Must-Have Kitchen Tools

I clock lots of hours in tiny kitchens – and because there's no room for unnecessary fancy gadgets, I've whittled my culinary arsenal down to just a few key items. Having the right tools makes cooking so much more enjoyable, so here’s a list of the top kitchen tools I can’t live without… read on and get cookin' good lookin'!

1. Le Creuset Dutch Oven

I'll never forget the Christmas morning when I received my Le Creuset Dutch Oven. At the time, I was nervously counting down the days until I left for culinary school at Ballymaloe, and I had zero culinary skillz. Le Creuset pieces are certainly an investment, but every piece is built to last multiple lifetimes. Made from cast iron and a crazy durable enamel exterior, these pieces can go from stovetop, to oven, and straight to the table - not to mention they are ridiculously easy to clean (and trust me, I've put mine through the ringer). Dutch ovens come in a wide range of sizes, but I'd recommend starting with the Round 5-1/2 Quart size. There's a rainbow of different colors, so choose the hue that speaks to you! Personally, I'm a Marseilles Blue kinda girl. 

2. Victorinox Chefs Knife

Every person has their own criteria when it comes to selecting a chef's knife - German or Japanese? 8 inch or 10 inch? Straight edge or curved? - so ultimately you gotta do your homework, visit your favorite kitchen store to try out some knives, and pick the best one for you. After much trial and error, I found my (cutlery) soul mate... the Victorinox's Fibrox Pro Chef's Knife. This knife is light in your hands (which comes in handy if you're chopping all. day. long.), it's durable, and stays super sharp - especially when you use tool #3 on my list. In fact, my entire knife set comes from Victorinox - a brand mostly known for their Swiss Army Knifes - though if I could only have ONE knife from my arsenal, this would be it. Did I mention this bad boy will only set you back $45? Oh heck yes. 

 

3. Accu-Sharp Knife Sharpener

Of all the kitchen tools on my "must-have" list - this one costs the least, but may be the most important. Piggy-backing on #2. this little guy only costs about $8, but it has totally revolutionized the way that I care for my knives. Honing steels are the more traditional method for sharpening knives at home, but this tool is way easier and more enjoyable to use. Every time before using my chef's knife, I quickly run a few quick passes of the Accu-Sharp over the blade, and I'm ready to rock. It may seem counter-intuitive, but a sharp knife is a safe knife (because you won't be fighting tough roots or bulky winter squash with a dangerously dull blade) so RUN DON'T WALK and add this tool to your kit!

 

4. (Mini) Food processor

You know those giant, multi-purpose, fancy-schmancy 10+ cup food processors? Yeah, they're useful and all, but holy freaking guacamole they can be a total pain to clean. So while I have my Big Bertha 10-cup Food Processor stashed (somewhere) in the back of my pantry... the food processor that I actually use on a daily basis is a petite 4-cup "Mini" Food Processor from Cuisinart. This puppy may lack some bells and whistles, but she gets the job done and is juuust the right size for whipping up homemade sauces, pestos, and dips to spice up your weeknight meals. Not to mention this little guy clocks in at under $40! #WINNING

 

5. Wooden Cutting board

First things first, wooden cutting boards just LOOK awesome. On a more functional note, wooden boards are the best cutting board material for keeping your knives sharp, and studies have shown that wooden boards are just as good at keeping dangerous bacteria at bay as their plastic counterparts. Like any cutting board, you'll want to thoroughly clean wooden boards (especially after working with raw meat), by simply scrubbing it in hot, soapy water - then rinse and dry thoroughly before storing. John Boos is a respected brand for wooden cutting boards, and they come in a wide range of sizes (I say the bigger the better) and wood types (Walnut, Cherry, and Maple). Averaging around $65, a solid wooden board is worthy investment that you'll be proud to showcase on your kitchen counter. 

 

6. Mason Jars

I promise, mason jars aren't just for hipsters! There's a reason (actually, many reasons) why these handy guys have been around for so long. Here are some ways that I use my ever-growing collection of pint and quart-sized mason jars on a daily basis: 

1) DIY salad dressing. I make every single salad dressing from scratch by throwing all the ingredients in a mason jar and shake, shake, shakin it up. I like to make a big batch on Sundays, which lasts me through the week and makes eating healthy that much easier.  

2) Quick pickles. Whenever I have an odd assortment of extra veggies on hand, I pack them into a mason jar with some herbs and spices, top them off with a brine (1 cup vinegar, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 2 tablespoons sugar) and voila! You've got quick pickles my friend. These babies will stay tasty in your fridge for up to one month (if they last that long)!

3) Pantry storage. Cooking is much more enjoyable when you can actually SEE the ingredients stuffed in your pantry. Which is why I store almost all of my dry goods (flours, rice, corn meal, nuts, dried beans, etc) in wide-mouth quart-sized mason jars. (Pro tip: once your ingredients are in the jars, be sure to LABEL them so you know what you're workin' with).  

4) Food gifts. If you're a close friend or a family member, you already know that just about every Christmas gift from me comes enclosed in a mason jar. YEAH, YOU'RE WELCOME. 

7. MICROPLANE

This is a tool that many folks aren’t as familiar with, but it’s something I use daily. From grating wedges of parmesan cheese, mincing garlic, or zesting citrus – microplanes are small, mighty, and indispensable.

