This recipe was published in Chow’s recipe of the day emails.

MUSHROOM AND FENNEL BREAD PUDDING

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for coating the baking dish
3/4 cup coarsely chopped white onion
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
12 ounces coarsely chopped cremini mushrooms (about 4 cups)
2 cups coarsely chopped fennel (from 1 medium bulb)
2/3 cup finely chopped celery (from 2 medium stalks)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable stock)
4 large eggs
12 ounces ciabatta or other country-style bread, medium dice (about 8 cups)
1 cup coarsely grated aged pecorino (about 3 ounces), such as Gran Pecorino (not Pecorino Romano)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. When it foams, add the onion, season well with salt and pepper, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, fennel, and celery; season well with salt and pepper; and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and the mushroom juices have reduced, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly in the pan, at least 10 minutes.
2. Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with butter and set aside. Whisk together the cream, chicken broth, and eggs in a large bowl until smooth.
3. Add the bread, cooled vegetables, cheese, and herbs to the cream mixture and stir until the bread is well coated. Season well with salt and pepper, then turn into the prepared baking dish. Allow the bread to soak until well saturated, at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring about 10 cups of water to a simmer over high heat in a large pot.
4. Once the bread has soaked and the water is simmering, set the baking dish in a large roasting pan and add enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the dish. Bake until the custard is set and the top is lightly browned, about 50 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

What to buy: Pecorino is an Italian cheese made with sheep’s milk. Here we use Gran Pecorino, an aged cheese that can be found at high-end groceries and cheese stores. Do not use Pecorino Romano for this recipe; it’s too salty. If you can’t find Gran Pecorino, aged Asiago is a good substitute.

As the year wraps up and Winter presents itself, we at LotFotL, will attempt to take a long deep breaths, allowing our minds and bodies to truly relax for a while. Although, between holiday festivities, next seasons planning, winter marketing, part time jobs, and a car accident thrown in for good measure, that breath may not be as long and deep as we had hoped. Never the less, reflecting on our first year together on this property brings a proud smile of admiration and heartfelt gratitude knowing my partner and I are driven to build and grow this farm into something, successful and self sustaining; a tiny place on Earth that strives for environmental harmony, community contributions, and a healthy life for all. Christmas and Winter Solstice, both, in their own language, remind us of hope and peace and the promise of light. Here at the farm we know all to well, that the light and new life of spring will soon be upon us.  Until then, may you and your family have a joyful winter and holiday season, taking time for relaxation, rejuvenation, and letting go, making space for the new in the upcoming year.

Tim and I have slowed our pace as the CSA season has ended, but are far from hibernation.  I continue to work on wrapping up the fiscal year and winter marketing, while Tim does the last of bundling up the land for its winter sleep.  You may also see both of us, supplementing our winter income, with part time work at Good Harvest Market. It seems, with life, especially on a farm, there is always something that doesn’t quite get done in time because something else takes priority. But, I am learning to take things in stride while I continuing to breath, a rhythmic flow is what we hope for and that does not have to spell perfection.  In the midst of our winter preparations, we were also involved in a car accident, leaving us achy and scared, but fine.  It did however, total my car.  Breath…find a rhythm….flow…hopefully tomorrows chiropractor visit will help with that.  We will continue to clean up and get rid of  what we know longer need for the year, both mentally and physically; on the farm and in our personal lives.

Next years crop plans are something that we both are exciting about working on together.  In the past, I was never involved in this process, because I was busy with a non farm job.  With a season behind me, fully submerged in farm, I am excited to approach this part of the job.  Tim will have a year of getting to know this property more intimately, seeing what really thrives in these soils, and observing the habits of the land.  With so much of the first years building and set up finished,  we can now focus on improvements and growth and solid future planning.  Visions of our 2012 season dance in our heads like the sugar plums from the night before Christmas.

LotFotL and it’s members have made numerous food donations to local community hunger organizations this season, including a Community Thanksgiving meal and a number of homeless shelters.  We would like to thank the generous donations from members that helped to support the local food movement, kept food and money in the community, and made living healthy food available to those in need this year. LotFotL continues to look for ways to give back to the community, sharing in our abundance, especially at this time of year.

In the middle of my first year as a full time LotFotL employee, I experienced a great deal of growing pains, both in my career change and my relationship with Tim. Although, I don’t like to admit that I am still a control freak, I am.  I continue to work on letting go, and the farm is a great teacher for this.  Tim and I have sharpened our communication skills and practiced patience with each other.  Tim has developed both stronger financial disapline and crew management skills.  Our list of experiences and lessons learned this last year is practically unending and our gratitude for them overflowing, especially for the support and encouragement from our members.

This year we uprooted ourselves, our pets, employees and our perennials, and managed to replant all of it in an entirely new community.  We were able to transform an old milking parlor into a suitable vegetable packing shed, we build and then rebuild a greenhouse, and put up 4 hoop houses and found ways to get water to them.  We watched crops succeed and other crops fail. Despite mother natures tall obstacles we were able to come through on our promise to harvest, pack and deliver 26 weeks of CSA shares. We built a thriving happy Honey Bee Sanctuary.  We eked together enough equipment to get us through the year, and somehow kept most of it running. We were intimately involved in the lives of the animals that were raised on the property, sharing in the joys and laughter of that, as well as the heart wrenching realities it can bring.  We enjoyed the numerous social events; a bee blessing, potlucks, a farm meal with the Slow Food group of Southwest Wisconsin,  in addition to hosting school groups, church groups and more.  We floated through the financial ebbs and flows that come with this business, taking leaps of faith together, letting go of the shore and riding the current with optimistic outlooks. We end this season with a few more tricks in our bags and, we believe, are better farmers for it.

We wish all of you the joy-est of seasons.  May you feel surrounded by blessed love. As the days shorten and the nights grow longer, may you experience the promise of the light to come, in your own special ways. Now is the time for dormancy. Take time to breath and reflect.  Take time to release the old and unneeded. Take time to celebrate family, friends, and community, and the love that we all share.  We thank you for being part of our life and for letting us be part of yours.  Have a blessed holiday and new year.

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 1 low-fat chicken sausage, split lengthwise, then cut into ½” slices
• 2/3 cup cooked chopped spinach wrung of all moisture
• 2 TBL shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 TBL chicken stock
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1.) Place a small (2 to 3 cup) baking dish or casserole in your oven and preheat to 400° F. Prepare the ingredients while the dish and oven heat.

2.) Beat the eggs with about 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper. Set aside.

3.) Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick spray and add the sausage. Saute a few minutes until lightly browned, then add the spinach, garlic, and chicken stock. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Saute until heated through and fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Add the spinach mixture to the eggs and stir to combine.

4.) Very carefully remove the (piping) hot dish from your oven. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and then pour the egg mixture in. Top with cheese and bake for 10-15 minutes until puffed and firm, but not dry. Goes great with a healthy greens salad on the side.

ROASTED WINTER ROOT BAKE

Brought to you from: http://www.redfirefarm.com/recipes/sides.html

The general idea is chop up all kinds of roots into similar sized chunks, coat/toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in the oven at about 400 until all items are soft to the tines of a fork. Stir after about a half hour. Herbs generally do better added part way in to cooking.

 
Things you can include:

Parsnips, Rutabagas, Beets, Turnips, Daikon, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Onions, Garlic, Carrots, Herbs, Celeriac, Kohlrabi, and anything else I’m forgetting.

Variations could include adding any of the following: soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds, honey mustard, hot pepper flakes, making a cilantro dressing to pour over them, serving with ketchup, and who knows what else.