Tag Archives: CSA

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.

Tell me. If I saute kale in chicken fat, do they cancel each other out? Healthy food. Serious fat. Could be interesting.

The freezer is filling up again.

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Posted in cookbooks, CSA, Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Mostly Local

Posted on September 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

Back when I first started writing this blog, I used participation in food challenges as a way to increase my awareness of local foods. I did the Dark Days Challenge, the Southern SOLE Food Challenge, another winter challenge, the Buy Local Challenges and found out how easy it is to cook with local ingredients here. I need to update my local challenge page to reflect the current status, but it is a great link to some sources of local foods, as is my local resource page.

My first dark days luncheon in 2011. Locally sourced items for a salad.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped doing weekly challenges, as my refrigerator, freezer and pantry had quite a bit of local ingredients stashed in them. Almost every meal had something local in it.

Meat and dairy is simple here. So are vegetables from all the CSAs in the county.

Yesterday I didn’t even think about it. I took two dishes to the reunion. Both had local ingredients. I also took a few bottles of Big Cork wine. A winery just outside of Frederick. A Traminette. Perfect for those who loved the shrimp and the crabs, and the pulled pork. A spicy wine, similar to Gewurztraminer.

My contributions were tomatoes, goat cheese, basil over a bed of arugula. To be accompanied by McCutcheon’s dressing. Tomatoes. Mine. Basil. Mine. All the plants from Sharp’s Farm. Goat cheese. Cherry Glen. Just west of us in Montgomery County. Arugula. Love Dove Farm. Howard County.

My other dish. A four bean salad. Using wax beans from TLV, and green beans from my CSA. Yeah, the cannellini and garbanzo beans were canned, bought at Roots the other day.

Breakfast today. Love Dove eggs. Lunch today. Leftover salads from yesterday.

Dinner tonight. One incredibly awesome sirloin lamb roast from England Acres, one of the packages from the half of lamb we bought in April. Potatoes, from the CSA. Peaches from Lewis Orchards. Love Dove arugula. Catoctin Mountain Orchards Peach Vinaigrette over the salad.

My latest batch of ajvar on the side with some pita. Using CSA eggplant. My garlic, roasted. Yeah, I bought the red peppers at Harris Teeter, as we haven’t seen many nice red peppers. Hasn’t been hot enough this summer.

I really am thankful that we have our markets. We have many local farms open year round. We have year round CSAs. Making our meals that much fresher, that much better.

Thanks to our local farmers. They make it easy to eat locally and seasonally.

hocofood@@@

A Baker’s Dozen in the CSA Box

Posted on September 5, 2013 by AnnieRie

Again, on week 16 we get 13 items in the box from the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative truck.

The List:
1 bag Red Flesh/Red Skin Potatoes – Crystal Springs Organics
1 Sucrine du Berry Squash – Liberty Branch
1 bag Red Beets – Sunny Slope Organics
2 Green Zucchini – chemical free- Kings Produce
1 Raven Zucchini – Autumn Blend Organics
1 bag Onions – White Swan Organics
1 bag Orange Carrots – Sunny Slope Organics
1 bag Japanese Eggplant – Maple Lawn Organics
1 head Radicchio – Bellview Organics
1 bunch Dinosaur Kale – Peaceful Valley Organics
1 bag Green Beans – Healthy Harvest Organics
1 bunch Cilantro – Noble Herbs (I swapped for fennel)
1 bag Roma Tomatoes – Elm Tree Organics

New to me this week, the Sucrine du Berry and the raven zucchini. Must be an omen to get a raven zucchini on football opening day.

The Sucrine du Berry squash, similar to, but supposedly sweeter than a butternut is reviewed as good for making risotto or soup or even roasted in huge chunks with Asian spice to tame the heat. We shall see what I decide to do with it.

As for the reason I swapped the cilantro, I had just bought two pots of it at Harris Teeter, to keep on the windowsill. They are from Shenandoah Farms in VA and are meant to keep supplying you with herbs for as long as you remember to water them. I needed it for that bitter melon soup.

As for the eggplant and the two types of zucchini, I am sort of ratatouille’d out, so there may be chocolate zucchini bread, or zucchini fries. The eggplant will probably end up in a new batch of ajvar if I pick up a few red peppers.

