Tag Archives: cooking

Zucchini Squared

Posted on July 3, 2014 by AnnieRie

This week, a couple of great recipes using all those zucchini. The ones from all sources.

Double chocolate zucchini bread. Modified.

The recipe started from King Arthur Flour. Substitutions in parenthesis.

2 large eggs
1/3 cup honey (I used agave)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
1/3 cup King Arthur All-Purpose Baking Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa (I used Hershey’s)
1 2/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini, gently pressed
1 cup chocolate chips (I used peanut butter chips)

I did it all in one bowl. Mixed by hand. One by one I added ingredients and mixed. Poured into a 5 by 9 inch pan. That was pre-greased. Baked at 350 degrees for an hour (I have a convection oven, non convection may take 10 minutes more).

Took it to a committee meeting, and brought some home that was dessert tonight.

As for the other recipe. There wasn’t one.

Pour all sorts of things into a baking pan. I used six small zucchini. Various types. Sliced. Added a 28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes. Peeled. Smashed up. A can of Roland roasted red peppers. Sliced onions. Italian herb mix. Salt. Pepper.

Go for it. Zucchini, peppers, onions, tomatoes. A perfect combination. Served as a side dish. With bread to dip. Whatever. This is a staple during zucchini season.

This was slow cooked in the oven on 250 degrees for an hour and a half.

Who says zucchini has to be boring?

#hocofood

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A Decade of Summers

Posted on June 23, 2014 by AnnieRie

Our tenth summer here. Time flies. The trees are much larger. The bushes growing together. It is even more private than when we arrived. Not quite as quiet, though. More development brought more traffic.

But still, summer out here is lived outdoors. Either mowing or weeding or trimming or harvesting or eating or drinking or whatever. I spend so much time outdoors. Watching the animals. The birds. The snakes. Yes, the snakes. Life in the country is always an adventure.

We also eat more meals at home. Shop closer to home. I almost titled this post, summer salad days, because we have transitioned into the summer routine of salads for lunch, and a big component of dinner.

It’s too hot some days to cook. Or, our appetites are affected by the heat.

We stopped up at the garden after dinner at Iron Bridge tonight. Tried to decide if we wanted to stand in that long line at the Woodstock snowball stand. Decided instead to come home for leftover crumble with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream.

Blueberry season opens this weekend at Larriland. I never went to Larriland when we lived in Columbia. Now, it’s a couple of times a month. Peaches and blackberries after the blueberries.

Getting ready for field day this weekend with the radio club. Hoping we don’t get storms.

Tomorrow I need to go and vote. Thursday is Fiddlers and Fireflies, a summer staple in this part of the county, out at the Conservancy. Things don’t always slow down around here when it’s warm.

Here’s to summertime. Officially here last weekend. To lazy days with minimal fuss.

To that perfect Caprese salad.

To Life in the Slow Lane.

#hocoblogs

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Posted in Community, Farms, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Weather and tagged community, cooking, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Grill From the Garden

Posted on June 22, 2014 by AnnieRie

Tonight’s dinner brought to us by the ripening cucumbers and zucchini in the garden.

I picked three cucumbers this morning and two baby zucchini. Along with my first tomato, some dill, and a pound of kale and rainbow chard.

Cucumbers. Dill. What does that mean?

Tzatziki. A plop of plain yogurt. One diced cucumber. Teaspoon of fresh dill. Squeeze of lemon. Salt. Pepper.

All without hitting a grocery store. The lemons came from Jenny’s market, as did a few other things I am using for salads this week. And the potatoes.

I put some teeny potatoes in the grill with my CSA asparagus and the zucchini from the garden. Great side dish.

Made a couple kofta. One pound of England Acres lamb. Handful of scallions from the garden. Garam masala, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Olive oil. Perfect with tzatziki.

Great with a pinot noir. And a homemade dessert.

Strawberry rhubarb crumble. Compliments of Smitten Kitchen.

I think this was a win in the “eat local” column.

#hocofood

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Kohlrabi Squared

Posted on June 19, 2014 by AnnieRie

Yep, both weekly sources of local, regional food gave us kohlrabi this week.

Six of the little “sputniks”. One of the stranger vegetables we see. But, what flavor. I like it as a slaw ingredient. I like it sliced thinly and eaten raw.

I really like my Indian inspired recipe. Yum, garam masala and apple. What could be better?

Tomorrow I will do the post about what we got this week, but right now, I want to talk about challenging ourselves. Cooking outside our comfort zone.

Keeping that kohlrabi out of the swap box.

To me, the real joy of community supported agriculture and regional food buying “cooperatives”, somewhat like our Friends and Farms subscription, is the surprise factor. The impetus to try something new.

