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Hello Summer!

Folks,

It's been a long time since I've posted here, but I'll try to resume again. I'm busy with my main blog, but am excited to start cooking with fresh produce again. We've decided to try shopping at the farmer's market this year, as opposed to a CSA (which makes me wonder if I need to rename this blog!). We'll see how it goes!

Stay tuned.

Bourdain, Eat Your Heart Out

Ohmygawdyouguys. Huz made the best freaking dinner last night which was perfect, perfect I say!, for an icy wintery night. I neglected to take any pictures, as I was too busy slurping down the hot, slightly sweet, oniony, porky goodness of the stew, so here's the stock photo from epicurious for you to drool over.

As I ate this I pinned for a bacon old-fashioned, but we don't have any bacon-infused bourbon. Just my luck, when I arrived at some friend's for gamenight I was offered a bacon old-fashioned when I walked in their door! Talk about a perfect piggy-infused evening. Anthony Bourdain would have been proud (and jealous).

Speaking of piggy, I'm reading Julie Powell's (of "Julie and Julia" book and movie fame) new book "Cleaving" and it has to be one of the most difficult, yet can't-stop-reading books I've met. She's an apprentice butcher and talks at length about the not-so-niceties of animal guts, bones, fat, sinew, etc. as well as the not-so-niceties of a failing marriage and extramarital affairs (including anonymous sex - what happened to the girl I identified with so well with* in the last book?!).

*Not that I loved the last book, because I didn't, but I identified with Julie's love of food, disdain for her 9-5, and her marriage because, like Huz and I, she got married young and survived it - or at least I thought she did.

Anyway, back to the goodness of my pork dinner. Note to Tennesseans: apparently there are more perverse liquor laws here than I knew. Not only can you not buy wine in the grocery store (and then you have to buy wine and beer at separate liquor stores due to alcohol content), but you also can't buy beer (or hard cider, as the recipe calls for) before noon on a Sunday. Because God wouldn't have that. Oh, no. So, Huz subbed beer we had at home for the cider and some bourbon for the brandy.

Go forth and enjoy you some piggy!

Pork Stew with Hard Cider, Pearl Onions, and Potatoes

(From Bon Appetit, February 2010)

• 30 1-inch-diameter pearl onions (from two 10-ounce bags)
• 5 slices thick-cut bacon (preferably applewood-smoked), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips
• 3 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt) or boneless country ribs, external fat trimmed, cut into 2-inch cubes
• Coarse kosher salt
• 1 cup chopped shallots (about 4 large)
• 1 cup finely chopped parsnips
• 6 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, divided
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon Calvados (apple brandy; optional)
• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 1 12-ounce bottle hard apple cider*
• 1 1/2 pounds unpeeled baby red potatoes (about 2 inches in diameter), scrubbed, halved
• 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard

Cook onions in large saucepan of boiling salted water 2 minutes; transfer to bowl of ice water to cool. Peel onions; set aside.

Cook bacon in heavy large pot over medium heat until lightly browned. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle pork shoulder with coarse salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high. Working in 2 batches, add pork to same pot and cook until browned, about 7 minutes per batch. Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to large bowl. Reduce heat to medium; add shallots and parsnips. Cover pot and cook until beginning to soften, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Stir in 3 teaspoons sage; stir 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup Calvados, if using; cook until almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add broth, cider, reserved bacon, and pork with any accumulated juices. Bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits with wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until pork is tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Add potatoes and pearl onions to stew; cover and cook until vegetables are almost tender, about 30 minutes. Add apples; cover and cook until potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Spoon fat from surface of juices, if necessary. Stir butter and flour in small bowl to form paste; add to pot and whisk to blend. Stir in mustard, 2 teaspoons sage, and 1 tablespoon Calvados, if using. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until thickened, stirring often, 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Stew can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Simmer stew over medium heat to rewarm before serving.

Divide stew among bowls, sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon sage, and serve.

* Alcoholic apple cider; available in the liquor department of most supermarkets and at liquor stores.

Some fall dinners to make again

This "Nearly Cheeseless Pasata Casserole" was fantastic. I will definitely make it again but next time I'll either cut the squash (I used pumpkin) really small, or I'll cook them in the boiling water with the pasta the whole time, because they were undercooked. Despite this, the flavor was good, it wasn't terribly high in fat, and the contrasting textures - soft pasta and squash with the flavorful crunch of toasted almonds - was awesome.

