Week 13 - 14 - Pasta 'Primaspacho'

[Posted by Ruth]
Wrapping up week 13 and in the midst of yet another heat wave, I did a sauce earlier this week that wound up being very good both hot and cold.  It's kind of the love child of Pasta Primavera and Gazpacho.

This recipe represents what I had kicking around near the end of Week 13 but you can really add any late summer vegetable you like here.  The key is to keep the cooking to a minimum to maintain the color and crispness as well as the fresh taste.

Pasta 'Primaspacho'
Serve hot over pasta as or as a cold soup.  This makes a large batch, enough for a hot meal 1 night, a cold meal the next night and some to put away to have another time

2 Zucchini, cubed
2 Summer Squash cubed
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, crushed
4 ears corn, cut from cob
Olive oil
4-6 cups peeled, roughly chopped ripe tomatoes, seeded as well if they're very juicy
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1 T honey
Salt, Pepper
Fresh basil, mozzarella cubes or shaved Parmesan and red pepper flakes as desired for garnish.

Al dente pasta if serving hot.


Heat oil in large heavy pan.  Gently saute the onions and garlic until garlic is fragrant.  Add Zucchini and squash and cook over medium heat until it begins to lose its raw appearance.  Stir in the corn, tomatoes, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.  Cook until the vegetables are tender but still a have some bite to them and some of the tomato liquid had evaporated.  Stir in the honey.  If serving hot, place pasta in deep bowls and top with sauce and cheese, basil and red pepper flakes, if using.  It will be a soupy sauce so it's best served with a smaller pasta and spoons.  If serving cold, serve as a cold soup with the same garnishes.  You can place a slice of French or Italian bread in the bottom of the soup bowl before serving if you like to absorb some of the liquid and thicken it a bit.  We really liked it hot the first night but both liked it even better cold the second night.


Here, by the way, is the Week 14 haul.  There are actually 12 ears of corn, but they are not all in the shot.  It was just too hot to unpack them all!

 This is the first time I've been disappointed with the corn.  I'm not sure if it's the variety or that it's late in the season.  The ears are all very large and the two that we had last night, just quickly boiled and served, were starchy and didn't have much flavor.  The remaining ears will need some jazzing up this week.

Week 12 - HOT Peppers!

[Posted by Ruth]
The night before the next CSA pickup is reality check night.  This is when, despite diligently cooking and eating the vegetables all week you open the fridge and realize a lot of them are still there.  We still had 2 ears of corn left, most of the hot peppers and 2 of the long green, also pretty hot, peppers.  I also hadn't gotten to the beets or the baby carrots yet.  Time to grab the pots and pans.  The carrots and beets were a no brainer.  I peeled and sliced the beets, cut the carrots into small discs and caramelized them slowly in olive oil in a heavy pan over very low heat.  Just a little salt and pepper and they're terrific.  They will be part of my lunch today.

I then combined the peppers and corn with some shrimp thinking that the sweetness of the corn would balance the hotness of the peppers.  Warning:  this dish was very tasty but also very hot.  Not for little ones or those with timid tongues.

Three Alarm Shrimp with Corn - serves 2
2 hot peppers, seeds removed - chopped finely
2 long green peppers (these were also hot - were they banana peppers?) - roughly chopped
2 ears corn, cut off cob
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 medium onion - chopped
1/2 lb. raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 tsp cumin
salt, pepper to taste
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup chopped cilantro - roughly chopped


Heat olive oil in heavy pan and add the onions and garlic.  When they begin to get fragrant, add both peppers, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until it the peppers are tender, but have still retained their color.  Add in the corn, shrimp,  lemon zest, lemon juice and cumin and cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp is done.  Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Stir in the cilantro in the last minute or so.  Depending on the size of your shrimp this will take about 3-5 minutes. 


Serve with rice or pasta and plenty to drink.


Note, you can back off on the heat by using fewer hot peppers.  For my husband's sake I would probably do that next time.


