Winter Squash Soup with Fried Sage Leaves
Serves 4 to 6
- 2 ½ to 3 lbs. winter squash
- ¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for squash
- 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 12 whole sage leaves, plus 2 Tbls. chopped
- 2 onions chopped
- Chopped leaves from 4 thyme sprigs or ¼ teaspoon dried
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- Salt and freshly milled pepper
- 2 quarts water or stock
- ½ cup Young Belford cheese, diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Halve the squash and scoop out the seeds. Brush the surfaces with oil, stuff the cavities with the garlic and place them cut sides down on a baking sheet. Bake until tender when pressed with a finger, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat the ¼ cup oil until nearly smoking, then drop in the whole sage leaves and fry until speckled and dark, about 1 minute. Set the leaves aside on a paper towel and transfer the oil to a wide soup pot. Add the onions, chopped sage, thyme, and parsley and cook over medium heat until the onions have begun to brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Scoop the squash flesh into the pot along with any juices that have accumulated in the pan. Peel the garlic and add it to the pot along with 1 ½ teaspoons salt and the water (or broth) and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes. If the soup becomes too thick, simply add more water to thin it out. Taste for salt.
- Depending on the type of squash you’ve used, the soup will be smooth or rough. Puree or pass it through a food mill if you want a more refined soup. Ladle into bowls and distribute cheese over the top. Garnish each bowl with the fried sage leaves, add pepper and serve.
Breakfast Strata with Sausage, Belford and Asparagus
This recipe doubles easily; use a 9 by 13-inch baking dish greased with only 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and increase the baking time as directed in step 4.
Serves 6
- 8 slices French bread (1/2 “ thick)
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 5 medium shallots, minced (1/2 cup)
- 1 lb Garden’s fresh asparagus
- 8 oz Whey Good Pork bulk sage sausage
- ½ cup medium-dry white wine
- 6 oz Mature Belford cheese, grated (1½ cups)
- 6 large James Ranch eggs
- 1 cup half-and half
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 225 degrees. Arrange bread in single layer on large baking sheet and bake until dry and crisp, about 40 minutes, turning slices over halfway through drying time. (Alternatively, leave slices out overnight to dry.) When cooled, butter slices on one side with 2 tablespoons butter; set aside.
- Fry sausage in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking sausage apart with wooden spoon, until sausage has lost raw color and begins to brown, about 4 minutes; add shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and translucent, about 1 minute longer. Add asparagus to skillet, and cook until asparagus is slightly brown about 6 minutes; transfer mixture to medium bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add wine to skillet, increase heat to medium-high, and simmer until reduced to 1/4 cup, 2 to 3 minutes; set aside.
- Butter 8-inch square baking dish with remaining 1 tablespoon butter; arrange half the buttered bread slices, buttered-side up, in single layer in dish. Sprinkle half of mixture, then 1/2 cup grated cheese evenly over bread slices. Arrange remaining bread slices in single layer over cheese; sprinkle remaining mixture and another 1/2 cup cheese evenly over bread. Whisk eggs in medium bowl until combined; whisk in reduced wine, half-and-half, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread layers; cover surface flush with plastic wrap, weigh down (see note, above), and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
- Remove dish from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Uncover strata and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese evenly over surface; bake until both edges and center are puffed and edges have pulled away slightly from sides of dish, 50 to 55 minutes (or about 60 minutes for doubled recipe). Cool on wire rack 5 minutes; serve.
(Adapted via Cooks Illustrated November 1, 2001)
Green Chile and Belford Cheese Quiche
Serves 4, with a side salad of The Gardens’ Salad mix tossed with olive oil and lemon juice.
- 2-3 mild or medium green chilies, such as Anaheim, or poblano, roasted, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
- ½ small onion, chopped
- ½ sweet red pepper, diced
- 1 Tbl olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 3 James Ranch eggs
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream, milk or half cream and half milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly grated black pepper
- 1 cup grated Mature James Ranch Belford cheese
- 8 inch pastry shell rolled into a French tart pan with removable side, or a standard pie dish
- 2 Tbl chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Partially bake the pastry shell: bake in middle of oven at 400 degrees F. for 8-9 minutes. Remove and cool.
- Sauté onion and red pepper in olive oil about 8-10 minutes or until soft (do not brown), add green chiles and garlic, and stir for 1-2 minutes, remove from heat and cool. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Beat together eggs, cream or milk, salt, and pepper. Stir in cheese. Check seasoning.
- Pour into pastry shell and place on baking sheet. Bake 25-30 minutes or until puffed and browned. If using French tart form, remove quiche and place on hot platter. Serve sprinkled with fresh cilantro.
Becca’s Macaroni and Cheese (The cheese maker’s wife)
This is a great recipe for winter, spring, summer and fall. If you’re looking for comfort food, this is one of those recipes everyone loves!
- 1 lb. pasta such as Fusilli or Penne
- 1 to 1.5 pounds of grated Young Belford James Ranch Artisan cheese
- ½ cup (1/4 pound) unsalted butter
- ½ cup flour
- 4 cups milk
- ½ to 1 tsp. salt to taste
- ½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- Dash cayenne
- Pepper to taste
- Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al denté. You want it slightly undercooked to avoid mushiness in the final product.
- Melt butter in a large sauce pan. Add flour and cook, stirring frequently for about 3 minutes. Slowly add milk. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally at first and then constantly as it starts to thicken. This sauce will still be rather thin but will thicken more when baked.
- After the sauce has thickened a bit, add nutmeg, salt, cayenne, and pepper. Remove from heat and add 2/3 of the cheese, reserving 1/3 for the top. Stir until the cheese is melted.
- Combine the pasta and cheese sauce and pour into a 9x13 pan. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. It should be all bubbly.
- Turn on the broiler for the last minute or two if the cheese on top did not get as brown and crispy as you like. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, if you can wait, and then serve.
