How I Learned To Stop Worryingand Love Swiss Chard

Say, kids, what time is it?

2012-02-08T08:57:00.000-05:00

In baseball circles, it's time to report to Spring Training. In political circles, it's a preview of silly season. And in crop circles (ha!), it's time to sign up for a summer CSA share.

We are back with Connor's for a fifth season, and expect to be posting weekly from mid-June to mid-October.

If you are new to the world of community-supported agriculture, check out my tips post. CSA isn't for eveyone, so I'm happy to field questions from the undecided.

Baked Vegetarian Egg Rolls

2012-01-21T07:49:00.001-05:00

If you are looking to duplicate restaurant-style egg rolls, this recipe probably isn't the one for you. "Baked" will not taste like "fried." But these egg rolls are good on their own terms: light, crispy, and a cinch to make. They're seasonal, too, both in terms of produce (cabbage) and holiday (Chinese New Year is around the corner). An added benefit (especially if you have been nibbling on these): The egg rolls can be made virtually fat free, depending on your brand of egg roll wrappers and whether you use canola oil or cooking spray.

Baked Vegetarian Egg Rolls
(Adapted recipe. For a shortcut, substitute 2 cups cole slaw mix for the shredded cabbage and carrots. Makes 8.)

Canola oil or cooking spray
1 cup shredded or chopped green cabbage
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup mung bean sprouts, coarsely chopped if especially long
1/2 cup chopped water chestnuts (approximately one-half of an 8-ounce can)
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp water
1/2 Tbsp corn starch
2 green onions, sliced
8 egg roll wraps
Additional water for sealing egg rolls

Heat a teaspoon of oil, or use cooking spray, in a large slope-sided skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, and ginger to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes or until the vegetables begin to wilt slightly but retain crispness.

Combine the soy sauce and water; stir in the corn starch thoroughly so there are no lumps. Add this mixture to the pan along with the green onions and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Remove the vegetable mixture from the heat and let cool.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Fill each egg roll as follows: Position the wrap in front of you so that it looks like a diamond. Place two rounded tablespoons of filling across the lower section of the wrap, avoiding the edges. Fold the bottom up over the filling, then fold in the two sides. Moisten the top edges of the wrap with a little water (a small pastry brush is useful here) and roll the wrap up, sealing the flap. Place each filled egg roll, flap-side down, on the baking sheet. Spray the top of each egg roll with cooking spray (or brush lightly with canola oil).

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, then turn the egg rolls over. Bake another 5 to7 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Serve with duck sauce, Chinese mustard, or a soy sauce-based dipping sauce of your choice.

Sweet Beginnings (and Chocolate-Peppermint Thumbprints)

2012-01-03T11:20:00.000-05:00

I know what you're thinking. It’s January, so it’s time to be resolute once again about diet and exercise. Ordinarily, I'm right there with you. After all, I have a CSA-centric blog -- I really like my vegetables. But events over the past couple of weeks have reminded me of life’s uncertainties, and I’m not ready yet for seasonal austerity. I’m having dessert first.

So here’s to a new year, one that I hope will feature good health and a dose of sweetness for my friends and family.

Chocolate-Peppermint Thumbprints

(From the December 2011 issue of Everyday Food. Makes about 4 dozen delectable cookies.)

For the cookie dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp table salt

1.5 cups sugar, divided use

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 large egg

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

For the filling:

5 ounces (3/4 cup) semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks set in the upper and lower thirds. Have on hand two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Place 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

Beat the remaining 1 cup of sugar and the 1 cup of butter in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Gradually beat in the flour mixture, using the mixer on low (if yours can handle a stiff dough) or by hand (which is the way I had to do it).

Scoop out cookie dough (in rounded 1/2 tablespoons, approximately) and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the reserved sugar to coat and place the balls about 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.

Bake 5 minutes. Remove the sheets from the oven and use the back of a small melon baller or a round measuring spoon to make an indentation in the center of each cookie. Return the baking sheets to the oven, switching their positions on the racks, and bake the cookies until just set but still moist-looking, about 4 more minutes. Put the baking sheets on wire racks and let the cookies cool in place.

As the cookies cool, prepare the filling. Place the chocolate chips and 1/4 cup butter in a bowl and microwave in 10-second increments until melted, stirring to combine. Stir in the peppermint extract. Let the filling mixture cool until it is thick enough to pipe, about 5 minutes. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip or to a large zip-top plastic bag (to which you snip a 1/4-inch hole in one corner). Pipe the filling into each cookie.

Store the cookies in an airtight container, up to 1 week (if you can keep them around that long).

60-Minute Moroccan-Style Challah

2011-12-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

Every time I make bread from scratch I think to myself: I don’t do this nearly often enough. It’s not the taste of home-baked bread that spurs that thought -- truth be told, I sometimes prefer the store-bought stuff -- but rather the physical process of making bread. Kneading dough is therapeutic. (No bread machine or stand mixer with a dough hook here. That would spoil the fun.) So there I was on a recent Friday morning, in need of kitchen therapy, happily working some dough.

The recipe at hand was a Moroccan-style challah from Joan Nathan that has been making the rounds of newspaper food sections for the past year. Two qualities in particular set this bread apart from “conventional” challah in America. One is that it has a very short rise time (10 minutes!); the entire process of mixing, kneading, resting, shaping, and baking the dough takes about an hour. The second is the flavoring: anise seed in the original recipe, fennel seed when I made it. (Both seeds impart a licorice flavor, but fennel seed has a milder taste. And it’s what I had on hand.) The loaves are topped with sesame.

The result was intriguing, if not exactly challah-like. My loaves were fragrant, narrow, and dense. Too dense, perhaps; I was expecting them to rise more in the oven. Whether that is a reflection of the recipe, a cold kitchen, or the cook is not clear. What I need here is a second opinion, so give this recipe a try and let me know how it works for you. Come on, you can do it. It only takes an hour.

60-Minute Moroccan-Style Challah

Adapted from Joan Nathan’s Pain Petri, or Moroccan Anise-Flavored Challah With Sesame Seeds. Makes 2 loaves.

1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola oil
4 cups flour (divided use), plus more for dusting
1/2 Tbsp salt
2.5 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp fennel seed, crushed (or anise seeds, which are smaller and can be used whole)

1 extra egg yolk, beaten with 1/2 Tbsp water, for glaze

1/2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Have on hand a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Put the yeast in a large mixing bowl and pour in the water. Stir to dissolve the yeast. Whisk in the egg, then the oil.

Add 3.5 cups of the flour, the salt, sugar, and fennel seeds to the yeast mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to come together. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough for about 5 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic. If the dough feels sticky, knead in more flour (from the remaining half cup) in increments as necessary.

Shape the dough into a round loaf and poke a 1-inch hole completely through the center. (You can use the handle of the wooden spoon to do this.) Let the dough rest, uncovered, on the floured surface, for about 10 minutes.

Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, and with floured hands, roll one piece of dough into a 2-foot-long rope, pinching closed any seams that form in the dough. Bring the two ends of the rope next to each other and twist the dough to form a loose spiral. Pinch the ends together and tuck under the loaf. Place the bread on the baking sheet. Repeat with the second piece of dough.

Brush the egg glaze over the loaves and sprinkle them with the sesame seeds.

Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Boozy Cranberry-Pineapple Relish

2011-11-25T11:37:00.000-05:00

The cranberry sauce of my childhood most definitely came out of cans. While we sometimes had the jellied kind, the preferred family version involved mixing a can of whole-berry sauce with drained, crushed pineapple.

In the years since, my tastes have grown more sophisticated (or snobbier or particular, depending on your point of view) and I've turned to making my own sauce from fresh cranberries. But there's something to that combination of cranberries and pineapple. So this year for Thanksgiving, with the freedom that comes from not being a host, not being a guest, and having two kids who don't like cranberries -- and therefore don't care what I do with them -- I took to experimenting in the kitchen.

The Programmer and I were happy with the result: a grown-up cranberry sauce that riffs on my childhood memory. I recommend making this at least a day before serving, to give the flavors time to mellow.

Boozy Cranberry-Pineapple Relish
(original recipe)

12-ounce bag fresh cranberries, sorted, rinsed, and drained
20-ounce can crushed pineapple in unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark rum

Drain the pineapple well, reserving the juice. Set aside the crushed pineapple.

Measure out 3/4 cup pineapple juice (save the extra for another use) and combine with the cranberries, brown sugar, white sugar, and rum in a smallish saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes; the cranberries will pop and break down, the liquid will get syrupy, and your kitchen will likely smell like a cocktail. Remove the relish from the heat and transfer to a bowl or storage container to cool at room temperature. The relish will thicken as it cools.

When the relish has cooled, mix in 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of the reserved crushed pineapple. Refrigerate the relish several hours to several days before serving.

Grilled Cheese With Apple and Mustard

2011-11-21T08:51:00.000-05:00

Last week I was testing out a gratin recipe that I was sure was going to be fantastic. Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, onions, ricotta cheese -- I couldn’t resist the mix of ingredients. But for the labor involved (individually cooking said chard, potatoes, and onions, for example), I needed a bigger payoff. A full hour into recipe prep I was considering chucking the whole thing for a grilled cheese sandwich.

And why not grilled cheese? There’s nothing pretentious or complicated about grilled cheese -- not when I make it, anyway. And it’s a perfect counterpoint for this overloaded food-intensive time of the year.

The next time you are in the mood for a grilled cheese sandwich (hmmm, I could go for one now), I humbly suggest this combination:

Challah or sturdy bread, such as sourdough
Sharp cheddar cheese
A smear of Dijon mustard
Sliced apple, such as Cortland, Macintosh, or Granny Smith

Butter the top and bottom of the sandwich and cook in a flat-bottomed skillet over medium heat until the bread is golden and the cheese is melted. Serve the remaining apple on the side. If you want to up the comfort food factor, finish the meal with a couple of cookies and a glass of milk.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

2011-11-04T09:59:00.007-04:00

Photography is not my strong suit. Which means that I have to invite you all over for dinner, since the food looks much better in person.

I might serve you this. (It would help if you liked eggplant.) This was one of the most satisfying meals that The Programmer and I had last month -- several meals, actually, since Kit prefers eggplant in the form of eggplant Parmesan and Caboodle prefers that eggplant just stay at the farm and be fed to livestock.

What took the dish over the top for us is that I substituted slow-roasted fresh tomatoes for canned ones. That's less likely an option for you now (snow season! gak!) but keep this in mind for when you are inundated with tomatoes next summer or early fall: Cut a bunch of tomatoes in half or in wedges, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, drizzle them with a little olive oil, and bake at a low temperature -- 225 to 250 degrees F -- for about two hours. The tomatoes will begin to dry out, which concentrates their flavor. You can also roast the tomatoes at a higher temperature (say 325 degrees) for a shorter time; they will brown and caramelize along the edges.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
(Adapted from Vegetarian Times. I especially liked the original recipe's idea to place some of the vegetables on top of the mashed potatoes. This version removes the eggs, cuts down on the fat, and makes minor ingredient substitutions. Serves 6 to 8.)

2 lbs red-skinned potatoes, peeled only if desired and cut into cubes (about 6 cups)

1/4 cup non-fat milk

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided use

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup)

2 cans (about 15 oz. each) diced tomatoes with liquid, or 1 can diced tomatoes and 2 cups of roasted fresh tomatoes

2 eggplant (about 1.5 pounds total), peeled only if desired, and cubed

About 2 Tbsp fresh herbs, chopped, to taste (I used about 1 Tbsp basil and a combination of parsley, oregano and thyme)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 green bell pepper, sliced thin

1 small zucchini, sliced thin

Place the cubed potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Cook the potatoes 10 to 15 minutes, or until soft. Drain, and mash with milk and butter. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Saute the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes, or until it begins to soften. Add the tomatoes, eggplant, herbs, and garlic. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Remove from heat, and stir in the Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs. Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper as desired.

Spread the potato mixture over the vegetables in the Dutch oven, banking it up a little along the sides and leaving an indentation in the middle.

Heat the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and zucchini, and sauté for 7 to 10 minutes, or until just tender. Pile the sautéed zucchini and bell pepper into the center of the mashed potatoes.

Bake the casserole at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Food Day 2011

2011-10-24T09:51:00.002-04:00

This is not a political blog, but our food choices are inevitably steeped in politics. Farm subsidies, animal welfare, food insecurity -- these are only a smattering of the issues that surround the food we eat.

Today is Food Day, an effort by the Center for Science in the Public Interest to bring a host of food-related issues to the forefront of American consciousness. The CSPI has been controversial over the years -- remember those scolding reports about Chinese and Italian restaurant meals? -- but here is something I think we, as food-blog readers, can agree on:

We generally spend more time thinking about what we’re going to cook than about how that food is produced. And if we are wondering about where our next meal is coming from, our conversation probably involves restaurant picks, not soup kitchens.

Today, as you sit down to eat, remember to add a dash of awareness to your dinner. Bon appetit.

Week 18: Green Tomato Curry

2011-10-12T09:49:00.001-04:00

Eighteen weeks is a long time – just over a third of a year. We’ve gone from peas to pumpkins, from strawberries to winter squash.

I think I’m going to miss the tomatoes most of all.

I rhapsodized about ripe tomatoes earlier this season. This time of year, it’s about the green ones. Fully grown, unripe tomatoes are firmer and more acidic than their red counterparts, although they mellow with cooking. They are commonly breaded and fried, but you can also slow-roast them, pickle them, or turn them into relish or chutney. They work in all sorts of stews and show up in Indian dishes. The recipe below makes a mild curry that takes on a deep yellow color from turmeric.

Before we get to the recipe, a little reminder: Now that the CSA season has ended, I'll be posting less frequently. But I'm always cooking, so expect some seasonal recipes for the fall and winter. (Subscribe to the blog and you won't miss any posts.)

Green Tomato Curry

(Adapted from Cooking Light. Serve with basmati rice, quinoa, or a flat bread like naan. Serves 2-3 as a main dish or 4 as a side.)

1 Tbsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 tsp yellow mustard seeds

2 cups green tomato, diced (about 1 large tomato)

2 cups diced, peeled russet potato

2 cups cauliflower, in small florets

1.5 cups water

Mix the ground spices together in a small bowl and set aside. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds and cook for 1 minute; the seeds may sputter and pop, so have a lid or splatter guard handy. Add the tomato, potato, cauliflower, and spices, and stir until blended. Add the water and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the skillet, and simmer the mixture for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover the skillet and cook about 5 minutes more or until most of the liquid evaporates. Serve hot.

Week 17: The Apple Cake of Many Names

2011-10-05T11:00:00.022-04:00

I suppose it doesn’t look much like a slice of birthday cake. No layers; no frosting. But since my birthday fell on the eve of Rosh Hashanah this year, I went with something holiday appropriate. (And if eating sweet foods can ensure a sweet year, my family is surely covered.)

I’m not sure what to call this cake. Sometimes it’s known as a Jewish apple cake -- “Jewish,” presumably, because it’s dairy free and therefore a dessert suitable for meat-containing meals. Apparently it’s also a “Philadelphia-style apple cake,” as explained in this 2006 article from the Philadelphia City Paper. I grew up in Philly, but I had no idea that this kind of cake is something of a regional specialty. (I didn’t visit enough bake shops, I guess.) The cake might also be called a “German apple cake” or “Any Country in Eastern Europe apple cake”; it’s standard fare from that part of the globe.

Whatever you call this cake, the key thing is that it’s an oil-based cake -- moist, sweet, and on the dense side. Cut it into sixteenths and no one will feel slighted by the size of the piece.

The Apple Cake of Many Names

(From Relish magazine, with trivial changes)

6 cups peeled, sliced apples (About 3 apples. Granny Smith recommended, but use whatever is local and seasonal)

4 tsp cinnamon mixed with 5 Tbsp granulated sugar

1.5 cups additional granulated sugar

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup canola oil

1/2 cup orange juice

2.5 tsp vanilla extract

Extra oil, sugar, and flour for preparing pan

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly grease a 10-inch Bundt pan or tube pan, then sugar and flour the pan.

Combine the sliced apples with the cinnamon-sugar mixture and set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with brown sugar and the remaining granulated sugar. Add in the canola oil, orange juice, and vanilla, and beat well. Gradually stir in the flour mixture and blend well.

Pour one-third of the batter into the prepared pan, and top with half of the apple slices. Make a second layer of batter and fruit in the same manner, then top with the last third of batter, making sure the apples are covered.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until the top turns golden and a knife inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Very nice served with a glass of hot tea at the end of a big meal.

Week 16: Roasted Butternut Squash Salads

2011-09-28T11:14:00.003-04:00

Once you get past the idea that salad is synonymous with lettuce, you begin to see the possibilities in other vegetables. Take butternut squash, for instance. Cubed and roasted, squash makes an ideal base for interesting fall salads.

Peruse salad recipes and you’ll find butternut squash paired with strong, savory flavors that play against its inherent sweetness: onion, garlic, mustard, arugula, vinegar, olives, Roquefort cheese, feta. With a couple of large squash from the CSA, I tried out a pair of salad recipes that, despite some ingredients in common, have very different flavor profiles. Either of these recipes makes a hearty side dish or light stand-alone entree, with nary a leaf of iceberg in sight.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad Variations

Preparation Step

1 medium butternut squash (2 to 3 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Toss together the squash, garlic, and olive oil in a large bowl. Spread the mixture out onto a large baking sheet (use two, if necessary, to not crowd the squash pieces) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the squash for about 25 minutes, flipping the pieces about halfway through the cooking time, until the squash is soft and just beginning to caramelize. If you are using two baking trays, switch their position in the oven midway through cooking. Take care to not overcook the squash or the cubes will collapse when they are tossed with the other salad ingredients. Remove the squash from the oven and let cool.

Variation 1: Roasted Squash and Chickpea Salad With Tahini Dressing

(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, by way of earlier adaptations. The tahini dressing is also wonderful on falafel.)

For the Salad
Roasted cubes from a 3-pound squash (as described above)
One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped parsley

For the Dressing
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Pinch salt
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp tahini
3 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp olive oil

Combine the squash, chickpeas, onion, and parsley in a large salad bowl.

Whisk together the garlic, salt, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Add the tahini, water, and olive oil, blending well with each addition. Adjust seasoning to taste. Dress the salad, tossing carefully, or serve the dressing on the side (my preference).

Variation 2: Roasted Squash and Black Bean Salad With Spicy Chipotle Dressing

(Adapted from My Pantry Shelf. To beef up the salad (so to speak), garnish it with feta cheese.)

For the Salad

Roasted cubes from a 3-pound squash (as described above)
One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 Tbsp parsley or cilantro (optional)

For the Dressing

1/4 cup canola oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/3 cup lime juice

1 Tablespoon honey

1 chipotle chili in adobo

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the squash, beans, onion, and parsley (if using) in a large salad bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the oil and cloves of garlic over medium heat just until the garlic begins to brown. Cool slightly. In a blender container, combine the oil and garlic with all of the remaining dressing ingredients. Blend until smooth. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of dressing over the salad and toss carefully. Serve salad with remaining dressing on the side.

Week 15: Apple Pielettes

2011-09-21T09:00:00.001-04:00

It's not often that you can say “I ate the whole pie myself,” and not feel a twinge of guilt or indigestion.

This week's recipe falls right into two food trends -- pie and miniature desserts -- but I don't care. These “pielettes” are just So. Darn. Cute. And tasty. And relatively quick to make, provided you keep to small-batch cooking and you forgo the little lattices and just use a cookie-cutter shape on top of each pie. Trust me on this.

These pies have a short baking time, so you can use apple varieties that tend to break down too much to go solo in a full-size pie. I had some early-season Macs from the CSA and I'm happy to report that they didn't turn into applesauce inside the pie crust. Just stay away from super-sweet varieties of apples. You need some tartness to balance out the sugar, and you need the sugar for a decent pie filling.

Apple Pielettes

(Adapted from this recipe. Makes 6 single-serve pies. For the best crust, keep the butter and water very cold and don't overwork the dough.)

Filling

3 cups diced apples (from 2 to 3 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into a 3/8-inch dice)

3/8 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 T flour

Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 tsp salt

2 T chilled water

Mix all of the filling ingredients together and set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse once or twice to blend. Sprinkle butter pieces on top and pulse a couple of times until the butter pieces are about the size of peas. Sprinkle water on top of the flour mixture (you may not need all of it, depending on the humidity and temperature of your kitchen) and pulse a few times until the mixture just begins to stick together.

Turn the flour mixture out onto a floured surface and knead together gently. Roll out the dough to a quarter-inch thickness, using a floured rolling pin.

Cut out 6 circles, using a 4-inch cookie or biscuit cutter or an overturned bowl or container. (An empty container from a pound of cole slaw or cottage cheese works well for this.) Reroll scraps of dough as needed. Use the remaining dough to cut lattice pieces or small shapes for the top crust.

Press each dough circle into a muffin tin, making contact with the bottom and sides of the tin and folding the dough along the sides as necessary. Divide the filling among the crusts, mounding it up a bit to compensate for any sinking of the filling as it bakes. Top with dough pieces as desired.

Place the muffin tin onto a baking tray to catch any spillovers of filling. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned and the filling is bubbling.

Cool completely on a rack. Use a knife to loosen around the edges of each pie, and use a spoon or knife to gently push the pies out from the tin.

