At home with a couple of foodies!

Blended Coffee Drinks

2010-07-17T17:04:00.000-04:00

I am a sucker for Frappuccinos and all blended coffee drinks. Especially in the summer. And on a 90+ summer afternoon doesn't everyone want/deserve/need a frozen caffeinated treat?
So when I saw this recipe on Joy the Baker's blog, I was intrigued by the addition of instant pudding to add that vanilla flavor and thickening agent.
I just made one and it is pretty tasty, rivals the coffee shop variety, I think. I did equal parts coffee and milk, about 1t sugar and then my husband emptied in the maple syrup bottle that we almost finished at breakfast so that was about 1t maple syrup. I also added about 1-2T vanilla instant pudding and about a tray and a half of ice cubes. I let it blend for a while to get the ice pretty crushed.
Pretty refreshing wake up on Saturday afternoon! Next time I'll try some add ins like a banana or some chocolate syrup!

A Pickle....or 23 pints of pickles.

2010-07-11T12:13:00.000-04:00

I'll warn you in advance, I have no pretty pictures for you, not even any ugly ones, just no pictures. Sorry. I wanted to update you on the pickling adventures of 2010. I went to the Farmers Market yesterday with the plan to get a cucumber for a salad and instead I got 12 lbs. of picking cucumbers. I turned in a full draft of my dissertation last week and so this week-end is decidedly a non-school-work weekend! And so what better to do than PICKLE!
I decided to use the same bread and butter pickle recipe as last year because I loved those pickles! I sliced up about 5 lbs. of the pickles into 1/4 inch slices and 2 lbs. of vidalia onions. I salted these and covered them first with a towel and then with ice and refrigerated them for several hours.
In the mean time, I let the afternoon heat dissipate and waited 'til about 6 or 7 pm before I fired up the canning pot. I got a new canning pot! I've been using a stock pot and a round cake cooling rack. Let me tell you that a real canning pot for $17.87 at Walmart was already worth every penny after one round of canning! The rack that hooks on the side of the pot for easy removal of the jars is awesome and reduces my chances of steam burns by about a million percent!
I then went to work on the dill pickles. I wasn't pleased with how my dill pickles turned out last year and so I decided to try a new recipe. I went for this garlic dill recipe. I'll let you know how they turn out...
But I sliced the cukes in chunks rather than slices or spears per the recipe's suggestion. I placed cloves of garlic, peppercorns, dill seed, and hot pepper flakes in each jar and then tried to stuff the jars with the chunks of cukes. That was easier said than done and it requires about twice as many jars because the chunks don't pack as well as thinner slices might. In about half the jars I used 1/2 as much dill seed (1/2t rather than 1t) and used a few sprigs of fresh dill too. I poured the hot brine (4C apple cider vinegar, 4C water, 6T pickling salt) over the cukes, put on the lids, and processed them for 10 minutes in my new canning pot!
Then even though after my dinner break and hang out time it was now 10 pm, I decided it was time to finish the bread and butter pickles too. I got the brine ready (1 1/4C white vinegar, 1C apple cider vinegar, 2 1/4C sugar, hot pepper flakes, cloves, allspice, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric) and let it reach a boil. I rinsed off the salted cucumbers and onions and tossed them in the boiling brine. I let that all ready a boil again and then filled the jars first with the pickles and then with the brine, put on the lids, and processed them in the hot water bath too.
15 jars of dills....only one didn't seal, so I guess 14 jars of dills and 8 jars of bread and butters.
And that should be enough pickles for a while!

Pesto Pasta with Sausage and Garlic Scapes

2010-07-06T07:47:00.000-04:00

A brief post...my new goal is to post more often by posting more briefly.
My husband made arugula pesto the other day. He made a very basic pesto with just the greens, garlic, and oil. He used no nuts and no cheese. Nonetheless quite a delicious topping!

We mixed it with pasta and roasted red peppers and topped it with some grilled sausage and grilled garlic scapes.
The sausage was a local Bratwurst. Delicious! And the garlic scapes were also local. I trip each end, spray them with oil and we grill them in a pan designed to be used on the grill, otherwise they'd fall through the grill.
It was a nice summer grilling combination!

Steak Teriyaki

2010-06-30T11:09:00.001-04:00

Again...it would be lame to apologize again but I am sorry that I have been gone so long....
But here I am. And here is some tasty steak teriyaki!
I used a recipe from Simply Recipes for steak teriyaki. I mixed up the marinade recipe: 1/3C mirin rice wine, 1/3C sake, 1/3C soy sauce, 1T sugar, and 1T grated ginger. I actually probably used more ginger than the recipe calls for. I used an unfiltered sake from Oregon: Momokawa Pearl. I chose this one because it is one we like to drink and so only using 1/3C wasn't an issue because the rest of the bottle was happily consumed!
I let the flank steak soak in the marinade for a few hours and toward the end I also tossed in some locally grown shiitake mushrooms from our farm share. We skewered the mushrooms and grilled those and the flank steak on the grill.
While those were grilling, I cooked down the marinade to make the teriyaki sauce to serve over the meat.
We also had rice and sauteed spinach along with the steak and mushroom. Delicious!!

Stuffed Roasted Jalapenos

2010-05-13T18:40:00.006-04:00

Do you have a hankering for jalapeno poppers? Do you have the urge to light up your grill now that it's getting warmer outside? (At least in some parts of the country, it's been in the 40s and 50s around here.)
Minus the deep fried part, these stuffed and grill roasted peppers should take care of that jalapeno popper desire!
Unnecessary Kitchen Implement Warning!!! I bought a pepper roaster and it came with a corer. Generally, I hate buying kitchen items that only have one (and obscure) purpose but I fell for this one and we actually use it all the time.
When the grocery store has large enough and nice enough looking jalapenos these stuffed and roasted peppers are on our menu. You'll learn to eye ball the right size pepper for the rack after a few tries. And if they are too small, I have figured out that you can use the stem and the top that you cut off to wedge in the hole with the pepper to keep it from falling through the rack.
I mix cream cheese and shredded cheddar cheese for the stuffing but any number of combinations would be delicious. That mix works for us and I haven't branched out, yet. I'd love to hear what other combinations you try.
After I mix the cheeses together, I slice off the top of the peppers and core them. If you can't get all the seeds out with the corer you can rinse them with water. I roll the cheese mixture into tubes to better stuff the peppers. I place the peppers in the rack and then straight on the grill they go. It is best to keep them off the direct heat and on the edge of the grill. The longer they can stay on the grill with out the tips burning and the cheese boiling out the top, the more tender the peppers will become.
Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes!

2010-05-11T18:53:00.001-04:00

I can't even begin to make enough excuses for not having posted for three weeks. I mean I am trying to finish a dissertation, sell a house, plan to move and start a new job, etc.....
But that is no excuse! I apologize.
So the house is flickering black and white here tonight. I bleached, washed, and dried a load of my husband's white socks today. And dinner could be taken straight out of a 50's household: Sloppy Joes, Macaroni Salad, and Baked Beans.
In fact, this is basically the recipe for Sloppy Joes in the Joy of Cooking. I sauteed about 1/2C each chopped onions, green peppers, and mushrooms in butter.
I sauteed about 1 1/4 lb. ground beef in 3 batches. I lightly salted, peppered, and chili powdered the beef as it sauteed. These spices are not in the Joy of Cooking recipe.
After all the beef was cooked I mixed the beef and veggies with about 6 ounces of Heinz 57 chili sauce. The Joy of Cooking only calls for 2-4T.
Eat this on a hamburger bun and watch the black and white flickering in your house too!

Fresh Fish, Grilled

2010-04-17T11:24:00.001-04:00

I couldn't find my camera until the end of this meal preparation process, so I apologize for the fact that you only get 1 picture!
A friend of ours caught two beautiful fish the other day. We already had the grill going for other purposes but we happily shifted gears. 1 Rainbow trout and 1 Brown trout, each about 20 inches long, arrived at our house. My husband and his friend cleaned them by removing the head and the guts, but left them whole and with the skin.

In the cavity, my husband put generous amounts of olive oil, kosher salt, thick slices of lemon, and sprigs of parsley. He wrapped each fish individually in foil and placed them on the grill. He rotated them often to get each side and each end exposed to the heat. We didn't time it but they were only the grill at least 25 minutes.
When they were unwrapped the skin pulled easily away from the meat and the meat off the bones. They were delicious! I prefer the Rainbow trout as the flavor and texture are more delicate than the Brown. But I didn't turn away a serving of each!

Tuna Salad

2010-04-04T15:38:00.001-04:00

I had a craving for tuna salad this afternoon. A late lunch, a little afternoon snack, something to munch on while I contemplate what's for dinner!
I used a can of Trader Joe's tuna in olive oil. Delish! Much higher in fat than tuna packed in water, but tasty! Per Cooks Illustrated, I always drain my tuna in a sieve and press it and fluff it with a fork to get it a dry as I can. This is especially important with water packed but also serves to remove some of the oil in the oil packed.
I then squeezed on about 1/2t of lemon juice and let it sit as I prepared the other ingredients.
I chopped about 1T of parsley and stirred it in. I added 4 slices of pickled jalapenos, chopped and 4 green olives, chopped. I chopped and added 1 stalk of celery.
And then I added about 1T of mayo and mixed it up. I ate it on a few slices of fresh bread with sprouts.
Yum!

Greek Salad

2010-03-28T13:54:00.000-04:00

I love Greek salads. Maybe it is just the feta cheese. But I think it is the dressing too.

I usually use Romaine lettuce though red leaf or baby green mixes would work. Tossing some baby spinach in would be tasty too. I like the sturdiness of the Romaine with the cheese. It seems to hold on to the cheese and dressing better than something like red leaf. I also like to either tear or chop the lettuce into pretty small pieces so the end result is kind of like a chopped salad. (I didn't quite accomplish that in these pictures.)
In this version, I added hard boiled eggs, garbanzo beans, and kalamata olives so it was a protein-filled salad. It could easily be a meal in and of itself.
I also added chopped cucumber and sliced radishes. I didn't have other veggies at the time but I love celery and tomatoes in a Greek salad.
I added crumbled feta cheese to the salad rather than the dressing but it is easy to do it either or both ways. I have also made Greek salads in bowls with tops so you can seal up the whole salad, dressing and all, and toss it vigorously!
I also didn't have any pepperoncinis but they are nice on the side with a Greek salad.
But the dressing! I make a basic vinaigrette dressing but I use kalamata olive oil and red wine vinegar. I also add plenty of lemon juice and a touch of sugar. I also add fresh ground pepper and crumbled dried mint. I love dried mint. Yum. Enjoy!

Classic American Dinner

2010-03-18T09:22:00.000-04:00

Hello! Sorry it's been so long. Something about trying to finish a doctoral program, conducting a job search, and having an injured puppy has distracted me from this project.
So today's post is about a classic American dinner that my husband and I had recently. And it's a chance to vote as to whose plate looks better. We won't tell which is which! Just pick the ketchup or the mustard plate.
The dinner....was hot dogs, which are Hoffman's natural casing tasty dogs that we love. And we always steam our hot dogs and then toss the buns on top at the end to steam a bit too. We topped these with canned Hormel chili (no beans), shredded cheddar cheese, and mustard.

And they are served with tater tots and baked beans! And one of us needs extra mustard and one needs ketchup for the tater tots! Let us know who plates a better Classic American Dinner!

Chana Masala

2010-02-24T20:46:00.004-05:00

I have been craving Indian food lately. I am not a big fan to the two Indian restaurants in town. But just tonight I noticed a new one and when I walked in to grab a takeout menu I was greeted by a friendly woman and an amazingly delicious smell. Seems promising. But last night I made my own Indian dishes to satisfy the craving.

I made chana masala, which is chick peas in a rich tomato gravy. Yum!

First, I rinsed and drained a 15 oz. can of chick peas.
Next, I roughly chopped 1 onion, 1 green chili, 4 cloves of garlic, and 1 inch of fresh ginger. The recipe calls for 1 fresh tomato but I used about 1/3C canned diced tomatoes instead.
After roughly chopping these, I put them in the food processor with the tomatoes to make a paste.

Now to the cooking. First, I warmed 2T olive oil and 'fried' 2 bay leaves. The recipe called for frying them but that didn't really seem to happen. I let them sit in the hot oil for 1-2 minutes but they didn't really seem to be sizzling or showing any indications of frying.

Next, I added the tomato-onion-etc. mixture the pan and let that fry over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.

On to the spices. I added 1t red chili powder, 1/2t turmeric, 1t coriander, and 1t garam masala. I stirred these in well with the rest of the mixture and let that fry for another 2-3 minutes.

The recipe calls for adding enough water to make a thick gravy. I ended up adding about 1C of water. I mixed this in and let it come to a boil.

I then added the chick peas and let the whole mixture simmer over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. I garnished this with cilantro and served it with basmati rice and some plain yogurt and sliced cucumbers.

Diablo Chicken!

