Time is flying! Hard to believe, but there's only 10 shares left in the season (barring some unfortunate early frost/storm).
CSA Share 12 is in and it looks pretty solid:
- 5 medium red onions
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 1/4 lb small tomatoes (~12 ping pong size tomatoes)
- 2 small bulbs garlic
- 1 eggplant
- 3 leeks
- 3 bell peppers
- 6 oz baby salad greens
- 1 bunch cilantro
Lots of heartier vegetables this week than in earlier CSA shares. I noticed we've been getting a lot of stuff from the Solanaceae aka Nightshade family (tomatoes, eggplants, bell peppers), which is fine by me!
CWTC: eggplant! I know, I know. I've had eggplant in the last few shares AND there's still one forlorn eggplant sitting in the bottom of my fridge. But this one is so beautiful! It's a rich, bright purple with creamy white streaks stippled across the skin. Also, I discovered several recipes for eggplant that I want to try (I have another eggplant in my fridge remember?) Baked eggplant chips anyone?
TAV: Cilantro. I normally would place this in WTF, since I'm not sure what to do with an entire bunch, but this time, I'm going to experiment with broiled eggplant marinated in a cilantro-lemon based sauce (lots of eggplant, remember?). Also, I cut off the bottom of the stems, stuck the bunch in a cup of water, and tented an open ziploc bag over the top of the cilantro bunch. Hopefully it'll stay alive until the weekend.
WTF: None. These are all quite literally garden-variety vegetables!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Tomato Sauce from Scratch
This weekend ended up being a little less domestic and a lot more crazy than expected. I need a month long detox. But I did manage to get around to making my tomato sauce!
My roommate, his friend, and yours truly, were bumming around the apartment on Saturday evening with no energy left for going out to eat dinner. We debated ordering takeout, but I really needed to use up my tomatoes, so I told the boys I'd cook pasta. They seemed skeptical, but they took a leap of faith and agreed to eat pasta for dinner. They even offered to help in the kitchen :)
The tomato sauce was sort of improvised, but I was pretty happy with it.
Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
- 2 jalapeno peppers
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 onions
- 6 medium tomatoes
- 1 bunch basil
- 1 package pasta
- salt and pepper to taste
- a bit of olive oil
Recipe:
1. Peel and chop onions. Thinly slice the garlic cloves.
2. Heat some olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Toss in onions and garlic.
3. Wash and chop tomatoes into small chunks.
4. Stir the onions and garlic occasionally until the onions turn slightly translucent.
5. Add tomatoes to the pan.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let the pan simmer, stirring occasionally.
7. Put a pot of water on to boil.
8. When water reaches the boiling point, add pasta.
9. Boil the pasta for 10-12 minutes, or until al dente.
10. Drain pasta and set aside.
11. Chop up the jalapenos and basil leaves. Add to the pan.
12. Stir the tomato sauce and let it simmer until most of the liquid has boiled off. If the sauce is too thick, add water.
13. Ladle sauce over the pasta and serve. Garnish with extra basil leaves if desired.
Note: Be careful with the jalapenos! We were informed by my roommate's friend that the peppers "weren't that hot." Turns out, they were. If you're worried about making the sauce too spicy, remove the seeds and the white pith (this is the spiciest part of the pepper) or just omit the jalapenos altogether.
The boys were impressed, especially since there was no meat in the pasta. We were all happily fueled up for a night out, I used up a lot of my leftover CSA share, and I didn't even have to do the dishes afterwards! I'd say it was a success.
My roommate, his friend, and yours truly, were bumming around the apartment on Saturday evening with no energy left for going out to eat dinner. We debated ordering takeout, but I really needed to use up my tomatoes, so I told the boys I'd cook pasta. They seemed skeptical, but they took a leap of faith and agreed to eat pasta for dinner. They even offered to help in the kitchen :)
The tomato sauce was sort of improvised, but I was pretty happy with it.
Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
- 2 jalapeno peppers
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 onions
- 6 medium tomatoes
- 1 bunch basil
- 1 package pasta
- salt and pepper to taste
- a bit of olive oil
Recipe:
1. Peel and chop onions. Thinly slice the garlic cloves.
2. Heat some olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Toss in onions and garlic.
3. Wash and chop tomatoes into small chunks.
4. Stir the onions and garlic occasionally until the onions turn slightly translucent.
5. Add tomatoes to the pan.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let the pan simmer, stirring occasionally.
7. Put a pot of water on to boil.
8. When water reaches the boiling point, add pasta.
9. Boil the pasta for 10-12 minutes, or until al dente.
10. Drain pasta and set aside.
11. Chop up the jalapenos and basil leaves. Add to the pan.
12. Stir the tomato sauce and let it simmer until most of the liquid has boiled off. If the sauce is too thick, add water.
13. Ladle sauce over the pasta and serve. Garnish with extra basil leaves if desired.
Note: Be careful with the jalapenos! We were informed by my roommate's friend that the peppers "weren't that hot." Turns out, they were. If you're worried about making the sauce too spicy, remove the seeds and the white pith (this is the spiciest part of the pepper) or just omit the jalapenos altogether.
The boys were impressed, especially since there was no meat in the pasta. We were all happily fueled up for a night out, I used up a lot of my leftover CSA share, and I didn't even have to do the dishes afterwards! I'd say it was a success.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Tomato Sandwiches
I realized my TAV (the adventurous vegetable) for CSA Share 11 should have been the tomato, not the bell pepper. I decided last minute that it would be nice to bring some sliced tomato and bread to work before the bread went bad. I think my original plan was to eat the bread with jam or hummus and eat the tomatoes as a snack, but then someone sent me a link to tomato recipes, and I became utterly fascinated by the tomato sandwiches featured in the article, which called for nothing more than bread, tomato, mayo, and a dash of salt n pepper.
