Ludo Lefebvre: On Potatoes on Nowness.com

One thing we never need here at Weiser Family Farms, is an excuse to eat potatoes.  But hey, let's do it anyway! Everyone drink and be merry this St. Patrick's Day, but don't forget to eat some potatoes!  Check out this recipe that would be awesome with some cornbeef:

Cheese Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients

1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
3 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced, not rinsed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook onion in butter until soft, add flour and cook for 2 minutes, whisking. Whisk in milk and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add 3/4 cup of cheese, stirring until melted; season with salt and pepper. Layer half of potatoes in a baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with half of sauce. Layer remaining potato slices on top of sauce and season. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Courtesy of Food Network and Emeril Lagasse

And of course, our produce can be found there.  Every Sunday you can come by and say "hello" to Sarah and Esther.  A mother and daughter produce team who know almost everything about everything.  So if you have any questions about how to cook your potatoes that week ot how to pick out the right melon, just ask!

The market is also in the center of the Claremont Village, which is just a really nice area to hang out on a Sunday morning/afternoon.  There are several resturants within walking distance including a Starbucks and Some Crust Bakery.  The market is also very close to one of my favorite record stores: the infamous Rhino Records.  

The Claremont Market is every Sunday from 8am to 1pm on Second Streey between Indian Hill Blvd. and Yale Ave.  Come by this weekend and say "hi!"

Right after the original Super Bowl ad aired, there was a spoof of the commercial that was made by Nick Wiger and uploaded to Funny Or Die.  People sometimes say things are "funny because they are true."  Well, this video is just true.  So true, that it is hard to see what is funny.  You can watch the video below.

We are excited this week because our All Red potatoes are back in season and just in time for Valentines day.  These potatoes are red on the outside and light pink on the inside.  This makes them perfect for showing that special someone how much you love them at the dinner table.  All Reds are a round potato and are super versitile.  You can use them for anything from mashing to baking.  Try them this week when they are fresh out of the field. 

Tehachapi is under snow and it’s raining here in Rancho Cucamonga.  It’s kind of a dreary day.  That’s a sharp contrast to how hot a year it was for us at Weiser Family Farms.  As is everything in life, it was a mixed bag.  On the whole, however, it was tremendous.  Heck, I would rather pridefully recall how fantastic our melon crop was received this summer versus wonder what might have been had the birds not feasted on our parsnip crop (they’re coming...probably even before we get a Farm Bill). 

This year, we had some great events like our late August’s hosting of a Alex’s Lemonade fundraiser at our Tehachapi ranch last August.  Chefs Suzanne Goin, Neal Fraser and Paul Kahan all donated their time to raise money for Alex's Lemonade.  A great cause that has our unwavering support. We also had our moments of loss, particularly the sad passing our our good friend, Dennis St. John.  Dennis’ cheerfulness and helpful nature is missed tremendously.  

All those individual moments that made up one crazy trip around the sun. We were fortunate to have so many wonderful friends and customers share the trip with us.  Thanks for the pleasure of your company! Hey, the more the merrier so tell your friends about us.  Tell them to check us out at weiserfamilyfarms.com, follow us on twitter (@weiserfarms), or like us on Facebook. There, I blew the mood with a bunch of crass commercialism.  Sorry.

As for 2013? AllI can say is, as the great Ralph Lawler says, “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!” A happy and prosperous new year to everyone!

Roasted Root Vegetable Medley*

Ingredients

• 8 to 12 slender carrots, peeled and trimmed
• 8 to 12 baby turnips, peeled
• 6 to 8 fingerling potatoes, scrubbed and cut lengthwise in halves
• 1 or 2 large parsnips, peeled, trimmed, and cut diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices
• 1 or 2 medium onions, trimmed, peeled and halved, each 1/2 cut into quarters
• 1 or 2 large beets, peeled and cut into thick wedges
• 1 or 2 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and cut into thick wedges
• 1 celery root, trimmed and halved, halves cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices
• 1 whole head garlic, separated into cloves, unpeeled
• 2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, sage, or thyme
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Put all the vegetables and the herb sprigs in a large baking dish. Season well with salt and black pepper, drizzle generously with olive oil, and toss them with your hands to coat them evenly.

Put the baking dish in the preheated oven and cook, stirring the vegetables occasionally, until they are tender and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Serve the vegetables from their baking dish or transfer them to a platter to accompany a roasted main course.

*Copyright Wolfgang Puck and Food Network

Kabocha Squash Pie with Spiced Crust

Ingredients

Squash:

• 1 small to medium kabocha squash, cut into sixths, seeds removed
• Olive oil

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for bench flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 grates fresh nutmeg
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into pea-size pieces
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 to 3 teaspoons ice cold water

Filling:

• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup bourbon, optional
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Heavy cream, for garnish
• Pinch cinnamon, for garning

Directions

Now everyone makes mashed poatoes, and I totally get why (they are delicious).  But why not try something a little new this year?  Check this simple and delicious recipe out:

Roasted Truffled Fingerling Potatoes*

2 lbs ½ inch thick fingerling potato (we used purple peruvian, red, and yukon gold) rounds
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt + pepper
Coarse sea salt
Truffle oil

Preheat oven to 450. Toss potato rounds in olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 20 minutes, until potatoes pierce easily. Lightly drizzle with truffle oil and top with coarse sea salt

*borrowed from the Sunday Suppers blog.  

I don't mean to pressure you guys, but it is Fall and you really need to jump on this squash thing.  Sure Halloween is coming and everyone has pumpkins in the back of their minds, but did you know Kabocha means pumpkin in Japanese?  It's true.  Did you also know you can eat the skin on a Kabocha squash?  Seriously!  And hey Thanksgiving isn't that far away; maybe we should all start to test kitchen some dishes for the family.  So check this out: our friends (well, everyone's friends) at PBS posted this delicious recipe for mashed Kabocha squash.  It sounds good and looks just lovely.  The bright orange color is very Fall, very Halloween, and who knows...maybe very Thanksgiving in a month?

Mashed Kabocha

Ingredients1 medium kabocha pumpkin (2-3 pounds)6 tablespoons unsalted butter3/4 cup half and half1 teaspoon salt100 grams gruyere cheese, shredded

Directions

Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out all the seeds and pith. Peel all the green skin off the pumpkin and cut into 1” chunks. Prepare a steamer and steam the pumpkin until tender (15-20 minutes).

Mash the steamed pumpkin, or pass it through a potato ricer. In a microwave safe bowl, combine the butter, half and half and salt and heat for 1 minute, or until the salt and butter are melted.

Pour half the heated cream mixture into the mashed Kabocha and stir to combine. Continue adding the cream mixture and stirring until you are happy with the texture (you may not need all of it). Add the cheese and stir to combine.

Yield: 6-8 servings