Onion and Shredded Chicken Soup

Sunday, October 19, 2008

I am so glad that it’s getting colder. I like the cold, and I like cold weather food. To wit, I’ve had a roast chicken carcass in the freezer since July (from the terrific Meadow Run Farm buying club), and today felt chilly enough to boil it up with some starting-to-get-bendy carrots and some starting-to-get-wilty parsley from the fridge, A couple hours later, I had about 4 quarts of broth and a couple of good handfuls of boiled chicken. Two quarts went into the freezer.

For the soup, I had 2 onions from Highland Orchard’s CSA (I like them b/c they have small shares and give you a mix of fruits and vegetables) and very s-l-o-w-l-y coked them down, mixed in leaves from 3 sprigs of thyme (garden), added about 2 quarts of broth and 2 medium tomatoes (seeds, skin, and all; also from the garden), and then went at the mixture with a stick blender. Then in went about 1/2t of dried, piquant but not hot pepper from , some salt, and the chicken. This reduced about 15 minutes, and then I dropped in some egg noodles (from the bag—apologies!). Soup was on when the noodles were done. Chives also from the garden.

Landisdale Farm CSA, week 17

Sunday, October 05, 2008

While I was competing at yesterday’s Philadelphia Dragon Boat Festival (my team took the women’s club championship - we’re the fastest chicks on the river!), my husband picked up our Landisdale Farm CSA share yesterday at Clark Park.  Here is what we received this week:

• 2 bunches of kale
• 2 small broccoli heads
• 5 white sweet potatoes
• 5 apples
• 8 baby turnips
• 5 tomatoes
• 2 Kuri winter squash

I am not the biggest fan there ever was when it comes to kale.  There was kale in our share two weeks ago, too, and I haven’t used that yet (and no, it hasn’t gone bad - kale seems to last forever).  There are very few ways that I really like kale, but I’ll be trying to use it.

One way I do like kale is in soup.  My plan is to pick a few soup recipes, make up giant batches of it, and either freeze or can it.

White bean, kale, and sausage soup Lentil Kale soup Carrot and kale soup North African Chickpea and Kale soup Roasted Pumpkin and Kale soup Cream of Kale soup Chestnut Kale soup Potato Kale soup with Seitan Island Kale and Sweet Potato soup Sweet Potato, Corn, and Kale Chowder Yellow Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Kale Sweet Potato Kale soup

Now, dairy doesn’t freeze or can well…which does leave out a few of the recipes above.  But you can definitely can meat, and any of these soup recipes that are mostly vegetarian would can or freeze perfectly.  There’s something to be said for coming home from a busy day at work on a super cold, blustery Winter day and being able to have a warm bowl of hearty soup without toiling in the kitchen!

On a related note, I thought it would be interesting to compare what was in my Landisdale Farm share this week to what was in my Lancaster Farm Fresh share last year at this time.  Fascinating!

A Pestivus for the Rest of Us

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Occasionally, the bounty of late summer can be overwhelming, and you can find yourself compelled to invention to use up large quantities of something without getting tired of it.  (Nicole has written two excellent posts about what to do with a surfeit of squash or peaches.)  My own recent invention-by-necessity involved basil: as part of my Red Earth Farm CSA, I receive and herb and flower share.  My last delivery was, in fact, an overload of basil - not just italian basil, but cinnamon, holy and thai as well.  So, what do I decide to do with it?  Pesto, of course. 

The idea was to create four distinct pestos using the underlying structure I’ve written about here.  The first pesto was, obviously, classic pesto genovese, adhering to the recipe I detailed here.  The second was thai basil, olive oil, toasted almonds, chives, mint, and farmer’s cheese.  The third was holy basil, olive oil, almonds, farmers cheese, parmesan, and onions (both raw and carmelized).  The fourth was cinnamon basil, olive oil, parsley, walnuts and goat cheese. 

