Thursday, October 17, 2013

CSA 2013 Week 19

Week 19 Bounty:
Cabbage
Cilantro
Peppers
Lettuce mix
Melons
Assorted tomatoes
Bok choi
Beets
Russet potatoes
Kale
Mustard greens

*Image from Scotch Hill Farm, Broadhead, WI

Meal #1 (tomatoes, peppers) 
Roasted Pepper Sauce 
Served with pasta and sausages 
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
Salt
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped (I added basil and Mexican tarragon)
3-5 anchovies, or 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
2 Tbsp tomato paste (I added the Week 19 tomatoes, pureed)
1 1/2 cups red wine
4 cups roasted red peppers (jarred or freshly roasted)
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne or hot paprika
Grated cheese (parmesan, pecorino, manchego, etc.)
Some minced fresh sage for garnish

If you are using jarred peppers, drain away the marinade and soak them in a large bowl of cold water. If you skip this step, the sauce will become too acidic. Soak for 10-15 minutes before proceeding. Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté, stirring from time to time, until it is wilted and translucent, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle some salt over the onions as they cook.  Add the garlic and sage, mix well, and sauté another minute. Mix in the anchovies, smashing them up, and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until the paste begins to turn a brick red. Add the red wine and stir well. Turn the heat up to high and let this boil down by half. Stir in the roasted red peppers and turn the heat back down to medium. Let this simmer for 10-20 minutes – it’s pretty forgiving at this point. You just want the peppers to be cooked through and soft. Purée the sauce in a blender. You might need to do this in batches, because you don’t want to fill your blender more than 2/3 up at one time. Purée the sauce, starting with the machine on low for 1-2 minutes to break up the big pieces. Turn off the blender and scrape the sides down. Turn it on again, and starting at the low setting, bring it up to its highest setting. Purée for at least a minute, until smooth. Return the sauce to the pan and heat to medium-low. Taste for salt and add some if needed. Add the cayenne or hot paprika, along with smoked paprika if you have some. If you want, a teaspoon of sugar helps, too, if your peppers are not already sweet enough. Serve warm over pasta. Garnish with some grated cheese and minced fresh sage. Serve with a medium-bodied red wine, or a dry rose. * Recipe from simplyrecipes.com

Meal #2 (kale)
Baked Kale Chips
(Served with hot dogs and a yummy box of risotto tartufo)
1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt, for sprinkling
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food. * Recipe from Melissa d'Arabian at foodnetwork.com


Meal #3 (cabbage, onion, garlic, tomato)
Healing Cabbage Soup
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 quarts (24 cups) water
8 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 head cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped
2 cup Italian-style stewed tomatoes, drained and diced
2 cups quinoa
In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic; cook until onion is transparent, about 5 minutes. Stir in water, bouillon, salt, pepper and other spices. Bring to a boil, then stir in cabbage. Simmer until cabbage wilts, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and quinoa. Return to a boil, then cover and simmer 15 to 30 minutes, stirring often. Done when quinoa is tender but still chewy and white spiral-like threads appear around each grain. Serves 16. *Recipe adapted from JGCase at allrecipes.com


Other 
cilantro - frozen
melon - eaten with lunch
lettuce mix - yogurt smoothies

Leftover
Bok choi
Beets
Russet potatoes
Mustard greens

Thursday, October 10, 2013

CSA 2013 Week 18

Week 18 Bounty: 


Bright lights chard
Assorted specialty tomatoes
Kale
Bok choi
Norland red potatoes
Melons
Red peppers
Garlic
Radishes

*Image from Scotch Hill Farm, Broadhead, WI






Meal #1 (bok choi, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro)
Chicken Tikka Masala
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cut in 1 inch cubes
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoons ground red pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala (buy in Indian market)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
I made a quick version of this recipe and threw everything in the food processor, cooked chunks of chicken in a pan, heated the sauce and served over basmati rice.

Meal #2 (tomatoes, chard, carrots, peppers, radishes, garlic)
Pasta Bolognese
Another night of "cheating" with my food processor.  I threw in tomatoes, chard, carrots, a bell pepper, radishes and greens, garlic, basil, some other Italian spice mix, olive oil and added it to ground beef and served over pasta.

Meal #3 (kale)
Risotto Tartufo
A delicious box (I know, we cheated) we found at Costco that is the closest thing we've found to the real thing!

Baked Chicken
Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Brush both sides of chicken with oil. Sprinkle both sides with desired seasonings. Place in baking dish. Bake uncovered 25 to 35 minutes or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Cool chicken 10 to 15 minutes. 

Baked Kale Chips
1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt, for sprinkling
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food. * Recipe from Melissa d'Arabian at foodnetwork.com

Side (melon)
Enjoyed by all as a snack.