2010-02-21T12:50:00.004-05:00

This is a recipe we cooked in college. It was in a cookbook that belonged to one of my roommates. But it lives on on a food-stained index card. This is a super easy way to make a chicken breast a little more exciting.
I never wrote down how many chicken breasts this amount of coating is supposed to cover but I use it for 2 breasts. First, pound the chicken breasts to even thickness to allow for more consistent cooking.
In one bowl mix 3T dijon mustard with 3T oil, I use olive oil. Mix in 1/4C finely chopped scallions and 1/2t thyme. You could use dried or fresh thyme depending on what you have available.
In another bowl mix 1C bread crumbs (you can start with less than a cup and see if you need the whole cup) with 1/4t cayenne.
Dip the chicken breasts in the bowl of wet ingredients and then in the dry. Place the chicken breasts on a greased pan or baking dish. I lightly spray the top with some oil.
Bake the chicken at 475 for 12-14 minutes depending on the thickness of the breasts.

I served these with some rice and a salad with walnuts, blue cheese, apples, and chilled roasted beets.

Chili!

2010-02-04T16:55:00.004-05:00

It seems appropriate to post a chili recipe in anticipation of Super Bowl weekend. I am aware that there are different styles of chili. My husband makes a red chili he learned in New Mexico. I've had Texas and Cincinnati style chili. I've had white chili. What I don't know is what style chili I make. It's the chili my mom makes. It's what I grew up knowing was chili. Maybe it's Eastern chili. I am open for names for this style chili!

First, brown 1 lb. ground meat. I usually use beef but turkey or venison work well too. I find it to be really useful to brown the meat in 2 or 3 batches so as to not crowd the pan. If you want to just use one pot brown 1 batch and then move it to a bowl while you brown the next batch. Then you can toss all the browned meat back in before, during, or after you saute the veggies.

Add more oil to the pan. Dice and saute 1 onion. Add 1/2 a green pepper, diced and 1 fresh jalapeno, also diced. After these are close to being done add 3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed. Also, add crushed red pepper to your taste. I crushed a whole dried cayenne pepper from our garden this past summer.

Next add the spices before any liquid so that the powders can all toast a bit on the hot mostly dry pan bottom. I used 3T chili powder. I prefer Penzey's regular chili powder. I also added 1T cumin, 1t black pepper, 1t onion powder, and 1/2t salt.

Now it's time for the liquid. Add a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. I rinsed the can with about 1/4C water and added that too. Add a 15.5 oz. can of red kidney beans or whatever kind of beans you like. Add a 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes. This time I used diced tomatoes with green chilis. Add 1/3C red wine, 1T dried oregano, and 1t dried basil.

I love this chili topped with cheese or sour cream. Or on top of a baked potato. Or served with cornbread. All the way around, it's just delicious chili of whatever style it is!

Coleslaw

2010-02-01T17:46:00.005-05:00

I know I've already posted a coleslaw recipe but I've been working on it this winter. I know that coleslaw is usually a summer food but with all the cabbage we've been getting in our winter farm share I've been inspired to make slaw. Plus we've gotten pulled pork in our meat share and so what goes better with pulled pork than slaw?

First, shred 1 small head of cabbage and 1 carrot.

Then mix up the dressing: 2/3C buttermilk, 3T sour cream, 1/4C mayonnaise, 1t dijon mustard, 2t cider vinegar, 2T lemon juice, and 1/2t sugar.

Toss the cabbage and carrot with the dressing. Cover and let chill for a few hours before eating.

This time around I didn't have either a shallot or fresh parsley but if I had I would have chopped those up and added them too!

Enjoy and imagine you are having a summer BBQ.

Baked Ziti

2010-01-31T12:34:00.005-05:00

Ah, baked ziti. My sister makes delicious baked ziti. I probably should've stuck with her method but I tried to make it little less cheesy and I added a few other things. Let me show you what I did and I let you know where I wish I'd done something different. Please let me know if you have another version of baked ziti that you love!

First I cooked 3/4 lb. of pasta. (I undercook the pasta so it doesn't become total mush when it's baked.) Next I sliced and cooked 2 links of Italian sausage. (I know my sister takes the sausage out of the casing and cooks it like ground meat.)

I then added 1/2 a green pepper, diced, and 1 small onion, diced. I let these saute with the sausage and then I added 1 clove of garlic, chopped.

Then I added 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1/4C red wine, 1t dried basil, and 1T dried oregano. I stirred, covered, and let this cook for a few minutes.

I turned off the heat and added 15 oz. of ricotta cheese and 4-6 oz. of cubed mozzarella. (The ricotta separates and looks pretty gross using this method. So I think either more tomato sauce next time to make it saucier or an egg and some parmesan to make it more like lasagna.)

I then mixed in the cooked pasta. I baked this covered in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. I then topped this with about 4 oz. of sliced mozzarella and baked this uncovered for another 10-15 minutes. It was quite yummy but, as I said, room for improvement!

A Sinful Breakfast!

2010-01-31T12:15:00.002-05:00

First, I just have to post these pictures of a sinful breakfast. I'll follow with a post with a recipe. But check out these potatoes frying in bacon grease. Yum!

Then look at these beautiful cinnamon rolls. My husband is the culprit in both these tasty sinful treats.

For the cinnamon rolls he uses a basic dinner roll recipe, rolls it out, spreads a cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter mixture over the dough, rolls it up, and slices it into rolls. Then he places them in a buttered dish, covers them and lets them rise near the warm oven. And then he bakes them at 450 for 10-15 minutes.

Yumminess!

7-layer dip

2010-01-27T18:44:00.008-05:00

If you love snack food and appetizers as much as me you may be dreaming of Super Bowl Sunday not because of the game but because of the food. I love football food! And by this I mean wings, nachos, chips and dip, veggies and dip, anything and dip, and of course, 7-layer dip!

There are many version of 7-layer dip out there. As far as I can tell most of them fall into one of two camps: hot or cold. My sister makes a delicious version that is an entirely hot dip that mixes beans, corn, cheeses, salsa and I am sure a few other things. My husband, on the other hand, loves a cold 7-layer dip. And somehow, I fall somewhere in the middle of those extremes. I think this is mostly because I can't quite understand eating cold refried beans and melted cheese is delicious!

My method of 7-layer dip begins with a can of refried beans spread over the bottom of a casserole dish. I top that with pickled jalapenos and shredded cheese. I stick this in the oven (usually at 350) until the beans are hot and the cheese is melted (usually 15-20 minutes).

Then I top the hot ingredients with the cold ingredients. I don't believe that 7-layer dip has to stick with only 7 layers and so I add on whatever sounds good.

For example, I next spread some sour cream on top of the beans and cheese. And then a layer of sliced black olives is always yummy.

And then chopped or mushed avocado is great if they are some good ripe ones to be found.

Next, I like to layer on the salsa. And finally, I top this off with chopped green onions.

Dip in a chip and enjoy the football!

Seasoned Oyster Crackers

2010-01-24T13:04:00.004-05:00

I have strong memories attached to seasoned oyster crackers!

A friend of mine from high school's mom used to make these. She even made them years later when I would come to visit. Simple and tasty, these oyster crackers will be a football snack today as we watch the championship games.

This post is also an exercise in experimentation because the batch I made today just didn't turn out right. See the bottom picture, they are the wrong color! Too dark meaning overcooked, which I think is thanks to too long in too hot an oven.

Start with 1/4C vegetable oil in a large enough liquid measure to mix in the rest of the ingredients. Add 1/2 a package of ranch dressing mix, 1/2t garlic powder, and 1T dried dill. Mix well. (This can easily be doubled to spread over a full package of crackers, 14-16 ounces.)

Spread 1/2 a package (about 7-8 oz.) of oyster crackers on a cookie sheet. Dump the mixture over the crackers and mix until they are evenly coated.

I then baked the crackers at 350 for 25 minutes and I stirred them halfway through. This was too hot and too long, I think. Next time I would try a 300 degree oven for about the same amount of time, but checking at the halfway point for doneness too!

Cranberry bread

2010-01-23T16:10:00.005-05:00

I've been wanting to make cranberry bread since before the holidays. I found a cranberry orange bread recipe that looked delicious and then I couldn't find it again so when I stumbled across this recipe this morning I decided today was the day for some baking! This recipe looked perfect since I had some buttermilk in the fridge already and I am a sucker for anything with honey in it!

Preheat the oven to 350 and then prepare 2 loaf pans (8x4x3) by buttering and flouring them.

First, whisk together 1C all-purpose flour, 1C whole wheat flour, 1C cornmeal, 1/2C sugar, 1 1/2t salt, and 1 1/2t baking soda in bowl 1.

Next, melt 1 stick of unsalted butter in the microwave and leave it to cool slightly while you mix the rest of the wet ingredients.

In bowl 2 begin with 1/2C honey, which is hard to measure so I suggest spraying a 1/2C measure or a 1T measure with oil so that the honey will slide right out into the bowl. Next add 1 1/4C buttermilk, 1t vanilla extract, and 2 large eggs. Whisk these ingredients together as best you can since honey, cold milk and warm butter don't combine very well!

Add bowl 2 (wet ingredients) to bowl 1 (dry ingredients). Finally, fold in 1C chopped walnuts and 1 1/2-2C fresh cranberries.

Divide the dough evenly between the two prepared loaf pans and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. I had a slice with a cup of tea this afternoon and it was delicious!

Spare ribs, roasted root veggies, gravy, and kale chips!

2010-01-09T21:25:00.005-05:00

I haven't had the chance to detail many of my husband's cooking adventures on this blog. He does a lot of the cooking in our house, particularly in the winter. But I don't usually know much of what has happened during the creation process and so I hesitate to post about the food without much of a recipe to include. But tonight he suggested that we blog about the meal! So here goes...

Have I told you about our winter CSA share and the pork share? We have signed up for a 1/4 hog over the course of 12 weeks this winter. We've gotten pork chops, ribs, sausages, deli ham, bacon, and some amazing pates! This week we got spare ribs.

First, the fat was trimmed (and fried up it was a sinful treat!) and the ribs were rubbed: Penzey's jerk seasoning (~2T), coriander (2-3t), cumin (1t), oregano (1/2t), black pepper (2-3t), and salt (1t). The ribs sat in this rub for a few hours and then they cooked covered in about 1/2-3/4C of apple cider at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours and then 270 degrees for 15 minutes. They need to be basted every 1/2 hour while cooking. They can be finished immediately or after everything else cooks at 425 for 5-7 minutes uncovered to brown them nicely.

Along with this my husband roasted root veggies. He chopped carrots, parsnips, potatoes, and onions and sprayed them with oil. They were sprinkled with hot curry powder, oregano, salt and pepper. They cooked at 425 for 20-30 minutes.

And then there was the mushroom gravy! Saute diced red onions in the grease rendered from the fat trimmed off the spare ribs. Then saute the sliced mushrooms for a few minutes. Add 1/4C red wine and reduce for 5 minutes. Add 2T flour and mix until well blended. Add 2C water, reduce until thickened while stirring constantly.

And kale chips to boot! Trim the thickest parts of the stem off the kale and cut it into fairly uniform pieces. Spray or toss with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook at 425 for 10-12 minutes until crispy but not burnt.

What a delicious dinner!

Butternut squash cheesy pasta

2010-01-01T13:47:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year! We have a new puppy in our house and boy oh boy does he not like me typing away on my laptop. He isn't a big fan of cooking either unless tasty treats hit the floor for him. Basically he isn't a fan of anything, be it a computer or a saucepan, that distracts our attention from him. However, he is willing to war with brussel sprout stalks while we cook!

Somehow we managed to cook some food yesterday to celebrate New Year's Eve at home. One of the dishes we made was a butternut squash pasta dish. I first made this dish with friends in Texas and we based it on a recipe in a macaroni and cheese cookbook. We had it as a side dish with a pork tenderloin that time around. And this time it was served with chicken tenders, potato wedges, and an assortment of dips.

First I put water on to boil and I began cooking the pasta when I started cooking the squash. I used about 3/4 lb. of fusilli.

Next I peeled, deseeded, and chopped 1 small butternut squash. I also chopped 2 cloves of garlic (the recipe calls for several cloves to be sauteed and several to be added raw at the end but I left out the raw garlic) and about 8 leaves of fresh sage.

On medium heat, I sauteed the squash in 1T butter until it was nearly cooked (about 10 minutes). I then added the garlic and sage and cooked this for 2-3 more minutes. I turned off the heat and added chopped prosciutto (1-2 ounces). I let this mixture stand while the pasta finished cooking.

When the pasta was cooked, I drained it and reserved about 1/4C of the cooking liquid to mix back in with the other ingredients. Here comes the cheese! And no less than three kinds! The recipe calls for creme fraiche, fontina, and parmesan. I used about 3 ounces of grated asiago, 1/4C parmesan, and 2T ricotta cheeses. I mixed these cheeses in with the pasta and cooking liquid and then added the squash mixture. Voila! Squash macaroni and cheese!

Leeky Mashed Potatoes

2009-12-16T08:11:00.004-05:00

In this experiment I was trying to recreate a dish my aunt brought to our Thanksgiving feast. Mashed potatoes with leeks or as I fondly call them Leeky Mashed Potatoes. I peeled and chopped the potatoes and boiled them as I normally would for mashers. I sliced, rinsed, and diced the leeks. I then sauteed the leeks in bacon grease (there was a pan on the stove from breakfast and I couldn't resist!) although obviously butter or oil would too!

