Category Archives: CSA

Great New Recipes

Posted on October 6, 2013 by AnnieRie

Last night when we returned home, I decided to pull out some new recipes and try them. First, a tribute to Marcella Hazan, her leek and scallion frittata.

A thin frittata. Just the right size for a light dinner. I do not have a 12 inch nonstick skillet specified in the recipe, so I used my 14 inch skillet. It meant I had to slightly adjust the recipe. This recipe came from MARCELLA SAYS.

You don’t want to mess with Marcella’s recipes very much. They are perfectly balanced. It all comes down to the layering of flavors. That being said, here is what I did.

Heated the tablespoon of butter and tablespoon of olive oil in the pan. Added one cup of scallion tops. Two cups of thinly sliced leeks (white parts only). Let it all slowly soften under a low heat. Add the 1/4 cup of water to steam them to doneness. After water evaporated, took it all out and set aside.

Meanwhile, added four eggs to a bowl. I used four regular sized free range eggs from Love Dove Farms. If you use large or extra large eggs, use three instead of four. Added 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan to the eggs. Gently mixed it together. Added the scallion/leek mixture. Folded it all together. Put it all in the skillet, after I had melted another tablespoon of butter in it.

Let it cook until starting to firm up. Put it in a 400 degree preheated oven to finish.

Along with the frittata, I served a new salad. Inspired by Dinner: A Love Story. The link will take you directly to the recipe.

I really love this salad. You do not have to measure anything. I used about a half dozen large pieces of Tuscan kale. Cut very thinly, avoiding the stems. Place in a bowl and add one avocado, sliced in thin pieces. A handful of thinly sliced scallions into the bowl. Squirt the juice of one large or two small lemons over it. Shave pecorino romano over everything. Drizzle olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. We were heavy on the avocado compared to kale. Next time, more kale as it is so good this way.

More on the great recipes I have found over at DALS. Even if it is a “family” blog, the recipes are simply wonderful. I stumbled upon them by accident, looking for something a while back. If I can ever find the book at the library (it is always out or on hold), I would love to check out their cookbook.

I do have their blog to thank for knowing that you shouldn’t mess around with the instructions on Marcella Hazan’s recipes. Do what she says. The layering of flavors makes her food incredibly flavorful.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in cookbooks, CSA, Food, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

CSA Surprises

Posted on October 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Week 20. And there were tomatoes in the box. Also, edamame. Oh yeah, tatsoi. Cilantro. Talk about mixing cultures!

Here is the list:
1 bag Yukon Gold Potatoes – Hillside Organics
1 bag Edamame – Sweetaire Farm
1 piece Fennel Bulb – Autumn Blend Organics
1 bunch Pink Beauty Radishes – Friends Road Organics
1 bunch Tatsoi – Hillside Organics
1 head Frisee – Meadow Valley Organics
1 container Cremini Mushrooms – Mother Earth Organics
1 head Green Romaine Lettuce – Bellview Organics
1 head Green Leaf Lettuce – Green Valley Organics
1 bag Red Roma Tomatoes – White Swan Acres
1 bunch Cilantro – Kirkwood Herbs
1 bag Mixed Beets – Tasty Harvest Organics

It’s one of the reasons I like this CSA so much. The adventure. The variety. The fact that Lancaster Farm Fresh uses a tightly knit group of farmers to supply thousands of people in the New York and Philly areas, as well as New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and DC. They use a rough 150 mile radius for their membership. To me, that diversity of New York and Philly, along with their wholesale business which I assume caters to restaurants and large produce and farm stands, is what drives them to grow such unique items.

Today the fruit share members had Asian pears, concord grapes and kiwiberries in their share. I really wished we had chosen a fruit share seeing their bounty. Today also the half share members had Asian green radishes. Heirlooms. I should have waited around to try and swap for some, but I was loving our haul, and still had those blue radishes from last week. I ended up roasting them this afternoon, with the mixed beets and the remainder of the purple okra I picked up from the Glenwood market last Saturday.

I was multi-tasking here. Roasting beets. Dry roasted over salt. Okra and radishes were both drizzled with oil. The radishes ended up in tonight’s stir fry.

Last week’s bok choy, onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and the radishes. A splash of sesame oil. Served with chicken.

Definitely not boring meals in our house. The CSA always surprises us.

hocofood@@@

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A Mess of Mustard Greens

Posted on October 2, 2013 by AnnieRie

I wanted something fairly easy for dinner tonight. Like store bought chicken. Picked up after my morning stint with an elementary field trip out at the Conservancy.

I was on “Owl Observation” duty.

Describing habitats and running back and forth from meadow to forest. It was a fun exhausting 4 hours, from arrival and set up to clean up. Still a great deal of fun. But I didn’t want to do much cooking when I came home at 2 pm and collapsed with a huge glass of iced water. It is still warm out there, even if it is October.

