AnnieRie Unplugged

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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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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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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Eating Locally: A Tasty Brunch

Posted on September 2, 2012 by AnnieRie

It is a holiday weekend. A lazy morning. Late brunch. Using mostly local ingredients. Somewhere we picked up a bottle of locally produced Bloody Mary Mix. VA made. We made Virgin Mary’s. At our age, vodka at 10 am means a nap not long afterwards. This is a spicy thick rich Bloody Mary Mix. Anchovies and clam juice. The sea in a glass.

Sting Ray Bloody Mary Mix

Besides that, we made our favorite eggs with toast. The eggs. TLV Tree Farm. Bought at the Howard County Market at the hospital. The butter. Trickling Springs, bought at England Acres Farm. The bread, from Roots.

I love making eggs from free range chickens. Look at the yolk on these eggs.

This brunch counts as one of my local meals for our Southern Sole Food Challenge. Ten of us from south of the Mason Dixon Line are cooking a local meal every week and blogging about it. Today for me, it is brunch. Check out what the others make at their sites, listed here.

Do your own local meals. Buy at the Howard County Farmers Markets. Or, at the local farms. Check out my local resources page to see where I buy local good foods.

hocofood@@@

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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.

Make Mine #vawine

Posted on August 30, 2012 by AnnieRie

Hashtags. Trending. Tweetups. Lots of new jargon to learn. When I started blogging and tweeting, I learned quite a bit about using social media. Today is Cabernet Day in the twitter world. So, people are tweeting about drinking Cabernet Sauvignon.

2005 Linden Avenius Red

83% Cabernet. One of the higher percentages of cabernet in a Linden Red. Only 47 cases produced. A massive wine. With mouth filling flavors, predominantly of cherries.

Dark, rich and not even ready to drink after seven years. Cabernet Sauvignon done right will last at least a decade. The best, two or three decades. We paired this wine with a beef dish.

Take Linden wines and add food. It is nirvana on a plate and in a glass. It is why we chose to collect local wines and cellar them. Sometimes they just amaze us.

hocofood@@@

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.