Week 14: Creamy Corn Chowder, Without the Cream

2011-09-14T09:00:00.001-04:00

The Programmer and I have spent much of the past couple of weeks reconfiguring office spaces. The process has been akin to an archaeological expedition: We’re unearthing files and mementos that haven’t seen the light of day in several years. Just this week I came across cute letters from the kids, preschool-era photos, printouts of work emails from employers that no longer exist, a techie parody of The Hollow Men, and a raft of editing-related cartoons clipped from various newspapers.

What does this have to do with working through our CSA stash? Not much directly, but after spending hours sorting, tossing, and moving all of this stuff, I’ve had to contend with (a) limited time in the kitchen and (b) a strong desire for comfort food. Both of these conditions led me to pull together this week’s recipe, a quick and satisfying soup that makes good use of late-summer corn.

Creamy Corn Chowder, Without the Cream
(Inspired by a USA Weekend recipe)

6 ears corn, husked
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 pound new potatoes, diced
3 cups water
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp salt, or to taste
Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves

Cut the kernels from 3 ears of corn, and scrape the cobs with the back of your knife to release any liquid. Puree the kernels and liquid in a food processor and set aside. You should have about 2 cups of corn puree.

Remove the kernels from the remaining 3 ears of corn and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or 5-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and cut corn kernels (but not the puree), and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the pureed corn, diced potatoes, water, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Simmer, partially covered, 12 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and the flavors blend.

Stir in the parsley. Taste, adjust seasonings as necessary, and serve hot. Serves 4 to 6.

Week 13: Eggplant Stackers (and a Basic Marinara)

2011-09-07T09:00:00.002-04:00

Did you feel that? That shift in the cosmos when the calendar flipped from August to September? There’s something different in the air this time of year.

Ragweed, mostly -- but like so many others, I make the mental shift from summer to fall once we get past Labor Day weekend. You know … it’s the return of school, and routines, and activities, and all that.

Our CSA share is shifting, too. We’re seeing apples now, and more variety overall. This week’s bounty included beets, a most-fragrant cantaloupe, carrots, corn, cucumbers, peaches, tomatoes, one Thai chili pepper, and two perfectly matched globe eggplants.

I immediately knew what I wanted to try with the eggplant. I adore Eggplant Parmesan, and this variation lightens up on the breading and cheese. Use fresh tomatoes for the marinara sauce, and you have a seasonal meal for whatever season you put September into.

Eggplant Stackers
(Adapted from The Boston Globe. Serves 4; 2 stacks per person)

2 large eggplant, ends trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch rounds to make 24 slices
4 Tbsp olive oil, plus 4 tsp olive oil (divided use), plus a little extra for drizzling
4 cups fresh marinara sauce (recipe follows) or sauce of your choice
1-1/3 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese (divided use)
8 fresh basil leaves
About 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Set an oven rack 8 inches from the broiler element and pre-heat broiler. Cover two large baking trays with foil. Divide the eggplant slices between the two trays, making sure the eggplant is in one layer. Brush the eggplant slices on both sides with oil, using a pastry brush and the 4 tablespoons of olive oil.

Working with one tray at a time, broil the slices for 4 minutes on a side, or until the eggplant is cooked through. Let the eggplant cool briefly on the trays.

Turn off the broiler and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover two 9-inch-square baking pans with foil. (The foil just makes clean-up easier. Skip it if you prefer.) Slice the mozzarella cheese thinly into 8 slices and set aside. (You may not need the whole 8 ounces of cheese to do this.)

Spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce in each baking dish. Set 4 slices of eggplant in each dish, starting with the largest slices. Then build up each eggplant stack as follows:

Top each slice with a rounded tablespoon of sauce and a rounded tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese;
Place a second slice of eggplant on top, followed by a rounded tablespoon of sauce, a basil leaf, and a slice of mozzarella cheese;
Put the remaining eggplant slices on top, and spoon 1/4 cup of marinara sauce over each stack.

Toss together the panko, the remaining 4 teaspoons of olive oil, the remaining Parmesan cheese, and the chopped parsley. Top each stack with about 2 tablespoons of crumbs. This may seem like a lot at first, but the crumbs bake down. (Refrigerate any leftover panko-Parmesan mix and save for another dish.) Drizzle a little olive oil on top of each stack.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crumbs are golden brown and the cheese is melting at the edges.

Basic Marinara Sauce

(My own recipe, but similar to dozens. Makes about 4 cups sauce)

4 pounds red tomatoes, peeled (use any variety, as long as they are ripe and in season)

4 to 8 cloves garlic (depending on size), chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

About 1 tsp salt, or to taste

Set a strainer over a bowl. Cut the peeled tomatoes in half (if they are plum tomatoes) or in quarters (if they are larger, round ones) and squeeze or spoon out the seeds into the strainer, reserving any liquid that accumulates in the bowl. Chop the remaining tomato flesh.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Saute the garlic for about 2 minutes, but do not let it brown, then add in the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up any large pieces of tomato with a spoon or potato masher. If the sauce seems too thick, add in some of the reserved tomato liquid until the sauce is the right consistency for your taste. Add salt to taste.

To peel tomatoes: Bring a deep saucepan of water up to a boil. Have on hand a large bowl of ice water. Cut a shallow X into the bottom of each tomato. Plunge two to three tomatoes at a time into the boiling water for 30 seconds, then plunge them into the cold water. The peel will begin to curl back from the tomato and will be easy to remove. If the peel remains “tight,” repeat the process from boiling water to cold water.

Week 12: Tomato Jam

2011-08-31T17:27:00.003-04:00

Post-Irene, and no damage to report from home, save for some tree branches down. I'll find out at Friday's CSA pickup how the farm and its orchards fared.

Meanwhile, I'm still enraptured by the tomatoes. This week, with both farm tomatoes and home-grown ones to contend with, I was ready to cook tomatoes en masse. That led to a batch of fresh tomato sauce and a couple of pints of tomato jam.

It's hard to describe the jam: It's sweet with an underlying note of vinegar, vaguely reminiscent of a chutney. We slathered some on turkey burgers and we are brainstorming ideas for other uses. If you plan to break out the grill before summer's end, this jam would be an uncommon condiment for barbecued meat. I can imagine it spread on grilled cheese sandwiches or used as a dipping sauce for vegetarian egg rolls.

Jennifer Perillo's Sweet and Savory Tomato Jam
(Adapted, with only one change, from this recipe posted on food52. Instructions are my own wording. Yield: 1.5 pints.)

3.5 pounds fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped (no need to peel the tomatoes)
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1.5 cups granulated white sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
juice of 1 lime (Original recipe calls for a lemon, but I didn't have one on hand; see note regarding canning, below)

Place all of the ingredients into a medium saucepan. (The recipe calls for a 2-quart pot; I found that I needed a 3.5-quart pot to hold the volume of chopped tomatoes.) Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and the mixture thickens to the consistency of jam, about 3 hours. Transfer the jam to sterilized glass jars, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate. The jam will keep at least two weeks.

Note: Per the original recipe, the jam can be processed in a boiling-water bath for long-term storage. However, canning tomato products requires careful attention to the acidity level. Read up on the process before making any ingredient changes to ensure safe canning.

Week 11: Stuffed Tomatoes, Two Ways

2011-08-24T10:00:00.002-04:00

With rice, beans, and corn.

Herewith, a reminder of some of the perils of farming, and, by extension, of being a CSA shareholder:

Crops fail. Something goes wrong with the zucchini seed and you get yellow squash instead. Blueberries get torched by 103-degree heat. Carrots shrivel, greens bolt. It’s too hot, too dry, too cool, too wet, too something.

And yet, we still get wonders from the harvest. For this, I am eternally grateful to all the individuals who have dedicated their lives to farming, especially here in my corner of Massachusetts.

This week's wonder is tomatoes. Vine-ripened tomatoes. Not-shipped-across-country tomatoes. (Not even shipped-one-town-over tomatoes. A step away from my-own-backyard tomatoes.) I can’t think of any fruit or vegetable more dissimilar from its supermarket counterpart. In New England, August tomatoes epitomize tomato perfection.

This is the time of year for caprese salads and tomato-and-mayo sandwiches and stuffed tomatoes -- anything that pushes these gems from garnish to starring role. Both of these stuffed tomato recipes use corn, another wonder from the farm that we have in abundance at the moment.

With ricotta, corn, and crumbs.

Tomatoes Stuffed With Ricotta and Fresh Corn
(Adapted from Veggie Belly. Serve as a rich side dish or a light supper.)

3 medium tomatoes (about 6 ounces each)
Salt
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp pesto (I used a cheese-less version of my nut-free basil pesto)

3 Tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese (you may want to lower this amount if your pesto already has cheese in it)

3/4 cup to 1 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from one ear of corn)

Black pepper, to taste

6 Tbsp panko breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Olive oil, for drizzling

Cut each tomato in half horizontally. Remove and discard the seeds, then carefully scoop out the tomato pulp from each half, leaving an intact shell. (I found that a melon baller worked well for removing the pulp.) Lightly salt the tomato shells. Place them cut side down on paper towels and let them drain for 30 minutes or more.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the tomato pulp; pat dry with paper towels if the pulp is very juicy. Combine the tomato pulp with the ricotta, pesto, Parmesan, corn, and black pepper, and set aside. Combine the breadcrumbs and seasonings.

After the tomato shells have drained, spoon the ricotta mixture into each half, mounding the filling as necessary. Top each half with about 1 Tbsp of seasoned crumbs, patting the crumbs down lightly. Place the tomatoes into a lightly oiled baking dish and drizzle a little olive oil on top of each. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crumbs begin to brown.

Tomatoes Stuffed With Rice, Beans, and Corn

(Adapted from a USA Rice Federation recipe. For a Mexican-flavored approach, season the rice mixture with cumin and chili powder instead of parsley and thyme.)

4 medium tomatoes (about 6 ounces each)

1.5 cups cooked rice

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup to 1 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from one ear of corn)

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Olive oil, for drizzling

Remove the top of each tomato (cutting deep enough to include the stem area) and reserve the tops. Remove and discard the tomato seeds, then scoop out the tomato pulp. Lightly salt the tomato shells. Place them cut side down on paper towels and let them drain for 30 minutes or more.

Roughly chop the tomato pulp. Combine the pulp with the rice, onion, beans, corn, cheese, and herbs. Stuff the tomatoes with the rice mixture. Place the tomatoes into a lightly oiled baking dish, and replace the tomato tops. Drizzle a little olive oil on top of each tomato. Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the filling is heated through. Bake any extra filling in a greased casserole dish, for about 15 minutes.

Week 10: Oven-Fried Squash Sticks

2011-08-17T11:00:00.000-04:00

Ah, CSA season. Time for lots of local food and healthful eating.

Yeah, who are we kidding? Last week we were noshing on chips and salsa. This week, we could have steamed or grilled our lovely squash, but ... Hey, let’s coat these babies in eggs and crunchy breadcrumbs and salty cheese ...

These are not deep-fried, so you could construe them as healthful. Or not. Regardless, they were mighty tasty.

Oven-Baked Squash Sticks

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour. Note that the squash should drain for 1 hour before breading, so PLAN AHEAD.)

For Preparation Step

3 slender summer squash (straightneck), about 6 inches long

1 Tbsp salt

For Coating and Baking

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Scant 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried basil leaves

1 tsp dried oregano leaves

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Olive oil spray, or regular cooking spray

Preparation: Trim squash ends. Slice the squash in half crosswise, then cut each half into six (or more) sticks or wedges; these should be about 3 inches long. Place the sliced squash in a colander set over a bowl. Sprinkle with the salt. Let the squash drain for 1 hour or longer, then rinse and pat dry.

Coating and Baking: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly spray the paper with olive oil or regular cooking spray.

Combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, and seasonings. Place half of the mixture into a shallow rimmed bowl, and set aside the rest. Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Place the flour into a third bowl.

Dip the squash sticks individually into the flour, tapping off any excess with a fork; then into the egg, and then the breadcrumb mixture. Place the coated squash sticks onto the baking sheets. Use the reserved breadcrumb mixture when needed; by adding to the crumb bowl periodically, you keep the mixture from getting too eggy to coat the squash well. (Also, it's a good idea whenever you are breading something to use only one hand for dipping ingredients, and keep your other hand clean.)

Bake the squash sticks for 12 minutes, then turn them over and bake for about 8 minutes more, or until they are golden brown and crisp. Serve hot, with marinara sauce or another sauce for dipping, as desired.

Week 9: Blueberry Salsa and Cilantro-Basil Sauce

2011-08-11T09:16:00.001-04:00

As CSA weeks go, this one was a bit ho-hum: Light on the produce -- corn, cucumbers, a single beet (goodness, what is the point of a single beet?); and heavy on the herbs -- cilantro, basil, and dill. So it was a herb-filled week all around.

Most of the dill, and all of the cucumbers, were dispatched in the form of pickles. We had corn with basil; cole slaw with dill and basil (using up Week 8's cabbage); vegetarian chili with corn and cilantro; a cilantro-basil sauce for fish; and a fruity salsa with more cilantro and basil.

I’ve hit overload with these herbs, and I still have some dill and basil to carry into Week 10. Oy. At least the food's been tasty. The cilantro-basil sauce was delicious over a pan-seared tuna steak, and would be equally good over poultry or beef or with Indian food. The salsa would work with chicken as well, but we just ate it with tortilla chips. I happened to pick up the blue-corn kind, but I don’t really recommend doing that: color-wise, the chips and the salsa match a little too well.

(I apparently go for fruit salsas. Here are recipes for Peach-Pepper Salsa for now and Apple Salsa for closer to the fall.)

Blueberry Salsa

(Adapted from Jones Family Farms)

3 cups blueberries, washed and dried (divided use)

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 small jalapeno pepper, chopped; seeds and membrane removed before chopping if you desire less heat

1/2 cup (packed) basil leaves, slivered

1/2 cup (packed) cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)

1/2 tsp coarse salt, or to taste

Place 2 cups of blueberries in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add onion, jalapeno, and herbs to food processor and pulse again to combine ingredients. Remove to bowl. Stir in lime, salt, and remaining blueberries. Allow flavors to blend one-half hour or more.

Cilantro-Basil Sauce

(Adapted from Laurie Constantino)

1 cup (packed) cilantro leaves

1/4 cup (packed) basil leaves

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped; seeds and membrane removed before chopping if you desire less heat

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp water

Put all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until combined. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Serve sauce over fish, beef, chicken, vegetables, or what-have-you.

Week 8: Meatballs With a "Secret" (Swiss Chard!)

2011-08-03T15:55:00.001-04:00

I don't hide vegetables from my children. I'm not a sneaky chef. But I also don't make pronouncements about dinner that are liable to provoke an "ick" from the kids before before anyone has taken a bite.

I will tell you upfront, dear reader, that the meatballs had Swiss chard in them. Hardly secretive, really; you can see the green, leafy bits in the meat. And since these meatballs are Turkish/Middle Eastern in style, they were cooked in a lemony broth. So, no red sauce for the green bits to hide under.

Furthermore, I left the printout of the recipe on top of the toaster oven for the better part of a week.

So there you have it. Kit, apparently food-deprived after a day of camp, happily gobbled these down without asking what was in them, and I decided against volunteering the information. Which means she ate Swiss chard. And her head did not explode. Do me a favor, though: Don't tell her. She'll stumble across this post eventually, at which point I may never get her to eat these meatballs again.

Meatballs With Swiss Chard
(Adapted from a recipe on Food Bridge)

1 bunch Swiss chard (about 1 pound)
1 pound ground beef
6 cloves garlic, divided use
1/2 cup grated onion
1 egg
2 Tbsp bread crumbs
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)

1 cup vegetable stock or water

Remove chard stems and discard them or save for another dish. Thoroughly wash the chard leaves but do not dry them. Wilt the chard in a large, covered pot over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes. Drain well. When the chard is cool enough to handle, squeeze out any extra water and chop the leaves finely.

Slice three cloves of garlic and set aside. Finely mince the remaining garlic. In a large bowl, combine the chard, beef, the minced garlic, onion, egg, bread crumbs, and black pepper. Mix thoroughly. Divide the mixture into 16 slightly flattened meatballs.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large, deep skillet that has a lid, and brown the meatballs in two or more batches, about 2 minutes each side, adding oil as needed. Remove the browned meatballs to a plate; they are not fully cooked at this point.

Add the sliced garlic to the skillet and fry until golden. Return the meatballs to the pan and add the lemon juice. Add in the stock; it should almost cover the top of the meatballs. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cover the skillet. Simmer the meatballs for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through, turning the meatballs over once about midway through the cooking.

Remove the cover, and let the mixture simmer for a couple of minutes longer if you want to reduce the cooking liquid. Serve over rice or couscous.

Bonus Post: Blueberry-Lemon Scones

2011-08-01T12:44:00.001-04:00

Late July is blueberry pie season here, and while I respect the tradition of pie-for-breakfast, I recognize that practice is less accepted outside of New England. (Though, when you think about it, how far is pie from blueberry danish or muffins or Pop-Tarts?) Anyway, if you can't fathom pie for breakfast or brunch, I suggest making scones as an alternative.

Bakery scones generally disappoint me -- too heavy or too dry -- but this home recipe won me over. It has a nice balance of flavors and moistness without being cloyingly sweet. The scones are definitely best eaten warm on the day you bake them. Revive day-old scones (if you have any) with a quick zap in the microwave.

Blueberry-Lemon Scones
(Adapted from Baking Bites. Makes 8 scones.)

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup milk (see note, below)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and patted dry

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Have on hand a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the flour mixture appears sandy and no pieces of butter remain larger than a pea.

Stir in the milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest with a fork until the dough comes together. If the dough is too wet, add in another tablespoon of flour. Knead the dough in your bowl for about 1 minute. Flatten the dough slightly, sprinke with blueberries, and gently knead or fold in the blueberries so they are evenly distributed in the dough.

Divide the dough in half and scoop each half onto the baking sheet, keeping a couple of inches between the mounds of dough. Flatten each mound into a circle about 3/4-inch thick. (You can do this by putting a piece of wax paper or parchment paper on top of the dough, and pressing down with your hand.) Slice each circle into quarters with a knife or bench scraper.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Note: I used skim milk, because that's what we keep in our fridge. Any kind of milk should work. I think more fat would just add to the creaminess of the scone, but I didn't test the recipe that way.

Week 7: Rustic Onion Tart

2011-07-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

This week I've been all for simplicity. Boiled corn and new potatoes ... grilled pattypan and yellow squash ... sauteed kale ... you get the idea.

The most ambitious bit of cooking for the week was an onion tart. And by "ambitious" I mean: has more than two ingredients. This is one of those recipes where the individual parts (butter, flour, onion) add up to so much more (sweet, caramelized onions and a flaky, buttery dough). I suspect any kind of yellow or white onion would work in this recipe, giving it year-round possibilities, though my motivation was a large bunch of spring onions from my share.

The tart was equally delicious served warm at supper and eaten cold, straight from the refrigerator. If making tart/pastry dough intimidates you, try this one; it's quite forgiving.

Rustic Onion Tart
(Adapted from The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters)

For the Dough:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup ice-cold water

For the Filling:

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
2 lbs onion, thinly sliced (about 6 medium onions)
1/2 to 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Salt to taste

Stir the salt into the flour. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until only a few large pieces of butter remain. Pour in about three-quarters of the water and stir the mixture with a fork until the dough forms clumps, adding the remaining water in small increments as needed. Bring the dough together into a ball, wrap in plastic and flatten the ball into a disk. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour or more.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and thyme, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft and juicy, 20 to 30 minutes. Add salt to taste and continue to cook the onions until they begin to turn golden and caramelize. This could take another 15 to 20 minutes. The liquid should evaporate as the onions cook. Transfer the onions to a bowl (draining any excess liquid, if necessary) and let cool for at least 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Flour your work surface and rolling pin, and roll out the tart dough to a 14-inch circle. (If the dough is too hard to work with, let it warm up 15 or 20 minutes at room temperature first.) Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and return it to the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to firm up.

Spread the onions on top of the dough, leaving a 1.5-inch border all around. Fold up the border over the onions to create an edge to the tart. Bake the tart for about 50 minutes, or until the crust on the bottom is golden brown. Slide the tart onto a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Week 6: Raspberry Yogurt Cake

2011-07-20T10:16:00.015-04:00

We didn't plan it this way, but summer so far has been as busy as the school year, chock full of work, volunteer obligations, family gatherings, and camp preparations. I have plenty of washing and labeling and packing left to do, but I'm putting it all aside for a moment for a nice glass of iced tea and a slice of cake.

Not a fussy cake, mind you. Nothing heavy; no buttercream frosting. (I'm saving that for fall.) Just a humble, single-layer cake studded with summer fruit.

We are delighting in raspberries from the farm, so raspberry cake it was, but it could just as easily have been a strawberry or blueberry cake. This is a fine cake for a picnic or a beach outing -- or for just sitting around the kitchen table avoiding the laundry.

Raspberry Yogurt Cake
(adapted from Gourmet, by way of Smitten Kitchen.)

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1.5 Tbsp sugar, divided use
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 egg
1/2 cup plain, non-fat yogurt
1 cup fresh raspberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, lemon zest, and egg. With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the yogurt, until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the cake pan and smooth the top. Scatter the raspberries over the cake batter and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is golden and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out on a rack and cool another 10 to 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving platter.

Week 5: Fresh Pea Soup

2011-07-13T12:00:00.003-04:00

Lots of good stuff in the share this week: Lettuces for salad, beets for roasting, onions for sauteing, summer squash for stuffing, more squash for roasting, and raspberries (yes!) for eating out of hand while cooking all that other stuff. Plus, a good friend gave us a taste of her CSA with a gift of some beautiful scallions and fennel and chard and herbs, in exchange for a couple of squash and some peas.