Now is the part that needs further refinement.

I wanted to puree the leeks but I didn't think that would work well with just them in the processor. So I warmed my milk and butter as I usually would and poured that into the processor too. Well, that created a bit of an explosion as the warmed milk seemed to seal the processor and then when I pulsed the milk came frothing out the top. I recommend adding something to ease the pureeing part but maybe some potatoes would work better!

Finally, I mashed together the cooked potatoes, pureed leeks, warm milk, and butter. In total, I believe I had about 2.5 lbs. of potatoes, two leeks, 1/3C milk, and 2-3T butter.

Curried Lentils

2009-12-09T08:39:00.006-05:00

I love curried lentils. It is a filling dish and is quick and easy. It also is forgiving and can easily incorporate as few or as many add-ins as you'd like. I love it with a side of rice and topped with chutney and yogurt.

Depending on how many you want to serve this recipe can easily be scaled up or down. This will serve about 4 (or more as a side dish). I saute 1/2 an onion, 1-2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 a green pepper, and 1-2 carrots in 2T oil or butter or a mix. I add in 1C lentils, coat them in the grease, and toast them slightly. I then add 2C water or broth, depending on what I have available. My goal is to only add enough liquid for the lentils to cook and absorb it all in order to avoid ending up with soup.

Add more liquid as needed during the cooking process.

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer over low heat. Lentils can overcook so it is important to check them as they cook. I usually cook them for about 10 minutes and then add potatoes.

Cook about 10 more minutes and add greens like spinach, chard, or kale. Continue to simmer until lentils are soft but not mushy and the potatoes are cooked to your liking. Add more liquid as needed. And serve with rice, plain yogurt, and chutney. I am a fan of mango chutney. With this dish I ate a homemade apricot chutney that I made over the summer. Yum!

Roasted Squash Medley

2009-11-21T08:53:00.005-05:00

The summer farm share is over now, but in the last few weeks we were starting to get winter squash. This was good preparation for the weeks and weeks of squash and root vegetables in the winter farm share that starts the week after Thanksgiving. The other night I combined 1 small butternut squash, 1 delicata squash, 1 celeriac, and about 1/2 the cloves of a head of garlic. I peeled the squash and celeriac and cut everything into about 1x1 inch cubes. I left the garlic skin on the individual cloves. I drizzled olive oil over everything and added salt, pepper, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Our oven has been acting up lately and so we have to set it about 25 degrees higher than what we want. Luckily we have an over thermometer! I roasted these at about 400 for 20-30 minutes. Since they are in such small cubes they may cook faster than you are expecting and you probably want to avoid overcooking them and having a medley of mush!

East Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ

2009-11-11T07:42:00.006-05:00

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I just plugged my camera into my computer and there are photos from at least five different recipes. I've been taking the pictures and slacking on the posting, I guess!

I'll begin with East Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ, which we had a few weeks ago on a Sunday. It's a recipe that cooks all day in the Crock Pot so it's perfect for a football-filled Sunday. For anyone not familiar with Southern BBQ, let me explain that regional allegiances to particular types of BBQ are quite strong. You are probably familiar with the idea that there are Texas styles of BBQ and a Memphis style, but you many not know that the eastern and western parts of NC have very different BBQ. In East Carolina you find a smoked, pulled pork BBQ that is cooked with a dry rub and served with a spicy vinegar-based sauce.

There are no tomatoes in this recipe. I love this BBQ and I eat way too much during our annual family beach trip to NC because I have to fill up for the year. This recipe doesn't fill the void, I'll still need to travel to NC, but it is a good proxy. The main difference is the smoke but the sauce is super! I'd make twice as much sauce next time.

I asked the butcher to cut down a large piece of pork shoulder so I could use about 3 lbs. of meat. I used this recipe, which calls for 5 lbs. of meat, and the only other ingredient I cut back on was the onions. On Saturday night, I mixed up the dry rub: 3T brown sugar, 2T paprika, 2t sea salt, and 1t black pepper. I rubbed this all over the meat and wrapped it up in plastic wrap and put it in a bowl and into the fridge. I left it overnight.

The next day I quartered 2 red onions (I didn't have any yellow ones but the recipe calls for two each kind). I placed those in the bottom of the Crock Pot. I put the meat on top and then I drizzled about 3/4 of the sauce over it. The sauce is a mix of 1C red wine vinegar, 2T Worcestershire sauce, 2T crushed red pepper flakes, 2t sugar, 1T spicy brown mustard, 1T garlic powder (I am not sure I would double the garlic powder), and 1/2t cayenne powder. The recipe says to cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. I didn't have 8 hours so I opted for the high heat method. I would aim for enough time to use the low heat method next time. I think the flavors may soak in to the meat more thoroughly. I cooked it for 5 hours but I think it was finished at about 4 or 4 1/2. Believe your eyes when the juices are running clear. I let it go a little too long and it had started to dry out. When it is finished it is starting to fall apart. Pull the meat and onions out. Chop the onions and pull the pork. It is easiest to use a couple forks and place them face down in the meat and pull them in opposite directions. Mix the meat and onions together and serve with the remaining sauce, this is why I wished I had more sauce! We ate this on rolls with cole slaw. Yum!!

Grape Juice

2009-10-25T13:25:00.004-04:00

For the past few weeks we've gotten concord grapes in our farm share. While I love the flavor, they aren't the most pleasant grapes to just munch on due to the seeds. With only a pound or so a week, I decided to go all out and get an additional 10 lbs. so I could make some juice. Using advice from Simply Recipes, I picked through the grapes and washed them. Then I mashed them a bit, simmered them for 10 minutes over medium high heat, and mashed them some more. I then let them sit in a strainer for a few hours. What a thick and tasty grape juice! It is delicious with sparkling water.

Meatloaf

2009-10-16T17:04:00.010-04:00

I am a big fan of meatloaf. With snow flurries falling today it seemed like a great day to have the oven on for hours and to make a hearty meal of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. My husband's cousin is visiting and both he and my husband worked outside all day today in the cold and flurries doing tree work and stone work, respectively. So as I stood at the butcher's counter today, 1 1/2 lbs of meat didn't look like enough. I went for 1 3/4 lbs of meatloaf mix (beef, pork, and veal). I am hoping we'll have some leftovers because there is nothing like a meatloaf sandwich in my mind. I love 'em with mayo, BBQ sauce and lettuce. And cold.

I preheated the oven to 350 (Joy of Cooking advice) and I anticipate it'll take 1 1/2 hours to bake for that much meat. I always use a meat thermometer when pork is involved.

The recommended temperature is around 160 for pork.

I start out with one slice of sandwich bread (this is a good use for the heel!) and I soak it in about 2-3T milk and 1 egg (although I have used either one or the other before, so if you don't have an egg, don't worry about it).

Once it is soggy, I use my hands to mush up that mixture and then I add the meat and mix it all together.

You must use your hands! I then add in the extras.

This time I used about 1/2 an onion and 1 small green pepper.

I often add mushrooms too, but I didn't have any.

I added about 2T ketchup, 1T chili sauce, 1T worcestershire sauce, 1t garlic powder, 1t black pepper, and 1T oregano. I know I have also tossed in dry mustard, basil, salt, and other spices in the past. I mix all this together and put it in a loaf pan. I cover the top with ketchup and stick it in the oven.

Deep frying (everything) and Mushroom Casserole

2009-10-14T16:29:00.002-04:00

I misplaced my camera for a few days, which means I have been delinquent with my blogging. It just doesn't seem right to post without tempting photos. But it is all for the best that there is no evidence of the deep frying extravaganza from Sunday night. It started out quite innocently...

There was a frost warning on the horizon and so we decided to pick all the ripe chili peppers on our 31 plants. With colanders full of cayennes, jalapenos, poblanos, green chiles and more, my husband got the charcoal grilled fired up to do some roasting. We have a great little rack for easy roasting of stuffed jalapenos. So I cored and stuffed those with a mix of cheddar and cream cheese and we roasted those for an appetizer.

Apparently that wasn't enough chili stuffed with cheese for us for the evening because next came the chile rellenos. After roasting, steaming, and peeling the poblanos (and a couple Anaheims) my husband stuffed them with cheese and dipped them in batter. I am not sure of his batter recipe but I know it involves separating the eggs, beating the whites, and stirring them back in for amazing fluff and rising action. He heated the oil and started deep-frying away. We didn't even get out plates. We just started eating the rellenos as soon as they were cool enough to manage.

Now that would have been enough. And I wish I could tell you that that was the end. But there was leftover batter and the oil was still hot and I just couldn't resist. First it was dill pickle slices. I love deep fried pickles. I have had the slices in North Carolina BBQ joints served with Ranch dressing on the side. And more recently I have had lightly battered and fried dill spears at the state fair. Also quite delicious. So in went the dill pickles. Let me tell you there weren't any left on the plate at the end of the evening. And then, here's the embarrassing part, in went dessert.

Now, as an aside, I must share two pieces of information with you. First, is that I lived in Edinburgh for a year. The Scots are happy to deep fry anything and everything. They start with the fish and boy is it good. But then they move on to the sausages, burger patties, and pizzas. And boy are those good too. And then they dive right in and deep fry Mars bars. And those are good too. I waited until about 2/3 through my year there to even try one for fear that I would like them too much. And indeed, they are devilishly delicious. The second relevant detail is that just a few weeks ago there was a local Apple Harvest Festival and among the many fair food options, there were deep-fried Oreos. I was party to the purchase of half a dozen of these beauties. I had half of one and was pleasantly surprised to find that the oil creeps its way into the cookie layers and creates a texture unlike any Oreo bite you've encountered. They are good. And so without any Oreos in the house, you'll understand that I had to toss a few Milanos in for good measure. The oil seeped right into those cookie layers too and just enough heat reached the chocolate for a little bit of melting action and yum..yum...well, need I say more. It was a deep-frying Party!!

And on a slightly healthier side note, last night I tried this recipe for a mushroom casserole that was delicious. I followed the recipe pretty closely and it worked out to be a great little side dish.

Apples, apples, apples...in muffins and hot cereal!

2009-10-06T09:41:00.003-04:00

It is fall and that means lots and lots of delicious apples. I love 'em. Especially the Honey Crisp ones! I thought I'd share two quick apple ideas.

Last week I made some apple muffins that were delicious. I was sad to eat the last one this morning. Bye bye tasty muffin breakfasts. I used this recipe from the blog eat make read. I didn't make the drizzle for the top and I didn't have any pecans so they didn't look as cute with the nut on top. But they were tasty nonetheless!

I also have been enjoying a new hot breakfast cereal.

I love the concept of hot cereal but I just can't get into oatmeal. I grew up eating cream of wheat, which I love, but which is just too much like baby food sometimes. This cereal from Hodgson Mill is a nice balance for me with a slightly more complex texture than cream of wheat but not as much as typical oatmeal. And boy is it tasty when you mix in apples, brown sugar, and buttermilk! Did I mention that I love buttermilk on hot cereals? I do!

Barley Bake

2009-10-05T07:33:00.004-04:00

Last winter I became a little obsessed with whole grains, including barley. I found a recipe for a barley bake, which I have made and adapted several times since then. This is rich, hearty, and tasty side dish that can be made with a wide variety of vegetables, broths, and/or nuts. I was tempted to add parmesan cheese the first time I made it, but I took a bite and realized the butter and broth added plenty of richness: No Cheese Needed!

I use the barley available in the bulk section of the grocery store, which I believe is pearl barley. I have only recently learned (see this link) that hulled barley is the whole grain and is more nutritious, but also takes even longer to cook than the pearl barley.

Preheat the oven to 350.

If you have a Dutch oven or a similar container that can go from the stovetop to the oven, use it for this recipe to make fewer dishes to clean up. In the pan melt 2-3T butter over med heat and add 1C barley, 1/3C nuts (the original recipe called for pine nuts but I use walnuts), and 1/2 onion, diced. When the barley begins to brown add other vegetables to sautee.

I used 4 crimini mushrooms, chopped, and 1 leek, sliced and rinsed well.

I also added 2-3T parsley, chopped. Finally, I added kale. We had purple kale from our farm share and I used about 4 large leaves, trimmed off the stems, and sliced the kale into strips. I added the kale to the pot and covered to allow it to steam for 1-2 minutes.

Add salt, pepper, and chicken (or vegetable) broth and stir the whole mixture well. The recipe calls for two 14.5 oz. cans of broth, but I used 1 32 oz. container and it worked just fine. Cover the pot and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check at about 1 hour to see if the moisture has been absorbed. The dish is finished when the broth has been absorbed and the barley is tender, chewy, and cooked. This makes enough for a side dish for about 6 people, or plenty for dinner for 2 with leftovers for a couple days.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2009-10-02T09:34:00.004-04:00

Homemade chicken noodle soup. Cold weather and sniffly noses inspire it. Grandmothers make it. Or at least my grandmothers both did. Eight years ago or so, I realized it was time I learned how to make it myself and so I called my grandmother. She explained the following method to me, which I have yet to perfect. But it's a good start!