I'd heard of such things before, of course. And I am no stranger to strange sandwiches. When I was a little girl, my dad would occasionally have the thankless task of feeding me and my little brother while my mom was out of town for work. I love my dad dearly, but when I was growing up, it was clear that he was rather clueless in the kitchen. When mom wasn't home, we knew exactly what we'd be eating: bibimbap, sandwiches, or dinner at the local Hometown Buffet. Unsurprisingly, we would always beg dad to take us to Hometown Buffet, but the one time we ate there every night, my mom got mad at him for being lazy and feeding us unhealthy food. Second of all, my dad doesn't eat a lot. Two small children don't eat a lot. Buffets are a bad idea for my family, in general. We end up subsidizing everyone else. One time, when I was a toddler, we were at a fancy buffet in an upscale Las Vegas hotel. I picked out exactly three strawberries, ate them happily, and declared I was full.
So instead of Hometown Buffet every night, we would add sandwich nights to the mom-less dinner rotation. To make it more entertaining, my dad would turn this into a competition to see who could eat the most sandwiches in one night. I usually won, which is kind of disgusting now that I think about it. I'm pretty sure Hometown Buffet was probably healthier, but I must admit, the sandwich competitions were hilariously fun.
There was definitely a method to the madness. First, we would raid the pantry and the fridge for all the condiments and fillings we could find, including a few rather unorthodox ones with questionable expiration dates. Then, we would start combining condiments to make sandwiches. The rule was one sandwich on a plate at a time. You had to finish your sandwich before you were allowed to grab two more slices of bread. Each sandwich had to include at least one filling and two slices of bread. Speed was not important, as it was the total number of sandwiches that were eaten which determined the winner. Although fillings like butter or jam were easier to eat, recognition was given for sandwiches made with flair and style and creativity, and eating 10 butter sandwiches was considered poor sportsmanship. Sandwiches did not count towards the total unless they were completely gone, no matter how disgusting the filling might be.
We got creative and invented all sorts of odd sandwiches. PB & banana, ketchup and cream cheese (we only tried this once), cheese and jam (yum), grilled PB a la Shel Silverstein, butter and PB (a bit redundant), and even relish and ranch (VILE). I tried all sorts of combinations of all sorts of things. I even tried putting soy sauce on my sandwich once, but I don't think it worked. There were two things on the table that I never touched though: the mustard bottle and the mayo jar.
I despise mayonnaise (and mustard). As far back as I can remember, I have always ordered my Subway sandwiches and chicken burgers with no mayo or mustard. If there was a trace of mustard or mayo on my food, I would throw it out. As I got older, instead of throwing out mayo contaminated food, I would just wipe it all off or throw out the mayo-soaked bread, but I still couldn't help but shudder as I scraped off the gloopy white sauce.The most disgusting thing I had ever seen was a pizza in Korea that was slathered in Kewpie mayo. I nearly barfed right then and there. Apparently mayo coated pizza is a thing...?
The only exceptions to my no-mayo rule were tuna salad sandwiches and the occasional BLT. I would mix in just enough mayo to make the tuna stick together. To keep my BLT bread from getting soggy, I would smear the stingiest smudge of mayo on my bread in a super thin, molecule-sized layer. And that's about it.
This tomato sandwich thing though. There was mayo, a horribly healthy generous slather of mayo, and it seemed the mayo was integral to the tomato sandwich. I had to try it though. If the queen of tea (me) could try something as odd as carrot top tea, the queen of sandwiches (also me, in case you were wondering) should be able to give the tomato sandwich a chance, right? I had a packet of Hellman's mayo buried in my drawer from last week's dinner, so I went digging in my drawer and managed to fish it out of the chaos of napkins, pens, and sugar packets. I took my bread, spread some mayo all over the slices, piled on the tomatoes, added salt and pepper, and then took a tentative bite.
Before we talk about my reaction, you may be wondering why I didn't just skip the mayo and eat the tomato sandwich plain. According to the internets, the mayo provides a nice balance to the acidity of the tomato AND it keeps the tomato juice from turning the sandwich into a big soggy mess. The internet is not always right, but in this case, collective wisdom seemed trustworthy. I went with it and took the jump.
It was good. I liked it. But then, a dawning realization...surprisingly, I liked it because of the mayo. As promised, the mayo provided a nice balance to the sandwich and kept the sandwich bread from disintegrating from my juicy tomato slices. I tried a nibble of tomato and bread without mayo (I somehow missed a corner of my bread slice when I was spreading my mayo) and it just wasn't as good. It tasted dry and off balance, kind of like eating s'mores without chocolate (heresy!) I can't believe I just equated mayo with chocolate. o_O The world is ending.
In any case, I declare this sandwich a winner. And I will quietly acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, there's a reason someone invented mayo.
If only I'd known about this during my sandwich-competition days...!
On a side note, my coworker has separately discovered that toast with scallion cream cheese and tomato slices makes for a lovely savory breakfast at the desk. Similar concept, and a nice way to compensate for the lackluster tomatoes in the 2nd floor cafeteria. Might detract from good quality tomatoes though, so I'd save the scallion cream cheese for post-tomato season.
