no fresh food blah blurg blech.

However, while on last week's business travel, I noticed the following article:

O'Hare's New Garden to Supply Airport Restaurants

(it's okay- go ahead and read the article. I'll wait.)

My first reaction was... say what?!?!  But good for O'Hare! Perhaps this will become a trend at all airport restaurants. And for me, make just one more meal on the road that much more Au Naturale...

ARGHGHGH.

Damn you, Evil Bar of Doom. Damn you to hell.

And yes, that is a mini Hershey's chocolate square stuck in the top.

Note to self: didn't you buy a half pint of raspberries specifically to avoid temptations such as the above? Yeah, you did. So why don't you do yourself a favor and bring them to work. They are not doing you much good sitting at home. Idiot.