Another dish I made this week, which also used the pumpkins we are getting from the CSA of late, was this hearty Bean and Winter Squash Mole.

Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes

I started the day off right with the making of vegan pumpkin pancakes for my daughter who has food allergies. These were hard to flip, but tasted fantastic.

Adapted from chooseveg.com

* 1/2 cup canned puréed pumpkin
* 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
* 1/2 cup unbleached flour
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or sprinkle cinnamon, allspice and ginger haphazardly like I did)
* 1/4 cup water
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup plain or vanilla soymilk

Combine the pumpkin with the dry ingredients.

Mix water, oil, and soymilk and add to pumpkin mixture. Beat just until smooth.

Heat griddle or frying pan and oil lightly. Use about 1/4-cup of batter for each pancake; cook until bubbles appear, then turn. Remove when pancakes are golden and slightly firm to the touch.

Simple, Fresh Dinner With An Amazing Blueberry Sorbet for Desert

The basket was ample this week, so I made an easy, farm-fresh dinner to highlight some of the components.

These zuchini and corn tacos were simple and used a lot of the squash and corn we have at hand. I used some chili powder to give it some zest and topped it with feta cheese for a good finish.

Dessert was even better. We've been purchasing blueberries for a month and have collected several large bags of them in the freezer. Wanting to try something new, even though I'm typically not a sorbet fan, I whipped up some Blueberry Basil Sorbet and was very pleased. It's delicious, fresh and has a nice herbal bite to it.



Blueberry Basil Sorbet (adapted from epicurious)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 cups fresh-picked blueberries, rinsed and patted dry (or frozen which eliminates the need to refrigerate for 4 hours)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 TBS light corn syrup
1 TBS chopped fresh basil

In medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, and salt. Cook, stirring, until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Let cool for 15 minutes.

In a blender, purée the blueberries with the syrup, lemon juice, and basil until very smooth (you may need to divide this into several batches if your blender is not extra-large). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve for a smoother texture. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. (Unnecessary if using frozen berries.)

Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Add the corn syrup during the last 2 to 3 minutes of churning. Store, tightly covered, in the freezer.

Bowl of Noodles

Comfort is a bowl of noodles studded with farm fresh paddy pan squash, swiss chard, bacon, onion, currents and parmasan cheese. The warm weight of the bowl in your hand soon becomes a tasteful pleasure on your tongue and then becomes a warm weight in your stomach.

I'm referring to yet another dinner made by my husband. I love him for who he is and I love him for cooking for me and our daughter.

Summer Squash, It's What's for Dinner

Huz and I divvy up the chores around here, seeing how we're egalitarian and all. Cooking dinner is no exception. He cooks Mondays, Fridays and Sundays and I get Wednesdays and Saturdays. (You notice he gets one more night than me? Well, I work full-time and even though he's a busy doctoral student, he's got a more flexible schedule and he's MUCH better at cooking than me anyway, so I say go for it!)

Last week I made a delicious squash gratin that I got from 101cookbooks.com. I never got around to photographing it, but rest assured it looked just as good as hers (and tasted great too, although next time I'll probably halve the amount of butter since it was localized to the bread crumbs on top and was a bit much).

Tonight's dinner calls for more summer squash, since that's what we're getting the most of these days from the CSA (damn that tomato blight! I miss my heirlooms). I wanted something more substantial than just squash, pastry and cheese (the likely combination, and one that my allergic toddler cannot partake of) so I found a recipe with chicken: Rosemary Chicken and Summer Squash Brochettes. I'll be firing up the charcoal grill so I hope it's a success (I am woefully unskilled at grilling, my friends). I'll let you know how it is and, if photo worthy, will share some visuals.

Speaking of grilling, the other night Huz made his first beer can chicken. It was delicious, as were the grilled green beans and the bacon-wrapped onions (sweet and savory is always a winner).

Cool Green Summer Beverage

A delicious way to use up all those cucumbers from the CSA is to blend them up in a cool, refreshing drink. Since they are composed of 90% water it makes perfect sense to drink them.

Cucumber Mint Lemonaide Slush

1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
juice of 1 lemon
2-3 TBS sugar (to taste)
4-6 mint leaves
1 cup ice
3 oz tequila or rum (optional)

Put all ingredients in blender. Enjoy!