I'd heard of such things before, of course. And I am no stranger to strange sandwiches. When I was a little girl, my dad would occasionally have the thankless task of feeding me and my little brother while my mom was out of town for work. I love my dad dearly, but when I was growing up, it was clear that he was rather clueless in the kitchen. When mom wasn't home, we knew exactly what we'd be eating: bibimbap, sandwiches, or dinner at the local Hometown Buffet. Unsurprisingly, we would always beg dad to take us to Hometown Buffet, but the one time we ate there every night, my mom got mad at him for being lazy and feeding us unhealthy food. Second of all, my dad doesn't eat a lot. Two small children don't eat a lot. Buffets are a bad idea for my family, in general. We end up subsidizing everyone else. One time, when I was a toddler, we were at a fancy buffet in an upscale Las Vegas hotel. I picked out exactly three strawberries, ate them happily, and declared I was full.
So instead of Hometown Buffet every night, we would add sandwich nights to the mom-less dinner rotation. To make it more entertaining, my dad would turn this into a competition to see who could eat the most sandwiches in one night. I usually won, which is kind of disgusting now that I think about it. I'm pretty sure Hometown Buffet was probably healthier, but I must admit, the sandwich competitions were hilariously fun.
There was definitely a method to the madness. First, we would raid the pantry and the fridge for all the condiments and fillings we could find, including a few rather unorthodox ones with questionable expiration dates. Then, we would start combining condiments to make sandwiches. The rule was one sandwich on a plate at a time. You had to finish your sandwich before you were allowed to grab two more slices of bread. Each sandwich had to include at least one filling and two slices of bread. Speed was not important, as it was the total number of sandwiches that were eaten which determined the winner. Although fillings like butter or jam were easier to eat, recognition was given for sandwiches made with flair and style and creativity, and eating 10 butter sandwiches was considered poor sportsmanship. Sandwiches did not count towards the total unless they were completely gone, no matter how disgusting the filling might be.
We got creative and invented all sorts of odd sandwiches. PB & banana, ketchup and cream cheese (we only tried this once), cheese and jam (yum), grilled PB a la Shel Silverstein, butter and PB (a bit redundant), and even relish and ranch (VILE). I tried all sorts of combinations of all sorts of things. I even tried putting soy sauce on my sandwich once, but I don't think it worked. There were two things on the table that I never touched though: the mustard bottle and the mayo jar.
I despise mayonnaise (and mustard). As far back as I can remember, I have always ordered my Subway sandwiches and chicken burgers with no mayo or mustard. If there was a trace of mustard or mayo on my food, I would throw it out. As I got older, instead of throwing out mayo contaminated food, I would just wipe it all off or throw out the mayo-soaked bread, but I still couldn't help but shudder as I scraped off the gloopy white sauce.The most disgusting thing I had ever seen was a pizza in Korea that was slathered in Kewpie mayo. I nearly barfed right then and there. Apparently mayo coated pizza is a thing...?
The only exceptions to my no-mayo rule were tuna salad sandwiches and the occasional BLT. I would mix in just enough mayo to make the tuna stick together. To keep my BLT bread from getting soggy, I would smear the stingiest smudge of mayo on my bread in a super thin, molecule-sized layer. And that's about it.
This tomato sandwich thing though. There was mayo, a horribly healthy generous slather of mayo, and it seemed the mayo was integral to the tomato sandwich. I had to try it though. If the queen of tea (me) could try something as odd as carrot top tea, the queen of sandwiches (also me, in case you were wondering) should be able to give the tomato sandwich a chance, right? I had a packet of Hellman's mayo buried in my drawer from last week's dinner, so I went digging in my drawer and managed to fish it out of the chaos of napkins, pens, and sugar packets. I took my bread, spread some mayo all over the slices, piled on the tomatoes, added salt and pepper, and then took a tentative bite.
Before we talk about my reaction, you may be wondering why I didn't just skip the mayo and eat the tomato sandwich plain. According to the internets, the mayo provides a nice balance to the acidity of the tomato AND it keeps the tomato juice from turning the sandwich into a big soggy mess. The internet is not always right, but in this case, collective wisdom seemed trustworthy. I went with it and took the jump.
It was good. I liked it. But then, a dawning realization...surprisingly, I liked it because of the mayo. As promised, the mayo provided a nice balance to the sandwich and kept the sandwich bread from disintegrating from my juicy tomato slices. I tried a nibble of tomato and bread without mayo (I somehow missed a corner of my bread slice when I was spreading my mayo) and it just wasn't as good. It tasted dry and off balance, kind of like eating s'mores without chocolate (heresy!) I can't believe I just equated mayo with chocolate. o_O The world is ending.
In any case, I declare this sandwich a winner. And I will quietly acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, there's a reason someone invented mayo.
If only I'd known about this during my sandwich-competition days...!
On a side note, my coworker has separately discovered that toast with scallion cream cheese and tomato slices makes for a lovely savory breakfast at the desk. Similar concept, and a nice way to compensate for the lackluster tomatoes in the 2nd floor cafeteria. Might detract from good quality tomatoes though, so I'd save the scallion cream cheese for post-tomato season.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
CSA Share #11
The drought is really hitting Free Bird Farm pretty hard...
...but the tomato, I am pleased to say, is alive and well!
This week's share:
- 1 bunch basil
- 3/4 lb green beans
- 4 large tomatoes
- 3 lbs salad tomatoes
- 3 red bell peppers
CWTC: all of it? If I had to pick one, I'd probably pick the large tomatoes. They look like they'd be amazing on a piece of foccacia with basil and olive oil drizzled on top.
TAV: bell peppers. These are ordinary peppers, but I think I'll experiment with charring them over my open gas stove to see if I can get the equivalent of a roasted bell pepper.
