8705 MEN Eat in Season

Table of Contents

MOTHER EARTH NEWS • Eat in Season

Of the major carbohydrate crops of the world, the homely spud is the easiest for a home gardener to grow in a meaningful amount. And for adding flavor to daily fare, earthy and pungent garlic is almost as essential as salt.

4 Eat From Your Own

Garden All Year: A Regional Guide

With these expert-recommended techniques and crop varieties, you, too, can break through seasonal barriers in your climate.

COVER PHOTOGRAPH: MATTHEW T. STALLBAUMER

9 Hardiness Zone Map

SPRING 10 Grow Your Own

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Shiitake Mushrooms

Take these steps to fruit your own fungi for money, food, and fun.

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14 Parsnips and Sorrel:

Old-World Crops for New-World Kitchens

Learn how to grow these crops and balance sorrel’s zing with parsnips’ sweetness in simple recipes.

20 5 Delicious Wild Greens

Give up the war on “weeds” and embrace the fortifying vegetables right outside your door.

24 Spring’s Sentinels:

Asparagus and Chives

These two perennials arrive in the garden at the same moment, which makes them natural companions on the springtime table.

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SUMMER 30 Season of Smoke

Bring exceptional flavor to backyard cookouts this season by trying these hot-smoking and haysmoking methods.

34 Two Sisters:

Corn and Beans

A pair grown and enjoyed together for generations, corn and shell beans serve up classic summer flavors that you can savor fresh right in the garden or combine in summertime recipes.

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40 40 Peas and Mint:

A Perfect Pair in Your Kitchen and Garden

Undemanding in the garden, this flavor duo will command attention in your kitchen. Invite cool, refreshing mint and sugary peas to the table.

45 Learn to Fish

Local angling spots can deliver valuable protein to your table and memorable tales about the ones that didn’t get away.

48 Grow Backyard

Strawberries

These simple-to-grow berries give gardeners a big return for a small investment.

FALL

58 Perfectly Paired

Apples and Onions

Root and fruit, savory and sweet, onions and apples complement each other in the garden and in delicious autumn dishes.

64 Grow Gorgeous Garlic

and Perfect Potatoes

Garlic’s pungency complements potatoes’ congeniality in these comforting recipes from around the world.

69 Best Cider Apples:

Plus a DIY Press

To craft batches of cider to sigh for, prune your planting list to these six expert picks.

Foraged fruit + fermentation = funky firewater.

54 Savory, Satisfying

Venison Recipes

Learn the quirks of cooking with venison and use it in these flavorful preparations.

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78 78 Winter Soups

from the Cellar

Start with a base of nutritious homemade broth and showcase your winter vegetable stash with these recipes.

82 Arugula and Turnips

Grow crisp turnips and arugula in cool-season gardens and pair their peppery flavors in your kitchen.

88 3 Rare Root Crops

You Should Be Growing

Experience the unique flavors of crosnes, salsify, and skirret by adding these unsung, underground treasures to your vegetable garden.

92 Grow and Cook With

WINTER

50 Pawpaw Mead

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72 Sweet Potatoes

and Shallots

Easy to grow and store, these roots pair well when tossed into decadent dishes to warm up cold days.

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Kohlrabi and Rosemary

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Don’t be deterred by kohlrabi’s quirky appearance. Its crisp flesh makes an excellent companion to strong herbs, such as rosemary, well into winter.

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From the cool Northwest to tropical Florida, gardeners in several USDA Plant Hardiness Zones offered tips for this article. Warming global temperatures have been pushing Zones farther north over time.

Asian and mustard greens, chard, beets, parsnips, carrots, fava beans, and wheat through winter. Beets and chard planted in late October have the added advantage of avoiding the leaf miners that often plague these crops in summer. The cooler temperatures are also ideal for cilantro. “Most people try to plant cilantro in summer, but it bolts,” she says. “If you plant it in September, it will produce through winter and flower in March, attracting beneficial insects to the garden.”

She rarely needs cloches or row covers for frost protection. “To protect my frostsensitive citrus trees, I hang old-fashioned white Christmas lights in the trees. They give off just enough heat to prevent the trees from freezing and look very pretty.”

Creasy preserves her garden’s summer flavors in her signature minestrone soup and her apple, tomato, marinara, and

ranchero sauces, which she freezes for winter use. Her frozen treasure trove also contains savory roasted tomatoes, herbs in olive oil, blackberries lightly dusted with sugar, chopped basil layered with Parmesan cheese, and lime juice cubes.

