Chicken Adobo

This is a nice take on chicken adobo that was in the New York Times Magazine a few weeks ago.  I have made the version in Molly O'Neill's New York Cookbook often, but the recipe below is spicier and more interesting.  The coconut milk added some smoothness (fat) but surprisingly little taste.  It would be interesting to try with more coconut milk.

Chicken Adobo
by Sam Sifton

1 cup coconut milk
¼ cup soy sauce
1½ cup rice vinegar
12 garlic cloves, peeled
3 whole bird’s-eye chilies or other fiery chili
3 bay leaves
1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 pounds chicken thighs.

1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large, nonreactive bowl or resealable plastic freezer bag. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.

2. Place chicken and marinade in a large lidded pot or Dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, around 30 minutes.

3. Heat broiler. Transfer chicken pieces to a large bowl, raise heat under the pot to medium-high, and reduce the sauce until it achieves almost the consistency of cream, about 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and chilies.

4. Place chicken pieces on a roasting pan and place under broiler for 5 to 7 minutes, until they begin to caramelize. Remove, turn chicken, baste with sauce and repeat, 3 to 5 minutes more. Return chicken to sauce and cook for a few minutes more, then place on a platter and drizzle heavily with sauce. Serves four. Adapted from Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan, Purple Yam restaurant, Brooklyn.

Last week of the season

That's it for another year. We finish up with some nice greens and a few root vegetables.  Until next spring!

• Arugula
• Beets
• Braising mix
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celeriac
• Lettuce mix
• Parsley
• Rutabaga
• Spinach
• Turnips

Sweet potatoes & brussels sprouts

I think this is the first time we've ever gotten brussels sprouts.  I'm all for it.

I'm not sure I know the difference between "braising mix" and "mesclun mix".  The "spicy lettuce mix" we've been getting has been better braised tan in salads, so maybe that's what the braising mix is.

Next week is going to be our last week for vegetables this season.

• Arugula
• Braising mix
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Daikon
• Mesclun Mix
• Parsley
• Peppers
• Rutabaga
• Turnips
• Sweet potatoes (5½ lbs.)

More greens and root vegetables

The carrots are getting bigger every week.  The turnips might be, too.

• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Celery
• Cilantro
• Fennel
• Spicy lettuce mix
• Peppers
• Radicchio
• Scallions
• Turnips

Sauteed Hakurei Turnips & Braised Greens

 What to do with tender little turnips?  Try this:

Sauteed Hakurei Turnips & Braised Greens

1 bunch Hakurei turnips with greens
1 lb greens such as chard, mizuna or spicy lettuce mix
2 tsp oil, divided
½ cup water, apple juice or white wine
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Cut the greens from the turnips. Wash and tear all the greens into large pieces and remove the stems. Cut the turnips into bite sized pieces.
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sautée the turnips stirring or tossing occasionally until they are crispy outside and tender inside. Season with salt and pepper and remove to a warm plate.
In the same pan, heat the remaining oil over medium heat.
Add the washed and wet greens, and add to pan in batches. Stir and mix as they wilt.
Add the wine or other liquid and cook until it is mostly evaporated.
Plate greens and arrange the warm turnips on top

Culinary School of the Rockies

Greens & cabbage

The weather is cooling off.  I wonder if these are our last tomatoes.

• Arugula
• Baby bok choy
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cilantro
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce
• Spicy lettuce mix
• Peppers
• Radishes
• Tomatoes
• White Hakurei turnips

Steel cut oats

Now that the weather's getting cooler, I'm starting to make steel cut oats for breakfast again.  They take a long time to cook, but you can make a big batch to keep in the fridge and microwave portions.  I really like the texture compared with rolled oats.

I haven't tried cooking with them yet, but the recipe for Scottish buttermilk oat scones on the package sounds good.

Winter/summer veggies

We're still getting tomatoes while we get our second batch of winter squash.  the greens are nice, too.  We need to use the beets!

• Baby bok choy
• Beets
• Carrots
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Cilantro
• Lettuce
• Spicy lettuce mix
• Peppers
• Radicchio
• Tomatoes
• Winter squash

Free-Form Apple Onion Tart

Pastry:
1½ cups flour
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
8 T. butter
1 T. white vinegar
4-5 T. ice water

Onions:
1 lg. red onion, peeled, root intact
2 lg. spanish onions, peeled with root intact
2 T. olive oil
2 T. dijon mustard
3 T. thyme
salt/pepper
3 T. balsamic vinegar

Apple Filling:
4 golden delicious apples
2 T. butter
2 T. sugar
pinch of nutmeg

Pastry: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt, and pulse to sift together. Add the butter, pulsing to mix until the mixture resembles sand. Mix together the vinegar and 4 T. water. Mix vinegar mixture into the flour, enough that the dough comes together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board, and knead until smooth. Shape into a flat, round, cake. Wrap in foil and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Onions: Preheat the oven to 400° F. Cut each onion into 6-8 wedges, keeping some root on each piece to hold together. Mix olive oil, mustard, thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the onions, and toss gently to coat. Arrange onions in a baking dish, rounded sides down. Sprinkle with vinegar. Cover with foil, roast for 45 minutes. Remove foil, roast for 30 minutes more, until very tender.

Apples: Peel, core, and quarter apples. Cut each quarter into 3 pieces. In a large skillet, melt butter, add apples, and sprinkle with sugar and nutmeg. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Set oven at 400° F. Roll out dough on a floured surface to about 9x11 inches. Transfer to floured baking sheet. Place apples on dough, and onions on top of apples. Curl up edge of dough around filling. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until pastry browns.

From the Boston Globe, probably 15 years ago but I don't have the original recipe--Jay sent me a copy.

Asian Eggplant

From Bon Appetit, via Epicurious.

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, stems trimmed
5 tablespoons canned low-salt chicken broth
2 green onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves
1 small jalapeño chili, chopped
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

4 tablespoons peanut oil
1 1 1/4-pound eggplant, cut lengthwise into 3/4-inch-wide slices and slices cut crosswise into 3/4-inch-wide-strips

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Combine cilantro, 1 tablespoon broth, green onions, garlic, chili and ginger in processor and puree until paste forms.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over high heat until very hot. Add half of eggplant. Cover skillet and cook until eggplant is tender and beginning to brown, turning once, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels. Repeat with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and remaining eggplant.

Add cilantro paste and soy sauce to skillet and stir over medium-high heat 2 minutes. Return eggplant to skillet and add remaining 4 tablespoons broth. Stir until sauce thickens and boils and eggplant is heated through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4.