Offer plenty of wine, finish off with a bowl of gelato and all is forgiven.  Well, almost all.  I'm still hearing about snapping at my husband for swiping a shrimp before I took the photo.  I guess he didn't plan on living with a crazed, spoon wielding woman who shouts, "No eating until I get the shot!"

week 11 - corn

[guest blogger :: taber]

i have to agree with what ruth said in her post below, "good quality, fresh ingredients, simply prepared trump processed, over salted, 'convenience' food any day."

i will admit, i felt the pressure when i took on the farm share this week that i would need to cook up a storm in my kitchen in order to really enjoy the vegetables. one of the biggest lessons i've learned is that food, especially fresh produce, is best served and consumed when cooked simply.

the other night i was staring at the six ears of corn that came in the share wondering what the heck i could do with them. i saw that one of my favorite food blogs (thanks denise!), smitten kitchen, had posted a recipe for sweet corn pancakes. but i didn't have all of the ingredients (boo!). instead i just boiled up the corn, pulled out some delicious butter from vermont and enjoyed it the simple way, and that was my dinner (and my boyfriend's too) - two ears of the sweetest corn!

Week 9 - A colorful mix

[Posted by Ruth]
I was really struck with how beautiful the boxes looked for week 9.  We've definitely moved into the part of the season where there is a lot more variety.

This week's haul includes:
12 ears of corn
1 huge head of cabbage
2 bunches of kale
5 tomatoes
6 potatoes
3 big zucchini
4 lovely little dark eggplant
2 larger eggplant
2 bunches baby carrots
4 summer squash
1 purple pepper
1 head garlic

We're taking some of the vegetables to friends we're visiting this coming weekend, but I had to get my hands on some of the corn and those potatoes.  In this Wednesday New York Times The Minamalist,  Mark Bittman suggested simply shucking corn,  throwing it on the grill until slightly charred and spreading it with a chile lime mayonnaise spread.  I didn't have limes but I did have this fantastic lemon mayonnaise I bought on Martha's Vineyard last week  It was Lemonaise from the Ojai Cook; really super.  So, I just stirred the chile powder and a bit of salt into that that and spread it on.  Just a quick saute the fresh potatoes with some onions and a beer brat on the grill with the corn and dinner is served.

Grilled Corn w/ Citrus  Chile Mayonnaise adapted from Mark Bittman
for 2 servings
2 ears corn
3 T Mayonnaise (or Lemonaise if you can find it)
1 tsp of lemon or lime juice (if not using Lemonaise)
1/2 tsp medium hot chile powder (more or less to taste)
pinch salt.

Grill corn over hot coals, turning as it begins to char, about 3 minutes per side, until all sides have some charred kernels.  Remove from coals and serve w/ the mayonnaise mixture as a spread.

Week 8 - back to reality

[Posted by Ruth]

Vacation over takes on new meaning when it also means you have to come home and face a fridge full of vegetables from the previous week's csa.  I was lucky enough to have a great friend pick up the farm share the Thursday we were gone and encouraged (read that as begged) her to take as much as she wanted and then put the rest at our house hoping that my niece, the world's best pet/house sitter, would help herself to the rest.

Near as I can tell, my friend took only 1 ear out of 12 ears of corn.  (Are you kidding me!?!) and my niece just took some cherry tomatoes.  The rest was all waiting for me when we got back.

It seemed only fair to make corn pudding out of the remaining 9 ears (we ate 2 for lunch our first day back) and take to to my friends house to thank her for picking up the farm share.  I figured one way or another SHE IS GOING TO HELP EAT THIS CORN!!!

 Corn Pudding
 Kernels cut from 9 small ears of corn (approx 4 1/2 to 5 cups)
2 cloves garlic
4 large eggs
salt and pepper to taste (be generous with the salt)
3 oz cream cheese
2 T flour (Wondra if you have it)
1 1/2 cups milk
2 oz grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375.  Butter a deep baking dish.  In food processor, place the corn kernels, garlic, eggs, flour and cream cheese.  Pulse until well blended and fairly well pureed.  Add in the milk and pulse again until well blended.  Add salt and pepper to taste and pour mixture into baking dish.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until puffed and golden on top.

The sweetness of the corn really came through and the little bit of added cream cheese gave it a nice richness.