Quince

One of the joys of eating locally and seasonally is that moment in time when one perfect food appears, then quickly disappears again.  Morels, strawberries, and dandelion leaves in the spring; that first, sun soaked, still warm on the vine tomato in the summer; in the winter, for me, it's the first homemade pickled thing, popped out of a jar, with just the perfect amount of brine clinging on it; and in the fall - pumpkins and squash, pears, and quince.

Our tasting at the Aeppel Treow Winery, next
door to the Orchard

Two weekends ago, Jeff and I went to Brightonwoods Orchard, in Burlington WI.  In addition to many pounds of apples for eating and drying, and a case of apple related booze from the Apple Winery next door, I picked up about five pounds of quince.

This is our second trip to Brightonwoods Orchard, and I'm a big fan.  They don't have that much, it's not a pick your own deal, so if you've got kids and you're into all that stuff they might not be right for you.  But for us, it's perfect.  We walk around the orchard for about 15 minutes, look in their cute little market, then head next door to the Apple Winery (I want to call it a Cidery, but spell check keeps telling me that's not a word...) and get drunk.

Quince is not, I've learned, a particularly popular product.  So much so that I usually need to repeat it 5 or 6 times before people understand what I'm saying:

ME: Quince
Person: Quint?
ME: Quince.
Person: Quints?
ME: QUINCE.
Person: Quimp?

Quimp?  Really?  That's not even almost a word.

After some quick research on Wikipedia: Quince was once a popular fruit in the United States, being brought over by English Settlers.  In England, it is appropriate to have one quince tree ta the lower corner of a proper garden, and two in a well stocked orchard.

So even then, when it was "popular," people were getting at most one or two trees.

I have no clue why.  If anyone wants to do more research than I did (I looked it up on Wikipedia on my phone, so it wouldn't take much to be "more" research than I did) I would be happy to hear it.  If you would like to write a report on quince, I will totally post it and link to your blog or thing you want to promote.  Shoot me a message on Facebook (see how that makes you like me on Facebook?  I'm such a scammer!)  The trees appear to be nice - little pretty trees with gnarled bonsai like branches and large pink flowers.  It is also (per my extensive Wikipedia research) a useful plant.  Quince is high in pectin and therefor is good to add to jams and jellies.  The plant itself is strong and can be grafted on to other plants in the rose family (apples, pears, peaches... all roses.  If you know me personally, that might explain why I really want to have an orchard) to dwarf the plant and increase the yield.

So why aren't we growing it?

No demand.

I blame you personally.  When's the last time you went and asked for quince at your neighborhood grocery store?  And why not.  It's a perfectly fine fruit - somewhere between an apple and a pear, with a bit of a pineapple aroma.  Okay, sure' you've got to peel it and cook it before you can eat it (raw quince are inedible), but there are lots of things you cook before eating and it's not stopping anybody.  Rhubarb, for example, not so hot raw.  But people are still making Rhubarb pies.  Why no quince pies?

So, go out and demand some quince!  Get the farmer's growing it.  And when you plan your orchard, or well stocked garden, remember to plant at least one or two quince trees.  No "quimp" trees, because that's not a thing.

This is neither a quince tree nor a quinp tree.  It's an apple
tree.

If you would like to see more of the orchard trip pictures, Like "Home Grown, Homemade" on Facebook!

Beef Short Ribs with Quince
(this recipe is modified from several I found for lamb shank.  You can do this with lamb shank as well - but you may want to reduce the cooking time depending on the size of your shank.)

(Anyone else giggle at "size of your shank"?  No?  Just me.  That's fine.  I'm a child.)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 lbs Beef short ribs, trimmed of fat
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 or more garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp freshly ground ginger
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 quinces, peeled, core removed, and quartered
• 3 cups chicken or beef stock
• 4 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp lemon rind
• Cilantro and Couscous for serving

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. 

Season the short ribs generously with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a large ovenproof casserole or french oven over medium high heat and cook the shanks in batches until well browned.  Transfer to a plate.  Reduce the heat to low.  Add the onion and sweat until softened - about 10 to 15 minutes.  Turn the heat back up to medium high, stir in the garlic and spices and cook, stirring, for one minute or until fragrant.  Do not let the spices burn!

