Tag Archives: CSA

Savoring That Killer Dill

Posted on October 11, 2012 by AnnieRie

Yep, the monster stealth cucumbers. Two of the last. I tried an experiment with them, and it seems to have worked. The one from July and another from August, both started out in the crock, but I moved them into their own large container with a fresh batch of dill pickling spices.

monster dill pickle

This one, found in August, was hard and white, so it really crisped up in the pickling spices. The other one, pictured in my July post about the garden, had higher moisture and developed differently. Lots of taste but no real crunch.

sliced open dill pickle

The rest of the little pickles were taken out of the crock a while back, and put into jars sealed with a hot water bath. They are in the fridge, three of them, to use in the next few months. I keep them in the fridge because they seem to remain crisp that way.

I bought two crocks this summer in Ohio at Zanesville Pottery. One for sauerkraut and one for pickles.

my bluebird crock looks like this

They are put away waiting for my first cabbage in the CSA, which according to the email that just arrived, will be today. Talk about timing. I need to unpack and set up the kraut crock, which is a two gallon crock. There will be posts in the near future to see how I make this year’s kraut. I want to do a few batches so I can bring homemade kraut to Thanksgiving dinner.

making sauerkraut

Now, I need to find recipes for the delicata squash and the daikons coming today. The CSA post with pictures will be up later today. Off to pick it up soon.

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Week Twenty Two of the CSA

Posted on October 4, 2012 by AnnieRie

A baker’s dozen. Thirteen items. That is what we got today. Three weeks to go.

sandy spring CSA week 22 of 2012

1 Head Broccoli
1 Bunch Dinosaur Kale
1 Bunch White Kohlrabi
1 Bag Loose Gold Beets
1 Head Green Leaf Lettuce
1 Head Green Escarole
1 Bag Sweet Potatoes
1 Bag Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 Bunch Gai Lan Chinese Broccoli
1 Long Island Cheese Pumpkin
1 Bunch Cilantro
1 Bunch French Breakfast Radishes
1 Bag Sweet Onions

As for value this week, it is pretty much off the charts. I did some comparisons from Wegmans and some from Harris Teeter. The numbers say this.

Broccoli $2.50. Broccolini (close to GaiLan) $3.50. Kale $2.50. Kohlrabi not found. Beets $2.50. Lettuce and Escarole $2.50 each. Sweet Potatoes $2.50 a pound X 3 pounds is $7.50. Pumpkin (I could only find exotic squash for $1.70 a pound times 3 pounds is approximately $5. Cilantro $2. Radishes $2. Yukon Gold Potatoes $5 for 3 pounds. Onions $2 each for organic, so $6.

Total for organic veggies comparing it to supermarket prices = $43.50 not counting the kohlrabi. We pay $29.72 a week for our organic box of veggies. Again, we see that buying from the CSA is a good value.

Now, kohlrabi. Not something we would have bought on our own. Actually, we love it now that the CSA has introduced it to us. My recipe from last spring.

kohlrabi

As for the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, it is destined to become a pumpkin pie courtesy of this recipe.

And even though I was generous and used a low number for the cost of the leaf lettuce, this puppy was so huge it didn’t fit in the salad spinner. There will be lots of salads and lots of good food this week. It will be crazy though, since we have dinner engagements three times in the next week. Lots of lunch salads.

I need to pop over to In Her Chucks to add this to the linkparty and see what everyone else is cooking with their CSA veggies.

hocofood@@@

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Week 21 CSA, with Twelve Deliveries Left in 2012

Posted on September 27, 2012 by AnnieRie

Four more weeks of the summer CSA. Eight weeks of the fall extension. Have I processed and frozen enough goodness to weather the winter. Let’s see what the box held today.

Sandy Spring CSA Week 21 2012

The list:

1 Bunch French Breakfast Radishes
1 Head Bok Choy
1 Bag Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 Head Green Curly Endive
1 Head Green Butterhead Lettuce
1 Bunch Yellow Chard
1 Spaghetti Squash
1 Bag Green Bell Peppers
1 Head Green Leaf Lettuce
1 Bunch Collards
1 Bag Red Beets
1 Bunch Dill (which I just had to swap to get that lovely acorn squash)

We got a baker’s dozen of the beets. And, the greens were phenomenal as usual. There will be greens in many meals the next week.

this week’s greens

The butterhead lettuce is so sweet. The green leaf is huge. Then, looking at the bok choy, which is really humongous, I need to get some ingredients to make chicken chow mein.

Dinner tonight is in the oven. I wanted something that used up last week’s items. I made a dent in them but still have lots of potatoes left. This is a simple one pot meal. Start out with greens and scallions.

There is chard, green leaf lettuce, endive and scallions with olive oil in the base here. Add tomato sauce. I used a pint jar of my homemade chunky sauce.

Put some parboiled potatoes, sliced in half, on top.

Add some local Berkshire hogs kielbasa on top. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Put in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. This kielbasa was bought at a farmer’s market in Gettysburg.

Open a bottle of light red wine and enjoy.

hocofood@@@

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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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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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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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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.