The Enchanted Pantry – Autumnal Feast – by Loba
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009Hello Friends!
And a Happy Autumn to you all!! I have been enjoying myself so much these past weeks, reveling in the growing crispness of the air, the incredible glowy light, the magic of so many multicolored leaves blowing through the air. Each afternoon after Rhiannon and I take a chilly dip in the river we stand and watch the leaves and the light on the cliffs and exclaim to each other about how amazingly lovely everything is! Yesterday it was mostly cloudy when we went for our dip, and I was so impressed that she was still brave enough to get in the water with me! I had gotten a fire going up at the kitchen and supper was warming up on top of the woodstove, and with warm robes to put on, it made it a much easier to think about getting a little cold! We had a very special supper, using fresh pomegranate (a sweet gift!) a chicken I’d roasted that morning, a very delicious squash (another gift, from our friend Marc’s garden), some wild mustard I’d harvested from a parking lot in town, Chardonnay and pine nuts from Resolute, farmer’s market apples mailed to us from dear Steve and Val, homemade elderberry wine Kiva made from elderberries the same friends harvested themselves, freshly made kefir cream, also made by Kiva, and some incredible apricots and goat cheese, yet more gifts, from our recent quester Rebecca! What thankful hearts we all had, sitting down after a day of much work, to this feast of so much gathered love and caring, and harvestime abundance!
Harvesttime Celebration Chicken
roasted chicken, free-range organic if possible!
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
1 butternut (or similar) squash
1/2 cup Chardonnay
5-6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
5-6 leaves fresh sage, minced
a bunch of fresh mustard or other flavorful greens, wild or domestic, rinsed and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
about 12 unsulphered turkish apricots, chopped coarsely
2-3 golden delicious or similar apples, cored and medium diced (about 1-2” pieces)
some fresh plain kefir, or sheep’s milk feta, to garnish (optional)
Strip the chicken and chop or break into bite size pieces about 2-3 cups of meat. I save the rest for making soup the next day. Peel the squash using a vegetable peeler, and remove the seeds (and save for roasting!) and chop into medium dice. Saute the sliced onions in a large skillet with the olive oil over medium-high heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until they turn translucent. Add the garlic as you’re stirring, with a tiny bit more olive oil. Push the onions to one side of the pan, add the squash and a little bit of water to the pan, reduce the heat a bit, and cook covered for a few minutes, or until the squash begins to soften. Stir everything together and cook uncovered until everything begins to get golden-brown. Add the chicken pieces and the wine, sage, apricots, salt and pepper. Let everything come to a simmer, then taste, and adjust things as you like.
This is fantastic on its own, especially with the kefir or feta garnish, and even more fun to serve with whatever accompaniments you like! Perhaps some fresh sourdough bread, some special cheese, more fresh greens, special olives or some Preserved Lemons (have I given you the recipe before?), buttered wild rice or quinoa, and if you really want to make it feel like a feast, try making the Green Olive Pomegranate Relish! If you could imagine a Mediterranean cranberry sauce, without the cranberries, this is it!
Green Olive & Almond Pomegranate Relish
This relish is an Enchanted Pantry twist on one of the more unusual Mediterranean recipes. You can eat it right away, but it gets even better overnight. It’s great mixed with some goat cheese or feta and eaten with pita or other fresh bread, with maybe a little hummus alongside. Carnivores will especially enjoy it served with any wood grilled cuts, wild meats, a pork roast or chicken, or even atop a perfectly seasoned meatloaf. Feel free to experiment will the ingredients, and the amounts of things– it’s a very flexible, fun recipe! Just don’t leave out the pomegranate seeds or the olives!
1/2-1 cup good quality green olives, pitted and chopped (kalamata olives will work too)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup minced toasted walnuts
1/4 cup chopped parsley or watercress
1/2 -3/4 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup finely chopped crisp-tart apple
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses (available at Mediterranean stores), or 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar, to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. allspice
Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight. Return to room temperature before serving. Enjoy the magic! I highly suggest taking the pomegranate out into the sunshine to sit and enjoy its jewellike beauty as you fill your bowl with seeds. I sat on my kitchen stoop as I filled mine, and was really glad I was wearing an apron (a red one!), getting pomegranate juice all over me! A special autumnal pleasure to celebrate!