The results?  The classic pesto was consistent with past efforts, so no surprises there.  The thai basil lost much of its flavor beyond a sense of something generically “basil.”  Ultimately, I think thai basil is unsuited for this type of recipe; the flavors being too delicate.  (I’ve enjoyed it much as something I throw in a dish, leaves whole, almost as I might use parsley.)  The cinnamon basil was good - if not quite something I’d occasionally opt for over italian pesto, which was the goal here.  The only recipe that actually met expectations was the holy basil pesto.  If you are unfamiliar with holy basil (and I was prior to this delivery), it has an extraordinary aroma (the Red Earth Farm newsletter credited an intern with qualifying it as something like “bubble gum”) and sweetness.  Here, the sweetness combined well with the toasted almonds and onion.  The mild farmer’s cheese added a nice texture without overwhelming the basil. 

It’s one thing to improvise a variation on a theme, as I’ve done in the past.  It’s quite another, I’ve learned, to re-imagine a recipe to an extent that I might consciously choose holy basil or cinnamon over italian.  It may not have been the success I was hoping for (Where’s the Festivus Pole?), but it was an enjoyable challenge - not to mention the leftover basil I now have frozen and waiting for winter. 

When They’re Not So Good, They’re Great: Tomatoes (Part II)

Sunday, August 24, 2008

One of the “faults” (if it can be called that) of eating locally is a weakening of the critical eye.  Because of the health, economic, and environmental (not to mention moral) benefits of eating local, seasonal food, we tend to think of these foods in superlative terms only: all peaches are ripe and delicious; all green beans are tender and succulent; all tomatoes are ripe and tasty.  Inevitably, this is not – and simply can not be – true.  Once we assume the absolute superiority of local, seasonal food, we can see relative differences in quality. 

Thus, as much as I indulge in seasonal tomatoes, they are not all perfect.  Some are less ripe than others; some are more watery than others.  Last week’s tomatoes would have suited the previously-mentioned tomato salad from Anthony Bourdain, but this week’s may not be suitable.  So, what to do with the less-than-perfect tomato?

If the flavor is too mild, too diffuse, then that flavor needs concentration.

I have tried several oven-roasted tomato recipes, but I prefer Mario Batali’s (found in Molto Italiano and Simple Italian Food).  It is simple, uncomplicated, and allows time to do most of the work:

What you have the next morning can be eaten on its own as part of an antipasto, tossed with pasta, added to an orzo or Israeli-couscous salad with other vegetables, or frozen and used in winter.  Suddenly, what appeared inferior at first now is equal.

Earlier, I wrote of relative differences in quality, but now that word seems inadequate.  It’s not that some things are bad, just different, and different requires a varied approach.  Perhaps, then, I should rephrase the statement: differences in qualities.  Not only will each week’s offerings change what’s eaten, but the particular quality of that week’s produce changes it as well. 

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

tomatoes, halved
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 150 (Note: My oven only goes down to 170, but the recipe was still successful).  On a cookie sheet, spread out the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for 10-12 hours (overnight).

Baba ganoush

Friday, August 22, 2008

Unless it was in the form of Parmesan hoagie, or otherwise battered and deep-fried, smothered in sauce or cheese, or roasted and hidden with a million other ingredients, I disliked eggplant. I never purchased it in its natural state, substituting squash if a recipe called for it, and couldn’t understand what so many people tasted in it. 

When I joined a CSA three years ago, this eggplant avoidance couldn’t continue.  Eggplant, in several different varieties, started showing up at the farm:  long skinny pale purple Asian eggplant; fat, squat deep purple Italian eggplant; bulbous, variegated striped heirloom eggplant; creamy, white, tender eggplant. 

Yet, although I couldn’t get away from them as they made a home in my kitchen, I realized that I actually could, still avoid them.  The first couple eggplants ended up in the compost pile, a bit deflated and wrinkled from two weeks in the fridge.  This went on for a bit until, eventually, I decided that I’d have to at least attempt preparing one into something edible.  I mean, this sort of challenge was supposed to be one of the benefits of belonging to a Community Supported Agriculture program, right?  You know, “having the opportunity to try new things” and all that jazz.  So, I embarked on a mission to make peace with the eggplant.

