By Janet Groene, F47166
September 2021
Warning: I brake for farm markets. One of my favorite parts of RV life is shopping for fresh-from-the-fields foods and then preparing them in camp later that day. At this time of year, farm stands are filled with fall harvests, including root vegetables still sweet with the soil that nurtured them.
September is a time to celebrate all the good things that root vegetables mean to the RV cook. They’re solid, earthy, rich in nutrients, and have great staying power. Many, such as potatoes and hard squash, last for weeks without refrigeration.
Some fall crops are familiar staples. Others, such as kohlrabi and celeriac (also called celery root), are less common and fun to try. Autumn potatoes mashed with another vegetable and butter make an all-in-one side dish. Mashed potatoes and cabbage combine to create an Irish classic known as colcannon. This is the time to discover the goodness of heritage apples, turnip nuggets in your Irish stew, and flecks of diced rutabaga and parsnip in vegetable soup.
Need shortcuts? Many vegetables are available already peeled, diced, or spiralized and packaged in supermarkets. Try these road-ready fall recipes.
Beef ’N Butternut Curry
Curry powders vary greatly in taste and in heat. Many cooks make their own curry blends. If you’re new to curries, purchase a popular commercial brand such as Spice Islands and start with a smaller amount.
2 pounds bite-size beef for stew
1 to 2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger (optional)
1 teaspoon powdered beef or chicken bouillon
1 cup water
14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
4 cups peeled, diced butternut squash or any hard squash
In a greased slow cooker, pressure cooker, or heavy Dutch oven, toss the beef with the curry powder, ginger, and bouillon.
Add the water and tomatoes. Cover and cook until the beef is tender. This takes approximately four hours on high in a slow cooker, 20 minutes in a pressure cooker, or one to two hours in campfire coals. Add the squash and cook until it is fork-tender but still holds its shape. Serve over rice and add a dollop of sour cream. Makes six servings.
Chicken ’N Cauliflower Rice
Vegetable oil
12 garlic cloves mashed in 2 tablespoons salt
6 bone-in chicken breast halves
6 teaspoons vermouth (optional)
About 6 cups finely chopped cauliflower
Salt
Pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese
6 pats butter
Lay out six large squares of heavy-duty foil. Spread a small circle of oil in the center of each. Place two salted garlic cloves on each circle. Top with a chicken breast, cavity side up. If you wish, put a teaspoon of vermouth in each cavity. Pack the cavity with cauliflower. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and cheese, and top with a pat of butter.
Bring up the corners of the foil and twist to form a handle. The handle can be used to move it around the fire for even roasting. Place the foil packet on the grate over a medium-hot fire, chicken side down. Cook for about 40 minutes until the chicken is done (170 degrees) and the cauliflower is tender. Bundlesalso can be baked in a 350-degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Makes six servings.
Lentil Soup Marrakesh
You choose the vegetables. Go for variety in taste and color, and let this soup simmer long and slow over the campfire.
16-ounce package lentils
1/4 cup olive oil
Large onion, diced
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
2 quart-size cartons of broth (vegetable, beef, or chicken)
14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
6 to 8 cups mixed, diced root vegetables, cabbage, and kale
Olive oil (optional)
Sour cream (optional)
Wash, drain, and pick over the lentils. Heat the olive oil in a large pot, and stir-fry the onion, gradually adding seasonings and lentils. Add the broth, tomatoes, and vegetables, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer nestled in well-started coals or over a low-medium burner, adding more water or broth if you wish, until everything is tender — about 50 to 60 minutes. Ladle into soup bowls and drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil or a dollop of sour cream over each. Makes eight servings. To stretch the number of servings, ladle the soup over cooked rice.
Brussels Sprouts With Caraway Sauce
2 to 3 slices caraway rye bread
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
½ teaspoon caraway seeds
Dice the bread to make two cups. In a large skillet, sauté the bread cubes in the butter until they are browned and crisp; set them aside. Trim the sprouts, and then cut them in half. Heat the oil in the same skillet and add the sprouts, cut side down. Cover the skillet and cook until the sprouts are tender. Push the sprouts aside, and heat the sour cream, mustard, and caraway seeds, stirring to mix until they are heated through. Mix the sauce with the sprouts and serve topped with the rye croutons. Makes six servings.
Skippy Sweet Potatoes
For added sweetness, use sweet potatoes canned in syrup. This is a good side dish with grilled ham steaks or pork chops. If you’re cooking fresh sweet potatoes, you’ll need about 2½ cups after mashing.
