On the nature of square dancing and potato salad

When we set out to throw our barn dance, we had many goals in mind; we wanted to have a big party in the big barn; we wanted to fundraise; we wanted to raise awareness about the farm and the institute, we wanted to bring our community together.


Now, having lived through the exciting event that was our barn dance, we've decided that it was that final goal that was really the dearest to our hearts. We wanted people to get to know us and the farm, perhaps see why we love this place so much, yes, but we also wanted those same people to meet one another. It is rare, after all, to really meet with one's neighbors these days.


That is where square dancing comes in. For our barn dance, we had a caller named Tina, who stood with her band at the end of the barn and told us uncoordinated chickens what moves to make, when to hold hands, bow to our partners, and do-si-do. We formed long lines, held hands with complete strangers, and skipped down the length of our barn like children. There is something about square dancing that makes you put your guard down. For one thing, everyone looks just plain silly and so no one feels silly alone. And for another, the dance goes on whether you know your dance partner or not, and if you don't grab on to someone, you'll be left behind.

We read, recently, a beautiful account of that night that really brings to light this community-building aspect of our dance, and asks some really great questions about the relationship between communities and nature in our culture today; go here to see it: http://dailydialect.wordpress.com/

Now, at the barn dance we made a special dinner for our musicians, that we designed to be friendly and familiar, because we wanted them to feel like our neighbors too. Only one dish would do. We firmly believe that many a neighbor has bonded over this ubiquitous dish, that graces the table of every American summer block party and bbq: potato salad. It brings people together, especially if you buy the potatoes at your friendly neighborhood farm stand. Try some!

Potato Salad with pickled onions

Serves 8-10
Ingredients

• 10-12 large potatoes, washed and cut into 1 1/2-2" cubes
• 2 cups of green or yellow wax beans, washed with the stems cut or broken off
• 1/2 cup pickled onions (or more if you like), recipe follows
• 1 batch mustardy mayonnaise, recipe follows
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped

1. Put cubed potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Cook over high heat until they come to a boil and add a tablespoon or more of salt to the water (just enough so that you can taste the salt). Turn the heat down so the potatoes are at a very low simmer and cook until they are tender but not mushy.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, put a small pot of water on to boil, and add salt to taste again. Have a small bowl of ice water ready, next to the stove. When the water in the pot is at a rolling boil, add the beans and cook until they are tender, but still a little crisp, then add them to the ice bath to stop their cooking. When cool, drain the beans and cut into thirds; set aside until the potatoes are done.
3. When potatoes finish cooking, drain them and put them, still in the collander, in an empty sink to dry out and cool, covered with a dish towel.
4. When potatoes are barely warm, toss with the mayonnaise, pickled onions, blanched green beans, oregano, and 1-2 tablespoons of the onion pickling liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss to combine.

Pickled Onions

Ingredients

• 4 medium sized onions
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon chili flake
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt

1. Peel, halve and thinly slice onions and put in a medium sized bowl.
2. Combine all other ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
3. Take hot pickling liquid and pour over onions. Allow to cool and refrigerate at least overnight before using.
   

Mustardy Mayonnaise

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place yolks in a medium sized bowl with a damp towel underneath it, to keep it from sliding around while you whisk
2. Beginning just one spoonful at a time, alowly add the oil to the egg yolks in a drizzle while constantly whisking, waiting until each bit of oil is absorbed before adding another spoonful. Eventually the mixture will begin to be a more pale yellow, and will thicken. At this point, it is okay to add the oil straight from the container in a steady stream, whisking all the while. It should continue to thicken until, when all the oil has been added, you need to add a few tablespoons of water to thin it out.
3. Grate or finely chop the garlic and add to the bowl along with the mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper and taste. Adjust seasoning if you need to.

Celeriac Gratin

Celeriac, or celery root, tastes like celery but can be cooked like potatoes. This gratin is the ultimate comfort food for chilly spring nights. The recipe makes two casseroles to feed a crowd, but can easily be halved for one dish.

Celeriac Casserole

makes 12-16 servings

• 1 gigantic celery root, or 2 smallish celery roots
• 1 lb kale, collards, chard, or other greens

for the sauce

• 3 T butter
• 3 T cooking oil
• 1 yellow onion, sliced (with green top)
• 6 T flour
• 1 t salt
• 2 C vegetable broth
• ½ C milk

for the streusel

• 1 C breadcrumbs
• ¼ C thyme
• 1 heavy pinch coarse salt
• 1 t pepper
• 1 T olive oil

1. Peel celeriac and divide into 4-6 manageable pieces. Cut into 1/8 inch slices. (A mandolin or V-slicer would be handy.)
2. Remove any thick stems from greens and finely chop into ¼ inch strips.
3. Grease two casseroles. Lay down an even layer of celeriac, with the slices slightly overlapping. Top with a light layer of greens - not enough to entirely cover the celeriac. Continue alternating layers of celeriac and greens, ending with celeriac - how many layers depends on the size of your casseroles.
4. In a wide saucepan or skillet, melt butter with oil over medium heat. Add onions and salt and cook until tender.
5. Stir in flour. Cook about 3 minutes.
6. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil, them simmer 5 minutes. Season to taste.
7. Pour sauce very evenly over casseroles.
8. Cover and bake in a 300°F oven for 30 minutes.
9. Combine streusel ingredients and sprinkle over casseroles.
10. Continue to bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until streusel is crispy but not burnt.
11. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

buckets of random stuff

We have lots of buckets at the intern house, lots of buckets with multiple purposes, and the smallest one (a bathroom size trash can) is for actual trash for the dumpster. Besides that they are mostly 5 gallon buckets. One is for chickens -- anything old and green or looks to be good chicken food goes to that one (no citrus or hot peppers). Then we have general compost which is literally almost everything else.

Now I say almost because I had a bolt from the blue making veggie soup today: it's always always always great to have leek and onion tops, wilty celery and other still viable broth ingredients around, so I've designated a smaller 3 gallon for just that purpose. I'll post a short recap of what went down in the soup tonight, since it was delicious.

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• water
• whole kitchen scraps -- tops of onions and leeks, wilted celery, etc.
• salt
• ground pepper
• 1-2 dried cayenne or serrano peppers
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• red potatoes
• leeks
• fresh oregano
• fresh rosemary
• mushrooms, onions, and/or brussels sprouts

1. big stockpot half or two thirds full of water on high heat til it is nearly boiling
2. throw all the odds and ends in (cheesecloth is good for keeping everything together if you want)
3. healthy pinch of salt, some ground pepper, 1 or 2 hot peppers and a tablespoon of olive oil as well
4. give that a couple hours on low with the lid on
5. get a colander and place the veggie pieces you don't want in the final soup in the colander
6. chop up some red waxy potatoes and leeks into bite sized pieces and chuck em in
7. add liberal doses of fresh oregano and rosemary
8. find delicious things in or outside the kitchen to put in (mushrooms, onions, brussels sprouts)
9. probably another healthy pinch of salt would be good
10. give that another two hours or so on low without the lid
11. season it up a few minutes before serving
12. don't puree it
13. bathe in acclaim

sincerely.
-chris