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

CSA in the Kitchen

One of the things I love about our share is that we get to pick which herb we want every week and what usually amounts to one extra item of produce.  I appreciate this because it means that we can eat more of what we like!  When it comes to picking an herb I almost always go for thyme - I don't really know why except that I just love the smell!  Thankfully, thyme dries very well.

I would highly recommend selecting your herbs not just with the week's meals in mind, but your winter pantry as well.  Thyme, basil, oregano and rosemary all dry relatively well and are useful for brightening winter dishes.  For my birthday last week, my wonderful husband bought me a dehydrator!  Maybe this wouldn't be exciting to you, but I'm over the moon about it.  As soon as we got our share home, I set the herbs to dry.

You don't need a dehydrator to dry your herbs though, just a paper bag and some time.  Think ahead just a bit and you will be delighted with the results mid-winter.  Freshly dried herbs truly make a difference!

There are some herbs that I don't seem to use much of when they're dried.  Sage, which I have in the picture above, is one of them.  Instead of adding to my underused store, I preserved the sage in butter.  Compound butters work well for herbs that either don't dry well or that you would prefer to use "fresh" in a dish with butter.

Mince the herb (I just use scissors) and mash the butter in with it, using a fork.  Room temperature butter is much easier to work with.  Once it's properly mixed, scoop the mixture onto a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into whatever shape suits you - logs are good.  Wrap the log and place in the freezer for future use.  My plan for this butter is to be gently melted and browned then tossed with pasta.  Simple and delicious.

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When we see the first tomatoes of the summer we are always overjoyed.  By the end of August, tomatoes have become old news - I almost get bored trying to think of what to do with them.  We must not let this happen!  To bring new life to my tomato scene, I plan to make a tomato tart.  Fresh tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, drizzle of olive oil all on top of a flaky tart crust.  It's like pizza but more buttery.

I believe most basic cookbooks can guide you to a decent tart crust (I'd suggest one without sugar).  Simply roll out your dough, fill it with fresh-cut tomatoes and whatever else sounds good - garlic maybe?  Fold the sides of the dough up as pictured above and bake on a tray or pizza stone until golden brown.  Again, I'd reference the dough recipe for heat and approximate time.  Here is a recipe for a savory, whole wheat pastry dough.

Second tomato inspiration: roasted!  Yes, you can make your very own sun dried tomatoes in your oven at home.  If you're lucky enough to have an oven that bakes below 200 (or a dehydrator!), you're in even better shape as a slower roast dried them better with less risk of burning.  Set your oven to its lowest heat setting.  Wash your tomatoes, slice them in half lengthwise and toss with olive oil.  Spread slices open side up on a tray (you may want to line it with parchment paper).  You can also add pieces of garlic if you wish.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and leave in the oven for a few hours, checking periodically until they are shriveled and flavorful.  You can find good directions here, as well.

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I said I would give an update as to what we did with our hot peppers ...

Wearing gardening gloves, I took the tops off these hot peppers and sliced them down the middle.  Put them in a pint Mason jar, covered with high-quality vodka and left it on a shelf in the pantry.

I was planning on leaving it there for a few days but thought I'd check up on it about 6 hours after starting the infusion.  I dipped in a spoon and took just a tiny drop to taste.  I would describe the sensation as liquid fire!  Seriously though, I immediately dropped the spoon and ran to the fridge to start gulping whipping cream.  We'll keep this stuff around, but we'll be sure to use it very sparingly!

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And finally, when you can't think of what to do with your veggies, I suggest ratatouille.  Yes, it sounds fancy and yes, it's delicious.  Thankfully, this dish is also flexible and simple.  We still had an eggplant on hand last night, not sure from where, so I peeled and chopped that into 1/2 inch pieces, chopped a sweet pepper (you could use more than one), chopped and onion and chopped, cored and seeded a handful of tomatoes.  All of these I sauteed in olive oil over medium heat, separately (this isn't necessary but according to some it makes the overall dish better - if you'd like, just toss them all straight into the baking dish).  As each batch was finished, I layered it into a lightly oiled 9 x 13 baking dish.  Once everything is in, add some pieces of crushed garlic and bake, uncovered, in a preheated oven at 350 for about an hour.  

