Posted on

Vermont Condiments

Let’s talk about condiments. If you’re lucky, you got any number of Vermont specialty products – sauces, spices, honey, anything maple – as part of the holiday gift giving. If you’re anything like me, you’re both happy to have a tasty treat and well aware that condiments are taking over your refrigerator, cupboards, and counter space. They might outnumber actual foodstuffs by a healthy margin. Some of them may have expired in the early 1990’s.

I’ve only occupied my current house and kitchen for a year, yet heading into the holiday season, an inventory of savory sauces (not even the jams, dessert sauces, and fancy honeys) revealed trouble ahead.

Worse, I’ve got different levels of condiment. There are the basics like hot sauces that, if not finished, are at least in rotation. Then, there are the “special occasion” condiments that I’m saving for a special occasion that will never, ever arrive. And if it did arrive, I would have already forgotten that I own truffle oils and exotic maple-Indian spice blends and catsup made from wild grapes. 

Use your condiments in 2014.

Even better, use your condiments on some winter farmers’ market fare  – combining the solid base of winter-available crops and the flavor of ingredients mixed and preserved during peak harvest times. A breakfast hash of mixed root vegetables provides a great base for hot sauces. Local eggs and salsa would be a great addition. Creamy potato soup needs a swirl of infused olive oil. Curry made with local chicken on rice or some rich, braised beef would both go well with chutney. Sausages are an obvious pairing for specialty mustards. Local cheese can get a dollop of pesto or a drizzle of honey. And of course we have artisan breads that go well with almost anything – jams, jellies, apple butter, nut butters, honey, maple butter, pumpkin butter, pesto, olive tapenade . . .

Vermont has many great specialty products that can add a new flavor to basic foods without any real effort on your part. Once you’ve checked your cupboards for what’s available (or stocked up at one of our featured Food Markets) take a trip to a winter time farmers’ market to find ingredients for an everyday sort of gourmet meal. And you’ll have a much more flavorful start to the new year.

Two of the sweet, and also savory, Vermont food gifts received this year

 

 

Source: Dig in VT Trails

Posted on

Chef Tips for a Stunning Holiday Main Course

Be it tofu or pork loin, most meals center around a protein and we would all like our holiday main dishes to be stunning! Here are some tips and ideas from VFN chefs:

“I grew up the son of a professional guide, so game was always a part of holiday meals. I really like a venison roast that has been dry aged and rubbed with salt and herbs and cold smoked before roasting to medium rare. Finish with a whole grain mustard jus, and you’re going to have a winner!”

John David Palmer, Hen of the Wood

(Punky and Diane Rowley of Hollandeer Farm have shared one of their favorite Venison Recipes)

“How about Vermont-raised goose, roasted and seasoned with lemon, lime, thyme, 5 spices, Vermont honey and Vermont hard cider? It’s one of our favorites for Christmas Eve or Day, or New Year’s Eve, and the remainder (if there is any) makes an awesome ragu with fresh noodles (perhaps made with local goose eggs?) for a Boxing Day or New Year’s Day meal.”

Deirdre Heekin, Osteria Pane e Salute

“Any combination of these Salubrious Stuffed Squash, shiitake emmer risotto, marafax beans with smoked sea salt, oven roasted sweet potatoes or caramelized turnips, can come together to make a dramatic centerpiece. While you’re busy using your countertop to prepare other aspects of your holiday meal, these entrees patiently prepare themselves in your oven.”

Joe Bossen, Vermont Bean Crafters Co.

(Click for Joe’s complete guide to making this stuffed squash.)

 A number of chefs suggested Vermont grass-fed, prime rib. Here are their different takes:

“For me, it would be (and is going to be) a grill roasted ribeye-basically prime rib done over charcoal with indirect heat. Our family likes herb and olive oil drizzles like rosemary, garlic and cider vinegar, but for the festive occasion, perhaps roasted cranberry with mint and maple. Yum!” 

Steve Atkins, The Kitchen Table Bistro  

“I like to do a slow roasted grass fed beef standing rib. It has a dramatic presentation and feeds a bunch of people. I brush it with mustard and herbs and roast it on garlic bulbs cut in half and evergreen branches such as fir or juniper.”