Southwest 4 Cornville, Ariz. (Zone 8). Native American corn and bean varieties are ideally suited to the hot, dry conditions of the Southwest, says Bill McDorman, founder of Seeds Trust, which began in Idaho, moved to Arizona in 2005, and since 2011 has been in Colorado under the direction of Julia Coffeey. (McDorman and his wife, Belle, are now co-directors of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance.) Many varieties McDorman recommends have been selected over many generations for their ability to thrive in the region’s harsh

environment. He harvests grain corn into November, and then stores it for use through winter and early spring. He recommends ‘Rio Grande Blue,’ a flour corn that’s ideal for tortillas. “Dry the corn on the stalk before you pick it. If it isn’t completely dry, peel back the husks to let it finish drying,” he suggests. “Don’t shell the kernels from the cobs until you’re ready to use them. That’s the secret — it makes an altogether different food from what you’d get at the store.”

‘Candy Mountain,’ an early, openpollinated variety with rich flavor, is his favorite sweet corn. Its strong emergence in cool soil and its early season vigor make it a standout for the Southwest and many other high-altitude locales. Among beans, McDorman favors what are now known as “Anasazi” — a type of bean believed to have originated from seed found in a clay pot among ancient ruins of ancestral Pueblo people. “The beans store for up to 10 years, cook relatively quickly, and have a creamy texture and rich flavor,” he says.

He also considers tepary beans (Phaseolus acutifolius) a regional gem. Native groups in Arizona and northwestern Mexico grew and selected these beans to thrive there.

Tepary beans need a short season (60 to 80 days) and are drought-tolerant.

McDorman harvests fresh Jerusalem artichokes, oregano, and garlic through winter. Plus, he’s never without greens: “Wild mustard grows in the shade of mesquite trees everywhere around this part of the Southwest. So, I plant ‘Slow Bolt’ arugula, a relative of mustard, near mesquite. I get an unlimited supply of fresh greens for several years without replanting.”

Northern Tier

Can, freeze or ferment your summer harvests to stretch them into fall and winter meals.

5 Ketchum, Idaho (Zone 5). Bill McDorman is also well-acquainted with the extremely cold, short growing season of the North. He suggests starting seeds indoors, and also taking advantage of warm microclimates, such as an area at the south side of a building with a concrete foundation. Try adding rocks to garden beds to increase thermal mass. “Or, site the garden on a south-facing slope,” he says. “The soil will start to warm about three weeks earlier in spring.”

Gardeners in this climate can grow kale

Bend hoops over beds to easily add and remove row cover when needed.

FOTOLIA/JOHNBRAID; OPPOSITE: ROSALIND CREASY; MAP SOURCE: USDA

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and Brussels sprouts well into fall and early winter if snow cover is good, he says.

‘Dwarf Siberian’ kale, selected to stay low under the protection of snow, is a favorite.

He also notes that many gardeners plant crops relatively late in the year and try to get them to mature as temps are dropping, which is rarely successful. Instead, focus on planting in time for crops to mature right before the first fall frost, and then use protection devices to keep them going.

To give corn a two- to three-week head start in spring, McDorman says, sow the seeds in the bottom of a 1-foot-deep trench, cover them with a couple of inches of soil, and then roll plastic over the top to trap the heat and moisture. When the corn reaches the plastic, around your last spring frost date, remove the plastic and fill in soil around the growing plants.

McDorman also urges gardeners in cold, short-season areas to grow Siberian tomatoes. In 1989, he collected seeds of 60 Siberian varieties that are now worldfamous for their hardiness and flavor.

“They were selected for the very best flavor by the gardeners who grew them and then traded the seeds,” he says. All are cold-hardy, but many tolerate hot temperatures, too. ‘Mikarda Sweet’ and

‘De Barrao’ are good Roma types for storage. And because all the Siberian tomato varieties are open-pollinated, you can save your own seeds and develop the best strains for your microclimate.

6 Waterville, Maine (Zone 5). Fedco Seeds horticulturist Roberta Bailey harvests brassicas, carrots, beets, cilantro, and spinach well after her first frost, using high tunnels and row covers. ‘White Russian’ kale has held in an unheated greenhouse all the way down to zero degrees, and survived in the garden until January beneath insulating snow. Gardeners in the area can also grow ‘Vates’ collards, ‘Green Lance’ gai lan (a Chinese kale used like broccoli), and yokatta-na (an extra-hardy Asian green similar to bok choy) beneath row covers. “If snow cover is constant, ‘Kolibri’ kohlrabi, parsnips, and horseradish will survive winter, too,” Bailey says.