Cabbage and Carrot Stir-Fry with Toasted Cumin & Lime

Serves 6

1 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
2 T. canola oil
3/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. freshly cracked black peppercorns
1/2 jalapeno, seeded, ribbed, and finely chopped
6 cups thinly sliced green cabbage (about 2/3 medium cabbage)
2 cups julienned or grated carrots (about 3/4 lb.)
2 1/2 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste
1 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs, finely chopped
2-3 T. fresh lime juice

Toast 1 tsp. of the cumin seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until deeply browned and beginning to smoke, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder.

Heat the oil with the remaining 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, the coriander, and peppercorns in a large wok, and cook until the cumin is browned. Add the jalapeno and cook until sizzling and just starting to soften, 30 to 60 seconds, and then add the cabbage and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage has wilted yet is still al dente, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the freshly ground cumin, salt, and sugar and cook for 30 seconds.

Remove from the heat. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice and taste for seasoning. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold. From Fine Cooking.

Perfect veggie storm

From the weekly newletter from the farm, "We’re in the middle of the perfect veggie storm!  We are still able to enjoy summer tomatoes while fall radicchio, arugula, chard and other greens are ripening."  Good stuff.

• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cilantro
• Chard
• Collards
• Parsley
• Peppers
• Radicchio
• Radishes
• Scallions
• Spinach
• Winter squash
• Grape tomatoes
• Slicing tomatoes

Heirloom Tomato Bread Pudding

Heirloom Tomato Bread Pudding

Makes 12 servings
Prep: Approx. 15 minutes (so they say...after you chop/grate everything)
Cook: Approx. 55 minutes

1 pound of brioche or hearty white bread (I used a really nice roasted garlic farmhouse loaf)
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
2 cups small onions - diced
2 Tablespoons finely chopped garlic
3 pounds heirloom tomatoes, peeled, seeded, drained and diced
2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1 Tablespoon coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
7 eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cut bread into 1/2-inch cubes. Spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Place in oven and toast the bread, turning as needed, until golden brown (about 10 minutes).

2. Heat the oil and butter in a saute pan. Add the onions, and cook until translucent (about 6 - 8 minutes). Add the garlic and cook until aromatic (another 3-4 minutes). Combine with the tomatoes and herbs in a large bowl. Reserve.

3. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl just to combine. Add the milk, cream and salt, and stir lightly.

4. Mix the bread in with the tomato/onion mixture. Toss the Asiago with the bread and tomato mixture.

5. Butter eight 8-ounce ramekins and divide the mixture among them.

6. Pour the eggs and milk mixture over the bread mixture, dividing equally among the ramekins. Top each with Parmesan cheese.

7. Place the ramekins in a baking dish and fill the dish halfway up with boiling water to create a hot-water bath. Bake for 35 minutes and then broil until the top is crispy and browned.

Serving Suggestion: Place each ramekin on a dish, accompanied by a side of lightly dressed greens.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Barbera d'Alba, such as Renato Corino Barbera d'Alba, 2007.

Source: Chef Michael Schwartz - Premier Issue 'Yum Food & Fun' magazine. Found online here, and only modified slightly.

I needed more ramekins than they said, though I don't know how large mine are (relatively large, though). Also, I wasn't paying attention and grated both cheeses into the same container. So I tossed all of the cheese with the bread mixture, and there wasn't any on top. It was easier and surely just as good. This is amazing!

Summer Squash Soup with Pasta and Parmesan

From Cooking Light, and found online here. This soup makes the most of fresh summer herbs and squash.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 2 cups)

Ingredients

• 6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 3 cups water
• 2 1/4 cups uncooked farfalle (about 6 ounces bow tie pasta)
• 2 cups finely chopped yellow squash
• 2 cups finely chopped zucchini
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

Preparation

Bring broth and water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Add pasta, and cook 8 minutes or until almost tender. Add squash and the next 7 ingredients (through pepper). Reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes or until pasta is done and squash is tender. Sprinkle with cheese and basil.

We liked but didn't love this, but it might have paled in comparison with the tomato bread pudding from the same meal.

Gumbo time

An abundance of greens, I will make some gumbo today to use up as much as I can.  Made tomato sauce this week to try to keep that abundance under control, but we still have lots of eggplants, beets, and peppers.

• Beets
• Bok choy
• Cilantro
• Chard
• Chinese cabbage
• Collards
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Grape tomatoes
• Heirloom tomatoes
• Spaghetti squash

A rare intersection of lettuce & tomatoes

Although spring and early summer lettuce is great and abundant, we miss having salads with lettuce and tomatoes once in a while.  This week, lettuce has returned for the fall, while we still get tomatoes, so we can have our salads with our amazing heirlooms from the farm!

Also, something really need to be done about eggplants.  I've been making a lot of dips and The Best Eggplant Dish Ever, but we're not keeping up.

• Bok choy
• Cilantro
• Chard
• Collards
• Eggplant
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Hot peppers
• Tomatoes
• Heirloom tomatoes
• Pumpkin

Tom yam kung

Tom Yum is one of my favorite soups. It's actually pretty easy to make if you have the right ingredients on hand. Now that we have a Kaffir lime tree in a pot, we always have fresh lime leaves, and we can harvest lemongrass from the pot on our deck. We always have chicken stock in the freezer, and shrimp is easy to keep there as well, so we really only need to make sure we have chillies, limes, and mushrooms around to be able to make this. I'm sure it took longer than the 5 minutes prep and 5 minutes cooking that the recipe claims, but not by much.

600ml (1 pint) chicken stock

1 lemon grass stalk, chopped into 4 pieces and slightly crushed

4 Kaffir lime leaves, roughly chopped

2 small fresh red chillies, finely sliced

8 small button mushrooms, quartered

8 raw king prawns, peeled and de-veined

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon sugar

Coriander leaves, to garnish

In a saucepan, heat the stock to boiling point.Add the lemon grass,

Kaffir lime leaves, chillies and mushrooms and bring back to the boil.

Add the prawns, Fish sauce, lime juice and suger and simmer for

about a minute or so, unit the prawns are cooked.

Turn into soup bowl and garnish with coriander leaves

From Stylish Thai in Minutes

"Best eggplant dish ever"

An excellent way to use eggplant. We like it on baguettes, but it's good on rice, too.


We use a little fish sauce instead of dried shrimp.

