There were some absolutely gorgeous pies at last weekend's harvest celebration, and some wonderful savory ones too (one yummy crustless one with chard, pine nuts and currants); I'm hoping that those of you I met and talked to will send me your recipes so I can share them with everybody! - Debbie

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Sweet Dumpling squash... what can I tell you about them? Sweet Dumpling winter squash look like squatty little ornamental gourds, but don't let the looks deceive you -- they are incredibly delicious! Like their "cousins" called "Delicata" (same flavor, different shape), they are both thin skinned, so you can eat the peel just like you would a baked potato... and they're so sweet! Really, there is no need to add brown sugar or maple syrup like lots of people do to winter squash recipes. I highly encourage you to try it simply first. Here's a perfect way:

Taylor's baked Delicata or Sweet Dumpling squash with butter and rosemary
Oh. My. God.
This is SOOOOO good!!!

This is dead easy, and absolutely amazing. So -- just halve the squash lengthwise [Delicata] or around the middle [Sweet Dumpling], and scoop out the seeds. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put squash halves in a baking pan cut side up. Put a generous chunk of butter in each half (1 tbsp? 2 tbsp? depends on how big the squash halves are; don't be shy with the butter). Scatter minced fresh rosemary over this (a little goes a long way; maybe only 2 to 5 rosemary leaves, minced, per squash half), and bake until completely soft... 30 minutes, maybe 40 if they are bigger... check on them after 20 minutes, then continue checking at 10 minute intervals, but be sure to bake them until compleeetely soft. The aroma is just amazing; your mouth will be watering. What's really great about these babies is that you can eat the skin too! If you're the sort that likes baked potato skins, you'll be a happy camper.

Cooking notes update from Nov 15: for the Sweet Dumplings, I put the halves in a covered glass baking dish with about 1 tbsp. water in the bottom at 350 degrees for an hour, then uncovered it for another 20 minutes or so. It came out incredibly tender and wonderful! See Week 34 Newsletter 2010 for pictures!


Here's a cool idea for that Napa cabbage (and carrot and fennel and radishes and scallions): make kimchi! We've got the perfect combination of veggies this week, especially if you have any hot peppers left in your fridge from last week's shares. It's a pretty quick fermentation (only takes about a week), so you can be enjoying your kimchi in relatively short order.

Kimchi
from "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Ellix Katz [this is a fabulous book, by the way! As always, my comments are in square brackets, Sandor's are in parentheses. - Debbie]

Ingredients (for 1 quart kimchi)
Sea salt or Himalayan salt [do NOT use table salt; it has additives - read the label sometime and you'll be amazed. It has to be pure, unadulterated salt because any added chemicals will mess up the fermentation process!]
1 lb. Chinese (Napa) cabbage or bok choi
1 daikon radish, or a few red radishes
1 to 2 carrots
1 to 2 onions and/or leeks and/or a few scallions and/or shallots (or more!)
3 to 4 cloves of garlic (or more!)
3 to 4 hot red chilies (or more!), depending on how hot-peppery you like food, or any form of hot pepper, fresh, dried, or in a sauce (without chemical preservatives!)
3 tbsp. (or more!) fresh grated gingerroot
[and I would optionally add fennel too!]

