(NC)-Autumn is harvest season, and the perfect time to deliver fresh, farm goodness into every meal we cook and serve.
Plan your meals and menus with any and all of the following fresh foods:
Fall Fruit
• Apples reach their zenith in fall. Use them in all sorts of appetizers, main courses, desserts, sauces and snacks. A ripe apple can be a mate to many foods.
• Blackberries are high in vitamins and minerals and are ripe when very black and juicy-looking. Sprinkle them on cereal and on yogurt at breakfast. If cooking, blackberries are best when paired with other fruit (like apples) to make crumbles or pies. Puree the cooked fruits together for a mousse. Or juice blackberries with apples for a hot autumn drink.
• Damsons are small, black plums, with a beautiful blue bloom on the skin. If you're lucky, damsons are sweet enough to eat raw, but are also delicious as a topping when stewed.
• Pears appear in numerous varieties many of which are most abundant in fall. Buy firm pears and ripen on your kitchen counter, not in the refrigerator. Once soft, pears keep for about three days. Eat raw, add to salads, or poach them in fruit juice or wine.
Fall Vegetables
• Eggplant is best in autumn. There's no need to salt and drain eggplant, also known as aubergine. Rather than fry this veggie, which soaks up huge amounts of oil, slice it, brush with oil and bake in the oven until tender. Serve as a side dish, or as an ingredient in sauces and casseroles.
• Carrots have a more robust flavour in autumn and are delicious juiced, in soup, or shredded into salads and sandwiches. Carrots are also good steamed, stir-fried or roasted. A dash of orange juice brings out the flavour. Add them to long-cooking meat stews for a touch of sweetness.
• Celeriac is the knobby, brown root vegetable of October. It doesn't look too promising, but it has a wonderful celery-like flavour perfect for soups and stews. Peel and cut celeriac into chunks, boil until tender, then puree it alone, or with potatoes for a tasty side dish.
• Mushrooms, especially wild mushrooms, are the most flavourful at this time of year. Don't be shy and try a new variety as they're loaded with nutrients.
• Parsnips add a savoury taste to meals, especially when pureed or mashed with squash or potato, cut into chunks and roasted with other vegetables. Parsnips are excellent in soups and stews.
• Peppers in red, yellow, orange, and green are flavour enhanced by char-grilling, or by baking in hot oven for 20 minutes.
• Pumpkin is not as naturally tasty as squash, but it is a nutritious ingredient that can be added to your soup and stew recipes.
• Red cabbage is a fall favourite and complements ham, pork, and poultry very nicely. Here's an easy recipe to make using Ontario cabbage and apples: Wash and shred one small cabbage and two apples. Stew with three cups of water and seasonings of your choice. When tender, add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar plus two cloves, bring it to the boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes before serving. Make more than you need since it will be even tastier the next day.
- News Canada