The basic method is to use the vegetables and chicken to make the broth and then add new vegetables for the soup. The first round of vegetables turn over all their flavor to the broth and so it is necessary to add more that can retain their flavor for the soup.

Use a whole chicken. Rinse the chicken in cold water and place it in a stock pot. Cover the chicken with cold water. Add any combination of the following: celery, carrots, onions, parsnips, parsley, thyme. Any other root vegetables and fresh herbs are good too. My grandmother never roasted the vegetables first, and I haven't tried it yet, but roasted vegetables make a more intense broth. Bring the broth to a boil and then allow it to simmer over low heat for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

When the chicken looks done pull it out. You can let the broth continue to simmer with the vegetables, but you don't want the chicken to completely boil away. Allow the chicken to cool so it is comfortable to touch. Pull all the meat off the bones. Throw away the bones and the skin.

If the broth isn't to your taste yet, raise the heat and let it cook down and the flavor will intensify (you can do this for as little as 15 minutes and as long as half a day). When it is to your liking, strain the vegetables out. If the broth is too fatty looking to you, allow it to cool and you can easily skim the fat off the top.

Return the broth to the stock pot and add new vegetables (celery, carrots, parsnips) and herbs (parsley, thyme) and salt and pepper to taste. Allow these vegetables to simmer to a level of doneness you like. I like the vegetables to retain enough texture to be chewed rather than mushed in the mouth.

Meanwhile, boil water to cook your pasta or rice. You can cook the grain in the soup; however, you'll lose some broth. I prefer to cook the pasta separately and then add it to the soup. This time I used orzo, but I also like to use egg noodles.

When the vegetables are cooked to your liking, add the chicken meat (shredded or diced to sizes appealing to you) and the pasta. Allow the chicken meat to warm all the way through. Eat with fresh rolls and butter.

Corn Chowder and Plum Crisp

2009-09-25T07:52:00.005-04:00

We roasted corn recently and had a couple of ears left over. They have been sitting in the fridge asking me to make them into chowder. I love corn chowder, maybe it's the bacon we always crumbled on top when I was a kid. What's not to like when you crumble bacon on top of it?I started out using this recipe from Simply Recipes; however, I can't picture carrot or red pepper in my corn chowder, so I left them out. It seems to me that the corn takes care of the sweetness and other sweet items like carrots and red peppers aren't necessary.

And I have to have mushrooms in my chowder, they offer the nice earthy contrast to the sweetness for my taste buds.

I started out by frying 3 strips of bacon in a small fry pan.

When they were finished, or more than finished because I forgot about them, I set the bacon aside and poured the grease into a pot large enough for the chowder.

In the hot grease, I sauteed 1 diced small onion and 1 diced jalapeno for about 5 minutes. I added 6 sliced crimini mushrooms. I cooked this another 3 minutes or so. If I had had celery I would have added it too.

I shaved the kernels off the two left over cobs. I broke the cobs in halve and added them to the pot. The cobs are supposed to give off more corn flavor and help thicken the broth, I believe; however, I don't know if using the roasted corn reduces this effect.

With the cobs in the pot, I added 3 1/2C milk (I used the 2% I had left, about 3C, and whole milk). I also added a bay leaf and brought all of this to a gentle boil. I reduced the heat to warm to maintain a very light simmer and covered the pot. The recipe suggests cooking it for 30 minutes at this point. I was stalling at this point so I let it simmer very gently for nearly an hour.

Then I removed the cobs and the bay leaf and added 1 diced large red potato, 1t kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. I increased the heat and let this simmer for about 15 minutes.

(Then I had to turn off the heat and go rescue a friend whose truck broke down.) I added the corn (corn shaved off 2 cobs + 1C frozen corn) and 1/2t fresh thyme. I cooked this just long enough to warm the corn through. We ate the chowder with crumbled bacon on top!

For dessert we had this plum crumble, which was delicious. In fact, it sounds like breakfast this morning!

Snickerdoodles

2009-09-24T08:15:00.005-04:00

I have always loved snickerdoodles. I mean they are cookies after all, what's not to like?! There was a recipe for them in my Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook. I don't have that cookbook anymore so I had to do a little searching for a recipe. I used this one at smitten kitchen, which does have cream of tartar in it. I have come to learn that cream of tartar is from grapes and made from a sediment produced in the wine making process. And it essentially makes baking soda into a single action baking powder, rather than the double acting that has a second rising phase once exposed to heat. Although I haven't tried it yet, I did find a snickerdoodle recipe without cream of tartar at Simply Recipes.

Macaroni and Cheese

2009-09-22T07:04:00.003-04:00

Mac and Cheese! So many options: Kraft with powdery cheese, Velveeta with squeeze cheese, Annie's, and homemade, to name a few! This recipe comes from one of my college roommates and was part of our usual dinner rotation. There are three things to be done simultaneously: cook the pasta, make the sauce, and grate the cheese.

1. Cook 1 lb. of pasta. And it is best if it is al dente, as it will cook a bit more as it bakes.

2. Make a bechamel sauce (see below).

3. Grate about 3/4 lb. of asiago cheese and mix in 4 oz. of parmesan cheese.

Pre-heat the oven to 350. In a buttered casserole dish, layer 1/3 of the pasta, 1/3 of the cheese, and 1/3 of the sauce. Add a few grinds of pepper. Repeat. Top with buttered bread crumbs. The recipe calls for 1C of buttered bread crumbs but depending on the surface area in your casserole this can be quite a thick layer of crumbs. I would start with about 1/2C and see if it looks appealing. The more butter you melt and mix with the crumbs the more browning will result, which is the delicious part.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 350. If you want to make this in advance and refrigerate it, you can bake it for 20 minutes covered and then 20 minutes uncovered.

To make the sauce: Melt 4T butter over medium heat. Cook about 1/2 an onion, diced, until soft. Add 4T flour. Stir this frequently and cook 3-5 minutes. Add 3C hot milk, slowly, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Add 1 bay leaf, 1/4t thyme, 1/8t nutmeg, and black pepper. Over medium-high heat bring the sauce to a gentle boil, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens. You can strain out the onions, but I never bother, I just remove the bay leaf.

Pasta Puttanesca

2009-09-16T20:40:00.005-04:00

This is a nice quick pasta dish for any time of year as the only fresh ingredients are garlic and parsley. As long as the prep work is complete, the sauce can be cooked in the time it takes to cook the pasta (as long as you aren't using super fresh quick cooking pasta!). And you can try and time the steamed broccoli and the garlic to be finished at the same time too, which I accomplished tonight! I made a green salad ahead of time with a beautiful watermelon radish from our farm share. Check out the picture!

This recipe is based on a Cooks Illustrated recipe from 2002.

While cooking 1 lb. spaghetti, heat 2T olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic minced, 1t hot pepper flakes, and 1 tin of anchovies minced over medium heat until fragrant but not browning. Drain 1 28-oz. can of diced tomatoes, but keep the liquid.

Add the tomatoes and simmer until thickened, about 8 minutes.

Drain the pasta and add about 1/2C of the tomato liquid and toss to fully coat the pasta.

Add 1/3C minced fresh parsley, 3/4C black olives (like Kalamata or oil cured) pitted and chopped, and 3T capers to the sauce. Pour this over the pasta and add more tomato liquid as necessary.

Serve with parmesan cheese.

Sides dishes for steak!

2009-09-15T07:28:00.006-04:00

I love steak but I don't think I had ever bought myself a steak at the grocery store to cook at home. It just seems decadent, I guess. But yesterday was the day. Steaks on the grill for dinner and they were yummy. Plus, our dinner guest made a darn good imitation of A-1 sauce by combining ketchup, worcestershire sauce, and Heinz 57 chili sauce. However, I thought it would be more interesting to post about our sides. I opted for potatoes and spinach, which seemed like the classics.

I was tempted to make creamed spinach but it seemed way too rich.

We often saute spinach with feta cheese and pine nuts, but with no feta I used goat cheese instead.

First, I toasted about 1/4C of pine nuts in a dry pan over med-high heat. I am really good at forgetting about toasting nuts and letting them go too far. It is very easy because they go quickly from perfect to burnt.

This time I stayed close to the stove, shook the pan often, and turned off the heat when they started to smell toasty and delicious. The smell even rivaled the grill just outside on the deck.

Next I cooked 2 cloves of minced garlic in about 1T olive oil.

Once fragrant but not browned, I added the spinach. I covered it for a few minutes and then stirred it to combine the oil, garlic, and spinach.

Once it was all wilted, I added the pine nuts and about 2 ounces of goat cheese. I drained a little of the water out of the pan because I was worried that the cheese would mix with the water and lose its richness. It did melt all over the spinach but did not lose the creaminess.

For our potato side dish, we grilled tiny red potatoes in foil. I wrapped up the spuds in three layers of foil with 1T olive oil, salt, pepper, and several sprigs of fresh rosemary.

We wrapped up the package and let it cook on the edge of the grill. It is good to rotate the foil package around from side to side and to flip it over from top to bottom. The potatoes were on the grill for about 30-35 minutes total. Yum!

Carrot Cake

2009-09-04T08:10:00.006-04:00

Yummy carrot cake! (I promise we didn't already polish off the zucchini bread on our own. We froze half of each loaf and now we are in desperate need of cake!) The recipe I love for carrot cake is from the March/April 2003 issue of Cook's Illustrated. They recommend adding nuts (walnuts or pecans) and raisins. I only had walnuts, so I added about 1C of chopped nuts when I added the carrots.

Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a 13 by 9 inch pan.

Butter or spray the pan and then put parchment paper on the bottom of the pan and spray the paper.

In a bowl mix together 2 1/2C flour, 1 1/4t baking powder, 1t baking soda, 1 1/4t cinnamon, 1/2t ground nutmeg, 1/8t ground cloves, and 1/2t salt.

Meanwhile, grate 1 lb. carrots (about 6-7 large carrots). (Go

ahead and use a food processor because you are going to keep using it for the batter and the frosting.)

In a food processor, mix 1 1/2C sugar, 1/2C brown sugar, and 4 eggs. Process this for about 20 seconds until frothy and completely combined. With the machine running, add 1 1/2C oil (safflower, canola, or vegetable) in a steady stream. Process until the mixture is light and the oil is fully emulsified. Pour this batter into a large bowl. Mix in carrots and nuts and raisins (if you want).

Mix in dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time and stir until fully combined. Pour this into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes (longer if you add nuts and/or raisins). Rotate the cake half-way through.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a rack for 2 hours. Remove cake from pan and frost when fully cooled.

For the frosting, allow 8 0z. of cream cheese and 5T of butter to soften but not fully warm to room temperature. Process the cheese and butter with 1T sour cream and 1/2t vanilla for about 5 seconds. Add 1 1/4C powdered sugar (I only used 1C) to the frosting mix and process for an additional 10 seconds. Spread this evenly across the cake! I like to the chill the cake before eating.

Zucchini Bread

2009-09-03T09:07:00.006-04:00

The overwhelming number of summer squash has led me to my first batch of zucchini bread. I used the recipe from Simply Recipes. The suggested add-ins in this recipe are raisins and walnuts. I had neither. I made one loaf with dried cherries and chocolate chips. TASTY!! And into the other loaf I added pumpkin seeds and dried figs. Also delicious but a little bit on the health nut side. (You may notice in the pictures that the add-ins are not evenly distributed. I decided I didn't want to dirty an extra bowl so in order to mix different things into the two loafs, I did it in the loaf pans. I put half the dough in one pan and half in another and then mixed in the fruit, chocolate and/or nuts. This is not a good plan. Just dirty another bowl if you want to add different things into each loaf!)

Am I a Southerner? And a Hippie?

2009-08-27T16:56:00.003-04:00

In response to my husband digging around the kitchen the other night looking for snacks, I decided to make some homemade snack food. I was inspired by a lunch box snack posting on Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn. The hippie in me decided on homemade granola bars and the Southerner in my opted for cheese straws.

Roughly following the recipe for granola bars, I warmed the moist ingredients: cashew butter, brown rice syrup, honey, vanilla, and brown sugar. Meanwhile, in a bowl I combined puffed rice, oats, some Grape Nuts-like cereal, dried cherries, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. I sprinkled cinnamon over everything and then poured on the warmed sweet gooey mixture. I mixed everything up until it was all coated and sticky. I turned it out on a parchment paper lined pan and cooked it for 25 minutes at 325. After I took the tray out, I pressed down on the top and then let them cool. When cooled, I cut it up to make about 10 bars.

Next up the savory snack was cheese straws, which remind me of my grandmother. I am not sure she ever made them in the straw form but she definitely used a similar dough to make little round crackers. Tastiness!

I combined the room temperature butter (1 stick) with the cheddar cheese (8 ounces, grated) using a hand mixer. In another bowl, I sifted flour (1 2/3C) with dry mustard (1 1/4t), cayenne (1/4t), and salt (1t). I added the dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time to the cheese and butter continuing to blend with the hand mixer. I added 2T water to finish off the dough. I rolled it out and chilled it for about 20 minutes.