WTF: none! I like it all :D
I'm really excited about the green beans too. They're such a treat when they're as fresh as they are in my CSA share.
Free Bird Farm purposely put a bunch of basil with the bumper tomato crop this week in the hopes that some of us would get proactive and make some tomato sauce. If you recall, we've been getting a LOT of garlic and onions in the last few CSA shares, so this really is a great suggestion on their part. I could even make a batch of spicy tomato sauce with the jalapenos! Yum.
I need a break from all the partying, so I think I might devote my weekend to tomato sauce and soup making escapades. Both tomato sauce and soup freeze well in ziploc bags and they'll be welcome additions to my winter meals when CSA shares become a distant, wispy memory. I'm already excited. I really need to get some ground pepper though. Tomato sauce without ground pepper just seems wrong. It's like wearing sneakers without socks. >.<
...but the tomato, I am pleased to say, is alive and well!
This week's share:
- 1 bunch basil
- 3/4 lb green beans
- 4 large tomatoes
- 3 lbs salad tomatoes
- 3 red bell peppers
CWTC: all of it? If I had to pick one, I'd probably pick the large tomatoes. They look like they'd be amazing on a piece of foccacia with basil and olive oil drizzled on top.
TAV: bell peppers. These are ordinary peppers, but I think I'll experiment with charring them over my open gas stove to see if I can get the equivalent of a roasted bell pepper.
WTF: none! I like it all :D
I'm really excited about the green beans too. They're such a treat when they're as fresh as they are in my CSA share.
Free Bird Farm purposely put a bunch of basil with the bumper tomato crop this week in the hopes that some of us would get proactive and make some tomato sauce. If you recall, we've been getting a LOT of garlic and onions in the last few CSA shares, so this really is a great suggestion on their part. I could even make a batch of spicy tomato sauce with the jalapenos! Yum.
I need a break from all the partying, so I think I might devote my weekend to tomato sauce and soup making escapades. Both tomato sauce and soup freeze well in ziploc bags and they'll be welcome additions to my winter meals when CSA shares become a distant, wispy memory. I'm already excited. I really need to get some ground pepper though. Tomato sauce without ground pepper just seems wrong. It's like wearing sneakers without socks. >.<
Monday, August 20, 2012
Fennel and Red Cabbage Salad
I've been holding on to a small head of red cabbage from CSA share #7 for a few weeks now, so I thought this might be a good time to try and use it up. Red cabbage is a great source of vitamins and minerals, including the antioxidant, Vitamin C. The thing about cabbage is that once it's cut, Vitamin C starts to disappear right away. Plus, it starts to wilt. So it's a good idea to use up the entire head of cabbage when possible, in order to maximize the health (and flavor!) benefits.
I had a bunch of oranges, pineapple, and apples stored in the fridge for sangria-making purposes (yum!), so when I happened upon a recipe for fennel and red cabbage salad with oranges, I decided to sacrifice a few of my sangria oranges for salad. Glad I did, because the salad turned out quite nicely. The original recipe called for things like pepitas, tamari, hemp seeds, and cilantro, none of which I had on hand, so I made a few modifications and tried to use up the random things I had lying around my kitchen. I also like keeping things simple and quick, to save time.
Ladies and gentlemen, behold my dumbed down fennel and red cabbage salad.
Fennel and Red Cabbage Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 small head of red cabbage
- 2 small fennel bulbs
- 2 oranges
- lemon juice
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- salt
Recipe:
1. Wash and trim fennel bulbs. Reserve fronds and stalks for soup stock (stalk stock teehee) and garnish.
2. Wash and core red cabbage. If you're hungry, you could microwave the cores for a minute or two and eat them as a snack. Nom nom.
3. Slice the cabbage and fennel into thin strips, coleslaw style.
4. Drizzle the fennel strips with olive oil, lemon juice (I used the juice from a third of a lemon), and salt.
5. Slice orange segments into bite size pieces and add to the fennel mix.
6. If you're not eating the salad right away, store in the fridge and mix everything together just before serving/eating*. Keep the cabbage separate from the fennel so the red coloring doesn't leach into the fennel slices. Or the oranges. I imagine purple and orange in combination would turn a rather unappetizing shade of brown.
7. Toss the cabbage with the fennel/orange mix and then drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar on top. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Garnish with a few fennel fronds.
9. Enjoy.
* If you're making lunch for work and you're short on tupperware (like me), you can wrap up the red cabbage in some saran wrap to keep it separate from the rest of the salad and put it on top of the fennel. Don't use foil, as the acid from the lemon juice might do funny things to your lunch :(
I had way too much red cabbage, so I just brought in the extra cabbage to work the next day, microwaved it, and added salt and pepper. Pretty tasty but it smelled pretty strongly of sulfur. Fortunately, my coworkers are accustomed to far more offensive smells, like fish and kimchi (we sit right by the microwave and the Korilla truck stops by every now and then), so I think I'm still on good terms with them. I hope.
CSA Share #11 is coming in tomorrow! I have a crapton of vegetables, but they're pretty storage-friendly, so I'll probably wait and see what I get in tomorrow's share before I cook any of the CSA leftovers. My inventory consists mostly of onions, garlic, jalapenos, and fennel stalks. I have a pint of frozen chicken consomme, so I might make some soup this weekend and freeze portions for later use.
