More and more

• Basil
• Cilantro
• Chard
• Chinese Cabbage
• Fennel
• Garlic Top
• Kale
• 3 Heads Lettuce
• Radicchio
• Scallions
• Summer Squash

This box felt heavier.

Rabbit food?

Using up the vegetables before we get more tomorrow:

• radicchio risotto
• kale braised in chicken stock with bacon
• lettuce, radicchio, dandelion green & carrot salad

Radicchio Risotto

about 6¼ cups vegetable stock
6 tbl. butter
1 onion, chopped
7 oz. radicchio, chopped [we used a whole head for a half recipe]
2 cups arborio rice
5 tbl. white wine
2 tbl. Parmesan, freshly grated
salt

Bring the stock to a boil. Meanwhile, melt half te butter in another pan, add the onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in the radicchio, then stir in the rice and cook, stirring, until the grains are coated in butter. Pour in the wine and cook until it has evaporated. Add a ladleful of hot stock and cook,, stirring, until it has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, and stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes. When the rice is tender, season with salt to taste, stir in the remaining butter and the Parmesan and serve.

From The Silver Spoon.

Dutch Baby Bunny

This is easy, and good brunch food. I guess it's a dutch pannenkoeken. I often make one when I'm home for lunch and don't have handy leftovers. Either a full recipe or 1½ recipe go well in a 12" cast iron skillet. It's good with or without bacon, though you may want to add more salt if you make it with unsalted butter and no bacon. We don't usually have vanilla sugar, so I use granulated sugar and add a little vanilla extract to the liquid. They usually puff up higher than the one in this picture.

Dutch Baby Bunnies

½ cup flour
2 tbl. vanilla sugar
¼ tsp. salt
4 tbl. butter [I usually use 2-3 tbl.]
½ cup milk
2 eggs
3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Put the butter in the skillet and place a 10" cast iron skillet into the oven to melt the butter. Watch out--- don't let it burn.

Combine the dry ingredients (except the bacon), then the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, and mix the wet into the dry, then add the bacon.

Remove the skillet from the oven. Pour the batter into the skillet and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove the skillet from the oven and transfer the bunny to a serving plate.

Sprinkle with more vanilla sugar and top with desired topping [usually maple syrup for me]. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

From I'm Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown

More greens

This week:

• Cilantro
• Garlic scapes
• scallions
• 3 summer squash
• 4 heads lettuce
• kale
• peas
• dandelion greens
• radiccio

Week #2

This week:

• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Collards
• Garlic Tops
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Strawberries

We got through all but the lettuce last week. This week, only two new heads, but they are huge, and we also have several other greens.

General Tso's Chicken

Had big salad the last couple nights, and steamed the bok choy to go as a side dish with this.

I like this recipe, but we agreed that it could be more balanced, with less chili sauce and more sugar. This is based on a recipe I've had for a long time, but I don't know the original source.

1 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 in. cubes
1 egg
1 tbl. cornstarch
1 tbl. soy sauce
1 tbl. minced ginger
1 crushed clove garlic
3 scallions
2 tbl. soy sauce
1½ tbl. chili paste
2 tbl. corn starch
1 tbl. rice wine vinegar
1 tbl. sherry
1 tbl. sugar
⅜ cup chicken stock
1 tsp. sesame oil

Coat the chicken with egg, cornstarch & soy mixture. Fry in batches in ½ inch of oil in wok. Set aside.

Heat a bit of oil in wok. Fry scallions, ginger, and garlic until scallions soften a bit, then add chicken and stir fry briefly. Add the sauce made from the rest of the ingredients combined and cook until thickened. Remove from heat, add sesame oil and stir.

Julienne of Five Lettuce Soup

Still looking for new and creative ways to eat lettuce, without a salad every night. This was OK. Made about a half recipe, with the varieties of lettuce we happened to have (3 different ones), and no chicory.

1 cup packed romaine lettuce leaves
1 cup packed Boston lettuce leaves
1 cup packed leaf lettuce
1 cup escarole leaves
½ cup packed escarole leaves
2 tbl. unsalted butter
5 cups chicken stock
½ cup heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper

Wash the lettuces and dry well. Cut into ⅛ inch strip: This is easiest to do if you stack several leaves at a time, roll into a tight wad and slice them accross. You can also use the medium slicing disk of a food processor.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the lettuces and toss with the butter. When the lettuces are wilted, add the chicken stock and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the toughest leaves are tender.

In a small bowl, mix the cream with the egg yolks. Gradually stir in a small amount of the hot soup into the cream mixture to slowly raise the temperature of the egg yolks. Keep adding soup until the mixture is warm. Whick the egg yolk mixture into the soup and cook, stirring constantly, without letting the soup boil, until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Season with the salt and pepper.

Serves 6 to 8 as a first course
from Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka

Salmon Wrapped in Lettuce Leaves

Used up one head of lettuce with this. I could have used a few more leaves, but I can't imagine using 4 heads as in the recipe. I was skeptical after I wrapped the fish (I actually used steelhead, very similar to salmon) in lettuce and it was falling apart, but after steaming the lettuce stayed on well. This is nice with no added flavors, but might be improved with some ginger & lemon grass, and maybe a crunchy vegetable in the package with the fish. Variations have some potential.

4 medium heads Boston lettuce (about 8 oz. each)
1 lb. salmon fillet

Prepare the lettuce: Carefully separate the lettuce leaves. Cut each leaf in half, removing the center rib. Trim the heavy white sections from each half, leaving a circle of lettuce approximately 3 ½ inches in diameter. Set aside (do not blanch).

Cut the salmon into 1 x 1 x ½ inch pieces. Place a piece of salmon on each piece of lettuce leaf. Fold the edges of the leaf over the salmon. Place seam side down in the top of a two-part steamer, or in a bamboo steamer rack or on a plate in a bamboo steamer. Fill the bottom of the steamer pan or a pan large enogh to hold the bamboo or steaming rack with water; the water should not touch the rack. Bring to a boil. Place the salmon on top, cover and steam until the salmon is completely cooked, for about 10 minutes.

Makes about 48 pieces (can be divided easily).
from Vegetable Love, by Barbara Kafka

The vegetables begin

The new season of our CSA started today! It's the official start of lettuce season. The contents are:

4 heads of leattuce
1 head of bok choy
1 pint sugar snap peas
1 quart strawberries

So, mostly salads for this week. I think the other things will all be best done simply, steaming for the bok choy and peas, and straight or with yogurt for the strawberries. We can also get more peas & strawberries at the farm if we pick our own.