Let me tell you about the peas. Caboodle and I have shelled a good 10 pounds of peas over the past two weeks. We may have reached the end of the season, as the pea pods this week were positively enormous -- a tad overgrown, really -- with individual peas the size of chickpeas. Still, the peas were nibble-worthy raw, and even better in soup.

Split pea soup, made from dried peas, is definitely stick-to-your-ribs, cold-weather comfort food. I found fresh pea soup, on the other hand, to be something of a revelation: far lighter, more delicate, and quick to cook. As hot soups go, this is a plausible one for a summery day.

Fresh Pea Soup
(Inspired by Ina Garten)

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 medium carrot, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
4 cups vegetable stock
5 cups shelled fresh peas
2/3 cup chopped mint leaves (loosely packed)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp chopped chives, for garnish (optional)

Heat the butter and olive oil together in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until the vegetables soften. Add the stock, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the peas, lower the heat, and simmer the soup until the peas are tender, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on size. Remove from the heat and add the mint.

Let the soup cool a couple of minutes, puree it in batches in a blender or food processor, and return it to the soup pot. Add the lemon, salt, and pepper, adjusting seasonings to taste. Reheat the soup if necessary, and serve hot, garnished with chive if desired. Serves 6.

Week 4: Minted Simple Syrup and Honeydew-Mint Sorbet

2011-07-06T08:01:00.001-04:00

Oy, mint. Garden herb and invasive weed. We pulled up a patch of it years ago, and I haven't missed it much. Except ... every now and then I come across a good use for mint -- tabbouleh or this falafel and tzatziki combination -- and I think: Maybe we could keep a container of mint growing outside. A small container. One that's quarantined from the actual garden.

The spearmint that came from the farm in our share tasted a lot better than whatever variety of mint we once grew. Spearmint, lime, sugar, and rum are the flavorings of a classic mojito. Drop the rum and add in cubes of honeydew and you have the makings of a refreshing melon salad. Freeze the honeydew and you are on your way to making a minty sorbet.

The real find of the week was the recipe for the minted simple syrup that flavors the sorbet. It's ideal for sweetening glasses of plain-brewed iced tea, and would no doubt be handy in all sorts of mixed drinks. You can swap out the mint to make other herb-infused syrups.

Minted Simple Syrup
(From Gourmet)

1.5 cups packed fresh mint leaves
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Chop the mint. Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Simmer the syrup, without stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour the syrup through a fine sieve, pressing on the chopped leaves to extract as much liquid as possible, and cool. Makes about 1.25 cups.

Honeydew-Mint Sorbet
(Adapted from Gourmet, using the food-processor sorbet technique.)

6 to 8 cups frozen honeydew cubes (cut from 1/2 large melon)
About 1 cup minted simple syrup
Juice from 1/2 lime

Place half of the frozen melon, lime, and simple syrup in a food processor bowl fitted with a steel blade. Process until pureed and creamy, but not liquified, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Remove from the food processor and process the remaining ingredients the same way. Combine the two batches. Eat immediately or transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and freeze. Makes about 6 cups. If the sorbet freezes too hard for later scooping, allow it to sit at room temperature 10 to 15 minutes to soften before serving.

Week 3: Panko-Sage Cod and Quinoa Pilaf

2011-06-29T12:00:00.007-04:00

Panko-Sage Cod, with Quinoa Pilaf and marinated radishes.

Sage is an herb that I strongly associate with autumn flavors (squash, pumpkin, Thanksgiving turkey) so I was momentarily stumped when it appeared in this week's share. The Programmer, ever helpful, suggested that I seek some sage advice (yes, you can groan), but in the end I found inspiration in my own recipe files.

I make variations of cod-and-crumbs all the time; sage -- which complements fish as well as roasted meats or poultry -- was a nice change from the oregano or basil that I typically use. I worked the rest of the sage into a quinoa pilaf and a spinach quiche, using up CSA zucchini and spinach, respectively.

As for the rest of this week's share, we're keeping up with the lettuce (plenty of salad); made marinated radishes; and made a pot of vegetarian chili with a second CSA zucchini. I've also been experimenting with honeydew and CSA mint.

Panko-Sage Cod
(Original recipe)

1.25 lbs boneless, skinless cod fillet
About 1 Tbsp light mayonnaise
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup chopped sage leaves
1 cup panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil (optional; it aids clean-up) and lightly spray the foil with non-fat cooking spray. Lay the fish on the baking sheet. If the tail end is very thin, turn it under itself so the fillet is of an even thickness. Spread a light coating of mayonnaise over the fillet.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Lightly saute the sage for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from the heat. Add the panko to the skillet and stir to combine with the sage and oil. Season the mixture to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Spoon the crumbs over the fish, pressing lightly into the mayonnaise so the crumbs adhere. Depending on the size of your fillet, you may have crumbs left over. Bake the fish for about 15 minutes, or until it is cooked through; the flesh should appear opaque when done. Serves 3 to 4.

Quinoa Pilaf
(Original recipe)

2 cups water (or broth)
1/4 tsp salt (omit if using broth)
1 cup red quinoa
1 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped sage leaves
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup sliced brown mushrooms (cremini or baby portobello)
1 small zucchini, diced (about 1.5 cups)

Bring water and salt (or broth) to a boil. Add quinoa, lower heat and cook, covered, 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet. Add onions and saute about 5 minutes, or until they soften and begin to brown. Add sage leaves. Cook 2 minutes more, or until the leaves crisp a bit. Remove mixture from skillet and set aside. In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms and zucchini until they soften and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Mix the vegetables into the quinoa and serve hot. The pilaf is also good the next day, with a bit of feta cheese mixed in.

Week 2 (Part 2): Pasta With Spinach and Peas; Sesame Noodles With Radish

2011-06-23T13:11:00.001-04:00

Kit and Caboodle cannot live on salad alone. For that, we have pasta.

Fortunately, it's hard to go wrong with vegetables and pasta. We combined peas and spinach (both from this week's share) to make a Spring-y alternative to red sauce. Meanwhile, we used up a new bunch of CSA radishes in an Asian-inspired side dish to accompany grilled chicken and grilled romaine.

Pasta With Spinach and Peas

(Inspired by many recipes. I don't care for creamy sauces, but you could easily substitute heavy cream for the quarter-cup of water.)

1 pound dried pasta, any shape (I used penne)

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces fresh spinach leaves, washed well, roughly chopped if large

1.5 cups shelled fresh peas

1/4 cup water

Juice from 1/2 lemon

Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook and drain the pasta as usual. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or a large skillet with a lid over medium heat. When the oil is hot, sauté the garlic for about a minute (do not let it brown), then stir in the spinach in two or three handfuls, letting it wilt a bit between additions.

When all of the spinach has wilted (this takes just a couple of minutes), add the peas and water (or cream, if desired). Cover the pot and simmer the vegetables for about 3 minutes, or until the peas are tender. Remove from heat, then add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the vegetables over the pasta. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Sesame Noodles With Radish
(Adapted from The Boston Globe Magazine)

1 package (about 13 ounces) whole wheat or "whole grain blend" linguine
3 Tbsp sesame oil, divided use
2.5 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2.5 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1.5 tsp sugar
6 to 12 radishes, cut into short matchsticks (about 1.5 cups when sliced)
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into strips
2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
5 scallions, thinly sliced

Cook the pasta as usual in a large pot of boiling water. Drain the noodles and rinse them with cold water until they are cool to the touch. Drain again thoroughly. Place the noodles in a large serving bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and toss to coat.

Whisk the remaining sesame oil with the vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add the dressing to the noodles, along with the radishes, cucumber, sesame seeds, and scallions. Toss well and serve.

Week 2 (Part 1): Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

2011-06-20T10:39:00.002-04:00

A week into the season and I'm up to my eyeballs in leafy vegetables. Red leaf, Boston, and romaine lettuce. Kale. Spinach. More baby beet greens. Not to mention most of a head of green leaf lettuce that we didn't finish last week.

Folks, we're having salad. A lot of salad. And something with kale. So let's start with dessert first.

I had been eying a crisp recipe for a couple of weeks, and with three fresh quarts of CSA strawberries this week (along with all of those greens), I had no qualms about putting a few of the berries to an experiment. The twist with this recipe is that it uses oil, rather than butter, to form the crumb topping. That makes it dairy free without the use of stick margarine. Another plus is that the yield is only four or five servings, making it a right-sized dessert for our household. In spite of all the salad we're eating, we really don't need too much dessert around the house to tempt us.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp (Dairy Free)

(Adapted from a Stop & Shop supermarket recipe. Best served warm. The crumb topping loses its "crispness" as it cools.)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 Tbsp canola oil

1/2 lb rhubarb (2 to 3 stalks), sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

1 Tbsp orange juice

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir in oil with a fork until the mixture forms crumbs. Set aside.

Place the rhubarb and orange juice in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat just until the rhubarb begins to soften, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Combine the granulated sugar and cornstarch, and stir into the rhubarb. Mix in the strawberries.

Pour the fruit mixture into a 1-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with the reserved crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, until bubbly. Serves 4.

Week 1: Beef Stir Fry With Rhubarb

2011-06-15T17:15:00.001-04:00

I know, I know. A quart of strawberries and a couple of stalks of rhubarb logically pair up for a pie or a crisp or something like that. But the first quart of local strawberries quickly becomes a pint of strawberries, and then a handful of strawberries. And the rhubarb? Well, the rhubarb needs other partners that benefit from its natural acidity. Like beef and onions and cilantro.

So stir fry it was.

It was a good haul for the first week of the season. In addition to the strawberries, rhubarb, and cilantro, we received two enormous heads of leaf lettuce; a handful of beet greens; a bunch of elongated, mild radishes; tomato, chive, and oregano plants for our garden; and a jar of honey. Plenty of salad this week, and I've been snacking on radishes with butter and French bread. After the stir fry, I put the rest of the cilantro into a spicy sauce to top some fish (Arctic char, to be specific). I'm holding onto a bit of rhubarb, in the expectation that more strawberries are on the way.

Beef Stir Fry With Rhubarb

(Original recipe)

1 pound thinly sliced beef

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup thinly sliced rhubarb (1 large stalk)

1/2 pound brown mushrooms (i.e. cremini or baby portobello), sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp minced ginger root

1/2 cup sliced celery (about 1 stalk)

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, minced

2 green onions, sliced

Marinate beef in soy sauce while you prepare your other ingredients, or for up to one hour.

Heat oil in a wok or a deep frying pan with sloped sides. Add the beef, along with any soy sauce in the bowl; brown the beef, stirring frequently, until just cooked through. Remove beef and set aside.

Add the onions and rhubarb to any liquid remaining in the frying pan and cook for about 2 minutes or until the onion starts to soften and turn translucent. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and ginger, and cook for about 3 minutes more, or until the mushrooms soften.

Return the beef to the pan and add the celery. Cook just until the beef is heated through, so the celery retains some crunch, about 2 minutes. Off heat, stir in the cilantro and green onions. Serve over rice.

Note: If you desire more sauce, mix in additional soy sauce, or a combination of soy sauce, dry sherry, and corn starch, when you return the meat to the pan.

Hoping for Chard ...

2011-06-06T09:39:00.001-04:00

Our farm share resumes this Friday. I haven't a clue as to what we're getting, but that's OK. After three summers of CSA participation, The Programmer and I can tackle just about anything when it comes to produce. Or, at least, I think we can; the jury is still out on broccoli rabe.

In the run-up to the CSA season, I've been experimenting with herb and spice combinations. Recently, we've had from-scratch falafel, tzatziki, Indian-spiced potatoes, and cilantro-mint dressing. I expect to be sharing more about these recipes as the season progresses.

Meanwhile, it's time to sit back and see what the week brings. Chard, maybe? Pretty please?

Labneh (Yogurt Cheese)

2011-05-20T11:24:00.001-04:00

I have an abundance of herbs popping up in my garden: chive, oregano, parsley -- all of them perennials that survive despite significant neglect. They are precursors to the CSA season, and they were the impetus behind a couple of recent experiments with labneh.

Labneh, made with whole-milk yogurt.

Labneh, of Middle Eastern origin, is nothing more than yogurt drained of its whey to make make a spreadable cheese. It has a consistency similar to cream cheese, but it retains the distinct sourness of yogurt. For me, that makes it a bit of an acquired taste. So far, I've liked it best dabbed on bananas (reminiscent of bananas and sour cream), mixed with chive and spread on a toasted bagel, and slathered on pumpernickel-and-onion pretzels. It plays well with strong flavors -- fresh herbs, garlic, horseradish, olive oil, olives, black pepper -- and counterbalances sweet ones -- honey, berries, or dried fruit, for example.

Labneh is probably the easiest cheese to make at home: two ingredients and minimal equipment. For comparison sake, I made one batch using non-fat yogurt and a second batch with full-fat yogurt. The full-fat yogurt naturally produced a firmer, richer cheese, but even the non-fat yogurt had decent results (plus, no fat!). Whatever type of yogurt you choose, get a high-quality one that does not contain gelatin, pectin, or stabilizers, as any additives will affect how the yogurt drains.

Labneh

Ingredients and Tools

1 quart plain yogurt
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
A deep bowl
Fine-mesh sieve
Cheesecloth or muslin
Kitchen twine

Method

Place the sieve on top of your bowl. Fold a large square of cheesecloth into quarters and set it inside the sieve, or substitute a piece of muslin for the cheesecloth.

Mix the salt into the yogurt, and pour the mixture into the cheesecloth. Let it drain for about 10 minutes, then bring the ends of the cheesecloth together to form a bundle of yogurt. Tie the bundle with kitchen twine.

Leave the bundle in the sieve, or tie it to a wooden chopstick and place the chopstick across the top of the bowl so the bundle is suspended. Let the yogurt drain, refrigerated, for 12 to 24 hours. The longer it drains, the thicker the final product will be. Keep an eye on the level of the liquid (whey) that's collecting in the bowl, and make sure it never reaches the bottom of the bundle or sieve. You can save the whey for cooking or baking, or discard. I found it easier to suspend the bundle after the yogurt had drained for a couple of hours and had compacted somewhat, so the bundle didn't hang as low in the bowl.

When the yogurt has drained sufficiently, untie the bundle, remove the cheesecloth, and transfer the cheese to a serving dish or container. Refrigerate leftovers.

Fabulous Beef Roast With Garlic, Horseradish, and Mustard

2011-05-10T16:14:00.002-04:00

Roasted broccoli and some of our
CSA squash rounded out the meal.

Here's what ordinarily happens when I buy a fresh horseradish root. I grate it up for the Passover seder, use a couple of spoonfuls on gefilte fish, and then forget about it for months as it grays in a corner of the fridge. But not this year. That's because I came across a beef roast recipe that's perfect for leftover horseradish.

I almost never, ever roast a hunk of beef (my go-to meat -- brisket -- is braised), so I was a little concerned about how this would come out. The verdict: A thumb's-up from everyone in the household. Ha! I'm thinking this dish could become a regular post-Passover tradition.

(A word of caution, though, if this recipe appeals to you as a Passover entree. Mustard is considered kitniyot, and by tradition is not used by Ashkenazi Jews during the holiday. Please don't ask me to explain this.)

Fabulous Beef Roast With Garlic, Horseradish, and Mustard
Adapted from Canadian Living magazine

Many resources recommend letting large cuts of meat come up to room temperature before cooking. Remove the roast from the refrigerator about an hour before you want to put it in the oven.

5 lb boneless beef rib roast
2 Tbsp dry mustard
1 Tbsp water
10 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup prepared white horseradish (fresh grated, or from a jar)
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp black pepper

Lightly grease a roasting rack and place it in a foil-lined roasting pan. Place the beef roast on the rack, fat side up.

In a small bowl, stir together the dry mustard and water to make a paste. Mix in the garlic, horseradish, vegetable oil, thyme, and pepper. Spread the mixture over the top and sides of the meat. (If desired, you can cover and refrigerate the coated meat for up to a day.)

Roast the meat in a 325-degree F oven until a meat thermometer inserted in the center registers 140 degrees F for rare or 150 degrees F for medium, roughly 1.5 to 2.5 hours. (The timing can vary considerably, depending on the size and shape of your roast, the internal temperature of the meat when you start cooking, and the accuracy of your oven temperature.)

Transfer the roast to a carving board, tent with foil, and let stand for at least 10 minutes, or up to 30 minutes. The temperature should rise another 5 degrees upon standing. Slice and serve.

Preparing Fresh Horseradish

Scrub the surface of the horseradish root with a brush. Place the root into a bowl of water and peel it while it is submerged; this keeps the cut surfaces from being exposed to the air, which in turn makes it less irritating for your eyes.

Remove the peeled root from the water, quickly chop into pieces, and place into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse to finely chop the horseradish. Add some water and white vinegar and process to combine.

How much water and vinegar you need will depend on the size of the horseradish root; figure 3 to 4 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of vingear for a 6- to 7-ounce root. Take care in removing the food processor cover: Fresh horseradish is pungent.

Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Pierogies, With Potato and Onion Filling

2011-04-14T13:50:00.001-04:00

The instructions may seem long,
but pierogies are fairly easy to make.

Sometimes I cook a category of food unintentionally. This past month we’ve had a lot of “pockets,” starting with hamantashen (chocolate and peach jam fillings), progressing to pot stickers (beef and vegetarian), and, most recently, pierogies.

Family ties to Poland notwithstanding, I make no claims of authenticity when it comes to pierogies. But these were fun to make -- I had not only a cooperative dough, but also a cooperative teenage helper. The pierogies got high praise from Kit, who would eat a standard box of pierogies by herself in one sitting if we would let her.

Pierogies strike me as a good pre-Marathon food: Plenty of carbs in potato-filled pasta.

Pierogies, With Potato and Onion Filling
(Adapted, slightly, from Post Punk Kitchen. Makes 24 to 30 pierogies.)

For the Filling
1.5 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cut in 3/4-inch dice
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

For the Dough
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 cup warm water
About 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided use, plus extra for sprinkling
3/4 tsp salt

Make the filling: Place the diced potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until soft. Drain the potatoes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large sauté pan, and cook the onions for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft. Combine the onions, drained potatoes, salt, and pepper, and mash together. Set the filling aside to cool. (You can make the filling ahead of time and refrigerate.)

Make the dough: Have on hand a large baking sheet, lined with parchment paper and lightly floured.

Pour the oil and water into a large bowl. Add 2 cups of flour and the salt. Use a fork to stir the flour into the liquid. As it comes together, use your hands to knead the mixture, forming a loose dough. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and turn the dough out of the bowl. Knead the dough, working in the remaining cup of flour a little at a time. (Depending on conditions in your kitchen, you may need a little more or less flour.) Continue kneading the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Divide the dough in half. Dust your work surface and a rolling pin with flour. Roll out one half of the dough to about 1/16-inch thick. Cut circles of dough, 3.5 to 4 inches in diameter. Place the circles on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate them as you roll and cut the remaining half of the dough. Reroll and cut any dough scraps.

Complete the pierogies: Fill each round with about 1 tablespoon of the potato-onion mixture, dab water around the edges of the dough, and fold into a half-moon shape. Crimp the edges with a fork. Place filled pierogies on the floured baking sheet until you are ready to cook.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Gently lower six pierogies into the water (a large slotted spoon or skimmer is good for this) and cook them for about 4 minutes; they should float when they are done. Remove cooked pierogies to a plate and cover them with foil to stay warm as you boil the remaining batches.

You can further cook boiled pierogies by frying them, but I never got a chance to try that -- Kit got to the leftovers first.

Culinary Confessions and a Non-Recipe for Colcannon

2011-03-15T22:28:00.001-04:00

As you know, this blog is focused on produce and community-supported agriculture, and it features a lot of from-scratch recipes. But I didn't always eat or cook this way. My culinary beginnings included a fair amount of Cheez Whiz and Bisquick, brownie mixes, and cans of cream-of-mushroom soup -- though, fortunately, not all in the same dish.

Every once in a while I still dip into the realm of "semi-homemade"; which is why The Programmer did not get a home-baked layer cake on his birthday, but rather a parfait that featured instant pudding mix, frozen whipped topping, strawberries, and cubes of angel food cake. The cake, which I had in the freezer, was homemade, but it may have been a relic from The Programmer's birthday celebration last year. This reminded us of the "leftover parfait" bit from Malcolm in the Middle. Ours was a leftover parfait parfait.

Not from scratch ...
but it tasted good.

By way of redemption, I present to you a non-recipe for Colcannon, just in time for St. Patrick's Day. Colcannon is simply boiled potatoes mashed with boiled cabbage or kale -- seasonal ingredients and authentic to Ireland.

Colcannon (Kale version)

Use a waxy potato variety, such as Yukon Gold, for mashing. I cut my potatoes into quarters for boiling, and don't bother peeling them until they have cooked.

Boil and drain about 2 pounds of potatoes. Let them cool slightly and remove peels as needed. Mash the potatoes, adding butter and warm milk, or pareve margarine and potato-boiling liquid, depending on whether you need to keep the recipe dairy free. Keep the mashed potatoes warm.

Meanwhile, remove and discard the stems from a bunch of kale. Roughly chop the leaves and boil or steam them until tender. Let the kale cool a bit, then chop finely.

Mix the cooked kale into the mashed potatoes, adding salt and pepper to taste. And that's pretty much it, though you could easily add in onions, garlic, or other seasoning if you like. If you have more cooked kale than you need for the potatoes, save it for another use, such as quiche or soup.

