Fall Pleasures-Column Published in The Lincoln County News-

Fall Pleasures

            This week saw the passage of the Vernal Equinox and hence we are officially in the fall season.  Even those who ignore the fine print in the calendar can tell.  The midweek traffic on Route 1, always a reliable harbinger of the change in seasons, tells us that summer is over!

            This means that we can once again re-connect with our neighbors for more than just a quick “hello” at the post office or grocery store. With visiting family and summer house guests gone, there is actually time to have a pleasurable mid-week simple supper with neighbors to catch up with their lives and compare notes on past summer events.

            We spent one such evening recently and found that, with the abundant garden harvest of this year, it was quite simple to assemble a meal that was both easy on time and effort: some appetizers, a hearty soup with popovers and simple desert.

            To liven up the ubiquitous cheese and crackers, appetizers included a plate of cucumber slices topped with blue cheese and small rounds of salami topped with a slice of new dill pickles. The main course was my harvest meatball soup, which is more like a vegetable stew and allows you to serve everything in a single soup bowl, with contents only limited by your imagination.

            Harvest Meatball Soup.

            It may be easier to start with the meatballs, since they need to be added when the soup is finished cooking. Start with ¼ cup dry bread crumbs soaked in 3-4 Tblsp. milk. For gluten free meatballs you need to use gluten free bread crumbs. Once the crumbs have absorbed the milk, stir in 2 Tblsp. chopped onion, 1Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce, 1 egg, salt and pepper and 1 pound lean ground beef.  Thoroughly mix the crumb mixture in the meat.  Make the meatballs rolling them in the palm of your hand, using a full Tblsp. of the meat mixture for each.  Set the meatballs, not touching, on a larger cookie pan with sides and bake in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from pan, drain on paper towels and cover until ready to add to the soup. Makes 24 meatballs.  

While the meatballs are baking, in a 4 quart pot sauté a large coarsely chopped onion in 2 Tblsp. olive oil for 5 minutes.  Add 2 chopped stalks of celery (with leaves), 2 chopped cloves of garlic and continue to sauté for an additional 5 minutes. Add: 4-5 cut-up cored-unpeeled tomatoes (or a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes with liquid), 3 cups water and 26 oz. beef cooking stock. Bring to boil and add the following vegetables cut to bite size: 3 peeled carrots, 2 peeled medium potatoes, 2 small yellow squash, 1 cup fresh string beans. Season with ½ tsp. thyme, 2 Tblsp. chopped fresh parsley, 2 Tblsp. chopped fresh basil (optional) salt and pepper. After the vegetables reach boiling, lower the temperature to low and continue cooking for 45 minutes. Add a 14 oz. can of drained rinsed garbanzo or white beans, 1 cup of frozen or canned corn and the prepared meatballs. Heat to boiling and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.  It makes for a thick and colorful plate that is as tasty as it is filling.

Never having forgotten the popovers I first encountered at Jordan Pond so many years ago, I love to make them for breakfast or to go with soup.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease popover pan thoroughly and place in the oven for about 3 minutes. In the meantime in a large bowl beat together 3 eggs, 1 ¼ cups milk, 1 Tblsp. melted butter and combine with 1 ¼ cups flour and ¼ tsp. salt. Remove the hot pan from the oven carefully and quickly divide egg mixture between the 6 cups. Return pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for another 15 to 17 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Having written about gluten free popovers in one of my previous columns, here is the gluten free version. The recipe is the same except instead of flour use 1 cup of my gluten free mix (bulk preparation: 2 cups brown rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour) and ½ tsp. baking powder. The gluten free popovers won’t pop as high, but will still be tasty and look like popovers.

A neighborly supper, capped off with good companionable conversation and a simple desert, such as my Maine Peach Melba (poached peaches, topped with ice cream and blueberry jam), is bound to please every time.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)