EAT LIKE A FARMER: Provider Farm

Late last night, when my unsuspecting husband came home from work, he found me outside our house in the pitch dark, covered in mud, head down and hustling hard to get multiple flats of vegetable seedlings in the ground before an impending rainstorm. I'm pretty sure that he (and all of our neighbors) thought I was crazy... but the farmer in me couldn't bear the thought of those vegetables stuck in their flats for several more days waiting for the ground to dry out - even if it meant planting well after dark with tired bones and a grumbling stomach.

For better or worse, most farmers I know would have done the same thing. We are driven by the (sometimes crazy) but satisfying rush that comes with doing truly tangible work that will feed you + so many others in a few weeks/months time. Today I'm thrilled to continue the Eat Like a Farmer series with an interview with two incredibly hardworking farmers that I greatly admire and respect, Kerry & Max Taylor of Provider Farm. On their 16 acre farm in Salem, CT, Kerry & Max grow a vast variety of vegetables primarily for their CSA customers and a few wholesale clients. In the interview below, we get to learn about their daily routine on the farm, the challenges to balance work and family, a deep love for growing (and eating!) onions, favorite kitchen tools and cookbooks and heaps and bushels more.

Big thanks and high fives to Kerry and Max for taking the time to take part in this interview series - be sure to check out on their beautiful and insightful instagram feed at @providerfarm!

Where is your farm located and what to you grow? We are located in Salem, CT. We grow pretty much every annual vegetable you can think of on 16 very stony acres. We grow our vegetables primarily for our winter and summer CSA, as well as a few wholesale accounts. We are passionate about our CSA because it allows us to nourish and connect with our community.

Walk us through a typical day on your farm and in your kitchen. Our days on the farm really vary depending on the time of year. In peak season, we start work with our crew at 7 and end at 5 with lunch at noon, Monday through Friday. We take care of animal chores and odds and ends before and after the work day and in peak season often have tractor work and irrigation to tend to after hours. Our winters are slower and we work 3 days a week with a smaller crew 9-4. Breakfast and lunch in the summer are whatever we can throw together. One of us cooks a dinner meal full of our vegetables every night, while the other puts our baby to bed. Our week night dinners are usually simpler and I try to cook something a little more elaborate on the weekends because I really enjoy cooking.  We have some basic go to recipes that work with whatever is in season like curries and stir fries. Our website has a lot of recipes I love to use. I try to fill it with easy and quick recipes that are accessible to even the most novice cooks as a resource for our shareholders. Things weren't always this sane on the farm. When we first started the farm, we worked 12 hour days 7 days a week and never ate the food we grew. We ate out all the time, both because we were exhausted and short on time and also as a stress outlet. By the third year of that, we knew things were going to have to change especially if we were going to have a family and we committed ourselves to not working on the weekend (at least with a crew...during peek season, we gotta do what we gotta do) and to home cooking every meal. We made it a priority to cook at home, and now in retrospect, I can't believe what we used to do. I can understand where people are coming from when they don't want to cook, it requires making it a priority.

What is your favorite fruit or vegetable grow, and what's your go-to method to prepare it in the kitchen? That is a hard one, almost every vegetable we grow is a favorite, its like picking your favorite child. But if I have to pick one, I would pick onions. They go into almost every dish we cook and they do very well here in our high calcium soils and between the varieties we grow, we have them almost all year. In the spring, we have young spring onions, with their greens still on. I just chop those up and use them as I would onions. By July, we have our fresh white onions, which are sweet and mild. They are so good raw or cooked, I love them roasted or grilled with our summer crops like zucchini, eggplant and peppers. By August, we bring in our yellow onions to cure. These onions are for storage and are also the type that have the right sugar profile for caramelizing. Cook them low and slow for 45 minutes until they are a deep brown and put them on anything. Delicious! My husband also makes a killer French onion soup with them. These onions can store until April or May, sometimes I'll chop a few up and freeze them to tide us through to the spring onions.

What kitchen tools could you not live without? Not exactly something I couldn't live with out, but I really love my Komo grain mill.  More of a luxury item, it is a beautiful, quality kitchen appliance in the age of poor quality goods. We bought it when we started getting a grain share out of the pioneer valley and started grinding our own flours. Polenta from fresh ground corn smells so fresh and "corny". I also never realized that you could make whole grain cookies that are just as delicious, maybe better, as white flour cookies. 

Name the top three ingredients used most in your kitchen that don't come from your farm. Oils and fats, basically every meal starts with some sautéed onions and garlic. Salt! We avoid processed foods that are so chock full of salt but use it in our cooking as needed. I feel like if you use it at home you are more apt to enjoy your fresh whole foods and not be tempted into eating less wholesome processed foods. So much peanut butter, an energy rich go to snack! We dip everything in it when we are hustling in our busy season to keep us going.

Favorite cookbook(s)? I still love "The Joy of Cooking" as an all around reference book for the old standards. I also love Madhur Jaffrey and Moosewood cookbooks. There are so many great cooking blogs nowadays too and folks I follow on Instagram like @thekitchn and @loveandleomns. I look at a lot of Paleo stuff, were not adherents, but I like that it uses whole foods and lots of vegetables.