Doug Paine, Juniper at Hotel Vermont

“I’ve always wanted to do a gently smoked bone-in rack of local, grass-fed prime rib on Christmas Day. A simple rub of chopped garlic, Worcestershire sauce, sea salt, and cracked black pepper to cover the meat and allow that to sit overnight in the fridge. Then I’d cold smoke it over apple or cherry wood at about 90°F for 30-45 minutes to give it some subtle smoke. Afterwards place it in a 425°F oven for 20 minutes to give the roast some nice color, and then turn the oven down to 200°F until the roast reaches an internal temperature of 125°F. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes and carve. Best prime rib ever.”

Michael Werneke, Prohibition Pig

 If you’re considering a traditional lamb dish for the holidays, here are two suggestions:

“In the winter, for the holidays Michael always does his lamb stew with polenta at some point. Super tender lamb meat braised with root vegetables herbs and red wine. It is delicious over creamy polenta served with a little fresh gremolata on top. What is great about this dish is that it can be made in advance. You can take a walk on Christmas day with the family as the lamb cooks and fills the house with amazing aromas!”

Laura Kloeti, Michael’s on the Hill 

“For the holidays, I like to serve everything family style because it’s fun and casual. I will do a Smokeshire Hilltop Farm slow roast leg of lamb with rosemary & hardneck garlic. After the lamb is finished roasting in the oven, thinly slice the entire leg of lamb and place on a platter to serve family style.”

Martin Schuelke, The Grafton Inn

Thank you to VT Agriculture & Culinary Tourism Council member the Vermont Fresh Network for contributing this post – check out their recently redesigned website, plus blog, at www.vermontfresh.net

Source: Dig in VT Trails

Posted on

Rail Dog

This week, my beau made a run to East Fairfield to visit Elm Brook Farm and purchase bottles of their new spirit, Rail Dog, for Christmas gifts. (We might also have visited them at the Burlington Winter Farmers’ Market where they have a booth). Rail Dog is a barrel aged maple spirit. It’s a strong alcohol (100-proof), with a flavor that bears a glancing resemblance to rum, but not too sweet and what sweetness is there carries through the same earthy complexity as the maple sugars it’s distilled from. Have a sip and you’ll want to sit in a big armchair by a fire and read classic mystery novels all night. While drinking Rail Dog. Slowly.

But that’s not what’s most interesting about this new maple spirit. What’s most interesting is that it’s never been made before.

We have many wonderful maple-based spirits. We have Vermont Ice Maple Creme Liqueur from Boyden Valley, maple Sapling Liqueur from Saxtons River Distillers, Maple Flavored Rum from Dunc’s Mill, maple-based vodkas from Vermont Spirits and Elm Brook Farm, and No.14 Bourbon also from Vermont Spirits. These are all variations on a theme of an existing kind of spirit. For Rail Dog, Elm Brook Farm invented something new.

David Howe, the distiller, told the Boston Globe that he experimented with everything from the yeast to cooking time to modifying equipment to aging the product differently before he reached the final flavor he wanted for a unique maple spirit.

Rail Dog isn’t the first unique spirit to come out of Vermont. Ice Cider is another example. Ice cider began in Quebec about a decade ago, and Vermont’s Eden Ice Cider introduced it for the first time to the United States. Producers in Quebec and Vermont have worked to make it a widely-recognized category of drink. It’s in many ways comparable to ice wine, a very concentrated sweet drink that goes well with cheeses or as a dessert. And it’s a great fit for Vermont agriculture, a value-added option for apple growers with a process based on the northeast’s freeze / thaw winter cycle (Eden Ice Cider explains the process here).

It’s not easy having something that’s completely new. Eleanor Leger, co-founder of Eden Ice Cider, has worked for years to build a group of Vermont producers making their own brands of Ice Cider. That work involves not only teaching people the process, but also setting down very specifically what it means to make “ice cider” so everyone agrees on the process. Then there’s getting consumers used to drinking something new (the new Northeast Kingdom Tasting Center in Newport will help with that). If it gets popular, there’s a question of how to ensure the next generation of producers are, in fact, meeting the standards of what “ice cider” means so that consumers know what they’re getting when they buy a product with that label.