Stir fries are a staple in my house, especially during the spring and summer months, so this seemed like a logical place to start.  I pulled an eggplant out of the crisper along with some other in-season veggies, chopped them, stir fried them, added a bit of teryaki sauce and served it atop brown rice.  The eggplant was mushy.  It was slimy.  It was disgusting.  I picked it out.

Next up was the grill.  We love throwing a pile of fresh vegetables—carrots, corn, squash, onions, tomatoes—on the grill, dabbing them lightly with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and eating them outside on the porch with a side of hummus or grilled tempeh.  Surely, I thought, eggplant will taste good off the grill—everyone raves about grilled eggplant!  So, I added a sliced eggplant, and served it mixed in with the other veggies.  The eggplant was mushy.  It was slimy.  It was disgusting.  I picked it out.

I thought a sandwich would end the nonsense.  Anything smothered in sauce and hugged by freshly-baked bread can’t be wrong, right?  I lightly fried some slices of eggplant, added a bit of tomato sauce and place it into a yummy sliced bun from the local bakery.  I made a fresh, crisp salad to compliment and balance the sandwich.  The eggplant was mushy.  It was slimy.  It was disgusting.  I picked it out.

Feeling slightly defeated, my determination waning, I happened to mention my eggplant efforts to a neighbor one night while we were chatting over our shared railing from our respective porches.  She, on her Adirondack chair, looking over her gorgeous, wild and native front garden, sipping tea; me, damp with sweat from living with no air conditioning during the latest heat wave, limbs hanging limply from a thrift store swing. 

She:  “Well, did you salt it?”
Me: ...
She:  “You have to salt it—you always salt eggplant.”
Me: “Salt…?”
She:  “Yes. Dice it, salt it, then roast it with other vegetables in the oven on a sheet of parchment paper.” 
Me:  “Parchment paper…?”

In the end, she lent me her roll of parchment paper and gave me explicit instructions, which I dutifully followed:  dice the eggplant, put it into a bowl, sprinkle a little bit of salt on it and stir it up; let stand.  Preheat oven to 350-degrees, cut up other vegetables, combine everything, along with fresh chopped herbs, and spread onto some parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and roast them for 15 minutes.  While that was roasting, I also made some stirfry, just in case this whole salting thing was bogus.  In the end, the roasted eggplant was…  not so bad. 

Actually, it was pretty good.  I even blogged about it, though I wouldn’t say I was exactly enchanted by, let alone had made peace with, eggplant.  I made it through that first, and then last year’s CSA season by dicing and roasting, but also by always making sure my sister had first dibs (we split our share).  I still wasn’t in love with eggplant, and preferred to leave it rather than take it. 

Naturally, once again, eggplant started arriving a few weeks ago.  And naturally, once again, I pawned them off or “forgot” about them until they were no longer worthy of more than being shipped to the compost pile.  Although I can get behind the roasted vegetables, I much prefer to consume fresh produce either raw, steamed or stir fried.  I didn’t like the idea of roasting everything just so that I could tolerate the eggplant.  I needed a new strategy. 

I thought on it for a bit, read about eggplant in my From Asparagus to Zucchini book, then thought some more.  I decided that it was really the texture that I couldn’t stand about eggplant.  How could I take that mushy texture and format it so that it was pleasing to my palette?  Could I add something starchy to give it some more substance?  Or maybe something creamy to give it a smoother taste?  And then it dawned on me—baba ganoush!  Of course!

I searched online for some recipes, settling on this one, from Food Network:

Babaganoush
2006, Ellie Krieger, All rights reserved; Show:  Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger; Episode:  Thrill of the Grill.

1 large eggplant (about 1 pound)
1 glove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Prick eggplant with a fork and place on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake the eggplant until it is soft inside, about 20 minutes. Alternatively, grill the eggplant over a gas grill, rotating it around until the skin is completely charred, about 10 minutes. Let the eggplant cool. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, drain off the liquid, and scoop the pulp into a food processor. Process the eggplant until smooth and transfer to a medium bowl.