On a somewhat (not really) related note, I had brunch with my friends at Clinton St Bakery down in the LES. Chocolate chunk pancakes with maple butterscotch syrup. I die. Haha. And the icing on the cake? When I walked in the door, I immediately noticed a sign hanging on the wall with a list of local farms that Clinton St. Bakery sources their fresh ingredients from. I excitedly pointed it out to my brunch friends, but I think my enthusiasm was a little one-sided. #foreveralone
I had a bunch of oranges, pineapple, and apples stored in the fridge for sangria-making purposes (yum!), so when I happened upon a recipe for fennel and red cabbage salad with oranges, I decided to sacrifice a few of my sangria oranges for salad. Glad I did, because the salad turned out quite nicely. The original recipe called for things like pepitas, tamari, hemp seeds, and cilantro, none of which I had on hand, so I made a few modifications and tried to use up the random things I had lying around my kitchen. I also like keeping things simple and quick, to save time.
Ladies and gentlemen, behold my dumbed down fennel and red cabbage salad.
Fennel and Red Cabbage Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 small head of red cabbage
- 2 small fennel bulbs
- 2 oranges
- lemon juice
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- salt
Recipe:
1. Wash and trim fennel bulbs. Reserve fronds and stalks for soup stock (stalk stock teehee) and garnish.
2. Wash and core red cabbage. If you're hungry, you could microwave the cores for a minute or two and eat them as a snack. Nom nom.
3. Slice the cabbage and fennel into thin strips, coleslaw style.
4. Drizzle the fennel strips with olive oil, lemon juice (I used the juice from a third of a lemon), and salt.
5. Slice orange segments into bite size pieces and add to the fennel mix.
6. If you're not eating the salad right away, store in the fridge and mix everything together just before serving/eating*. Keep the cabbage separate from the fennel so the red coloring doesn't leach into the fennel slices. Or the oranges. I imagine purple and orange in combination would turn a rather unappetizing shade of brown.
7. Toss the cabbage with the fennel/orange mix and then drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar on top. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Garnish with a few fennel fronds.
9. Enjoy.
* If you're making lunch for work and you're short on tupperware (like me), you can wrap up the red cabbage in some saran wrap to keep it separate from the rest of the salad and put it on top of the fennel. Don't use foil, as the acid from the lemon juice might do funny things to your lunch :(
I had way too much red cabbage, so I just brought in the extra cabbage to work the next day, microwaved it, and added salt and pepper. Pretty tasty but it smelled pretty strongly of sulfur. Fortunately, my coworkers are accustomed to far more offensive smells, like fish and kimchi (we sit right by the microwave and the Korilla truck stops by every now and then), so I think I'm still on good terms with them. I hope.
CSA Share #11 is coming in tomorrow! I have a crapton of vegetables, but they're pretty storage-friendly, so I'll probably wait and see what I get in tomorrow's share before I cook any of the CSA leftovers. My inventory consists mostly of onions, garlic, jalapenos, and fennel stalks. I have a pint of frozen chicken consomme, so I might make some soup this weekend and freeze portions for later use.
On a somewhat (not really) related note, I had brunch with my friends at Clinton St Bakery down in the LES. Chocolate chunk pancakes with maple butterscotch syrup. I die. Haha. And the icing on the cake? When I walked in the door, I immediately noticed a sign hanging on the wall with a list of local farms that Clinton St. Bakery sources their fresh ingredients from. I excitedly pointed it out to my brunch friends, but I think my enthusiasm was a little one-sided. #foreveralone
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
CSA Share #10
Can't believe we're already at CSA Share number TEN. Crazy! But, here we are, and so are the tomatoes. The dry weather has been wilting the corn but the heat has been equally as oppressive to all but the mighty eggplant, according to our lovely Free Bird farming family. Extreme heat keeps tomatoes from producing carotenes, including lycopene, according to “The Mystery of Unripening Tomatoes," an article from the Cooperative Cornell Cooperative Extension newsletter. That's really too bad because I fucking love corn and tomatoes.
However, the tomatoes at Free Bird Farm conquered the heat and made their grand debut this week in the form of a pint of ping pong ball size tomatoes and a gorgeous beefsteak tomato. Happy to report that the ping pong tomatoes made a delicious accompaniment to dinner at work. I still think the hydroponic tomatoes my dad would bring home from his research lab win the all-around-tomato award though (he researched irrigation techniques, so never fear - the tomatoes were perfectly edible). I suppose it's unfair to compare heat-stricken tomatoes with greenhouse tomatoes. I'm sure if I were a plant, a greenhouse would be a bit more comfortable. Regardless, I'm just happy to have tomatoes.
If we get a lot more tomatoes in subsequent CSA shares, I fully intend to bring a bag of them to work and blend them into tomato milkshakes (YUM). My coworkers are incredibly skeptical of tomato milkshakes, but I am here to assure them that they are delicious and out of this world. My mom used to blend up milk, ice, sugar, and tomatoes in the summer. Odd combination but the frothy, strawberry-colored milkshakes would always hit the spot for me.
On to the CSA share.
- 1 pint small tomatoes
- 1 large tomato
- 1 eggplant (American)
- 2 fennel bulbs
- 2 jalapenos
- 4 onions
- 3 heads of garlic
- 6 oz baby salad greens
CWTC: if the previous three paragraphs haven't clued you in yet...the CWTC winner this week are the tomatoes.
TAV: fennel. I like fennel when I encounter it in restaurants, but I have yet to cook them myself. Excited! Although...the fennel fronds look alarmingly like carrot fronds...
WTF: onions. Oh dear. I still have two onions from previous shares sitting on my countertop. Six onions, one little Asian girl. Whatever shall I do? There's only so many ways to eat onions. On the bright side, at least they'll last for a while.