Summer Sunshine Peach Jam and Honey-Wheat Rolls

2011-03-11T12:26:00.001-05:00

Few foods make me think of summer the way peaches do. They are wrapped up in the promise of picnics and beach time, cobblers and ice cream. It's hard to capture that feeling in March -- right now, a cold rain is pounding my office windows -- but I'm finding that jam helps. It's like a bit of summer sunshine in a jar, even when you start with frozen fruit.

Peach jam with honey-wheat rolls
(which resemble potatoes in this picture).

Summer Sunshine Peach Jam
(Adapted recipe)

Note: Because my peaches were frozen in apple juice, I semi-defrosted them and drained off some of the excess liquid before proceeding with the recipe. All quantities are approximate.

7 to 8 cups peeled, sliced frozen peaches (about 2 to 2.5 pounds)
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup sugar, or to taste

Bring the peaches, water, and lemon juice to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the peaches are soft. Mash the peaches gently as they cook (I used a potato masher for this).

Add the sugar to the peach mixture, stirring until dissolved. Continue to simmer gently, stirring often, until the mixture thickens, another 20 to 40 minutes. The jam is done when a small amount placed on a cold plate holds its shape and does not run.

Cool the jam and refrigerate. Makes 2.5 to 3 cups.

Honey-Wheat Rolls
(Adapted recipe, attributed to Taste of Home, and included in a promotional brochure for the honey industry that was distributed at the 2010 Topsfield Fair. The rolls pair well with jam and peanut butter, and are particularly tasty when eaten warm.)

1 package active dry yeast
1.25 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees F), divided
2 egg whites
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp salt
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2.5 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of the warm water. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with a whisk until foamy. Add in the yeast mixture, the remaining water, honey, oil, salt, and whole wheat flour. Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon for about three minutes or until smooth. Stir in enough all-purpose flour to form a soft dough; it will be sticky. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

Punch the dough down. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Divide the dough in half, then divide each half into nine balls. Shape into rolls. These can be ball-shaped, or roll each ball into a 10-inch rope and tie into a knot. Place the rolls onto parchment-lined baking sheets.

Cover and let the rolls rise until doubled in size, about 50 minutes. Bake them at 375 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Fish With Winter Greens, Two Ways

2011-02-05T20:01:00.001-05:00

Somewhere on the lawn, under an 8-foot mound of snow, is the spot where we planted tomatoes last summer. It doesn't look like we'll be seeing anything green outside for a while, so we are gravitating toward greens anywhere we can find them. Kale, chard, mint chocolate chip ice cream ... .

Cod Steamed on Kale, with Asian-Style Spices
(Adapted from two Mark Bittman recipes)

Cod steamed on kale.

1 Tbsp canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
1 bunch kale (about a pound), tough stems removed and discarded, leaves coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp soy sauce, plus extra for drizzling
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup water
1 pound skinless cod
Sesame oil (optional)

Heat the oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Saute the ginger and garlic for about a minute, then stir in the kale, soy sauce, sherry, and water. Cover the pot and let the kale cook until it is just about tender, about 10 minutes.

Put the fish on top of the kale, drizzle with a bit of soy sauce and, if desired, sesame oil. Cover the pot again and let the fish steam on top of the greens until it's cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Salmon and Chard in Spiced Tomato Sauce
(Adapted from Spry magazine)

Salmon and chard, with a side of rice.

1 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 cup tomato puree
1 jar (12 ounces) roasted red peppers, drained, rinsed, and sliced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bunch Swiss chard (about a pound), thick center stems removed and discarded, leaves coarsely chopped
3 or 4 skinless salmon fillets, about 6 ounces each

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a large skillet. Saute the garlic in the oil for about 1 minute, then add the tomatoes with their liquid, the tomato puree, red peppers, and spices. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the Swiss chard on the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and place the salmon fillets on top of the chard. Pour the tomato sauce on top of the fish and greens. Cover the dish and bake about 20 minutes, then remove the cover and bake another 5 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.

Snow Day Recipes: No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread and Chocolate Snowballs

2011-01-17T11:40:00.002-05:00

School: Canceled.
Movie night with Book Club girlfriends: Canceled.
Kitchen oven: On!

I don't need much of an excuse to spend time in the kitchen baking, but last week's snowfall provided one anyway. I made two treats for post-shoveling snacking. The first was a loaf of whole wheat bread. I know that doesn't sound exciting, but honestly, how often do you bake bread? (If you answered, "a couple of times a year," or more, you already know the virtues of the homemade stuff.) In any case, the recipe (detailed below) produced good results with very little work.

The second bit of baking was a batch of chocolate snowballs, primarily because the name was perfect. Turns out the recipe was a keeper. You do need to plan ahead if you want to make these cookies, as the dough requires a long chilling time.

Two notes before I lose my vegetable-advocacy credentials:

1. The bread goes well with my Vegetarian Split Pea Soup. When I made the soup last week, I used yellow split peas, a teaspoon of dried thyme rather than fresh, and I skipped the "puree" step and just let the soup cook longer (about an hour in total) until the peas broke down fully.

2. It's CSA sign-up time (at least, in these snowy climes). We're members, again, at Connors Farm. While I'm a fan of community-supported agriculture, I’m well aware of its pluses and minuses. If you have questions (or doubts) before joining up, I'm happy to provide honest answers.

Now, on to the baking:

No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread
(Adapted from King Arthur Flour to be non-dairy. You can find slightly different versions of this recipe on packages of King Arthur whole wheat flour and on the company's web site.)

1 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp maple syrup (can substitute molasses or something similar)
1 envelope (1/4 ounce) instant yeast (also known as rapid-rise yeast)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 cups (12.75 ounces) whole wheat flour

Thoroughly grease a loaf pan, 8.5 inches by 4.5 inches. (Size matters here if you want a loaf of "sandwich" bread.) Combine the water, juice, vegetable oil, maple syrup, yeast, salt, and flour in a large bowl and beat vigorously for about three minutes. The result will be a very sticky, non-kneadable dough. (King Arthur Flour suggests beating the ingredients with an electric mixer on high speed. Alas, the dough was too stiff for my hand mixer, so I used a wooden spoon and brute force, with good results.)

Scoop the dough into the loaf pan, and spread it as evenly as possible. Cover the pan with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap, and let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes. The dough should come up to the rim of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the bread for 30 to 45 minutes, tenting it with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. (Note: The flour package says 30 to 35 minutes; the web site says 40 to 45 minutes. I think my loaf took closer to 45 minutes.) To determine if the bread is done, insert an instant-read thermometer into the center of the loaf; it should register between 190 and 195 degrees F. The top will be golden brown.

Remove the loaf from the oven, let cool about 5 minutes, then turn the bread out onto a rack. Cool completely before slicing.

Chocolate Snowballs
(From Taste of Home)

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Confectioners' sugar

Cream butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Mix in the egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat well. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients gradually to the butter-sugar mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least several hours; the dough should have the consistency of fudge or truffles before shaping.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop up dough using a small spoon or cookie scoop, and shape into 1-inch balls using your hands. (I think mine were closer to 1.25 inches in diameter.) Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until the cookie tops are crackled. Transfer the baked cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Roll the cooled cookies in confectioners' sugar. Yield: about 4.5 dozen.

A New Year's Tonic: Chard and Black-Eyed Pea Soup

2011-01-07T09:33:00.000-05:00

Craving something hearty and healthy? Looking for a restorative after weeks of indulgence? Yeah, you're not alone. It's January. Time for the reset button.

Thus I'm beginning to understand the tradition of serving black-eyed peas and greens on New Year's Day. It's not just that these foods symbolize luck and prosperity; they are also so darn good for you. Kind of makes you feel virtuous. And all that goodness nullifies the brownies, right?

Chard and Black-Eyed Pea Soup
(This is my own recipe, and it's ripe for personal interpretation. You could easily try out different types or quantities of beans, greens, or spices. Add a salad, maybe some toast, and you have a complete meal.)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 bunch Swiss chard (about 3/4 pounds), stems and leaves separated; stems diced and leaves roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 to 2 carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp coarse-ground black pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, with their liquid
2 cans (15.5 ounces each) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup small white beans, drained and rinsed (Purely optional. I had leftovers in the fridge that I wanted to use up.)
3 cups water
Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven or soup pot. Saute the onion, celery, carrots, and chard stems about 5 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Add the garlic, herbs, and spices (but wait on salt). Cook for about a minute, then stir in the tomatoes with their liquid and the chard leaves. Cover the pot and let the chard wilt, about 5 minutes.

Add the black-eyed peas (and any other beans, if using) and water to the pot. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup for about 30 minutes. Taste, adjust seasonings and add salt if desired, and serve.

A Family-Friendly Farm

2010-12-30T16:59:00.003-05:00

The kids would be much happier if our CSA farm looked more like this one.

Tis Another Season To Be Cooking

2010-12-24T11:16:00.000-05:00

I popped into my kosher butcher shop yesterday and guess what song was playing on the radio?

White Christmas.

At least we can chalk up that one to a nice Jewish boy. The holiday, too, for that matter.

Anyway, the post-CSA cooking has run the gamut from roasted Brussels sprouts with garlic to rum-tinged cranberry sauce to homemade Pop-Tarts. And I've been on a squash kick of late. Here are a couple of good choices for cold winter evenings.

Squash, Cauliflower,and Chickpea Curry

Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

These are really before-and-after pictures, as the cabbage rolls are stuffed with rice and leftovers from the squash curry. The recipes and idea are from The Boston Globe. (For a meaty "stuffed cabbage" with a lot less work, check out my Stuffed Cabbage Casserole.)

Another recent hit was this stuffed squash recipe, also via The Boston Globe.

Mushroom and Barley Stuffed Delicata Squash

(adapted, barely, from The Boston Globe Magazine. Mostly, I cut back on the salt and oil, and made minor ingredient substitutions based on what I had at home.)

2.75 cups water

1 cup pearled barley

3 delicata squash, about 1.25 pounds each, halved lengthwise and seeded

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted and chopped

2 ribs celery, finely chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

10 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add barley and 1/4 teaspoon salt, lower heat and simmer, covered, about 35 minutes or until the barley is tender and the water has been absorbed. Remove cover and set aside.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brush squash halves with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet for 30 minutes. Turn squash halves over, brush each half with orange juice concentrate, and bake cut side up for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven.

While the squash is baking, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet and saute the celery and onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the celery mixture to the barley along with the porcini mushrooms. Heat another tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and saute the sliced button mushrooms until brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and herbs to the skillet and cook another minute more. Add this to the barley mixture, and stir in the vinegar. Taste the barley mixture and adjust the seasoning as desired.

Fill the squash cavities with the barley mixture and bake until the filling is heated through, about 20 minutes.

Chicken With Apples, and a Review of the Season

2010-11-08T13:38:00.000-05:00

It's been a couple of weeks now since our last CSA pickup, and I'm reflecting on the season. Whereas 2009 was categorized by excessive rain and clouds, this year we had crop-withering heat and drought. What a visceral reminder of the unpredictable nature of farming!

A couple of crops did very well. Our farm supplied us with 174 peaches (that's somewhere between 43 and 58 pounds); 81 ears of corn; and 42 apples. I have samples of each of these in my freezer for the months to come. On the other hand, I've seen enough green tomatoes, thank you (several dozen, between the farm and our own plants), and I'm ready to forget about that wretched broccoli rabe.

As I go on hiatus, I leave you with a chicken dish that's quick to make and brings in the flavors of fall.

Chicken With Apples

(Adapted recipe; origin unknown)

3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (pounded to be no more than 3/4 inch thick)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 apple, cored, halved, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 cup apple juice
1 large onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Heat oil in a large skillet. Saute the chicken for about 3 minutes per side, or until golden. Add the remaining ingredients except for the mustard. Bring the liquid to a boil, lower heat, then cover the skillet and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from the skillet, whisk in the mustard, then return chicken to the sauce. Heat through and serve.

Week 18: Green Tomato Soup

2010-10-17T15:58:00.002-04:00

Last CSA pickup of the season, and what did we get? A bouquet of Swiss chard.

The chard was the best dish of the week, but you don't need a recipe for it. Just wash the chard, remove leaves from stems, chop the leaves, and saute them with garlic in a little olive oil, as you might do with spinach. Sprinkle salt on top before serving. Perfection.

The rest of the week's cooking seemed to revolve around just a few items:

Butternut squash -- in a stew with turkey meat; roasted with green tomatoes and onions; and roasted alone and mashed;
Green tomatoes -- roasted with the squash, as mentioned above; and in soup;
Red cabbage -- braised with apples and caraway; and turned into slaw;
Apples -- with cabbage; and in cake.

The soup was a quick solution to too many green tomatoes. I don't know why it took me all season to come across this idea.

Quick Green Tomato and Bean Soup

(Inspired by this Gourmet recipe)

1 Tbsp olive oil

4 scallions, sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 pounds green tomatoes, chopped

2 cups water

1 can (15.5 ounces) small white beans, with liquid

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika, or to taste

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Saute scallions and garlic in the oil for a couple of minutes; watch that they don’t burn. Add the tomatoes, water, canned beans and their liquid, and the spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 30 to 45 minutes or until the tomatoes break down to your liking. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve hot.

Week 17: Roasted Cauliflower With Capers

2010-10-07T10:14:00.001-04:00


Caboodle vs. the Collard

I got what I needed this week: a couple of cool, wet days conducive to cooking. After a pot of soup and a big stir fry -- both cabbage based -- I'm close to clearing out the vegetables in the fridge.

My favorite meal of the week was our "C" food dinner: Cod with Crumbs, Cauliflower with Capers, and Collards with, um, more Collards. The collard greens had enormous leaves, and the cauliflower weighed in at 3.5 pounds. I guess the drought/flood cycle has been good to some crops.

Roasted Cauliflower With Capers
(Adapted recipe. Variations of roasted cauliflower abound.)

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Break a head of cauliflower into florets and toss with a bit of olive oil. Lay the florets in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, then flip the pieces with a large spatula and roast another 10 minutes or so, until the cauliflower is tender and a bit browned. Keep an eye on the cauliflower so it doesn't burn.

Transfer the cooked cauliflower to a serving bowl and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon drained capers and 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped. Serve hot or warm.

Week 16: Stuffed Cabbage Casserole; Turkey Corn Soup

2010-09-30T14:35:00.002-04:00

We started off the week with a load of vegetables: leftovers from Week 15 (green cabbage, butternut squash), the current share (red cabbage, broccoli, corn, red and green tomatoes), and our own crops (more tomatoes, both red and green). Here at week's end, I'm not completely caught up -- the squash, for one, remains untouched -- but I've made a sizeable dent.

So what's come out of the kitchen? Salsa verde, served with chips. Corn and green tomato pancakes, eaten as a side dish to tuna. Red cabbage slaw with peanut dressing. Cabbage casserole and turkey soup (detailed below). Still to come: Fresh pasta sauce, pickled green tomatoes, maybe a stir fry with the remaining cabbage. And something with squash.

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole
(Adapted recipe. The original uses a can of tomato soup and a can of soup water instead of tomato sauce. The flavor of this dish is reminiscent of stuffed cabbage, but with much less work.)

1 medium green cabbage (about 2 pounds), cut up
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce

Grease a large baking dish (9 by 13 inches) and place cabbage inside. Brown beef and onion in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Stir in rice. Place meat mixture over the cabbage. Pour tomato sauce over all. Cover dish and bake at 350 degrees for one hour, or until the cabbage is tender and the rice is cooked. (Check after 30 minutes and add a little water to the dish if it seems dry.)

Turkey Corn Soup

(Adapted recipe; similar to this one.)

6 cups turkey stock

5 ears corn

2 cups diced, cooked turkey (about 9 ounces)

1 cup sliced celery (about 2 stalks)

3 ounces broad or “homestyle” egg noodles

Black pepper and salt

Place the stock in a large (4 quart) soup pan. Slice whole kernels from two ears of corn and add to stock. Over a bowl, to catch the pulp and liquid, grate the kernels from the remaining three ears of corn, using the large holes of a box grater. Add to the stock mixture, along with the diced turkey and celery. Bring the stock to a gentle boil. Add the noodles and simmer until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Adjust the seasoning as desired and serve hot.

Week 15: Lasagna With Squash and Kale

2010-09-23T17:35:00.000-04:00

I had ambitious cooking plans for the week. I also had ambitious work plans. Work won out, and that's why I have a head of green cabbage, a butternut squash, and a couple of beets to carry me into the coming CSA week.

Still, we had two good CSA-centric meals. One was a pot of roasted vegetables that included this week's eggplant and tomatoes along with onions, garlic, pepper, and potato. It was similar to ratatouille, but accompanied by a Thai-inspired peanut sauce. (I liked it better without the sauce.) The other meal was lasagna, a multi-step, multi-pot concoction that I decided to tackle when a client's database problems prevented me from logging into work. (Ah, the joys of being a remote freelancer.) The lasagna, which used up one of our butternut squashes and our kale, ultimately was worth the work. It would make a lovely vegetarian entree for Thanksgiving.

Lasagna With Squash and Kale
(Adapted from Sunset Magazine. The lasagna can be assembled and refrigerated up to a day ahead of baking.)

4 Tbsp olive oil (divided use)
1 medium red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic (1 minced; 2 peeled but left whole)
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper
6 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 pounds squash)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 pound kale
9 whole-wheat lasagna noodles (8 oz.)
1 container (15 oz.) part-skim ricotta cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese (divided use)

Prepare the sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a sauce pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and minced garlic for about 5 minutes, or until the onion softens, then add in the tomatoes, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes, then set aside.

Prepare the squash: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the squash cubes and the whole garlic cloves with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with the thyme; sprinkle with salt and pepper as desired. (I used only pepper.) Spread on a large baking pan (10 by 17 inches) and bake until soft, about 15 minutes. (Note: The squash won't cook that fast if your cubes are larger than the 1/2-inch dice.) Let the squash and garlic cool a bit, then puree them in a food processor and set aside.

Prepare the kale: Bring about 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Remove the center ribs from the kale leaves. Discard the ribs and boil the kale leaves for about 5 minutes or until soft. Drain, let cool, then squeeze out as much water as possible from the leaves. Chop the leaves finely.

Prepare the noodles: Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the lasagna noodles, a few at a time, to keep the water boiling. Cook the noodles for about 10 minutes, or as directed on the packaging, until tender. Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water. Separate the noodles and lay out on wax paper to keep them from sticking to one another.

Prepare the cheese: Mix together the ricotta cheese, nutmeg, 1 cup of mozzarella, and another 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Set aside.

Assemble the lasagna: Layer the components in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish in this order, spreading the layers as evenly as possible:

1.5 cups tomato sauce
3 noodles
All of the squash
One-half of the kale
3 noodles
All of the ricotta cheese mixture
All of the remaining kale
3 noodles
Remaining tomato sauce
Remaining 1 cup mozzarella (or a bit less, depending on taste)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the juices are bubbling. Add 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time if the lasagna has been pre-assembled and refrigerated. Let the lasagna stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Week 14: Hungarian Peach Cake

2010-09-16T16:18:00.011-04:00

Peaches. By golly, we got PEACHES.

The farm said to "fill your bag" with pick-your-own peaches, and Caboodle and I took the instructions to heart ... until the bag became kind of hard to lift.

We lugged home 20 pounds of peaches, or about 60 individual pieces of fruit. At least half wound up being sliced and frozen -- they'll brighten up some miserable day this winter -- but we had plenty of peaches to share with friends and to nosh on all week. And with that many peaches around, I didn't feel too bad about sacrificing a few to experimental baking.

Cobbler recipes seem to fall into two styles: those that have fruit under a biscuit or doughy topping (along the lines of these blueberry cobblers) and those in which the fruit cooks on top of a batter. We tried one browned-butter, peach-topped cobbler that was tasty, but unnecessarily rich. We preferred the peach-topped cake detailed below, which was cobbler-like, but lighter in texture.

Also in our CSA bag this week -- wedged under the 20 pounds of peaches -- were a couple of cucumbers, three yellow squash, green tomatoes, and a sugar pumpkin. The kids weren't crazy about roasted pumpkin, but they did like the roasted pumpkin seeds. The green tomatoes went into a Indian-style stew with yellow split peas -- filling, but not photogenic. A highlight of the week was a thin crust pizza topped with our heirloom tomatoes, grown on our CSA-provided tomato plants.

Hungarian Peach Cake
(Adapted from The Complete American-Jewish Cookbook by Anne London and Bertha Kahn Bishov (1971 edition). I cannot vouch for "Hungarian" origins of this recipe.)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 to 5 peaches, sliced in half and pit removed
Sugar-cinnamon mixture for sprinkling (see note)

Sift flour with baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs individually and beat well. Add in flour mixture and mix well. Pour or spread the batter evenly into a well-greased pan (10.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches). Gently press the peach halves on top of the batter. Sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cut cake into pieces (around the peach halves) and serve warm. Makes 8 to 10 pieces.

Note: The original recipe calls for sprinkling the top of the cake with a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. I mixed up the sugar and cinnamon as directed, but didn't use more than a couple of tablespoons of the mixture. The cake was plenty sweet.

Week 13: Last Blast of Summer Corn Salad

2010-09-09T14:05:00.007-04:00

The defining word for this week is "transition." The calendar says summer, but I'm making the mental switch to autumn. Well ... mostly, which is why corn on the cob appeared on our Rosh Hashanah table, along with the soup and brisket and apples.