Return the meat to the pan, add the stock and honey, bring to a boil then cover with the lid and place in the oven.  After 30 minutes, stir in the quince, and continue to cook for another hour.  Add the lemon rind, taste and adjust seasonings, and continue to cook for 30 more minutes (2 hours total).

Serve over couscous with freshly chopped cilantro.

I also made curried cauliflower.  The orange
stuff in this picture is the quince.

Quince in Syrup

• 2 lbs quince
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups honey
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (optional)
• 2 whole cloves (optional)
• 2 cinnamon sticks (optional)

Peel, core, and slice the quince.  In a large pot, combine water, honey, and any desired spices, and bring to a gentle boil.  Add the quince (the plural of quince is quince, by the way), and allow to simmer until just tender 20 minutes, or less depending on the thickness of your slices.

Remove the quince from the pot and raise the temperature to high.  Allow to boil until reduced in half.

From here you've got a few options.  You could serve the quince and syrup over ice cream or a pound cake.  Or, you could take just the fruit and substitute it for half of the apples in your favorite apple pie or crisp or crumble or whatever.  I went the crisp method.
 

Beef Short Ribs and Ricotta Cheese Gnocchi with Mushrooms

 I really like pork ribs.  They are a common food in my house, made in the slow cooker.  I like using my slow cooker because the house smells so good when I get home, and because it's easy and I'm both busy and lazy.  That being said, I don't think I care for beef ribs as much.  At least these beef ribs were much fattier than I prefer.  Jeff liked them though, so maybe it's just me.  Anyway, if I made this again I would use pork ribs. The gnocchi came out quite well, though, and I've never made that before either!  I expected the gnocchi and sauce to both be heavy, and I was concerned because the beef is pretty heavy too.  It all was, so this might not make a great middle of summer meal... but the gnocchi wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be.  If I had chicken stock and had used that in the sauce, and maybe added some more vegetables, the gnocchi easily could have been served in the summer.  I also probably won't used freshly ground pepper next time, because I thought it was very noticeable in the gnocchi and wrecked the texture a little.  Maybe it should just be added at the end in the sauce.

Slow Cooked Beef Ribs with Dried Fruit

3 lbs (approximately) Beef Short Ribs - bone in
Salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
1 large carrot, chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup dried fruit, chopped
Olive Oil


Season beef ribs with salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder.  Heat up oil in a large pan and sear ribs in batches to avoid overcrowding until they are brown on all sides.  Transfer to a large slow cooker.

In the same large pan, saute onions, garlic and carrots, adding more oil if necessary, until onions are lightly browned.  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to slow cooker

Add orange juice and wine to pan to deglaze.  Add dried fruit to crock pot and pour liquid over the top.  Cook on low for 10-11 hours.

Ricotta Cheese Gnocchi with Mushrooms, modified from epicurious.com:

• 1 pound (about 2 1/4 cups) fresh ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of ground black pepper
• 1/2 lb assorted mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup red onion
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 tbsp butter
• splash heavy cream

 Place ricotta in strainer set over medium bowl. Chill until ricotta has texture of wet clay, about 1 hour.

Mix ricotta, 1/2 cup flour, egg, and next 5 ingredients in medium bowl, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough is slightly sticky (the recipe specifically said do not add more than 4 tablespoonfuls.  After 4 tablespoons, it was still very sticky.  I added a lot more flour in the rolling process). Cover and chill 30 minutes.

Sprinkle rimmed baking sheet generously with flour. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface. Cut into 4 equal pieces. Using hands, roll 1 piece on floured surface into 3/4-inch-wide log. Cut log crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Place gnocchi on prepared baking sheet, spacing apart. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover gnocchi with plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Cook gnocchi in salted boiling water.  Meanwhile saute garlic, onions, and mushrooms in a large pan.  Once the mushrooms have released their liquid and most of it has evaporated, add wine and butter.  As the gnocchi begin to float to the top of the water, fish them out and add them to the sauce.  Here, I found myself adding more gnocchi to the pot as fast as I was fishing them out.  They do a good job of staying near the bottom of the pan and not sticking together until they are cooked, at which time they float to the top.

Once all the gnocchi has been added to the mushrooms, add the cream and allow to cook until everything is nicely incorporated and the gnocchi is covered with the sauce.