Category: feature – recipe

Braised Ribs with Curry & Almond Butter Sauce

This post contains affiliate links.

Sometimes, I just want something different. We currently have an abundance of ribs in the freezer and while, don’t get me wrong, I love a good ole fashioned bbq rib with sauce, sometimes, I just wanna put a spin on it.

My family LOVES asian fusion food, especially my kids who literally sip soy sauce out the bottle if I don’t catch them. We make stir fry frequently and I have become very good at making a sauce on the fly. This idea was based loosely off of one of our favorite stir fry sauces that is based in a nut butter and curry powder. We most usually use almond butter, but peanut, cashew, even tahini would be delicious here. I often make mine own curry powder, but when I don’t I have some of this on hand.

I still applied the same concept of rib cooking: rub with dry rub, cook low and slow in an oven, then baste in delicious sauce. This sauce can double as a salad dressing too, so two for one deal!

Ingredients:

  • 1 rack of spare ribs
  • Dry Rub: 1 TB garlic power, onion powder, ginger power; 2 tspn coriander, cumin, 1 tspn cinnamon, crushed red pepper; S&P
  • Sauce: 1.5 TB curry powder, 1/2 cup nut butter, 3 TB soy sauce, 2 TB honey or maple syrup, ~1/2 cup water, squirt of sriracha

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the dry rub ingredients.
  2. Season the ribs with salt and then coat aggressively with the dry rub. You will still have some leftover.
  3. On a half sheet pan, line with a “T” of aluminum foil. Place ribs, drizzle with oil, and wrap up tightly with foil. Bake for ~3 hours.
  4. When your ribs are about 30 minutes away from being done, start the sauce. In a small sauce pan, combine all the ingredients and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce to low and stir until slightly thickened about 5 minutes.
  5. When the ribs are done, unwrap and take a moment to appreciate that smell! Crank the oven up to broil or crank your grill up. Baste the ribs with sauce and cook until blackened and crispy in some spots.
  6. Serve with extra sauce drizzled on top and rice to soak it up.
  7. For salad dressing: I added a splash or rice wine vinegar (lime juice would be great too!) and dressed basic salad greens, radishes, cucumbers, and carrots.

callywoodfarms1 Comment

Kohlrabi, Carrot, Scallion Fritters

Kohlrabi, Carrot, Scallion Fritters

Recipe adapted from: https://www.acouplecooks.com/kohrabi-fritters-with-avocado/

It’s Kohlrabi season and I love this vegetable! While it is a new vegetable to many of us here in the states, it is a very popular vegetable in Eastern Europe and Australia. It is often cooked and prepared similar to potatoes – soups, mashed, simmered in cream, etc. Peeled, diced, seasoned and roasted like potatoes is probably my favorite preparation (until this creation)! I also greatly enjoy raw (peeled) kohlrabi – it makes a great salad addition, but honestly I also eat them like radishes, smeared with butter and topped with sea salt. 

A friend of mine recently texted me in a kitchen emergency situation. She was making veggie fritters and had run out of all purpose flour and wondered if rice flour would work in a vegetable fritter recipe she was making from a cookbook. And that’s where this idea started! We make summer squash and zucchini fritters in the summer all the time. Served alongside something from the grill – it’s an excellent way to use up a bumper crop. So I applied the same technique to some winter vegetables. Honestly – this recipe is super flexible. I used chickpea flour, because I had it and I love the flavor. It can be “thirsty” and an excellent, unique thickener. I also served this alongside a vegetarian spread and was looking to add as much protein as possible to my dinner plate. But you can use all purpose flour, wheat flour, rice flour — all will work great. Not a fan of kohlrabi? I encourage you to try it in this recipe, but if it’s a hard no, I bet butternut squash or sweet potatoes would be divine too!

This was a huge hit with my kids, too, though maybe they were just in it for the avocado yogurt sauce. Either way – they gobbled up their servings! 