Plus, my little brother is in town and he eats lots of anything. I shall make him eat onions. Heh heh heh.
However, the tomatoes at Free Bird Farm conquered the heat and made their grand debut this week in the form of a pint of ping pong ball size tomatoes and a gorgeous beefsteak tomato. Happy to report that the ping pong tomatoes made a delicious accompaniment to dinner at work. I still think the hydroponic tomatoes my dad would bring home from his research lab win the all-around-tomato award though (he researched irrigation techniques, so never fear - the tomatoes were perfectly edible). I suppose it's unfair to compare heat-stricken tomatoes with greenhouse tomatoes. I'm sure if I were a plant, a greenhouse would be a bit more comfortable. Regardless, I'm just happy to have tomatoes.
If we get a lot more tomatoes in subsequent CSA shares, I fully intend to bring a bag of them to work and blend them into tomato milkshakes (YUM). My coworkers are incredibly skeptical of tomato milkshakes, but I am here to assure them that they are delicious and out of this world. My mom used to blend up milk, ice, sugar, and tomatoes in the summer. Odd combination but the frothy, strawberry-colored milkshakes would always hit the spot for me.
On to the CSA share.
- 1 pint small tomatoes
- 1 large tomato
- 1 eggplant (American)
- 2 fennel bulbs
- 2 jalapenos
- 4 onions
- 3 heads of garlic
- 6 oz baby salad greens
CWTC: if the previous three paragraphs haven't clued you in yet...the CWTC winner this week are the tomatoes.
TAV: fennel. I like fennel when I encounter it in restaurants, but I have yet to cook them myself. Excited! Although...the fennel fronds look alarmingly like carrot fronds...
WTF: onions. Oh dear. I still have two onions from previous shares sitting on my countertop. Six onions, one little Asian girl. Whatever shall I do? There's only so many ways to eat onions. On the bright side, at least they'll last for a while.
Plus, my little brother is in town and he eats lots of anything. I shall make him eat onions. Heh heh heh.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Leek soup
Feeling terribly lazy and overfull from an indulgent weekend, during which I hosted a mini rebellion and declared a temporary vegetable hiatus. Pork buns and Hakata ramen from Ippudo, 짜장면 and 짬뽕 and fried dumplings at Dong Chun Hong, hot coconut bubble tea at Saints Alp...
There were a few moments when I thought I might pop from overeating.
So when I floated back to earth from my food-induced haze, the only thing that really appealed to me was simple fare. Like, really simple. I made leek soup. I forget who taught me this recipe, but I remember them telling me they read it in a book. I think you're supposed to eat this soup for an entire weekend to detox, but that obviously wasn't happening. Oh well! It's quite tasty though.
Simple Leek Soup
1. Cut off dark green leek tops and roots. Strip off outer layer. You should be left with only the white and very light green parts. You can keep the dark green tops for soup stock.
2. Cut leeks in half lengthwise (split it down the middle hot dog bun style).
3. Rinse leeks very thoroughly under cold running water, fanning out the leaves on each side to remove all the dirt. Not sure how to describe this, but it's almost like flipping through the pages of a book under running water.
4. Drop leek halves in a pot of water.
5. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
6. Simmer for 20 minutes or so, until leeks become tender and slightly transparent.
7. Separate the leeks from the soup.
8. Drink the soup as is or season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Drizzle leeks with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
I also cooked my eggplants, but I haven't had the chance to eat them yet, since I forgot to take them with me to work yesterday. I'll probably have them for dinner today. I cooked them the same way as I cooked the chard (minus the blanching part), meaning I finally managed to use up all my thai basil. Success! We'll see if it tastes good later today... It smelled good though, so I have high hopes.
UPDATE: The eggplant is delicious! Japanese eggplant has a thinner skin and the texture is much more delicate than the normal American varieties. Eggplant has been called bland, tends to absorb oil, and can degenerate into a slimy mess, but I think I managed to avoid most of the pitfalls. I circumvented the blandness by using liberal quantities of garlic and thai basil. And I only used a tablespoon of olive oil (max). All you really need is to infuse the garlic flavor into the oil so that the eggplant gets coated with plenty of flavor while it's cooking. It's a deceptive vegetable, this eggplant, looking dry and sad in the pan, almost begging for more oil. But don't be fooled! Just keep stirring and flipping pieces over and soon enough, the eggplant will become tasty and tender.
There were a few moments when I thought I might pop from overeating.
So when I floated back to earth from my food-induced haze, the only thing that really appealed to me was simple fare. Like, really simple. I made leek soup. I forget who taught me this recipe, but I remember them telling me they read it in a book. I think you're supposed to eat this soup for an entire weekend to detox, but that obviously wasn't happening. Oh well! It's quite tasty though.
Simple Leek Soup
1. Cut off dark green leek tops and roots. Strip off outer layer. You should be left with only the white and very light green parts. You can keep the dark green tops for soup stock.
2. Cut leeks in half lengthwise (split it down the middle hot dog bun style).
3. Rinse leeks very thoroughly under cold running water, fanning out the leaves on each side to remove all the dirt. Not sure how to describe this, but it's almost like flipping through the pages of a book under running water.
4. Drop leek halves in a pot of water.
5. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
6. Simmer for 20 minutes or so, until leeks become tender and slightly transparent.
7. Separate the leeks from the soup.
8. Drink the soup as is or season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Drizzle leeks with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
I also cooked my eggplants, but I haven't had the chance to eat them yet, since I forgot to take them with me to work yesterday. I'll probably have them for dinner today. I cooked them the same way as I cooked the chard (minus the blanching part), meaning I finally managed to use up all my thai basil. Success! We'll see if it tastes good later today... It smelled good though, so I have high hopes.