Then I sliced 1/2 inch strips and tried to twist them, which didn't work very well. I put them on a cookie sheet and baked them for about 12 minutes. I discovered you don't want them to brown at all but just look like golden cheesy goodness. They look lovely standing up in a pint glass for a little snack.

Gazpacho

2009-08-26T07:41:00.008-04:00

Last night I sat out on the porch with my husband mulling over whether or not to cook dinner. Guilt over the 1/2 loaf of stale bread from the farmer's market this past Saturday led me to trying my hand at a batch of gazpacho. I did some internet searching and couldn't find quite the recipe I had developing in my head. I called my mom and explained that I wasn't leaving the house for any additional ingredients and gave her the list of what I had. I mostly took her advice, except I added onion when she said not to. I'll probably regret that when I try the leftovers today and the onion will have become more potent!

First, I sliced about 4 or 5 thick slices from the middle of the stale 1/2 loaf. I roughly chopped those into large hunks and put them in a bowl with about 1/2C water, 1-2T olive oil, and 1 diced clove of garlic. I set that aside to let the bread soak up the liquid and thinking that maybe the liquid would also take the edge off the raw garlic.

Meanwhile, I peeled 3 tomatoes and quartered them. I peeled and roughly chopped 1 and 1/2 cucumbers. I added about 2T chopped red onion, counter to my mom's advice. My husband brought in 2 small jalapenos from the garden which I deseeded and chopped. I tossed those vegetables into the food processor with 1T sherry vinegar, 1T olive oil, and black pepper. (You could add more raw garlic at this point.)

Next, I added the bread to the vegetable mix in the food processor. I mixed until there were no longer large chunks of bread. The result was quite tasty and I didn't even have to adjust any seasonings. I let it sit in the refrigerator while the swiss chard and ricotta pie (recipe from July 10th) finished baking. The two were a good dinner combination!

Pickles!

2009-08-24T07:21:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend I made 9 pints of pickles. On Saturday, I went cucumber picking at one of the three farms that produce our weekly farm share. I hadn't been to that particular farm yet and I took a friend on the adventure. I missed the turn several times and then we wandered around the field for a bit before we found the plants. The cucumbers seemed to be at the end of their season so many of the cucumbers were quite large. I brought them home and sampled one and it was tasty and not tough, as I'd feared.

I made two varieties: dill and bread & butter. I used the recipe in The Vegetarian Epicure: Book 2 for the dill pickles and one from Simply Recipes for the bread and butter pickles. The bread and butter chips wanted to be chilled for a few hours before canning so I prepared them first. I sliced up about 2 1/2 lbs. of cucumbers with 1 lb. of onion and tossed them with 1/4 Kosher salt. I layered ice on top of the mixture, covered it with a towel, and put it in the fridge for about 4 hours. Meanwhile, I made the dill spears. I sliced up the cucumbers, made the brine, and sterilized the jars. I put fresh heads of dill in each of 6 pint jars and then put in the spears. I filled the jars with the hot brine to within 1/2 inch of the rim, sealed them, and put them in a water bath for 20 minutes.

Then I finished the bread and butter chips. I mixed up the brine, put in the chips 'til just boiling, and then filled the jars. First, I filled the jars with the pickles and then I filled the jars with the brine to within 1/2 inch of the top. Finally, I put the jars in a water bath. I can't wait to try them!

More Jam: peach and plum

2009-08-22T08:51:00.005-04:00

In our fruit share this week we got blueberries, peaches, and red plums. I also got an extra 1/2 peck of peaches. I had the intention of making peach butter but I think I need even more peaches for that adventure. I think after the hours and hours of cooking, I think my 1/2 peck of peaches may result in a spoonful of peach butter. Not really, but for all that effort I think I need to start with a bit more fruit. So what is plan B? Jam, of course!12 peaches + 1 1/2C sugar + 2T lemon juice + 25 minutes of boiling = JAM!

I was thinking of experimenting with some spices or some fresh ginger but I wanted to try straight up peach jam first. I think it is a bit runny but pretty tasty! (Almost as good as clotted cream on my scone!)

19 red plums (1 1/2 lbs) + 1 1/2C sugar + 1/2 a lemon = JAM!

I cooked the half a lemon with the plums in hopes that it would help the jam set better.

I think it worked out as I think the plum jam is more jammy than the peach.

And the blueberries, well they are tasty by the handful and on a bowl of cereal if they make it that far!

Scones

2009-08-20T12:07:00.003-04:00

This morning I made currant scones. I love scones. I wish I had clotted cream to go with them, but nonetheless, I love scones. I am fond of the cream scone recipe in The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas. There is a new edition of this cookbook called The New Vegetarian Epicure published in 1996 and I don't know if the recipe is in that edition or not. I use a copy I found in a used book store a few years ago with the publication date of 1972.

Cream Scones

1C buttermilk

1 egg

2T sugar

3 1/2C flour

2t baking powder

1t baking soda

1/2t salt

1/2C melted butter

1/3C currants

Preheat the oven to 400. Whisk the first three ingredients in a bowl. Sift together the dry ingredients. Add 2/3 of the dry mixture to the wet and stir to fully incorporate. Add in the melted butter about 1/3 at a time until fully combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and the currants. (I used the currants I dried about a month ago and they are delicious. They actually taste like currants instead of the dried currants I've used in the past.) Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead it for a few minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. Separate the dough into three equal parts. Pat out each ball into thick circles about 4 inches across and use a sharp knife to cut these into quarters. Place these on a buttered baking sheet and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Eat warm plain, with butter, jam, or clotted cream if you are lucky! Keep them in an airtight container for a couple days.

Tomato Pie

2009-08-19T07:00:00.007-04:00

It doesn't quite seem right to post a tomato recipe in the midst of this blight affecting the Northeast (check out this article on Civil Eats for some more information). The three farms that produce our farmshare haven't been hit, which is wonderful! They only have greenhouse tomatoes so far this season and we've only gotten one tomato per week. The tomatoes I used were grown in Pennsylvania, which has been hit but not as hard as areas of NY and CT.

Tomato Pie! (And I don't mean the Sicilian style of pizza often called a tomato pie.) I am not sure where the tomato pie comes from. Is it British? Is it Southern? My first awareness of tomato pie can be traced to southwestern Massachusetts and northwestern CT. A few years ago when my parents were planning to build a house they briefly hired an architect who lived in CT. He mentioned the tomato pie at a tea shop in CT. My mom and I went to that tea shop and as memory serves we had some tasty tomato pie but it is overshadowed in my memory by a delicious rhubarb dessert. Following that tomato pie experience, my parents and I had lunch at the architect's house. We were served a tomato pie. I don't remember either of those pies well enough to know if what I made last night was similar or not. But what I concocted was so yummy we only have one little piece left (and we didn't have any guests for dinner)!

Recipe from Simply Recipes:

1 pie shell (I used the store brand refrigerated prepared shell.)

3 tomatoes

1/2 to a whole onion (I used a Vidalia)

1/4C basil leaves, chopped

1 1/2-2C grated cheese (I used sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack)

3/4C mayonnaise

1t hot sauce

pepper

I pre-baked my pie shell at 350 for 8 minutes. It didn't work out so well as it collapsed down the sides and I had to pull the edges back up to hold the filling. The recipe says if you make a homemade shell to freeze it before baking, maybe I should have done that even with the store bought shell. The recipe calls for 1/2 a raw onion but mentions that you could caramelize it. I can't pass up a caramelized onion so I sliced the whole onion up in half rings and put them in a pan at high heat with 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 butter.

Once the onions had browned I piled them up in the center of the pan, lowered the heat, and let them cook. Meanwhile, I halved the tomatoes and squeezed out some of the moisture. I then roughly chopped the tomatoes. I piled all the basil leaves up together, rolled them up, and sliced to make thin strips of basil. In a bowl, I combined the cheese, mayo, hot sauce (I used Louisiana), and pepper. The recipe says it should be the consistency of a gooey snow ball, which is a lovely description but I am not quite sure what it means. Mine looked like shredded cheese coated in mayo.

After reconstructing my pie shell, I spread the onions across the bottom, layered the tomatoes on top, and sprinkled the chopped basil on top. Then I spread the cheese mixture across the top. I baked this at 350 for about 35 minutes. The recipe says to bake for 25 to 45 minutes. At 25 minutes my pie looked almost done but at 35 minutes it was bubbling in many places around the edge and the topping was getting nicely browned. We let it cool and dove right in. Yum!

Ratatouille

2009-08-14T08:13:00.003-04:00

I just finished reading A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, which I loved! The author began writing about food on her blog: Orangette. Each chapter of the book includes a recipe and last night I tried her recipe for Roasted Eggplant Ratatouille.

1 lb. eggplant, sliced crosswise into 1-in thick rounds

Olive oil

1 lb. zucchini, halved, sliced into 1/2-in thick half moons

1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

4 large cloves of garlic, sliced thin

5 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3/4t salt

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1/4C finely chopped fresh basil

To begin she suggests roasting the eggplant in the oven rather

than cooking it in a pan. Take note that these are thick slices of eggplant; I got 6 out of a regular size eggplant. I lightly salted the slices and let them release some moisture on paper towels for about 10 minutes. Then brush or spray them with oil on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes (flipping once) at 400. Remove from oven and allow them to cool. Cut the slices into 1-in cubes.

Meanwhile, cook the zucchini (I used yellow squash) in ~2T olive oil for 10-12 minutes at med-high until the pieces are browning but not soggy. Remove these from the pan leaving any remaining oil and set aside. If no oil, add 1T to the pan, reduce heat to medium, and cook the onion for ~5 minutes.

Add the garlic (sliced not minced) and red pepper and cook for another ~5 minutes but don't let the garlic brown. Add the tomatoes, salt (I used less than called for because I had salted the eggplant), thyme, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low (I had to use med-low to get any action), cover, and cook for ~5 minutes. Add the eggplant and zucchini, stir, cover, and cook over low (med-low) for 15-20 minutes until everything is tender. Turn off heat and stir in basil.

Calabacitas

2009-08-12T10:23:00.004-04:00

Calabacitas: squash, onions, corn, and chiles; yummy side dish or taco filling.

4-5 squash (any combination of yellow squash and zucchini will work), sliced into 1/4 inch thick medallions

1 sweet onion, halved and sliced

Corn (1 can or 3 ears)

1 can green chiles (I often get Ortega or Casa Fiesta, but don't use canned jalapenos unless you want SPICY)

4-5 strips of bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces

In a cast iron or large non-stick skillet, cook bacon over med-high heat until done but not crispy. Add onions to pan and cook until translucent or even lightly browned (6-8 minutes). Reduce heat to medium and add squash in batches, about 1/3 at a time, to make sure it gets its fair share of bacon grease and direct exposure to the hot pan. Add corn and chiles and cook over med-low heat until everything is warm through. This dish can be prepared first and sit while the rest of the meal is cooking.

At the beach last week we used canned corn and only a few chiles because I accidently picked up canned jalapenos and we didn't want to make everyone wince and cry in pain from the heat. On Monday night when we made calabacitas to go with our tacos, we used leftover grilled corn from the night before. We had about 2 1/2 ears left and I scraped the kernels right off the cobs and tossed it in instead of canned corn. Delicious if you have the corn left over but not necessary.

Return from the beach

2009-08-12T09:38:00.005-04:00

I hope you didn't miss my posts too much over the past week. I was at the beach with my family for the week. It is a 25+ year tradition and we've got it down to a science now. The food and the drinks are the main focus of our trip with a couple daily swims in the ocean tossed in. OH, I can't forget to mention my annual quest for East Carolina BBQ, which is my favorite form of BBQ in the world!

The first night of food, which we walked into late so I may not have the items quite right, included pesto pasta, tomato salad (tomatoes, oil, and garlic), mixed greens with apple, nuts, and blue cheese, and shrimp sauteed with wine and garlic. Sunday was my husband's and my night to cook. He whipped up 20+ chile rellenos, which is a crazy sort of roasting, peeling, stuffing, and deep frying process. We also had calabacitas (recipe in the next post), shrimp with a spicy dry rub, and a green salad with a salsa buttermilk dressing. Monday night arrived with a paella prepared by my uncle (and a host of support chefs and fire tenders) on a charcoal grill beneath the beach house with only the ocean breeze to combat. Accompanying the paella we had shrimp (see the pattern: shrimp, shrimp, shrimp) and my aunt's aioli. Tuesday night my brother and his wife prepared pulled pork bbq using a pork butt from a pig raised by friends of theirs. Along with the pork we had cole slaw, corn muffins, and sweet potatoes. Don't be alarmed, we had plenty of shrimp for appetizers! Wednesday night we had a pasta and bean dish served over greens with beautiful grape tomatoes. And the shrimp that night was jerked by my sister! Thursday welcomed another paella-like production for the fideau, which is pasta instead of rice prepared like a paella. With that we had a tomato salad, hoisin shrimp, aioli and bread to soak it all up. And Friday night we intended to eat leftovers but my husband made batter for shrimp cakes and cheddar bay biscuits (think Red Lobster but BETTER!). And my aunt added gambas al ajillo and lentil salad to the menu. What a delicious end to a wonderful week of eating!