Another option is this recipe I just stumbled upon but haven't tried yet.

And here's another one using that lovely caramel-colored bottle of Pimm's I just happen to have in my cupboard.

Meatball and Zucchini Kebabs

A wonderful meal was had, thanks to Huz. These spicy meatballs and fresh grilled zucchini kebabs are amazing.

Add the awesome melon and basil-lime granita for dessert and you've got a great summer meal.

Make it. Share it. Enjoy it.

Homeade Granola

I know this isn't using any ingredients from the CSA, but it's a great homemade alternative to paying $4 for a small box of cereal.* I buy the oats, wheat, and nuts in bulk from Whole Foods.

Nothing could be better on a gray, rainy morning than to smell fresh, hot granola baking in the oven. You know exactly what's in it (no preservatives, etc.) and if you're cooking for a toddler with food allergies, as I do, you know it's safe.

Homemade Granola

7 cups oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup wheat bran (or substitute rye flakes)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water (or substitute orange or apple juice)
1 TBS vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped dates (or substitute raisins, dried cranberries, etc.)
1 Cup chopped pecans (or any other nut - for my food allergy kid, I use almonds)

Preheat oven to 275. In large bowl, combine oats, wheat germ and bran. In medium bowl, blend brown sugar through water. Add vanilla through salt. Stir sugar mixture into oats until evenly moistened. Pour into large, shallow baking dish (I use an 11x14 pan). Bake 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until lightly brown. Mix fruit and nuts into dish and continue baking for 15 minutes.

Cool and store in airtight container.

Makes 10 cups.

Enjoy!

*This cost me as follows:

$1.41 for sliced almonds
$1.88 for rolled oats
$0.39 for rye flakes
(The rest I had in my cupboard)
Total: $3.68

Better cost than the grocery store, more quantity, better quality.

Orzo Salad With Heirloom Tomatoes

This is a winner. I make it every summer.

Fancy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm a fan of all things sweet and baked, especially if they include chocolate. Through the years I have made many a chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I haven't really found one worth making again and again. Adding bonus ingredients like nuts or toffee chunks is always appealing to me, as is adding coffee liqueur and instant coffee. And that is what the so-called "Neiman Marcus" recipe I have in my recipe box calls for. I have no idea where I got this recipe, but I've made it several times and it's a winner.

1/2 cup butter (unsalted, softened)
1 cup brown sugar
3 TBS sugar
1 egg
2 TBS coffee liqueur
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
1/2 cup oats
8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter with sugars until fluffy, then beat in egg and liqueur. In separate bowl, combine baking soda through coffee. Beat into the butter mixture. Stir in oats and chocolate chips. Form 24 balls and bake 8-10 minutes.

Zucchini and Swiss Chard Tart

Having loads of greens and a huge zucchini from the last CSA pick up, I searched the internet high and low for a good dinner recipe that used both. I found it here, substituting beet greens for the swiss chard, leeks for the green onions, and feta for the Gruyere.

The results were pretty good; I especially like the whole wheat crust. Very homey and comforting.

Chard and Potato Quesadillas

Potato, Swiss Chard, Garlic, Onions - Huz made some lovely chard, potato quesadillas last night, complete with homemade tortillas.

Chopped Garlic
Sliced Onion
Chopped Swiss Chard
Chopped Potatoes
Saute

Make Corn Tortillas
Add cheese.

Make a fun drink with a newly acquired liqour, Aperol, and enjoy!

Delicious Pizza

Huz made this on the fly last night and it was so good I just had to share.

Top a homemade whole wheat crust with olive oil, rosemary salt, sauteed onions, garlic, beet greens, and summer squash. Sprinkle parmesan and feta cheese on top, along with some salted pumpkin seeds (trust me).

Bake.

Take a bite and go to taste bud heaven.