If you happen to have zucchini or summer squash on hand, you can add those or substitute them.  You could add more peppers or make it onion-heavy.  I sprinkled freshly dried thyme and basil-oregano vinegar on ours, which was tasty!  I'd show you a picture but have you seen baked eggplant?  It's just not pretty.  So, take my word for it that it tastes wonderful.

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Have a great week!

Courtney and Grady

CSA in the Kitchen

Let's start the week off right with a salad.  We got two lovely heads of lettuce this week and promptly turned them into a Caesar salad.  The salad part is quite simple - tears the leaves off of the stem and rinse thoroughly, then dry thoroughly (it's important to dry lettuce well so that the dressing actually stays on it).

We make our Caesar dressing from scratch, so it's a bit more labor-intensive but so very delicious.  Beat one egg yolk (yes, this involves eating raw egg) with the juice of half of a lemon.  Add one or two cloves of freshly pressed garlic, 1/3 cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese, 1 TBS of Worcestershire sauce and 1 minced fillet of anchovy.  While mixing, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Dress your salad greens and enjoy.

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These last few weeks we have found ourselves with quite a few bell peppers.  This is a wonderful thing but, you see, Grady and I enjoy certain foods so much that we will often eat them once per week - we have had fajitas or something along those lines involving fresh salsa at least that often and sometimes more.  You, however may not love fajitas so much and so we bring you: meatloaf.

Yes, we did chop a green pepper and add it to our meatloaf mix.  The carrots we added were from our share last week.  We like to top our meatloaf with BBQ sauce so while you can taste the distinct green pepper a bit, mostly it tastes like delicious sauce with some meat and veggies.  For the mix I would use 1 medium carrot, 1/2 an onion and 1/2 a bell pepper per 1 pound of ground meat.

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This share is also looking perfect for making a refreshing batch of Gazpacho (use tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, jalapeno, and possibly even the herb you picked up).  According to Cook's Illustrated magazine, the way to make a perfectly creamy soup is to slowly drizzle in the olive oil as the blender is running.  Take a look at the recipe on this website to guide you to your simple dinner-from-a-blender!

Photo taken from oui, chef blog

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Our love affair with the grill continues this week as we plan to attempt grilling beets and fennel - maybe at the same time, maybe not.  I would say this could be a recipe for burned roots and bulbs but Grady is determined and so we will seek to enhance these foods with grill-supplied smoky flavor.  We'll let you know how that works for us ... if any of you have tried grilling either of these items before, please do let us know.

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Got hot peppers?  I know we do!  We took a handful to attempt infusing in vodka for future use in such drinks as very spicy Bloody Mary's.  Not wanting to drink your peppers?  Well Preserved food blog had a great recipe for hot peppers fermented with whey.  Check it out here!

Have a great week, everyone!

~ Courtney and Grady

CSA in the Kitchen

Welcome to another week in the kitchen!

It seems that the temperature may finally be dropping a bit {I try to be as cautious as possible when talking about Chicago weather!} and yesterday we even had a rainy day!  Hopefully this means good things for Montalbano Farms. 

As I consider the coming cooler weather, I'm reminded of an excellent way to prepare essentially any vegetable: roasting.

A good friend of mine reminded me recently that it's not just beets and winter squashes that take well to this form of cooking.  Last night, we tossed some chopped carrots with olive oil (you can also use butter) and sprinkled with salt and pepper, set in the oven at 400 for 45 minutes or so - voila!  Dinner. ... ah well, part of dinner!  We had a tiny cabbage on hand as well, so I cored and chopped that, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper - are you noticing a trend? and cooked it alongside the carrots.

Your new kitchen motto could be: When in doubt, Roast it.  Many vegetables are made sweeter by roasting, which can make even the ones you might think of as less-pleasing, more tasty.

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On with the sweet peppers!  I've already suggested quite a few ways to prepare these crisp veggies and I probably already suggested grilling.  If you haven't tried it, you should.  Cut the peppers in half (remove seeds and ribs), rub with olive oil and place on the grill.  You should use a lower flame or keep them partially away from the flame.  Here we were working with a charcoal grill and we put them over very hot embers.  {You also see onions, garlic, jalapenos and tomatillos here.  We're serious about grilling stuff}.

Predictably, these all went into some fabulous fajitas!