Do you have go-to methods for preserving your harvests through the year (ie jamming, pickling, freezing)? I've really streamlined what I do these days since we have very little time during the peek of the season, and I really prefer to eat fresh in season food. I chop up tomatoes and freeze them in bags for the winter. I also freeze chopped red peppers, though that fell through the cracks this year. Sometimes I'll blanche some greens and freeze them. That is basically it. We are really fortunate because our CSA goes almost year round so we eat vegetables seasonally. We have tons coming out of our root cellar in the winter, all sorts of roots, cabbage, onions and garlic plus greens coming out of our greenhouse. We can eat off the farm almost year round. If we didn't have that, I'd probably do way more food preservation.

What advice do you give your CSA members for cooking through their weekly shares, especially with produce they may not be familiar with? Every meal should start with a pile of vegetables. Use them liberally and freely, don't be afraid of wasting a little, our shares are pretty generous. Get away from "American" type cooking of the starch, vegetable and meat and don't think of vegetables as individuals (don't look for kohlrabi recipes, just recipes that you can throw them in like a good stew or soup). Use vegetables interchangeably and add them to everything you cook. Find some quick go to recipes that everyone in the family likes that you can rely on when you really don't feel like cooking. Keep ingredients for them on hand. A stir fry takes a half hour max to prepare and can handle almost any vegetable.

How has running a farm influenced your relationships with family, friends, and your local community? In some ways, farming can be really isolating. It can take up all of your time and brain space and especially in the beginning we had very little time to connect with family and friends.  As we've tried to get our lives back a little bit from the farm, I have had tomake a conscientious effort to reconnect with people. I am lucky that my father works with us twice a week as our all around fixer guy, fixing all the things that break on the farm. I appreciate the CSA because it allows us to integrate with our community, especially because we are not from this area. Since we do a staffed on farm pick up, it serves as a nice social outlet to get to know our customers and neighbors. We also have made a lot of connections as we operate as a business in the community though wholesale accounts to coops and farmers markets. We made a lot of farmer friends through the market we used to do. We have a wonderful network of farmers through the farms, Brookfield Farm and Riverland Farm, that we used to work for in the MA Pioneer River valley. These farms taught us everything we know and the widespread network of farms around them have been wonderful information and support resources. We named ourselves Provider Farm because we wanted to be just that to our community. One of the most gratifying parts of running our farm is that we are able to donate around 8,000 lbs of produce a year to our local food banks. Produce is one of the harder foods to acquire so we are happy to help fill the gap and provide healthy foods to people who might not be able to acquire them otherwise.

Please share a favorite recipe for a simple, straight from the farm dish that you are craving this fall. I have just been loving roasting roots and brassicas this fall. Toss any combo of them together with a little oil, salt and pepper and put in the oven at 450F until cooked and slightly browned. So good. Sometimes I'll sprinkle a little Ume Plum Vinegar over them before serving.

EAT LIKE A FARMER: Happy Acre Farm

If there's one thing that gives me hope for the future of this country, it's the growing number of rockstar farmers who are dedicating their lives to growing beautiful and nourishing food for their communities. Every morning, thousands of young farmers around the country are waking up before the sun to milk the cows, water the chickens, bring in the dew-wet morning harvest, tackle weeds, fix irrigation lines, start seeds in the greenhouse, spread compost, plant cover crops, pack CSA boxes, deliver to restaurants, respond to emails, take care of finances, crop plan for the next season... needless to say, this is not work for the faint of heart. Farming is exhausting, all consuming and unpredictable - but it's also ridiculously rewarding, community building, soul-nourishing, and (most of the time) really, really delicious. 

At a time when I think we could all use some positive inspiration, I'm stoked to continue the Eat like a Farmer series with this badass husband and wife farming team: Helena and Matthew Sylvester of Happy Acre Farm. Helena and Matthew are first generation farmers growing on 2.5 acres of land for their CSA program, farmers' markets, and local restaurants in sunny Sunol, California. Their signature tagline (#nopanicweorganic) pretty much says it all - Happy Acre Farm is certified organic, and they're committed to practicing good soil health and efficient small acreage production. Be sure to check out the full interview below - where you'll learn that these two work crazy hard, grow stunning produce, eat lots of delicious tacos, and have awesome insight on the best kitchen tools, cookbooks, and seasonal recipes straight from their farm kitchen. 

Thanks and high fives to Helena and Matthew for giving us a glimpse of their farm and sharing some of their kitchen wisdom. To learn more about Happy Acre Farm, be sure to check out www.happyacrefarm.com and follow on instagram @happyacrefarm !

Photo Credit: Happy Acre Farm

Photo credit: Happy Acre Farm

Photo credit: Happy Acre Farm

Photo credit: Happy Acre Farm

Photo credit: Happy Acre Farm

Where is your farm located and what do you grow? Our farm is located in the beautiful, small town of Sunol. A true hidden gem in Northern California, about 40 minutes outside of Oakland. We grow over 80 varieties of fruits and vegetables and a few flowers on our 2.5 acres.

Walk us through a typical day on your farm and in your kitchen. A typical day on our farm starts before sun up with a cup of coffee for me, tea for Matthew and  the morning chores, dogs, chickens, etc. We have a second to whip up a green smoothie and grab some snacks before we head to the farm. Depending on the day of the week we’re either weeding, seeding, transplanting, working on irrigation, making deliveries, headed to market or harvesting - never a dull moment - and taking quick breaks to stuff our faces along the way. Food is very important to us and access good quality food is what got us into farming in the first place. When we’re at home toast and tortillas are the foundation for 75% of our meals, you really can’t go wrong with a taco - most recent taco was roasted butternut, sautéed poblanos and onions, topped with cabbage and our salsa; dinners always include a big ass salad. At the farm we are either eating pasta out of jars or have some kind of cracker and hummus/spread situation topped with whatever we have growing at the farm - think: crackers with hummus, parsley almond pesto and tokyo turnips; something that we can eat quickly or  on the go.