It was a hefty CSA haul this week: peaches, apples, green beans, green tomatoes, plum tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn. The Programmer, Caboodle, and I also made an apple-picking pilgrimage to Russell Orchards on Sunday -- not that we needed more apples, but our schedule gets tighter as the season goes on. (I don't think the girls will object if I use some of those apples in a cake or crisp sometime soon.)

The week's produce (and last week's leftovers) wound up in a variety of dishes: carrot cake for Kit's birthday; butternut squash soup, kicked up a notch with a bit of hot pepper; corn muffins, made with fresh corn kernels; a green tomato gratin, with feta cheese; refrigerator pickles; curried vegetables, featuring green beans, plum tomatoes and a purchased cauliflower; roasted peaches (delicious with vanilla yogurt; even better with French vanilla ice cream); lots of applesauce, now mostly in the freezer; and an apple-celery root slaw with a mustard-honey dressing.

I pulled together this corn salad as our family's contribution to a Labor Day weekend barbecue. I love the combination of corn and beans; see my Seaside Corn and Bean Salad for another variation.

Last Blast of Summer Corn Salad
(Serves 8 or more as a side dish)

6 ears of corn
1 can (15.5 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 pickling cucumber, seeded and diced, but peel left on (about 1 cup)
1/2 to 1 cup diced red onion
1 Tbsp red basil, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste

Lightly steam or boil the corn, then place in cold water to stop the cooking. Drain corn and remove kernels from the cobs. Mix corn kernels with the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

Week 12: Watermelon Gazpacho Shooters

2010-09-01T09:04:00.005-04:00

Wow, that was a whirlwind of a week. It was Kit's bat mitzvah this past Saturday, and between Friday and Tuesday we had a steady stream of friends and relatives through our kitchen. The whole experience was exhilarating and exhausting. The food was pretty good, too, if I do say so myself.

Over the course of the weekend, much of Friday's share was served to our guests: fresh apples and peaches, served plain; wax beans and cherry tomatoes, in pasta salad; carrots, in a green salad; and round tomatoes, sliced for sandwiches. Previous CSA fare turned up in the form of chocolate zucchini bread and blueberry crumb bars.

Now that the family has cleared out, I can take stock of my leftovers: a couple of carrots, which are destined to become carrot cake; a butternut squash; and a handful of hot peppers. Hmmm, I ought to be able to come up with some hot-sweet squash idea. I'll have to report back on that.

Here's something from our pre-bat mitzvah Friday evening dinner that uses seasonal produce, can serve a crowd, and is refreshing on a hot night.

Watermelon Gazpacho Shooters
(Adapted from Good Food Catering Company)

1/4 of a seedless watermelon, cubed
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 tomato, chopped
1 to 2 ounces red wine vinegar
Black pepper and salt to taste

Reserve a third of the diced cucumber for garnish. Blend remaining cucumber, watermelon, and tomato in a food processor (in batches) or in a bowl with an immersion blender. Add seasonings to taste. Chill gazpacho, preferably overnight. Serve cold in shot glasses, garnished with cucumber. Makes 30 to 40 one-ounce servings.

Week 11: Caramelized Corn With Mint

2010-08-25T13:34:00.006-04:00

Woo-hoo! Another 20 peaches, plus eight plums, five apples, a half-pint of raspberries, four round tomatoes (two red, two green), and maybe a pint or so of cherry tomatoes that were the same size as the plums.

Our CSA has come to fruition.

Outside of some peach sorbet (using last week's recipe), the non-tomato fruit was eaten unadorned. I fried the green tomatoes and turned the red ones into salsa. With the salsa, we had corn and cheese quesadillas, using some of this week's fresh corn.

If you are looking for a new idea for corn, try the following.

Caramelized Corn With Mint
(adapted from The New York Times)

3 ears fresh corn, kernels removed (or 2.5 cups corn)
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp minced fresh mint
Salt to taste

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the corn. Cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, or until the kernels are golden and browned. Stir in the mint and add salt to taste. Serve hot.

Week 10: Food Processor Sorbet

2010-08-19T21:20:00.003-04:00

It's been an odd work week. The kind of work week that has me noshing on sorbet at 9:30 in the morning.

At least the sorbet's homemade. With just three ingredients: Cantaloupe, yogurt, and sugar. Breakfast food, really.

The CSA doesn't always deliver enough by way of fruit, but the past couple of weeks have been fantastic. Friday's pickup included another 20 peaches and a cantaloupe the size of a soccer ball. Most of that we ate as just plain fruit, though I sacrificed a couple of peaches to a failed meatloaf idea that involved a pie plate and a cloying sweet-and-sour topping.

Also in this week's share were pickling cucumbers (which became quick pickles); tomatoes and mint (the basis of a couscous salad); summer squash (broiled); and corn (eaten in various ways, including plain boiled; skillet browned; and in bean salad).

Food Processor Sorbet

(The recipe I have is attributed to Mark Bittman; you can find variations of this all over the Internet. Sorry for no photo; mine were all fuzzy. Must have had something to do with the brain freeze.)

1 pound frozen fruit (I froze small cubes of peeled cantaloupe)
1/2 cup yogurt (I used low-fat vanilla)
1/4 cup sugar
a couple of tablespoons of water

Place the ingredients in a food processor bowl fitted with a steel blade and process until pureed and creamy, but not liquefied. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary, and add another tablespoon or two of water if needed. Serve the sorbet immediately, or freeze it for later use. Allow any frozen sorbet to sit at room temperature 10 to 15 minutes to soften before serving.

I'm pretty sure you could leave out the yogurt and make the sorbet dairy-free, but I haven't tried that out yet. If you have experience with this, let me know.

Week 9: Main-Dish Peaches

2010-08-12T17:28:00.015-04:00

Quick word game: I say "peach" and you say ...

Cobbler, probably. Maybe pie. Maaaaayyyybe ice cream.

I bet you didn't say salad, or stir fry, or salsa.

When the farm gave us nearly 5 pounds of peaches last week, I dismissed the inclination to make a cobbler and took the opportunity to try out more savory recipes. That's how we wound up eating a peach and corn salad (pictured); beef stir fry with peaches; peach salsa; chicken in a ginger-peach sauce--not to mention a couple of peaches eaten just out of hand. (Naturally, I still indulged my sweet tooth with a cup of peach ice cream at Richardson's.)

It was not solely peaches in the share. We also received corn; tomatoes; eggplants; and 20 tiny plums. But peaches were the stars of the week.

Peach Salad With Corn and Fresh Mozzarella

This is a super-easy recipe, adapted from one on About.com. Our corn was so good we ate it raw, but you can boil or grill yours if you like.

Mix together:

2 peaches, diced
Kernels from 2 ears corn
2 ounces fresh mozzarella, diced
6 basil leaves, slivered, or to taste

Eat the salad plain or drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, or drizzle with both olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar. Serves 1 to 2 as a light entree.

Peach-Pepper Salsa

This one I served with pan-cooked tilapia.

2 diced peaches
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 tsp minced jalapeno pepper (seeds removed)
1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
juice from 1/2 lime

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate at least an hour ahead of serving time to let flavors blend.

Beef Stir Fry With Peaches

Adapted from Steamy Kitchen

1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch
Black pepper, to taste
1 pound thinly sliced beef for stir fry
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 ounces brown mushrooms, sliced
2 firm but ripe peaches, cut into wedges

Combine soy sauce, sugar, corn starch, black pepper, and beef. Let the beef marinate 10 minutes at room temperature.

Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Quickly cook beef, about 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from frying pan. Turn down the heat slightly and add onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes, until vegetables soften and mushrooms give off some of their liquid.

Add in the peach slices and let them heat through, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the beef back into the pan, toss to combine and cook just another minute or so until heated through.

Week 8: Portion-Controlled Cobblers, and Other Delights for Two

2010-08-05T08:38:00.008-04:00

With both girls at overnight camp for the first time, The Programmer and I are adjusting to having dinners as a twosome.

Full Disclosure No. 1: The best thing we ate this week did not come from our kitchen. Rather, it was a fancy-schmancy dinner we had during a weekend get-away to celebrate our anniversary. (Sample menu item: Pan-roasted duck breast with braised celery root, wilted Asian greens, pineapple marmalade, and seared foie gras.)

Back home, the cooking was decidedly more pedestrian. (Sample menu item: Tuna from a can; skinny eggplants, brushed with olive oil and charred under the broiler; and fresh beans, shelled, boiled, and served with just a bit of salt and pepper.)

Actually, that was a pretty good dinner, and the leftover beans were good cold, with some thyme and a drizzle of olive oil. Other simple delights from this week's basket:

Beets -- roasted, sliced, and served at room temperature with feta cheese;
Tomatoes -- chopped with cucumber and scallions for a chopped salad;
And green beans -- steamed and mixed with fresh corn, tomatoes, basil, and oregano.

As it was our anniversary week, we needed a blueberry dessert, too. (Here's the explanation from last year, in case you missed it.) With only two of us at home, it seemed prudent to keep the baked goods to small quantities. Hence, mini blueberry cobblers.

Full Disclosure No. 2: I'm bending the rules with this recipe, as the blueberries didn't come in our CSA share this past week, but they did come from the farm. I'm sure somebody's CSA is providing blueberries now.

Portion-Controlled Blueberry Cobblers

(Recipe adapted from The Pink Apron, who started with an Apple Cranberry Crisp recipe from Smitten Kitchen, who in turn started with a Michael Chiarello recipe in Bon Appetit.)

Filling:
1.5 cups fresh blueberries
4 tsp Splenda granulated, or sugar
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind

Topping:
1/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp corn meal
4 tsp Splenda granulated, or sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
5 tsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp fat-free milk

Process:
Toss together the filling ingredients until well combined. Divide among four (6 ounce) ramekins and set aside.

Place flour, corn meal, Splenda or sugar, baking powder, and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Transfer to a medium bowl and add milk. Stir until ingredients are evenly moistened.

Distribute topping over the filling. Place ramekins in the oven and bake until the topping is golden and the filling is bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm. A little whipped cream or ice cream on the top wouldn't hurt.

Week 7: Tabbouleh

2010-07-29T22:40:00.004-04:00

This week, we kept the food preparation simple: fresh peaches; corn on the cob; zucchini and squash simmered in tomatoes; and a batch of tabbouleh.

Tabbouleh is a dish that invites experimentation. You can alter the grains, the proportions, and the mix-ins. But no matter exactly how you make it, tabbouleh is a vehicle for using up parsley. This recipe is heavy on the herbs and leaves out both cucumber and tomato, which tend to give off a lot of water as tabbouleh sits.

Tabbouleh
(I cobbled this together from several recipes, the origins of which are unknown)

1 cup coarse-grain bulgur wheat
1 cup boiling water
1 bunch (4 ounces) parsley, washed and dried in a salad spinner
1/2 bunch (2 ounces) mint, also washed and dried
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup diced red bell pepper
6 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 cup chopped, pitted Kalamata olives (go ahead and splurge on good ones)
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of one lemon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Place the bulgur in a bowl and stir in the boiling water. Cover the bowl and set it aside to let the bulgur absorb the water, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely chop the parsley and mint leaves, discarding the stems. Pulse the leaves in a food processor if you wish, but be careful not to puree the herbs.

Drain the bulgur if it hasn't completely absorbed the water, then mix in the remaining ingredients. Store in the refrigerator until serving.

Week 6: Dill Bread and Quick Pickles

2010-07-22T13:15:00.015-04:00

As much as I would like to "go with the flow," I'm not a spontaneous/spur-of-the-moment/sure-whatever kind of gal. So I love it when a plan comes together. Friday afternoons, as I clean the vegetables in my share, I begin to map out the week's cooking. It's something of a "free association" exercise.

Hmmm. Look at that heaping bunch of dill. What am I going to do with that? Dill ... Pickles! OK, I have pickling cukes in here, so that's easy. Oh, and I could make fish. If I marinate some salmon steaks in dill and garlic, and throw them on the grill, we could grill the squash and zucchini at the same time. Lettuce ... will be good for salad, and we'll boil the corn. That leaves me just the arugula and the chard ...

A little research online and Hey, here's a recipe for dill bread. That ought to go great with salmon, and it'll use up that container of cottage cheese and ... oh, oh, oh, this is perfect: a couscous salad that uses dill and scallions and arugula. Score! That leaves me just the chard ...

So it goes, and so it went. This week I boiled corn; put up a small batch of pickles; baked dill bread; invited friends to partake of dill bread along with grilled salmon, zucchini and squash (plus an eggplant, purchased separately); threw together couscous salad and lettuce salad; and ate cold salmon leftovers with aforementioned salads. As of this writing I still have the chard, but inspiration will come to me by dinner time. The remaining dill has been planted in the garden, as the dill heads were dropping pollen on my kitchen counter.

The Dill Bread recipe was found on Smitten Kitchen and it was, indeed, great with salmon. I made minor changes: swapped all-purpose flour for the bread flour; cut the onion back to 1/4 cup; took the option for honey over sugar; and used low-fat, small curd cottage cheese.

As for pickles, I have made three kinds of quick pickles in the past two weeks. Oddly enough, none of the recipes include dill. The Daikon and Carrot Pickle, mentioned in passing last week, is reminiscent of cabbage health salad. It's a traditional layer in a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, which would typically feature pork, but we had it instead with leftover Passover brisket. Make note that daikon radish smells more cabbagy as it pickles.

Pictured above are Bread and Butter Pickle s from The Hungry Mouse. I'm liking these more the longer they sit in the brine. Still, my preferred recipe for a sweet-sour pickle is this one:

Freezer-Safe Quick Pickles

You can make this recipe with pickling cucumbers or regular cucumbers, sugar or Splenda. Defrosted pickles keep most of their crunch, though I have not tried freezing pickles made with a sugar substitute.

From Cooks.com

7 cups sliced cucumbers (pickling cukes preferred, but not mandatory)
1 cup sliced onion (optional; sliced scallions work, too)
1 cup diced green pepper (optional)
2 cups sugar (or Splenda; see note above about freezing)
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed

Combine the vegetables in a bowl or freezer container. Mix together the sugar, vinegar, and spices. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Pour over cucumbers. Refrigerate. Pickles are ready to eat in a couple of hours and can be safely frozen.

More Americana

2010-07-21T21:37:00.003-04:00

Details of last week's Americana evening, with blog posts from hostess Doves and Figs and fellow guest Good Cook Doris.

Week 5: Summer Succotash

2010-07-15T17:21:00.007-04:00

Photo courtesy of Doves and Figs

The invitation instructions were deceptively simple. An Americana-themed party. Pot luck dinner. Bring a dish that represents America to you.

Oh, soooo many ways to interpret that. I considered, and rejected, a whole raft of kitschy American recipes -- you know, the ones promoted by food manufacturers and featuring Jell-O or Cheez Whiz or condensed cream of mushroom soup. I took a pass on any elaborate construction projects or subtleties. I'm just not going to make a replica of the Statue of Liberty out of marshmallow treats, PVC pipe, and green fondant. (However, should this idea appeal to you -- if only for the "ick" factor -- you can find the how-to video here.)

I finally decided on succotash, for multiple reasons. Here's a dish that prominently features a New World crop, has strong regional associations, and evokes (for me, at least) pre-Colonial America and Thanksgiving. From a practical standpoint, succotash can sit out at room temperature on a buffet table for hours. It's a fun word to say. And I just plain like it. That this week's share included corn and green beans made my Summer Succotash recipe all the more appropriate.

Succotash fit in well among the pot luck offerings at the party. The interpretations of Americana included the nostaglic (daisy-shaped sandwiches with pimento cheese, a la 1917); regional foods (Southern mac and cheese pie); riffs on classics (vegetarian baked beans and gourmet sliders); a lot of blueberries (muffins, cornbread, pie, tarts, and cobbler); and plenty more stuff.

"Plenty more stuff" characterized our week. In addition to succotash (I made a batch for home, too), we ate CSA raspberries and blueberries out of hand; worked through most of an enormous head of Romaine lettuce; whipped up a zucchini-crusted pizza; made quick pickles from cucumbers and -- separately -- daikon radish (daikon was new to us; I'll have to post more about this another time); sauteed collard greens; and marinated summer squash and zucchini for a salad.

Summer Succotash
(adapted from The Boston Globe)

1/2 pound fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 ears of corn, kernels sliced off
1 large red onion, diced
3 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts kept separate
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

In a pot of gently boiling water, cook the beans for 2 to 4 minutes, until they are just tender. Drain the beans in a colander and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the corn and onion in the skillet about 3 minutes, or until the onion begins to soften, stirring occasionally.

Add the beans and the white parts of the scallions to the skillet. Cook about 2 minutes, or until all of the vegetables are cooked through to your liking. Off heat, stir in the parsley, green parts of the scallions, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Week 4: Spinach Calzone, and Other Good Stuff

2010-07-08T12:29:00.007-04:00

Some weeks, inspiration comes slowly. Other times -- like this past week -- the cooking just comes together.

Curly parsley + fresh mint + SWISS CHARD (sorry, had to shout that) = Swiss Chard Spanakopita Casserole
Green cabbage + kasha + kitchen staples (onion, mushroom, carrot) = Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage
Spinach + cheeses + pizza dough = Spinach Calzone
Summer Squash + parsley + canned beans + tomatoes = Vegetarian chili
Red leaf lettuce + arugula + squash + radishes = a week of salads

The kids favored the calzones, so I feature that recipe below, but I do want to point you to the Swiss chard and cabbage recipes.

Swiss Chard Spanakopita Casserole is a Cooking Light recipe, available here. A construction note: If you can't find large sheets of phyllo dough (mine were only 9 by 14 inches, not the 18 by 14 inches specified in the recipe) just use a 9-inch-square pan. Layer the sheets of phyllo dough perpendicular to one another in the pan, so all sides are covered and the phyllo can encase the filling. Score the assembled casserole into nine pieces before baking.

The stuffed cabbage recipe, aka East European Style Cabbage Rolls in Sweet and Sour Tomato Sauce, comes from Blog Appetit. This one is not hard, but it has several steps to it: prepping the cabbage leaves, preparing the filling and sauce, assembling the rolls, and finally baking everything together. Bookmark this one for cooler weather. For the uninitiated, kasha is buckwheat groats; you'll find it in the kosher food section of your supermarket. For those familiar with kasha, note that the recipe calls for cooking the kasha the way you would for breakfast cereal -- not coated with egg to keep separate granules. The result is a solid filling that holds together when you spoon it onto the cabbage leaves. I might tweak the sauce a bit the next time I make this, but overall this was a satisfying meal.

The calzones were inspired by the coupon I had for a free pound of pizza dough -- and the just-right amount of spinach that came from the farm. You can use any commercially prepared or homemade dough, of course. The spicing is a bit different from what you might expect, but it worked. I have to thank Caboodle for staging and taking the photo of her plate.

Spinach and Cheese Calzones
(by way of Venetto's Italian Recipes at That's My Home)

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups coarse chopped fresh spinach (about 1/2 pound)
1 cup lowfat ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (2 ounces)
1 pound pizza dough
Extra olive oil (for shaping dough)
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal (for baking tray)
1 cup marinara sauce (for serving)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cover. Cook onion over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook uncovered for about 1 minute, then stir in the spinach and cook until it wilts, about 2 minutes.

Place the vegetables in a bowl and let them cool a bit. Stir in ricotta, spices, egg yolk, and feta. If you wish, you can prepare the filling several hours ahead and refrigerate, but return it to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle a large baking sheet with cornmeal.

Cut the dough into four equal pieces. Pat or roll each piece out to about a 7-inch circle. I found it was necessary to have a little olive oil on my pastry mat to keep the dough from sticking. Spoon a quarter of the filling onto half of each circle, leaving a margin around the edge. Fold over the dough to make half-moon shapes and press the edges with the tines of a fork to seal. Transfer filled calzones to the baking sheet. With a small, sharp knife, make two or three slashes in the top of each calzone to let steam escape. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown. Serve with warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

Week 3: Beet Salads, Cooked and Raw

2010-07-01T16:17:00.011-04:00

Excuse me a moment while I finish a yummy sandwich: Hummus, cucumber (nom, nom, nom), radish and arugula on whole wheat pita. Dang, I'm going to have to make more hummus to go with the leftover vegetables.

It's been a busy week in the kitchen of Chez Swiss Chard -- temporarily dubbed Hotel de la Chard over the weekend for Caboodle's belated birthday sleepover party. Aside from the party cooking (pasta and salad dinner, chocolate souffle cupcakes, breakfast buffet with pancakes and home fries), the CSA-specific rundown went something like this:

Steamed peas
Grilled zucchini and summer squash
Plenty of salad (Romaine, arugula, mixed salad greens)
Stuff added to salad (radishes, summer squash)
Stuff added to sandwiches (radishes, lettuce, arugula)
Raw beet salad
Braised greens (collards and beets), and ...
2 Chocolate zucchini cakes (wrapped and frozen for later this summer)

I like the fact that beets are a two-for-one deal. If you need ideas for the greens, remember that beets are related to Swiss chard, and you can use the greens in much the same way.

Having received beets both this week and last, we tried out two very different takes on beet salads. We'll start with Week 2's salad, pictured above. (We made just a half-batch, enough for 3 or 4 servings.)

Beet Salad With Oranges and Beet Greens
(adapted from Bon Appetit)

Leftovers taste fine, but the vibrant color fades with refrigeration.