3 dried red chilies, preferably Thai ¼ cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 heaping tablespoon dried shrimp
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium tomato, cored, coarsely chopped and briefly drained
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup ground pork (optional)
½ teaspoon ground turmeric (optional)
1½ pounds eggplant, preferably the small Asian kind, sliced ¼ inch thick
Roughly chopped cilantro or mint for garnish.

1. Soak chilies in warm water for about 15 minutes, until softened. Drain, reserving water. Discard stems and seeds, and combine chilies in a blender or small food processor with shallots, garlic, shrimp and salt. Process, adding a little of the chili-soaking water if necessary. Add tomato, process briefly and set aside.

2. Put a large, deep skillet over high heat, and add oil; a minute later, add pork and cook, stirring to break up lumps, for just a minute. Add chili mixture and turmeric. Lower heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add eggplant, stir, cover tightly and reduce heat to low.

3. Cook, stirring every 5 minutes or so, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until eggplant is very tender and shapeless. (You can prepare ahead to this point and reheat before serving.) Just before serving, raise the heat, and boil off any excess liquid if necessary; the mixture should not be watery. Serve, topped with cilantro or mint.

From Hot Sour Salty Sweet, by way of The New York Times.

Pumpkin time

You know fall is close when school is starting and we start getting pumpkins in the box.  I always hope that our fellow CSA members are using their pumpkins for cooking, too, and not for jack-o-lanterns.

• Basil
• Cilantro
• Chard
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Hot peppers
• Summer squash
• Heirloom tomatoes
• Regular tomatoes
• Pumpkin

Hot Pepper Jelly

From the Joy of Cooking All About Canning and Preserving cookbook, which is excellent.

• 1 pound ripe sweet red peppers, cored and seeded
  
• 8 oz. jalapeno peppers, seeded
  
• 1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar
  
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
  
• 1 packet (3 oz.) liquid pectin
  

Preparation

1. Clean and sterilize jars; they say three half-pints; I used 4 oz. jars.

2. Mince or grind the peppers; I coarsely chopped, then processed them briefly in the food processor.

3. Combine the peppers and their juices in a large, heavy saucepan with the vinegar. Stir and bring to a simmer over medium heat until the peppers are thoroughly soft, about 10-12 minutes.

4. Strain. Use a jelly bag or four layers of cheesecloth in a colander, over a bowl, and leave it for 3-12 hours. Do not press on the remaining fruit/pulp, or the jelly won't be as clear. Pour into a glass bowl and allow to settle in the refrigerator 12-24 hours, then pour off the clear juice and leave any sediment in the bottom.

5. You should have two cups of juice; if not, add enough water to bring it up to 2 cups. Return to the saucepan, adding the sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and then add the pecton. Boil hard for 1 minute.

6. Remove from the heat, and skim off any foam.

5. Can leaving 1/4 inch of headspace in each jar and processing jars for 5 minutes.

This recipe did not set up well following these directions--it took a long time, and though we haven't opened one of the canned jars yet, it looks like it wept, at least in some of the jars. BUT I might have lost track of time and over-processed. Oops. So maybe that's the problem? It tastes good, looks nicely orange, and is perfect for cornbread. And was made with peppers from the farm!

Heirloom tomatoes and flowers

I hate to whine about what's in our weekly box, but I have been sad to see no heirloom tomatoes yet.  Until today! Also, a bouquet of flowers, including a big sunflower.

• Basil
• Chard
• Eggplant
• Green beans
• Peppers
• Hot peppers
• Summer squash
• Tomatoes
• Heirloom tomatoes
• Flower bouquet

High summer vegtables

We may be coming toward the end of summer, but the vegetables are still abundant warm-weather crops.  Keep on eating good tomatoes!

• Basil
• Beets
• Cilantro
• Chard
• Eggplant
• Peppers 
• Hot peppers
• Scallions
• Summer squash
• Grape tomatoes

More of the same (not that that's a bad thing)

The vegetable list is virtually identical to last week's (with the addition of scallions).  We did pickle beets on Monday, now the biggest problem is what to do with two watermelons.  The tomatoes and eggplant are easy (and delicious).

• Basil
• Beets 
• Chard 
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Hot peppers
• Scallions
• Tomatoes
• Grape tomatoes
• Watermelon

Time to pickle beets

We need to do something with our accumulating beets.  It's surely time for pickled beets.

• Basil
• Beets
• Chard
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Hot peppers
• Tomatoes
• Grape tomatoes
• Watermelon

Watermelon

Today we got a watermelon, which we will bring to a barbecue, along with soup made from fresh grilled tomatoes.  We canned pickles and jam this week, now we need to can some beets.

• Basil
• Beets
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Melon
• Peppers
• Hot peppers
• Summer squash
• Tomatoes
• Grape tomatoes
• Watermelon

Peach-Raspberry Jam

I used this recipe, from Sunset magazine.

• 3 1/2 pounds ripe peaches, blanched, peeled, and pitted
• 3 1/2 cups raspberries (1 lb.)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
  
• 1 box (1 3/4 to 2 oz.) dry MCP or Sure-Jell pectin, or 2 boxes (1 3/4 oz. each) dry Ball Fruit Jell pectin
• 10 cups sugar

Preparation

1. Clean and sterilize jars; they say six pint-size jars; I used half-pints and 10 oz. jelly jars.

2. Coarsely chop peaches; you should have 5 1/2 cups. Coarsely chop or mash raspberries; you should have 2 cups.

3. In an 8- to 10-quart pan, combine peaches, raspberries, lemon juice, butter, and pectin. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring often. Stir in sugar; when mixture resumes boiling, stir for exactly 4 minutes if using MCP pectin (1 minute if using Sure-Jell or Ball Fruit Jell). Remove from heat immediately.

4. Skim and discard any foam from jam.

5. Can leaving 1/4 inch of headspace in each jar and processing jars for 5 minutes.

This recipe is really good. I think I was short on sugar, and used more like 8 cups, which was plenty. It set up nicely with Sure-Jell dry pectin and 1 minute of boiling.

More tomatoes

Yet more tomatoes!  We'll dry most of the small ones to freeze.

• Basil
• Cinnamon Basil
• Cucumbers    
• Potatoes
• Mini Purple Onions
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Grape Tomatoes
• Tomatoes

Tomatoes

First tomatoes were last week, but w were out of town so we let someone else pick them up.  This week, we have our tomatoes, along with basil to eat fresh with olive oil and mozzarella.

• Basil
• Cabbage
• Onions
• Parsley
• Potatoes
• Shallots
• Summer squash
• Tomatoes

summer veggies! First corn!