On a cutting board, work garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt together with the flat side of a knife, until it forms a paste. Add the garlic-salt mixture to the eggplant. Stir in the parsley, tahini, and lemon juice. Season with more salt, to taste. Garnish with additional parsley.

Both parsley and garlic were in recent share pickups and therefore available in the kitchen.  I also had leftover lemon from my mom’s wedding and tahini from a hummus recipe.  Clearly, it was fate.  I would finally, after all these years, meet an eggplant that I couldn’t resist.

And I couldn’t!  It was divine!  My boyfriend and I devoured the bit I made in two sittings.  I declared all future incoming eggplant baba ganoush-destined, vowed to always stock fresh pita for prime ganoush-noshing, and haven’t looked back since. 

Some other baba gnough recipes I’m hoping to try:

• FatFreeVegan’s cumin-sprinkled version.
• Bon Appétit’s (at epicurious) with olive oil.
• About.com’s “eggplant hummus” version with chickpeas.
• Mastercook’s (at RecipeSource) with tons of extras like sweet red peppers, chili powder and cilantro.
• RecipeZaar’s no food processor required version, served with olives.

Whatever kind you try, I’ve learned that fresh eggplants are key; older ones can lead to a bitter baba ganoush batch that is nearly impossible to salvage.  Be sure to drain all the liquid off after roasting the eggplant, and if you think your eggplant might be beyond its freshest, rinse it under running water.

When They’re Good, They’re Great (Tomatoes: Part I)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

For his tomato salad recipe (in the Les Halles Cookbook), Anthony Bourdain asserts with his characteristic insouciance, “If you can’t get a good tomato, don’t make the damn dish.”

He’s right, of course.  The best tomato dishes are utterly pointless out of season; you really need to reserve them for July, August, and September.  Fortunately, living where we do, we enjoy tomatoes that easily match anything Bourdain would have served.  In fact, here, nothing epitomizes “seasonal” or “local” more than tomatoes: the intense sweetness of sungolds, the meatiness of the larger heirloom varieties, the balance of acid and sweet in the those gorgeously marbled yellow-and-red and “zebra” variations. 

At the peak of the season, each recipe should, to me, do very little to obfuscate the flavor.  Simplicity becomes key: sliced with just a bit of salt; sliced with mozzarella, olive oil (really, really good oil) and torn basil leaves; barely-cooked with herbs and garlic and served with eggs; chopped and heated-through-but-uncooked with a sofrito (gently long-simmered onions and garlic) tossed with short pasta; or briefly sautéed sungolds in oil and garlic until they “pop” and tossed with some herbs (chives, basil) and long pasta.

I am fairly certain that tomatoes are the reason I got into local, seasonal produce in the first place.  For about three months of the year, each year, I am reminded of how one fruit could be responsible for such a change. 

Ribbons of squash

Friday, August 08, 2008

There’s been a lot of zucchini and yellow summer squash popping up all over the place over the couple of weeks.  There’s that old gardening joke about your neighbors starting to avoid you because you hand out zucchini every time you see someone you know.  Just like everyone else, I had a few zucchini and yellow squash hanging out around the house, and I wanted to use it but was running short on ideas after last week’s squash fest.

I got to thinking about my favorite squash recipe: zucchini ribbons with gnocchi, tomatoes, and browned butter.  While I do plan to make a batch of gnocchi shortly, I didn’t have time to make it in time to use my squash…so I improvised.  And that’s how I came up for dinner the other night: zucchini and yellow squash ribbons with goat cheese and mushrooms.

Last Chriskwanzakah, I bought my husband a ceramic vegetable peeler.  As it turns out, it’s perfect for making vegetable ribbons.  The ceramic blade just slices perfect, thin ribbons.  If you don’t have a good, sharp peeler, try using a mandoline or test out your knife skills.  For this, I collected seven or eight zucchini and yellow squash and started in with the peeler.  Stop slicing off ribbons when you start to see seeds.