And lest anyone worry that we weren't eating other meals there was a daily breakfast spread of eggs, bacon/sausage, potatoes, tomatoes, and muffins. Lunch usually involved leftovers or a trip out for BBQ. And appetizers included shrimp with their shells on grilled in a hot, dry skillet for a few minutes each side 'til just done and served with cocktail sauce and on one lucky night we get my aunt's beer battered shrimp, which we have little battles over no matter how many she prepares!

Apricots!

2009-07-31T18:02:00.011-04:00

Ahh, fresh local apricots. We got 2 1/2 lbs. of apricots in our regular fruit share this week, along with 1 1/2 lbs. of golden sugar plums and 1 pint of sweet cherries. I also ordered ('cause I am crazy) 5 lbs. of apricots at wholesale prices. I just can't seem to turn down these opportunities for abundant amounts of local fresh fruit.

The first mission was to make Apricot Riesling Jam because I have been thinking about it ever since the recipe was posted on Simply Recipes.

I made it on Wednesday with about 4 1/2C of apricots, 2C sugar, 1/3C local Riesling, and 5T lemon juice. It simmered and I skimmed off the bright yellow-orange foam. I ended up with 3 half pint jars. (I know there are only two jars in the picture but I already gave one away.) Yum!

I just finished making apricot chutney. In fact, 3 jars are still in the hot water bath! I used a recipe from Parsley, Peppers, Potatoes, & Peas: A Cook;s Companions for Handling, Using, and Storing a Garden's Bounty by Pat Katz. I got the book at the public library a few weeks ago and it has been a great reference for cooking and storing the veggies and fruits we've gotten in our farm share. What follows isn't exactly the recipe from the book, as I didn't follow it precisely.

5 lbs. apricots

1C white vinegar

1/2C apple cider vinegar

1 1/2C white sugar

1C raisins

1 1/2C Vidalia onion, chopped

3 small cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 inch piece ginger, minced

1t cinnamon

1/2t black pepper

1/2t cloves

1/4t allspice

1/4t cayenne

I put all the ingredients in a large stockpot and brought it to a simmer. I stirred it a few times and let it cook for 20-25 minutes until the apricots were soft and the chutney was thickening. I then ladled it into sterilized jars and put them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. (There goes the timer!) The recipe made 7 half pints. I can't wait to try it, but the recipe suggests waiting at least a month before eating chutneys.

Blueberry and Apricot Buttermilk Cake

2009-07-27T17:18:00.005-04:00

On Sunday night after chicken sandwiches, squash and tabouli we ate cake. Earlier in the monthI posted about a cake I made with black raspberries that was supposed to be made with blueberries.

Last week I bought blueberries to add to the currant jam and I had nearly a quart of local blueberries left. But in our farm share this week we got apricots and I couldn't decide between a blueberry cake and an apricot cobbler or pie. The compromise was a blueberry AND apricot cake. I used the recipe for blueberry boy bait from smitten kitchen. I used about 1C blueberries total, as the recipe calls for, with 1/2C in the batter and 1/2C as a topping. I also used 3 apricots. I blanched them to take off the skins and the two ripest ones nearly turned to mush. I added those two to the batter and I used the one that kept its structure in the topping. The result was that the cake batter was lightly flavored with the apricots I added in and the chunks were still discernible in the topping. And as before, I used buttermilk rather than regular milk. Overall, it was a hit. As you can see we only have 3 pieces left!

Tabouli

2009-07-27T09:04:00.005-04:00

Last night we had a mostly chilled summer dinner of grilled chicken sandwiches, grilled squash and tabouli. First, for the tabouli. I almost followed the recipe on the bag of bulgur wheat but minus the fresh mint. If I had planted the mint that I bought weeks ago, we may have had enough to add the fresh mint. Instead, I left the mint to fend for itself in its little plastic tub. I went looking for it and realized it must have gotten so dry that it was light enough to get blown right off the back deck. Ooops. Now it is happily in the ground but I had to use dried mint in the tabouli!

1/2C dry bulgur wheat

1/4C chopped parsley

1/4C chopped fresh mint (I used about 1T dried)

1 small cucumber, chopped (I used a platinum cuke from the farmers market)

1 tomato, chopped

1/4C green onions, chopped

1/3C lemon juice

2-3T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Following the directions on the bag, I rinsed the bulgur in a strainer, set the strainer in a bowl, and covered the bulgur with boiling water. I let this sit while I chopped all the ingredients. With everything but the bulgur in a bowl, I stirred it up. I drained the bulgur, rinsed it with cold water, pressed the water out through the strainer, and fluffed the bulgur. I stirred in the bulgur and chilled the tabouli for a couple hours.

The chicken for the sandwiches was cooked on the grill and sliced up. On slices of a baguette we had chicken, lettuce, tomato, fresh mozzarella, and pesto. We used a batch of garlic scape and walnut pesto. On the side we also had grilled squash including a zucchini, a yellow squash, and several very sweet and tasty patty pan squash. All the squash came in our farm share this week.

Lentils everyone will love!

2009-07-21T10:54:00.010-04:00

This is a cold lentil salad that everyone will love. A couple of summers ago my husband's cousin lived with us for a few months. When I would make this salad, which is usually enough as a side dish for about 8 people, he and my husband would polish it off in one night. And neither of them like lentils. Hmmm. The saddest part of that story is that this salad is great the next day so peering in that empty bowl was always a disappointment.

I got this recipe from my aunt who makes this every year at the beach. It is a favorite there too. I am not quite sure how she scales this up to feed nearly 20 people, but it is always a hit!

1 1/2C green lentils

6C chicken stock

1 garlic clove, whole and pierced with a toothpick

1t herbes de Provence

1 small bay leaf

1 tomato (the recipe calls for the tomato to be peeled, seeded, and chopped, but I just chop it)

3 green onions, finely chopped including some of the green tops

1T fresh parsley, chopped (I use about 2T)

1T capers, drained (I use about 2T)

Rinse and pick at the lentils. Put lentils in pan with stock, garlic, herbes de Provence, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer uncovered. Cook the lentils until tender, about 20 minutes, and be careful not to overcook them as they will turn to MUSH! Drain the lentils and leave them to cool. Remove the bay leaf and garlic clove.

Once cool, put the lentils in a bowl with the tomato, onions, parsley and capers. Whisk the vinaigrette (see below), add to the lentils, and toss. Sprinkle crumbled goat cheese (recipe calls for 2 1/2 ounces of chevre and I use about 4 ounces) on top and serve, or chill and serve.

Vinaigrette

1/2C olive oil (I use about 1/4C)

2T lemon juice

1t Dijon mustard

1/2t salt

fresh ground black pepper

Macaroni salad

2009-07-20T11:15:00.003-04:00

Just one more quick post for today. I have been experimenting with cold pasta salads this summer. (I posted one with ingredients similar to an antipasto platter.) Since then I have been using the toss-in-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink method and for the most part they have been tasty, but I have been in search of a simple and classic macaroni salad.

Last night we got a spontaneous invitation from some friends to come over for burgers. It was about 5pm and I asked what we should bring. A green salad, maybe? Both my husband and his friend wanted a macaroni salad. And by 5:30 I had the salad ready to go and we were at their place before 6pm. I used a recipe that was posted just the other day at Simply Recipes. Conveniently, we already had a roasted pepper in the fridge, parsley in the garden, and spring onions from our farm share. And so because we had all the ingredients it was as simple as cooking the pasta and hard boiling a few eggs. I worried that the salad wouldn't be cold enough but running cold water over the pasta after it was cooked did the trick. This is a delicious and simple macaroni salad!

Currants, currants, and more currants!

2009-07-20T08:17:00.004-04:00

Last week black currants were available at wholesale prices through our farm share. Figuring I should start out slowly, I ordered the 5lb minimum. I realized when I picked up my 5lbs that the regular share for the week was cherries and more currants. Home again, home again with 6lbs of black currants! (The picture shows the 1lb we got in our regular share for the week.)

I started out on Wednesday by washing and freezing about 1lb. On Thursday, I dried about 1lb in our food dehydrator. This was the first time I had used it and I was shocked that it took 24hrs to dry the currants! Nonetheless, now I have a few cups of dried currants to be used in scones, yummy.

I tackled the rest of the currants this weekend by making 3(!) batches of jelly and preserves.

The first batch I made was plain black currant jelly using the recipe in Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Fruit. I cooked 4C of black currants and then let the juice drain out leaving the skins and seeds behind. I was left with 2C of juice, which I cooked with 1 1/2C of sugar. From this I got 4 4-oz jars of currant jelly.

For the second batch, I started improvising! I wanted to use the black raspberries that I have been saving from our backyard, but my husband has dreams of a black raspberry pie. I had heard from the woman in charge of the fruit farm share that her favorite combination with black currants is blueberries. At the store I found local blueberries available for $3/quart. In the next batch I used about 3C black currants and 1qt. blueberries. This resulted in about 3C juice to which I added 2C sugar. This boiled away for a few minutes and was enough for 6 4-oz jars of black currant and blueberry jelly!

Remember those many many many pounds of strawberries that I picked a month or so ago? I took a 1qt. bag out of the freezer to thaw. I used the remaining currants, about 3C, and the strawberries to make what I think might be called preserves since I used jelly and jam making techniques. I cooked the currants first and let the mash sit with juice dripping through the strainer. Meanwhile, I cooked down the strawberries with 2C sugar and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. After the strawberries had cooked down, I added the currant juice. I let this boil for a few minutes and then filled 2 8-oz and 2 4-oz jars of currant strawberry preserves. Yum!!

Pimento Cheese!

2009-07-14T10:54:00.007-04:00

I have been trying to do a little bit of cooking in the morning before I leave the house for school. I usually make a side dish to go along with dinner or something we can each for lunch the following day. This morning my project was pimento cheese. Last week red and yellow bell peppers were as good a price as I have seen them for awhile: $1.99/lb. I bought one of each color and roasted them when we had the grill going for sausages. After they were nicely blackened, I put them in a brown paper bag to steam. Once they had cooled enough to handle I peeled them and took out the seeds. I put them in a jar in the fridge.
This morning I took out the roasted red pepper and sliced it up in to about 10 strips. I sliced an 8-oz. block of sharp cheddar cheese into chunks that could easily fit into the chute of my food processor. I started with the shredder attachment and alternated between adding cheese and peppers. Once I had shredded everything I moved everything to the side of the bowl in the food processor so I could put the regular chopping attachment in the bowl. I pulsed a few times so that the cheese and roasted peppers were mixed but I didn't want to turn it to mush. (This process is really best done using a meat grinder, but I don't have one.) I decided to store the cheese and roasted pepper mix without adding mayo but I'll add the mayo in batches as I use it for crackers or a sandwich.

Guacamole

2009-07-13T08:16:00.001-04:00

I hear that the best avocadoes are “black and blasted” according to Daniel Pinkwater, though I don’t personally know the reference. But that is about the perfect description of the look of a tasty avocado and the feel should give but if your thumb sinks too far or if the skin feels empty under your pressure, stay away! Also, I think avocadoes are best if they can sit on the counter or in the fruit bowl for a day or two to ripen.

Halve 2 avocadoes and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

Cover with the juice from ½ a lime and mash with the back of a fork.

Add to taste the following:

1/2t salt

1/2t dried oregano

1/4t garlic powder or 1 fresh clove of garlic

1/4t onion powder or 1T diced red onion

1T cilantro, chopped

Lime juice (from ½ to 1 whole lime total)

(Many recipes call for tomatoes too but I prefer for the tomatoes to stay in the salsa!)

Fish Tacos

2009-07-13T08:14:00.001-04:00

We grilled the fish outside over charcoal; however, it can also be baked at 350 for about 12 minutes or until it starts to flake easily with a fork.

1lb haddock coated lightly with oil and lime juice

Tasty toppings include….grated queso fresco or Monterey jack cheese, lettuce, cilantro, chopped fresh jalapenos, scallions, salsa, guacamole, and a hot sauce.

We lucked out with the perfect hot sauce for the tacos! Our neighbor is Thai and a great cook. She made us a hot sauce that was the perfect spice and tang to go with fish, but heck if I know what’s in it!

And we fry our own shells, which makes any taco the most scrumptious meal ever! We buy corn tortillas, usually La Banderita brand in the refrigerated section. In a small fry pan, heat at med-high about ¼ inch of vegetable oil. You want the oil hot enough that when you slide in a tortilla it sizzles. Fry one side to light golden brown (usually 2 min) and flip. Using tongs fold the tortilla in half to form a shell. Fry about 1 min and flip to fry the other half of the outside of the shell you just folded for 1 min. Remove it from the pan and let the oil drip off in the pan. Then place it on paper towel to cool and harden. If you place it upside down more oil will drain off and it’ll keep its shape better than if you let it collapse closed on its side. These shells will keep pretty well. You can wrap unused ones in foil, keep them for a day, and they don’t need to be refrigerated. You can also go ahead and fill them, wrap them, and refrigerate them for lunch the next day!