6 medium beets, washed and trimmed, greens reserved
2 seedless oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 sweet onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Roast, steam or boil the beet roots, depending on your cooking preference and how hot it is in your kitchen. Cool, then peel the beets, and cut into wedges. Coarsely chop the greens, discarding the stems. Cook the greens in a large pot of boiling water until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain, cool, and squeeze out any excess moisture. Combine the beets and greens in a bowl. Add the orange segments and sliced onion. Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, and garlic; dress the salad. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

This week's salad:

Raw Beet Salad
(adapted from a Mark Bittman recipe, via Serious Eats)

1/2 lb beets
1/2 lb carrots
1/2 onion
1 Tbsp minced ginger root
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel the beets, carrots, and onion. Combine them in a food processor and pulse until chopped, or grate the vegetables separately. Place in a bowl and add in the ginger. Combine the mustard, oil, and lime juice, and add to the salad, tossing to coat. Mix in the cilantro. Adjust the seasonings and serve.

Week Two: Zucchini-Feta Pancakes

2010-06-24T08:45:00.005-04:00

I heard a radio clip on NPR the other day from the show Promises, Promises. Around here, it's more like Radishes, Radishes.

What do you get with a CSA?
You get enough lettuce to last a lifetime ...*

(*sung to the tune of I'll Never Fall in Love Again.)

Three heads of lettuce this week, plus peas, cilantro, zucchini, beets, strawberries, a purple basil plant, and broccoli rabe. Not a tremendous load of produce to get through, which pleased me, because this was too busy of a week for much serious cooking.

For a quick dinner early in the week, I braised a head of Boston lettuce with peas and wine and mixed that into pasta. The remaining heads of lettuce became salad, as did the beets and beet greens. The broccoli rabe, I hate to say, looked a bit pathetic. The leaves will be dispatched in a pot of vegetable soup today; the stalks went directly into compost.

Highlight of the week was the zucchini, which became savory pancakes. Serve them as a light entree or side dish. The recipe makes enough for two to four people, depending on the rest of your meal and the eating habits of your children.

Zucchini-Feta Pancakes
(slightly adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook)

4 eggs, separated (yolks optional)
4 cups (packed) grated zucchini (2 to 3 zucchini)
1 cup finely crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup finely minced scallions
1 Tbsp. fresh oregano, finely minced (or 1 tsp. dried oregano)
Salt (I did not add any, because of the feta)
Black pepper to taste
1/3 cup flour
Olive oil or cooking spray, for frying pan

In a large bowl, mix together the zucchini, egg yolks (if using--I left them out), feta, scallions, seasonings, and flour. Beat the egg whites until stiff, and gently fold them into the zucchini mixture. Heat a little oil in a frying pan, or use cooking spray. Add spoonfuls of batter and cook on both sides until golden. I found that the pancakes had a tendency to stick (probably because of the cheese) and remained soft even when browned.

Week One: Strawberry Salad With Balsamic Vinaigrette

2010-06-17T15:11:00.008-04:00

Caboodle left me a note on the food section of last week's newspaper. "Can we make this sometime?" she scrawled in red ink above a recipe for broccoli rabe. Imagine my delight when broccoli rabe showed up among the heap of greens in our first week's CSA share.

Alas, the dish was not a total success. Oh, the recipe is worth keeping (blanch and drain broccoli rabe, saute it with garlic, top it with Parmesan and crumbs, and then brown it under the broiler). Nope, the problem was my unfamiliarity with the vegetable. Our bunch of broccoli rabe was far more stalky than leafy; it apparently needed to be cut into smaller pieces and cooked longer. I'll just have to try again the next time it comes around.

As for the rest of the share, we got most of the items we expected (salad greens and radishes and strawberries) and a few surprises (no rhubarb, but baby turnips and a six-pack of tomato plants). Salad has been the dominant food all week. We've been eating our way through Boston lettuce, romaine, red oak leaf, mesclun mix, and spring cress. Truth be told, the cress is a bit vexing. It has the look and feel of plastic garnish. Best use so far has been to chop it up fine and add it to egg salad.

For my favorite salad of the week, I paired up our sweet berries with peppery greens.

Strawberry Salad With Balsamic Vinaigrette

For the salad: Mix together romaine lettuce with arugula or another peppery salad green to taste. Top with ripe strawberries, quartered or halved, depending on size. Add other ingredients as desired. I kept my salad to just greens and berries, but I could see adding red onion or feta or cucumber. Serve with balsamic vinaigrette.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
(Adapted from various recipes on the Internet)

Whisk together:

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin)

Leftover dressing will keep in the refrigerator, but the oil will likely separate and harden. Just bring the dressing back to room temperature and whisk again before serving.

Anticipation

2010-06-10T12:48:00.006-04:00

I received a pre-pickup e-mail from our CSA this week. Hurray! Anything that gives me a heads-up on the week's produce helps with the eventual cooking. It looks like we'll be getting strawberries, rhubarb, radishes, and a variety of greens on Friday. Check back later in the week to learn what we did with our stuff.

I have set a couple of goals for myself concerning this year's farm season. As always, I want to try out new vegetable-based recipes. This year in particular I want to explore cuisines that I don't often cook (Thai and Indian foods, for example). Also, since we'll be hosting a lot of family and friends late this summer, I'm planning on turning some of the early-season produce into freezable brunch foods -- quiche and quick breads, for example. Write in if you have a favorite recipe to share.

To my new CSA fans: I extend thanks to Public Radio Kitchen for linking to this blog and to my CSA Tips post. PRK lists my blog among the Healthy Eatin' sites, which means I probably shouldn't tell you about the birthday cake I made for Caboodle this week.

Okay, I'll tell you anyway. It was Rosie's Famous Chocolate Sour-Cream Cake Layers with Mocha Buttercream. If you don't have a version of this cookbook, hie thee to a bookstore or library. Consider it research for CSA-friendly recipes; just check out Rosie's Rhubarb Bars.

The Parsley Challenge

2010-06-04T16:47:00.005-04:00

I don't garden much, but over the years The Programmer has planted a variety of herbs. The ones that grow best for us -- parsley, chive, oregano -- are all perennials that survive despite neglect. I use them when I can, but the parsley is a bit of a challenge, because it grows so abundantly and The Programmer doesn't particularly care for it. That means I'm in need of good recipes that get rid of a lot of parsley at once.

Chimichurri is one option, as is tabbouleh (though I'm the only one here who really likes it). This week I came across a salad recipe that I'm adding to my list. It features not only parsley, but also radishes, another early-spring ingredient. The Programmer declared this one a keeper.

Chickpea, Carrot and Parsley Salad
(slightly adapted from Fine Cooking magazine)

1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped (stems discarded)
1 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup sliced radishes (1 bunch, or about 6 radishes)
1/2 cup chopped scallions (white and green parts of about 4 scallions)
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Black pepper, to taste
6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Put 1/2 cup of the chickpeas into a bowl and mash them coarsely. Stir in the remaining chickpeas, parsley, carrot, radishes, and scallions.

Using a small whisk or fork, combine the lemon juice, coriander, salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Pour over the salad and toss gently. Adjust seasonings if necessary and serve.

The salad keeps fine overnight. Serves four as a side dish.

Tips From a CSA Veteran

2010-05-17T21:12:00.004-04:00

We're about a month from the start of our CSA season, and our farm (Connors) has just reopened its farm store. Not much local food yet, aside from spring-dug parsnips, but the anticipation mounts. Meanwhile, I'm prepping for the season, testing out recipes, and enjoying the herbs coming up in our garden.

If you are new to the CSA world, you may be wondering how you are going to manage the coming influx of produce. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Stock up your pantry. This may seem counter-intuitive; after all, you're expecting a heap of vegetables to arrive, right? But having a good supply of staples makes it easier to cook. And you will need to cook. I keep on hand beans, lentils, grains, pasta, tuna, soy sauce, spices, vinegars, and oils--not to mention cocoa, flour, squares of chocolate, vanilla, and a variety of sugars for a few produce-containing sweets.

Gather recipes. It's good to have a couple of ideas stashed away for when you have virtually nothing but lettuce in your share. (Reference last June.) I cook well off the cuff, but formal recipes help me expand my repertoire and figure out correct proportions of ingredients. I use the Internet, naturally, but I also clip recipes from newspapers and magazines, and I keep a small library of reliable cookbooks.

Bookmark reference sites. If you are having trouble identifying a vegetable, or figuring out what to do with it, the Internet is your friend. The Cook's Thesaurus, the Squash Glossary, and CHOW’s Visual Guide to Chili Peppers have all served me well. Whatever you have in your share (Swiss chard, anyone?), someone has written a blog post about it.

Make storage space. Some foods (like, say, lettuce) don't keep well. Other foods (like, say, raspberries) you'll eat up RIGHT NOW because you can't help yourself. Between those extremes, you will likely need some storage options. Canning, pickling, and freezing are all good ways of extending summer's harvest into winter. Just be sure to clear out some shelf space or freezer space for packing away the goodies.

Share with your friends. Turn your CSA bounty into a communal experience. If you have salad fixings for 20 people, it's time to host a party or a pot-luck. Bring a quiche or a zucchini bread over to your neighbor's house. Chances are they'll appreciate the gesture--unless they are overrun with vegetables, too.

Cupcake Nation

2010-04-16T13:30:00.010-04:00

Squeeze a couple of hundred people into a neighborhood bar, throw in free cupcakes from dozens of professional and home bakers, and whaddya get? Cupcake Camp!

This wacky event made its Boston-area debut this week. Naturally, I baked, as did my good friend from Doves and Figs (she of the Farmer's Market Fudge Cakes mentioned in the Boston Globe article). My contribution was two dozen Mini Applesauce Cupcakes With Cinnamon Buttercream. These cupcakes had a CSA connection: They were baked with the last of my homemade applesauce from the fall. I was pleased to see that they were gone within the first hour.

As for choosing cupcakes to sample, that was hard. (Hmmmm. Root Beer Float cupcakes or Guinness and Bailey's? Or maybe the Hostess look-alikes?) I opted for an orange and vanilla "creamsicle" cupcake that was lovely and light, and an organic mocha cupcake, which, despite the whole wheat flour, still tasted like a treat.

By the time we left Cupcake Camp (around 8:30 p.m., before sugar comas set in), the line to get in the door stretched down the block, and "bouncers" were making sure no one left with cupcakes, lest the masses go unfed. Cupcakes as contraband! Who knew?

* * *

Cupcake Camp was just the culmination of a couple of cupcake-filled weeks. I was a kitchen assistant one morning for Doves and Figs' bat mitzvah dessert project. I think the total was 13 dozen cupcakes. (I'm inspired by this Cupcake Goddess, but not so inspired as to take on a similar project for Kit's bat mitzvah.) And I baked Smitten Kitchen's Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes for home toward the end of Passover. I skipped the mint cream part and just topped the dimpled cupcakes with sliced strawberries. Caboodle wants me to make a batch of these for her birthday in June. By that time, I may want to see cupcakes again.

Mini Applesauce Cupcakes With Cinnamon Buttercream
(Adapted Recipe)

The cake recipe originates with one that appeared on a can of Ideal applesauce (Acme supermarket's house brand) sometime in the 1970s. The cake is egg-free and can be made dairy-free, although it tastes better with butter. Because the cake is so moist, I recommend using foil cupcake liners over paper ones. Frosting is optional.

For the cake:
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup melted butter (or substitute non-dairy margarine or flavorless cooking oil)
1 pound applesauce (homemade or store-bought, mostly smooth and without added sugar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set cupcake liners into mini-muffin tins. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, spices, and baking soda. (Yes, that means you sift the flour twice: Before you measure it and again when you combine it with the other dry ingredients. But you can get by with just the first sifting.)

Stir in the melted butter and applesauce until well blended. (A wooden spoon works well. No need to pull out the mixer.) Spoon batter into cupcake liners. Bake 20 minutes or until done; a cake taster should come out dry or with only a little moist crumb. Remove cupcakes from the tin and cool on a wire rack completely before frosting. Makes 2.5 to 3 dozen mini cupcakes, depending on the size of your cupcake pans and liners.

For the frosting:
(Slight adaptation of standard Domino Sugar buttercream)

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 pound powdered sugar (that's roughly 1 7/8 cups)
1 1/2 to 2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy. (Use a low speed to keep the sugar from flying about.) Add more milk if needed for the frosting to be right consistency for spreading. Pipe or spread frosting on completely cool cupcakes.

Spring Cleaning

2010-04-03T10:05:00.005-04:00

I think of spring cleaning as a mental exercise as well as a physical one. So here are a couple of odds and ends as I clean out the cobwebs.

Leftover Chex Mix -- at least my modified take on the 1955 version of the recipe -- can be frozen and defrosted successfully. Why, you ask, would anyone bother to do this? For one thing, frozen Chex Mix slows down the children and the midnight snackers, who have limited self-control. Not that I'm referring to anyone in my household, of course.

Radicchio is not a great addition to a pot of vegetable soup. The taste is fine (if you keep the bitterness in balance), but it turns the soup the most unappetizing shade of reddish-blackish-purple. Must. Eat. Without. Looking.

Radicchio-vegetable soup is still better than parsley soup. 'Nuff said.

Caboodle is leery of kitchen experiments. Whenever I try out a new vegetable-based recipe -- even during the dead of winter -- she asks whether our farm share has started up again. We are about two months from CSA season, and I have recently finished up the last of our rhubarb and corn. We still have some frozen herbs and applesauce.

Rhubarb Chutney is excellent with sharp cheddar and crackers, but makes a surprisingly good snack with peanut butter on a rice cake. Had I thought of it, I would have made some to use as charoset on Passover. Maybe next year.

Rhubarb is coming into the markets, so this is a good time of year to try out the chutney recipe. The original version calls for nuts, but the chutney does not suffer without them.

Rhubarb Chutney
Slightly adapted from The Food Channel

1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/8 cup cider vinegar
1/8 cup water
1/2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
3 rhubarb stalks, ends trimmed and sliced crosswise
1 piece of cinnamon stick, about 2 inches long
1/2-inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 cup golden rasins
1/8 tsp salt

Combine the sugar, vinegar, water, and lemon zest in a non-reactive saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Add in the rhubarb, cinnamon, and ginger, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for about 15 minutes or until the rhubarb is tender. Stir in the raisins and cook 3 minutes longer. Cool completely.

Store the chutney in a covered jar or plastic container and refrigerate. It'll keep for several weeks in the refrigerator, and can be frozen for longer storage. Makes about 2 cups.

Crunch, Crunch, Crunch

2010-02-28T20:54:00.004-05:00

After weeks of soupy, stewy foods (recently: beef goulash, curried lentils, Asian vegetable soup, veggie chili), I had a craving for something crunchy. And green. And -- dare I say it -- springlike.

Celery Salad fit the criteria. You can find all manner of recipes for celery-based salads on the Internet, but one I like pairs sliced celery with shallots, Parmesan cheese, and a lemony vinaigrette. It has a nice bite along with the crunch.

Celery Salad
(from The Boston Globe)

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1.5 Tbsp lemon juice
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1.5 pounds celery (about 9 large stalks), trimmed and thinly sliced; leaves reserved and finely chopped
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese (divided use)
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

In a large bowl, mix lemon zest, lemon juice, shallot, salt, and black pepper. Whisk in the olive oil.

Add the celery slices and leaves, half of the cheese, and the parsley. Toss gently to coat.

Taste the salad and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Garnish with the remaining cheese and serve. Serves 6.

Winter Ratatouille

2010-02-08T09:24:00.004-05:00

On the subject of bowls, here's the recipe for last night's ratatouille. I think it's misnamed; it's full of what I would consider late summer/early autumn vegetables rather than dead-of-winter produce. Still, I was able to take advantage of my greengrocer's special on zucchini.

Winter Ratatouille
(Adapted from The Times of London)

Fat-free olive oil cooking spray
2 onions, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can tomatoes (petite diced)
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
Rosemary leaves from 3 sprigs
Thyme leaves from 10 sprigs
3 parsnips, peeled and sliced (remove any woody cores)
1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced
1 large globe eggplant, cubed (or 3 slim Japanese eggplants, sliced)
2 to 3 zucchini, sliced into half-moons
1 cup water
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Spray the bottom of a Dutch oven with cooking spray; heat. Saute the onions until soft, about five minutes.

Add the garlic, tomatoes, salt, pepper and herbs, and cook for about 15 minutes until the tomatoes thicken slightly.

Add in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and coated with the sauce. If the stew is too soupy, increase the heat and cook, uncovered, to reduce the liquid. (I did not have to do this).

Serve as is or over pasta. The ratatouille can be made ahead and reheated.

Super Bowls

2010-02-08T08:15:00.006-05:00

We had friends over on Super Bowl Sunday, and between our families we have a nut allergy, a fat-restricted diet, a pepper-chili-cilantro aversion, a carbs-and-calories watcher, a couple of picky kids, and a kosher kitchen. Oh, what to do?

Punt!

Then, make a bunch of food and let everyone mix and match. Our final line-up:

Crudites and herbed yogurt dip
Fat-free and regular hummus (homemade)
Pita bread, salsa, hard pretzels, and tortilla chips (store bought)
Baked macaroni and cheese
A winter ratatouille
Plain pasta
Salad greens with roasted squash and a maple vinaigrette
Undressed salad greens
A "gridiron" of brownies (with Hugs and Kisses for the X's and O's)
Jell-O footballs
Grapes
Plus our friends' contributions of spicy pickles, a big football-shaped fruit tart, and little football-shaped s'mores.

Turns out I had one major goof-up: I completely missed my friend's maple syrup allergy (smacks self in head!), so the dressed salad was a no-go for him. Fortunately, there were no Emergency Room trips, and, as far as I can tell, no one left hungry.

So, all in all, it was not your typical Super Bowl spread, but a lot of bowls were involved. Leftovers for dinner tonight!

Back to Our Roots

2010-01-26T22:23:00.006-05:00

Gotta love New England in January. Snow, drizzle, flurries, a peek of sunshine, a little thaw, some freezing rain. And that was just one afternoon last week.

Perfect weather for some ice cream. The girls and I have been treating ourselves to sundaes, but it's not a long-term strategy. So in between the frozen treats I've been focusing on stews and casseroles and roasts. Root vegetables have starred in several of these meals; not only are they widely available this time of year, but they also hold up well in the long-cooking, kitchen-warming dishes that I reserve for winter.

We found an array of root vegetables and other wintry things (like squash, and, um, gelato!) at the winter farmers' market in Wayland. It's worth a visit if you are in the area, but go early: We apparently missed out on some greenhouse-grown Swiss chard.

Part of the farmers' market haul wound up in this stew:

Vegan (and Fat Free) Winter Vegetable Stew
(adapted from the International Vegetarian Union web site)

Peel and cube:
1 rutabaga
3 turnips
3 to 4 carrots
1 sweet potato
2 to 3 white potatoes

Chop:
1 large onion

Rinse well:
1/2 cup barley

Put everything into a large stew pot (mine holds 8 quarts), and add water to cover (about 11 cups). Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about an hour, until all is nearly tender.

Add:
1/3 cup red lentils
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried tarragon
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Simmer until the lentils have cooked, fallen apart and thickened the stew, about 20 minutes. Add more water if necessary.

Notes: The recipe yields a ton (about 16 cups), so keep that in mind if you have a vegetable-averse household. Like most stews, this one tastes even better the second day. Leftovers will continue to thicken because of the barley.

A Twisted Start to the Year

2010-01-04T21:17:00.009-05:00

I suppose the following recipe violates the general purpose of my blog: It does not feature anything local, seasonal, or even vegetable. File this one under regional nostalgia.

You see, growing up in Philadelphia, soft pretzels are a part of my culture, and they are one of the few foods associated with that city that I actively seek out (along with the occasional tuna hoagie.) They're fun to make at home, and a good recipe to make with kids: Lots of opportunities to play with dough.

Caboodle and I whipped up a batch of these on Sunday, and they gave us the fortitude to shovel out the driveway. If you make some for yourself, remember to eat them warm, preferably with a smear of mustard. (Gulden's Spicy Brown, thank you.)

Philadelphia-style Soft Pretzels
(adapted from The Philadelphia Inquirer)

For the dough:

1 envelope active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tsp salt
4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour, plus up to 1 cup extra flour
Canola oil, for greasing bowl and baking trays

For the boiling:

4 tsp baking soda
4 cups water

Procedure: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in one-quarter cup warm water. Stir in remaining water. In a large bowl, combine the salt and four cups of flour. Stir in the yeast water. Add more flour, as needed, to make a stiff dough. Knead dough for 10 minutes or until it feels smooth and elastic. Shape dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl, turning to coat dough. Cover loosely and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Separate dough into 12 pieces. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll each piece into a coil, about 18 inches long and 3/8 inch in diameter, and twist into a pretzel shape. Set shaped pretzels aside, loosely covered, in a warm place.

Dissolve the baking soda in four cups of water and bring to a boil. Drop in the raw pretzels, one at a time, and let boil for one minute or until the pretzel floats. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Transfer the boiled pretzels to a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack.

Optional: Brush the baked pretzels with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt. (Personally, I consider butter a sacrilege. Real pretzels need mustard.)

CSA: Danvers (Season 3)

2010-01-04T19:01:00.003-05:00

Wanna keep your resolution to eat more vegetables? Easy! Just sign up for a CSA.

Connors Farm patrons can now lock in their shares for 2010.

