Week 16 - More Pie

[Posted by Ruth]
The pie kick continues.  Week 15 brought my first bunch of turnip greens which I paired with bacon and summer squash in a polenta crust.  Here it is before baking...

And after baking.

 It came out great although you'll notice that the attempt at a fluted edge was a waste of time.  The polenta is just too soft to hold the shape.  In fact, if you want to serve this piping hot straight from the oven, you'll be spooning it out, rather than slicing it.  You might even want to put the polenta on top in that case.  We let it sit for about 20 minutes and were able to cut and carefully serve the slices.  At room temperature is should slice very well.  We didn't have a chance to test this theory; it was long gone before it cooled!

Turnip Green/Summer Squash Pie with Potenta Crust

Preheat oven to 375.
You can make your own polenta instead of using the packaged, but the packaged worked very well here and made this a quick weeknight meal.

Polenta Crust
1 Package (18 oz) ready made, organic polenta 
4 T unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, if needed - depends on the polenta you use

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until completely blended.  Press into a standard sized pie pan.  (See above, don't bother to flute the edges)

Filling
5 thick slices bacon (we used applewood smoked) cut up
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 bunch turnip greens - coarsely chopped
1 small/medium summer squash, thinly sliced into 1/2 rounds
1 T minced fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste


Cook bacon pieces over medium heat until crisped, but not over-browned.  Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.  Saute the onion and garlic in the bacon drippings until softened.  Add the turnip greens and squash and cook over medium heat until just cooked through, stopping before the squash gets too soft.  Add salt and pepper to taste (careful with the salt, the bacon and the cheese in the crust will add quite a bit) and stir in the basil.  Turn the vegetables into the crust and bake over a cookie sheet to catch any drips for 30-40 minutes, until the crust is beginning to turn a light golden brown and the filling has cooked down.  Let cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.


Here is the haul for week 16.  The week brought a huge amount and variety.  It was great to get some more corn before the season ends.  They were small, very sweet, tender ears.  There was also a head of lettuce.  I was actually happy to see it so I guess I'm over the Spring lettuce overload syndrome!

 

Week 14/15 - A Couple of Pies

[Posted by Ruth]
With the arrival of the cooler weather, I've been getting reacquainted with my oven.  The fist pie is a long time favorite of mine that I first had at my sister Phyllis' house.  This is one of the tastes I think of when I think of summer.  You have to make it when there are good, ripe tomatoes to be had.  It's fast and simple and is a great picnic dish. 

Tomato Pie
1 unbaked Pie Crust (you can refer to the "Veggies Night Out" post from 6-18-10 for my pie crust recipe, use your own, or use a prepared pie crust)  I do this in a large, 12" pie plate.  Alternately, you can use a tart pan - just do only 1 layer of tomatoes if using a tart pan.

Approx 2 T flour (Wondra if you have it),
2 or 3 ripe tomatoes, sliced (if they are very juicy tomatoes, remove the seeds and pulp)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, white looks better in the finished product
Approx 6 T mayonnaise (as much as you need to place even 'dots' over the top)


Preheat oven to 375.  Sprinkle flour in bottom of pie shell.  Use more or less depending upon how juicy the tomatoes are.  Arrange tomato slices in 1 layer, slightly overlapping.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and about 1/3 of the cheese.  Put a second layer of tomatoes on top of the first, sprinkle with salt and pepper and the rest of the cheese.  Dot the mayonnaise all over the top of the pie.  Bake until top is browned and bubbly, approx 30-40 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature and serve.


The second pie I made this week was a cabbage pie from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.  We were happy enough with the results but think this one still needs work.  It is a cabbage pie with a biscuit-like topping.  The filling was very good but I would have liked the crust to be a bit more biscuity and less eggy.  My husband liked the crust the way it was, so who knows?

Cabbage Pie adapted from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian"
1 small/medium head cabbage, shredded
1 small onion, chopped
4 T butter
1 tsp caraway seeds
Salt and pepper to taste


Top and Bottom
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk yogurt or sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)
3 T mayonaise
1/2 Baking Powder
1 1/2 cups flour.
1/2 tsp salt 


1 cup shredded Gruyere Cheese


Prereheat oven to 375.  Melt butter in large skillet and cook cabbage and onions over medium heat until softened, but not browned.  Add salt, pepper and caraway seeds.


Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  In a larger bowl, combine yogurt and mayonnaise.  Whisk in the eggs.  Add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated.  


In a 9" x 12" glass baking or casserole dish, spread a little bit less than 1/2 of the biscuit mixture on the bottom.  Sprinkle 1/2 the cheese over the biscuit.  Top with the cabbage mixture and then the remaining cheese.  Spread the remaining biscuit mixture over the top.  Try to cover the entire top.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is puffed and shiny brown.  Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

This also reheated well the next day.