Is this the work that lies ahead for Elm Brook Farm? Maybe. Right now, I’m just happy to be enjoying my taste of the first ever batch of this new spirit. Visit Elm Brook at the Burlington Winter Farmers’ Market or visit their ordering page to find out how to try your first sip.

Source: Dig in VT Trails

Posted on

2013 Review of Reviews

DigInVT offers a guide to local restaurants that serve Vermont foods. We provide information about each restaurant and if an eatery has been profiled in our blog, that post shows up on their page. But we aren’t a food-review site. Restaurants that appear on DigInVT meet certain requirements (outlined here) and in that sense we recommend them. If you’re someone who wants to get more in depth with food reviews as you explore Vermont’s restaurant options, then maybe you want to pair the DigInVT guide with some other resources. And so we’re presenting the 2013 Review of Reviews.

When I asked around about other ways people find new restaurants, the first answer was word of mouth. Some websites try to replicate that “friends recommending to friends” feel by having customers write and post brief reviews. The most popular national sites for this type of crowd-sourced review vary in how many Vermont restaurants appear with reviews. Some sites with VT restaurants on them are Trip Adivsor and Urbanspoon. DigInVT incorporates some of the tip from a friend style in our blog posts, where we invite people to profile places they have visited.

A popular information source in Vermont is traditional restaurant reviews. We’re lucky here to have not only a lot of great food, but also a lot of great food writers. Often local newspapers will have regular columns featuring food writers. Some statewide publications that go into depth in restaurant profiles are 7 Days (which also has the restaurant directory 7 Nights), Vermont Life Magazine, and Edible Green Mountains.

You could also trace your way back to a new restaurant beginning with the ingredients. It’s a creative interpretation of “let the food speak for itself.” If there’s a particular farm with products you like, check if they’re also selling to a local eatery. DigInVT partner the Vermont Fresh Network provides a way to search for these connections within their membership – just look up the farm and click to its page, where you’ll see the connections to the restaurants that buy their products. Another way to trace back from ingredients is through agricultural magazines like Vermont’s Local Banquet that profile interesting farms, and interesting foods, which are often used by local restaurants. To really go for restaurant selection from the ingredients up, you could try one of the recipes in Tracey Medeiros’ cookbooks featuring recipes for local food from Vermont restaurants: Dishing Up Vermont and The Vermont Farm Table.

Maybe you don’t need a recommendation for a new place. Maybe you’re the sort of person who writes their own review. There are some  programs that offer reduced prices to encourage people to take a chance on a different dining experience. These deals may exist for a variety of reasons, but essentially they entice people into trying someplace they might otherwise have overlooked. Two examples would be Restaurant Week (presented every spring by Seven Days) or featured restaurants on LocalvoreToday.com. You can also check with Chambers of Commerce and business associations that may offer deals to encourage exploring their local business community.

We’re sure this is an incomplete list of food review sources. What are your go-to resources for learning about restaurants, particularly ones focused on sourcing local ingredients? Let us know. Do you have a Vermont dining experience you were particularly excited about? Maybe it’s right for a blog post (e-mail helen.labun.jordan@ gmail.com). We’d love to hear from you about new ways to make sure 2014 is a year of exploring the authentic taste of Vermont.


Source: Dig in VT Trails

Posted on

Vermont Christmas Trees

Sure, the deciduous trees of Vermont have their time in the spotlight every foliage season – but let’s not forget the evergreens. Christmas Tree farms are an important part of Vermont’s agricultural landscape. We provide Christmas trees throughout the New England region, to New York City, and beyond. The 2012-2013 winter issue of Vermont Life magazine profiled a VT Christmas tree’s journey to sales in New York City, where some tree farmers have regular spots that will be in the family for generations. In 2009 the Vermont Agency of Agriculture reported “Vermont boasts about 250 tree farms statewide, with thousands of acres in active production. Yearly sales total some $10-million dollars, giving a seasonal boost to Vermont’s agricultural economy.”