CSA veggies to the rescue. I had leftover spaghetti squash, chicken from Harris Teeter, and it was simple to cook up a mess of mustard greens. Like ten minutes simple.

The layering of the flavors first. Start with any sort of fat. Butter, chicken fat, olive oil, whatever makes you happy, and that is hanging around. Add onions and/or scallions. I had both in the fridge. Add some “porky” flavor. For me, that last 3-4 ounces of Italian sausage from Breezy Willow. The other day, I roasted all the sweet and hot peppers from the CSA. They are in the fridge too. Three of them went in the pan. Three cloves of my roasted garlic (always in the fridge too). Let it all get soft and simmering. Add some grated ginger, some cayenne flakes, some salt. Maybe if you have it, some sesame oil. A bit more liquid, like a few tablespoons of olive oil, then pour in a mess of greens.

I forgot to do the after picture, once all the greens cooked down, but it surely tasted great. I never used to eat mustard greens when I was younger. Now, I am loving them.

Easy dinner, earlier than normal, but I will be propping up my sore feet and having a glass of wine while watching TV.

Here’s to many more easy meals, after sunny days running around outdoors.

hocofood@@@

Making It Mine

Posted on September 29, 2013 by AnnieRie

I put together a mostly local dinner this evening. It started by tweaking a favorite recipe and making it the way I like it. After all these years of following recipes, I enjoy changing what is written into my own take, using the preferences that I have, and those of my husband.

This is Mario Batali’s Spaghetti with Green Tomatoes.

I know. No spaghetti. Not all the tomatoes are green. Where is the parmesan on top?

Even the pesto is different.

Here is what I did. I went into the garden and harvested as much arugula, basil and mint as I could find, to make about 3/4 cup. I came in and snipped off 1/4 cup of the curly parsley from the CSA, including some of the smaller stems. This gave me the cup of greens that I needed. I used 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan. And, 1/3 cup pine nuts, even though they aren’t called for in the recipe. Added a squirt of lemon juice and three roasted garlic cloves to the processor with the greens, parm and pine nuts. A teaspoon of salt. Half teaspoon of white pepper. Mixed it all while adding olive oil until it stopped clumping along the sides of the processor.

That’s the pesto on the left. On the right, in the pan, about a cup and a half of underripe cherry tomatoes from the farmer’s market. They would have become fully ripe within two or three days. I did have three small green tomatoes from my garden in there too. They were cooked down in a little olive oil, with about four ounces of the hot Italian sausage left over from that grilling of the Breezy Willow sausage a few days ago. And, a handful of scallion tops, sliced.

I added about half a cup of pesto to this mix. And, leftover goat cheese from the appetizer we had earlier. About two ounces of soft goat cheese, melted into the pesto and tomatoes.

I made a cup of small assorted pasta shapes, and added them to the skillet, with a ladle of pasta water to thin the pesto.

This is the skillet before I added the pasta. It coats the pasta well. I put a loaf of Stone House bread in the oven to warm up.

Served all of this with a lovely crisp Early Mountain Petit Manseng. We really like this wine. It cuts through the richness of that sauce. We had only tasted late harvest Petit Manseng before trying this one. Early Mountain has a winner with this grape. It has more body than a Pinot Grigio, but isn’t as heavy as a Chardonnay. A perfect dinner wine.

This dinner was so easy to put together. The pesto takes ten minutes, which included toasting the pine nuts. The pasta takes ten minutes to cook, while you are making the tomatoes in the skillet. Bread warmed in the oven while dinner was cooking.

Great Sunday dinner.

hocofood@@@

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The Fourth Quarter

Posted on September 26, 2013 by AnnieRie

Of the CSA. This is week 19 of 24. The final six deliveries of the summer CSA.

I can’t believe how summer just flew by. We are now getting quite a bit of fall veggies in the box.

This is what we got.

1 Spaghetti Squash – Elm Tree Organics
1 bag White Sweet Potatoes – Sunrise Ridge Organics
1 bag Red Potatoes – Rodale Institute
1 bunch Leeks – Rodale Institute
1 bag Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers – Healthy Choices Organics
1 bag Garlic – Friends Road Organics
1 bag Baby Sweet Stuffing Peppers – Organic Willow Acres
1 bunch Blue Radishes – Millwood Springs Organics
1 bunch Lacinato Kale – Farmdale Organics
1 bag Baby Mixed Mustard Greens – Organic Willow Acres
2 heads Green Leaf Lettuce – Green Valley Organics
1 bunch Curly Parsley – Noble Herbs

I thought it was interesting that Rodale is now part of our non profit cooperative. They are in Kutztown, not far from most of our Amish suppliers. They do massive amounts of research. It is where I researched spelt. One of our ancient local grains.