What is your favorite fruit or vegetable grow, and what's your go-to method to cook it? It really varies from season to season, and I find myself craving different vegetables seasonally. Right now my favorite crop is sweet potatoes; in winter I find myself craving greens, which is perfect because it’s when the greens are at their best, the cool weather making them all sweeter.

What kitchen tools could you not live without? Our Vitamix and knifes. Shoutout to farmers market vendor trades for keeping our knifes and farm tools sharp.

Name the top three ingredients used most in your kitchen that don't come from your farm. Salt, organic sunflower oil (high heat tolerant) and tortillas.  

Favorite cookbook? This is a toss up between Yotam Ottolenghi’s PLENTY and Jim Lahey’s MY BREAD.  

Do you have go-to methods for preserving your harvests through the year (ie jamming, pickling, freezing)? When I was working for another farm I was super into canning everything, I had a Portlandia-like obsession. Now that we are the farm owners and the labor and the marketers, etc., time is precious. We were serendipitously gifted a deep freezer and we have shifted to freezing things; our freezer is full of pestos, bbq sauces, veggie stocks, tomato sauces, stewed tomatoes, shucked corn, strawberries, sliced peppers and more . My favorite thing is slow roasted tomatoes - I slice the tomatoes like I would for a sandwich, place them on a baking sheet, smother them in olive oil and a little salt and them put them in the oven at 300 degrees for an hour or so while I’m doing computer work or making dinner. When I am cooking with them in late winter, and I smell that tomato smell again, I can’t help but smile.

What advice do you give your CSA members for cooking through their weekly shares, especially with vegetables they may not be familiar with? Along with the veggies our members get an e-newsletter every week. We use a lot of photos, and have a few different sections with information on crops in the box, farm news, whats on our table and we share some social media photos from CSA members using our produce. The on our table section is the recipe section, and there is a disclaimer below that reads, “Disclaimer: I’m one of those people who doesn't use a recipe, i just follow my intuition and my taste buds. Love, Farmer H”. The recipes are meant to be used more as inspiration rather than a step by step process with exact measurements. I also encourage our members to be creative, have fun and not be afraid to try substitutions. Just because a recipe calls for spinach doesn’t mean you can’t use chard, you can put sweet potatoes on pizza instead of regular potatoes.

How has running a farm influenced your relationships with family, friends, and your local community? We farm in the same county we both grew up in, about 35 minutes from our hometown (Matt and I grew up 10 minutes away from each other, but didn’t meet until we were in our twenties); and being able to provide produce to our families and friends is really rewarding.

Please share a favorite recipe for a simple, straight from the farm dish that you are craving this fall. We went to Indonesia on our honeymoon last year, and I fell in love with all the mi goreng (fried noodles) - we made this dish in a cooking class and I was surprised at how straightforward and simple it was. Start with some cooked and drained ramen noodles, some seasonal veggies and some tempeh. Current favorite combination is fried noodles with sweet potato, onions, turnips and tempeh.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 packets ramen noodles | cooked and drained
• 1 sweet potato | cubed
• 1 large onion
• 1 bunch turnips | cut into quarters
• 1 bunch green onions | minced
• ½ block of tempeh | cubed
• ⅛ -¼ cup kecap manis (indonesian sweet soy sauce)
• High heat cooking oil (Coconut, Grapeseed, or Sunflower)

INSTRUCTIONS

In a wok or a large frying pan, heat a tablespoon of high heat cooking oil over medium heat. Add sliced onion, cook for 7-10 minutes, until translucent and fragrant. Add the cubed sweet potato, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the turnips and tempeh, cover and let cook for 5 more minutes. Once the turnips are tender and a few sides of the tempeh have a nice crust, add the kecap manis, stir to coat the vegetables. Turn off the stove, remove from heat and add cooked noodles. Toss to coat, cover the pan and let it sit for 10 minutes.  Taste before serving, adding more kecap manis if necessary. Top with green onions and enjoy.

Photo credit: Happy Acre Farm

EAT LIKE A FARMER: Kneehigh Farm

It's that time of year when many farmers around the country are beginning to slow their breakneck pace after a full season of tilling, transplanting, irrigating, weeding, and hauling in heavy harvests. It's a time for sowing rows full of over-wintering garlic cloves, seeding soil-nurturing cover crops, pouring over seed catalogues, and setting goals and intentions for a new growing season. It's a time for hearty stews, colorful roasts of root vegetables + winter squash, and warm skillet cornbread slathered with butter and honey. It's also a time to hear the stories and lessons from farmers who have worked tirelessly all season to cultivate the soil and feed their communities.  As farmers, our main focus may be out in the fields, but I think we're also damn good cooks - thanks to an innate sense for the basic culinary techniques + pairings that highlight the best flavors for a season's worth of vegetables. 