For many families, cutting their own tree at a Vermont farm is a favorite holiday tradition. 

Vermont has two associations of Christmas tree growers, the Vermont Christmas Tree Association and the NH-VT Christmas Tree Association. Sites for both groups  provide information on finding the right Christmas tree for your house or apartment. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture offers an annually updated guide to finding Christmas Trees and Wreaths by county.

Finding the right tree might take some patience. Putting it up at home might take even more patience. Here’s our tree from a local farm, photoshopped to appear as if we stood it up straight in the living room instead of getting it up close enough then rushing to make hot chocolate. Appearances are only one consideration anyway – it makes the whole house smell great:

Of course, if you’re going to go find a Christmas tree, we recommend making a full expedition out of it. The Trails section of DigInVT gives some suggestions by region, or you could simply use our Places section to look up a good place to stop for warm snacks or cookies after acquiring the tree.

Then there’s the ornaments. We already posted last week about a Danforth Pewter ornaments display in Burlington to get in the decorative mode – you can also check out holiday gift markets in your area. There are a few places to look for these markets, the Events page at DigInVT, the farmers’ markets listings from NOFA-VT (look at the winter market schedule for special holiday markets), or the shopping travel planner from Vermont Department of Tourism. You can also read about individaul crafts people from the Vermont Crafts Council, many of whom make special items for the holiday season.

Happy holiday exploring.

Helen Labun Jordan writes about food and the business for food for local and regional publications, and online at www.discoveringflavor.com

Source: Dig in VT Trails

Posted on

Gingerbread Carousel

Yesterday, my mother and I delivered the most recent addition to holiday displays on Church Street in Burlington – a gingerbread carousel at Danforth Pewter (right next to Leunigs – buy pewter, get great food, what could be better?). This carousel is made entirely of candy, gingerbread, and frosting to show off the Danforth Christmas ornaments. The ones here are a special line featuring the hand carved wooden animals from the Shelburne Museum’s Dentzel Carousel display.

The carousel took several days to make. My mother is the architect, building the pattern, baking the pieces, and assembling the final structure (that’s the stressful part). I do decoration using the mountains of candy we’ve collected for these displays (after all, it’s for looking at – the candy is allowed to be stale!). Below is a snapshot of the process.

You Start With a Pile of Candy

 

Then make the really detailed bits – these are the Danforth shields

 

And some candy gets made from scratch – this is the glass for the mirrors inside

 

We make structural elements from candy too (don’t get attached to these pillars, they didn’t work)

 

Patterns get made for the repeated panels

 

We add structural elements – these are the hooks in the roof the ornaments hang from.

 

Then we build it from the bottom up – each stage needs a day for the icing to dry.

 

And voila. . ..

 

Gingerbread House on Display

Ready for display

 

Vermont is full of wonderful holiday craft and food traditions. DigInVT partner the Vermont Department of Tourism offers a great online guide to shopping for Vermont crafted products. The Vermont Fresh Network produces its own holiday gift guide with recommendations from its network of chefs and farmers. Many towns also offer holiday and wintertime farmers markets. And, of course, watch our Events page for special holiday events through December and into the New Year!

Helen Labun Jordan writes about food and the business for food for local and regional publications, and online at www.discoveringflavor.com

Source: Dig in VT Trails

Posted on

The VFN Holiday Gift Guide

We asked our members to share with us their favorite Vermont food items for holiday giving. Here are some of their suggestions, but don’t overlook a gift certificate to your favorite Vermont restaurant. Send a loved one out to eat; a splendid meal after the holiday rush is sure to be a treasured evening.