Heat up some butter and olive oil in a skillet, saute a bit of garlic for a few minutes and then toss in the squash ribbons.  Cook them down about four minutes or so, and then toss in some sliced mushrooms, salt, pepper, and chopped parsley.  Cook another four minutes and then toss in 4 oz. of goat cheese.  Then just keep stirring until the cheese is melted and you’re done.  It’s super easy, and very delicious…and all local but for the salt, pepper, and oil.

zucchini, Landisdale Farm - 100 miles
yellow squash, Landisdale Farm - 100 miles
garlic, my garden - 0 miles
parsley, my garden - 0 miles
shiitake mushrooms, Mother Earth Mushrooms - 31 miles
goat cheese - Patches of Star Dairy, 70 miles

Shouldering the Burden: Part II

To me, leftovers used to mean reheating last night’s dinner - something that was never particularly appealing.  (I still won’t eat leftover pasta.)  However, if you simply use the leftovers as raw material - as a starting point, it becomes much more interesting.  It no longer feels as though you are eating a rehashed meal; instead, you are creating something new. 

In April, I wrote about a slow-roasted pork shoulder.  Only serving the nineteen-pounder to seven people, we were able to send leftovers home with our families and keep some for ourselves.  Four months later (from the freezer), we enjoyed the last of the pork shoulder as pulled-pork sandwiches, reheating the pork in a simmering, homemade barbecue sauce (3/4 c. apple cider vinegar, 1/2 c. ketchup, 1 tblsp. maple sugar, 1 tsp. Maine sea salt, a dash of Worcestershire).  Fried leek rings and some lightly dressed lettuce from Red Earth Farm topped off a perfect summer dinner.  Sadly, we were missing a good, local summer beer.  (Any chance of getting a Foodery in Queen Village?)

P.S.  I’m not sure how many people saw the Inquirer story about the Common Market, but it seems that local food is making serious strides into the mainstream. 

Tofu Scrambler Redux

Monday, August 04, 2008

I’ve written here before about the wondrous tofu scrambler.  It’s such a lovely, versatile dish, one that belongs in every busy locavore’s repertoire (and what locavore isn’t busy this time of year?), I think a refresher is in order. 

The key to a yummy tofu scrambler is, as one might guess, good tofu.  Locally, I’ve found that Fresh Tofu makes a superior product, and once properly drained and pressed works wonderfully for this meal.  My favorite method of pressing tofu is quick-pressing it; by slicing the block through the center so that it’s “opened” in half, less time is needed for the liquid to drain.  Once the tofu is sliced, I place the two squares on a broiler pan (for easy liquid capture) and top them with a small clean cutting board.  On top of that, goes whatever I have on hand, usually cookbooks and canned goods.

 
Much like stirfry, quiche and fritatta, the scrambler is a meal that can handle any combination of veggies one might have on hand, making it a double-duty dish:  one that both excels in cleaning out the fridge, as well as being a savory any-time meal.  This particular tofu scrambler uses carrots, Swiss chard, summer squash (from my CSA share) and red peppers (preserved last season), along with the standard onion and garlic (also from the CSA). 

These ingredients are easily altered, depending on what’s in season and/or what preserved veggies need to be consumed, making this basic scrambler recipe usable for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Options are truly endless and some ingredients can even be eliminated (substituting more veggies for the beans, for instance).

Tofu Scrambler
serves six

1 pound Fresh Tofu, drained and pressed
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
4 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped greens (my favorite is Swiss chard)
1 can beans (my favorite is black soy beans)
~1 1/2 cup of chopped veggies
1/3 cup nutritional yeast

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Saute onions until softened (about three minutes). Add garlic, saute 2 minutes more, then add spice blend and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. Crumble in tofu and mix very well. Let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necessary to keep it from sticking too much. Mix in greens and other vegetables, cover, allowing steam to soften them, about 10 minutes. Mix in nutritional yeast.

