Category Archives: CSA

Week 20, CSA Goodies Continue to Roll In

Posted on September 20, 2012 by AnnieRie

You know you need serious help when you take 100 pictures of your CSA box, just to get the one you want to post. Thank goodness for digital photography. You can click away to your heart’s content and delete like mad leaving only the good ones.

Today’s goodness!

Sandy Spring CSA Week 20

The list:

1 Bag Green Okra (which I swapped for more collard greens)
1 Bag Baby Eggplants
1 Bag Red Roma Tomatoes
1 Bag Garlic
1 Bunch Collards
1 Head Bok Choy
1 Bunch Dinosaur Kale
1 Head Green Leaf Lettuce
1 Bunch Green Komatsuna
2 Leeks

What is komatsuna, you ask? One of those amazing vegetables you would only get in a CSA box, and it really is a great vegetable. Very versatile. Very good for you. I added some chopped leaves to chicken soup I heated up for dinner tonight. The rest will find their way into a stir fry with that humongous bok choy. I have to say, these three in the picture below are items I never would be buying in a store.

komatsuna, bok choy and leeks

Tomorrow I will break out the crock pot again and make all those lovely collards with Italian sausage and some of my tomato sauce. They will grace the table a few times this weekend. I love collards with pork and tomatoes, and a little garlic.

Yikes! Another four pounds of Roma tomatoes. I thought tomato season was over. Apparently not in PA, it isn’t. So, one more round of blanching and freezing. I should never have to buy tomatoes this winter. The freezer will be full of them. And, baby eggplant. How cute. And, garlic. More garlic to roast and spread on bread.

This is such a great basket of goodies this week. So many of my favorites. Who knows what I will cook?

hocofood@@@

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My House Reeks of Basil

Posted on September 14, 2012 by AnnieRie

Really. The entire first floor smells like basil. The blue basil will not give up. It keeps branching out and growing. I whacked back another batch and have two cups of it sitting there waiting patiently to become pesto. The containers below are from a few weeks back, and are happily resting in the freezer.

Pesto ready for the freezer

Our locavore cooking challenge has a theme this weekend. Preserving and canning food. I am not a big canner, but with my new chest freezer I have become a freezing fool. Tomatoes, berries, peppers, corn, pesto, and sauces. I have a good supply put away to sustain me during the 14 week hiatus from getting CSA deliveries.

It’s hard to believe the basil started out in May looking pretty bare. And then it went wild. This is the herb garden before you could even see the basil.

Every growing season surprises me. This year the basil and rosemary took off. So did the thyme. The sage died. Don’t know why. but it did. The marjoram and tarragon also succumbed to the heat. It will be interesting to see how the rosemary does this winter. It has come back for three years. And, the thyme has wintered well.

It is almost time to plant the garlic. If you want to try something simple to grow, head to the local farmer’s markets and pick up some garlic. Put the cloves in a big flower pot, with lots of mulch over them. Come next May, you will have fresh garlic you grew. I loved my spring garlic from my flower beds, harvested in June.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Locavore, Real Food, SSFC and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, gardening, hoco loco, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Is It Really Week 19 of the CSA?

Posted on September 13, 2012 by AnnieRie

Time flies when you are enjoying it. We seem to be heading quickly into fall, and the CSA reflects that. Getting more root veggies, some greens and the last of the tomatoes.

Sandy Spring CSA Week 19, Columbia MD delivery

The list:
1 Green Zucchini
1 Bag Chioggia Beets
1 Bag Sweet Potatoes
1 Bunch Rainbow Chard
1 Bag Sweet Banana Peppers
1 Bag Green Beans
1 Leek (I have two because I swapped basil for it)
1 Bag Red Tomatoes
1 Bunch Orange Carrots
1 Bunch French Breakfast Radishes
1 Head Bok Choy

What will I do this week? Definitely making chocolate zucchini bread. Making a Nicoise salad with the beans and leftover potatoes from a previous week, for a lunch at the Conservancy. Sweet potato gnocchi sound good, too.

I love getting all the root veggies in the fall.

As for things from the past, today at Wegmans we saw someone with a Tshirt that read “Kale is the new Beef”. Well, those of us in long term CSA relationships have been into kale for a long time. Now, it must be the IN thing. So, in honor of the shirt sighting, I came home and made spicy kale chips with the last of the kale from a few weeks back. By the way, the kale was still fresh in those green bags. They are a life saver in the CSA world.

Spicy kale chips

This version had seasoned salt, paprika, white pepper and olive oil. They will be appetizers before I do pan seared lemon sea scallops, picked up at Wegmans today. The last of the corn. And, potato and green bean salad.

Potato and green bean salad

Simple salad. Blanched beans. A pound of purple and white potatoes, parboiled. Mayo and white wine vinegar to taste. Scallions, salt, pepper and a few small tomatoes.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, hoco loco, Locavore, real food, wegman's. Bookmark the permalink.