Now, in my fourth summer, nothing much really surprises us. We are veterans of the “Say What?” club. And, we have expanded our cooking skills in directions we never imagined.

As for these kohlrabi, I will make a slaw. I will grill some. I might braise one or two.

#hocofood

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To Honor Our Dads

Posted on June 15, 2014 by AnnieRie

Both of our dads loved to cook. I remember watching my father in law at the stove, frying up something special. And my dad, with his favorite foods. That he made the way he liked them.

Our dads are no longer with us. My FIL, 33 years ago. My dad, 11 years ago.

We still have memories. Pictures. Favorite moments.

Tonight we honored them by cooking things from their birthplaces, and using techniques they loved.

Like pan frying.

These are baby bella mushrooms from PA. My husband’s home state. The hanger steak. Also from PA.

I pan fried a hanger steak with red wine mushroom sauce.

I also made one of my dad’s specialties.

Cole slaw. A simple one. Cabbage. Carrots. A simple slaw dressing (I cheated and mine was from a bottle). My dad made his own.

The food tonight came from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, in PA. And, Friends and Farms, mostly sourcing items from PA and MD these days.

The salad. Baywater Greens. Strawberries from the community garden. Cheese from MD. A simple lemon vinaigrette.

The wine. Not local, but our dads were beer drinkers, and this steak begged for wine. My dad, Natty Boh. My FIL. Yuengling.

For us, though, a toast using a ten year old cabernet reserve from California.

Here’s to memories. Here’s to dad.

#hocofood

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A Triple Play

Posted on June 13, 2014 by AnnieRie

Putting together the garden, the CSA and the Friends and Farms foods.

Slow cooker short ribs with kale over polenta.

What came from where?

My garden:
Defrosted tomato sauce from last year’s harvest
Baby leeks
Scallions
Garlic Scapes

Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA:
Curly kale

Friends and Farms:
Short Ribs
Garlic (roasted first)
Polenta (from a long time ago)
Trickling Springs butter

First, I browned the short ribs.

I like cutting them into individual portions and browning them in olive oil.

In the crockpot:

All of that gorgeous kale. Three baby leeks. Two scallions. One pint of my basic tomato sauce made last September and frozen. Four cloves roasted garlic. Salt and pepper. The ribs were then placed on top with their pan sauces.

Cooked for eight hours on low. Falling apart ribs. Tangy kale.

I then made a quick polenta. 1 cup polenta whisked into three cups of water, that had 1/2 tablespoon of salt added. Whisk until creamy, then add two tablespoons unsalted butter.

Put the polenta on the plate. Cover in kale and short ribs. Open a good local red wine and you have a locavore meal.

#hocofood

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Posted in CSA, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, LFFC, Locavore, Real Food, Wine and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, Locavore, real food, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Berry, Berry Good

Posted on June 12, 2014 by AnnieRie

Both my food sources delivered strawberries today. There will be some creative cooking going on.

Today Lancaster Farm Fresh began the fruit shares for those of us who opted for this add on. We got a jar of their incredibly rich “just apples” applesauce. Too bad we didn’t sign up for a meat share. They got boneless pork chops.

As for our chicken share:

Breasts, thighs and legs. 4.5 pounds of chicken. I have been so impressed with what we get, as always.

We get an email in the morning telling us what was selected. We do get advanced notice on Tuesdays, of the expected crop picking. But, it does change slightly.

There were nine items in the half share today. I did swap the cilantro, as I grow it, for that lovely fennel. There will be fennel, orange and red onion salad soon. I am impressed with the size of the leaf lettuce, and the romaine.

The bonus. Those radish greens, which are edible and quite tasty, albeit a bit peppery.

The CSA pickup was this afternoon. This morning I also got our Friends and Farms basket.

OK, I was brave and took the mussels, even though I don’t eat them. My husband was thrilled with them. They are gone already. Tonight’s dinner. White wine. Mussels. Butter. Shallots. Garlic scapes. A teaspoon of flour. Classic mussel dish. Served with the baguette from The Breadery.

The rest of this week’s protein and dairy. Short ribs and Ewe crème cheese. We also got baby bok choy, zucchini, baby bellas, broccoli, asparagus, spring mix, and those strawberries.

There will be stir fry on the menu this week. And, lots of salads.

Tomorrow night, slow cooked short ribs over greens.

For the Saturday night movie at the Wine Bin. Mushroom pate. The rest of the baguette. Chicken salad. Strawberry salsa.

Having fun with the fresh foods.

