Autumn is here! At this point we’re in the middle and that means it’s time to switch gears and start thinking about cold cooking. This time of year requires a little more time, just a little more focus, and a little more creativity.
Summer is all about getting things on your plate as quickly as possible, to keep things cold and at their absolute peak of freshness. As you move into the colder months, you’re typically working with heartier root vegetables that can’t be served raw and tougher cuts of meat that need longer cooking periods to tenderize.
It’s an opportunity to slow down and really focus on developing flavor and expanding your cooking skill. Flavor Fields is here to make this transition easier and a lot more fun. Our portfolio of herbs and spices, edible flowers and microgreens is truly everything you need to become a master of the fall culinary scene. Let us show you how…
First let’s talk about fall vegetables. Gone are the days of tender peas, juicy tomatoes and ripe peppers. Vegetables in the fall and winter season are grown to last longer during the winter months, stored in refrigerated barns or basements.
For this reason they are rarely great to eat raw. Winter vegetables are harder, but still packed with flavor and require just a little more nuance to really bring out the flavors. Take cauliflower for example: it is a delicious vegetable in itself, but served raw it can be a little bland. Try seasoning it with our Madras curry powder instead.
This intense blend of coriander, turmeric, fennel, salt, cumin, fenugreek, cumin and chili pepper is complex, fascinating and delicious. Simply rub the outside of a whole cauliflower with olive oil, kosher salt and our Madras curry. Then roast in a cast iron skillet, basting occasionally with butter. Roast the cauliflower until tender. Depending on the size, this may take up to an hour. The flavors of the curry permeate the cauliflower, imbuing it and making it an aromatic masterpiece. Once baked, let the cauliflower rest for 10-15 minutes, then you can finish it as you prefer!
We love to top it with flavorful accompaniments like chopped herbs, feta cheese, and pomegranate seeds. Serve with rice or pita and tzatziki if you want to make it a wrap.
It’s a super easy, flavor-packed weeknight meal that will most likely provide leftovers.
Spices aren’t the only thing we have to get you into the fall cooking spirit. We also have a plethora of microgreens and edible flowers that pair perfectly with fall ingredients. Our Micro Shiso Purple is a perfect accompaniment to heartier fall items.
It’s a beautiful shade of deep purple and forest green, with flavors of cinnamon, cumin, mint and basil. It pairs well with almost any winter vegetable you can imagine, but it’s also a great partner with game meats like duck, venison, and rabbit. One of our favorite preparations is to gently remove the fat from fresh duck breasts.
Grease them with the melted fat and let them cook. Once done to your liking, remove the duck from the pan and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Cut the breast into slices and serve with a cherry jam and our Micro Shiso Purple.
The cinnamon and minty notes of the shiso pair beautifully with the rich venison of the duck.
Don’t forget the flowers! Flavor Fields grows a bounty of beautiful edible flowers to pair with your culinary creation.
While these flowers are all available year-round, we have a couple of varieties that are exceptional at this time of year. Marigolds are eye-popping shades of orange, red and yellow, looking a lot like fallen autumn leaves.
They come in whole flowers, picked petals, and a small micro version that tastes like fresh citrus.
These magnificent petals are not only fantastic in color, but they also taste great! Bold citrus and spice flavors with hints of mint and tarragon pair beautifully with autumn vegetables like beetroot, carrot and parsnip. Nasturtium is also a wonderful accompaniment to autumn ingredients, with similar shades of fallen leaves of red, yellow and orange.
The flavor is strong and bright, with nuances of honey and horseradish. We recommend pairing it with roasted squash, toasted Brussels sprouts, or even topping a bowl of fresh cranberry sauce.
We know that last pairing seems a little unorthodox, but it works, we promise!
These are just a few tips to get you started. I hope they sparked your creativity a little and got you thinking about fall outfits. If there’s one takeaway, it should be that cooking in the colder months doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have a certain level of complexity.
Ingredients this time of year generally take a little more time and attention to bring to the plate. Pairing these ingredients with Flavor Fields’ flavor enhancers (like spices, microgreens and flowers) will only enhance the final preparation and help you ensure you deliver a killer dish to your guests. Get ready and settle in, it’s autumn, darling!