Veggies this week:

• beets
• swiss chard
• onions
• basil
• potatoes
• cabbage
• corn
  

4th of July vegetables

Nice set of vegetables for the hot summer weather we've been having.

• Lettuce
• Potatoes
• Cabbage
• Basil
• Raddichio
• Beets
• Scallions
• Chard

(apologies for the poorly focused photo)

Chard lasagna

Basically made a version of this recipe from Epicurious, using chard cut into strips as layers in the lasagne.  It was good.

Beets and basil

Sorry, only a low-light iPhone photo this week.  About all you can see is that green stuff fills the box! You can't see that there are also beets.

• Basil
• Beets
• Chinese Cabbage
• Chard
• Endive
• Lettuce
• Summer Squash

Vegetarian stuffed cabbage

From the original Moosewood Cookbook, which shouldn't be a surprise when you see that it's got gobs of butter, cheese, seeds and nuts.  I generally prefer the meatier version of stuffed cabbage that I've made.  I wouldn't mind finding a better tomato-sauce based vegetarian stuffed cabbage that I liked.

STUFFED CABBAGE
6 servings, 2 rolls each

1 large head green cabbage
1 medium carrot, diced
1 cup chopped onion
3 tbl. butter
1 clove crushed garlic
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¾ cup raw cashew pieces
salt and pepper to taste
1 stalk chopped celery
2 cups ricotta cheese
¼ cup raisins
1 cup chopped apple
juice from one lemon
1-2 tbl.  tamari
1 tbl. honey
extra butter

1. Parboil cabbage in in a kettle of water 10-15 minutes or until outer leaves are easily removeable. Remove first 12 leaves.  Make sure the cabbage is cooked well enough so leaves will not break when rolled, but not so well that they disintegrate.  Save cabbage insides for another dish.

2. Saute vegetables (not apple), nuts and seeds in butter until onion is transparent and nuts roasted. Combine the saute (drain it well!) with remaining ingredients and season to taste.

3. Place 3-4 tbl. filling near the base of each cabbage leaf. Roll tightly, folding insides.  Place on buttered sheet and brush with extra butter. Cover and bake until heated through (about 25 minutes at 325°F).

Serve with yogurt or sour cream, on a bed of rice

 source

Fish Tacos

I don't deep fry often, but this is one that is worth the mess.  Helps to satisfy those occasional California cravings.

Fish Tacos

¼ cup mayonnaise
⅓ cup sour cream
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons chipotle salsa, or more to taste
½ cup shredded red cabbage or lettuce
2 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
¼ cup finely sliced red onion
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 cup flour
⅓ cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, or more to taste
1 cup beer
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
12 6-inch soft, white corn tortillas
Peanut oil, for frying

1 pound fluke, cod or any firm white-fleshed fish, cut into slivers ¼ inch wide and 2 to 3 inches long

2 limes, cut into wedges.


1. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, cumin and 2 teaspoons chipotle salsa. (Add more salsa if you like; chipotle salsas vary in heat.) In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño, garlic and cilantro.

2. In a large bowl, make a beer batter: Whisk together ⅔ cup of the flour and the cornmeal, kosher salt and beer. Near the stove, arrange a bowl of the remaining ⅓ cup flour, a bowl of the beaten eggs and the bowl of beer batter.

3. Preheat the oven to warm, or its lowest setting. Spread the tortillas on a baking sheet. Cover with a damp tea towel and place in the oven -- but don't forget about them!

4. Pour 1 inch of peanut oil into a deep saucepan and place over medium-high heat. When it is hot enough to brown a bread crumb, begin coating the fish. Dust 3 to 4 pieces with flour, then dip them in the egg, followed by the batter. Add the pieces, 1 by 1, to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Adjust heat as needed. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels; repeat with the remaining fish.

5. Fill each warm tortilla with 2 to 3 pieces of fish, a generous spoonful of the chipotle sauce and a large pinch of the cabbage mixture. Squeeze a wedge of lime and sprinkle a little salt over the filled tortilla. Fold in half and serve.

source: New York Times Magazine

An abundance of broccoli

Huge quantity of broccoli this week.  Very nice.

• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Dandelion greens
• Garlic
• Mini onions
• Lettuce
• Parsley
• Radicchio

Back!

We missed a couple weeks of vegetable while we were out of town, but I was back in time to pick up this batch.

• Lettuce
• Chard
• Radicchio
• Zucchini
• Fennel
• Garlic
• Scallions

The season begins

Today we started another season with the CSA.  Very exciting!

• Arugula
• Bok choy
• 4 heads lettuce
• Mint
• Oregano
• Spinach
• Radishes

We've got a lot of salads to eat this week.

Ravioli with prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and mozzarella

Pasta-making fun with Molly and Josue! Both pasta dough and filling recipes are from Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef.

Everyday Quick Basic Pasta Recipe
(serves 4)
1 lb. bread flour (3½ to 4 cups)
5 fresh, large eggs
semolina flour for dusting

Mixer recipe: use the dough hook. Add the flour to the eggs and mix at a medium speed for about 3 minutes or until it forms a firm dough. Take it out of the mixer and finish kneading by hand for about a minute or until smooth, silky and elastic. Wrap in plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 60 minutes.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into 4 balls. Re-cover 3 balls and work with one at a time. Flatten the ball of dough slightly with the palm of your hand and run through the pasta machine on the thickest setting. Fold the two ends into the middle and run through on the thickest setting 3 or 4 times. Lightly dust both sides with flour, and run it through on a thinner setting, repeating until the sheets are 1-1.5 mm thick.

For ravioli, you want sheets of pasta that are 3-4 inches wide, and should work in small batches, keeping extra sheets covered with a damp cloth. Lay out pasta on a generously dusted surface and place a good heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle of the sheet at one end. Repeat this all the way along the pasta, spacing 2 inches apart. Then, using a clean pastry brush and some water, lightly but evenly brush the pasta. Lay another similar-sized sheet of pasta on top of the first.

With your thumb or the base of your palm, gently pat the pasta down on the long side farthest away from you. Starting from one side, with the side of your hand, push the pasta down at one end, then slowly curl your fingers and your palm around the filling, eventually cupping and gently pushing down on the other side of the filling. Repeat along the length, making sure it hasn't stuck to the work surface. Then trim and cut the ravioli into shape with a knife or cutter. They can be cooked right away, usually for about 3-4 minutes in salted, gently boiling water. Or you can store it uncooked in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours on a tray generously dusted with semolina.