UPDATE: The eggplant is delicious! Japanese eggplant has a thinner skin and the texture is much more delicate than the normal American varieties. Eggplant has been called bland, tends to absorb oil, and can degenerate into a slimy mess, but I think I managed to avoid most of the pitfalls. I circumvented the blandness by using liberal quantities of garlic and thai basil. And I only used a tablespoon of olive oil (max). All you really need is to infuse the garlic flavor into the oil so that the eggplant gets coated with plenty of flavor while it's cooking. It's a deceptive vegetable, this eggplant, looking dry and sad in the pan, almost begging for more oil. But don't be fooled! Just keep stirring and flipping pieces over and soon enough, the eggplant will become tasty and tender.
Friday, August 10, 2012
CSA Share #9
This drought must be heavily affecting Free Bird Farm. Supposed to get a ton of rain this weekend though. Good for them, bad for me, especially since I have no clue where I put my umbrellas as I was moving to my new apartment.
Anyways, this week's share:
- 2 japanese eggplant
- 2 light green bell peppers
- thai basil
- carrot and carrot tops
- 3 leeks
- swiss chard
CWTC: leeks! I'm thinking about making leek soup this weekend. om nom nom.
TAV: Carrot tops. Must find a new use for them, as I would very much prefer not to repeat last week's toasted grass experiment.
WTF: Thai basil. What to do with MORE thai basil???
I've actually managed to do pretty significant damage to this week's share already. Down to the eggplants, one bell pepper, the leeks, and some thai basil. But before I get ahead of myself, I must admit that it's probably just because the drought is reducing the sheer volume of our shares.
Since my update is a bit delayed, I already made a few things with this week's share, with varying degrees of success.
Bell pepper and carrot sticks make for lovely office snacks, especially with a bit of 된장 or hummus.
Carrot top tea is...interesting. I couldn't stomach (haha) the thought of eating more woody, chewy, bitter stems, so I decided to try carrot top tea. Besides, I fucking love tea. Apparently, carrot top tea is chock full of vitamins and minerals, and detoxes your kidneys. I probably need a liver detoxifier more than anything else, but any kind of detox is probably a good idea for me. Pretty straightforward stuff.
1. Wash and trim carrot tops.
2. Boil a pot of water.
3. Drop carrot tops into the pot and wait one minute.
4. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and let cool.
6. Strain out carrot tops.
7. Refrigerate and enjoy.
The carrot top tea was a pale olive green color and tasted pretty nasty when still warm. Much better after being chilled in the fridge overnight, but it was a struggle to finish the entire glass. I would probably only make two or three cups of tea and call it a night. I don't think I'm capable of drinking more than that in one week. Definitely interesting though!
Sauteed swiss chard with garlic and wilted thai basil
Yum. This was probably the crowning glory of my culinary experiments with my CSA shares this season. I blanched the chard and sauteed it with some aromatics. It's pretty simple, but it's more like a real recipe than anything else I've done so far, so I'll document it as such. Really delicious stuff. Even my coworker thought it tasted good. It probably can't compete with anything from the food trucks or midtown eateries, but hey, one step at a time right? #turtlewinstherace
Ingredients:
- Handful of thai basil
- 7-8 large leaves of swiss chard
- 5 cloves garlic (or to taste)
- olive oil
- salt
1. Wash chard and basil thoroughly.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
3. Drop the swiss chard in the pot of water for about 30 seconds to a minute.
4. Drain and refill pot (with swiss chard still in there!) with cold water. Repeat until water drains cold.
5. Squeeze the water out of the swiss chard, chop into ribbons, and set aside.
6. Slice garlic.
7. Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan (medium-low heat). When a drop of water "spits" back at you, add the sliced garlic. Stir occasionally until the garlic just begins to brown.
8. Add chopped swiss chard to the pan.
9. Sprinkle some salt over the pan.
10. Add the handful of thai basil leaves (stripped from their stems).
11. Stir gently until the thai basil is wilted.
12. Remove from heat and serve!
Yum yum. This weekend will be eggplants and leek soup. We'll see if I can top the swiss chard dish...
Anyways, this week's share:
- 2 japanese eggplant
- 2 light green bell peppers
- thai basil
- carrot and carrot tops
- 3 leeks
- swiss chard
CWTC: leeks! I'm thinking about making leek soup this weekend. om nom nom.
TAV: Carrot tops. Must find a new use for them, as I would very much prefer not to repeat last week's toasted grass experiment.
WTF: Thai basil. What to do with MORE thai basil???
I've actually managed to do pretty significant damage to this week's share already. Down to the eggplants, one bell pepper, the leeks, and some thai basil. But before I get ahead of myself, I must admit that it's probably just because the drought is reducing the sheer volume of our shares.
Since my update is a bit delayed, I already made a few things with this week's share, with varying degrees of success.
Bell pepper and carrot sticks make for lovely office snacks, especially with a bit of 된장 or hummus.
Carrot top tea is...interesting. I couldn't stomach (haha) the thought of eating more woody, chewy, bitter stems, so I decided to try carrot top tea. Besides, I fucking love tea. Apparently, carrot top tea is chock full of vitamins and minerals, and detoxes your kidneys. I probably need a liver detoxifier more than anything else, but any kind of detox is probably a good idea for me. Pretty straightforward stuff.
1. Wash and trim carrot tops.
2. Boil a pot of water.
3. Drop carrot tops into the pot and wait one minute.
4. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and let cool.
