Bran Carrot Squash Muffins

If you find yourself with lots of carrots or lots of extra zucchini, you can change the recipe to accommodate. If you happen to get an extra juicy carrot or zucchini, try to remove some of the liquid by squeezing a cup at a time in a paper towel. You can grate the veggies by hand, but if you have a food processor, by all means, save yourself some time and use it!

A few times when I've made this recipe, the muffins came out a little too sweet for my taste, likely because the carrots I used were super-sweet already. Consider crunching on a bite of your carrots before shredding, and cutting the sugar by up to half.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/4 cup wheat bran
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup organic canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups grated raw carrot
1 cup grated raw zucchini or other summer squash.
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Grease your muffin tin really really well and consider using muffin liners to make things easier on yourself -- this is important. The bran and all the carrots make these muffins fall apart more easily, so you'll need to take care or your muffins will stick and your tops will fall off. This is okay in a Seinfeld episode, but less cool in real life. If you're filling the muffin pan to the top because you want big crispy muffin tops, also make sure that you grease the top of the pan and not just the inside of the cups or it will stick.

Mix dry ingredients: flour, bran, salt, bkg pwdr, bkg soda, nutmeg, cinnamon. In separate bowl, mix eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar.

Add carrot & squash into wet stuff and mix to coat, then gently fold in dry ingredients 1/4 at a time until just combined.

Add raisins and walnuts, stir gently, then fill greased muffin cups 3/4 to all-the-way full. Cook 20-25 minutes at 400

A yummy breakfast treat -- goes great with a steaming cup of coffee

Zucchini bread, three ways

Special zucchini bread with crunchy topping, adapted from 101 Cookbooks won second place in the tasting competition.

Hooray for summer! Every day on the farm brings new, exciting, and delicious bounties. Lately, the summer squash has gone for broke, and we're swimming in bright green zucchinis, stripy zucchinis, pattypans, and this curious fellow:


This year, one of our seed suppliers, Johnny's, sent out the wrong seeds to everyone who ordered Costata Romanesca squash. In fact, the lovely round squash isn't a Costata at all, but something else: still delicious and prolific, but rounder and slightly wetter than what we bargained for.

Turns out the mystery squash is perfect for zucchini bread. The seeds inside (even a larger one) aren't too big, so I just chopped off the stem, cut the squash in wedges, and used a food processor to shred it all.

I tested three recipes, a traditional sweetish walnut-cinnamon-nutmeg loaf, a slightly zany nutty loaf with a secret ingredient, adapted from 101 cookbooks and a savory zucchini-basil muffin recipe, adapted from a message board post on a Chowhound message board.

The tasting panel generally agreed that the zucchini basil muffins won out, with the zany recipe not far behind. The more traditional recipe turned out too dry and slightly over-sweet. It could have done with some soaked raisins and extra zucchini.

And the winner is...

FIRST PLACE: Zucchini Basil Muffins
Adapted from the LA Times by way of Chowhound.

1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1 c. all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shredded mystery zucchini (or any other type should work fine)
3 tbsp sweet basil, finely minced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese to top

Beat egg in bowl, stir in milk and oil, then mix in sugar.

Sprinkle baking powder and salt evenly on top.

Mix in flour until just moistened, then gently mix in zucchini and basil.

Fill a well-buttered muffin tin so that the cups are nearly full (slightly more than 3/4). Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 450 degrees, 20-25 minutes.

Makes 6-9 muffins. You can easily double for a bigger batch.


RUNNER UP: Special Zucchini Bread with sesame crunch
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 cup chopped walnuts
zest of one lemon
2 tbsp crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp sesame seeds

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fine grain natural cane sugar or brown sugar, lightly packed
1 large egg + one yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup grated zucchini
1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tbsp curry powder

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter one 5x9 loaf pan, dust it with a bit of flour and set aside.

In a small bowl combine the walnuts, sesame seeds, lemon zest, and gingers. Set aside.

In a mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat again until mixture comes together and is no longer. Add the eggs, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Stir in the vanilla and then the zucchini (low speed if you are using a mixer).

Sprinkle the baking soda on top of the mixture. Then sprinkle on the salt and curry powder as evenly as possible. Add the flour in 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until just incorporated each time. After the last batch of flour, fold in half of the walnut, sesame, ginger mixture.

Put the batter in the greased pan, making sure it is level with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Then sprinkle on the other half of the walnut, ginger, lemon mixture.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes on a middle oven rack. Check the bread after 35 minutes and cover if it begins to brown too quickly. The loaf will be done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Take the loaf out from the oven and let cool for about ten minutes, then remove from the pan onto wire racks to finish cooling.

Makes one loaf. To double, use 3 eggs instead of 1 egg + one yolk.

Chinese Cabbage and Parsley Salad with Mustard Aioli

This simple, fresh-tasting salad is a great accompaniment to a summer picnic. Peppery, sweet Chinese cabbage works very well, but a more traditional variety can also be substituted.