Central 7 Mansfield, Mo. (Zone 6). The Midwestern area has a longer growing season than its northern neighbors, but frost-free dates can vary widely from year to year. The growers at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. use row covers, cloches, and cold frames

6 MOTHER EARTH NEWS • EAT IN SEASON

Mid-Atlantic 8 Devon, Pa. (Zone 7). Contributing Editor William Woys Weaver grows mustard, lettuce, and celeriac beneath tunnels covered with greenhouse-grade plastic. He says the key to overwintering vegetables is to plant early enough for the crops to develop a good root system.

If planted by early September, lettuces will develop sufficient roots so they can survive winter and, by early April, will be growing strong again.

Turnips, parsnips, winter radishes, and ‘Green Glaze’ collards have proven WWW.MOTHEREARTHNEWS.COM

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Food in jars: Rosalind Creasy

to protect cabbage, lettuce, and other greens from damage in spring and fall.

They recommend ‘Wong Bok’ Chinese cabbage, as well as the heading cabbages ‘Early Jersey Wakefield,’ ‘Red Express,’ ‘Cour di Bue,’ and ‘Late Flat Dutch.’

Tatsoi, bok choy, collards, arugula, and ‘Giant Red Japanese’ mustard also thrive.

“For storage, try ‘Pusa Asita Black’ and ‘Atomic Red’ carrots, and ‘Chioggia’ and ‘Golden’ beets,” says spokesperson Kathy McFarland. “Also, ‘Blue Hubbard,’ ‘Galeux d’Eysines,’ ‘Mini Red Turban,’ and ‘Moranga’ (also called ‘Pink Pumpkin’) squash will keep all winter long.”

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Garden beds: Fotolia/johnbraid

SEASON OF SMOKE

By Steven Raichlen

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hink of some of the most pleasurable foods: ham, bacon, pastrami. All owe their distinctive flavor to smoke. Not only can you impart smoky flavor to brisket or pulled pork, you can also smoke stuff you’d never expect, including cocktails, cheesecake, ice cream, mayonnaise, butter, and ice.

Developing that smoky flavor is a process. Grilling is a high-heat cooking method defined by its speed and efficiency. It’s perfect for a quick meal after work. But smoking is grilling’s very antithesis, requiring patience, persistence, and, above all, time. Even relatively fast-smoked foods, such as chicken or ribs, must smoke for several hours. And smoked cured foods, such as pastrami or ham, need to be salted and brined for up to two weeks before you fire up your smoker.

Smoking is practiced by most of the world’s great food cultures, but the techniques vary widely from region to region and dish to dish. Smoking represents a continuum that uses

Bring exceptional flavor to backyard cookouts this season by trying these hot-smoking and hay-smoking methods.

Though their smoke may vary slightly, hickory, oak, apple, cherry, and maple work equally well.

several methods, including coldsmoking, hot-smoking, and smokeroasting.

The recipes featured here take advantage of hay-smoking, a specialty form of smoking developed by cheesemakers in Italy to flash-smoke cheeses with smoldering hay — which you can do relatively quickly. You’ll also see hot-smoking, in which you

smoke at a high enough temperature so that food cooks in addition to acquiring smoky flavor (as opposed to cold-smoking, which layers on flavor without cooking). You might start with these ideas and experiment later with a longer-smoking brisket or a whole hog, or even expand your range to some of those more unusual smoked desserts or drinks.

DREAMSTIME/JONATHAN FOX; OPPOSITE: MATTHEW BENSON

Smoky Barbecued Onions

If sweet onions stuffed with bacon, jalapeños, barbecue sauce, onion pieces, bacon, and jalapeños, and cook over medium heat, and cheese sounds like paradise, here’s your hymnal. The stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 4 minutes. Place a preparation is infinitely customizable: You can substitute chorizo spoonful of this filling into the cavity of each onion. Divide the or another sausage for the bacon; use diced pickles instead of remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into 4 pats and place one on jalapeños; and pour on any favorite barbecue sauce, or one from top of each onion. (The onions can be prepared several hours my book. Want honey instead of barbecue sauce? A different ahead of this stage. Place them on a plate, cover with plastic cheese on top? It’s all up to you. wrap, and refrigerate.)