Prosciutto, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella Ravioli Filling
(serves 4)
1 handful of finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 good handful of fresh basil, torn
12 sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 7 oz. balls buffalo mozzarella cheese, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
10 good slices of prosciutto, fat trimmed
olive oil
extra basil and shaved parmesan to serve

Put the Parmesan, basil, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella in a bowl, stir together, and season to taste. Cut the slices of prosciutto in half. Place 1 heaped teaspoon of the filling at one end of the piece of prosciutto, then fold in the sides and roll up so that the filling is enclosed. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients--you should have about 20 small balls. Fill the ravioli and cook in gently boiling salted water for about 3-4 minutes, until tender. Drain carefully. Serve sprinkled with olive oil, black pepper, freshly-shaved Parmesan and torn basil.

We made 2 recipes of pasta, one with all bread flour and one half semolina. We used slightly more than 1 recipe for the ravioli, and cut the rest by hand into pappardelle and dried for later.

Dad's Famous Brownies

So when I was a little kid, my Mom worked nights and my Dad took care of us evenings, feeding us and getting us into bed. Possibly because we inherited my Mom's sweet tooth, possibly because he began to get into cooking and baking at that time, possibly just to buy good behavior on the part of his children, my Dad started making brownies from scratch and modified the recipe from whatever cookbook it originally came from. They became famous. In fact, I'm sure I'm always very well behaved whenever I eat them.

I got the recipe from him at some point and modified it a bit more, mostly when I lived in Germany and was using slightly different ingredients. I started making them for kayaking trips and was once threatened to be left behind if I ever showed up for a trip without them. Yeah, I made a lot of brownies in Germany. Now, I may be gilding the memory but I swear they were absolutely no-fail excellent then. I don't know what's happened, but I can't seem to get them right since I've been back in the States. What's wrong?! Susan, I am counting on you here. Molly and I made them last night and they were so ridiculously runny in the middle, I had to bake them a lot longer. Should I adjust time or temperature? I am using a glass pan here and wonder if that could be it, but for the life of me I don't remember what I made them in in Germany. argh. Don't get me wrong, they're still terribly yummy, but I have a serious consistency issue. No, not that kind, they are very consistently....runny in the middle when the edges are done.

14 T. butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1¼ c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
generous ¾ c. cocoa powder (don't measure, just scoop away with a ¼ cup measure, and the more rounded it is the deeper the chocolate)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a pan (13x9 if you want cakier, 9x9 if you want fudgier...maybe I was using 13x9 in Germany?!).

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, then stir in the sugar. When you're sure it's cool enough, stir in the eggs and vanilla, mixing thorougly. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then beat into butter mixture well. Spread in pan. Bake 30 minutes or until brownies start to pull away from sides of pan...but do not overbake or they get tough once they've set.

Yeah, I know, this is not a recipe for the faint of heart. But Susan, you'd really be sacrificing for the team if you had to bake these a couple of times and play with them in the interest of helping the recipe.

Cod with Coconut, Lime, and Lemongrass Curry Sauce

Modified from this epicurious recipe.

Sauce
2 shallots, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 lemongrass stalk, sliced into rounds
1-inch knob ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon butter
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon red or green curry paste
3 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup fresh coconut milk, or canned
4 cilantro sprigs
Fine sea salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

4 7-ounce cod fillets, 1 1/2-inches thick
salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the shallots, garlic, lemongrass and ginger in a small chopper, and chop until minced together. Heat the butter in a skillet, and add the chopped ingredients. Put in the lime leaves and curry paste, and saute until the chopped ingredients are tender and colorless, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, and adjust the heat to simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add the coconut milk and cilantro, simmering for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove the lime leaves. Return to a chopper or blender and puree, then set aside.

Heat several tablespoons of oil in a skillet, and rinse the fish and salt and pepper on both sides. Saute the fish on the first side until golden brown and crusted, then flip and finish the fish on the other side until cooked properly. Serve over rice, with sauce poured on top; they also suggest bok choy sauteed in butter on the side. Enough for 4.

Fragrant Rice Noodles with Vegetables

Modified from a recipe in The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

Sauce:
3 T. fresh lime juice
zest of one lime
¾ c. peanut butter
2 tsp. brown sugar
¾ c. stock (vegetable, chicken, whatever)
1 T. fish sauce
½ tsp. salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
rooster (red chili) sauce to taste

6 oz. rice noodles (¼-inch wide)

2 leeks, well rinsed
2 small zucchini
2 small yellow squash
3 T. vegetable oil
¼ c. water

In a covered pot, bring 1½ quarts water to a boil. While the water heats, put all sauce ingredients except for the rooster sauce in a blender and puree until smooth. Gradually add rooster sauce to taste; adjust with lime juice, pb, brown sugar, or fish sauce as necessary to balance flavors.

When the water boils, add the noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes or until just tender. Drain, rinse briefly under cool water, drain again, and set aside.

Cut the leeks, zucchini, and squash into julienne sticks 2 to 3 inches long and ½ to ¼ inch wide. Heat the oil in a wok, and stir-fry the leek sticks on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and squash and stire fry for about 3 to 4 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender, adding a little water if necessary to prevent scorching. Add the noodles and about half of the sauce, and toss well until heated through. Serve immediately, with extra sauce on the side.

Linzer Heart cookies

from The Silver Palate cookbook (only modified slightly). Must be made every Valentine's day, along with whatever raw meat pink wheat flour cookies Monika chooses.

¾ pound butter, softened
1¾ c. confectioner's sugar, divided
1 egg
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
1 c. cornstarch
2 c. grated almonds
½ c. red raspberry preserves

Cream butter and 1 c. of the sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Sift together flour and cornstarch; add to creamed mixture and blend well. Mix in almonds thoroughly. Gather dough into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and chill for 4 to 6 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Roll dough out to ¼-inch thickness between sheets of parchment paper. Using heart-shaped cookie cutters, cut out cookies, leaving ¼-inch space between each one. Peel the excess dough from around them, and re-wrap and refrigerate or freeze to be rolled out again in a few minutes. Slide cookies, still on parchment, onto a baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-15 minutes, or until evenly and very lightly browned. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Spread the bottom halves of the cookies lightly with raspberry preserves, and top each one with a remaining cookie. (This is especially nice if your cookie lids have inner heart-shaped holes in the middle for the preserves to show through.) Place confectioner's sugar in a sifter and dust cookie tops with it.

Who me, fixated on all things Linzer?