This week I love those baby sweet peppers.

I am considering stuffing them with goat cheese, and some habanero jelly, and grilling them. Tonight, though, we just grilled them with a Breezy Willow sausage and the rest of the okra from last week.

I am seriously enjoying that grilled okra. Love it all charred and smoky.

Working on some good recipes for the weekend. The weather will be lovely. Time to really utilize the grill.

hocofood@@@

6 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Locavore, Real Food, Weather and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, grilling, Locavore, real food, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Ankida Ridge … With a Local Dinner

Posted on September 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

Pinot Noir. One of our favorite red wines. Not readily available from local wineries. Only a few in MD, PA and VA make it. Chaddsford in PA. Black Ankle in MD. Ankida Ridge and Loudoun Valley in VA.

If there are others, I would like to know. Except, we really were bowled over by Ankida Ridge. Even in 2011, a difficult year due to the Hurricane and the Tropical Storm.

This is a stellar red wine, no matter where it originates. Thank you, Early Mountain, for featuring it in your tastings, and for bringing wine from a very small vineyard to a larger audience. On TWO acres of vineyards.

Sustainable practices. Eco-friendly. A winery that offers what we look for when it comes to food, and gives it to us in wine.

I thought it was fitting to pour the Pinot Noir with grilled lamb. Local lamb. From England Acres.

We grilled a foreshank roast. Added some CSA potatoes. Pesto made with sorrel, parsley, pine nuts and Parmesan.

And, we grilled that pesky little okra.

It all tasted wonderful. I like grilled okra. The lamb went perfectly with the Pinot Noir. Other than a few supporting ingredients, this was a completely locally sourced meal.

So nice to find one of our favorite varietals just a few hours down the road.

Ankida Ridge makes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from their grapes. They also make a white and a red from grapes bought near their farm, and they call it the Voyager series.

The white, made in a vinho verde style, is a combination of vidal blanc and pinot noir. Interesting combination for a white wine. Not sweet at all. Many vidals can be way too sweet, but this isn’t.

All in all, these wines were a real find on our vacation weekend. Worth seeking out if you want to support small locally owned vineyards.

hocofood@@@

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Another Baker’s Dozen

Posted on September 19, 2013 by AnnieRie

Week 18 of the 24 week CSA. Thirteen items again in the box. A couple of fairly odd ones, and I didn’t swap anything.

We got:
1 head Bok Choy – Friends Road Organics
1 bunch Pink Beauty Radishes – Friends Road Organics
1 container Microgreens – Eastbrook Produce
1 head Green Romaine Lettuce – Bellview Organics
1 bunch French Sorrel – Kirkwood Herbs
1 bag Mixed Hot Peppers – Outback Farm
1 bag Mixed Mustard Greens- Organic Willow Acres
2 piece Gold Acorn Squash – Windy Hollow Organics
1 bag Red Potatoes – Green Valley Organics
1 bag Orange Carrots – Freedom Acres Farm
1 bag Shallots – Shady Brook Organics
1 bag Green Okra – Life Enhancing Acres
2 pieces Heirloom Tomatoes – Crystal Springs Farm

The odd one — the okra. I think we got it once last year and I swapped it. This year, I didn’t.

Okra can be done very well, with a little effort, so I guess the cookbook will be coming out for it. I also thought the mixed mustard greens were interesting. I feel like we have a real Southern basket this week.

As for all those peppers …

… now that I know I have conquered that fear of canning, there may be some pickled peppers, or some hot relish being made. I have some wax beans, and those teeny carrots in here. I could do a pickled veggie mix.

I may take a few of them and hang them to dry out, like I did a few years back.

But, the truth about not swapping okra. When I got there, the swap box was already overflowing with hot peppers, since the full shares and the half shares all got peppers, so if I put the okra in the swap box, I could have had twice as many peppers, or another couple of heirloom tomatoes, or the French sorrel. Not much of a choice left.

I feel for our hosts. They will be drowning in peppers tonight. They get to keep whatever is finally left in that swap box after all of us have picked up our shares.

By the way, I love French sorrel. Another fairly unique item we get. There may be a quiche in the planning for this coming week.

hocofood@@@

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The Fear of Canning …

Posted on September 18, 2013 by AnnieRie

… doesn’t have a name in the Phobia list, but it probably should.

I did find, in a Google search, a long list of blogs that used Fear of Canning in their title. So I was not alone when it came to having misgivings about canning.

I conquered that fear Monday morning. With Pineapple Habanero Jelly.

The recipe said it would make six 8 ounce jars, but I ended up with an extra pint of jelly. Thankfully I had a large jar in the dishwasher with the six jelly jars, so I could cope.

I found the recipe here.