Hope you’ll try these, and let me know how they turn out! And don’t worry, those of you who are awaiting the Green Chile recipes I promised, I haven’t forgotten, they’re still coming!! Feel free to share this recipe as always.
With Lots of love and happy autumn hugs to you all!,
Loba (www.animacenter.org)




What an incredible week of beauty it’s been! The mulberry tree is sprouting leaves and tiny green berries, currant and sumac berries are coming out, and it seems like all the little critters are running around with extra excitement! We’ve spotted many playful young squirrels and rabbits, chipmunks and even some precious little baby rats scrambling around near the river and in the woods. What a delight it’s been to go to the river several times a day and enjoy the welcome warmth of the sand on our bare feet, as well as the shade of the many trees that are fully leafed out. The wind has been absolutely delicious, rising and falling in lovely patterns all day. We love to dance with our sarongs out in the wind! And I love to lie down near the river, close my eyes and just listen to the song of the water mingle with the rustle of the cottonwood leaves. The riversides are covered with pockets of nettles and clover, watercress and mustard– a forager’s dream! Rhiannon and I went for a swim up the beaver dam just before sundown today to check for recent tree damage (which was thankfully minimal), and we were amazed that the deep water was such a pleasant temperature for swimming! We’re looking forward to teaching her some new swimming strokes this summer, and climbing the lookout rock together, and having our annual Yucca Flower Festival very, very soon!

Despite their somewhat scary reputation, Stinging Nettles are beautiful and healthful plants. Packed with Protein (more so than even beans!), Iron, Calcium, Magnesium and vitamins A and C, these glowing native plants are one of the most nutritious and tasty greens available anywhere. Native Americans knew about the bounty of the Nettles and used them for fiber as well as food. Each Springtime, Rhiannon, Kiva and I can all be found excitedly watching the young Stinging Nettles come up beneath the oaks and willows. The moment they’re big enough we pick a bagful for this delicate and flavorful dip! We’re always sure to pick the young Nettle shoots with sturdy gloves on so as not to be stung by the formic acid (the same substance that fire ants contain) that is released by the tiny hairs that cover Nettles. Don’t worry, the sting in Nettles disappears completely when they’re boiled. We love Nettle Yogurt Dip on homemade challah toast with cheese and toasted almonds, whether for dinner for breakfast… but also try it on a hot baked potato, topped with a poached egg.
Nettle (or Spinach) Yogurt Dip
With a whisk or a fork, combine all ingredients. Heat a large skillet to medium-high, and pour about a tablespoon of oil in the pan. (I used some homemade Rosemary Oil). Ladle a small amount of batter in three or four places in the pan, for small pancakes. Let brown on one side before flipping and browing on the next. Serve with butter and more Nettle Dip, some fresh ground pepper, and whatever else you might fancy. Enjoy!
Enthusiasm
Loba’s Canyon Acorn Recipes
Chocolate Acorn Cake
The wonderful renovation of my dear kitchen has brought to light my lifetime of fearing change and trying to keep things largely the same. I was very attached to the way things were in my lovable, huggable niche, attached to the way I’m able to nestle into its lovely curvy counters as I drink a cup of tea, and to the rhythm of my ever-spiraling movements in its little 8 by 10 foot space. I even had a funny attachment to the spot in the floor where the breath of the ground came through and I thought of it as my sipapu – like the hole that the ancient peoples always made in their kivas, an avenue for Spirit to enter. But over the years, the little split in the linoleum grew and grew, until I often tripped on it and it became hard to keep clean. And so for the past year or so we had been discussing possible ways of fixing it, whether we should patch it up or do something more drastic.
Harvesting, Preserving, Shopping for and Stuffing Grape Leaves