CSA Week Four

In the basket:

lettuce, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, rhubarb, onion, parsley, thyme, leek, pattypan squash, beets, green beans, eggs



Things made so far:

Onions - gourmet hot dogs two ways: One with grilled sweet onions, dijon mustard, and cheddar and one with sour orange relish and avocado

Parsley - Bulgar Salad with Grilled Chicken and Parsley Pesto

Leek (subbed for shallots), lettuce, cabbage - Fiesta Chicken Salad with Lime Cilantro Vinagarette

(adapted by The Bon Appetit Cookbook)

Salad:

3 cups thinly sliced red leaf lettuce
3 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage
1 cup diced grilled chicken
2 each seeded chopped roma (plum) tomatoes
1 thinly sliced red bell pepper
1 can drained black beans
1 diced avacado
1 cup sweet corn kernels
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

crumbled tortilla chips (to taste)
crumbled feta cheese (to taste)

Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup chopped shallots (or leeks)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2-3 minced garlic cloves
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Instructions:

Salad:
Combine all ingredients in large bowl except cheese.

Vinaigrette:
Combine first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made a day ahead, cover and refrigerate, bring to room temperature before using.)

Dress and toss the salad right before using - add tortilla chips, cheese and pumpkin seeds to taste.

Caring For Greens

One thing you quickly learn after joining a CSA is just how much washing you do. Every Monday I bring home a lovely basket brimming with Tennessee dirt-laden produce. It's messy, beautiful, and it takes a lot of rinsing.

Thus, a salad spinner is a must. The first year we belonged to a CSA we got by with an herb-sized spinner, but don't kid yourself that it'll be big enough. It's not. So now we have two sizes and the large one is used every week.

Swiss chard, kale, beet greens, lettuce, herbs - they all get the same welcome at my house.

Step 1: Trim stems, lettuce cores, or remove beets from their greens (leaving them on will leach the beets of goodness - nutrients and flavor).

Step 2: Rinse individual leaves to remove dirt and sand.

Step 3: Place greens in the spinner bowl and rinse.

Step 4: Spin, spin, spin!

Storage: I have struggled with properly storing greens and herbs and have lost many to wilting in less than a week's time. I think I've finally figured out the best way though. I thought about buying those special bags that are supposed to absorb the gases, but they wear out over time and have to be thrown away. As much as I don't want to use plastic bags, Ziplocks are definitely part of the process. The good news, though, is that you can rinse them and reuse them during the whole CSA season.

Lettuce - Store in a bowl with a little water in the bottom (treat lettuce heads like they are flowers - trim and put in water). Refrigerate.

Loose leaf greens - Store in the salad spinner, if available, or in a ziplock bag. Refrigerate.

Herbs - Make sure herbs are well dried; if not, wrap them in a paper towel. Store in small, snack-size ziplock bags. Or, if the herbs have distinct stems, like basil, trim ends and place in vase of water and leave on counter.

Past Homemade Ice Cream Recipes

September 7, 2008 - Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream and Rhubarb Sorbet

I forgot to tell you that I did, in fact, successfully make Heath Bar Crunch. It was simple and oh-so-good (it's basically vanilla ice cream with Heath Bar mixed in). I made it on a day when I was feeling ultra domestic - I even donned my flirty apron - and made dinner for Huz, freshly picked apple (from our CSA) cobbler, and the ice cream. Yum.

Then, what do you know, in swoops He-Man-Woman-Hater Huz and outdoes me with his first ice cream attempt a few days ago. What does he make? Oh, just an over the top, completely unforgettable, ridiculously good blueberry cheesecake ice cream with graham cracker crust swirls. Swirls, people. Swirls! Grr! It's not keeping up with the Joneses over here, it's simply trying to keep up with the Huz!

Anyway. I asked the CSA for some extra rhubarb because I like it and they have it, so now I've got several pounds to do something with. Instead of making more of the expected strawberry rhubarb combinations, I've decided to try my 5th ice cream with it. It's actually a sorbet and the recipe is here. I'll try it today and let you know how it turns out.

Ciao!

[The sorbet is very good. Nice and tart and really creamy in texture. I didn't make the topping and, really, it doesn't need it. Serve it with chocolate cake. Mmmm.]

August 16, 2008 - Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream



Oh my God. So, I made some chocolate peanut butter ice cream last night and before it was even ready (I'll scoop some out tonight for a proper tasting and photograph which I'll put on this post later) Huz and I were having mouth orgasms over it. It's so good that after one taste Huz pushed me up against the counter and dry humped me. No kidding. Sorry for the embarrassment babe, but that was such a testament to my awesomeness as an ice cream maker that I had to share.

I used the Ben & Jerry's recipe for light chocolate ice cream and added 1/2 cup of crunchy peanut butter to the batch. It called for creamy peanut butter, but we don't do that in this house. The chocolate is a nice, bittersweet background to the bold, crunchy peanut butter. It is so good.