This recipe uses a hot-smoking method. Use Set up your smoker following the manufaca hardwood of your choice, enough for 3 hours turer’s instructions and preheat to 225 to 250 Ingredients of smoking. I recommend a sweet onion, such degrees Fahrenheit. Add the wood as speci• 4 large (12 to 14 ounces each) as ‘Vidalia,’ ‘Walla Walla,’ or ‘Texas Sweet.’ fied by the manufacturer. Place the onions on sweet onions, peeled To keep the onions upright during smoking, grill rings or in a shallow aluminum-foil pan.

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, divided use grill rings or twisted, crumpled rings of Smoke until gently yielding when squeezed on • 4 strips artisanal or madealuminum foil. Yield: 4 onions. the sides, about 2 hours. from-scratch bacon, cut Directions: Using a sharp paring knife and Place 2 tablespoons of the barbecue sauce 1 crosswise into ⁄4-inch slivers starting at the top of the onion (opposite the on each onion, and top each onion with 2 • 4 jalapeño peppers, seeded and root), cut an inverted cone-shaped cavity tablespoons of the cheese, if using. Continue diced (for spicier flavor, leave about 2 inches across the top and 2 inches smoking the onions for another 30 to 60 the seeds in) deep in each onion. (The core should come minutes.

To test for doneness, squeeze the 1 • ⁄2 cup barbecue sauce out in a cone-shaped plug.) Chop the pieces sides of the onions — they should be soft and 1 • ⁄2 cup grated cheddar or pepper you remove. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter easy to pierce with a metal skewer.

Transfer jack cheese (optional) in a medium-sized skillet. Add the chopped the onions to a platter or plates for serving.

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animal should have no idea it’s being hunted, and, when shot, should die quickly. A clean heart-lung shot on an unsuspecting deer will go a long way toward tasty venison. A liver shot (or worse), or a shot on a fleeing deer, will flood the animal with adrenaline, which can make that animal’s meat nearly inedible.

3 Hanging temperature. If you hang your deer, you’ll need the temperature to be no higher than about 40 degrees Fahrenheit; just above freezing is better. One of the reasons people receive unsavory

venison back from meat processors is that during deer season, the door of their meat locker is opened and shut all day, letting warm air sneak in, and allowing temperatures to creep up past 40 degrees. Processors don’t like to talk about this, but it happens.

4 The rut. Note that this is the first time the animal itself comes into play as a factor in meat quality. Rutting and post-rut bucks and bulls are in ragged shape. They’ve been running around and fighting for weeks, and they have a lot of hormones racing through them. They’ll be leaner and tougher

than before the rut.

5 Age and sex. All things being equal, a young doe will be more tender than an old male. But keep in mind that a young male might be more tender than an old doe. You can get good venison from an old, rutting buck, provided that the first three factors are all done right.

6 Diet. Grain-fed whitetails and mule deer will be fatter and nicertasting than deer subsisting on sagebrush or pine needles. That doesn’t mean a muley that’s shot in the sage won’t be good; it’s just that you might

find yourself preferring the whitetail doe that you shot in the alfalfa field.

That said, venison from all sorts of animals, with all sorts of diets, can be wonderful; these observations are just the fine distinctions that can

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enough silverskin from roasts and stew meat, can seriously damage meat. This is why many of us choose to butcher our own deer and elk. Good butchers are like good mechanics — hold onto them, and treat them well.

Country-Fried Venison Steak

HOLLY A. HEYSER (2)

Venison With Morel Sauce

I don’t know what percentage of deer hunters also hunt morel mushrooms, but it has to be more than half, so venison with morels is a natural pairing.

The only hitch is that you’ll need to tuck away some backstrap or tenderloin from fall until spring. Of course, you can also make this recipe with dried morels from the previous spring.

If you make this with dried morels, as I sometimes do, you’ll need about 1 ounce, a really big handful. Pour boiling water over them and soak them while you let the venison come to room temperature. Remove, squeeze out excess water, and chop. Save 1 cup of the water and strain it through a paper towel. Then, when it comes time to put the mushrooms in the pan, instead of the fresh morels, you’ll add the chopped, reconstituted morels plus the water. Yield: 4 servings.

Directions: Take the venison out of the fridge and salt it well. Let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes while you chop the mushrooms and onion.

Heat the canola oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.

Pat the venison dry with a paper towel and sear it in the pan, about 2 minutes per side, or until the meat is done to your liking. Remove the venison and set it on a cutting board to rest.