I also really love those red flesh and red skin potatoes for salad. With the white, the purple viking and the red flesh potatoes, you can make one amazing potato salad.

hocofood@@@

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Childhood Memories

Posted on September 1, 2013 by AnnieRie

Including one grown up version. The rest of today’s dinner, a trip back to PA for my husband.

Watermelon margaritas. Made with leftover watermelon, lime juice and a few other things. I remember having watermelon lemonade as a child. The bottom part of the watermelon scraped out, with all the juice. Lemonade mixed with it.

This version is the adult version. I used about 12 ounces of watermelon with the leftover juice. The dregs of the two week old melon. Added the four ounce container of peach puree that didn’t fit in the peach pop molds. Added two shots of tequila. One shot of Cointreau. Squeezed the juice of two limes into it. Added about eight cubes of ice. All blended together.

Happiness on the patio, before dinner.

Dinner. Kielbasa grillers. Baked, since storm predictions made me hesitant to fire up the grill and have to deal with possible lightning.

These are kielbasa from my husband’s home town. Not the big ring he had, all the time. This version is the hot dog bun version, but the taste is the same.

He requested that I make steamed cabbage like his mom did. Kielbo and steamed cabbage. Dinner many nights in the small town where he grew up.

Simple steamed cabbage. Two wedges of CSA cabbage. In the steaming basket for about 15 minutes. Served with fresh butter, celery salt and caraway seeds, mixed together and poured over the cabbage.

No, there aren’t any pictures from dinner. I was too lazy to go grab the camera after putting the plates together and heading outside. It hasn’t rained, like it was predicted. I could have grilled those kielbo.

hocofood@@@

Garden Update

Posted on August 30, 2013 by AnnieRie

The garden is hanging in there but the stink bugs are out in force, so I have resorted to picking the tomatoes just before they get ripe and sweet. Cuts down on the damage.

The one on the top left is an Amana orange heirloom. It will turn orange on the windowsill. The other larger heirloom is a mortgage lifter. This year they are not getting huge. The weather hasn’t been hot enough. A couple of orange romas, one Polish linguisa, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and one lonely sun sugar.

The supersweet 100s are done. I have yet to get a ripe pineapple tomato, even though right now there are dozens of green ones on the vines. Got what looks to be the last Paul Robeson yesterday. The hillbillies and the boxcar willie plants also have dozens of green tomatoes on them. Hope we continue to have nice days, in order to ripen them.

I am glad I put in 48 plants, as many of them are underachieving this year.

I have gotten my share of weird plants too. Like this one.

I could have put it in the fair for strange looking plants.

The CSA has also given us some winners. Like this eggplant with a “nose”.

Garden and CSA veggies played well tonight for dinner, where I made my ratatouille pie. Using Breezy Willow bacon and feta, England Acres eggs, Trickling Springs milk, and a combination of CSA squash, eggplant and onion, and my tomatoes for the ratatouille base. I really love this pie. Like a quiche.

I used store bought pie crust this time. Being lazy. Bake the pie crust until almost done. I used two crusts for this. One on the base, and one hand torn and placed around the top of the deep dish.

Mix two cups of ratatouille with 1/4 cup grated cheese and about 6 strips of crisp bacon, torn into pieces. Dump on top the crust. Mix together four large eggs with 2 tablespoons of milk and 2 tablespoons of flour. Dump on top the ratatouille. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

Great with a Cabernet. Enough left for lunch this weekend.

hocofood@@@

Bitter Melon?

Posted on August 29, 2013 by AnnieRie

OK, this is a new one to me.

Asian or African in nature, there are numerous varieties of this prickly looking bitter vegetable that is supposed to be a super fruit, when it comes to reducing blood sugar levels and some other things.

The full share CSA members found one of these in our boxes today. I hung around for a while to see how many would swap it. The answer, after watching about a dozen full share members pick up their boxes. ONE!

Interesting CSA members with us. Willing to try something we had never seen before.

So, I did the research. Expect a blog post about making bitter melon soup with pork. I need to get the rest of the ingredients, but I am going to try it.

What else did we get?

