Shop Virtually for Gourmet Jams, Jellies, Food items

Our store is closed for the winter but you can still shop our Country Store for those holiday gift baskets and much more—fresh honey, jams, jellies, gourmet sauces and meat rubs, and other specialty food items.  We'd be pleased to create custom gift baskets for your gift list.   Provide your price range and we will create a value-filled basket just for your holiday list.  We welcome corporate orders for staff and holiday giving.  E-mail Tiffany and she will call you to discuss your needs.

Picking a Pumpkin

Bass Farms has stacks and stacks of pumpkins.  Come on out and tour our display fields and choose the pumpkin YOU want.  Open daily 10-7; Sunday 10-5; and closed Mondays.

Schedule field trips, birthday parties at the farm, or any fun event.  Make us your destination -- one stop - two shops.

Picking just one pumpkin is hard to do.  Take a red wagon and choose your favorite -- and then choose another.
Big or little or in-between.

Green Tomatoes - CAKE

There's zucchini cake, sweet potato or pumpkin pie -- but green tomato cake?!?!?  YES and it is delicious.  Try it and you'll come back for more.

This Green Tomato Spice Cake is a family favorite.

Preheat oven to 350°.  While the oven is preheating--

Beat together until smooth and creamy:

• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened (can use vegetable shortening)
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

 Sift together

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Slowly blend this dry mixture into the egg and sugar mixture.  And then add:

• 1 cup pecans or walnuts
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 2 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes

Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan or  in a bundt pan. Top with coconut before baking or plan to  drizzle browned butter icing over the warm cake once the cake has finished baking.  Bake for one hour (longer if baking in a bundt pan).  When a wooden pick or cake tester is poked into the cake, and comes out clean the cake is done.  Serves 12.

Browned Butter icing

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar
In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, or until butter is lightly browned. Whisk in confectioners' sugar until smooth.  This makes about 1 cup of icing which should be drizzled over the warm cake.  Let cake and icing cool before serving.

Freezes well - uniced (or if baked with the coconut topping - freeze as is). When ready to serve, thaw and warm in a oven for few minutes, and then drizzle the browned butter icing over the warmed cake.
Serve with ice cream, or simply garnish with whipped cream, a cherry or spinkles of ground nuts.

smc

One Stop - Two Shops

Groups that schedule a visit down the hill at Green Endeavors often schedule a companion visit to our Market.  If we are notified we are pleased to arrange for a tasting session: salsas, special jams and jellies -- and of course, you will be able to pick out fresh fruits and vegetables.  We have an abundance of potatoes (on special this month), and the pumpkin season is just beginning.  Field trips, pick-your-pumpkin days, enjoy the sunshine.
We have a full line of food items, mixes, sauces, jams and jellies.  We are scheduling field trips for school classrooms, boy and girl scouts, home-schooled groups, families.  Call ahead and we'll custom design a visit for your group.

(And if you noticed the creatures on the salsa jars -- those are okra animals. Great fun for those who would rather "play with the okra than eat it.")

Go home with a pumpkin to carve -- or bake and eat. 

Squash Pickles

This recipe is from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving - Thanks to Deanna Nielson for trying  it out and letting us know how delicious the pickles are.

Squash Pickles

Yield: about 4 half-pints

2 pounds summer squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1-1/3 cups sliced onions

1-1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt (pickling or kosher salt preferred)

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

2 cups water

1 cup vinegar

Combine squash and onions; set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil. Add squash and onions; boil 10 minutes. Pack hot vegetables and liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Potatoes - $1 a pound

This Month's Special

Potatoes are now available.

Potatoes - Potatoes
$1 a pound at Bass Farms -- buy enough to store in your root cellar

Our produce is grown without herbicides or  pesticides.  


Send your favorite potato recipe to recipes@bassfarms.net.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Stuffed Green Peppers

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup uncooked instant rice
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 large green bell peppers
• 1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

Directions

1. In a large skillet or medium stock pot, brown the beef and onion over medium heat. Drain fat. Add rice, water, diced tomatoes, and stewed tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until rice is tender. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Cut the tops off the bell peppers and clean out the seeds and membrane. (Note: You may have to slightly slice the bottom of the peppers to make them stand up.) Fill peppers with meat mixture.
3. Place in a casserole dish and bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until peppers are as tender as you like. Served topped with spaghetti sauce.

Canning Tomato Juice

Start with 60 pounds of tomatoes -- ripe, tasty tomatoes.
And in 2 hours  you can have two dozen jars of great juice.  All the better to create tasty bases for   soups, and sauces.

September brings bushels of great ripe tomatoes.  Bass Farms stores their freshly picked tomatoes in a large cooler with constantly circulating air.  But once you pick up your tomatoes be ready to process your produce.

Many don't realize that when "shipped in" tomatoes arrive at stores they really aren't ripe - - they are "gassed" to produce a bright red color but are not yet ripe (Check out  what Terry Dunkel has to say about gassed tomatoes).  So when you take those tomatoes home they can sit awhile -- in fact they often have to as they are not ripe (just red in the store).  Freshly picked tomatoes are another story -- foods grown without preservatives need care in storage and in their use.  They are best when red and ripe.

