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holiday recipes

Pork Roast with Apples and Onions

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Adapted from the recipe by Ree Drummond

Makes: 8 servings

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

*Ingredients available at the farmers’ market

  • 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 pork shoulder roast*
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 4 cups apple cider*
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 3 whole apples*, cored and cut into wedges
  • A bundle of fresh rosemary or thyme
  • 3 medium onions*, sliced
  • 1 whole bay leaf

Directions

  1. Saute onions until brown and set aside.
  2. Heat olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over high heat. Salt and pepper pork roast, then sear on all sides to give it some color. Reduce heat to low. Add apple cider, apple slices, onions, rosemary or thyme, and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 3 hours. Alternatively, you may place in a 300-degree oven if you prefer.
  3. When the roast is done, remove the roast, apples, and onions to a platter. Raise heat to medium-high and boil liquid, reducing it until thick and rich.
  4. Spoon thick sauce over the roast, then cut the roast into slices. Serve with apples and onions.

Raspberry Tassies

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Raspberry Tassies

Adapted from the recipes by Kate Dean at I Heart Eating and Rebecca at Sugar and Soul

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Chill Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Makes 24 servings

Ingredients

*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

For the crust:

  • ½ cup butter at cool room temperature
  • 3 oz. cream cheese softened
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

For the filling:

  • 4 cups fresh (or frozen) raspberries* 
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons corn starch
  • 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

For the filling:

  1. Add raspberries to a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high until berries break down (about 10 minutes).
  2. Bring raspberries to a light boil, stir in sugar, and return to a boil.
  3. In a separate small bowl, whisk together corn starch and water and pour into the raspberries.
  4. Stir the mixture vigorously for 1 minute and then remove from heat and let cool and thicken, stirring occasionally.

For the crust:

  1. Beat butter, cream cheese, flour, and almond extract together until well-combined.
  2. Cover dough and chill until firm (or about two hours)
  3. Divide chilled dough between the mini muffin cups, pressing dough into the bottom and up the sides (make sure the sides are tall enough or the filling may bubble over when baking!)
  4. Scoop filling into cups.
  5. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until crust is light golden brown. 
  6. Let cool in pan before removing.

 

Buttery Breakfast Casserole

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Recipe by Melissa Clark of New York Times Cooking
Serves 6-8
Prep & cook time: 1 ½ hour, plus 4 hours of overnight chilling

Ingredients:
*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market
● 1 pound croissants* (about 5 to 7), split in half lengthwise
● 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, more for baking dish
● 1 bunch scallions* (6 to 7), white and light green parts thinly sliced, greens reserved
● ¾ pound sweet Italian sausage*, casings removed
● 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage*
● 8 large eggs*
● 3 cups whole milk*
● 1 cup heavy cream*
● 8 ounces Gruyère or other smooth-melting, creamy cheese*, grated (2 cups)
● 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
● 1 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:
1. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Spread croissants on a large baking sheet and toast, cut side up, until golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes (watch carefully to see that they do not burn). Let cool, then tear into large bite-size pieces.
2. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add sliced scallions and sausage meat; cook, breaking up meat with a fork until mixture is well browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in sage, and remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, toss together croissants and sausage mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, 1 1/2 cups cheese, salt and pepper.
4. Lightly oil a 9- x 13-inch baking dish. Turn croissant mixture into the pan, spreading it out evenly over the bottom. Pour custard into pan, pressing croissants down gently to help absorb the liquid. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
5. When you’re ready to bake the casserole, heat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter the remaining grated cheese over the top of the casserole. Transfer to oven and bake until casserole is golden brown and firm to the touch, 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Garnish with sliced scallion tops before serving.

Traditional Holiday Turkey and Duck Fresh and Sustainable from the Farmers’ Market

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

The season of feasts creates a reason to focus on holiday birds such as turkeys and ducks. This fresh and sustainable poultry can now be found at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. 

For turkey, check in with Ramble Creek Farm and Mariaville Mushroom Men. For duck, speak with Squashville Farm. All of these farms encourage advance orders.

In an era of convenience cooking, the prospect of roasting a bird as big as a turkey (10 pounds at a minimum) or a duck (six to eight pounds) might seem daunting. Why do it? And how? Let’s start by looking at what makes these poultry so flavorful.

Ramble Creek turkeys grazing by their mobile roost.

Ramble Creek owner Josh Carnes explains, “our turkeys arrived on farm as little poults on July 18, and grew to maturity on pasture.” He adds, “Turkeys forage a lot, way more than chickens. If moved to fresh grass on a regular basis, they get a large amount of their diet from the land.”

Squashville Farm owner Jim Gupta-Carlson notes that all of the animals raised on his farm – chickens, ducks, and goats – play a role in supporting the health of each other as well as the soil and vegetables that the farm cultivates. For example, “Ducks are particularly vital to keeping the populations of snails, which are pests to goats, under control.”  Additionally, Gupta-Carlson says, “Because the ducks are raised outdoors, they run and they fly, and they live and eat like ducks.”

All of these local farm animals live to near-maturity and are processed on site. According to Carnes, this eases stress on the “one bad day” and helps create “an extremely high quality and flavorful finished product.”

As for cooking, simpler is better. Our accompanying recipe shows that there is no need to do such things as piercing the skin, parboiling in advance, or adding a lot of seasonings because, as Carnes notes, “the flavor of pastured birds truly stands on its own.” The basic steps involve roasting for 15 minutes at a high heat, then lowering the heat to continue cooking. Let the meat rest about 15 minutes before serving. 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays in the Lincoln Baths Building, Saratoga Spa State Park. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and the FreshFoodNY app.