Ingredients Add the onion and morels 1 • 1 ⁄2 to 2 pounds of venison steak to the pan. They’ll sizzle for a or boneless backstrap moment, and then the morels • Salt will begin to release their water • 2 cups chopped fresh morels, (see above for dried morel about 12 ounces (1 ounce if instructions).

Let almost all the using dried morels) water boil away before adding • 1 cup minced onion the butter.

Toss the mushrooms • 2 tbsp canola oil, grapeseed oil, and onion to coat with the or lard butter.

Sear this hard for a • 3 tbsp butter, lard, or duck fat couple of minutes without disturbing — you’ll want to get some browning. Sprinkle the flour • 1 tbsp flour over the mushrooms and stir it in. Add the port (it might flame up as the alcohol burns off), 1 • ⁄2 cup port or red wine and then use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Let the • 1 cup glace de viande, or 2 cups port almost boil away, and then add the glace or stock. venison or beef stock boiled Boil this down for up to 3 minutes until the sauce comes together. down by half Pour any juices from the venison that have accumulated on the cutting board into the sauce.

• Black pepper to taste Add black pepper and salt to taste, and serve with the venison.

elevate your culinary awareness and enjoyment.

7 Butchery. Bad butchery, whether in the form of sloppy knife and saw cuts, meat ground with loads of sinew and no added fat, or failure to remove

I learned about this version of country-fried steak from a Mississippi chef, John Currence of City Grocery. Currence’s book Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey is one of my all-time favorite Southern cookbooks, and a version of this recipe is in that book.

Note: Because you’ll be pounding the meat, you won’t need backstrap here, although it still makes the best cutlet. I also use leg steaks that have been stripped of all connective tissue. I like this dish with grits, mashed potatoes, or hash browns. Yield: 4 servings.

Directions: If you’re going to add the optional caramelized onions to the gravy, you’ll need to make them first. You can make them several days in advance and keep them in the fridge.

To caramelize the onions, heat the butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat and then add the onions. Toss to coat with the melted butter and sprinkle salt over them, then thyme. As soon as you see some brown edges, turn the Ingredients for Caramelized heat down to medium-low and cover the Onions (Optional) pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until • 3 tbsp butter or lard the onions are totally brown, which can • 1 large onion, sliced thin take 30 minutes or so. Add the honey from root to tip and cook another 10 minutes. Turn off • A pinch of salt the heat, remove and reserve the • 1 tsp dried thyme onions, and then wipe out the pan.

• 1 tbsp honey Heat the oven to “warm” and set a baking sheet inside lined with paper Ingredients for Venison towels; you’ll use this to keep the • 4 venison medallions medallions warm while you make the • Salt gravy.

• 2 cups seasoned flour (add Put the venison medallions between salt, black pepper, cayenne, 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pound and garlic powder to the them thin with a meat mallet, rubber mallet, or empty wine bottle. How thin? Your choice. At least flour, all to taste, or use a 1 ⁄4 inch, and as thin as 1⁄8 inch. Salt the meat and set it aside. commercial “fish fry”) To set up a breading station, get 3 large, shallow bowls. In one goes the seasoned flour. In the • 3 eggs, lightly beaten next go the eggs, cream, a pinch each of salt and black pepper, and just a couple of dashes of • 1⁄2 cup heavy cream Tabasco. In the third go the breadcrumbs.

• Tabasco sauce Heat enough peanut oil to come up 1⁄4 inch along the sides of a cast-iron or other heavy frying • 3 cups panko breadcrumbs pan. Heat it over high heat until a tiny bit of flour sizzles instantly when flicked into it. Look for 350 (regular breadcrumbs are degrees Fahrenheit. While the oil is heating up, dredge the venison cutlets in the flour, then the egg fine too) mixture, then the breadcrumbs. Fry the venison for about 2 minutes per side, until the medallions • Peanut oil or lard are just golden-brown. Remove each to the baking sheet in the warm oven while you finish the rest.

When the venison is done, pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the oil. To make the gravy, Ingredients for Gravy heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat. Mix in the flour and cook, stirring almost constantly, • 1⁄4 cup flour until it turns the color of coffee with cream, about 5 to 10 minutes. Slowly pour in the broth with • 1 cup dark broth (beef or one hand while you whisk the gravy with the other. It will sizzle and seize up, but keep pouring the venison) broth in slowly until it’s incorporated. Stir in the caramelized onions and simmer the gravy for a • 1⁄4 cup cream few minutes. Add the cream, mix well, and add salt, black pepper, and a touch of Tabasco to taste.