Pork tenderloin

Pork and dried fruit is a nice combination.  We like this recipe, but it is a fair bit of work with both the compote and a cream sauce.  Tonight I made a simpler roast pork tenderloin with fruit compote, and it was good.  The only thing against it was that we could only find one of those pre-brined tenderloins at the store, and it was too salty and had an overtone of artificial flavor.  Fresh pork tenderloins are much better (and you're not paying for the 30% brine by weight!).

Scheherazade Casserole

From the original Moosewood Cookbook.

¾ cup raw soybeans, soaked in lots of water for at least 4 hours (or canned, drained and rinsed)
1 c. raw bulghur, soaked 15 minutes in 1 c. boiling water
2 medium bell peppers, chopped (they say green, I use red or yellow)
4 medium-sized fresh tomatoes, chopped
1½ c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ c. freshly-chopped parsley
3 T. tomato paste
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. basil
salt, pepper, tobasco to taste
1½ c. crubled feta

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place soaked soybeans in the blender with 1½ cups water (could cut down by ¼ cup or so). Puree. Combine pureed soybeans and soaked bulghur.

Saute the onions and garlic in a little olive oil, lightly salted. When soft, add peppers and saute 5 more minutes. Combine all ingredients except feta. Place in a large buttered casserole; sprinkle feta on top. Bake one hour at 375 degrees, covered for the first 45 minutes and uncovered for the last 15.

Szechwan-style eggplant

Tried this from Gourmet, via epicurious, and liked it.

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• a 1 1/4-pound eggplant, peeled if desired and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh gingerroot
• 2 to 3 teaspoons Szechwan chili paste*, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon hoisin sauce*
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar* or white-wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dry Sherry
• 3 scallions, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 red bell pepper, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Oriental sesame oil, or to taste

In a wok or large skillet heat the vegetable oil over high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it stir-fry the eggplant over moderately high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until it is tender and browned. Transfer the eggplant with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

In a small bowl dissolve the cornstarch in the broth. To the wok add the garlic, the gingerroot, the chili paste, the hoisin sauce, the vinegar, and the Sherry and stir-fry the mixture for 30 seconds. Add the scallions and stir-fry the mixture for 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce, the brown sugar, the cornstarch mixture, stirred, the bell pepper, and the eggplant and stir-fry the mixture for 1 minute, or until the eggplant has absorbed most of the liquid. Remove the wok from the heat, add the sesame oil and salt and pepper to taste, and toss the mixture well. The eggplant mixture may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled.

They suggest serving it with pita wedges, but I just made it as a side with lemongrass chicken and rice.

Bagna cauda

Bagna cauda has been on my radar screen since it was in the New York Times a few months ago.  I hadn't gotten around to making it, but then I saw a recipe in Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food.  It's more olive oil than butter, compared with Craig Claiborn's recipe which was two parts butter to one part oil.  I made a half recipe, which was a lot for two of us.  I'm sure that the buttery version would be good too, but I liked the olive oil-dominated recipe.  It wasn't too fishy from the anchovies, but they give it a nice savory umami flavor.

Broccoli with Bagna Cauda

6 tbl. butter
1 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic,minced
12 anchovy fillets, rinsed and dried
1 lb. broccoli

Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Add the garlic and cook over a gentle heat for 2-3 minutes.  It must not brown and turn bitter.  Add the anchovies, which will virtually dissolve with a bit of stirring.  Pour in the olive oil slowly, stirring all the time.  Simmer, not boil, for 10 minutes.  Blanche the broccoli in boiling water for a couple of minutes; keep it crisp.  Serve the sauce hot. in a bowl, stirring it up  with the drained sprigs of broccoli each time you dip them in.  Soak up the remaining sauce with hunks of bread.

Pizza Crust

Pizza is something I've always wanted to be better at.  Over the past year or so I think I've improved quite a bit.  I like Chicago style pizza as well, but this one is a nice crisp thin crust.  The most important thing is to have a good pizza stone, and also helpful is to have a peel that you can use to slide your raw pizza onto the stone.  The other secret is, I think, to knead the dough long enough to really be elastic.  The recipe I use is based on Alton Brown's, but as is often the case with his recipes, you do have to be careful.  The one that's easiest to find online has way too much sugar and salt.  There are two errors in the recipe from I'm Just Here for More Food, which I've corrected in my version below.  The flour in the book's recipe was off by a factor of two, and it called for a children's aspirin instead of vitamin C (I skip it completely).

Pizza Dough

1¼ cups warm water
2½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
4 cups (454 g) flour
2½ tsp. yeast

Mix the ingredients in a stand mixer with dough hook, then knead on 4 (out of 10) for 5 minutes.  Work the dough into a ball, put in a bowl lightly greased with olive oil, cover with a towel and put it in a warm place, until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Divide the dough in half, then work one half into a pizza crust, them place on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal or semolina.  (The other half can be refrigerated for a few days or frozen if you don't need both.)  Top and slide onto a preheated pizza stone in a 550° F oven.  Keep an eye on it, it should be done in 5-6 minutes.

My biggest remaining problem is that the cheese starts to burn before the crust is completely done.  What I've done the last couple times is take it out and turn the oven off when the cheese gets done, then after having the first piece, if it could use a little more time, slide the rest back on the pizza stone for a few minutes.  That tends to get more cheese & sauce on the pizza stone than usual, making it harder to clean.  Next time I think I'll try 500° F for slightly longer.

Chicken with Orange and Black Olives

This is a really nice sauce for chicken.  We made it with chicken thighs and served it with bulgar, as suggested in the original.

Chicken with Orange and Black Olives

2 tbl. olive oil
4 tbl. butter
2 whole chicken legs
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp. dried thyme
12 black olives, pitted
1 orange, cut in half then thinly sliced
1 tbl. chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Heat the oil and half the butter in a shallow pan. Brown the chicken peices until golden brown on both sides, then add the stock. Stir in the thyme, olives and orange slices. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Check chicken is cooked—when pierced with the point of a knife the juices should run clear—then remove the meat to a warm serving plate.  Taste the sauce, add parsley, and season with pepper and very carefully, if at all, with salt. Turn up the heat and reduce the liquid by bubbling down to cup, then whisk in the remaining butter.  The sauce will be shiny and slightly thickened when it is ready.  Plate the chicken pieces and pour over the sauce.  Serve with a starchy accessory such as wide noodles or potatoes.

Nigel Slater, Real Fast Food

Lemon-Ricotta Hotcakes

Shelley and Russ made the best pancakes I think I've ever tasted this morning!  They made Lemon-Ricotta Hotcakes from Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis.  I think we haven't had enough variety in our pancake making, we'll definitely have to add this to our repertoire.