Next will be Mocha Heath Bar Crunch. Who's coming over?

July 23, 2008 - Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream



As promised, here are photos from my most recent ice cream adventure. I got the recipe from David Lebovitz and am now smitten, smitten I say!, with him and his blog. This recipe was decidedly more complex than the easy sweet cream base recipe (that I added blackberries to) from Ben & Jerry's book, but that doesn't mean it was hard. It was only a bit more time consuming because it involved caramelizing sugar into praline (and then the fun part of breaking it into tiny pieces) and cooking an egg yolk custard for the ice cream base. The only thing I would modify next time is using fine, instead of course, sea salt because some of the praline bits are a tad too salty, but other than that this recipe is a winner.

Churning away:





After spending time in the freezer for a few hours it's ready to eat:






July 21, 2008 - New Ice Cream Maker

I'm enjoying our new ice cream maker. Yesterday I worked on my second creation and anticipate trying it out sometime tomorrow. Yes, this one takes a while because it involves cooking a custard and cooling for 8 hours (which was last night). I won't get home until this evening to put it in the machine to churn, and then it has to be frozen for several more hours until it's ready to eat. I think it will be worth it though. What kind is it? Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream. I can't wait to try it.

Now, if you're like most people I've talked to about this, you're probably going to scrunch up your face when I tell you what kind I want to try making next. Candied Bacon Ice Cream. Yes, that's right, I said bacon. Sounds crazy, I know, but there's something magical about salt and sweet to me, so we're gonna give it a shot - probably only a pint of it to be safe - but we'll at least try.

What kind of crazy ice cream concoctions can you come up with for me to try next? I'll take your ideas into culinary consideration.

July 9, 2008 - Blueberries and Cream Ice Cream

I guess if Claire is really allergic to dairy it just means more ice cream for me. Ha! Remember when I told you that we drove up to our farm a few weeks ago and picked blueberries and blackberries? We got a pretty good amount - around 2 pints of blueberries and a pint of blackberries.




Huz used the blueberries to make a divine cornmeal double-crusted blueberry pie with lemon cream sauce (I know, right!? Who did I marry? Barney Crocker? Melvin Stewart?) and I froze the blackberries until the ice cream maker we bought came in the mail. We bought the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream book so that we'd have some recipes for our new toy and, I have to tell you, making your own ice cream is so easy! Why didn't I do this a long time ago!? I made blackberries and cream ice cream which is so very tasty. My next ice cream is going to be mint oreo crunch. Y-U-M-M-Y.

Huz made homemade pizzas the other night: Mexcian pizza with chicken, corn, black beans, cilantro and onions served with sour cream and homemade guacamole and BBQ Pizza with chicken, red onions, and bbq pizza sauce.




And, if you'll believe it, I actually cooked something the other night too - Italian stuffed zucchini* and cod fillets. Very fresh and summery.

*Yes, I've posted the recipe before here.



Now if that doesn't make you hungry, I don't know what will.


June 30, 2008 - Buying an Ice Cream Maker

Huz and I decided to spend our fun money for the month on this. I can't wait to get it and to start trying out some fun ice cream recipes. I'm sure we'll come up with some fun ones, like: chocolate chili, jalapeno lime sorbet, Heath bar coffee crunch, etc. If it comes quickly enough we can make blackberries and cream ice cream with the luscious blackberries we picked at our CSA yesterday. It was so much fun making the trip up there. Claire did great on the hour and a half drive each way and had fun picking blueberries and blackberries strapped to my chest in a carrier. She tried to reeeaaaach out and pick some berries too - she did get one, but Huz intervened before it went into her mouth. It was lovely seeing the farm where our veggies are coming from each week and to have a relaxing afternoon in nature. Ahhh. I want to go back!

Cabbage

More photos of our latest produce to come, I promise.

After receiving a lovely head of cabbage yesterday, I have this slaw to look forward to tonight.

Green Onion Slaw
(via Smitten Kitchen)

1 cup green onions, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 serrano chiles
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup pure olive oil
1 head purple cabbage, finely shredded
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Blend green onions, vinegar, chiles, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and oil in a blender until emulsified. Place cabbage and red onions in a bowl, add the dressing and stir until combined. Fold in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste.