CSA in the Kitchen

Happy {official} Autumn to everyone!  The frosts are coming and so we mark a change in what's on our table - which is a little sad and a little relieving (I don't know how many more new tomato dishes I could come up with!).  Time to look forward to more greens and hearty root vegetables and winter squash.  I tend to think of fall as the season of roasting and soup-making.

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And so, not surprisingly, the first item this week is a roasted heirloom tomato soup.

You may need to use some frozen or canned tomatoes to have enough for this soup, or you can use what you have and make an individual serving.  This recipe is adapted from American Classics.  

Halve or quarter the tomatoes and remove the seeds.  If you like, you can also remove the skin by dipping the whole tomato in boiling water for about 30 seconds.  Arrange the tomatoes in a roasting pan on tin foil.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and roast for about 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  When the tomatoes have lost most of their juices and are starting to color, remove from oven and set aside.

In a pot over medium heat, melt 1.5 tablespoons of butter.  When foaming, add 1 minced small red onion or shallot and 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.  Reduce the heat to low and cover.  Stir occasionally until the onion has softened.  Stir in 2 tablespoons of flour.  Then, stirring/whisking constantly, add in 1 to 2 cups of chicken stock then add in the roasted tomatoes.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld.  Remove from heat and pass through a food mill or a blender.  Return to the pot and add as much cream as seems delicious to you.  Enjoy with a grilled cheese sandwich, or just some buttery croutons on top!

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If you decide to make croutons (toss cubed bread with melted butter and toast in the oven, turning once, for 15 minutes), they would also be delicious atop a salad such as this - grilled romaine.

Normally, you see recipes for grilled romaine hearts, which is the tight part inside of the greener leaves.  After attempting to grill and entire head of romaine, we now understand why.  The grilling wilted the outer leaves rather significantly, leaving them limp and unattractive.  On the plus side though, smoky salad tastes awesome.

If you'd like to give it a try, coat the outside of your whole head of lettuce with olive oil or a neutral oil.  Heat the grill as hot as it will go then put the lettuce right on there, turning to cook all sides for a total of only 2 minutes or so.  When "cooked" chop into smaller pieces, dress with vinaigrette and serve.

We ate this salad as a side to our usual {delicious} burgers and another side of creamed spinach.  Creamed spinach is not such a pretty thing to take a picture of, but it sure does taste good!  Here is a good-looking recipe.  We simply cooked the spinach in boiling water until wilted, drained and pressed the water out.  Returned to the pot with about 1/2 cup or less of cream, 1/4 cup of grated Romano cheese, and 2 tablespoons of butter.  Pretty simple and so satisfying.

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This week we had the option of taking horseradish with our share.  It was optional since it seems people don't like the stuff.  Well, Grady does so we took a whole bunch home.  We peeled it like carrots and then grated it using our food processor, although a cheese grater would also work just as well.  Once grated, we blended it with a few tablespoons of white vinegar and we've got a condiment for ... steak? {Honestly, I don't use this stuff in cooking, but Grady makes it taste good!} all ready in our fridge.  Because it contains vinegar, it should last a while this way.

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This week we chose peppermint as our herb and we have turned it into a syrup.  We made a simple syrup by dissolving 1.5 cups of sugar (you can go up to 2) in 2 cups of boiling water.  Once dissolved, off heat and throw in your bunch of peppermint.  Cover and allow to steep for about 30 minutes, or longer, to taste.  Cool the liquid and store in a jar in the fridge.  This syrup will likely make its way into adult beverages seeing as we have also made mint-infused vodka, a.k.a. creme de menthe.  However, if you'd like to make something sweet and non-alcoholic, I would highly recommend making peppermint ice cream.  We made some last year and it was by far the best homemade ice cream we'd had (and this was after getting the Ben and Jerry's recipe book from the library).

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We have some Asian greens again this week.  Our stand-by at the moment is stir-fry since it worked so well last time and we haven't gotten tired of it yet.