Cooking with Julia

My most-used Christmas present so far is a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which is popular this year because of the movie Julie & Julia.  I can't believe we didn't have a copy for this long.

We started out with a cheese souffle, and then a béarnaise sauce for roast beef, with individual vanilla soufflés with chocolate crème anglaise for dessert.  Last night was our most ambitious project, making homard aux aromates (lobster steamed in wine with herb sauce) for 10.  The sauce was excellent, and not overpowering for the lobsters (also good on mashed potatoes).  I also liked splitting the lobster before serving, it makes it a lot easier to eat at the table, although there is still some claw cracking to do.

We've been through a lot of eggs and butter already.  I don't have any ambition to make every recipe in the book like some other blogs, but I'm looking forward to trying more out.

Roast turkey

There are many ways to roast a turkey.  I'm sure there are a number of ways to get good results.  There are also many different kinds of turkey, which react differently to different methods.  We had a 19.3 lb. fresh turkey from Ashley Farms.  I was reading up before Thanksgiving on the recipes I'd used before, and other advice on the web.  There are a number of decisions to make: to stuff or not to stuff?  To baste or not to baste?  To truss or not to truss?  Cover it with cheesecloth?  High temperature or low temperature, or high and then low?  Some recipes may be suitable for an injected supermarket turkey but not a natural bird.

The main methods I considered were from the Joy of Cooking (1975 edition), which has you put the bird into a 450°F oven and immediately turn it down to 350°; Barbara Kafka's high temperature recipe which has it at 500° F the entire time; and Alton Brown's brined roast turkey which starts at 500° for 30 minutes before being reduced to 350°.  The other common method, to keep it at 325° the entire cooking time, is also mentioned in the Joy of Cooking, where it is said to be foolproof and "has been rumored to entail much less shrinkage", but that the flavor is superior when starting with high heat.

I decided to go with 450°F for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°, unstuffed and untrussed.  The Joy of Cooking says 13-15 minutes per pound, but since I would keep the oven hot a bit longer and was aiming for a lower temperature (the USDA recommendation is now 165°F interior temperature, it used to be 180°F), I was ready for it to be a bit shorter than that.  I wasn't prepared for how fast it went.

Since I had just acquired a remote temperature probe, I recorded the internal temperature at irregular intervals throughout the cooking.  It turned out to have been done in just over 2 hours, about 6½ minutes per pound!  I then had to keep it warm for a couple hours and warm it up before serving.  It was very good, though, tender and juicy with a nice skin.

This is not something I do often enough to do systematic experiments, but here is the time series data for this trial:

Cranberry Chutney with Tart Green Apple

Getting ready for Thanksgiving, and thinking about recipes.  This is an old favorite we've used since the mid-90s.  I don't have the original source, but it's likely that I got it from The Boston Globe.

Cranberry Chutney with Tart Green Apple

Makes 1 quart.

¾ lb. cranberries, fresh
1½ lb. peeled, cored, chopped tart green apples
¼ cup chopped onions
2 tsp. minced ginger
½ cup cider vinegar
1 cup granulated white sugar
¼ tsp. salt
⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper powder
1½ cup sliced celery

Combine all ingredients but the celery in a 3-quart pot.  Over high heat, bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until mixture is thick (15 to 20 minutes).  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.  Add the celery and cook 5 more minutes.

Serve while still warm.

Keeps several weeks in the refrigerator.

Poppy seed muffins

As Alton Brown would say, these aren't really muffins, they're cupcakes.  But they're good.  It's a very runny batter, like a cake batter instead of muffin batter.  I didn't realize what a huge recipe I was making until I was already too far along to back out, so I made a dozen muffins and two small loaves.  The glaze is nice, but so sweet that I wish I had backed off on the sugar in the muffins themselves.

Poppy Seed Muffins

3 eggs
2½ cups white sugar
1⅛ cups vegetable oil
1½ cups milk
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ tablespoons poppy seeds
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup white sugar
¼ cup orange juice [I used lemon juice]
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons butter, melted

1. Beat together the eggs, 2½ cups white sugar and vegetable oil. Add in milk, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, vanilla, almond flavoring, and flour. Mix well.
2. Bake in paper lined muffin cups (filled ¾ full or 3 small greased loaf pans) at 350° F (175° C) for 15-20 minutes for muffins and 50-60 minutes for loaves. The tops should be browned and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
3. Remove muffins as soon as you can while still warm/hot and dunk tops into glaze. Turn right side up and cool on a cookie rack. With loaves just pour the glaze evenly over the three loaves while still in pans. Let cool to a warm temp. and remove from pans. Yes, it is a little messy but it is really good.
4. To Make Glaze: In a saucepan over low heat, combine ¾ cup sugar, orange juice, ½ teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon almond flavoring and 2 teaspoons melted butter. Warm in pan until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over loaf pans or dunk muffin tops into glaze when cooled to room temperature. (Omit the glaze altogether if you don't like the mess.) 

Allrecipes.com

Final week

This is our final batch of farm vegetables for the year.  Right now, that's OK with me as far as arugula, radicchio and radishes go, and we have enough sweet potatoes to last a while, but we will miss the rest of it until next spring.

• Arugula
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce
• 12 sweet potatoes (only 6¼ lbs., less than half last week)
• Radicchio
• Rutabaga
• Scallions
• Turnips

A metric ton of sweet potatoes

OK, only 6.13 kg (13½ lbs.)  There was a whole extra bag of 19 sweet potatoes outside the box this week.  Luckily, they keep.

• Arugula
• Beets
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Lettuce
• Radicchio
• Sweet potatoes    
• Rutabaga
• Spinach

Daikon and carrot pickles

Using a recipe from the NY Times and a recipe from Epicurious, I made some daikon and carrot pickles tonight. Very simple and good. The daikon is still a little bitter, but the sugar and salt helps cut that.

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch matchsticks
2 medium daikons, peeled and cut into 2 inch matchsticks
½ cup rice vinegar
2 tsp. + ¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. salt

Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and 2 tsp. sugar.  Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain, rinse, and drain again.  Dissolve the ¼ cup sugar in the rice vinegar, and pour over vegetables.  It's good right away, better after it sits for a while.

The Pickle Guys

I had no idea there was a pickle district in Manhattan!  A story on NPR tonight about The Pickle Guys made me want to go there sometime soon.