I almost always eat tofu scrambler for breakfast, with toast and a sprinkling of hot sauce and fresh herbs if I have any on hand.  By making a big batch once a week, my morning routine is totally streamlined and I’m guaranteed at least one local meal per day.  Some other ways to enjoy your fresh scrambler are:

For breakfast— Huevos rancheros-style, with tortillas, salsa, refried beans and guacamole; inside or on top of a toasted English muffin; with grits, for a comfort food breakfast.
For lunch—in a salad, on top a bed of fresh greens; stuffed into a pita with spouts and tomato slices; with a side of baked sweet potato fries.
For dinner—as a filling for stuffed peppers; in soft tacos with diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce; in burritos with rice, refried beans and salsa.

I hope this summer a scrambler or two finds it’s way into your kitchen.  If you happen upon a particularly yummy ingredient combo, be sure to share!

A cutlet to spare

Sunday, August 03, 2008

I’ve been trying to eat more vegetarian meals lately.  One thing that becomes obvious when you’re writing about your food intake is just exactly how much meat you’re eating!  And it’s not that I have problems with eating meat - but I feel like maybe I just eat a little too much for my own good.  There are both health and environmental reasons for eating less meat, both of which I am conscious.  And really, it’s so easy to take advantage of the huge amounts of gorgeous locally grown produce in season right now.

Even though I’ve been reducing my meat consumption, it’s not like I’m ever going to be a vegetarian.  I happen to think cows and ducks are pretty tasty, and I have no moral qualms about eating them (veal and foie gras are OK with me, too, for the record).  Since I try to stick to locally grown meat that is ethically and sustainably grown, I worry less about the moral and environmental reasons.  And again, I really like meat.  But this is not a love song about beef, chicken, or lamb - it’s a love song to the vegetarian meal I ate last night.

I made some breaded eggplant cutlets a few weeks ago that I prepped and froze.  Usually I buy up eggplants at some point and make tons of them for over the Winter - they’re great to have on hand for a quick dinner, and they’re easy to make.  I think the most important part is the prep: slice up the eggplant, salt it, and press it a colander for an hour.  The salt draws out the moisture and gives it a meatier, more dense texture.  Dip the eggplant into a bit of egg white, dredge in breadcrumbs, and then bake at 450 degress for about 10 minutes.  Let the cutlets cool and then layer them on wax paper, pop them in a properly labeled freezer bag and freeze them.  Reheating is a snap: bake at 350 degrees for about 10 or 15 minutes.  You can make sandwiches, eggplant parmesan, whatever - all on the fly.

Last night I heated them up and just threw a couple slices of salted heirloom tomatoes on top, and served with sauteed swiss chard with parmesan and new potato and parsley salad.  It was a great dinner, and I didn’t miss the meat at all.

I was also pretty excited about the potato and parsley salad.  Last week’s CSA share included all these super tiny, marble-sized Yukon Gold potatoes, and a few weeks ago I pulled about a dozen of the same potatoes out of my garden (interestingly, I did not grow potatoes this year - they were just leftovers from last year’s potato experiment that went horribly wrong).  So it was just thrilling to find something to do with such tiny potatoes, and it was a great use of the huge amounts of parsley growing like crazy in my garden.

Where it all came from:

eggplant, Lancaster Farm Fresh - 100 miles
egg, Natural Acres - 100 miles
breadcrumbs, made from Le Bus bread - 15 miles
tomatoes, Urban Girls - 29 miles
potatoes, Landisdale Farm - 100 miles and my garden - 0 miles
parsley, my garden - 0 miles
garlic, my garden - 0 miles
swiss chard, Landisdale Farm - 100 miles and my garden - 0 miles
parmesan, Hendricks Farm - 39 miles

not local: olive oil, salt, and pepper

CSA Report: Red Earth Farm

Monday, July 14, 2008

I’ve been slacking on the CSA reports the past few weeks. I’ve spent too much time trying to eat it all with a minimal amount of cooking. I’ve been eating

Walla Walla onions
Red Tropea onions
Cipollini onions
red potatoes
zucchini
cucumbers
summer squash mix
Lacinato Kale
Swiss chard
Red summer crisp lettuce
snap peas
broccoli
beets

and probably a few more things I can’t remember right now.