Today I'm honored to continue the "Eat like a Farmer" series with Emma Cunniff, owner and operator of Kneehigh Farm in Chester County, PA. The ethics of permaculture—Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share—resonate through Kneehigh Farm, which grows a diverse range of vegetables for a robust CSA, as well as Farmers' Markets and Wholesale outlets. Emma also generously shares her farming knowledge, triumphs, and trials with the growing online community of fellow farmers on instagram (@kneehighfarm). A big thanks to Emma for taking the time to share some of her farm-based culinary knowledge and advice when it comes to cooking with seasonal (and sometimes unfamiliar) produce. I'm excited for everyone to read the full interview below, not to mention admire the photos of Emma's stunning weekly CSA shares! To learn more about Emma and her farm, be sure to check out www.kneehighfarm.com.

Where is your farm located and what do you grow? Kneehigh Farm is located on 7 acres outside of Pottstown, PA, just 45 minutes from Philadelphia. We grow over 100 diverse veggie varieties for our CSA, Farmers' Markets, and restaurants. 

Walk us through a typical day on your farm and in your kitchen. A typical day varies drastically depending on the season. In the Spring, we're usually in the greenhouse seeding & listening to NPR, or running around trying to fix, purchase or construct new equipment/infrastructure/tools, etc. Lots of bread and cheese on these days, or tomato soup from canned heirlooms the previous year. I hate buying veggies from the grocery store before ours are ready to harvest, but I tend to break late February and start buying leafy greens (kale, or arugula). We start getting goodies out of the field early June. My favorite Spring treats are sugar snap peas, baby gem lettuce, scallions, and everything that makes a yummy spring roll. 

Summertime is chaos, but such yummy meals. Depending on the day we're either transplanting, seeding, harvesting, doing tractor work, or delivering. My favorite breakfast/lunch in the summer is a fat heirloom tomato slice on a piece of toast with LOTS OF MAYO. We try to go home for about an hour in the middle of the day to beat the heat and eat a real meal. We never want to cook inside, so we do a lot of grilling and big salads. We usually have lots of extra summer squash, eggplants, okra, and peppers, so we grill those up for dinner along with sausage or chicken from our neighbors who we barter veggies with. Big refreshing cucumber or heirloom tomato salads with basil, or simple greens with a shallot vinaigrette are a staple. Padron peppers as a quick snack, and many many popsicles. Sometimes we come home at 9 pm, eat popcorn and go to bed, but usually, we try to stuff our face with as many tomatoes as possible.  

Fall brings lots of soups/stews, simple roasted sweet potatoes, beets, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, rutabaga fries,  miso-glazed kabocha squash, roast chicken with baby potatoes and fennel, stuffed peppers, leafy greens, and heartier salads. Fall is my favorite time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Colder weather, shorter days, and lighter work allows us to have enough energy to cook and enjoy eating. 

What is your favorite fruit or vegetable grow, and what's your go-to method to cook it? Some of my favorite veggies to grow are beets. They are always a favorite with their big, bushy greens at market, and they hardly have any pests! (except groundhogs.) If I'm starving, I'll quarter a bunch of beets, rub them in oil and salt and roast them at high heat for a simple side dish. I usually don't like boiling veggies, but there's something earthy and satisfying about a simple boiled beet. One of my favorite dishes we eat at a restaurant we sell to is a dip made from salt-roasted beets, mixed with tahini, dill, lemon, garlic, and a little mint. They're delicious added to pasta with their greens and goat cheese, or marinated in sherry vinegar and oil, and sprinkled on top of hearty green or grain salads. We grow Chioggia, or candy strip beets as well, which are beautiful sliced very thin on a mandolin and added to salads.  

What kitchen tools could you not live without? A sharp chef's knife with about an 8" blade, absolutely. As well as tools to keep a knife consistently sharp. I love my dutch oven, as well as my small, medium and large cast iron pans. A large aluminum baking sheet, and definitely a muffin tin. A cheap Japanese mandolin, and loots of various sized glass tupperwear. A small saucepan for heating milk or oatmeal for 2. A medium size pot with a tight fitting lid for cooking rice/soups, as well as a larger stock pot. A few tools I love but could maybe live without: A non-stick pan with a designated plastic spatula. I only use mine for eggs, but I love it. Also, I have to admit I inherited a popcorn maker, and it makes snack time so much easier! Electric ice cream maker for sure. 

What are the top three ingredients used most in your kitchen that don't come from your farm? Oil and salt definitely, and then a toss up between fish sauce, mayo, sherry vinegar, or butter.   

Favorite cookbook(s)? "Zahav, A World of Israeli Cooking", "Lucky Peach 101 Easy Asian Recipes", "Lucky Peach Power Vegetables", "Jerusalem", "Cook's Illustrated The New Best Recipe", "The Art of Simple Food", "The Zuni Cafe Cookbook", "The Joy of Pickling"   

Do you have go-to methods for preserving your harvests through the year (ie jamming, pickling, freezing)? If we had a chest freezer, I would definitely be blanching and freezing a lot more. I try to can at least 2 dozen quart jars of tomatoes, and ideally I would pickle more okra (my favorite) as well as lacto-fermented cucumber dill pickles. I'm on the hunt for a reliable salsa recipe that doesn't taste like ketchup. It's always my intention to do more preserving, but it's difficult in the heat of the summer when it's peak harvest time. Growing dry beans is something I want to experiment with, as well as dehydrating. 