“Vermont Beef Jerky make excellent stocking stuffers for my teenage boys and my husband. They love the flavor-Maple & Teriyaki being their two favorites. Eleven Brothers Goat Cheese and Cranberry Harvest Chevre are also perfect gifts for the holiday. They both are wonderful additions to a holiday cheese plate and are both made locally. We use local cranberries from Cranberry Bob (VT Cranberry Co.) in our Chevre. These are ideal hostess gifts that can’t go wrong.” ~ Anne Doe, Boston Post Dairy

“Putney’s Cranberry Apple Wine makes the perfect gift, along with a mixture of our potatoes, of course!” ~ Donald & Diane Heleba, Heleba Potato Farm

“Vermont Cranberries-just so healthy, beautiful and freezable. All of our goat’s milk Caramel Sauce is perfect for gifts – we have our Petit Size, great for gift baskets and stocking stuffers, our Gift Boxes and Gift Bags which are already packaged and ready to go, and then there’s always the Epic Caramel (quart) for the real caramel enthusiasts on your list.”  ~ Judith Irving, Fat Toad Farm

“Our Vermont Smoke and Cure RealSticks Sampler lets you try our three new Turkey RealSticks along with the three originals. A perfect stocking stuffer!” ~ Chris Bailey, Vermont Smoke and Cure

“Our Snow White and Rose Red sister wines are perfect gifts. Their labels are fun and farm friendly.” ~ David Lane, Snow Farm Vineyard

“We offer some of the finest farm-raised Venison in the state. It is the perfect gift for foodies and those who are hard to buy for but love good, healthy food.” ~ Punky and Diane Rowlee, Hollandeer Farm

“A Green Mountain Girls Farm gift certificate makes a perfect gift for any of your friends and family.  It can be used to enjoy a farm experience like “Lattes on the Hoof”, for a cooking class, for any of the delicious meats, vegetables and pantry items available at our farmstand or for a farmstay.” ~ Laura Olsen & Mari Omland, Green Mountain Girls Farm

“Sparkling Cider always makes a lovely party gift, and people appreciate the Vermont product. We also like to give jams and jellies from the local farmers’ market.” ~ Dorothy Read, Readmore Inn

“Any of our Holiday Chocolates would make the perfect gift because they are handcrafted in Vermont from all natural ingredients and come packaged in festive boxes that spread holiday cheer!” ~ Amy Lipsitz, Lake Champlain Chocolates

“All of our products make fantastic gifts, but the most popular are the Vermont Ice Apple Creme, Vermont Ice Maple Creme, and the Glogg. The Vermont Ice Apple Creme liqueur is made with Vermont-grown apple brandy, cream, & Vermont Ice Cider and the Vermont Ice Maple Creme liqueur has Vermont Maple syrup added. Both liqueurs are smooth and delicious on their own or can be added to coffee, hot chocolate, or your favorite holiday cocktails. The Glogg is a mulled red wine that comes ready to heat and serve. Flavors of cinnamon, clove, cardamom, & orange peel leave you feeling warm and cozy inside on those cold winter days.” ~ Bridget Jones, Boyden Valley Winery & Spirits

 

 

Homemade Gifts

Everyone loves a handmade treat from grown ingredients!

“I love making fondue out of Vermont Farmstead Ale House cheddar to enjoy with good company and nice glass of wine.” ~ Chef Gregory Farrell, Woodstock Inn & Resort

“I make fresh homemade “spiked” egg nog with fresh eggs from Springmore Farm!” ~ Tricia Jerecki, Vermont Fresh Pasta

“I love to gift my homemade hot sauces. I grow all my own peppers in our Community garden and even though it may be simple to make, no one ever takes the time to do so.” ~ Chef Maryanne Larkin, Arvads Grill and Pub 

“When we make enough, our own Blackberry Jam is a perfect gift. It tastes like summer, and you can’t find it everywhere, at least not with that wonderful taste that only comes from wild berries.” ~ Dorothy Read, Readmore Bed and Breakfast

“Any of my Christmas cookies make fantastic gifts, especially my shortbread cookies with chocolate ganache filling-think homemade Pepperidge Farm Brussels!” ~ Chef Kelly Murphy, Lewis Creek Catering

Source: Dig in VT Trails

Posted on

Mountainside Eating

It still seems like talking about the skiing season under way in Vermont is courting a heat wave to come along and ruin our fun . . . so here’s a halfway ski-related post, a visit to new restaurants in the greater Jay Peak area from University of Vermont Farm-to-Table Service Learning student Alton Deslandes.