One of the best hot weather local meals we’ve eaten was grilled Porterhouse steaks with a side of tzatziki potato salad. This potato salad recipe, adapted from the Joy of Cooking, was found when I was searching for an authentic tzatziki recipe. I couldn’t resist- I had all of the ingredients and almost all of them (potatoes, cucumbers, dill, mint and yogurt) were local.

Tzatziki Potato Salad

2 cups plain yogurt or Greek yogurt (Pequea Valley)
2 cucumbers - peeled, seeded and diced (Red Earth Farm)
2 tsp salt divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (I substituted fennel from Red Earth Farm)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (my garden)
3 cloves garlic, peeled

2 lbs red potatoes (Red Earth Farm)

For Tzatziki

Drain the yogurt in a colander lined with coffee filters for an hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator. Skip this step if using Greek yogurt which is already thickened.

Toss cucumbers with 1 tsp salt in a colander and drain for an hour or overnight in the refrigerator. Squeeze as much water out of the cucumbers as possible and dry completely with paper towels.

Mash garlic and salt into a paste.

Add olive oil, lemon juice, dill, mint, garlic paste and fresh ground pepper to thickened yogurt mixture. Refrigerate for an hour.

For potatoes:

Cover two pounds of scrubbed red potatoes with cold salted water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender but firm. Drain and let cool completely. Cut into bite size pieces. Toss with tzatziki. Serve cold or at cool room temperature.

Landisdale Farm CSA, week six

Sunday, July 13, 2008

In this week’s CSA share from Landisdale Farm we have:

Four yellow summer squash
One pint of cherries
Potatoes (look to be Yellow Finns or some other yellowish potatoes)
Green beans
Two heads of lettuce
Two bunches of collards
Parsley

I’m also growing collard greens in the garden this year, so I guess now is as good a time as any to learn some new ideas for using them.  I’ll be honest: when I think of collard greens, I think of cooked-within-an-inch-of-their-lives collards with smoked pork neck bones.  In other words, your standard “mess of greens”.  And do love good vinegary greens, but there have to be other things to use them for.

After doing a bit of research, I managed to find some amazing ideas for using collards, my favorite of which is collard green and olive pesto.  Apparently, the recipe makes a heap of pesto.  It’s just different enough that it might also make nice holiday gifts when canned.  Sources say that it’s excellent on pasta or for dipping bread with some nice locally made yogurt. 

Other interesting ideas for using collards:

• Collard potato salad
• Creamed collards
• Collard dal

Sing the blues away

Saturday, July 05, 2008

To celebrate Independence Day yesterday, I did something I rarely do: cooked breakfast.  Oh, I eat breakfast almost every day - but it’s usually something like a bagel, something I buy pre-made and purchase to eat at my desk at work.  But it was a holiday and I had the day off.  A special treat is always a good idea!

Using the blueberries I picked last weekend at Linvilla, I made blueberry pancakes.  They were quite delicious, and I even have a few leftovers in the ‘fridge for another day.

2 eggs, separated
1.5 cups flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 pinches of teasooon salt
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup blueberries

Beat egg whites until stiff; set aside.

In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together egg yolks, milk, and melted butter; add to dry ingredients and mix well.  Stir in blueberries..

Heat up a nonstock griddle or skillet.  When hot, drop batter onto the griddle and cook pancakes on both sides until golden brown.

Here’s where it all came from:
eggs, Natural Acres - 100 miles
flour, Daisy Flour - 60 miles
milk, Dutch Way Dairy - 100 miles
butter, homemade from Dutch Way Dairy cream - 100 miles
blueberries, Linvilla - 15 miles

not local: baking powder, salt

Garden fresh!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Last night I had the first major harvest out of my garden.  “Major” is relative, of course.  I picked the very pretty bunch of turnips pictured here: a small bunch of Scarlett Queen and Hakurei turnips, as well as small handfuls of spinach, swiss chard, and lacinato kale.  It was pretty exciting!