Oooh!  Kohlrabi!  I almost forgot - we haven't made it yet so I don't have a picture, but I'm sure we will be shredding our kohlrabi with some crisp apples and making a coleslaw with it.  Come to think of it, we probably should have made that to go with our burgers!  

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As always, please let us know if you have any ideas or if you've tried our recipes and discovered better ways to make them.  Hope everyone has a great week!

~ Courtney and Grady

CSA in the Kitchen

Well, friends, we seem to be looking at some of the last fruits of the summer this week in our share - that isn't to say there won't be a few more tomatoes and peppers still coming but fewer and fewer.  Don't let your share go to waste!  I know how hard it can be to use some of the ingredients you may not be used to cooking with (remember the green onions I used at least 3 weeks after getting them?).  If you can't think of a way to use what you have before it goes bad, try freezing it.  Many things freeze well or may be OK if pre-cooked first.  Probably straight frozen zucchini isn't awesome, but if you saute it first then freeze maybe it will reheat better?  Better to give it a try and possibly lose it than not try and simply throw it out!

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This week's share would be an excellent one from which to make ratatouille.  I wrote about this dish a few weeks ago and you can read that here.  Truly, one of the most delicious late-summer meals I've had and I have made it twice since writing about it.

Here is another great meal to make with eggplant and tomatoes (although the ones pictured above came from a can).  I would call it eggplant Parmesan except that there's no Parmesan involved in what we made.  So, we'll call it Eggplant a la Grady.

Slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds, we peeled it first too.  If you have time you can also toss the slices with 1/2 tablespoon of salt and let sit for 30 min to an hour to draw out the bitterness - be sure to rinse thoroughly before preceding.  Heat a neutral oil in a large pan and when a pinch of flour sizzles in it, dip the slices in a beaten egg, then coat both sides with breadcrumbs and place carefully in the oil.  Be sure not to crowd too many slices into the pan.  Flip them after about 2 minutes so that both sides are evenly browned.  Cook the slices in batches and set aside until all are done.

Arrange the fried eggplant in an oven-safe pan (Grady likes to make food look pretty - the arrangement is up to you), top with slices of fresh mozzarella and place under the broiler for 2 minutes until the cheese is soft and partially melted.  Top with tomato sauce, sauteed fresh tomatoes, or simmered diced tomatoes from a can (what we did).

We enjoyed this dish with a simple side salad made from our crisp Romaine, dressed with a red wine vinaigrette and topped with Parmesan cheese and cherry tomatoes.

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So bear with me, sandwiches are not the easiest things to make pretty in pictures.  However, they are so delicious.  Pictured here is a steak and cheddar cheese sandwich with sauteed sweet peppers and onions and a sprinkle of freshly dried thyme.  I'm not sure there's much more to say on this topic except that the thyme on this sandwich was pretty awesome.  If you haven't sliced and frozen some of your sweet peppers yet, I would encourage you, again, to do so.  We actually used some frozen ones here because we didn't have any fresh on hand this week - the sandwich wouldn't have been nearly as good without them!

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This lovely dinner is another that showcases the excellent produce we got this week.  Here we have grilled chicken rubbed with parsley butter {for guidance on making herbs butters read here} topped with an arugula and turnip green salad, grilled zucchini and a side of rice ... and a glass of red wine!

The chicken is best if you take the time to brine it for an hour before cooking.  Use 1 cup of kosher salt for about 2 quarts of cold water, you can also add 1/2 cup of sugar which I recommend doing!  Soak the chicken in this solution in the fridge for an hour then rinse thoroughly.  Pat the skin dry and continue, or for more crisp skin you can let it sit uncovered in the fridge for up to 4 hours.  Use your fingers to loosen the skin from the meat on the breast and legs.  Using a spoon or just your fingers, spread the herb butter on the meat, under skin, attempting to do so as evenly as possible.  Then either roast or grill the chicken - the herb and butter will flavor and moisten the meat as it cooks!

The salad is simply the arugula and turnip greens dressed with a mustard vinaigrette and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.  The greens themselves are a bit strong so you can opt to add spinach or another milder green to the mix.

The zucchini was simply sliced, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and then grilled away from direct flame for a few minutes.