Soup's On

2009-12-26T09:47:00.006-05:00

I make soup all year round, but I love, love, love soup on a cold day. My pantry is stocked with dried peas and lentils for spur-of-the-moment pots of goodness, but sometimes I break out more time-consuming recipes. On a rather blustery day, Mother Wolff Soup simmered on my stovetop for about four hours, requiring only the occasional stir. The soup came out more brothy than I expected -- especially in light of the ingredient list: lima beans and barley and rice and potatoes. Still, Kit went for a second bowlful, and leftovers improved from sitting in the fridge for a day or two, so the recipe is a keeper.

A much quicker soup is Vegetarian Split Pea. It's stick-to-your-ribs thick and it goes from pantry to table in less than an hour.

Mother Wolff Soup
(adapted from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant)

4 quarts water
1/2 cup dried lima beans, soaked overnight
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup barley
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp dried dill
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup diced onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 Tbsp sweet paprika
1 cup diced potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 tsp salt
ground black pepper
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

In a large soup pot, combine water, drained limas, rice, barley, garlic, dill, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover and simmer for 1.5 hours.

About an hour into the simmering time, heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the onion and carrots for a few minutes. Mix in the paprika, potatoes, carrots, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently, then add in the peas and cook, covered, a few minutes more.

Remove the bay leaf from the soup pot and add in the sauteed vegetables, tomatoes, and parsley. Add more salt and pepper if desired. Simmer the soup, on low heat, for another 1.5 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
(adapted from various recipes)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
7 cups water
1 lb dried split peas
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
Juice of one-half lemon (or more, to taste)
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp salt
Paprika to taste

In a 5-quart Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion and carrot until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the water, peas, and thyme to the pot; bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the soup for about 40 minutes or until the peas are soft, stirring occasionally.

Measure out 4 cups of soup and puree them in a food processor. Return the pureed soup to the remaining soup in the pot. Add salt, lemon juice, and paprika to taste. (For a "meaty" taste, try this with smoked paprika. Or, for another flavor profile, leave out the paprika and sprinkle in curry powder.)

Seasonal Silliness

2009-12-17T16:51:00.004-05:00

More proof that marshmallows function as clay.

Recipe idea from Martha Stewart Living, by way of the Jewish Journal Boston North.

Repurposing Contents

2009-12-04T15:02:00.008-05:00

Yup, I followed my own advice and made Bubble and Squeak. This one featured leftovers from a couple of dinners: mashed potatoes, carmelized onions, and peas.

Coincidentally, The Boston Globe this week debuted a food column about creating new meals from parts of a previous one. I find columns like this just a tad silly: Don't all cooks do this naturally? (Thinking here ...) Okay, I suppose they don't, but it's standard operating procedure at Chez Swiss Chard.

I love Thanksgiving dinner because it provides a mother lode of secondary meals. The carcass becomes stock. Stock becomes soup or the base of a sauce. Sauce plus leftover turkey meat becomes turkey a la king or curry. Sauce plus leftover turkey meat plus leftover vegetables becomes tetrazzini (if you add pasta) or shephard's pie (if you top it with leftover mashed potatoes). The possibilities aren't endless (unless you have a really big turkey) but it's well worth the effort to roast that bird.

Here's a dairy-free take on turkey tetrazzini that I concocted several Thanksgivings ago. It makes good use of leftovers.

Turkey Kosherzzini
(Adapted from Jane Brody's Good Food Book)

1 tablespoon pareve margarine or olive oil
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups turkey or chicken stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/3 cup sliced scallions or onions
leftover cooked vegetables, such as broccoli, peas, or green beans (amount is flexible; let's say 1 to 2 cups)
2 cups cooked turkey, cut into small cubes
1/2 pound spaghetti, cooked and drained

In a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, saute the mushrooms in the margarine or oil until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually whisk in the stock. Add the Worcestershire sauce and simmer, stirring, until the sauce has thickened a bit. Add the bell pepper, scallions or onions, and leftover vegetables and mix well. Stir in the turkey and spaghetti.

Pour the mixture into a greased 2-quart shallow casserole or baking dish. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until heated through.

Bubble and Squeak

2009-11-18T15:20:00.004-05:00

I made a passing reference to Bubble and Squeak back in the summer when I had a head of cabbage on hand. I bring it up now, because you just might have the right combination of leftovers to make this dish sometime after Thanksgiving.

Bubble and Squeak has a place in the pantheon of British Foods With Odd Names. Basically, it's a shallow-fried pancake or hash made from leftover potatoes and vegetables. Cabbage is a traditional ingredient, but you can use whatever greens or vegetables you have on hand. Throw in some chopped herbs, too, if you'd like (mmmm, sage and rosemary would be good). Use the directions below as a very loose guide.

Bubble and Squeak
(adapted from The Frugal Gourmet by Jeff Smith)

3 potatoes, boiled and smashed, or leftover mashed potatoes
4 cups chopped, cooked cabbage, or other cooked greens, such as kale or chard
1/2 medium onion, peeled and chopped (sauteed, if you choose, but it's not necessary)
1 raw zucchini, grated (or try cooked Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or carrot)
olive oil

Gently mix the potatoes, greens, and vegetables. Lumps are good; you are not looking for a smooth paste. If your potatoes are too cold to mix, warm them a bit in the microwave first.

Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet. Add the potato-vegetable mixture, press it into the skillet bottom, and let it heat and brown. Flip it in sections to brown both sides or stir it like hash until it's evenly cooked and hot throughout. Serve with salad, leftover meat, or scrambled eggs.

The Supermarket Season

2009-11-03T12:09:00.005-05:00

We're probably not eating much local produce these days -- it's hard to know where the vegetables in our Big Chain Supermarket come from -- but the "seasonal" eating continues. I couldn't resist the Bright Lights Swiss chard. Try it with apples and carmelized onions for a colorful side dish. The sweetness of the onion and the fruit offsets the natural bitterness of the chard. I served the chard with pasta and fish, but it would go equally well with poultry or beef.

Swiss Chard With Apple and Carmelized Onion

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, chopped (about 3 cups)
2 Cortland apples, large dice, with peel on (about 2 cups)
1 bunch Swiss chard, washed, stems and leaves separated and chopped

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet that has a lid. Cook the onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes or until the onion begins to brown and carmelize. Stir in the apple and Swiss chard stems, and cook the mixture for about 5 minutes. Stir in the chard leaves, cover the skillet, and cook for 5 minutes more or until the chard is wilted to your liking. Season with salt and pepper if you wish.

Apple Notes and a Squash Recipe

2009-10-18T20:27:00.005-04:00

The farm season is truly over now: It snowed here. Yeesh! That's all the more reason to be warming up the kitchen with some cooking. So here are a few notes before I take a short hiatus from CSA posts:

Applesauce is a wonderful thing. I made a couple of batches in the past week, using up 8 pounds of apples. Applesauce Cake is not far behind.

I tried out this Sweet Apple Pie Bread earlier this week. It's a quick bread--not especially pie-like--but it's virtually fat-free, especially if you use a skim milk-and-vinegar substitute for buttermilk. Watch out for the way the measurements are written: 1 "T" means a teaspoon of baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon, and not a tablespoon.

Searching for something to do with fish, I came across Teriyaki Trout with Snappy Apple Salsa by The Crispy Cook. Oooooh, this was tasty. I used Arctic char instead of Steelhead trout, and I didn't marinate the fish for more than 15 minutes, but it worked. The salsa features apple and fennel, which I found I liked despite not being overly fond of licorice. (I had plenty of leftover fennel, so I sliced and roasted it with parsnips and carrots for another dinner this week. I told you I was cooking.)

With the sudden turn to cold weather, I had a craving for soup. What a good way to use up my final container of Hubbard squash puree! This recipe is liberally adapted from one in the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook. If you don't have a Hubbard squash (sigh), try butternut or acorn. (I bet it would work with pumpkin, too.) Roast, boil or steam the squash to get the cooked pulp.

Squash Soup
(Inspired by Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1.5 cups water
1 apple, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups cooked squash pulp
1.5 cups tomato juice
0.5 cups orange juice
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot. Saute onion and spices until onion is translucent. Add water, apple and celery, cover and simmer about 10 minutes.

Remove bay leaves. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the onion mixture to a food processor. Puree the onion mixture and squash and return to the liquid in the pot. Add the tomato juice and orange juice and mix well. Gently reheat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Eggplant, Without Parmesan

2009-10-16T16:51:00.008-04:00

I love Eggplant Parmesan. Really, I do. It's tasty and filling and it freezes well. But when I have the eggplant, but not the time, I opt for stir-fry. I've been making variations of this for the last couple of weeks.

Eggplant Stir-Fry

(All amounts are approximate. I've marked a few ingredients as "optional," but consider them all optional. Adjust or substitute ingredients for your taste. )

Canola oil
1-inch knob of ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
2-3 scallions, sliced, or 1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Thai chili, seeds removed, sliced
2 small bell peppers, chopped
4-5 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 or more eggplant (depending on size), cubed with peel on
1 pound thinly sliced beef or chicken, or fish or tofu (optional)
1/4 cup dry sherry
3 Tbsp soy sauce
Sesame oil (optional)
Sesame seeds (optional)

Heat a small amount of canola oil in a deep-sided skillet, and stir-fry the ginger, scallion/onion, garlic, chili pepper, bell pepper, and mushrooms until tender-crisp. Remove from skillet and heat a little more oil if necessary. Add the eggplant and let it cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes. It should brown a bit on the bottom but release from the bottom of the skillet. Stir the eggplant around and let it cook, now stirring occasionally, another 3 minutes or so, until it softens.

If you are adding a protein, remove the eggplant and stir fry the beef/chicken/etc. separately. Then continue by returning the vegetables to the skillet, along with the sherry and soy sauce. Add a touch of sesame oil if desired and garnish with sesame seeds.

Week 18: Season's Endings

2009-10-15T13:48:00.011-04:00

It's been a corny summer. Good thing we're a corny family.

October 9 was our last pickup of the season: corn, apples, carrots, eggplant, parsnips, and peppers. I'm going to have to buy my Swiss chard at the supermarket or greengrocer now.

Way back in June, it wasn't clear we'd see anything this summer but lettuce, radishes, and leafy green vegetables. But here are some totals from the season:

116 ears of corn
51 peppers, about evenly split between sweet bell peppers and hot varieties
44 tomatoes (that was a surprise!)
28 apples
27 cucumbers
18 eggplant
18 heads of lettuce (14 of them in the first three weeks of the season)
11 summer squash and zucchini, combined
2 winter squash
and ... 4 bunches of Swiss chard.

I have around 12 cups of blanched corn kernels in my freezer, so we won't be needing any canned corn for a while.

It was nice enough last Sunday to grill the fresh corn and eat it outside -- probably our last picnic until spring. I saved the kernels from two of the grilled ears for a pot of vegetarian chili.

The eggplant and some of the peppers went into a stir fry, my go-to plan for when I need a quick dinner. (Recipe posted here.)

The rest of the week has been dominated by apples. Caboodle and The Programmer picked a half-peck together a couple of weeks ago. Add to that the apples coming steadily from the CSA (six in this final week), and the full peck that Caboodle picked during a youth group outing on Columbus Day. I've resorted to making applesauce -- the first recipe I learned in junior high Home Ec.! I guess that course was worthwhile after all.

Bonus Post: Spiked Apples!

2009-10-08T10:41:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I stray from the model of veggies-grains-beans. We had beef brisket the other night, so I made these baked apples with herbs, shallots and wine. The recipe is not a slam-dunk--I found it to be a little too sweet--but it's worth trying. (You can safely ignore the part about pomegranate molasses.)

Even better was Buttered Rum Apples. I concocted the recipe, inspired by one that has even more alcohol in it. It was a decadent birthday dessert served with French vanilla ice cream.

Buttered Rum Apples

2 large Cortland apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into half-inch thick pieces
2 ounces butter (1/2 stick)
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
4 ounces dark rum
French vanilla ice cream

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute apples briefly and add in the sugar and rum. Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens. Split the apples between two dessert bowls and top with a scoop of ice cream.

Week 17: An Ode to the Mother Hubbard

2009-10-08T10:15:00.007-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Caribbean Chicken Stew

As much as we joke about Swiss chard around here, the real story of last year's CSA season was winter squash. We received 22 of them from mid-September through mid-October, including two Blue Hubbards that together weighed about 24 pounds. (That's the 9-pounder in the photo.) We ate squash roasted with herbs and stewed with spices. Cubed and curried. And when we couldn't keep up any longer by eating them fresh, we made squash puree that we could freeze. You can get two cups of puree from a 1-pound squash, so by the time we broke into our second Hubbard (in early November; these things can be kept for a while), we were swimming in squash.

Thus began our squash distribution project. Defrosted puree became squash bread, squash muffins, squash butter, spiced squash at Thanksgiving, and squash latkes at Chanukah. If you were a guest in my home anytime from last November through this past June, you were served something with squash in it. If I was a guest in your home, I brought along something with squash in it.

I bring this up because here we are, a day away from the end of the 2009 season, and I have received only two winter squash (both butternut). It's safe to say there is no way I'm going to get 22 squash from the CSA this year, and that makes me a little sad, even if I'm also a little relieved. So I salute thee, Hubbards of yore, and think: Maybe next season.

Aside from the squash, we received a full CSA bag this week: apples (baked); corn (boiled); plum tomatoes (sandwiches); eggplant (Parmesan); and green beans (marinated). Last week's butternut was cubed, tossed with a little olive oil, and roasted. This week's butternut was cubed and tossed with chicken and spices for a quick stew.

Caribbean Chicken Stew
(adapted from USA Weekend recipe)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
1 red chili pepper, seeds removed and sliced
1 bay leaf
1 can (14.4 ounces) diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth or water
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 cups butternut squash, cubed (half a squash)
1 can black beans (15.5 ounces), drained and rinsed

In a large pot, heat oil. Add onion, green pepper, garlic and saute 3 minutes. Add spices and saute 3 minutes longer. Add tomatoes, broth or water, chicken, squash, and beans. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with couscous or rice.

Week 16: Stuff This

2009-10-01T12:44:00.005-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Poblanos With Mexican-Spiced Stuffing

We started off the week with a passel of peppers: mostly poblanos, some sweet bells, a cubanelle, and skinny red chilies. (For the record, a passel is smaller than a peck.) I'm working down the hot chilies in stir fry and in scrambled eggs, but we polished off the rest of the lot in the form of stuffed peppers.

Stuffed peppers are a cinch to make, and they are a great vehicle for using up not only peppers but also leftover rice and beans. (If you look at some of the other recipes on my blog, you can see why I so often have a cup of canned beans in the fridge.) I baked the extra stuffing in a small casserole dish alongside the peppers.

Poblanos with Mexican-Spiced Stuffing
(amounts are approximate)

8 to 12 poblano peppers
3 cups cooked brown rice
1.5 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin, or more to taste
1/2 cup Monterery Jack cheese, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup tomato sauce or salsa

Lay each poblano flat and make a T-shaped incision along the top. Gently pry the slits open and scrape out seeds. Rinse and dry the peppers and set aside.

Mix together the rice, beans, cumin, cheese, cilantro, and scallions. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Stuff the peppers.

Place tomato sauce or salsa on the bottom of a baking dish. (I used tomato sauce that I doctored with chili powder and garlic powder, but I think salsa would work well.) Lay the poblanos on the sauce and top each with a little extra cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Cool slightly, then serve the peppers with sauce or salsa on the side.

Synchronicity

2009-09-23T23:35:00.002-04:00

A discovery made while baking last Friday morning:

Take eggs, sugar, flour, vegetable oil, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Combine them with pureed carrots and you get carrot kugel. Combine them with chocolate chips instead of carrots and you get mandelbrot.

The girls are now lobbying for chocolate chip kugel.

Week 15: A Quick Hit

2009-09-23T23:18:00.009-04:00

Meetings, afterschool activities, and other obligations made it a week of mostly utilitarian cooking at Chez Swiss Chard. Tuna-salad-for-dinner kind of cooking. The highlight, without a doubt, was Mark Bittman's Arepas With Cheese and Corn. I cooked these up when The Programmer had a "boy's night out" and served them with black beans, sliced plum tomatoes, and (yup) tuna salad.

My measuring must have been a bit off, because I had to add about a half-cup of cornmeal to the batter to get it to the right consistency. No matter; the corn cakes were still tasty. The Programmer tried the leftovers cold and deemed them delicious.

The rest of this week's corn has been blanched and frozen. Carrots and parsnips went into a pot of chicken soup. The vegetable bin contains sweet peppers, hot peppers, and eggplant; I see a stir fry on the horizon.

All in One

2009-09-16T21:50:00.006-04:00

I usually make chili or soup if the vegetables start piling up in the fridge, but in a moment of inspiration Tuesday night I paired vegetables, bulgur wheat, and beans for a satisfying meatless meal. I present to you ...

In-Grained Veggies

Ingredients

1 cup dry bulgur wheat, coarse grain
1.5 cups boiling water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 Japanese eggplant, quartered lengthwise and cut into small chunks
4 plum tomatoes
1 cup canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Put the bulgur into a bowl or 4-cup measuring cup and pour the boiling water over it. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes or until the bulgur absorbs the water.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, and cumin. Cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes or until the carrots begin to soften.

Add the eggplant, tomatoes, and beans. Simmer 10 minutes or until the eggplant softens. Add the bulgur and cilantro and heat through, another 2 to 5 minutes. Taste to adjust seasonings and serve.

Week 14: How Do You Like Them Apples?

2009-09-16T21:21:00.011-04:00

Very much, thank you.

THIS WEEK'S HITS: Dutch Baby and Apple Salsa
A RECOMMENDATION on good authority: Apple Cider Salmon

There were no grand family discussions about "seasonal eating" when I was growing up, but that's how my mother shopped. Berries in May. Corn in July. Apples in September.

Whether availability or cost was the overriding factor back then, I can't say. But as an adult, I find it hard to buy those California strawberries in the middle of January. After 20 years in New England, I have become indelibly attached to the local growing season.

Our harvest is full and varied now. Corn and cauliflower, eggplant and tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers. School's in session and the first apples are in. Frost can't be far away.

We've had some fun with apple recipes this week. Dutch Baby is a puffy oven pancake that would be good for a brunch. Apple Salsa was an addictive snack; we piled it onto blue corn tortilla chips. For an interesting entree idea, check out my friend Robin's column and her recipe for Apple Cider Salmon. I haven't made it yet, but I know Robin's cooking and her recipe sounds like a winner.

Dutch Baby
Adapted from The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine

Batter Ingredients

1 cup milk (non-fat is okay)
4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp melted butter

Filling Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter
3 apples (Cortland recommended), peeled, cored and thickly sliced
2 Tbsp sugar

Directions

Using a blender, thoroughly combine milk and eggs. Add the flour, salt, sugar, vanilla, and melted butter. Blend again until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the batter to a container, cover, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.

When you are ready to make the pancake, set the oven to 450 degrees and butter a 9-inch square or round baking dish.

Prepare the filling: Melt the 2 Tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the apples, cook for 1 minute, then turn the apples over carefully. Sprinkle with the sugar and continue to cook for 2 minutes more or until the apples soften slightly.

Transfer the apples to the dish. Whisk the batter thoroughly and pour on top of the apples. Bake the dish, without opening the oven door, for 25 to 30 minutes or until the pancake is puffed and golden.

Apple Salsa
(Recipe origin unknown. If it's yours, thank you.)

Combine in a bowl:

2 large or 3 medium apples, cored and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, finely chopped
Handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Juice of one lemon
2 teaspoons maple syrup

The salsa can be served right away or made in advance; the flavors blend overnight.

Week 13: Adventures in Pepperland

2009-09-09T13:53:00.011-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Pepper-Feta Pizza
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Marinated Bell Peppers and Black Pepper Chicken

It all comes down to timing. Friday morning, I had four large pepper halves in the fridge (red, yellow, orange, green) -- leftovers from a Pepper-Feta Pizza that I made for Kit's birthday dinner. By Friday afternoon, I had another six green peppers (both hot and sweet), courtesy of my CSA.

Overall, the share was quite a sea of green. There was lettuce and green tomatoes, green-husked corn and green-red apples. But I knew that our dinners would be "peppered" all week.

The roundup:

Green Tomato Pie (with poblano pepper)
Vegetarian Chili (green bell pepper, jalapeno)
Marinated Bell Peppers (red, yellow, orange, green)
Corn Salsa (red bell pepper, ground cayenne)
Salmon Patties (green bell pepper)
Black Pepper Chicken (green bell pepper, ground black pepper)
Plus, the Pepper-Feta Pizza that started off the week.

(And lest I forget, we even had peppers at a friend's dinner party over Labor Day weekend: mini ones stuffed with a cream cheese filling. Very tasty.)

The pizza recipe is one of our favorites. We've been making it for ages. Of the week's other meals, The Programmer really liked the Green Tomato Pie, but I found it too cheesy. We both liked the Marinated Peppers; I made a half-batch of the recipe found here. The chicken dish was cobbled together from other recipes. We ate it with homemade pita bread (mmmm) but it would be good over rice or couscous, too.

Black Pepper Chicken

Ingredients

1 Tbsp canola oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips (about 1 lb meat)
1 red onion, cut into slivers
1 green bell pepper, cut into thin slices
3 Tbsp soy sauce, divided use
3/4 tsp coarse ground black pepper, or more to taste
1/4 tsp sugar

Directions

Marinate chicken in 2 Tbsp soy sauce for about 10 minutes. Heat oil in a large, deep-sided skillet, chef's pan, or wok. Stir fry the onions for a couple of minutes, until they begin to soften, then add the bell pepper and black pepper. Stir fry 1 minute more, then add the chicken. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the chicken is cooked through. Add the remaining soy sauce and sugar, adjust the seasonings to taste, and serve.