Adapted from the New York Times

1/2 lb Chinese cabbage, shredded
1 cup trimmed, peeled, finely shredded carrot
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)

Remove cabbage leaves one-by-one and wash carefully. Cut leaves in half, lengthwise, then stack leaves and slice horizontally with your knife, as thinly as possible. Use the entire leaf, including the sweet, juicy white stems. This should produce 3-4 cups of cabbage

Put cabbage in a large bowl, add carrot and parsley and toss. Add 1/4 cup of mustard aioli (or less or more, to your liking) and optional sesame oil and mix well to coat.

Mustard Aioli

1 egg
3 Dijon-style mustard
2 tsp ground ginger
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil

In a blender, mix egg, mustard, ginger, shallots and vinegar. When blended well, keep blender on low, open the lid carefully and gradually add oil. Use the remaining aoili as a substitute for mayonnaise, or in Patatas Bravas.

Synergy Fresh Mayo

Looks just like the store-bought stuff, but tastes so much better!

1 Synergy Farm egg
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 cup olive oil (be sure it's the good-tasting stuff)

Combine the first four ingredients in a blender, or if you prefer manpower, whisk well by hand.

When well-combined, with the blender still running, begin to slowly drizzle in the oil. As the oil is added, and the mixture emulsifies, the consistency will begin to change to what you know as mayo!

Cover and refrigerate for up to one week.

Synergy's Rhode Island Reds are fed a protein-rich diet and spend a lot of their time foraging for grubs outside in the pasture.

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Adorned carrot cupcakes. See the recipe for the carrot curls here.

Carrot Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Gourmet.com

2 cups grated carrots
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup sunflower oil (or vegetable or canola)
3 large Synergy eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack positioned in the middle and line a muffin tin with cupcake papers.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl.
Whisk together oil, eggs, brown sugar, grated carrots, and vanilla in a large bowl, then stir in flour mixture until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups, filling them a 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the top, and bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on rack, about 1 hour more before frosting.

Frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe below) and decorate with a candied carrot curl.

Filled cupcake tin.

These golden cakes pass the toothpick test.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese
2 oz unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:
Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature before beginning.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter till creamy. Add powdered sugar and lemon juice and beat till completely combined, smooth and fluffier.

Frost completely cooled cupcakes with room temperature frosting.

Frosting tips:

• Work with room temperature, easy to spread frosting and cupcakes, NEVER warm cupcakes since the warmth will cause the frosting to melt.
• Use a knife without a serrated edge so that when you spread the frosting, it is smooth.
• Dollop on more frosting than you think you will need into the center of the cupcake and then begin spreading frosting out to the edges in small circular motions.

Frosted cupcakes.

Coddled Eggs and Something Green

Chard and Kale and Coddled Eggs make a generous lunch for one.

1/2 lb of leaf greens (chard, kale, spinach, etc.) cut into ribbons
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a saute pan. When hot, add the greens and stir to coat and season with salt and pepper. Let cook until just beginning to wilt, stirring occasionally. At this point, crack two eggs on the top of the layer of greens and cover with a large lid. Turn the heat to low and let the greens continue to cook and the eggs steam, or coddle, about three to four minutes till the whites are firm. Slide out of the pan onto a plate, give the eggs a shake of pepper and salt and dig in!

One bunch of rainbow chard cut into ribbons.

Crack a couple eggs on top of just beginning to wilt chard.

Cover and walk away for a few minutes.

Ta-Da! The chard is cooked, the egg whites are firm, and inside the yolks are still gooey.

Variations:
This also works with broccoli cut into bite size pieces. I used about 1/3 pound of broccoli, and a tbsp of butter instead of olive oil, though I had to toss in about a quarter of a cup of water into the pan in order to steam the broccoli before it started to brown too much.

Broccoli and Coddled Eggs.

Farm Greens Frittata

1/2 lb seasonal Synergy greens of your choice
8 large Synergy pasture-raised eggs
3/4 cup Heritage Farm Raw Milk
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 medium Synergy Stuttgarter onion, diced finely
2 cloves Synergy garlic, minced finely
4 4-inch sprigs fresh rosemary
4 4-inch sprigs fresh thyme
salt & pepper to taste
Quail Croft Goat Cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Chop or tear your greens into bite sized pieces. The actual size is up to you and your mouth.

Beat eggs and milk in a bowl that's big enough for them. Add herbs (don't forget to get rid of stems or anything else you wouldn't want to bite into) and your cheese.

Add olive oil to a frying pan big enough for the greens. When it's hot, saute the onions and garlic until fragrant and the onions are translucent (4 or 5 minutes). If you're using two kinds of greens like chard and spinach, add in the "hardier" ones first (e.g. the chard) so they have a little more time to cook. Cook the greens till they're all evenly wilted (they should reduce in volume by 3x or more).

Pour those yummy greens in a buttered 9x11 pyrex dish or baking pan. Pour the eggy mix on top and stir so the greens are evenly distributed. Dollop on goat cheese or other delicious cheesy topping.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 on a middle rack, or until you can see the sides of your frittata are browning. Then move to a top rack and turn on the broiler. Keep it in another 2-3 minutes, checking often because it's easy to burn it quick!

Remove from the oven, and cut into generous squares.

Spinach in the spinner on harvest day at Synergy