A thinly sliced zucchini can go straight into a salad. Apples can top a bowl of squash soup. And surplus backyard pears can become cider shared with neighbors.
Those were some of the ways food stylist Will Smith and Talent Harvest Festival organizer Ana Byers suggested enjoying the season. Along with ice cream maker Elise Federspiel, they offered ideas for eating and cooking the harvest across Southern Oregon and Northern California.
What to make with late-season produce
For zucchini, Smith’s advice is to slice it very thin and serve it raw with salad dressing. He also likes thin slices on flatbread. Byers cooks zucchini into tomato sauce, then blends it.
“It makes the sauce seem creamy without adding dairy,” she said.
Byers described a panzanella served at a supper club with seasonal tomatoes from Fry Family Farm, multigrain sourdough from Rise Up Bakery and smoked trout. It’s one way to use tomatoes while the afternoons are still warm.
When the weather turns cooler, Smith recommends a puréed squash soup based on Daniel Gritzer’s miso-squash soup recipe for Serious Eats. It simmers squash, leeks, carrots, garlic and ginger in a quick dashi broth, then finishes the soup with miso and lemon juice.
Smith said cooks could use their preferred squash or try sweet potato. He especially likes the apple and scallion topping.
“You get that creaminess and that warmth, and then this crunchy, very aromatic little salad on top," Smith said.
Pumpkin seeds are worth saving, too. Smith recommends washing them after carving, then roasting them with oil, salt and spices such as curry powder, garlic powder or five-spice.
Where to taste the harvest
The Talent Harvest Festival offers a use for apples, pears or quince from backyard trees. Visitors can contribute fruit to a community cider press, then taste the shared batch.
“Harvest is communal,” Byers said. Visitors who bring 5 pounds of fruit can take home a quart of cider; those bringing less can enjoy a glass on-site.
The festival is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Talent. Cider pressings are set for 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., with fruit drop-off from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Federspiel plans to bring her brandied pear and fennel ice cream to Talent. She said other possible offerings include bay leaf and blackberry, along with vegan flavors such as halvah and chocolate or chai. She uses local berries, peaches, coffee and lavender when available.
“A lot of the people who attend might produce something that’s in the ice cream,” she said.
Travelers Ice Cream’s flavors rotate, so the festival selection may change.
Elsewhere in Southern Oregon, the Applegate Evening Market runs Wednesdays from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Lindsay Lodge through Sept. 30. That leaves two more market evenings this season for shoppers looking for local produce and other goods.
In Northern California, the McCloud Apple Harvest Festival is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the town’s historic Main Street. JX Foodie contributor Nicole Larson recommended its apples, cider and homemade apple pies. The McCloud Chamber of Commerce says pies can be ordered in advance.
Guests
- Will Smith, host of Savor
- Ana Byers, organizer, Talent Harvest Festival
- Elise Deferspiel, owner, Travelers Ice Cream
