The "other fishwrapper" has a marvelous article in Sunday's paper on our local farmers and their organic, sustainable crops. You can buy a lot of this bounty for yourself at the Civic Center Market on Wednesday.
While the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building has more gourmet offerings, the Civic Center sticks to the basic produce, which for the Bay Area is pretty fabulous.
Buy grapes, walnuts in the shell and lot of other kinds of nuts, new crop almonds, flavorful apples, the first tangerines, persimmons, lettuces, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and sweet potatoes. There are range free eggs, mushrooms, berries still in season and lots of various kinds of squash.
10% of Americans are now vegetarians, so what's on the table for Thanksgiving?
A better question would be - what's NOT! Except for meat, there are wonderful options for Thanksgiving and it's probably a healthier, certainly a less expensive way of eating.
Hobbits aren't the one ones who love mushrooms! Since there's a vendor at the Civic Center who sells local mushrooms, you can cover all the organic, green, local and sustainable bases and still eat well.
Mushroom Pot Pie. I made a couple of substitutions. I am not fond of Tamari or soy sauce because I find it too salty so I used the strained water from the dried mushrooms. I also really like the crispness of Filo dough so used that to top my pie. Other substitution can be day old mashed potatoes which makes it more like a vegetarian shepherd's pie.
I've also used regular flour instead of rice flour and substituted vegetable broth instead of water. I also like a bit more spice so added some chili flakes as well.
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
6 small red potatoes (can be cooked the day before)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup thinly sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
3 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
5 tablespoons rice flour
2 portobello mushroom caps, cut into bite size pieces and other mushrooms that you like. I like using dried mushrooms and used the liquid in place of Tamari or Soy Sauce.
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried sage
chopped parsley
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, cubed
Reheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Press one of the pie crusts into and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender, 10 to15 minutes. Drain, and cut into cubes. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan over low heat. Add onion and shiitake mushrooms, cover, and let the mushrooms sweat for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in the water and tamari, and bring to a boil. Whisk in rice flour, stirring until there are no lumps. Allow to simmer. Correct the seasoning now - more salt, more pepper, whatever tickles your taste buds.
Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add reconstituted dried mushrooms, portobello pieces, and saute briefly until mushrooms are browned on the outside. Add mushrooms to the gravy mixture along with the carrots, celery and potatoes.
Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chopped parsley and season with thyme and sage. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust. Cover with the other pie crust, and crimp edges to seal. Make a few slits in the top crust to vent steam.
Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is golden brown.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 418 | Total Fat: 20.4g | Cholesterol: 0mg
Wednesday Thanksgiving Market
Ferry Plaza, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Heart of the City Farmer’s Market
at Civic Center, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/vegetarian-thanksgiving/detail.aspx
SF Gate article about local farming: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/13/FD4D1LSM7D.DTL
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