Tortes and Pies, yum yum!

2009-07-10T09:52:00.009-04:00

This week in our farm share we got something that wasn't green: yellow squash! It is still early in the season here for yellow squash so we were asked to only take 2. I used one in a delicious torte based on a recipe from smitten kitchen: herbed summer squash and potato torte. Without any careful measurements, I halved the recipe to make one torte. I used 1 yellow squash and 3 red potatoes (the recipe calls for yukon golds), each about the size of a baseball. This worked about to be about two layers of each potatoes and squash and the top layer was a mix of the two. After each layer of squash and potatoes I drizzled olive oil and added the cheese mixture from the recipe (parmesan, flour, fresh thyme, black pepper, salt, and fresh green onions also from the farm share). I baked this covered at only 350 (because my pie was in the oven too) for about 20 minutes and then upped the temperature to the called for 375 for another 20 minutes and then let it cook uncovered for about 15 additional minutes. I also added a touch more cheese before that final 15 minutes: it was looking a little bare on top. What a tasty treat, especially with the farm fresh squash and scallions! (And as a side note, the piece I just ate reheated for breakfast was good too!)

And on to the pie. I hope you weren't getting too excited about another desert. We still have blackberry cake left from the other night.

This pie was a savory pie. I used a spinach and ricotta recipe, but I substituted swiss chard for the spinach.

I use a store brand refrigerated pie shell, though obviously this would be all the tastier if you made a homemade shell.

Cook 10 oz. frozen spinach, cool, and drain.

Mix with 1 lb. ricotta cheese (I use skim, low fat ricotta.)

Add 1 large egg

1/4C parmesan, grated (powdery works better than strands)

1/3C flour

1/2t nutmeg

Fill the pie shell with the mixture and top with an additional 1/4C parmesan and dot with about 2T butter.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until the top is starting to brown. (If you use swiss chard and put a torte in the oven halfway through, it'll take an extra 10 minutes at 375 to brown!)

Instead of spinach, I used the fresh swiss chard from our farm share. The taste of the chard in the pie was richer and more interesting that the spinach usually is; however, the chard must retain so much more moisture than the spinach because it altered the texture of the pie. I steamed the swiss chard nearly to death, or so it seemed, and yet, it was still moist enough to make the pie less dense than usual. The taste was worth it, though, and as the pie cooled it solidified nicely. So maybe swiss chard and ricotta pie is really designed to be eaten for lunch for the next two days, which is exactly what my husband has done. 1/4 of a swiss chard and ricotta pie + 1 piece of blackberry cake = lunch!

Pork, Salad, and Cake!

2009-07-09T09:18:00.007-04:00

For dinner the other night I made a pork tenderloin. I was inspired by a recipe for pork with an orange marmalade glaze. I more or less followed the recipe with approximately 1/3C soy sauce, 1/3C honey, 1/3C orange marmalade, hot pepper flakes, and black pepper. I let this simmer for about 10 minutes on the stove, let it cool to room temperature, and then let the pork sit in about 1/2 the mixture for about 30 minutes in the fridge. The recipe calls for at least an hour marinade, but I didn't have time. I cooked the tenderloin, covered with foil, at 350 for about 30-35 minutes. After about 20 minutes, I flipped it over once and spooned on the rest of the sauce. I took it out of the oven when it reached nearly 160 degrees, figuring it would keep cooking for a few minutes.On the side I had a green salad made with a fresh head of green lettuce from our farm share. I added green pepper, red onions, and some sliced carrots. I made a quick salsa buttermilk salad dressing. I got the idea from a local restaurant that serves a salsa buttermilk dressing on their taco salad that I absolutely love. I haven't quite matched what they create, but I have gotten close with a combination of salsa, buttermilk, and sour cream. Sometimes I also add some lime juice and chopped cilantro. For the salsa, I usually use the jar of salsa we always have in our fridge: Herdez medium (sometimes hot) salsa.And last, but definitely not least(!), I made cake.

We have a black raspberry bush in our backyard that reached its peak this week. Last year we had enough from that bush and one at my husband's shop to make a pie for 4th of July. Obviously, the weather was better last year if they were ripe a week earlier. Unfortunately, the bush at the shop was cut down so I relied on our bush and one down the street next to the bus stop.

I didn't have enough berries for a pie so I made a cake. I used the recipe for a blueberry cake from smitten kitchen. Instead of blueberries, I used black raspberries. The recipe calls for 1C of blueberries and you mix 1/2 in the batter and sprinkle 1/2 on top before cooking. I used about 1 1/2C black raspberries with 1/2 in the batter and 1/2 on top. This worked out well because the black raspberries don't expand like blueberries do so having more berries was necessary. The recipe calls for whole milk or buttermilk.

I used buttermilk (we had it around from the coleslaw and salsa buttermilk dressing) and I am so glad I did because it added a lovely tang. This is a delicious cake: moist, perfectly sweet, and rich. I am sure this cake would work well with a number of different berry combinations!

July 4th!

2009-07-08T08:35:00.005-04:00

My husband and I had a lovely getaway over the 4th of July weekend. We met a couple of our friends for a relaxing weekend of sun, boating, fishing, and of course, EATING!

Dinner Saturday night came off the charcoal grill. Our main dish was a selection of grilled sausages (lamb and mint, mushroom and asiago, and hot! Thai) and sliced onions.

On the side we had a roasted potato salad. My husband diced and roasted the potatoes in the oven. The roasted potatoes were mixed with about 2T mayo, diced orange pepper, diced fresh jalapenos, red onions, and probably a few other things. I didn't carefully watch the whole process, oops!

We also had corn on the cob roasted on the grill. The corn, still in its husks, soaked in water for about 30 minutes while the grill was getting hot. Then my husband stuck it on the grill for 20-30 minutes, as we usually do. After taking it off the grill, he let it steam in a paper bag, while the sausages and onions cooked. He added a new tasty step at the end of the process: he pulled back the husks and put the corn straight on the grill. By finishing it off this way the corn browned in a few places, the sugars carmelized, and the resulting flavor was wonderfully smokey and sweet.

Luckily, one of our friends had the energy left after dinner to whip up a batch of brownies from scratch. She followed the Joy of Cooking recipe and they were a perfectly rich chocolate treat.

Radishes, Turnips, Cabbage, oh my!

2009-07-02T12:30:00.004-04:00

Along with a ton more kale, spring greens, lettuce, and garlic scapes, we got daikon radishes and hakurei turnips. I must confess we've gotten the turnips before and I haven't figured out what to do with them. I ate a couple raw but that got old. Last night I shredded about 4 hakurei turnips and added chopped cilantro and lime juice. It made a tasty little slaw.

Speaking of slaw, I also made a traditional cole slaw based on a Cooks Illustrated recipe. I used a pre-packaged bag of cabbage and carrots because we can't eat a whole head of cabbage worth of slaw in a timely fashion. I wilted the shredded cabbage with salt according to the recipe and I didn't notice the difference in absorption that they claimed wilting should make. I made the dressing loosely based on their proportions. The recipe calls for 3 lbs. of cabbage and I used 1 lb. For the dressing, I used about 1/4C buttermilk, 1T mayo, 1T sour cream, 1t cider vinegar, pinch of sugar, black pepper, and 1 sliced shallot. The recipe called for parsley but I didn't add any.

And back to the farm share...I used one daikon radish last night and followed the suggestion on the farm collective website to pan fry radish slices. I was skeptical but it was pretty tasty. I sliced the radish in 1/4 inch thick coins and fried in a hot pan with vegetable oil and few drops of sesame oil. I finished them with a bit of sea salt and they were tasty little treats.

Kale Chips

2009-07-01T08:01:00.003-04:00

Based on a recipe posted on our farm collective's website, I made kale chips. I washed the kale and cut most of the larger leaves in half. I should have cut the leaves into smaller pieces, maybe quarters. I also should have trimmed more of the tough stems from the spines of the leaves. I tossed the leaves in olive oil but it would have worked better to just lightly spray them with oil as they were too greasy. I spread them on a cookie sheet in one layer and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. Into the oven they went at 250 degrees for 30 minutes. Surprisingly tasty!

Burgers, baby bok choy, and cupcakes!

2009-06-30T11:32:00.003-04:00

Grilling in the rain! We had burgers on the grill made from tasty local beef mixed with whatever herbs and spices my husband mixed in. Topped with baby greens and Cambozola, the burgers were perfect. We also tried grilling garlic scapes. My husband thought they were okay but I wasn't really a fan. I much preferred using the garlic scapes in pesto!

I cooked the baby bok choy

we got in our farm share for our side dish. In 1T vegetable oil and a few drops of sesame oil, I let 1t garlic, 1 inch of grated ginger, and 1 sliced shallot cook 'til they were fragrant. Then I tossed in the bok choy and turned the greens 'til they were coated in the garlic, ginger, and shallots. The leaves wilted quickly and then I added some water and covered the pan to let the stems steam for about 3 minutes.

Oh, and don't forget dessert!

I made chocolate cupcakes starting with a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I only used 6 oz of chocolate and it worked out just fine. I added strawberry puree (leftover from Sunday and the crepe adventure) as a middle layer as I spooned the batter in the pan.

It probably would have been better to just mix the puree into all the batter as the layer just bubbled up and out making a little bit of a mess. Finally, my husband said he couldn't stand to see such naked cupcakes so he had to make frosting!

We didn't have a full 8 0z of cream cheese so he used what we had, butter, powdered sugar, and maple syrup and mixed it up for the frosting. This cupcake recipe is great and would work well with many additions like berries, nuts, chips, etc. Yum!

Sunday and strawberry crepes!

2009-06-29T09:23:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we woke to a lovely and sunny Sunday morning. We had two morning glory blooms and a couple ripe black raspberries to nibble off the bushes. In the fridge were the last of the fresh strawberries from this week's farm share. A little birdie put the idea of pancakes in my husband's head and away he went. He stores recipes in his head like some people know their sports trivia. His crepe recipe follows the Joy of Cooking French Pancake recipe pretty closely, I believe. And he is a big fan of making sweet and savory stuffings for them. This morning it was a sweet strawberry filling that won out.

First, he made a puree of about a pint of strawberries.

Next, he mixed this with creamy goat cheese for a smooth, pink filling. After he had cooked a plateful of pancakes he started rolling them up with the strawberry cheese filling. Next it was breakfast on the back porch!

Thursday night.

2009-06-25T18:59:00.010-04:00

Dinner tonight...steak fajitas, green salad, and dessert!

I found some sirloin strips for a good price so I snatched them up today at the store. I had planned to make lamb saag tonight but the beef changed my plan. I stuck the meat in a marinade of chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper, and oregano. I think I over did it on either the chili powder or the cumin because the meat cooked so fast and one of those powders didn't get to cook off enough.

I grilled green peppers and onions in oil, salt, pepper, oregano, and pepper flakes. And then in a hot pan I cooked the meat in small batches. We ate the fajitas with some guacamole, salsa, cheese, cilantro, and lettuce. YUM!

The green salad was greens and radishes from our farm share and cucumbers and carrots from the grocery store.

And dessert...strawberry and rhubarb cobbler with fresh fruit from our farm share. Only it wasn't as delicious as I'd hoped. The rhubarb needed to be cooked before going in the dish as it was still crunchy. And I added baking soda instead of baking powder and so the topping tasted metallic. And finally there is too much tapioca in the recipe for my liking as a serious jelly developed leaving no juices to be sopped up by the topping. Oh, well.

Chicken Tikka Masala

2009-06-25T07:19:00.009-04:00

Often when I get up in the morning, my husband has already left for work and he’s left the TV on the Weather Channel. I grab a cup of coffee and my laptop and sit on the couch for a few minutes until I catch the Local on the 8’s. Then I usually flip the channel to BBC America and leave the news on in the background while I am getting ready to go to school. Well, leaving BBC America on in the morning has created a little Gordon Ramsay obsession for me. You see, Kitchen Nightmares comes on at 8 am and so I sometimes watch about half the show while I am eating breakfast before I catch the bus. In any case, I managed to watch a few episodes of the f word as well, though I think Kitchen Nightmares is my fave! This led me to visit Channel 4s food page and I found this Chicken Tikka recipe.

In 2T oil I cooked 1 onion halved and sliced thinly for about 3 minutes. Then I added 2 green serrano peppers (deseeded and chopped), 3 cloves of garlic (pressed), and slightly more than an inch piece of ginger (grated).

I cooked this for 2-3 minutes. I added the chili powder (1/2t), tumeric (1t), garam masala (2t) and brown sugar (1T). I stirred this and let it cook for another couple of minutes until it was quite fragrant.This step really helps the aromatics of the spices come out so the deep flavor of the sauce can develop.

I then added tomato paste (1T) and diced tomatoes (1 14 oz can). (I really like the Muir Glen Fire Roasted tomatoes!) I let this simmer for 3-5 minutes and turned off the heat. This is a good stopping point if you want to leave the sauce to sit before you cook the meat.