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Speaking of peppers, did you grab a handful of hot peppers when you picked up your CSA?  Or maybe you got a whole bunch in your share?  Great!  Aside from making excellent fresh salsa, jalapenos will serve you well in the form of Jalapeno Poppers.

As you may have guessed, these were also grilled.  Grady cut a little 'window' into each pepper to get the seeds and ribs out.  Then he mixed our fajita seasoning into cream cheese, the amount of seasoning will vary with your taste but I'd say he used a big pinch per pepper.  Stuff the peppers with the cheese mix, close the 'window' with a toothpick, then cook on the grill away from direct heat for 20 minutes until slightly charred and cheese is melty.  Beware the tips!  They'll be hotter (spice-wise) than the body of the pepper.

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This rather creepy looking jar of stuff is actually a rather delicious and easy way to make pickles.  We've been getting cucumbers of just the right size for the last few weeks and every new one has gone into this jar as it has arrived in our kitchen.  I can't say I love pickles, but Grady does so we make them.  For a batch of pickles you'll need a large glass or ceramic jar with a wide mouth plus a small plate that fits inside the mouth and a mason jar filled with water to weigh the plate down when the time comes.

Dissolve 6 TBS of sea salt in 1/2 gallon of filtered water, add your cucumbers, up to 2 heads of peeled garlic, and a few branches of fresh dill.  Make sure everything is fully submerged under the brine (this is where the small weight and plate come in), cover with a cloth and leave on the counter for up to 4 weeks after which time you can move it to the fridge.  Over the course of these weeks, the salt will inhibit the growth of bad (food-spoiling) bacteria and encourage good bacteria that will sour and preserve the cucumbers.  If the water level gets low, add 1 TBS of salt dissolved in 1 cup of filtered water.  If white stuff grows on the top, just skim it off - no worries!

This recipe is taken from Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz and I strongly recommend reading the book for further questions and excellent recipes!  Our pickles have turned out quite well, so don't be afraid!

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Finally, here's a picture of that pasta dish from last week that involves fresh chopped tomatoes.  If you haven't tried it, this is a great meal to throw together at the last minute.

 

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 Love selecting your herb every week and then by mid-week you sadly realize you've yet to use it?  Most herbs can be dried very easily and they make so much of a difference in your cooking that you simply must try it!  I soak the herb in a little bowl of cold water and swish it around just to make sure all the dirt gets rinsed off.  I spread it to dry and, once dry, place loosely in a paper bag, fold the bag closed and leave in the pantry (away from heat and light) until I forget about them.  At the point that I remember them, which is hopefully about a month all together, I strip the dried leaves from the stems and store in an air-tight container.  The smell of thyme mid-winter or a little crushed oregano to brighten your chili - just these things make it worth your while.

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We are always looking for new ideas and feedback about how to prepare CSA veggies!  If you'd like, please share any tips or recipes you've discovered along the way.  Thanks!

~ Courtney and Grady

CSA in the Kitchen

It's that time of the week again!  To all of our Montalbano Farms friends, sorry about the confusion as to which CSA week we're in.  Different locations started on different days so we're not all numbered the same.  From now on, I will simply be sharing what we're doing/have done with what we got in our Logan Square Market share on Sunday morning.  Again, please feel free to comment with ideas and recipes!

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Beautiful, crisp green beans.  I'm not going to lie - this week I will be eating every single one of these raw and probably with my hands.  I love these veggies and they're so refreshing on a hot summer's day that I'm not really sure why you'd want to cook them.  If, however, you do not love green beans as much as I do, I would suggest slicing them on an angle to make smaller pieces and then combining them with sliced cucumber and tomato.  Dress this mid-summer salad with olive oil and the vinegar of your choosing - we have an oregano vinegar that I would use for this!

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 The bell peppers this week would be great candidates for stuffing, following the same guidelines as we used a few weeks ago for zucchini (found here).  If I were considering turning up the heat in my oven (which, to be honest I'm probably not since we don't have central air), I would love these pepper sliced on top of a pizza!  Green peppers, mushrooms and onions is my favorite topping and all of these things can be be found in our CSA/other farmers market vendor stalls.  This week, however, I may be setting these peppers aside for a cooler day when I do want to make pizza so I'll wash and slice them, lay the slices on a tray to freeze and then store them in a freezer bag once they're solid.  The texture doesn't hold too well, but they still taste great!