And I promptly modified it. Here is what I used.

2 cups pineapple juice
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 jalapeño pepper, halved, seeded and with ribs removed
10 small orange habaneros, halved, seeded and with ribs removed
5 1/2 cups granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 (3 fluid ounce) pouches liquid pectin
1 teaspoon pickled beet juice (to replace red food coloring)

Put the peppers and the cider vinegar in the blender and pulse until peppers are minced.

Pour this mixture into a heavy saucepan. Add the sugar, pineapple juice, and salt. Mix until all is dissolved. Add the beet juice to make it a deeper color. You can increase the amount of beet juice to get it darker. Bring to a rolling boil. Cut the heat back just a bit and cook for about 10 minutes stirring it constantly with a wooden spoon to keep it from sticking to the bottom. I think I didn’t keep the heat high enough so I didn’t get the evaporation to draw it down to 48 ounces.

Add the two pouches of liquid pectin and get the mixture back to a boil again. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until thickened and syrupy. Mine didn’t get really thick, but it seems to have congealed OK in the jars. I checked them all today and they are no longer runny when I tilted them.

Before I put the liquid into the jars, I did skim off the foam, and I strained much of the pulp out of it to give me a fairly clear jelly.

For the canning, I followed the recommendations in the Ball Blue Book of Canning. Used the dishwasher to sterilize instead of the canning pot. I filled all the jars, and put the six small ones in the pot.

Processed them for ten minutes, and they all sealed properly. Put the large jar in by itself and processed it for 15 minutes. It sealed fine as well. That one will end up in the fridge and be the first one used. I intend to use it on a soft creamy goat cheese and crackers. And, I intend to mix it with butter to coat chicken wings to make a hot wing appetizer. I will report back to see how it tastes, and how it works in recipes.

All in all, this was pretty simple. Now, to be brave enough to move on to that green tomato bacon jam recipe I want to try.

hocofood@@@

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Falling Behind

Posted on September 12, 2013 by AnnieRie

In the CSA consumption. Week 17 crept up on us before we finished week 16. Another Baker’s dozen this week.

1 Spaghetti Squash – Riverview Organics
1 bag Bintje Potatoes- De Glae Organics
1 bag Sweet Onions – Liberty Branch Farm
1 bag Garlic – Friends Road Farm
1 bag Habanero Peppers – Tasty Harvest
1 bunch Dinosaur Kale- Farmdale Organics
1 head Green Leaf Lettuce – Green Valley Organics
1 head Green Butterhead Lettuce – Maple Lawn Organics
1 stalk Edamame – Liberty Branch Farm
1 head Curly Endive Meadow Valley Organics
1 head Baby Bok Choy – Plum Hill Organics
1 bunch Italian OR Curly Parsley – Noble Herbs
1 pint Gold Grape Tomatoes – Chiques Roc Organics

The new one here is the Bintje potatoes. Who knew potatoes could arouse such passion and controversy. These are the famous Belgian potatoes used for frites, according to the WSJ article about them.

So now I need to find beef drippings?

Then there’s the edamame. Which we love. Simply cooked. Boiled in heavily salted water. Squeezed out of their pods as the perfect appetizer to accompany gin and tonics on the patio.

But then, there’s those killer habaneros.

There are eleven of these things! I can handle one or two, but ELEVEN! OK, time to find a hot pepper jelly recipe. Stay tuned to see how this works out.

I do love the return of the greens. We got butter lettuce, endive and leaf lettuce. Plus the kale.

Fall is definitely coming. I do need to get out of garden processing mode, and start eating the CSA bounty a little quicker.

hocofood@@@

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Cooking Up a Storm, Again

Posted on September 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

Today, with the cooler weather, I had crock pot, oven, stove top and food processor going, in order to keep up with the last of the garden harvests. And with some of the CSA veggies.

What did I get done?

Another batch of tomato sauce using all of my paste tomatoes, and the CSA roma tomatoes.

A foil package of about 30 cloves of garlic, put in the oven after taking out the chicken that I slow cooked for most of the day, which I had finished in the oven, to get it brown. I used the last of my previous batch of garlic to make dinner Sunday night. I always keep a container of roasted garlic in the refrigerator. Beats buying it from the olive bar at the grocery store.

Two quarts of chicken stock tonight, using the carcass and all the drippings from the all day crock pot chicken cooking.

Pesto, using the CSA basil from a week ago, and some of mine. I still have enough to do another large batch.

Add that to last night’s work. I made ajvar and roasted red pepper hummus while I had last night’s lamb on the grill.

Finally, I have to decide if I want to keep that rendered chicken fat skimmed off the top of the stock, and download Michael Ruhlman’s iPad cookbook dedicate to schmaltz. Now that’s a new adventure that I might just have to try.