Sweet Nibblets!

2009-09-07T08:59:00.010-04:00

Sometimes I cook food that is void of vegetables.

Cupcake recipe and decorating idea came from Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson.

Week 12: Chard!

2009-09-03T08:18:00.007-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Greened Beans (aka Chard, White Beans, and Tomatoes)

Our vacation week straddled the CSA pickup day, so this week we shared with a friend. She kept the green beans, some corn, a tomato, and the first apples of the season. Waiting for us at home were radishes, more corn, kale, a couple of tomatoes, and (yeah!) Swiss chard.

We were beginning to miss the chard.

In any case, we put our "leftovers" to good use. The radishes became a salad with a lime-orange dressing and the corn was simply boiled. Everything else went into an Italian-tinged side dish that I served with baked haddock.

You can use any combination of hardy greens for this recipe, which I adapted from one by Lidia Bastianich. Kit gets credit for coming up with the punny name.

Greened Beans (aka Chard, White Beans, and Tomatoes)

Ingredients

1 bunch Swiss chard, stems trimmed and leaves sliced into strips
1 bunch kale, trimmed and sliced as above
1 Tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or less, if you don't like the heat)
2 to 3 tomatoes, diced
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini or other white beans, drained and rinsed
Salt
Black pepper
Lemon juice (about 1 Tbsp)
Extra olive oil

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the greens, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. Drain.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes or until the garlic turns golden. Add the tomatoes, and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes, or until the tomatoes begin to soften.

Add the beans and greens and cook for about 5 minutes more. Add salt, black pepper, and lemon juice to taste. If desired, sprinkle with extra olive oil before serving.

Week 11: Three Easy Steps for a New Hue

2009-08-22T19:25:00.012-04:00

Step One: Receive a couple of nice green tomatoes in your CSA bag. (That's green as in unripe, not a green tomato variety).

Step Two: Peruse the Web for recipes that don't include the word "fried" before the words "green tomatoes."

Step Three: Make this recipe for a Green Tomato and Zucchini Gratin and enjoy the accolades of your family. Or the accolades of my family. We'll be over at 6.

Week 10: Cool as a ... Well, You Know ...

2009-08-20T08:12:00.013-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Raita and Tomato-Vegetable Curry

Outside air temperature: 88 degrees
Kitchen temperature, with AC on: 78 degrees
Internal temperature of cucumber, pulled from refrigerator into air-conditioned kitchen: 40 degrees

Hey, these babies really are cool!

This week's farm share held the antidote to a sudden stretch of hot weather: a dozen cucumbers and seven tomatoes. We took the remedy in the form of pickles, gazpacho, Greek salad, Indian raita, and vegetarian curry. Mmmmm, cool (except for the curry, which was mmmmm, spicy hot). We also received blueberries (eaten out of hand), cherry tomatoes (sauteed with garlic, basil, and sage, and served over pasta), kale (went into the curry), carrots (steamed), eggplant (grilled), green bell peppers (added to the pickles and gazpacho), and a bunch of flowers (vase).

I know tomatoes are hard to find in some locations, but our farm is not organic and the crop hasn't succumbed to blight. Enjoy them if you have them.

Raita

Adjust the proportions of yogurt, cucumber, and spices to your liking.

Mix together the following:

1 tsp cumin, toasted in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 1 minute
1 cup plain yogurt (non-fat is okay)
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
salt, pepper, and paprika to taste

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with curry or similar spicy food.

Tomato-Vegetable Curry

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp black mustard seed (yellow mustard seed also works)
4 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 onion, chopped
2-3 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 small bunch kale, chopped (can substitute other greens or cabbage)
6 ounces tomato juice
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cardamom

In a 5-quart Dutch oven, heat the oil until hot. Add the mustard seeds, cover the pot, and let the seeds pop. Add the cloves and cinnamon stick, cover, and cook until the spices are fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

Carefully remove the cloves and cinnamon (you may want to do this off-heat), then add the onion and tomatoes to the pot. Cook them covered, about 5 minutes or until they soften. Add the ginger and cook one minute more. Then add the kale and all of the remaining spices and cook, covered, about 5 minutes or until the kale begins to wilt.

Add the tomato juice and cauliflower. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes or until the cauliflower is soft. (Watch the level of liquid and add a bit of tomato juice or water if the mixture becomes too dry.) Serve with raita and warm naan.

Week 9: We're All Ears

2009-08-12T11:01:00.009-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Seaside Corn and Bean Salad

You really should try the corn here. It's been ... a-maize-ing. (Sorry.)

We are at the halfway point of our CSA season, and this week brought us corn, carrots, tomatoes, summer squash, pickling cucumbers, bell pepper, an Italian eggplant, and a bouquet of "pick your own" flowers. The flowers were a bit of a pain to gather, but they looked kinda nice in our family room.

We made good use of the eggplant, squash, bell pepper, and some of the tomatoes in a "south-of-the-border" ratatouille. (Following a suggestion in the Moosewood Cookbook, I subbed cumin and chili powder for the more conventional basil and oregano.) We served the ratatouille with grilled corn, spiced up with chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and/or lime.

More corn (not grilled) was sauteed with native green beans, red onion, and scallions for a quick summer succotash. And I borrowed liberally from an old magazine recipe to put together a corn and bean salad that was perfect for a picnic at the beach.

Seaside Corn and Bean Salad

Ingredients

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1.5 cups corn kernels, cooked (cut from 2 ears of corn)
1/2 cup diced cucumber (seeded)
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp basil, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp powdered mustard
1/4 tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix together the beans, corn, cucumber, pepper, onion, parsley, and garlic in a medium bowl. Whisk the olive oil with vinegar and spices. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix gently to combine. Chill for a couple of hours for flavors to blend. Serves 4.

Bonus Post: Easy as Pie

2009-08-06T10:14:00.008-04:00

The Programmer and I have this thing about blueberry pie. It was the dessert that I made for our first anniversary dinner -- the one that came exactly a year before our wedding -- and we have celebrated each year with pie ever since. Lucky for us, our anniversary falls in July, at the height of the local blueberry season.

Blueberries were plentiful at the farm last week when we went to pick our own (yeah for that CSA voucher from earlier in the season!). We picked 3.14 pounds -- just enough, The Programmer astutely noted, to make pi. (Honestly, I'm not making that weight up; it was on the receipt.)

Our anniversary pie recipe comes from The Union Leader newspaper, which in those days ran a column featuring home cooks. It's a ridiculously easy pie. It's the kind of pie to make if you are a bit intimidated by the idea of making a pie. It's the kind of pie that can be made without turning on your oven. For me, it's the pie that launched a marriage, which is reason enough to make it every year.

Nita-Nee's Anniversary Blueberry Pie

Filling Ingredients

3 cups blueberries
water
juice of one lemon
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 9-inch pie crust, baked (not deep dish); graham cracker crust preferred (see note below)
whipped cream

Directions

Wash and drain the berries. Measure 1 cup berries, 2 Tbsp water, lemon juice, and sugar into a medium saucepan. Heat to boiling, then cook and stir 3 minutes. Blend together the cornstarch and 3 Tbsp water. Stir mixture into berries and bring back to a boil. Heat and stir until the mixture thickens and clears (consistency will be like jam). Remove from heat. Stir in remaining berries. Turn filling into pie shell and chill until set. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Note

The original recipe called for a 9-inch baked pie crust, and you can certainly use any kind of tart or pie dough here. I have always used a graham cracker crust (remember what I said about intimidation). You can buy a prepared graham cracker crust -- I won't tell -- but it's easy (tastier!) to make your own.

Graham Cracker Crust

1.5 cup crumbs (20 to 22 graham crackers, or use the crushed crumbs from a box)
1 tsp flour
1/2 cup melted butter
2 Tbsp (scant) sugar
[3/4 tsp cinnamon -- I leave this out when I'm making blueberry pie, but it's good in other recipes]

Mix the crumbs with the flour and sugar (and the cinnamon, if using); blend with the melted butter. Press the crumb mixture firmly onto the bottom and sides of a lightly buttered 9-inch pie plate, to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Chill crust 45 minutes to an hour before filling OR bake in a 375 degree oven for 7 minutes, then cool completely before filling.

Sugar-Free Variation

You can make the pie filling and crust with Splenda instead of sugar. Be sure to refrigerate leftovers, as Splenda does not have the same preservative qualities as sugar.

Week 8: A Little Corny

2009-08-05T12:51:00.011-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Tomato-Corn Soup

When you think of corn do you think of Iowa? I often do, but when I pass corn fields here I'm reminded that the crop has been cultivated in Massachusetts for centuries.

The local corn plants are beginning to show some height, so it was no surprise to find another dozen ears in this week's CSA share, along with basil, carrots, peaches, pickling cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, and a head of cabbage. The peaches were great eaten out of hand; the cucumbers became quick pickles; and I combined some of the cabbage and zucchini with boiled potatoes for Bubble and Squeak (more on this another time).

But the highlight of the week was corn. We boiled some shortly after picking it up at the farm, and blanched and froze some more for another day. A gift of tomatoes put us in the mood for the soup recipe below, which makes good use of this week's produce.

Tomato-Corn Soup

Ingredients

1 T olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups diced tomatoes, seeds removed (2 to 2.5 pounds)
2 cups water
1.5 cups corn kernels (2 to 3 ears), either raw or cooked
1 tsp salt
Fresh herbs of your choice – a good combination is 1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil and 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Coarse ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onion and celery for 7 to 8 minutes, until they begin to soften. Remove one-third cup of the mixture and set it aside.

Add garlic to the pot and sauté 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, water, and salt and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down the heat, and simmer the vegetables until they are tender, about 15 minutes.

Let the mixture cool a bit, then puree it in a food processor and return it to the pot. Stir in the reserved celery and onion, the corn, and the herbs. Simmer until the corn is tender, 10 to 15 minutes if the corn is raw, or 5 minutes if the corn is already cooked. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

Serves 3 to 4

Think Ahead!

2009-08-01T09:20:00.008-04:00

Connors Farm has a waiting list going for shares in 2010. Current members do not need to sign up -- we get a priority listing -- but if you are considering joining the CSA next year, now's the time to get on the list. (If you are outside of the Danvers area, you might want to check in with your preferred program.)

In other farm news, I had a nice conversation with Bob Connors on Friday when I picked up this week's share. He says crops are looking good for August and September. Some other Massachusetts farms have reported problems due to weather and late blight, so this is especially good news for us.

Week 7: The Hyper-Local Dinner

2009-07-28T07:39:00.018-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Dinner with friends. HONORABLE MENTION: Deconstructed Squash "Salad"

Kit went off to overnight camp this week. This will not appreciably change the amount of vegetables consumed at home, or at camp, I suspect.

It's not that Kit dislikes vegetables. She dislikes risk, which makes her leery of any food presented in a novel way. Our CSA program throws her for a loop, because I tend to experiment with the vegetables we receive.

One favorite of hers, though, is corn. And that was our modest contribution to an amazing meal we had with friends a couple of days before Kit's departure to camp. Our hosts' game plan: Visit a local farmers' market for fish and vegetables and make dinner from the purchases.

Now you should know that our friends, in addition to being great cooks, are kitchen maniacs who do not restrict themselves to the model of Entree-Starch-Vegetable. So our meal -- for four adults and three children -- included striped bass and salmon from a local fish purveyor; yellow squash grilled with a homemade mocha spice mix (yup, there's a local chocolate manufacturer); grilled celeriac; collards cooked with shallots and veggie bacon; two kinds of potato salad; pickled beets and other pickled vegetables; grilled chicken cutlets; a savory plum sauce for the grilled food; wild blueberry-custard tarts; chocolate angel food cake with black raspberry sauce (raspberries from the hosts' garden!); brownies with chocolate chips and marshmallows; and the boiled corn. Just about everything served, aside from the brownies, featured a local ingredient. And I'm probably forgetting something we ate.

It would be daunting to replicate that meal, but the components came from Connors Farm (our CSA!), the Winchester Farmers Market, and the Arlington Farmers Market. There are numerous other farmers' markets in the Boston area; Taza Chocolate makes the rounds at several of them.

Back at home, we kept things simple. We mixed our CSA tomatoes and cucumbers with onion for a cool chopped salad; marinated chickpeas and more cucumber in basalmic vinegar and olive oil; and munched on peaches and sweet, raw carrots. We also fiddled with a recipe for a sauteed squash salad, cutting down on the olive oil and serving the components separately to accommodate individual tastes. The original recipe was posted on the Idylwilde Farm web site; my version is below. (Sorry, no picture. We ate this up too quickly.)

Deconstructed Squash "Salad"

Ingredients

2 small zucchini
2 small yellow squash
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Hot pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Peel and slice the garlic. Remove the ends of the squash and slice lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices. Cut the slices in half crosswise if they are very long.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the garlic slices until they are brown. Remove and reserve the garlic. Saute the squash slices in batches until brown, about 2 minutes per side. If necessary, drain the slices on paper towels before placing on a platter.

Serve the squash at room temperature with the garlic slices, vinegar, and spices available on the side. Serves 2 to 4 people.

Cat got your chard?

2009-07-23T19:35:00.010-04:00

My older daughter found this posted at the Lolcats site. She tells me CSA stands for "Cat-supported Agriculture."

Week 6: Weather or Not

2009-07-23T10:50:00.010-04:00

THIS WEEK’S HIT: Nut-Free Pesto

See those flowers over there in the photo? That’s our farm’s way of saying “We’re sorry about June.”

If you didn’t experience our June, you probably heard about it. Cloudy. Chilly. Wet. Repeat. Good weather for growing lettuce and other greens, apparently; kind of hard on the other crops.

The weather improved a bit recently, and the CSA bag that we picked up on July 17 was light, but it had new things:

1 bunch basil; 1 pint blueberries; 6 ears corn; 1/2 pound green beans; 1 bunch kale; 1 huge head Boston lettuce; and 3 summer squash. The hanging bag of impatiens was the perk.

Now it happens that we picked up our first-ever CSA basket just a year ago, on July 18, 2008, so we can compare weeks:

1 bunch basil; 1 pint blueberries; 12 ears corn; 13 pickling cucumbers; 4 regular cucumbers; 1 bunch dill; 2 pounds green beans; 2 heads red leaf lettuce; 1 head romaine lettuce; 4 spring onions; 3 pattypan squash; 1 pint raspberries; 3 summer squash; 2 bunches Swiss chard; and 10 zucchini.

That turned out to be a representative week for the summer. See what a little sunshine can do around here?

We kept the vegetables mostly plain this week – boiled corn, steamed beans, sauteed kale. The summer squash were sliced, sauteed with onions and garlic, and then simmered with a homemade tomato sauce. I served them with pasta and a nice dollop of basil pesto.

Because I can’t use nuts in my cooking, I use this pesto recipe, modified from one printed some years back in The Boston Globe. You can freeze the basil puree, without the cheese, in ice cube trays. Just add some cheese after defrosting. I sometimes throw a cube of this into soup or stew.

Nut-Free Pesto
(makes about 1.5 cups)

Ingredients

1 clove garlic, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil, or less to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a food processor, combine the garlic and salt and pulse to chop. Add the basil and oil. Pulse the mixture until it is finely pureed but is not a smooth paste.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Taste for seasoning and add more chopped garlic if desired. If using immediately, stir in the cheese. Otherwise, cover the pesto tightly and refrigerate. Add the cheese just before serving.

Week 5: A Quick CSA Primer

2009-07-16T15:02:00.018-04:00

THIS WEEK’S HITS: Vegetarian “Cajun” Collards and Chard, Chickpeas and Feta

Broadly speaking, Community Supported Agriculture is a system of shared risk. You pay in advance for a share of the harvest and you assume some of the farmer’s risks in growing it.

There are different models for this. Some CSA programs are run by a single farm; others are cooperatives. Some operate in an Iron Chef mode: Your bag of “secret ingredients” is revealed each week. Others offer credits or “free choice” so you can bag your own mix of produce from the available harvest. Still others require members to work on the farm as part of their share.

What’s available from a CSA, in terms of quantity and variety, can vary considerably, depending on weather, critters, Acts of God, and the farm’s commitments to retail outlets. It’s not necessarily a money-saver -- though I certainly squirreled away a lot of food last fall. It’s more about eating well and supporting local agriculture.

I love our CSA program, and it’s a good fit for us. It helps that The Programmer and I like vegetables, like to cook, and are willing to experiment with unfamiliar food. I know where my vegetables are being grown and I know the guy who’s growing them.

That’s a benefit also offered by farmers’ markets and farm stands. If a CSA share is not a practical option for you (and you know who you are), I encourage you to patronize your local growers for fresh, seasonal produce. Local food is good eating!

The past week was a light one for our CSA, which is still recovering from a gloomy June. We received Swiss chard, beets, Boston and red leaf lettuce, collard greens, sage plants for our own garden, and a voucher for pick-your-own fruit later this season. Still, it was a good week of dinners. Chard, Chickpeas and Feta was a side dish to baked cod. Several recipes are available on the Web; I started with the one here, substituting red onion for green. I pickled the beets in a mustard vinaigrette and I roasted chicken with parsley, thyme, and our newly acquired sage.

Collard greens were a new one for us. (Yes, The Programmer grew up in Florida, but his Miami upbringing was closer in spirit to New York than anywhere in the Deep South.)

Unlike many traditional recipes for collards, this one – slightly modified from one found on About.com -- includes no pork and has a fairly short cooking time. I served the greens with the roasted chicken. They were even better reheated the next day.

Vegetarian “Cajun” Collards

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil, for sauteeing
1 bunch collard greens, rinsed, stemmed, and chopped
1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained with liquid reserved
Reserved tomato liquid plus water to make 3/4 cup
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat a little olive oil in a Dutch oven and sauté the onions and garlic until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add the collard greens and the reserved tomato liquid and water. Cook, covered, for about 8 minutes, or until the greens have softened slightly. Add the tomato pieces and spices and simmer, covered, for another 8 minutes or until the greens are done to your liking. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Week 4: To Market, To Market

2009-07-09T14:15:00.015-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Chimichurri

It was dinner for 10 last Friday evening (July 3), and I had decided on a meal of fish, pasta, and peas. So when I picked up my CSA share midday Friday, I took stock of my goodies:

Greens -- Enough to feed the Massachusetts National Guard

Peas -- Enough to feed a family of four, with one child abstaining

I could have held onto the peas for another day, but since I had my heart set on serving them, I did the natural thing: I bought some more. Which is kind of funny, considering how overwhelmed I sometimes feel on Friday afternoons looking at the week’s load of vegetables.

One risk with our type of CSA is that you might not get what you want when you want it. (Other farms operate differently; I intend to discuss this in a future post.) Culinary flexibility helps. But even last summer, when we essentially lived off of cukes, zukes, squash, chard, tomatoes, and corn, we still had to pick up some produce. (They just don’t grow bananas here.)

So it was steamed peas Friday night, and I had just the right mix of leftovers from dinner for a tasty pasta salad later in the week.

Overall it was a good week for experimentation. Fresh bunches of cilantro and parsley led us to try chimichurri, an Argentine sauce similar to pesto. Since chimichurri typically accompanies grilled meat, we made beef shish kebab using the first zucchinis from the farm; for a twist, the Programmer threw a head of romaine lettuce onto the grill, too. Pickled beets and a "sweet and savory" kale recipe rounded out the week.

The chimichurri recipe was adapted from one featured recently in USA Weekend magazine.

Chimichurri

Ingredients

4 cloves of garlic
2 cups (packed) parsley leaves
1 cup (packed) cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes (or substitute fresh hot pepper)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (could certainly use less, depending on the consistency you want)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste

Directions

Mince garlic and herbs in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until pureed.

Week 3: It's Not for the Squeamish

2009-07-03T10:45:00.009-04:00

THIS WEEK'S HIT: Chicken With Rhubarb, Raisins, and Green Olives

Our farm practices Integrated Pest Management. Which is to say, the pests are integrated with the vegetables. I think it's a small price to pay for the quality and freshness of the produce, but it markedly distinguishes farm purchases from supermarket purchases: You get dirt and you get bugs. Sometimes in great quantity. And you get good in washing everything v-e-r-y carefully.

This week, I washed three heads of lettuce and our first bunch of Swiss chard (whoo-hoo) leaf by leaf. And it was worth it, though time consuming. The chard was sauteed with garlic and onion. The lettuce became salad and stir fry, as in past weeks. And we also enjoyed fresh peas, strawberries, and radishes.

With rhubarb from a neighbor's garden we tried this chicken dish. The recipe was clipped a few years back from the Boston Globe's Sunday Magazine.

Chicken With Rhubarb, Raisins, and Green Olives

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup white wine
1 cup stock or water
4 large stalks rhubarb, thinly sliced
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped [I substituted about 1 Tbsp minced ginger]
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 cup green olives
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
6 bone-in chicken breasts
Additional olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Set the oven to 500 degrees. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil and cook the onion over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for half a minute.

Pour the wine into the pan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium and reduce the liquid to one-half cup.

Add the stock (or water), rhubarb, ginger, sugar, raisins, olives and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile, arrange the chicken, skin side up, in a baking pan large enough to hold the chicken in one layer. Rub the chicken with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the chicken for 20 minutes, then decrease the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Turn the chicken over. Spoon the rhubarb mixture on top and return dish to oven. Cook for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken skin side up again and cook another 10 minutes or until it is cooked through.

Serves 4 to 6.