 This heap of jalapenos may get frozen this week too.  The heat drops significantly once frozen, but I don't much mind that.  Another simple way of making these peppers last longer is to make chile paste.  Wearing gloves (really, you should - have you ever touched your eyes after handling peppers?  seriously unpleasant!), stem and seed 2 - 3 or more peppers and chop.  Puree in a blender while slowly adding hot water to make a paste.  Add salt and then store in the refrigerator.  You can use this paste as a base for sauces, to spike soups, flavor meats, maybe veggies - the possibilities are only limited by your taste buds and your ability to remember that you have it in the fridge!

Those last little red peppers I'm thinking are going to be in an infusion of some kind but I haven't decided yet (oil? vodka? vinegar?); I'll keep you posted.

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More lovely tomatoes!  Tonight I plan to enjoy these raw, chopped and tossed with pasta.  For the dish I'll add some shredded basil, drizzle with olive oil and add a pinch of salt and pepper.  If I'm feeling very accomplished in the kitchen I may even crush a few garlic cloves to simmer very lightly in the olive oil before tossing - this will infuse the oil and I'll discard the cloves once the oil is ready.  Come to think of it ... this is essentially the dinner version of the appetizer from last week, bruschetta.  Parmesan cheese would also be a welcome topping for this meal.

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The beets we received will likely be roasted (wrapped in foil in the oven at 400 until soft when pierced) and eaten warm with butter as a side dish.  I plan to eat the greens steamed and also with butter, possibly as a side with my pasta tonight.  Butter just makes so many things better!

The cucumbers probably won't get buttered ... although ... bread and butter pickles, while not containing actual butter, are extremely delicious ... however, I was more thinking of trying a salad of this type.

Watermelon!  How could I forget?!  Do you really need to be inspired to eat this treat?  Well, if you don't want to get your cheeks sticky with juice, we offer the following suggestion - try something a little different involving muddling a few watermelon cubes with fresh mint leaves and simple syrup then shaking with ice and gin (or white rum or vodka or no alcohol at all, just add more soda) - top it off with a bit of club soda.

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Thanks for stopping by!

~ Courtney and Grady

CSA Week 9

We're coming to you live this week from the Cape Cod Bay!  Yes, we actually brought our share with us in the car on our 19 hour trip so that we could enjoy our Montalbano goodness while on vacation.  In addition to bringing produce from home, we also went to some effort to seek out local farms here on the Cape - let me tell you that they are not so easy to get to!  We hope to get to a small farmers market tomorrow though and we're very excited at the prospect.

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If I were to describe this week's share in one word it would be: corn.  Like, a serious amount of the stuff.  I'm certainly not complaining though since sweet corn season is so short that we should all gorge ourselves while we can since the fresh ear's counterpart in the frozen food aisle just can't compare.

The kitchen we have to work with out here is tiny, to say the least, so pretty much everything is going on the grill.  According to Grill Master/Guru Steve Raichlen, only Midwesterners grill their corn with the husk on and he would say that the rest of the country takes the husk off with good reason.  Grilling corn sans husk means you're getting delicious grill flavor in the corn itself ... instead of in the husk.

So far we've had grilled corn with homemade mayo and grilled corn with just butter, salt and pepper.  Later this week we're looking forward to corn and tomatillo salsa made in the same style as the salsa from last week but with different ingredients to go with steak fajitas (this will be a recurring theme I'm sure) with grilled onions and sweet peppers.  

If you've never grilled onions, I would highly recommend it - they're smoky and deliciously amazing.  Grady runs a toothpicks through the onion lengthwise and then slices in between so that the rings are held together by the pick.  He the lays them on the grill away from direct heat or on very low heat for just a few minutes each side.  I'll try to add pictures of the process the next time we do it.

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With fresh tomatoes you can make salsa, as we did last week, or make Italian salsa aka bruschetta.  Chop a few perfectly ripe tomatoes and toss in a bowl with some salt.  Tear or chop a handful of basil leaves and toss with the tomatoes.  Finally, drizzle olive oil on a few pieces of crusty bread and toast in a skillet over medium-low heat.  You could also pour a generous amount of oil into the pan and add a crushed garlic clove - this will result in very oily, very addicting crisp breads.  When the bread is browned a crispy, top with tomato mixture and serve.  This is a great, quick appetizer that requires a few simple ingredients and very little heat.