Give everyone some cutlets and pour the gravy over them.

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‘Arkansas Black’

‘Goldrush’

‘Grimes Golden’

‘Harrison’

‘Roxbury Russet’

is resistant to most major diseases, but it’s vulnerable to apple scab and fire blight.

2 ‘Goldrush,’ the most modern variety in my top six, is a dessert apple that has become the darling of professional cider-makers. Developed in 1972 at Purdue University, ‘Goldrush’ exhibits a sweet-tart flavor and is a long keeper. The flesh is high in acid and sugar, with a rich, spicy flavor that improves in storage. ‘Goldrush’ trees are prone to cedar apple rust, but they’re highly resistant to powdery mildew and apple scab disease.

3 ‘Grimes Golden’ is believed to be a parent of ‘Golden Delicious.’ Popular

for making brandy and cider because of its high sugar content of 18.8 percent, ‘Grimes Golden’ juice will ferment to 9 percent alcohol in hard cider. The apple’s crisp flesh has a spicy, sweet flavor.

‘Grimes Golden’ is tasty when sliced and fried or when made into apple butter. Only an average keeper, this cider apple variety is moderately susceptible to common apple diseases — especially collar rot — but somewhat resistant to fire blight and cedar apple rust.

4 ‘Harrison’ makes a dark drink that leaves a memorable sensation in the mouth. This variety’s rich juice will produce the quintessential North American cider on its own or when

combined with the juice of another cider apple. The dense, yellow flesh yields a high volume of juice when pressed. I’ve measured the volume produced by ‘Harrison’ at 18 percent higher than that yielded by an equal amount of ‘Winesap’ fruit. This apple stores well and is appropriate for desserts and culinary uses. ‘Harrison’ trees are vigorous, heavy bearers, and are resistant to apple scab.

5 ‘Roxbury Russet’ is likely the oldest named North American apple variety, dating back to the mid-1600s.

These trees bear an all-purpose fruit suited to cider-making, with coarse flesh that’s more sweet than tart when

fully ripe. The juice contains nearly 13 percent sugar, which will ferment to 6 percent alcohol in hard cider. This fruit is fine in desserts, and retains its flavor when dried. ‘Roxbury Russet’ offers good resistance to apple scab and powdery mildew, and it’s moderately susceptible to fire blight and cedar apple rust.

6 ‘Winesap’ was first described as one of the best apples for cider in 1804, and now dozens of strains exist. This long-keeping apple is sweet, crisp, and aromatic. The versatile fruit is also a fine dessert apple and is delicious in brandy, applesauce, and apple butter.

Standard rootstock trees will grow

vigorously, reaching as high as 30 feet tall and producing heavy crops — as many as 100 bushels in a single season.

‘Winesap’ trees are geographically adaptable, moderately resistant to all the major apple diseases, and escape late frosts because they bloom a few days later than mainstream varieties.

Bonus: Other worthy and historically proven cider apple varieties are ‘Baldwin,’ ‘Ben Davis,’ ‘Black Twig,’ ‘Empire,’ ‘Honeycrisp,’ ‘Jonathan,’ ‘Newtown Pippin’ (aka ‘Albemarle’), ‘Northern Spy,’ ‘Razor Russet,’ ‘Smokehouse,’ ‘Stayman,’ ‘Virginia Crab’ (aka ‘Hewes Crab’), ‘Wickson Crab,’ and ‘Yates.’

feed tube agitator shaft

How to Convert a Washing Machine to Make Cider

Consider converting an old washing machine into an extra-large juicer using these updated instructions from our Archive (September/October 1982). See readers’ adaptations of these plans — and watch washing machine juicers in operation — at goo.gl/fm3wpY and goo.gl/q2mTQt. — MOTHER I’ve long marveled at the workings of centrifugal-force countertop juicers. Because I have access to large quantities of free apples, I decided to incorporate the same principles into a much larger juice extractor: the family washing machine.