I used 2 chicken breasts (the recipe calls for 4) and it was a good ratio of meat to sauce but then again, I love sauce!

I diced the chicken and put it in the empty (but not clean) pan with 1T additional oil. I let it get color on all sides but I didn’t cook it all the way through. I added the sauce back and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Next, I put the sauce in the food processor and blended it until smooth. I served this over basmati rice, with yogurt and cilantro. Yum!

Baked Beans

2009-06-22T10:06:00.003-04:00

In my book, baked beans are just the perfect addition to summer food off the grill. Whether its hot dogs and hamburgers, BBQ chicken, or pork chops, baked beans will always compliment a grilled meal! And beans pair nicely with a cooling item like coleslaw or a pasta salad.

I must warn you that what follows isn’t a strict recipe as my baked beans are never the same twice, but I do have a general method to my madness. I start with canned baked beans, which is cheating right off the bat, but it turns a full day or even overnight process and into a 30-45 minute breeze of a project.

The following ratios are based on using a 28 oz. can of vegetarian baked beans. I usually buy the store brand but Bush’s are tasty too. Then I add about…
1T of something sweet like molasses or brown sugar

2T ketchup

1T of yellow mustard or 1t dry mustard (I like Colman’s)

2T diced onion or 1t onion powder

1-2t black pepper

1-2t Worchester sauce (don’t add if you want to keep them vegetarian)

1T of something vinegar-y like apple cider vinegar or if you want some heat the vinegar with peppers in it.

Sometimes I add pinches of things like dried oregano, cumin, or chili powder.

I stir all the ingredients together and bake it at 325-350 for an hour or if you need it sooner you can up it to 375-400 and aim for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. None of the ingredients need to be cooked so it is just a matter of the flavors having time to meld. Baked beans are best if they are bubbling but not getting dry and crispy around the edges.

Jam!

2009-06-17T22:28:00.003-04:00

I made my first foray into jam making today. Yesterday I went berry picking and ended up with nearly 10lbs of fresh strawberries. This morning I set out to make a batch of strawberry jam. I used a recipe from Gourmet (1999) that I found referenced on the beautiful blog Basil and Ginger.

I used 3 lbs. of strawberries (washed, hulled, and quartered), 3C of sugar, and 1/3C lemon juice. Aside from my timing being all off (the jam was ready and the jars weren't) it was much easier than I'd imagined.

I mashed the berries in the stock pot and let them simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Then I added the sugar and lemon juice, stirred for about 2 minutes and then brought the mixture to a full boil. After about 5 minutes it really started to roll, bubble, and froth. I skimmed the foam off and stirred it quite frequently. I had chilled a plate in the freezer so I could check the consistency and after about 15 minutes it seemed to be jelling nicely. If the jars had been ready it would have been a snap. I had to wait for the jars to boil for 10 minutes and the lids for 5 minutes. Then I filled the jars (5 1/2 pint jars), leaving 1/4 inch headspace, put on the lids, screwed on the rings and put the jars back in the water bath for 15 minutes. I pulled them out and let them cool on a rack. And they all popped indicating they were sealed!

The second batch I made tonight went much more smoothly. I got the jars boiling before I even began the jam making and let them sit in the water bath until I was ready to fill them.

In this batch I used about 5C strawberries, 1C raspberries (frozen from last summer), and 2C rhubarb (fresh from our farm share today), 3C sugar, and 2T lemon juice. I used the same method as above for cooking up the mix and ended up with 4 1/2 pint jars.

I lucked out finding the Ball canning kit with the jar tongs, a magnet to get the lids out of boiling water, a canning funnel, and a little tool to measure the headspace. However, I had much less luck finding a round cooling rack to fit in the bottom of the stock pot. All the racks I found were 12 inch cake racks and they don't fit in the stock pot, it would have to be about 11 1/2 inches instead, argh. I put the jars right on the bottom of the pot and they didn't break, but that may have been good luck!

Ribs, Collards, Dinner Rolls, and Watermelon: It must be SUMMER! (almost)

2009-06-15T21:26:00.009-04:00

Tonight for dinner we had ribs, collards, freshly baked dinner rolls, and a big bowl of watermelon. The ribs were slow cooked with a dry rub using a recipe from Cooks Illustrated (July/August 2002). I used their dry rub method but I cooked them in the oven instead of over a hardwood fire. They lacked the smoky flavor but were still delicious!

Dry Rub for 2 racks of Baby Back Ribs

1T + 1/2t paprika

1 1/2t chili powder

1 3/4t cumin

1 1/2t brown sugar

3/4t oregano, dried

3/4t table salt or 1 1/2t kosher salt

3/4t black pepper

1t white pepper

1/2t cayenne pepper

I cut the racks into 3-4 rib pieces and applied the dry rub.

I put them in a Ziploc bag in the fridge for about 3 hours but you could let them sit overnight. I put them in a baking pan, covered it with foil, and baked them for 3 hours at 250 degrees. Every ½ hour I flipped them over. After 3 hours, I uncovered them and turned the heat up to 400 degrees. I cooked them for 12 minutes and turned them over and cooked them for another 6 minutes. YUM!

I used a collard greens recipe from Simply Recipes and managed to halve the amount of collards and most other things except the sesame oil, whoops. They were great other than that little slip!

And my husband made the rolls, which means I have no idea what he did. I saw some warm water go in a bowl with some yeast and sugar. He whisked that and added some vegetable oil. Then he started adding flour (2C+) until he had the desired consistency.

Then he kneaded the dough with more flour, caraway seeds, fennel seeds, and garlic powder. He made dough balls, placed them in a buttered dish, and baked them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Borrowed Recipes!

2009-06-14T22:58:00.006-04:00

Dinner tonight came from existing recipes, which all worked out pretty well! I made pork chops and a cherry dessert using recipes from the blog Simply Recipes. And I made kale with white beans using a recipe from Recipe Zaar.

Vermont Maple Syrup Pork Chops

I followed the recipe pretty closely but I only made 2 chops rather than 6. Instead of making only 1/3 the sauce I went ahead and made 1/2. I was glad to have the extra as the thickened gravy is delicious. Unfortunately the gravy was especially necessary because even taking 10 minutes off the cook time the chops were still overcooked. The recipe calls for 45 minutes and I set the timer for 35 minutes and wished I had taken them out 5 minutes sooner. I would suggest checking at 25 or 30 minutes with a meat thermometer. Pork should be cooked to 160 degrees but remember it keeps cooking after you take it out of the oven so anything above 150 should be fine.

Kale and White Beans

I followed this recipe to the tee except that I didn't have a tomato so I left that out. I would suggest using only 1T of brown sugar or maybe even none at all, except that if you include the tomato maybe it balances out the sweetness more. And I would add an extra 1T of balsamic. Additionally, there wasn't enough liquid to steam the kale, which also may be remedied by including the tomato. But I wished I had added a few tablespoons of water at the end when the recipe suggests covering the dish to melt the cheese with steam.

Cherry Clafouti!

This is a delicious dessert. It was great as is but next time I'll use slightly less almond extract and more actual almonds. I would suggest 1/2t extract rather than the 3/4t the recipe calls for and 4T almonds rather than 2T. We served this to guests with whipped cream but when we ate it ourselves later we decided it really didn't need it! Also, I used Balaton cherries, which are simply perfect cherries.

Quinoa

2009-06-14T07:28:00.001-04:00

I have recently been experimenting with the South American grain, quinoa, which as far as I know is pronounced keen-wah. I have found it works really well in a chilled salad like couscous would. I have done some Google searching and found a number of ways to cook it and the one that works best also seems to be the best way to destroy a plastic strainer. Basically, quinoa wants to be boiled for about 10 minutes and then either let it sit in the water or strain it and let it sit in the strainer over an inch of steaming water for about 10 more minutes. If you use a plastic rimmed strainer and sandwich it between the pan and the lid, you will melt the strainer!

1C quinoa

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2T cilantro chopped

1/4C green onions or red onion, chopped finely

Lime juice, salt, and pepper to taste

Optional…jalapeno (fresh, finely chopped with seeds removed), tomato (canned or fresh), mango or pineapple

Garlic Scape Pesto

2009-06-12T08:54:00.006-04:00

After discovering that garlic scapes exist, I started searching for various pesto recipes. I didn’t pick one, I just took the general ingredients and ratios and went to town. I started by slicing the 7 garlic scapes from the farm share into 3 inch pieces.

Then I put the scapes, 1/4C parmesan cheese, and 5T of olive oil in the food processor and mixed. Whoa! Those “mild” garlic scapes are garlicky! So I discovered the trick with this type of pesto is that the greens and the garlic are all in one so it is the other ingredients that have to mediate those flavors.

(I also discovered that it is hard to keep track of my usual method of cooking. I found myself having to make little tic marks on a notecard while I was adding ingredients and then I tallied them up at the end.)

In a food processor mix:

7 garlic scapes

1/2C parmesan cheese

3/4C walnuts

1/2C olive oil

2T lemon juice

1/4C water

After the fact, I noticed that at least one recipe suggests mixing the cheese in after rather than processing it. I think this is true of other pesto recipes too. It isn’t what I did, but I think it is a better idea! Let me know if you try it.

I ate this with pasta and cherry tomatoes, which was tasty. A couple of people who sampled it last night suggested it would be a really good spread for bread or crackers. (I know the picture isn't really appealing, but I wanted to show you that it turns out to be a really light shade of green.)

We had a salad on the side using that beautiful head of lettuce that is now my profile picture. Along with that tasty lettuce, I tossed in carrots, cucumber, those fresh snap peas I picked on Wednesday, scallions, and green peppers. I also added garbanzo beans, which is a salad fave for us. Our grocery store sells 7.5oz. cans, which is the perfect amount for a salad!

(Note in the picture the beautiful salad hands that my hubby made!)

Antipasto Orzo Salad

2009-06-11T16:01:00.008-04:00

Finally, a recipe! So I haven't tried the garlic scape pesto yet, but it is next on my list for the day. I have been anxious to get an actual recipe up so I am going to post this salad, which I made on Monday and we finished the leftovers yesterday.

This is cold pasta salad that combines the flavors common on a traditional antipasto plate. And it tastes delicious the next day for lunch too!

1C orzo, cooked and cooled

2T salami, diced

2T ricotta salata, crumbled (I am sure parmesan, asiago, or fresh mozzarella would be tasty too!)

1/4C olives, diced (I used a combination of Greek green, kalamata, and nicoise.)

1T fresh basil, chopped

1/2T fresh oregano, chopped

½ to 1T olive oil (My husband recently introduced me to Trader Joe’s Kalamata oil, which is delicious!)

black pepper

Served with pepperoncini

I cooked the orzo according to the instructions on the box, while preparing the other ingredients. Once cooked, I strained the orzo and ran it under cold water to stop it from overcooking and to chill it for the salad. I then tossed all the ingredients together and added enough olive oil to keep the orzo from clumping and pepper to taste.

This was tasty with a few pepperoncini peppers on the side!

First Farm Share of the Season!

2009-06-11T07:16:00.008-04:00

My husband and I bought a farm share for the season this year. We started with one over the winter that was great, but boy oh boy did it push our creativity to the limits with root veggies! There are three farms involved in the collective. Over the winter we had the share delivered, but I'll be picking up the share all summer. Yesterday was my first visit to the farm and it was so much fun!

I walked in with my bags to fill up and was walked through the process by one of the organizers. There is a chalkboard listing what items are available and which ones are limited so that each member can get their share. I got a few potatoes from last season, beautiful red radishes, and a few white Hakurei turnips. Then I gathered up some beautiful spring greens, purple kale, collards, and the cutest head of lettuce (see my profile pic!). I also picked up 7 (that was the limit) garlic scapes (see pic in orange colander). I had to do a Google search on these!

The most common recipe was for garlic scape pesto so I think I'll try that out tonight and let you know how it goes. I guess the scapes are the growth from hard stem garlic heads and are usually trimmed to encourage further growth in the bulb.

After filling up my bag with these items, I went out to the fields to pick some of my own food. Each member was allowed to pick up to 1 qt. of strawberries (see pic at the bottom of the blog) and 1 pint of snap peas. I also gathered a few herbs: chives, thyme, and sage.

To blog or not to blog?...To blog!

2009-06-09T18:53:00.005-04:00

Sometimes all it takes is one little suggestion swirling around in your head to motivate you to try something new. I only wish this time the suggestion that settled in my head had been start exercising everyday or stop procrastinating on your dissertation proposal. But this time it was you should start a blog. So here it is, my new blog: At home with a couple of foodies.

My goal is to post recipes from our day-to-day adventures with food. We love cooking and we love trying new things. My husband almost never uses a recipe and I tend to use recipes as a jumping off point. I will try to give you a healthy dose of each of our experiments.

I think I have started this blog for two main reasons. First, I hope it works as a way to share recipes with those friends and family members who've enjoyed eating with us and are occasionally looking for inspiration in the kitchen. Second, I hope it works as a resource for us to record what we've done so as to improve our recipes and eating habits!

Feedback and comments are always welcome! Let me know how the recipes work out in your kitchen. And please let me know how you've changed and improved on our ideas.