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Our last two meals this week have used very little from this week's share but feature other local produce rather prominently.  First we had bratwurst with a side of kale and grilled corn, a cup of potato and leek soup, and homemade sauerkraut (from Montalbano cabbages, post about that here).  I'm still learning what to do with leeks but we brought an enormous one home and we already had potatoes and it was in the upper 60's so soup is what happened.  Chop the white and light green part of the leek and saute it on medium heat in a whole bunch of butter until it's soft.  Add potatoes and water/milk/stock and salt.  Bring to a boil then simmer until potatoes are soft.  Mash/puree/leave whole and serve.

The second meal was pub-style burgers with lots of veggies.  Once again, grilled corn and kale plus quick-sauteed zucchini.  The burger was topped with caramelized onions (low heat with lots of butter in a skillet) and special pub sauce as developed by the food geniuses in America's Test Kitchen.  I am personally opposed to sharing published recipes on the internet so I will have to tease you by saying this sauce is revolutionary and you should find it at the library or pay to get access to it online.  It involves 3 cloves of garlic, some Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise.  

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We're haven't quite decided what we'll be doing with our little eggplant - probably roasting.  This is one of those vegetables that just doesn't inspire me yet.  I love moussaka but it's a significant amount of work and is usually a main dish and I haven't personally experimented much beyond that, I'm sorry to say.  Rachel's recipe from the newsletter looks great so we may give that a try.  We'll let you know what we do this week but we'd love for you to share any recipes or inspirations you may have in the comments - we will certainly benefit from it!

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And finally, just to let you in on a bit of the beauty we are currently enjoying I give you: My Morning Cup of Coffee.

  

See you back in Illinois next week!

~ Courtney and Grady

CSA Week 8

Friends!  I've been asked to write about what we make with the produce that comes in our CSA share every week.  I'm excited to share what goes on here in our kitchen and I will be the first to say that Grady does way more of the cooking work than I do, so I can't take credit for most of the good-looking food here!  Hope you enjoy what we have to share and please leave comments on how we can improve or other recipe ideas you may have using similar ingredients.  Cooking is so much more enjoyable when it is a friendly, communal experience.

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Hello to all of our fellow CSA members!  We're excited to begin sharing with you the ways in which we use the items that come in our share every week.  The vegetables we receive every week from Rob and Christina are the building blocks of all our meals and while our cooking is not always the most brilliant, we are almost always assured a tasty meal all the same because of the excellent quality of our ingredients. 

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The first thing we made when we got home with this week's share was a nice bowl of fresh salsa and some fajitas to use it on.  Perfectly ripe tomatoes are best used (in our opinion) in a recipe that allows their full flavor shine.

For the salsa we simply chop a large tomato (or a handful of small ones), a medium onion, and a jalapeno.  Mix in a little salt and a few splashes of white vinegar and lime juice and you're ready to go!

Fajitas themselves are very versatile and what we make is probably somewhere between a taco and a fajita but I must admit I'm not quite clear on the distinctions between the two.  In any case, this is a simple dish to make.  If you have a taco/Mexican spice blend on hand, rub that into your meat of choice.  We used chicken and cooked it on the grill.

While the meat is cooking, saute sliced peppers and onions in a neutral oil over medium high heat until soft and lightly browned (the photo below is in process - cook longer than shown here).

Shred your cooked meat and put it, along with the onions and peppers, into warmed tortilla/fajita shells and top with your fresh salsa.

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This week we also received a few summer squash.  These work well as a side dish - sauteed in oil until brown and seasoned with salt and pepper - but when we had those rather monstrously huge squash a week ago, we decided to make a main dish from the vegetable itself.  

Stuffed Zucchini

Stuffing for vegetables can be whatever you think would be delicious.  We used brown rice, browned ground beef, sauteed onions with a bit of garlic, a little tomato paste and a generous amount of shredded Monterey Jack cheese.  To round out your flavors, season with salt and pepper, chili, garlic and onion powders and perhaps a dash of brown sugar.  You can choose to mix in the 'guts' of your zucchini as well so as not to waste.