Ingredients:

  • 2 small kohlrabi, peeled
  • 2 large carrots, peeled
  • 1 large scallion, sliced lengthwise and then sliced into thin ribbons
  • 1 garlic clove, grated into bowl
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup chickpea flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for salting after frying
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Frying oil of choice. I used avocado oil – enough to spread a nice thin layer (more than coat the pan, but we’re not deep frying here) on the bottom of your frying pan (~ ½ cup, depending on size of your vessel)

For the avocado yogurt sauce 

  • 1 small avocado
  • 1/4 cup yogurt
  • 1/2-1 lime, juiced
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • Salt & pepper

For sauce – blend all ingredients – I wiped out my food processor after shredding and used that, but combining by hand would work out just fine too. 

Directions for fritters:

  1. Shred kohlrabi and carrots in a food processor or using the large holes in a box grater. 
  2. Place shredded vegetables in a clean tea towel. Wring out all the excess moisture. If you’re using purple carrots (as pictured here), you may want to consider what tea towel you’re using as the carrots stain!
  3. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix well. I found my hands to be the best tool for the job, to ensure there weren’t any pockets of flour or eggs that hadn’t penetrated the vegetables. You may also find that more liquid escapes the vegetables during this step. I just strained it out of the bowl over the sink. 
  4. Set your oven to warm or lowest heat. Set aside a baking pan, preferably with a rack on top. Preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once it is hot, add the oil. You can test when the oil is ready by placing a small piece of batter into the pan to test it’s readiness to fry!
  5. When the oil is hot, use your hands to scoop about ⅓ cup of vegetables out and make a patty shape. 
  6. Gently place into pan and fry on each side about 2-3 minutes until nicely browned and crispy. Remove the done patties to the rack on the baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with salt, and set in the oven until everything is done. Your goal is to keep everything hot and crispy! Continue frying until all the batter has been used. 
  7. Top with avocado yogurt sauce and dig in right away – the hotter and crispier, the better! 

callywoodfarmsLeave a comment

Creamy Whiskey Pork Chops with Rutabaga Mash

This has been a standard for Farmer B and I for years. Originally based off this recipe , I have adapted and simplified it over the years, to suite our needs and likes. My kids enjoy this dish as much as we do (don’t worry, the alcohol from the whiskey cooks off entirely!), I mean, who doesn’t like pork chops and mushrooms in a creamy sauce over mashed potatoes. Truly a stick to your ribs, comfort food night!

In this recipe, I pair it with some seasonal rutabaga available from a neighboring local farm. Rutabaga’s are in the brassica family (brassica napus which is a cross between a cabbage and turnip), so do have some bitterness to them, but they’re also a root vegetable and can have some of that sweetness if you know how to prepare them right! I do a 50/50 split with rutabaga and Yukon gold potatoes to achieve a similar but slightly different taste and feel to your normal mashed potato side.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do!

For the Pork Chops

  • 4 bone-in pork chops
  • Salt and pepper
  • Fresh thyme leaves 
  • 1-2 TB EVOO 
  • 2 TB butter 
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 2 cups mushrooms, sliced 
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 
  • ½ cup whiskey
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • Chicken stock/water to thin sauce if desired or needed

Rosemary Rutabaga Mash

  • 1 lb rutabaga, peeled and diced
  • 1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 6 TB butter, plus more for serving
  • 2 sprigs of rosemary
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled (keep whole)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Splash of cream or milk for mashing

Directions:

1. Season pork chops with salt, pepper and fresh thyme leaves on both sides. Let sit while you prep your ingredients.

2. In a large pot, boil rutabaga and potatoes until fork tender, about 25 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, in a small wide saucepan, brown the butter. On medium, let the butter melt and then continue cooking. It will start foaming and then milk solids will drop to the bottom and the butter will start to smell nutty and delicious. This takes about 5 to 10 minutes depending on your heat. Keep a watch and don’t let it burn! Once it’s browned and smelling great, remove from heat and drop the rosemary springs and garlic cloves in — they will sizzle. Swirl to combine and set aside to let the rosemary and garlic infuse into the butter. 

4. Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium- high heat. Brown the pork chops for three minutes on each side to create a nice, brown crust. Remove from the pan and set onto a plate. Cover with foil. Set aside. This is the initial step to create flavor, but you will complete the cooking later.

5. Turn the heat down a bit to medium, and melt butter in the same cast iron skillet used for the chops. Add the onions and mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Sauté for about eight minutes, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms release some liquid and onions are well-cooked and browning. 

6. Turn the heat back up to high and deglaze the pan with the whiskey, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan. After about a minute and the alcohol has cooked off, turn the heat to low. There should still be some liquid, you don’t want it to evaporate entirely. Add the sour cream and stir to combine. Taste to adjust your seasonings, and when you’re satisfied, place your pork chops and any accumulated liquid back in your pan. Cover with foil and let it cook on your lowest setting while you finish your mashed rutabaga. 

7. Strain the rutabaga and potatoes, and place back in the same pot. Discard the rosemary and garlic from the browned butter and add any remaining butter to the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and start to mash. If you need more liquid, slowly add only a splash of milk/cream. Rutabagas have a higher water content than potatoes so you’ll find you don’t need as much liquid when mashing them. Keep mashing to desired consistency and taste as you go. 

8. Test your pork chops to ensure they’re done cooking. If you’re a temp person, you’re looking for an internal 145 degrees, and if you’re a feeling kinda person you can test by pressing for firmness to your liking. 

9. Load your plate with mashed rutabaga, top with a pork chop and a heart helping of the creamy mushrooms and onions. We served it with a Caesar salad!

callywoodfarms1 Comment

2022 Fall Farm to Table Dinner!

We are so excited to share with our community a truly local farm-to-table dinner. We have hosted two previous dinners at Sisters Restaurant (Salem, SC), and are excited to invite you to our next one as we continue to grow this truly local event. As a small farmer, sometimes it can be discouraging to put a product out into the world and for it not to be appreciated widely or to get the word out to a larger audience. There are so many barriers to small farms. For some, there’s simply not enough time or money to market their farm/product. Most small farmers have other jobs that supplement their farming income. For many, farmer’s markets aren’t accessible due to hours, days, staffing, distance, etc. Other times, small farms do not produce enough consistent quantity to supply a store or restaurant. On the restaurant side of things, we have found that chefs and staffs often aren’t accustomed to working with small farms, or perhaps there isn’t incentive to support small farms (it can cost more to buy local, another topic for another post). Over the years, when we had the privilege to be featured at restaurants, stores, etc, it brings such immense pride to our small operation! We also see farm to table dinners happen that don’t seem to be sourcing ingredients from their immediate local community and we want to yell, “over here!”.

After a few years of watching these frustrations continue as a small farm, and being solution oriented people with a family restaurant, we jumped on the chance to create and host a ultra-local farm-to-table dinner that features the small farms you shop at or perhaps didn’t even know existed in your own community! We want to provide a space to go out to dinner and still support local farms. We want to provide a space to inspire you in your own kitchen too! Come taste some different and unique preparations…something that you might not find at a local restaurant.

So, we hope you’ll join us. We hope we can find the people who want a night out and to know their money goes back to the earth, on the land that we live on. There’s no middle man, just local farms, good food, and great company. You can reserve a private table or sit communally. We have reservations starting at 5pm (almost full!) and going through 8pm. Bring a friend, a group, an adventurous appetite and join the movement to eat local! Browse the menu below, share it, call 864-944-8100 or email callywoodfarms@gmail.com to reserve your seat! See you there!

callywoodfarmsLeave a comment

Pork and Ricotta Meatballs

I’ve been making this recipe for years. The results are a tender, delicious meatball with endless possibilities. Serve them over spaghetti with tomato sauce, glazed in jam for an appetizer, or simply with a side of Romesco as I have here. I used ground pork, but you can use any meat you like including ground chicken as in the original recipe. I would imagine that already spiced up breakfast sausage would also be delicious, just reduce the seasonings! In the summertime, I swap the rosemary for basil — use what speaks to you and the seasons. You really can’t go wrong. My family prefers straight up meatballs without the bread, but you can certainly add in breadcrumbs if desired.