1 Gold acorn Squash- Windy Hollow Organics
1 Yellow Watermelon – White Swan Acres
1 bag Red Potatoes – Green Valley Organics
2 8-Ball Zucchini – Red Fox Organics
2 Italian Eggplants – Windy Hollow Organics
1 Yellow Bell Pepper – Organic Willow Acres
1 Bitter Melon – De Glae Organics
1 bunch Thai Basil – Kirkwood Herbs
1 bunch Dinosaur Kale – Peaceful Valley Organics
1 bunch Lettuce – Landisdale Organics
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes- Taste of Nature

Never had gold acorn squash before. And, the eight ball zucchini are new to me. And that Thai basil. Wow! It overpowered you with the fragrance. There will be pesto made tomorrow.

What did I do with all this goodness? Came home and put it all away and made pizza.

I used up the last of the chicken I roasted, with halloumi, scallions, marinara and garlic, oregano and olive oil.

I’ll get into the CSA stuff this weekend. I need to hit the hospital market for cilantro and shallots, and Harris Teeter for fish sauce, mushrooms and bean thread noodles to make this recipe for the soup.

Also loving getting lettuce again. Seasons are changing. The veggies reflect it.

hocofood@@@

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Test Drive a CSA

Posted on August 28, 2013 by AnnieRie

Fall Sign Up for the seven week extension of our Community Supported Agriculture was announced yesterday.

I belong to Sandy Spring CSA, in the summer and fall. I have moved around in other seasons, but like the variety of what we get. Here’s a typical fall box.

This is a full share. Larger in volume and in number of items. For someone who wants to try out a CSA, the 60% share is a really good option. For seven weeks, you would be getting 5-8 items. The smaller share doesn’t get the more exotic veggies, but does get pretty much the same things we get in the full share.

If you ate two or three meals a day at home, like we do, and eat mostly vegetarian for lunch, a full share does work out. I pay about $30 a week for the full share. The 60% share costs $19 a week.

All of these veggies are organic, and would cost quite a bit more in the stores.

The other reason I like the fall share is that it begins just as the farmer’s markets are closing down in Howard County. For Thanksgiving and Christmas I have enough here to make dishes to take to relatives, or to pot luck luncheons. I also created a “root cellar” in the coldest room off the garage, where I keep potatoes and onions. I was using them well into February last year. I did end up planting a few of the sweet potatoes, which are about ready to be harvested in the next week or so.

Organic produce isn’t sprayed with anti-sprouting treatments, so your potatoes will grow eyes eventually and if put in water will sprout.

I like getting the full veggies too. Like the tops of the beets, the greens, the celery. Check out this celery from last year.

I froze those greens, and pulled them out to make chicken stock with them.

The final delivery is just before Christmas. Last year that 2+ pound sweet potato got used in a holiday preparation.

That full share did include some rare veggies, There was a seminole squash (a cooking pumpkin family squash) and that red komatsuna. Komatsuna is an Asian mustard green similar to spinach.

I really like getting the strange veggies that challenge me, by buying the full share. In the 60% share, you might not see the komatsuna. For a CSA novice, getting familiar veggies that are easy to cook is an introduction that doesn’t overwhelm you.

Believe me, my first summer, in 2011, before I started my blog and kept track, I do remember being overwhelmed. And, giving lots of stuff away because I hadn’t changed my cooking style.

Now, strange items don’t faze me at all.

If you want a short term “relationship”, and not a long term commitment, you might want to try out a fall CSA.

And you too might experience the fun of making a “Christmas tree” for Christmas dinner.

Romanescu cauliflower, all decorated with cheese and spices and herbs.

CSA fall season runs from the first week in November until the week before Christmas. I pick up off Cedar Lane near the Robinson Nature Center. Convenient to Rte. 32.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged CSA, farms, Food, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Big. Bold. Local.

Posted on August 25, 2013 by AnnieRie

Without any food challenges around, the Sunday night dinners, which used to be as close to local as possible to meet a challenge, had changed. Tonight I brought it back to local. Just because there was so much local good stuff in the fridge.

The big part of this dinner. Definitely the Big Cork Chardonnay from right up the road. The winery in Rohrersville isn’t open yet, but the white wines are available at Frederick stores. Dave Collins is making lovely Chablis-styled Chardonnay, which stood up to the meal I put together.

The star of the meal. Bold. Had to be the mushroom risotto. When we aren’t rushed, I like that ritual of making risotto.

Made with the cremini mushrooms from the CSA, and with Trickling Springs butter instead of olive oil, a very rich and satisfying risotto.

Made also using the chicken stock from that carcass of the England Acres fresh chicken.