View Larger Map

Winter squash risotto

1 butternut or acorn squash
½ cup olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, diced
2 large cloves garlic
2 cups arborio rice
6 cups chicken stock (or 3 cups homemade, 3 cups water)
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup grated parmesan
4 T. salted butter
salt and pepper to taste
more parmesan to grate on top

Cut the squash in half and clean out, then roast on an oiled baking sheet until very soft. Scrape out flesh. Mash roughly with fork. Start stock (or stock and water) heating in medium size pan; bring to a simmer and hold it there throughout. Heat olive oil over medium heat, then saute onion and garlic until soft. Add the rice and stir to coat while heating for approximately 1 minute. Add the wine, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed. Add the simmering stock, 1-2 cups at a time, stirring frequently and letting the excess liquid be absorbed with each addition, like any risotto. When most of the liquid of the final addition has been absorbed, add the squash, stirring until it is heated through and lumps are broken up. When the risotto is the desired consistency, stir in cheese, butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with more cheese on top.

Linzertorte

From the recipe by Stephanie Jaworski at Joy of Baking.com. I used store bought ground almonds and hazelnuts, and measured most of this by weight. I also used store bought raspberry preserves, and salted butter, and all of it worked well. Some recipes have some cocoa powder in the crust; maybe next time.

1 cup (150 g) ground almonds
½ cup (57 g) ground hazelnuts
1½ cups (210 g) all purpose flour
⅔ cup (135 g) white sugar
zest of one large lemon
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
14 T. (195 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
one cup raspberry preserves
confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 10 inch tart pan or springform pan. Place the nuts, flour, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon, cloves, salt and baking powder in a food processor, and process until well blended. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and pulse until dough just begins to come together. Gather the dough in a ball and divide into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Wrap the smaller ball of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Take the larger ball of dough, and press into the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan (or approximately 1 inch up the sides of a springform pan). Spread the raspberry preserves over the bottom of the crust. Remove the smaller ball of dough from the refrigerator and roll it between two pieces of waxed paper, into a rectangle about 10 x 6 inches. With a sharp knife or fluted pastry cutter, cut the dough into 10 ½ inch wide strips. Gently transfer the strips to the tart pan, without trying to weave them. Trim the edges of the strips in the tart pan. Take the leftover scraps of dough, rolll them into a long rope approximately ¼ inch thick, and place the rope/pieces around the outer edge of the tart where the strips meet the bottom crust, pressing in the edges and sealing. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cook on a rack before unmolding. Keeps well cooled overnight in the refrigerator; dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Betsy Zimm's Cream of Carrot Soup

In the depths of Lyme disease despair one time, I drove over to meet Sarah in Minneapolis and stayed a few days. Betsy made this soup. I've no idea if it's a regular recipe of hers, but that's how I forever think of it. I also have no idea where the recipe came from.

1 cup chopped white of leek
2 large yellow onions, chopped
4 T. butter
~2 lb. sweet carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cups water
3 cups vegetable broth
5 T. uncooked white rice
pinch of sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. crushed dried thyme
1 small bay leaf
pinch of cayenne
1½cups milk
⅓ cup cream
dash of nutmeg

Saute onions and leeks in butter until golden. Add carrots, water, broth, rice, sugar, salt, thyme, bay leaf, and cayenne. Cover and simmer approximately 40 minutes, or until carrots and rice are completely mushy soft. Remove bay leaf. Puree in blender or food processor until velvety smooth. Can be refrigerated or frozen here.

Return to saucepan, stir in milk, cream and nutmeg, and heat through, stirring gently. Correct seasoning with pinch of salt or nutmeg. Sprinkle each serving with chopped fresh chives. Makes 8 to 10 generous servings.

Now that we are getting cauliflower and arugula att the same time, we can make one of our favorite salads. There is also carrot soup and gumbo on the slate for this week.

• Arugula
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Chard
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Radicchio
• Rutabaga
• Turnips

and the cabbage goes on...

I thought for a moment that this was the last week when I saw that there was a different sign-in sheet this week. It turns out we have about another month of veggies to go yet.

• Arugula
• Beets
• Carrots
• Cabbage
• Daikon
• Kale
• Radicchio
• Rutabaga
• Spinach
• Turnips

Corned beef borscht

A few years ago I made a borscht recipe with corned beef that we really liked, but I combined a couple recipes and never remembered what I had done. That was one of the promptings to start this blog, to try not to lose things like that again. I originally got the idea for using corned beef from the "Wintry Ukrainian Borscht" recipe in Molly O'Neill's The New York Cookbook. I'm pretty sure this was at least half of the basis of my previous attempt. Mark Bittman's borscht was fine, but not as interesting.

Tonight I made an attempt to find something similar to that original. I started with the Burp! corned beef recipe, and used the broth to make borscht, loosely based on Barbara Kafka's recipe for "Red Russian Soup - The Meat Version". I liked roasting the finished corned beef for half an hour, and I added halved potatoes for the last hour of simmering to put in the oven as well. It was still tender, but not as soggy as straight boiled corned beef.

It was good, though the beet to cabbage ratio was a bit low (we had four beets left).

This was also good for using up vegetables we had: the only thing we had to buy was fresh dill. The leftovers seem to take up as much room as the vegetables we took out, though.

Corned beef borscht

While the corned beef is simmering, cover 4 whole beets, trimmed and scrubbed, with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 45 minutes until tender, then remove from heat and allow to cool. Reserve the cooking liquid and remove the skin from the beets (it will slip off easily). Cut the beet into matchsticks, or grate.

Add to the corned beef broth (which already includes garlic, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, sugar, beer and spices) about 2/3 of a cabbage, coarsely shredded. Simmer for 20 minutes and add the reserved beets. Simmer for 20 minutes more, add 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, pepper (the broth is already salty from the corned beef, so don't add salt before tasting it), dill, and the strained beet liquid. Stir and remove from heat. Serve with the corned beef and potatoes.

Daikon & cabbage

More greens, no squash this week. The cabbage is getting overwhelming, and what to do with the daikon? Come to think of it, isn't just about all of this some form of brassica?

• Arugula
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Collards
• Daikon
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Radicchio
• Radishes
• Spinach

Summer & winter crops together

We're still getting eggplant & peppers, along with the greens and winter squash.he carrots look great. The farm newsletter says that the sweet potato crop is good this year, but we haven't seen any yet.

• Arugula
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Daikon
• Eggplant
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Spinach
• Radishes
• Butternut squash

Fall greens and winter squash

The greens are good this week, and so is the winter squash. I may have to make kim chee with the cabbage.

• Carrots
• Chard
• Chinese cabbage
• Collards
• Eggplant
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Winter squash (one acorn and two small ??)
• Hakurei turnips