Eating Locally: What Did I Do Last Week?

Posted on September 10, 2012 by AnnieRie

Getting towards the end of our group who blog about our local eating adventures during the height of the growing season. Next week we get to blog about our preserving and canning adventures but this week, I just have a few random comments.

About how the CSA has changed my life. How would you like flourless squash brownies?

Flourless Squash Brownies

Because of our linkyparty on CSA recipes over at InHerChucks, I found A Little Nosh (love her tag line). This is the before picture. There is no after picture. They got eaten too quickly.

About how certain plants went crazy and others bombed. The basil created another huge round of pesto making. I got six more cups of basil out of this cutting. Two or three more cups of basil still out there.

Basil being rinsed

If you look at the picture below, you will see the good tomatoes and the ones the stink bugs destroyed. Careful cutting before slicing or processing was necessary to avoid damaged areas.

Heirloom tomatoes, some with stink bug damage

About how the farmers markets and the farm stands have replaced grocery stores in my shopping trips. I discovered England Acres and go there frequently. I get eggs and meat from them and from TLV.

England Acres fields

About almost completely eliminating processed foods and grocery store meats. Dinner Friday included TLV beef short ribs, CSA potatoes and kale, and tomato sauce made with my Amish paste tomatoes. Nothing processed in this dinner. All fresh. Almost all local. Except for the olive oil I used to brown the meat.

slow cooked short ribs

Check out my Local Challenge page and see what my friends are cooking. You may get addicted to ajvar, like I did. Mine is redder than Rebecca’s. Haven’t figured out what I did differently. Eat a local meal soon and enjoy the last of the summer bounty.

Ajvar, a Serbian eggplant, red pepper spread

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, SSFC and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hoco loco, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

CSA Week Eighteen

Posted on September 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

We are heading towards fall. At least the veggies are changing. Our box had some lettuce in it this week, and kale. Here is what it looked like, but there still is summer goodness in there.

Sandy Spring CSA Week Eighteen

The List:

6 Ears Bi-Color Corn – already shucked and ready for Friday night dinner
1 Bunch Green Kale – in the crock pot today with beef short ribs
1 Bag Mixed Beans – washed and put away to be used Monday
2 Heads Baby Bok Choy – destined for chicken next Thursday or Friday
1 Bag Purple Viking Potatoes – two of these are in the crock pot, too
1 Bag White Onions – lovely onions, maybe in a soup next week
1 Head Green Romaine Lettuce – cleaned, and resting in the spinner
1 Stalk Edamame – cleaned and ready to roast this weekend
1 White Acorn Squash – all the squash are hanging out together
1 Bag Red Roma Tomatoes – to be blanched and frozen
1 Bunch Dill (swapped to get more cherry tomatoes)
1 Pint Mixed Cherry Tomatoes – with its second box ready to nibble

Organic cherry tomatoes

As for last week’s African horned melon, I cut it open yesterday. It looked different, and really didn’t have a strong taste. Let’s say I was underwhelmed.

African horned melon

And, last week the beets were roasted and became part of a few salads for lunches. I love the golden beets best.

Salt roasted beets

As usual, I will be linking up my CSA posts with In Her Chucks linky party. It is where I get lots of inspiration on what to cook each week.

hocofood@@@

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Sometimes You Forget Pictures

Posted on September 5, 2012 by AnnieRie

Yeah, I forgot to get the camera to record the awesome skirt steak salad I made for dinner tonight. I did go get it to take a picture of the lovely 11 year old Virginia wine that went with it.

2001 Naked Mountain Raptor Red

Old wines are definitely different. Not as fruit forward. This one, from a stellar year in VA, was still hanging in there nicely. What is interesting about older wines is how they change rapidly as the meal progresses. Upon opening, they can be strange, until they settle out and soften. This one would linger after you swallowed it. Love older wines.

The skirt steak came out of the freezer. A JW Treuth steak from last spring’s CSA. Late last March, so six months in the freezer. My limit for keeping meats. Still very nice. Pan fried in balsamic, olive oil and garlic. Served over a salad.

I was busy today. I processed another boatload of basil to make two ice cube trays full of pesto.

Basil before becoming pesto

Even though I forgot to take pictures of dinner, I do have one great recommendation. While peaches are still in season, get some. Cut them in half. Put them cut side down in a pan with balsamic. Cook them until they soften. We had peaches I picked up outside Kendall Hardware this morning. I put one in the pan after removing the steak. It is amazing how intense the peach flavor is.

hocofood@@@

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Not Crazy About Cardoons

Posted on September 3, 2012 by AnnieRie

Lots of work. Really woody tasting. Don’t know if it was my method or the cardoons themselves. Oh well, at least the wine was excellent. And, so was the sausage with my tomato sauce.

2010 Boxwood Trellis

The wine was a blend of Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. These grapes generally don’t star in Bordeaux blends, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc being chosen as more dominant grapes. I like the fruit forward aspect of this wine, easy to drink while it is young. It went very well with Italian sausages baked with my chunky tomato sauce.