#hocofood

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Farm Fresh Feasts

Posted on June 10, 2014 by AnnieRie

A great name that sums up my way of cooking. And, the name of the blog of one of my CSA “internet buddies”. We connected on line while commenting on CSA links at In Her Chucks. A blog that is inactive at this time. But, we still read each other’s blog, and make great foods using each other’s recipes. Trust me. She has the most amazing pizza page.

Kirsten stopped at Larriland a few days back, to pick up strawberries. Based on my recommendation of the place. And she made strawberry salsa. Really! I need to make this salsa. It looks like just what we need around here. More homemade salsa.

Today I got about a quart out at the community gardens. I worked my garden and picked a bit from a released garden, at the suggestion of our managers, to not let good fruit go to waste. Today was Food Bank day and we harvested and donated 35 pounds of food to Howard County. I was picking kale and chard and chives.

After that, I remembered we needed to pick those very ripe berries from the abandoned plot. Along with pulling out lots of weeds while up there. Now, I have almost enough to make that salsa.

As for farm fresh feasts, here is what you can make from those lovely fresh strawberries.

Salad with goat cheese and balsamic glaze.

Farm fresh feasts. The best way to eat.

#hocofood

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Springtime Recipe Inspiration

Posted on June 7, 2014 by AnnieRie

I haven’t done a recipe round up in a while. With the explosion of late spring vegetables, I think I should gather together all my links to the dishes, desserts, salads, suggestions, etc. that I continue to mention in my CSA posts.

Like my garlic scape pesto. Here in the middle of the very fleeting garlic scape season. The simplest version combines a cup of scapes (cut in small pieces), a half cup freshly processed Parmesan, a half cup toasted pine nuts, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Put fresh Parmesan cut in chunks into food processor. Pulverize. Add scapes, mix. Add pine nuts, salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle oil in until you get the creaminess you want.

As for other things to do with scapes, grill them. Lightly oil them. Put on a really hot grill and keep turning them so they don’t burn. Season with salt and pepper before serving. They melt in your mouth.

Asparagus. Like the wild ones growing in my yard. They will turn green when you move the mulch. I like a simple dry grill method. Put in a basket. Dry grill for a few minutes. Just before taking them off the grill, brush olive oil on them and light salt and pepper them. Once on the table, shave Parmesan on them.

I also blanch them, then cut in small pieces. Make a simple egg/milk/herb/S&P mix and put into large non stick oven proof pan, lightly oiled. Once it begins to set up, dump the blanched asparagus on top, pick any grated cheese and put it on top and finish in the oven on 350 degrees.

I also put those blanched pieces mixed with any pasta, and a healthy spoonful of any pesto on top. Finish again with cheese.

Am I in a Parmesan rut or what?

Let’s move to strawberries and rhubarb.

Already wrote about that barbecue sauce.

I’ve made sweet desserts like crisps and crumbles, but can’t find all the recipes for them. The Food Network one was used at least once.

Kale. Chard. Greens. Nothing really fancy but lots of inspiration out there.

Kale chips are fun. Mess around with your favorite spices.

Also, that night I made one of my famous frittatas. Anything with that egg mixture, can be one light fresh seasonal awesome feast.

I suppose what I am saying here is this. Whatever is the freshest stuff you can find. Bring it home. Lightly treat it. Lots of olive oil, a little salt and pepper. My addiction to parmigiano reggiano.

Whatever.

It’s not yet corn, squash, zucchini or pepper season. Be patient and enjoy what has just been picked.

#hocofood

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Fresh Food Overload

Posted on June 5, 2014 by AnnieRie

As in too many sources of what came into the house today.

Friends and Farms. Lancaster Farm Fresh. Foraged asparagus. Harvested spring garlic and garlic scapes.

Is it any wonder I get overwhelmed. At least I didn’t pick veggies at Larriland today.

Scapes and spring garlic. Let’s start with the back yard. I have 18 plants out there. Two, I found to be waterlogged and a loss. Four I harvested today. They were too small to become heads of garlic. Hence, spring garlic. With a couple of scapes in the mix.

Asparagus. A couple more spears of my wild asparagus. There are two more ready to be harvested in a day or two. Not bad, but this year much less than previous years.

Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative CSA. This is week three of the spring/summer CSA. I have a half share. Today eight items plus my weekly chicken share.

We got:

Salanova lettuce
Kale
Garlic Scapes
Frisee
Strawberries
Scallions
Red leaf lettuce
Yellow chard

A whole chicken this week. A Freedom Ranger heritage chicken.

The chard already made it into tonight’s frittata.

As for Friends and Farms.

This week was my eggs and yogurt week in the rotation. Proteins included chicken breast and a pork chop (destined to become an Asian element of a stir fry).

Green cabbage and carrots. There will be cole slaw.