Process
1. Mix a brine of about 4 C water and 4 tbsp. salt. Stir well to thoroughly dissolve salt. The brine should taste good and salty.
2. Coarsely chop the cabbage, slice the radish and carrots [and fennel], and let the vegetables soak in the brine, covered by a plate or other weight to keep them submerged, until soft, a few hours or overnight. Add other vegetables to the brine such as snow peas, seaweeds, Jerusalem artichokes, anything you like.
3. Prepare spices: Grate the ginger; chop the garlic and onion; remove seeds from the chilies and chop or crush, or throw them in whole. Kimchi can absorb a lot of spice. Experiment with quantities and don't worry too much about them. Mix spices into a paste. (If you wish, you can add fish sauce to the spice paste. Just check the label to be sure it has no chemical preservatives, which function to inhibit microorganisms [needed for proper fermentation].)
4. Drain brine off vegetables, reserving brine. Taste vegetables for saltiness. You want them to taste decidedly salty, but not unpleasantly so. If they are too salty, rinse them. If you cannot taste salt, sprinkle with a couple of teaspoons salt and mix. [The salt is necessary to the fermentation process.]
5. Mix the vegetables with the ginger-chili-onion-garlic paste. Mix everything together thoroughly and stuff it into a clean quart-size (liter) jar. Pack it tightly into the jar, pressing down until the brine rises. If necessary, add a little of the reserved vegetable-soaking brine to submerge the vegetables. Weight them down with a smaller jar, or a sip-lock bag filled with some brine [so that if it leaks, no problem. The purpose of the weight is to keep the veggies fully submerged during fermentation.] Or if you think you can remember to check the kimchi every day, you can just use your (clean!) fingers to push the vegetables back under the brine. I myself like the tactile involvement of this method, and I especially enjoy tasting the kimchi by licking my fingers after I do this. Either way, cover the jar to keep out dust and flies.
6. Ferment in your kitchen or other warm place. Taste the kimchi every day. After about a week of fermentation, when it tastes ripe, move it to the refrigerator. An alternative and more traditional method is to ferment kimchi more slowly and with more salt in a cool spot, such as a hole in the ground, or a cellar or other cool place.


And a perfect way to USE your kimchi... member Diana Foss sent me this recipe from the New York Times back in January:

Kimchi Pancake

For the dipping sauce:
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. vinegar
1/4 tsp. minced scallion
1/4 tsp. sesame seeds

For the pancake:
1/2 C flour
1/2 C potato starch
1 egg
2 scallions, cut into 1 1/2-inch-long pieces
1 1/2 tbsp. garlic, sliced thinly
1 1/2 tbsp. Korean red pepper powder or 1/2 tbsp. cayenne
1 tsp. salt
1 C kimchi [drained, I'm guessing]
2 tbsp. kimchi juice
6 tbsp. vegetable oil

1. Make dipping sauce: In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, scallion, sesame seeds and one-half tablespoon water. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, potato starch and egg until smooth. Add scallions, garlic, red pepper powder, salt, kimchi and its juice. Mix well. Batter will be pale pink.

3. Place an 8- or 9-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. When oil is hot, pour in one-third of the pancake batter. Fry until golden and crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes. Lift pancake with a spatula, add 1 tablespoon oil to pan and swirl it. Flip pancake and fry other side until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip again, without adding oil, and fry for 1 minute. Flip one more time and fry 1 to 2 minutes. Pancake should be dark gold.

4. Repeat with remaining batter and oil, making 3 pancakes. Remove to a large round plate and cut each pancake into 6 wedges. Serve with dipping sauce.

Yield: 3 pancakes.


Lastly, for the Family Share members who are getting the last of the eggplant this week, here's a recipe our of  last week's SJ Mercury News:

Marinated Eggplant with Oregano
makes six hors d'oeuvre servings
recipe modified slightly

3 small eggplants (about 1 1/2 lbs)
Olive oil, for brushing
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

For the marinade:
1 small hot red pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp. fresh oregano, plus a few leaves for garnish
1 medium clove garlic, crushed
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 C olive oil
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, coat with nonstick cooking oil spray [or smear with a little olive oil]. Cut the stems from the eggplants, then cut in half lengthwise and crosswise. Cut each quarter eggplant further into 3 equal 'half-moon' slices. Arrange slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and brush each lightly with olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast 18 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, prepare the marinade: whisk the minced red pepper, herbs, garlic, lemon juice, oil, salt and black pepper.

Transfer cooked eggplant to a serving platter. Spoon the marinade evenly over them and leave at room temperature for up to 2 hours before serving (or cover and refrigerate up to 2 days; let sit at room temperature for 1 hour before serving). Sprinkle with oregano leaves and serve.