Leftover (potatoes)

Apples!
We picked 75 pounds of Jonagold apples from Door Creek Orchard and have used 50 pounds so far for apple sauce and apple pies.  Applesauce is just sweet apples, cored and put through food mill - the kids love the pink applesause!  I add cinnamon to taste.  I will share the pie recipe next week, but this crust was a great new find.

Whole Wheat Pie Crust Recipe
Makes 2 Pie Crusts
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup softened coconut oil or softened butter
Approximately 1/2 cup cold water
In a mixer (or by hand if you are daring enough), mix dry ingredients and coconut oil/butter together. Once you have good looking crumbs, slowly start to add your water. You should start to have a pliable ball of dough. Once you reach that consistency you can stop adding water. Depending on your flour, you may need to add more/less water. If you add too much, don’t worry! Just add some more flour to the mixture until you reach the right consistency. On a sheet of wax paper, roll out your dough with a rolling pin. Use extra flour on your rolling pin, wax paper and hands so that the dough doesn’t stick. Once you have a nice flat and round pie crust area, pick it up – wax paper and all. Use the wax paper to turn your crust over and place it in your greased pie pan. Remove wax paper, and shape your pie crust. Trim the ends around the edge of the pie plate. Bake your pie crust at 450 for about 10 minutes until you have a pretty golden brown. * Recipe from thethriftymama.com

CSA 2013 Week 17

Week 17 Bounty:
Chard
Assorted tomatoes
Sweet Peppers (also yellow, orange or green and hot)
Fresh Cilantro

Basil
Pumpkin
Gift of Cream cheese from our goats milk
Ice Box Melon
Radishes
Okra
Broccoli



Meal #1 (tomato, basil, carrots, celery, cilantro, peppers)
Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
Makes about 2 quarts (about 8 servings)
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions
(I also threw in some cilantro and sweet peppers and two frozen beet green cubes and two frozen zucchini cubes)
1 tsp dried oregano or 1 T fresh oregano
1 T dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil
4 cups chicken broth
½ bay leaf
½ cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup butter
2 cups half and half, warmed (or skim milk if you’re trying to cut some calories)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
Add tomatoes, celery, carrots, chicken broth, onions, oregano, basil, and bay leaf to a large slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-7 hours, until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft. About 30 minutes before serving prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour. Stir constantly with a whisk for 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir until smooth. Add all back into the slow cooker. Stir and add the Parmesan cheese, warmed half and half, salt and pepper. Add additional basil and oregano if needed (the slow cooker does a number on spices and they get bland over time, so don’t be afraid to always season to taste at the end). Cover and cook on LOW for another 30 minutes or so until ready to serve. * Recipe from Today's Mama

Meal #2 (corn, cabbage, onions, carrots)
Smoked Meat with Rub
We smoked ribs and brisket.  
RUB:
3 tablespoons ground coffee
1 tablespoon coarse (kosher) salt
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder


Corn Muffins from freezer

Ramen Noodle Salad
1 lg. head cabbage - chopped
5 green onions, chopped
1/2 sm. carrots, grated
2 pkg. Ramen noodles (broken)
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1 pkg. slivered almonds
1/2 c. butter
Brown noodles, sunflower seeds, almonds in butter; set aside.
DRESSING
1 c. salad oil
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix until well blended. Add dressing and noodle and nut mix to cabbage 15 to 20 minutes before serving. * Recipe from Cooks.com

Side (broccoli, chard, potatoes)
Diced Broccoli and Chard with Potatoes
We put the chard and fingerling potatoes in our food processor, then cooked it in a fry pan with some olive oil and soy sauce.  It was delicious!

Other (okra, zucchini)
Easy Indian Style Okra (for the freezer)
1 pound sliced fresh okra (about 1/2 inch thick)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garam masala
Salt to taste
1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tablespoons oil
Place the sliced okra in a large ziploc bag, add cumin, ginger, coriander, garam masala, pepper and salt. Freeze. When ready to eat, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until tender. Add frozen, spiced okra and stir for a few minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover the pan. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until okra is tender. It may take longer depending on size of okra. *Recipe adapted from CALIGAL76 at allrecipes.com


Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake
3/4 cup oil
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup sour milk or buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice in 1 cup measuring cup and fill with milk)
3 Tbsp cocoa or carob powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp each cinnamon and cloves
2 1/2 cups flour (used half white and half whole wheat flour)
small bag of chocolate or carob chips (used Ghiradelli dark chocolate)
Heat oven to 350 degrees; grease a 9-by-13-inch pan. Mix all ingredients and bake 30-35 minutes. Makes 16 servings. *Recipe in From Asparagus to Zucchini via Scotch Hill Farm.


Melon was enjoyed with our lunches. 
The pumpkin, radishes, peppers and goat cheese are leftover.