Grady somehow figured out how to hollow out the zucchini without breaking or mangling it {I'm still trying to figure out how he did it}.  We then stuffed the (cooked) filling in there and baked them at 350 for probably 30 minutes.  The cooking time and amount of stuffing will vary greatly with the size of your squash but extra filling is always delicious on its own so, personally, I would overestimate on that front.  We topped our dish with some homemade sweet barbeque sauce as well to add a little kick.

While it may not be the most photogenic stuffed vegetable, it is certainly filling and delicious!

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For those days when you simply don't have time to do much chopping or veggie-prepping there is always pasta with basil pesto.  We try to use basil as soon as possible after bringing it home so that we enjoy it at its peak flavor and so we often make pesto and either use it right away, or freeze it in these handy silicone muffin trays we have to use later (top pesto with oil when storing to keep it from oxidizing).

I don't use a recipe for pesto although they are certainly plentiful in a Google search.  I throw as much basil as I have plus a few cloves of pressed garlic into the bowl of my food processor and process with a generous drizzle of olive oil.  If the mixture isn't enough like a paste, I add more oil.  Next, add Parmesan cheese.  Again, the amount will depend on how much basil you have and your taste but the cheese is what makes pesto so addicting so add rather freely (omit the cheese if you're freezing).  Include a few pinches of salt and process again to blend.

When your pasta is cooked, toss with the pesto and serve with extra cheese.  You may want to save 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water when you drain it just in case your pesto needs a bit more moisture when added to the pasta.  To add a bit more interest you could also throw in a chopped tomato or two!

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We haven't finished out our week of cooking yet, nor have we exhausted our share.  This week we received a bag of bean sprouts that have left me wondering how we are going to use them.  Pad Thai is the first dish that comes to mind.  A quick search of a few trusty food blogs brings a few more suggestions to the table:

Noodles with Bean Sprouts and Curry-Lime Dressing

 Chicken with Soy Sauce and Bean Sprouts

Spicy Mung Bean Salad

Pad Thai

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We hope you enjoy your week of good eats!

~ Courtney and Grady

Joe's Blues

Mid-July is the time for local blueberries and this year we were able to go out and pick nearly 13 pounds of fresh, organically-grown Michigan blueberries!  We rented a blueberry bush from a place called Joe's Blues and they guarantee that you will get at least 12 pounds from your bush.  This past weekend we took a mini vacation just around the lake to go see our bush and take from it every ripe berry we could find.

These are a high bush variety that are nearly 60 years old!  I hope to be this productive when I get to be that age :-)

The day was lovely, sunny and a bit hot so after we packed up our bounty, we headed to the little downtown area to grab a bite to eat and followed that with a short trip to the beach.

Being an East Coast girl, Lake Michigan has always creeped me out just a little bit.  It's so huge and ocean-like, but it's not the ocean.  I just get confused and a little disturbed, which is probably why this was actually my first time ever touching this lake.  I know, I've lived near the lake for almost 8 years now and have never even dipped a toe in.  I guess it took a blueberry high and the beauty of Michigan to convince me!  I was still confused though since my first thought when we chose our beach spot was that we would have to move soon if the tide was still coming in.  To me 'beach' will likely always mean 'ocean.'

No beautiful summer vacation would be complete without a bite or two of ice cream so that was our last stop before heading home.

Almost a week later, we're still working on getting all those blueberries into the freezer - we finally ordered our deep freezer and it comes tomorrow.  Between the cherries and the blueberries and hopefully soon some peaches and possible 1/4 of a cow ... well, we're going to need it!

As I said in my cherry post, we've decided to freeze because it's simple, stores produce close to peak nutrition and you can use it months in the future for most of the same purposes as fresh.  We realize we're using up electricity to keep our goods frozen and that we're in some trouble if we lose power for an extended period of time (although I would imagine being city apartment dwellers that this may not be as likely for us as for others) but dehydrating would probably be our next ideal option and we don't have a dehydrator yet, so we'll wait.

For now, we are overflowing with delicious, little blueberries.  This experience only compounds my desire to grow fruit on our own property some day - we got 13 pounds in one day from one bush - just imagine the possibilities!  Fruit growing can be challenging work, but oh how rich you feel when you run your hands through pounds of fresh berries!  Such extravagance.