I am a subject of the Kingdom. I was born there and visit often, but I have not lived there in quite a long time. So I have been wondering about the culinary experience these days. A brief search on DigInVT.com provided two places that I should check out during a planned weekend trip back home. Parker Pie Co in Glover sounded interesting, and I had heard of it from a number of different sources that all raved about it. My other choice would be up the side of a mountain – at Jay Peak’s Alice’s Table. The expansion plans for the region that the management of Jay Peak have been involved with had me curious, was their culinary portion of the growth going to keep up to the challenge of growth?

Jay Peak was my first stop, along with countless other people heading for the slopes. Squeezing my car into one of the few empty parking spots, I hustled in to Alice’s Table to meet with Chef John Carter. Chef, as everyone calls him, has been cooking since he was 13 years old and is a graduate of New England Culinary Institute, where he was introduced to the advantages of using fresh and local produce. He has since worked in a number of locations in Vermont, such as the Wildflower Inn and the Rabbit Hill Inn, where more networking with local producers has allowed him to expand his network of sources. Chef expounds the virtues of buying local, how produce is allowed to ripen to its full flavor, not picked as much as four weeks early just to make it to the kitchen in time. There are also no long travel times or harsh and bumpy rides to get it from the farm to the kitchen. Meat supplied from local farms also arrives in much better shape, and local value-added businesses, such as a local smoke house, broaden the spectrum of products available for the menu.

At this point I am treated to “Praline Encrusted Bacon”, a treat the Vermont ski association shares at travel shows promoting skiing in the east. This plate consisted of smoked bacon, from a supplier down the hill in Troy, encrusted with maple syrup and pecans on a slice of Granny Smith apple and Blue Cheese; Pecans being the only thing not from Vermont. If I was a true food critic, I would have the vocabulary to describe the mix of flavors at this point. All I can do is strongly recommend trying it for yourself.

Part of reason for belonging to the Vermont Fresh Network, Chef explains to me, is the help it provides in networking the sources of local products with the consumers. He is constantly going to local farmers markets to see what is available, to find new products and new sources, and to just see how crops are progressing over the summer. His menu is based on what is available, and what he can get. Fresh greens in the winter are not possible yet, but it will someday. Even the meats that are available are seasonal, so over the course of the year he has to redefine “Local”.

When you get to Parker Pie Co, in West Glover, it is not what you might expect to find. Some restaurants try to impress you with a fancy building, or intriguing theme, but some spend their time in the kitchen and the food is what impresses you. I met with Ben Trevits, who is the kitchen manager as well as one of the owners, and Ben described the history of Parker’s. It was started over eight years ago to fill a void in the area, and they were not sure if it would take off. Their main clients back then were the local farmers and summer residents. The day that I was there a fleet of snowmobiles were lined up outside with their riders inside enjoying the pizza.

Parker Pie started off using local produce and meats, mainly because it was better and readily available. The dairy farms were declining in the area, and the farmers had to find other markets to supply. The match between farmer and restaurant seemed to work and they have been expanded it ever since. A local dairy farmer has even built a greenhouse heated by the methane from his cows, so he is able to provide greens, onions, and a limited supply of other items almost all year round.

The salads and pizzas that are offered range from the classical to original, many of them are gourmet types rich with the produce from the area.  Ben finds using local produce better in many ways, but the flavor is the best reason. He regrets using produce from further away during the winter months and hopes that new development will help to extend the growing season.

I enjoyed the food from both of these dinning places, but learning more about the local food purveyors and suppliers fed my curiosity. I am pleased to learn how contagious it is to use the local food system rather than just using the cheaper sources. People are experimenting with new processes, and networking to improve the system. There is more going on in Vermont with food than just what my happy palate knows!

 

Pizza Served at Parker Pie

Source: Dig in VT Trails

Posted on

Thanksgiving Leftovers Plan

In October, my beau and I hosted a dinner party featuring foods using ingredients native to America. It was for a combination of Canadian Thanksgiving and Columbus Day, and the challenge was to create a menu with traditional Thanksgiving ingredients that wouldn’t taste just like a preview of the holiday.  

In November, I’m sharing that menu as an option for reviving Thanksgiving leftovers.