6. Strain out carrot tops.
7. Refrigerate and enjoy.
The carrot top tea was a pale olive green color and tasted pretty nasty when still warm. Much better after being chilled in the fridge overnight, but it was a struggle to finish the entire glass. I would probably only make two or three cups of tea and call it a night. I don't think I'm capable of drinking more than that in one week. Definitely interesting though!
Sauteed swiss chard with garlic and wilted thai basil
Yum. This was probably the crowning glory of my culinary experiments with my CSA shares this season. I blanched the chard and sauteed it with some aromatics. It's pretty simple, but it's more like a real recipe than anything else I've done so far, so I'll document it as such. Really delicious stuff. Even my coworker thought it tasted good. It probably can't compete with anything from the food trucks or midtown eateries, but hey, one step at a time right? #turtlewinstherace
Ingredients:
- Handful of thai basil
- 7-8 large leaves of swiss chard
- 5 cloves garlic (or to taste)
- olive oil
- salt
1. Wash chard and basil thoroughly.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
3. Drop the swiss chard in the pot of water for about 30 seconds to a minute.
4. Drain and refill pot (with swiss chard still in there!) with cold water. Repeat until water drains cold.
5. Squeeze the water out of the swiss chard, chop into ribbons, and set aside.
6. Slice garlic.
7. Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan (medium-low heat). When a drop of water "spits" back at you, add the sliced garlic. Stir occasionally until the garlic just begins to brown.
8. Add chopped swiss chard to the pan.
9. Sprinkle some salt over the pan.
10. Add the handful of thai basil leaves (stripped from their stems).
11. Stir gently until the thai basil is wilted.
12. Remove from heat and serve!
Yum yum. This weekend will be eggplants and leek soup. We'll see if I can top the swiss chard dish...
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Housewarming-ish
I am finally getting ahead in my summerlong battle with the vegetables!
The roasted beets, potatoes, and onions were lovely. The roasting kitchen was rather not. I think I'm going to avoid roasting anything in the summertime from now on... On the bright side, I did manage to finally use up (and eat) all the root vegetables I'd been collecting over the last few weeks!
The roasting process itself was quite simple: drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil packets, bake for 40-60 minutes or until tender when poked with a fork. I'm pretty impatient though. I kept taking my potatoes out every 15 minutes and serving them, hoping they were fully cooked (they were not). I think my poor guests ingested at least one entire undercooked baby potato each. Luckily, I have very patient friends who let me putter around the kitchen, constantly shuttling their dinner back-and-forth from their plates to the oven and back again.
The eggplant sauteed very nicely. I splashed a bit of olive oil in a pan, added some sliced up garlic, and let the garlic crisp and turn a bit golden. When the garlic was on the verge of browning, I dumped in my eggplant cubes, sprinkled some salt on top, and let the whole thing cook for about 10-15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
Carrots with 됀장 made for a nice midnight snack (and desk snack).
I tried cooking my carrot tops like I cook 쑥갓, since the taste is pretty similar. I blanched the carrot tops for about 30 seconds to a minute and then sauteed them lightly with garlic and oil and a smidge of fish sauce. While they weren't too bad, I don't think I'm going to try that again. I seriously felt like I was eating garlicky toasted grass.
On a side note: I'm really glad I have so much garlic. At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with all of it, but then I realized that it really helps with the vegetables. Especially since I have no spices at the moment (thanks to moving into my new apartment).
I think next time, I'll probably try making carrot top tea instead. Apparently there's a lot of Vitamin K, potassium, and other minerals/vitamins that are quite good for you. Carrot top tea is also supposed to serve as a particularly effective kidney cleanser. Regardless of the health claims, I'm obsessed with tea, so I'll give that a try the next time I get carrot tops in my share.
The roasted beets, potatoes, and onions were lovely. The roasting kitchen was rather not. I think I'm going to avoid roasting anything in the summertime from now on... On the bright side, I did manage to finally use up (and eat) all the root vegetables I'd been collecting over the last few weeks!
The roasting process itself was quite simple: drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil packets, bake for 40-60 minutes or until tender when poked with a fork. I'm pretty impatient though. I kept taking my potatoes out every 15 minutes and serving them, hoping they were fully cooked (they were not). I think my poor guests ingested at least one entire undercooked baby potato each. Luckily, I have very patient friends who let me putter around the kitchen, constantly shuttling their dinner back-and-forth from their plates to the oven and back again.
The eggplant sauteed very nicely. I splashed a bit of olive oil in a pan, added some sliced up garlic, and let the garlic crisp and turn a bit golden. When the garlic was on the verge of browning, I dumped in my eggplant cubes, sprinkled some salt on top, and let the whole thing cook for about 10-15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
Carrots with 됀장 made for a nice midnight snack (and desk snack).
I tried cooking my carrot tops like I cook 쑥갓, since the taste is pretty similar. I blanched the carrot tops for about 30 seconds to a minute and then sauteed them lightly with garlic and oil and a smidge of fish sauce. While they weren't too bad, I don't think I'm going to try that again. I seriously felt like I was eating garlicky toasted grass.
On a side note: I'm really glad I have so much garlic. At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with all of it, but then I realized that it really helps with the vegetables. Especially since I have no spices at the moment (thanks to moving into my new apartment).
I think next time, I'll probably try making carrot top tea instead. Apparently there's a lot of Vitamin K, potassium, and other minerals/vitamins that are quite good for you. Carrot top tea is also supposed to serve as a particularly effective kidney cleanser. Regardless of the health claims, I'm obsessed with tea, so I'll give that a try the next time I get carrot tops in my share.
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