Sausages with sauce, and cardoons

The cardoons. Who knows? I may not have simmered them long enough, but they were in the pot for an hour and were “fork tender”. I baked them for 45 minutes, with the bechamel sauce, cheese and bread crumbs on top.

Classic cardoons in bechamel

They looked good. And the sauce was good to eat. The cardoons were definitely chewy. Not something I will make again. This is one item that will go into the swap box if I ever get it again from the CSA.

Sometimes you win with the CSA. And sometimes you don’t. Like last year, when I discovered how great salsify was.

Still waiting for the horned melon to ripen. That is another new exciting item in last week’s basket. It is sitting on the windowsill getting yellow in places. CSA baskets can be intimidating or interesting. It is all about how you approach things.

African horned melon, not yet ripe

hocofood@@@

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

Processed Foods

Posted on September 1, 2012 by AnnieRie

I think I spent all day today processing fresh veggies. I now have a greater appreciation for what my mom and grandmom did, with all that work associated with freezing (and canning) foods. I haven’t done much canning. Mostly freezing, after blanching or preparing the veggies from the CSA and farmer’s markets.

Roasted Beets

The beets were dry roasted, to put in salads this week. Besides the beets, I had jalapenos in the oven. These are destined to become the base for chili oil, once they age in the fridge.

Roasted Jalapenos

I also made ajvar, using eggplant and red peppers.

Add a little roasted garlic, and make this wonderful spread.

Roasted Garlic

The finished product. So flavorful. Not that hard to make. Roast eggplant and peppers. When done, throw a head of garlic cloves in the oven, after turning it off. Puree all of it in the blender. Add olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic to make it taste the way you want it.

Ajvar

I finished all this by blanching and freezing the roma tomatoes from the CSA. These were peeled and bagged, after blanching, and will be added to crock pot dinners this winter.

Tomorrow, if I am ambitious, the peaches will be blanched, peeled and frozen, to use in vinaigrettes and sauces all winter.

I made a mess of the kitchen, using the blender and the food processor, both of them twice. I swear, I spend all my time doing dishes. Oh, I forgot, I did process two peaches, with yogurt, peach nectar and honey, to make peach pops.

Peach yogurt pops

What did you do this weekend?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, gardening, hoco loco, Howard County, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Cardoons, Horned Melon and Soy! Oh My!

Posted on August 30, 2012 by AnnieRie

Week 17 of the CSA. Three new and exciting items. Twelve goodies overall. The haul.

Sandy Spring CSA Week 17

The list.

1 Bunch Lacinato Kale
1 Bunch Cardoons
1 Stalk Edamame (soy beans)
1 Bag Orange Carrots
1 Huge Head of Bok Choy
A Three pound bag of Roma Tomatoes
2 leeks (I swapped cayenne peppers to get these)
1 Butternut Squash
1 African Horned Melon
1 Bag Gold Beets
1 Bunch Italian Parsley
1 Bag Shallots

The horned melon is weird. But, I will try anything once. Here is a picture from our weekly email, of one that is ripe and cut open. Ours isn’t ripe yet.

Horned Melon, Ripe and Cut Open

Cardoons are also new. I found a dozen Mario Batali recipes on the internet, to try. They look like they are related to artichokes. Should be interesting.

Cardoons

I am not even going to attempt to price this out. I have no idea what edamame, horned melon and cardoons cost, if you can find them. The beets, tomatoes and carrots, all organic, make the cost worth it. Stay tuned this week to see what I cook with this basket.

hocofood@@@

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Home Made Tomato Sauce

Posted on August 29, 2012 by AnnieRie

One of the pleasures of growing tomatoes. Home made sauces to savor months from now.

Chunky tomato sauce

If you don’t grow tomatoes, you can pick them at Larriland. If you have never tried making tomato sauce, you really need to do it, if only to know how amazingly good a home made sauce will taste. Those of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s are used to smelling that intoxicating mixture of onions and garlic. Our parents made sauce, or gravy for those with Italian roots. Spaghetti with home made sauce was on our plates at least once a week in the summer, when tomatoes were abundant and cheap.

Sauce is easy, just a bit time consuming to get the flavors to develop. Start with the base. In this batch, I used carrots, onions, garlic, red pepper and olive oil. One carrot. One onion. Two cloves garlic. Half a large red pepper. Olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

Sauce base

The tomatoes were blanched in another pot. I used about five pounds of tomatoes for this sauce. After blanching, pull off the skins, and squeeze out the seeds. Cool water makes it easier to handle them.

I put them in the sauce one by one and mash them up to get the sauce the way I like it. Add Italian seasoning using herbs like oregano, basil and thyme.

Keep adding tomatoes, then simmer for at least 30 minutes. I then put the sauce in freezer containers, except for a small batch which goes in the refrigerator to use as soon as possible. The rest will be a welcome reminder of summer in the dead of winter.