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As we face {embrace?} cooler weather this week, we're planning to cook up a hearty beef stew complete with purple potatoes and possibly some turnips.  We're also returning to some of our old stand-by's like fresh salsa in bean burritos because we know our opportunities are getting fewer.

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Finally, we'd like to say 'thank you' to Rob and Christina for working so diligently not only to fill our plates with excellent food, but also to grace our homes with beautiful flowers.  You guys are the best.

~ Courtney and Grady

CSA in the Kitchen

The ingredient that really caught my attention this week was the bok choy, so let's start there.  The types of dishes that usually call for this green are not what Grady and I are used to cooking (or eating) so this was a bit of an adventure for us!  After looking at what we had on hand, I decided to make a noodle stir-fry.

The great thing about stir-fry's is that you can throw in what you have - a big plus in CSA cooking!  For this dish I thinly sliced the thick ends of the bok choy and cut the leaves into strips.  I added small broccoli florets and some chopped green onions (please don't look back at how many weeks ago we received those!).  You could possibly also add sliced onions or even sweet peppers.

While I was waiting for the water for the noodles to boil, I cooked the veggies in a large pan over medium-high heat in a few tablespoons of sunflower oil (peanut would be ideal but we don't keep it on hand).  Once the greens were wilted and everything was soft - about 4 minutes - I removed them to a bowl.  The noodles I boiled for a few minutes, drained and tossed with a little more oil to keep them from sticking.  In the same large pan, I heated another tablespoon of oil and added 1.5 tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste (or use 1/2 tablespoon each of minced fresh ginger and garlic).  After 15 seconds, I added in the noodles and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.  Saute this for another 4 minutes then combine with the veggies and you're ready to eat.

I was considering making a soup with the bok choy and if that suits your fancy, take a look at this recipe.  

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Likely due to the transition to cooler weather, we were both feeling a bit sick on Sunday as we picked up our share.  Not wanting to put too much effort into cooking, but needing something filling and soothing, we stirred up a pot of comforting creamy chicken soup.

This soup uses a base of about 3 cups of homemade chicken stock and probably another 2 cups of water (we add the water because our stock is very flavorful and concentrated, if you're using canned you can use 5 cups).  Bring this to a boil and add in 1 cup of rice, which can be white or brown; reduce to a simmer and cover.

While the stock simmers, chop a carrot or two, some onions and celery if you have it - we even added thinly sliced garlic.  Saute these in some oil over medium-low heat until soft (about 15 minutes).  When the rice in your stock is cooked, add in the vegetables.  Alternatively, you could do the sauteing first in a large pot and then add the stock right on top to deglaze and then cook the rice, all in one pot.  Finally, mix in some chopped parsley (our herb of choice this week) and maybe some thyme?  We did.  To make it creamy, we simply added cream at the end.  If you'd like to skip the cream it will still be wonderful.  We also didn't have any chicken on hand but if you do, feel free to add it.

This soup was so satisfying to me that I ate two bowls of it for dinner and two again for lunch the next day.

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Pickles again!  I believe this is at least the 3rd time we are talking about pickles.  I really can't take any responsibility for it.  It's all Grady and his love of sour condiments.  Rob and Christina had just the perfect sized cucumbers at the Logan Square market, so I guess it was just too hard to resist.  These are quick refrigerator Dill Pickles, another Well Preserved recipe.

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Our beautiful, soon-to-be-gone tomatoes this week may be heading into a casserole of sorts.  I work for some excellent bakers/chefs at a pie company here in town and the savory chef has just created a Roasted Heirloom Tomato pie.  The pie is delicious and would be a perfect way to showcase these tomatoes, but I don't want to undertake crust making for a mid-week dinner, so here's what I'm thinking:

I will slice (or maybe just quarter?) the tomatoes, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper and also a decent amount of grated Parmesan cheese and basil.  I will layer this in a small (or whatever size looks like it will hold the amount I have) casserole dish with pre cooked white beans, such as Cannellini.  Likely, I will also add in some minced garlic and sauteed onions.  Breadcrumbs on top?  Then I will bake it in the oven at 350 for however long it takes ... 20 or 30 minutes, I'm guessing.