First, I opened the top of the metal cabinet and removed all the apple shredder unneeded hardware, gaining access to the tub, and removed the (plywood disc with protruding agitator from its shaft. Then, I built a shredder by using a jigsaw to cut a doughnut-shaped piece of 3⁄4-inch exterior-grade plywood nails) to fit the bottom of the washing machine’s perforated basket. (To build a shredder that’s easier to install inside the tub, you could make it collapsible by cutting the disk into two pieces along the circle’s diameter and then hinging those pieces together.) I drove several hundred 1-inch panel nails through the plywood so their protruding points would serve as the apple-shredder’s “teeth.”

tub (stationary)

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perforated basket (spins to extract juice)

To make juice, line the tub with netting to contain the pulp, install the shredder and bridge assembly, and set the machine to spin. The shredder’s nails will mince apples dropped down the feed tube, and juice will pour out of the washer’s drain hose.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY NATE SKOW; TOP: THE DESIGN GROUP (6)

bridge assembly

‘Winesap’

RESOURCES MAIL-ORDER APPLE TREES www.fedcoseeds.com www.greenmantlenursery.com www.treesofantiquity.com www.vintagevirginiaapples.com CIDER PRESSES www.happyvalleyranch.com www.meadowcreature.com/avalon www.lehmans.com www.pleasanthillgrain.com Take your pick of MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ cider resources on our website: goo.gl/yKbyQ8

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To give the newly fashioned shredder a firm founcentrifugal force would throw those pieces Bridge Assembly dation, I placed it on three feet, each cut from a through the holes in the basket and into feed tube 2-by-4 and glued and nailed in place. Finally, the pump. To prevent this from happening, 4” plastic pipe 1” x 8” I fastened the assembly to the basket I lined my tub with a filter made of several with three screws, one in each foot, yards of sheer nylon mesh, plus another 1” x 8” through perforations in the bottom of layer of fiberglass screening. agitator hole the machine’s tub.

The machine can swallow about 2 bushels To hold the apples while the nails of fruit before it must spin-dry so you can shredded them, I made a bridge assembly remove the accumulated pulp from the nylon and to span the top of the machine and support the fiberglass filters. Be sure to wear eye protection when feed tube (pictured at right). The bridge is formed of operating the machine. To feed apples down the tube to the shredder, two 1-by-8 boards, which cross off-center on one side use a short length of 2-by-4 with a shorter piece of 1-by-2 nailed of the agitator shaft (adjust the board length to fit the crosswise to its handle end as a stop to keep the “pusher” from going surface of your machine). Add board spacers to the down too far and splintering in the shredder. underside of the top crosspiece so the bridge will sit level After collecting a hefty batch of apples for the trial run, I turned on the top of your machine. You should also add vertical the washer selector to “spin/normal” and pulled the knob. The juicer boards at the ends to hold the bridge snugly in place. At the point on worked perfectly, making 60 gallons of fresh cider in four hours. the bridge where the two boards cross, I cut a hole just large enough to Two weeks later — with more containers, apples, and helpers — the force in a piece of new 4-inch plastic pipe. I pushed the lower end of machine made 120 gallons of squeezings in just six hours. I found the pipe down to within 1⁄4-inch of the shredder’s nail points and sealed that a bushel of ‘McIntosh’ apples can yield up to 31⁄2 gallons of it to the bridge with a liberal amount of epoxy. To stabilize the feed cider. A blend of several different apple varieties makes an even tube, you may need to add additional wooden blocks to the bottom of better thirst quencher. the crosspiece.

My moonlighting Maytag juice extractor took about 16 hours and At this point, if you dropped an apple down the fruit chute with $20 worth of materials to make, but who can put a price on a frosted the basket spinning, the nails would chew it to bits and the washer’s mug of tart, homemade apple cider on an autumn night?

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• 1 head cauliflower (including core, but leaves removed), roughly chopped • 6 cups chicken broth or other neutral-tasting broth • 4 cloves garlic, whole • 3 tbsp chicken fat or olive oil • 1 large leek (white and tender green parts) split lengthwise, trimmed, and thinly sliced • 1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced • Salt and freshly ground pepper (preferably white pepper), to taste • Fresh nutmeg for grating Directions: Combine the cauliflower, broth, and garlic in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and continue to boil gently for about 30 minutes, until the cauliflower is soft enough to break apart with a spoon.

Meanwhile, melt the chicken fat in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the leek and carrot, cover,

Make these warming soups with quality homemade chicken broth; fresh vegetables, such as cauliflower and cabbage; and spicy Spanish chorizo.

When you make a soup out of a simple combination of ingredients, each component must pull its own weight. Dried Spanish chorizo adds great flavor, and the paprika in the sausage will color the broth. With canned beans, this soup is quick to make but tastes like it’s been cooking for hours.

If you have canned beans and homemade chicken broth on hand, this delicious soup will take about a half hour to make. This recipe is adapted from my book Recipes from the Root Cellar, which is a collection that features winter vegetables.

Yield: 4 servings.