For more about canning see www.bassfarms.org/harvesttable/tomatoes.html

The BEST Tomato Salsa

The BEST Tomato Salsa

Eat with chips or this salsa is great to use with a can of commercial tomato sauce in a ratio of 1-1 for spaghetti sauce, or for goulash.  Great to use with crumbled ground beef, browned.  Add salsa to add moisture to the beef for "sloppy joes."

Ingredients

• 6 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 2 cup onion, diced
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 8 teaspoons chopped fresh jalapeno pepper (including seeds)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Stir the tomatoes, green bell pepper, onion, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, cumin, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Serve. 

smc

Gongura Rice - A simple and hardy recipe

Gongura Rice

Ingredients:

• Cooked Rice - 1 cup
• Gongura leaves - 1 cup
• Onions - 1 medium
• Curry leaves - 5
• Mustard Seeds + Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
• Bengal Gram - 1/2 tsp
• Cashew Nuts - 5 Whole
• Turmeric powder a pinch
• Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Red Chillies - 4
• Salt to taste
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Lemon Juice - half tbl
  
  How to Prepare

Method to prepare:
Wash Sorrel Leaves/ gongura well.
Allow to drain well.
Chop onions and have other things ready.
If you have cooked Rice, this is the best way to make use of it,  otherwise cook rice in the usual way. The rice should not be soggy but as separate grains. More like you do for Fried rice.
Heat a pan with oil.
Splutter mustard, urad dal and cashew nuts.
Add curry leaves and bengal gram. When they turn color a little,
Add the onions and Red Chilis and sauté till its well done.
Squeeze the gongura/sorrel leaves again for excess water and add to the pan. Fry till the leaves are well cooked. Then add the chili powder and salt. When everything is well mixed, add the cooked rice. Combine everything well together. And as a last step add the lemon juice and mix well. smc

Eggplant

Eggplant & Tomato Sandwich on Focaccia Bread Many consider eggplant to be very exotic -- and the taste and texture is somewhat unique. It is a versatile food and can be prepared in a variety of different ways. Eggplant can be roasted in the oven or grilled.

One popular recipe is the grilled eggplant sandwich -- try this sandwich recipe created with eggplant, tomato and focaccia bread (Italian bread could be substituted) -- for a quick lunch or dinner entreé.
Featured Recipe -

Grilled Eggplant Sandwich

You'll need -

• 4 teaspoons Olive Oil
• 1 clove Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped, Fresh Basil
• Salt, to taste
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 2 small Eggplants

Sandwiches:

• 1/2 cup Cream Cheese, Low-Fat Whipped, or Goat Cheese
• 4 pieces Focaccia or other good quality bread, sliced in half, lengthwise
  NOTE: Focaccia bread is a dimpled Italian flatbread; usually baked in a long slender loaf.  For this recipe a good Italian bread or Italian garlic bread could be used.
• 2/3 cup Spinach, washed and dried
• 4 slices Tomato

Preparation of Eggplant

1. Slice eggplant in to medallion shaped slices, about 1/8 inch thick.
2. Add olive oil, garlic, salt, and fresh ground pepper and ½ teaspoon fresh chopped basil to small bowl. Stir to combine.
3. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil mixture.
4. Preheat grill to medium heat.
5. Grill eggplant over direct heat, 3 minutes per side.

For Sandwiches:

1. Mix cream cheese, 1-tablespoon fresh chopped basil, salt, and fresh ground pepper in small bowl.Spread 4 halves of focaccia bread with cheese mixture.
2. Add eggplant
3. Top with spinach, slice of tomato, and focaccia bread slice

This basic recipe is similar to one that can be found at Eggplant Recipes at www.eggplantrecipes.net .  Visit that site for a unique collection of recipes for every cooking method and every dish. The site has classic dishes and world-wide cuisines.
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Make Your Own Focaccia Bread Ingredients 3 1/4  cups  all-purpose flour 1  envelope Fleischmann's® RapidRise Yeast 1  tablespoon  sugar 1  teaspoon  salt 1/4  cup  extra virgin olive oil, divided 2  tablespoons  shredded Parmesan cheese 1  tablespoon  Spice Islands® Italian Herb Seasoning 1 2/3  cup  very warm water (120° to 130°F)

Preparation

1. MIX flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and water, stirring until well mixed. Spread dough into greased 13 x 9-inch pan. Cover.
2. LET RISE until doubled, about 30 minutes.
3. POKE multiple holes into the dough using the handle of a wooden spoon. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over dough; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and Italian herb seasoning. Cover.
4. LET RISE an additional 15 minutes while oven preheats to 375°F.
5. BAKE 30 to 35 minutes until lightly browned. Cool slightly and cut into slices; serve warm. If desired, serve with additional olive oil for dipping.

Focaccia Bread recipe provided by Fleischmann's Yeast, AUGUST 2008
smc

CSA Members Receive Added Benefit

CSA members will have an added benefit today -- when CSAs are picked up this week, members will have an opportunity to explore our "added vegetable bins" -- a free shopping mart just for our CSA members.  The slow beginning to our season is picking up.  We hope you will take advantage of the bountiful harvest.

We also have a great line of jams, jellies, sauces and other food related items.  Be sure to stop in our store and peruse our new items, as well as our fruits and vegetables.