Ricotta Meatballs 

Adapted from this recipe. 

Ingredients: 

  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 lb ground meat
  • 8 oz. ricotta cheese
  • 2 stalks of fresh rosemary, minced
  • 1 egg, whisked
  • 1 tspn. salt
  • Freshly cracked black pepper

DIrections:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 
  2. In a small saute pan, saute the onion until translucent. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Set aside to cool down. 
  3. Set up a sheet pan and line with a silpat mat, parchment paper or tin foil. 
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, cheese, rosemary, cooled onion/garlic, egg, salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until combined. 
  5. Form the mixture into meatballs and arrange on the sheetpan. 
  6. Bake for about 25 minutes. Turning the meatballs and pan about 15 minutes in. They should get nice and brown spots. 

Pictured here with a romesco sauce, one of my favorites, find it here. 

callywoodfarms1 Comment

Roasted Beet and Garlic “Pesto” Pasta

Pesto is a stretch to apply here, but the technique is similar by replacing the basil with beets!

My family and I have been making and enjoying a version of this recipe for several years. I grew up not knowing or tasting beets because my dad strongly dislikes them. When I was an adult and tasted them for the first time, I thought I’d gone to heaven:  an earthy, sweet root vegetable  — yumm! Beets are for sure my spirit vegetable! I was always looking for new ways to cook them. When I had kids, well, let’s just say beets can be tough for some people. I came up with this approachable recipe and it is now lovingly called “Pink Pasta” at my house. Each year when we pull the beets out of the garden I can count on my kids to start chanting for, “Pink Pasta!” Hope y’all enjoy it too! 

Ingredients:

  • 2 small bunches of beets or 1 large bunch (aiming for 1.5 lbs of the roots)
  • 1 head of garlic
  • ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for cooking
  • ½ cup toasted almonds
  • ¼ cup ricotta, plus more for serving
  • Salt and pepper, crushed red pepper
  • Arugula or other micro/greens, for serving
  • 1 pound pasta, cooked

Directions: 

1 – Preheat the oven to 400. Roast beets and garlic. Trim the greens and roots off the beets. Place on top of a large piece of foil, drizzle with oil, wrap up with foil and place in the oven for about an hour. A knife should pierce through them without any resistance when they’re done. Remove and let cool. 

2 – With the garlic, trim the top of the garlic cloves off. Place whole head of garlic on a small piece of foil, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and wrap up in foil and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove and let it cool. Note about picture: I was out of foil and just roasted in a small pan!
3 – Toast your almonds. Set aside to cool. 
4 – Once beets are cool enough to handle, you should be able to slip the skin right off by lightly rubbing and removing the peel. Chunk the beets up into smaller pieces with a knife and place in food processor. 
5 – Remove each garlic bulb from the skin. You can do this with a knife/fork by picking them out or give the whole thing a squeeze so that the roasted garlic pulp comes out straight into the food processor. 

6 – Add toasted almonds, ¼ cup olive oil, ¼ cup ricotta, and season with salt and pepper. Turn it on and process it into a creamy sauce for a few minutes, scraping down the sides to ensure consistency. 
7 – Place into a large bowl. When pasta is ready, place hot pasta on top of the beetpesto  and toss to combine! You may reserve some hot pasta cooking liquid and add this to the bowl to create an even more luxurious sauce. 
8 – To serve, place a scoop of pasta on your plate/bowl, top with another scoop or ricotta, arugula greens, and crushed red pepper, if that’s your thing. 


callywoodfarms3 Comments