What advice do you give your CSA members for cooking through their weekly shares, especially with produce they may not be familiar with? Roast it. I feel I'm saying "400 degrees, oil, and salt" in every newsletter. But it really depends on the produce in each week. I try to dole out a lot of recipe options, and encourage people to research recipes online. I get a lot of ideas from just searching the ingredients in each share together and seeing what comes up. For example: "fennel, potatoes, and parsley recipes"--usually you find a combination of ingredients that looks right, often times there are many that look gross. I guess it's having an intuition for what ingredients go well together and a sense of how to prepare them so you end up with a diversity of textures and flavors, while still enjoying the delicious simplicity of fresh veggies. There are some veggies we give out that are only prepared a specific way, like Padron Peppers or okra, so we try to be very clear about our favorite methods. People experience a certain amount of trauma from being forced to eat food prepared in unappetizing ways. We try to reintroduce these foods in their fresh form, with recipes that celebrate their simplicity. Food tastes better when it's grown without chemicals, but also when it's prepared 'correctly'. It's fun to curate, in a sense, our CSA shares so the veggies go well together in certain recipes. (Ex. cabbage, radish, cilantro, carrot, and scallion makes a delicious Spring share--and an even better slaw to eat with tacos).  

How has running a farm influenced your relationships with family, friends, and your local community? We do a lot of bartering, so we eat really well thanks to all our farmy friends that raise meet, grow fruit or mushrooms, or make cheese and bread. It's fun and nourishing to use food as currency. We prioritize meeting our CSA members face to face, so we've established friendships and personal connections with our neighbors. We make it clear that they are directly involved with our success, and should feel a sense of ownership of the farm. We cater to their desires, but are also excited to share our favorite foods, and experiences with them. It's motivating to feel their pride in us and in how we operate the farm, as well as their gratitude and support. In turn, we are grateful to feed them, introduce new foods, and provide healthy yummy veggies for our community. We just moved to this new property this year, and already we've established lasting relationships, built on nourishment and regeneration. My family lives in California, so I'm lucky to visit them for 2 months in the winter when the farm shuts down. My siblings have been able to come out, see what I do, and work alongside me. It's an honest lifestyle that I am proud to show my family and friends, and to be able to feed them well and celebrate what this earth provides for us.  

Please share a favorite recipe for a simple, straight from the farm dish that you are craving this fall. I've been obsessed with this simple recipe lately: Slice smallish sweet potatoes into 1/4 in. rounds, tossing them with oil and salt, and roasting them at 425 degrees, making sure they're in one layer and not too crowded. Let them get browned on one side (about 15-20 mins) and flip to finish cooking, but make sure they're not breaking apart, getting mushy or steaming. I then make a dip from equal parts mayo and buttermilk, a little toasted sesame oil, tahini, miso (optional), rice vine vinegar, and sugar to taste. So simple, and so addicting!

Collard greens braised for an hour with onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, bacon or bacon grease, and chicken stock is super satisfying right now too. 

Energy Truffles

Bliss balls, energy bites, vegan truffles... whatever you call them, here’s the low-down on how to make these lil plant-based pockets of energy. I like to make a big batch of these truffles and store them in the freezer, and I’ll grab one whenever I need a quick boost of fuel (without the sugar crash an hour later). Keep scrolling for my recipe for Cacao, Cardamom + Orange Zest Energy Truffles… all you need is a food processor and a few key ingredients, and there are endless spice + flavor combinations to customize these truffles to your liking.

Before we dig into the recipe, I'm going to geek out share the nutritional benefits of some of the superfood ingredients in this recipe, so you'll be even more inspired to whip up a batch ASAP:

Dates

• Dates are a great source of several key vitamins and minerals, and they are high in fiber, which slows the introduction of sugar into the bloodstream and prevents sugar crashes. Dates are also naturally rich in carbohydrates, making them an excellent source of energy.

Almonds

• Almonds are an awesome source of healthy fats, fiber, protein, magnesium and vitamin E. Both raw and roasted almonds pack a high dose of nutrients and minerals. Roasted almonds have actually been found to be easier for our bodies to digest, but just try to avoid almonds roasted in excess oils and/or salt.

Cacao Powder

• Cacao powder is one of the richest sources of antioxidants found in nature, and is especially high in magnesium and iron. To make cacao powder, cacao beans are milled at low temperature to protect the nutrients and flavor. Separated from the oily cacao butter, cacao powder is also a concentrated form of healthy dietary fiber. Cacao is slightly different from unsweetened cocoa powder - both come from the same cocoa bean, but cocoa power is processed at a higher temperature theremore some of the nutrients are lost during processing. In my opinion, cacao powder is best but can easily be swapped 1:1 with unsweetened cocoa powder (which is typically easier to find in grocery stores).

Chia Seeds

• Chia seeds are one of the most digestible plant proteins, an excellent source of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Chia seeds contain all 9 essential amino acids, making it a complete protein that our bodies need to building and repairing tissues and cells in our bodies. Chia seeds are hydrophilic, meaning the seeds actually absorb liquid and form a gel, which make them especially useful as a thickening agent in smoothies, pudding, and overnight oats.

Hemp Seeds

• The highly digestible protein in hemp also includes all 9 essential amino acids which our bodies cannot produce, making it an complete source of plant-based protein. Hemp seeds are also a plentiful source of fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Coconut Oil

• Although it is a 90% saturated fat, coconut oil contains medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) that are easier to digest and are converted into energy rather than stored in your body as fat. There are tons of different kinds of coconut oil - I recommend purchasing organic raw unprocessed extra virgin coconut oil.