Sound good to you?  If so and you actually try to make this tomato bake or something like it, let me know how it goes!

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Hope that everyone is enjoying these beautiful days!

~ Courtney and Grady

CSA in the Kitchen

Welcome to September and to the beginning of autumn.  Of course, the true start of the fall season is not until the autumnal equinox on September 22nd but the coming of cooler temperatures, fewer hours of daylight and the start of school for students signals a change of pace and perhaps a shifting of mindset from reveling completely in summer glory to considering making provision for the cooler days ahead.  This week we are focusing more on preserving our share.

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We were excited to see the giant bag of string beans in this week's share.  Every single bean this week went first to the cutting board, to trim the ends off, and then into a large pot of boiling water.  We blanched the beans for about 1 minute then strained them out and transferred them immediately to an ice water bath.  Once cool and dry, we spread them on a tray to freeze, and then bag and store.  They will wait for a day when fresh veggies are not as accessible.

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Our share this week also went towards the spread we prepared for our Labor Day barbeque.  We served the traditional fare of burgers and hot dogs ... oh wait, we live in the Midwest so we served brats, not hot dogs.  To go with this, Grady made some quick bread and butter pickles the day before.

Quick refrigerator pickles are just that - quick and stored in the fridge.  If you are thinking of making a big batch and canning you'll need to follow a recipe that has been tested for safety but if you just want a jar or two of sweet little guys to go atop a juicy burger, here is a recipe for you.

Grady was such a handyman in the kitchen that while he was whipping up these pickles, he went ahead and pickled some jalapenos too.  Honestly, I'm not sure what we're going to use them on at the moment but perhaps that husband of mine has a few brilliant thoughts he hasn't shared with me yet.  Whatever use we make of them, pickling with vinegar is an easy was to preserve peppers, if only for a few extra weeks.  He followed this recipe from Well Preserved, but reduced the liquid down to 1 pint, cooled the jar on the counter and then refrigerated instead of water bath processing.

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Speaking of extending the life of foods, our main tomato dish this week was inspired by the need to use milk before it went bad.  Usually, I make yogurt from almost all of our milk (post about that here) but this week I still had some leftover and it was on the edge of going bad.  This was the perfect situation for making cheese!

The easiest cheeses to make are the ones that require only milk and an acid - paneer is one such cheese.  This is the soft, fresh cheese that it used in Indian dishes and it is wonderfully simple to make.  I would recommend following these instructions if you'd like to give it a try.

With fresh paneer on the table, I knew I should make an Indian-flavored dish to use it in.  Often I simply make a tomato-butter sauce but with fresh tomatoes on hand we decided to ... grill!

One of the most delicious dishes Grady and I have eaten at an Indian restaurant was a paneer and fresh vegetable kebab.  Whatever marinade or rub they used, when paired with the smoky grill flavor in the soft, creamy cubes of cheese - oh goodness it was excellent.  We were aiming to replicate that in some way so we marinated the tomatoes and cheese with spiced yogurt.  We used about 1/2 cup of plain, whole milk yogurt, 1 TBS of ginger-garlic paste (or an equal amount minced fresh), 1/2 tsp of chili powder or to taste, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp of cumin, a pinch of salt.  You could also use a garam masala powder if you have that on hand.

The tomatoes, as you can see above, were cut in quarters and stuck on a kebab; the cheese we left as a whole.  These were grilled on medium-low heat with some wood chips for smokiness, for around 15-20 minutes.

While I cannot say we achieved the restaurant quality we were longing for, grilling tomatoes and cheese is just a great idea.  With a side of fried potatoes tossed with Indian spice mix and some steamed braising mix and rice, this meal was a delight straight from our CSA bag.  Although we didn't use them, onions and green bell peppers are also often part of the kebab.

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Does anyone have a plan for what they will do with the tatsoi we received?  If you have a good recipe, please share it in the comments!

Thanks!

Grady + Courtney