Thick stock, almost gelatinous. I got one pint plus three half pints. The pint went into the risotto and the half pints are frozen for future use. Because it was so rich, I added about 8 ounces of water to thin it, before using it in the recipe.

Oh, and dinner. This is what it looked like. Leftover chicken, you could say. But jazzed up with the risotto, the wine, and roasted delicata squash (baked with butter and fresh thyme).

Enough chicken left in the fridge to make chicken salad, which will serve us for two more lunches. Not bad, for the chicken to make it to two dinners, two lunches, and those three half pints of stock will be used this winter.

hocofood@@@

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Making Like a Squirrel

Posted on August 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

Putting things up. Preserving them. Buying to fill the freezer. It seems most of August is spent getting ready for winter.

Yesterday Breezy Willow sent us an email announcing the availability of bulk tomatoes, for you to can or freeze. $25 for 25 pounds of organic canning tomatoes. If I wasn’t drowning in roma and paste tomatoes from my garden, I would be all over this offer. Organic tomatoes for $1 a pound? Amazing! This is a bargain.

Also yesterday England Acres posted the availability of the next batch of roasting chickens. Pasture raised chickens. 4-6 pounds each. Plus, corn for freezing. I headed out there today to get chicken and corn.

One of those chickens went into the oven tonight.

I have been using up tomatoes almost every two or three days, making sauce, or oven dried.

The freezer is getting full again.

Discussion today on facebook about what to do with hot peppers. I think there will be pepper jelly made this weekend.

Larriland keeps sending notices. The newest fruits to ripen are the apples. They are starting to trickle in.

I have to admit, I am glad the weather has been mild, as my stove and my oven are going every day. This winter I will love having flavorful foods out of the freezer, to make locally sourced meals.

Happy harvest season!

hocofood@@@

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It’s Ratatouille Time!

Posted on August 22, 2013 by AnnieRie

Sung to the tune of “It’s Howdy Doody Time!”. This week, the 14th one of our Sandy Spring CSA, we got the makings for some serious ratatouille.

The List:
2 pieces Green Zucchini – Windy Hollow Organics
1 bag Green Beans – Freedom Acres Farm
1 pint Sungold Cherry Tomatoes – Liberty Acres
1 bag Lemon Cucumbers – De Glae Organic Farm
1 bag Red Roma Tomatoes – Healthy Harvest Organics
1 bag Mixed Heirloom Hot Peppers – Outback Farm
1 bag Japanese Eggplants – Maple Lawn Organics
1 bag loose Orange Carrots – Red Fox Organics
1 container Cremini Mushrooms – Mother Earth Organics
1 bag Garlic – Friends Road Organics
1 bag Purple Viking Potatoes – Bellview Organics
2 pieces Delicata Squash – Green Valley Organics

Yes, those are baby bellas in the back. Mother Earth is a member of our cooperative of farms. Nice that some of the best mushrooms come from the same area as our farmers for the CSA. As for those lemon cucumbers, I need to find some interesting recipes for them. We have gotten them in the past. I never got very creative with them.

I found a recipe that uses pesto, cucumbers, and ends up with shaved Parmesan and freshly ground pepper. I think that will work.

As for the ratatouille. Here is last year’s masterpiece, my ratatouille pie made using leftover ratatouille and with a recipe from Diary of a Locavore.

As for making ratatouille, my list of ingredients.

1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups small diced onion, I use sweet white
1 teaspoon grated garlic
2 cups medium diced eggplant, skin on
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 cups diced green, red, yellow, orange (whatever you have) bell peppers
1 1/2 cup diced zucchini squash
2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, preferably all colors
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make it in a cast iron pan if you can. A deep one. Put the veggies in, using the order above. That is, onion and garlic to soften, then the eggplant, then the peppers, then the squash and tomatoes. Add the basil at the very end.

I let it cook low and slow until all the flavors meld.

I will post pictures of this year’s batch, over the weekend when I make it.

As for my cooking of CSA foods, here is today’s goodie. Golumpki. Made with a combination of CSA veggies, my tomatoes, and a cabbage from Catoctin Mountain Orchards market. The sauce base was from my last container in the freezer from last year. Added some Orchard Breeze sausage to it. Not bad, but I wasn’t that happy with the final stuffing. I need to work on this recipe.