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CACAO, ORANGE ZEST & CARDAMOM ENERGY TRUFFLES

Makes about 20 truffles

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup whole almonds

• 1 cup pitted Medjool dates

• 2 tablespoons cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

• 1 tablespoon hemp seeds

• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

• 1 teaspoon orange zest

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom

• Kosher salt to taste

• Optional toppings: ground pistachios, ground almonds, unsweetened coconut

INSTRUCTIONS

If your dates are dry or still, soak them in hot water for 5 minutes, then drain well and pat dry.

Place almonds in a food processor and process until nearly the consistency of almond meal. Next, add the dates and pulse until the dates are in very small pieces and fully combined with the ground almonds.

Next add the cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder, coconut oil, hemp seeds, chia seeds, orange zest, vanilla extract, cardamom and a pinch of kosher salt. Pulse to combine, stopping occasionally to push the mixture down, and pulse until very smooth and fully blended. If the mixture is too dry, add a tablespoon of water. Don't rush this part, as it can take up to 2-3 minutes of blending - you want everything to come together in a ball in the food processor. Taste adjust seasoning if needed.

Transfer mixture to a bowl and place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. With a spoon or tablespoon, scoop the mixture and roll into balls - make them as big or as small as you'd like. At this point, you can also roll the truffles around in an assortment of toppings: finely chopped nuts, shredded coconut, cacao powder, etc.

Enjoy immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 2 months.

White Bean, Chicken & Vegetable Chili

It's officially soup season my friends! This recipe for White Bean, Chicken & Vegetable Chili always makes me think of my mom, who frequently made this soup to warm up our bones on cold and dreary winter nights. The recipe for this soup is below, but first I'm sharing a few quick tips for layering complex flavors into simple, nourishing soups.

The key to elevating a dish is knowing how to layer flavor throughout the cooking process - so here are three Farmbelly tips to use the next time you pull out your soup pot:

IT ALL BEGINS WITH AN ONION. Plain and simple – something magical happens when onions are softened lovingly in a good glug of butter and/or olive oil. When sautéing onions, make sure the butter or oil is hot and sizzling before you toss in the onions, and add a pinch of kosher salt to pull out some moisture. As the onions begin to turn translucent and begin to caramelize, use a flat wooden spoon to scrape up and spread out those slightly browned bits (that's where all the flavor lives)!

TOAST YOUR SPICES. Once your onions are softened and golden, that's the time to add your spices and dried herbs. Continually stir and toast the spices over medium heat before adding any additional liquid - you're building another key layer of flavor here!

ADD SOME FLAVOR BOOSTERS. The next time you have an extra rind of parmesan cheese hanging around, don't throw it away! I keep a ziplock bag in my freezer full of extra parmesan bits, because they are a dreamy addition to simmering soups. I throw in the rinds whenever I add the broth, as it adds creaminess and depth without overpowering the other flavors. Other go-to flavor enhancers for soups is a bit of acid - my favorites are lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, which add a little zip to an otherwise ho-hum soup.

FINISH WITH FRESH HERBS. This soup wouldn't be the same without a few handfuls of chopped parsley tossed in just before serving. If you're going to add fresh herbs, make sure to do it at the end of cooking, as fresh herbs have a more delicate flavor, which can get lost if added too early. Basil, cilantro, dill, and chives are some of my other favorite herb garnishes to kick a dish up a notch. 

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Author: Michelle Aronson, FarmbellyPrint Recipe

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White Bean, Chicken & Vegetable Chili

prep time: 20 minscook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 hours and 20 mins

ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 yellow onions | diced

1 can (4-oz) diced mild green chiles

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon paprika

Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

4 cloves garlic | minced

4 carrots | chopped in 1/2-inch rounds

1 lb small red potatoes, washed and quartered

3-4 lb cooked rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded

6 cups chicken broth (plus more if needed)

2 15-oz cans white beans, drained and rinsed

Handful freshly chopped parsley

Shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

Plain greek yogurt (optional)

instructions

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a dutch oven or large saucepan. This recipe makes a lot of soup, so be sure to use a big pot/saucepan! Add the diced onions and a pinch of kosher salt and cook until translucent and beginning to brown, stirring occasionally, 4-5 minutes.
2. Stir in the can of diced green chiles and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cumin, oregano, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Stir in the carrots and potatoes, coating them in the spices.
3. Pour in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and gently simmer - partially covered and stirring occasionally - until the potatoes and carrots are tender, 15-20 minutes. Next, add the shredded chicken and white beans, heat for until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Taste and add more kosher salt to taste, and thin with more broth (or water) if needed.
4. Turn off the heat and let the soup sit for 15-20 minutes to let the flavors meld together. Reheat if needed and serve topped with chopped parsley and shredded parmesan. This may sound weird, but I also love eating this with a dollop of tangy plain greek yogurt!

Created using The Recipes Generator

EAT LIKE A FARMER: Stitchdown Farm

As I head into my third year living in Southern California, I still can't wrap my head around not having seasons. You know - four REAL, distinct seasons. Now, I'm not asking for sympathy over Santa Barbara's year-round 75 degree and sunny microclimate... but for anyone who's lucky enough to live in a place with seasons, just think about the yearly yearning for chilly nights and cozy sweaters after a sweltering, sweaty summer. And aren't the colors and warmth of spring all the more soul-lifting after you endure a miserable, grey winter? 