Directions: Melt the chicken fat in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the cabbage and onion and sauté until they begin to color, about 10 minutes.

Add the broth, potatoes, and sausage. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Stir in the beans and simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Ingredients • 2 tbsp chicken fat or olive oil • 1 small head green or savoy cabbage, thinly sliced (6 to 8 cups) • 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced • 6 cups chicken broth • 8 ounces thin-skinned potatoes (unpeeled), diced • 8 ounces Spanish chorizo; andouille; or other fullflavored, fully cooked sausage, thinly sliced • 2 cups cooked white cannellini beans, or 1 19-ounce can, rinsed and drained • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

instead of simmers, it will be cloudy rather than clear. But in the soup recipes that follow, the appearance of the broth isn’t important. Also, a layer of yellow fat should appear on top of the broth. This can be skimmed off and reserved as a substitute for oil in a savory recipe.

Don’t have the time or freezer space to make broth? You can find some surprisingly good bouillon pastes (not cubes or powder) and some flavorful (but relatively expensive) boxed broth.

And although the recipes here have been tested with chicken broth, they’d be equally good with beef, pork, or a neutral-tasting vegetable broth. The key here is “neutral-tasting.” Some vegetable broths taste like carrots or mushrooms or tomatoes and can result in a soup with flavors that aren’t quite harmonious.

I’m all about vegetables, so I like to either feature one vegetable in a soup or combine a lot of vegetables to make a minestrone-type soup. The recipes here showcase just one at a time, celebrating under-appreciated winter produce.

Creamy Cauliflower and Leek Soup Cauliflower stars in this dairy-free soup — but leeks add flavor, and carrots add color. Best of all, the puréed cauliflower provides a silken texture that’s both satisfying and comforting.

The core of the cauliflower head is as flavorful as the florets, so be sure to include it in the soup. Yield: 4 servings.

Puréed cauliflower lends a creamy texture to this soup, and grated nutmeg adds seasonal flavor.

and cook the vegetables over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the leeks become very tender but not browned.

Using an immersion blender, purée the cauliflower and broth mixture until smooth, and then add to the saucepan with the leek and carrot. If you don’t have

For a puréed soup, you’ll want a winter squash that isn’t very stringy, pan, along with the remaining broth, apple cider, maple syrup, and which rules out acorn squash and spaghetti squash. Butternut, ‘Red soy sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat Kuri,’ and ‘Baby Blue Hubbard’ squashes are my favorite for this. until the soup is heated through and the But because growing conditions and specific cultivars play a role flavors have blended, about 15 minutes, adding more maple syrup in a squash’s flavor, you’ll want to sweeten this soup to taste. Soy or soy sauce if needed. sauce adds an umami quality that enhances the flavor even more Serve hot, topping each bowl of soup with a sprinkle of bacon. than salt alone. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 deIngredients grees Fahrenheit. Cut the squash in half • 1 medium winter and remove the seeds and fiber. Place squash (about 3 cut side down in a baking pan. Add the pounds), such as onion and pour in 1 inch of water. Roast butternut, ‘Red Kuri,’ until the squash is completely tender, or ‘Baby Blue Hubbard’ about 1 hour.

• 1 onion, cut into Meanwhile, cook the bacon over mewedges dium heat in a large, heavy saucepan • 4 ounces bacon, diced until the bacon has given up its fat and is • 2 apples, peeled, crisp. Transfer the bacon to paper towels cored, and diced or rags to drain, leaving the grease in the • 4 cups chicken broth pan. Add the apples to the pan and sauté • 1 cup apple cider over medium-high heat until the apples • 1⁄4 cup maple syrup, or are tender, about 10 minutes. to taste Scrape the winter squash flesh from • 1 tbsp soy sauce, or to the skin. Process the squash flesh and taste onion in a food processor until smooth, • Salt and freshly ground adding a little of the chicken broth if black pepper, to taste needed. Add to the apples in the sauce-

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an immersion blender, purée the cauliflower mixture in batches in a regular blender and add to the leeks and carrots as each batch is puréed.

Heat the soup over very low heat. Taste it and add salt and pepper as needed.

Serve hot, grating a little nutmeg over each serving.

Roasted Winter Squash Soup With Apples and Bacon

ANDREA CHESMAN (2); OPPOSITE: ANDREA CHESMAN; TOP L-R: ISTOCK/MIZINA; ISTOCK/NADEZDASTOYANOVA; FOTOLIA/RDNZL

White Bean and Cabbage Soup

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