  • Cornmeal Scones with Maple Butter or Anadama Bread
  • Herbed Pumpkin Casserole with Wild Rice and Cranberry Shell Beans
  • Fannie Farmer’s 1896 recipe for Scalloped Turkey
  • Sweet Corn with Green Bell Peppers
  • Roasted Peanuts
  • Coleslaw (okay, cabbage is European, but it goes well with the rest of the menu)
  • Berry Cobbler with Sunflower Seed & Pecan Crumble

(For more details and recipe ideas see the original post)

The American ingredient menu was part of a weekly tradition for us. Every Thursday, we have an open invitation to dinner at our house with a different theme each week. We send out a menu and folks can decide if they want to contribute their own dish or just show up with a good appetite. The weekly dinners began soon after my partner moved to downtown Montpelier. He liked to cook. I liked to cook. We wanted to cook together. It made sense.

Now, the Thursday night dinners have become a great way for us to explore new recipes. The changing theme means we’ll bring in different cuisines, from the foods of San Francisco to the foods of South Africa. When we choose a city, state, or country that’s been home to someone now living in Vermont, they often arrive to show us the authentic way to create their favorite dishes (Chicago style hot dogs and Philadelphia hoagies inspire a certain level of passion, we’ve discovered).

I’d encourage anyone to explore food through regular dinner party hosting. If you check out www.discoveringflavor.com you’ll find a guide to a dinner party menu every week. Living in Vermont, we’ve got plenty of good food sources and food lovers to share these adventures. Check out the food markets on DigInVT for where to find interesting ingredients, or see what interesting menu items Vermont chefs are devising this time of year. And, of course, you can also check out other posts in the recipe section of the blog.

Happy holiday eating!

Helen Labun Jordan writes about food and the business for food for local and regional publications, and online at www.discoveringflavor.com

Source: Dig in VT Trails

Posted on

Best Pumpkin Pie Ever

This post originally appeared in the Good Grub Blog of Butterfly Bakery. We’re reprinting it now because it is, as the title suggests, the best pumpkin pie ever. You can find Butterfly Bakery cookies, granolas and other products at stores around Vermont, for order online, and at the December 14th Touch of Vermont holiday gift market in Montpelier where Claire will have her specialty truffles and hot sauces made from local ingredients.

This recipe came into being several years ago. A friend and I used to get together every Sunday to cook. She belonged to a CSA and when she got a pumpkin in her box she suggested pumpkin pie! I thought she was some Suzy-Homemaker nut to think of making pumpkin pie from *gasp* non-canned pumpkin! But she assured it was not only possible, but delicious. So, with a skeptical eye, I roasted and pureed the pumpkin. Oh no! The pumpkin puree was waterier than canned pumpkin! But my friend assured me that all would be divine. Well, she said “edible,” but I like “divine” better.

It was the most delicious pumpkin pie ever. Really. Ever. The different between using canned pumpkin and non-canned pumpkin is like the difference between buying a tomato at the supermarket in March and eating one in your garden that still smells like sun. I have made this recipe more times than I can count. I once actually carried a Vermont pumpkin to California for Thanksgiving, just for this pumpkin pie.

Leave out the crust and this makes a great Maple Pumpkin Custard (which is naturally low in fat!). You can cook it up in individual ramekins and serve with ice cream. Oh yum.

Pumpkin Pie

1 3- to 4 lb pie pumpkin
2/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 unbaked 9” pie shell

1) Preheat oven to 450° F
2) Slice the pumpkin in half from pole to pole. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Place the pumpkin, open side down, on a greased cookie sheet. Roast until a fork easily slides through the skin or the pumpkin, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
3) Scoop the flesh of the pumpkin into a medium bowl and puree with an immersion blender (or food processor).
4) In a large bowl, beat the eggs until uniformly yellow. Add 1-1/2 c pureed pumpkin, maple syrup and vanilla. Whisk until smooth
5) Whisk in the cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
6) Pour mixture into the pie shell and bake for 20 minutes at 450°, lower the temperature to 350° and bake for another 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serves 8

Source: Dig in VT Trails