You know what they say: easy come, easy go - and my harvest is no exception.  I cooked it all up immediately for a vegetarian dinner that qualifies for One Local Summer.  The turnips were cooked up in my usual way (the addition of more traditional tasting turnips was new), and I used up all that kale from the CSA share - along with the greens from my garden - in a casserole of cheese, greens, and spelt.  The casserole is a really excellent way to use up any greens you have:

1 c. spelt berries
2 lbs of assorted greens
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
parmesan cheese
fresh mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Boil a few cups of water and pour over spelt.  Put a plate or something over the bowl and steam for 20 minutes.

Tear up the greens into bite sized pieces, being sure to keep each variety separate.  Wash thoroughly and drain.  Put the tougher greens (kale, collards) in a large pan with about an inch of water.  Cook over medium heat for about four minutes.  Add in less tough greens (spinach, chard) and cook for a few minutes more.  Drain all greens very well.

Heat oil over medium heat and saute garlic for a few minutes.  Add greens and drained spelt; season with salt and pepper.  Grate some parmesan over the greens (how much depends on you - I like mine with a lot of cheese).

Butter a casserole dish.  Throw in about half the greens and top with a few slices of fresh mozzarella.  Throw in the rest of the greens and finish with more mozzarella.

Bake for 20 minutes.

It was pretty darn yummy, and the spelt made it really filling.

Where it all came from:
kale, Landisdale Farm - 100 miles
spinach, my garden - 0 miles
swiss chard, my garden - 0 miles
lacinato kale, my garden - 0 miles
garlic, my garden - 0 miles
mozzarella, handmade from local milk - 30 miles
parmesan, Hendricks Farm - 39 miles
spelt berries, Small Valley Milling - 120 miles
turnips, my garden - 0 miles
red onions, Landisdale Farm - 100 miles
butter, homemade from Dutch Way Dairy cream - 100 miles

Potato Salad Days

Friday, June 27, 2008

It’s when I revisit the recipes of my childhood that I understand how far the idea of fresh, local food has come.  Recipes were selected, items purchased at the grocery store, directions were followed.  That was it.  There was little concept of seasonality, of what looked good at the supermarket, or of even using fresh herbs rather than dried.

Growing up, there were two kinds of potato salad in our house.  One contained dill (dried, of course), chunks of peeled Idaho potatoes, and gobs of mayonnaise.  The other contained parsley (dried, of course), chunks of Idaho potatoes, and gobs of white vinegar.  I always preferred the latter, which we referred to as “German” potato salad.  It may have been that we had that type for most of the summer, and, thus, I have a pleasant, accompanying association of summer.  Or, it could be my aversion to most forms of mayonnaise - excepting soy-based or home-made.  Wishing to recreate my childhood potato salad with local food, I decided to take advantage of Culton Organics’ beautiful tri-colored fingerling potatoes.

Note:  I was not surprised to find Italian versions of this (thus the use of olive oil) from the North of Italy.  There are many dishes from this area that closely resemble German or Austrian dishes.

What follows is only the outline of recipe.  The possibilities for variations are endless: rendered bacon for some salted crunch, an additional herb (lemon balm, mint, dill), bitter greens (young dandelion or radichio), anchovy fillets (mashed into the oil), or even hard-boiled egg.  Obviously, the most important thing is the quality of the potatoes; that is what you want to feature here - everything else should support that. One more thing - whatever you’re putting the salad, be sure to have everything prepped and ready to go.  I’ve found that the potatoes absorb the flavors best when they are still warm as you mix everything. 

2 lbs. fingerling potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces (the exact dimensions are not as important as uniformity, to ensure cooking)
1/2 c. chopped parsley
olive oil to taste
lemon juice to taste

Boil the potatoes in salted water until they are fork-tender.  Strain and dump into a mixing bowl.  Toss with parsley, olive oil and lemon juice.  Let sit for thirty minutes.