When I think about a place in the United States that really knows how to rock the four seasons like a boss, Vermont tops my list. From the impossibly green fields and long days of summer, to the epic colors splashed across the forests each fall, to the seemingly endless, snow-packed winters, followed by the slow, drip-drip-dripping of maple syrup into tin buckets and the thaw of spring that gives new life to the livestock and fruit trees and winter-weary farmers.

Photo from Stitchdown Farm

Today I'm bringing to you my interview with two Vermont-based farmers in the EAT LIKE A FARMER series: Andrew Plotsky and Rita Champion, of Stitchdown Farm based in Bethel, VT. Andrew and Rita are a husband and wife power duo who had a dream, and they actually DID something about it. More than once I've found myself bewitched by Andrew and Rita's instagram feeds, which are sprinkled with plenty of dreamy, romantic images of life on their rural Vermont farm... but they aren't afraid to share the raw and less glamorous side of keeping a small, diverse farm afloat - whether it's flower arranging in the depths of cavernous basements, wrestling with tangled irrigation lines, bent-over while trimming horse hooves, or chopping heap after heap of firewood by hand. 

I'm sending out big thanks and high fives to Andrew and Rita for taking the time share with us a glimpse of their life at Stitchdown Farm. Andrew's words of wisdom are refreshing reminder to embrace the mistakes that inevitably come with a life dedicated to farming and cooking. When the going gets tough, you just have to pull on your boots, lean on your neighbor, embrace the fallen souffle, and plow steadfastly onward. Enjoy the interview below, and be sure to give Andrew and Rita a follow on instagram. PLUS you ought to check out Andrew's awesome work in graphic design, branding + photography!

Photo from Stitchdown Farm

Photo from Stitchdown Farm

Photo from Stitchdown Farm

Photo from Stitchdown Farm

Where is your farm located and what to you grow/produce? Bethel, VT (the most beautiful place in the world). We grow cut flowers for market and we arrange for special events like weddings and 50 year high school reunions. We grow vegetables for ourselves, raise pigs for limited market shares, chickens for us, make maple syrup in the spring so we can drink it all year long and have a team of belgian draft horses that are schooling us big time in the humility department and we hope to be working with regularly in the fields and woods in the next year or so. 

Walk us through a typical day on your farm + in your kitchen. It's pretty much mayhem every day this time of year, constantly shifting. I also work as a graphic designer to make this whole mess float so it's a delicate and unpredictable ballet swirl with heavy shitladen boots to jump between farm and office. These days it's up at 5 or so to coffee and cookie and feed the pigs chickens and bring the horses in from pasture. Then breakfast, most always egg on toast with vegetables and meat of some kind. rotates. often there's kimchi. then if there's a disaster I deal to the best of my abilities. Rita my wife is the real boss of the flower farm so she's hustling all day out in the fields, either harvesting, prepping beds, seeding, transplanting, or arranging flowers. We have weddings most Saturdays and solid farmers market Thursdays so the end of the weeks is double-time with harvest and arranging. Hustling to get that firewood split, pastures brush hogged behind the horses and in front of the winter. Getting ready to get ready for the fall then splash into bed for the winter.

What is your favorite fruit/vegetable grow, and what's your go-to recipe to use it? Radicchio hands down in the food side. Love the bitter greens, generally. Radicchio ceasar is really hard to beat. It's a shitload of anchovies, garlic and mayonnaise and epically delicious. Brown lisianthus and sweet peas are the favorite flowers to grow around here so far. They're both painfully attractive and elegant. 

What kitchen tool could you not live without? I use a sharp high carbon steel chefs knife and small wooden spoon for approximately 96% of my kitchen activity.

Favorite cookbook? Depends on the time of day, emotional trauma of the day and the dew point. I know I'm way behind the ball on this but I've been deep in Momofuku of late. That fish sauce vinaigrette is insane I could put in an IV straight to the taste buds, no joke. Otherwise, Tartine Bread is revelatory and changed my life when it came out. Jane Grigson, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Elizabeth David are on top of my personal canon. 

When cooking, do you typically use recipes or just go by instinct? 1% recipe, 99% intuition which comes from110% learning from fucking up and making gross things.

Who in your life has been a mentor/teacher for you as a farmer? As a cook? Note the 110% line item from above... I learned to make bread from Lorenzo the peasant on his ramshackle farm in Sicily. Learned how to cook meat from Brandon on Vashon, Vegetables from Alice Waters and Terry Romero and all the rest from being stubborn and curious. 

How has living on a farm influenced your relationships with family, friends, and your local community? They are inseparable, there is no family friends or community as divorced from the farm. They are rich, challenging, delicious, painful, and fulfilling. 

What advice do you have for people who want to get more experience growing their own food + cooking farm fresh produce? Just freaking do it. Seriously. Brandon and I use to say that the only way to do it is to do it. You can read about it for a while. you can read about it while you're doing it. probably should. but there's actually no substitute for action. jump in with both feet. pay attention. your souffle's gonna fall. probably every time for a long time. but you're smart and you'll learn. just don't give up when your first try comes out with maggots and weird juice coming out the bottom. it gets better.

Please share one of your recipes for a simple, farm fresh dish that you can't get enough of this summer! This is going to sound like a joke, but it's not a joke. go get flour from the farm around the corner, like for example Rogers Farmstead if you're in Bethel, VT. make bread that is fermented. let bread cool entirely. slice bread. take tomato that you just harvested. slice it. place on slice of bread. place exactly 2.7oz. olive oil on top with salt. there you go you gotcherself breakfast lunch and dinner for the next month.