20-ounce can sweet potatoes in juice
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup orange juice, orange Tang, or orange soda
1/4 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Drain the sweet potatoes. In an unheated, buttered pan, mash the sweet potatoes with the remaining ingredients. Cover and place on a low burner until the mixture is heated through. Makes four to six servings.
Suggested garnish: Chopped peanuts.
Candy Apple Dessert
3 Golden Delicious apples
3 sweet red autumn apples
2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 candy bars such as Milky Way, Snickers, or Heath
8-ounce tub whipped topping
Dice unpeeled apples and toss them with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a large bowl. Let stand while you cut up the candy bars. Toss the apples again, and then fold in the candy bars and whipped topping. Serve at once or chill. Makes up to 15 servings.
Coffee Toffee Apple Dip
Set the warm pan of this dipping sauce in the center of the table, and everyone digs in with wedges of crisp autumn apples. It tastes better than candy apples and is so much easier.
2 cups very hot water
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 stick butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Stir coffee granules into the hot water and set aside to cool. Mix cornstarch and sugar in a cold saucepan. When the coffee cools to lukewarm (or use cold, leftover coffee), stir it into the sugar mixture over low-medium heat, adding the butter. When the mixture is sweet and thick, and the sugar dissolves, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Serve warm as a dip or sauce. Makes 2½ cups.
Black Walnut Cake
Now rare because the trees are harvested (and sometimes stolen) for high-priced lumber, the American black walnut is a nostalgic fall favorite. The harvest begins in September. The nuts are available, but at high prices. On the plus side, they are strongly flavored, and a few go a long way.
1 box yellow or white cake mix
1 cup finely chopped black walnuts, divided
1 teaspoon black walnut flavoring, divided
Chop the black walnuts into very fine pieces and set aside half. Fold half of the pieces into the cake batter with ½ teaspoon of black walnut extract. Bake the cake according to package directions. Frost with walnut coffee icing (recipe follows).
Walnut Coffee Icing
½ stick plus 2 tablespoons salted butter
About 4 to 5 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons strong, hot black coffee
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon black walnut flavoring
Mix a softened ½ stick of butter with some of the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Melt the remaining butter in hot coffee. Cool the coffee to lukewarm and then add flavorings to cool it even further. Beat the coffee mixture into the sugar mixture with enough additional sugar to make it spreadable. Fold in the remaining chopped nuts. Spread on the cooled cake. A 9-inch-by-13-inch cake makes 15 servings.
Rose Hip Tea
The best time to forage for wild rose hips is after the first light frost, which raises their sweetness. Wash, trim, and air dry them. Combine 1/4 cup fresh rose hips per cup of boiling water. Let steep for 15 minutes, and then pour into cups through a tea strainer or other very fine filter. If you dehydrate rose hips first, use a tablespoon of dried rose hips per cup of boiling water. Serve as is or with honey.
Rooting For More Ideas?
*Give root vegetables such as beets and turnips the Hasselback potato treatment. Peel them and then slice thinly, not quite cutting through all the way. Spread the slices open and bathe in oil, melted butter, herbs, and your favorite seasonings. Wrap each potato in foil; roast; and serve with more butter between the slices.
*Add a blush to homemade applesauce by stirring in a tablespoon or two of ketchup. Peeling apples becomes more fun when you challenge the kids to a “longest peel” contest.
*Small new turnips don’t have to be peeled. Scrub, cut up, and boil them in a pot with a cut-up potato to tame the taste. Mash with butter.
*Use your scalloped potatoes recipe with other root vegetables, such as a medley of parsnips, carrots, onions, potatoes, and celeriac (celery root). Slice them very thin. Arrange them in a buttered pan and season with salt and pepper. Cover with light cream and seal in foil. Bake at 350 degrees until tender. Sprinkle with grated cheese and buttered bread crumbs.
*Cut spaghetti squash in half, remove the seeds, wrap in foil, and roast over the campfire or in the oven. Use a fork to scrape out the strands and serve with spaghetti sauce. The squash can also be cooked cut side down on a plate in the microwave oven.
*Rutabagas are excellent keepers without refrigeration in cool weather. Sweeten the slight bitterness by adding a tablespoon of sugar, honey, or maple syrup to the cooking water.
*Cut a small acorn squash in half, remove the seeds, cover with foil, and bake cut side down on the grate until tender. Sprinkle generously with granola and melted butter. Serves two.
*(Add half a cup of broken pecans to a can of corned beef hash. Fry in melted butter and serve with eggs for breakfast.
*Make candied cranberries. Wash and pick over fresh cranberries. Dry well. Dip in stirred, pasteurized egg white. Let the excess drip off and then dip in a thick layer of white sugar spread on a flat plate. Arrange on waxed paper until thoroughly dry. This works best in dry weather.