Here is the week 15 haul.  We got edamame, which was a cool surprise!

Week 14 - Back to School Fusion

[Posted by Ruth]
I don't have school-aged kids anymore but there's still something about this time of year that makes me want to go out and buy pens and a new notebook.  I was feeling that way and missing making lunch for our sons last week so I make myself a very grown up PB and J to take for lunch.  Peanut Butter and Hot Pepper Jelly on slices of Wave Hill Bread with a bit of Arugula.  

It was great, with almost a Spicy Thai quality..

 So when this week's farm share arrived and I saw all the peppers, both sweet and hot, I decided I had to make my own Hot Pepper Jelly.  (Full disclosure:  I used all the peppers in the bowl except the green pepper, saving that one for later.)

Hot Pepper Jelly Adapted from Hotter Than Hell by Jane Butler

Note: Have your canning equipment sterilized and ready.  This made 8 half pints of jelly.  Be sure to wash, sterilize and follow all USDA suggested practices for home canning.  Be safe, don't skip any steps.

3 Large Peppers, seeded (I used 1 red, 1 yellow and one long red)
6 Hot Peppers - I took most of the seeds out but left the ribs for the extra heat
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
6 1/2 cups sugar
2 3 oz packages of liquid pectin

Chop peppers together in a food processor until finely chopped.  Put in heavy saucepan with all other ingredients except pectin.  Bring to a rolling boil and boil, uncovered for 30 minutes.  Stir in pectin.  Be sure to squeeze all the pectin out of the packages.  Continue to boil for about 2 more minutes, until the jelly slides off a metal spoon in sheets when held perpendicular to the pot.

 Spoon jelly into hot, sterilized jars, taking care to evenly distribute the chopped peppers and keeping the rims wiped clean.  A canning funnel is a great help for this.  Seal and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.  Remove jars to towel and let cool completely.  When cool, remove rings and pick up each jar by the seal to ensure the seal is tight.  If any jar hasn't sealed, you can refrigerate it to use first.  Grab the peanut butter and some bread or some crackers and cream cheese!  I'm also thinking that combined with peanut butter, ginger and soy sauce, this would make a really interesting dip for grilled chicken.

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 13 - Extra Tomatoes

[Posted by Ruth]

In addition to this week's terrific looking haul...(loved getting some fennel and thought the tiny watermelon was the cutest thing ever)

I opted to buy a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes as well.  Time for some canning.  Although I generally use recipes as a jumping off point the one place I follow directions exactly is when putting food up.  The book I love and trust is "Putting Food By" by Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg and Beatrice Vaughan.  It's a great resource for canning, freezing, drying, you name it, for just about any fruit or vegetable you can think of.  Whatever book or source you choose, make sure you cross-check the advice and then follow it to the letter.  I used their hot pack method.  The tomatoes were juicy enough that I didn't need to add any juice.  In fact, I had some mostly juicy leftovers to which I added the less than perfect tomatoes and cooked down further for some sauce for later in the week or to put in the freezer.  The 1/2 bushel yielded 7 beautiful quarts of tomatoes in their juice, all well sealed and ready to put in a cool dark place for later in the season when I'm missing the taste of tomatoes.

An unexpected side benefit of this whole process was that I realized all my cool dark places were full of cool dark junk, so I got busy and cleaned out the dog/cat food cabinet.

That accomplished, we deserved a glass of 10 Second Sangria by way of The Bitten Word.  Super quick and easy.  Definitely not a serious drink but then, who needs to be serious on a summer weekend?

10 Second Sangria

Equal parts red wine (pick a fairly fruity one for best results - an inexpensive tempranillo or sangiovese is great here)
and Lemonade soda (I used "European Soda" from Fresh Maket - Sicilian Lemon)
Ice
Glass
Drink
Enjoy....

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!"

Eggs

(Posted by Denise)

I can’t thank Taber enough for taking over my farm share for my vacation week.  It was an interesting week and I really missed my share.  I also realized the amount of money that the share has been saving me this summer.  I know that we are running kind of a theme here, but reading Ruth’s post really got me thinking about the way my family and I ate this past week.  The amount of money that we spent on quick take-out meals and even the amount of time and money that I spent at grocery store was astonishing.

So my family voted and we signing up for the extension and next year!!

That brings me to my egg issue.  I have too many.  I am smiling because I know my farm fresh eggs aren't part of the recall and I don't have to check each box to make sure. (That was a nice feeling!)  But it does mean that with the current state of my life,  I am filthy with eggs.

Once again, we voted.  (I think the boys think they are living in a democracy, its fun to toy with them that way.)  Pound cake was voted the winner.  A beautiful sour cream pound cake that uses six eggs.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

(based on Paula Deen’s recipe)

Ingredients

• ·      2 sticks butter
• ·      3 cups sugar
• ·      1 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat because that is what I keep in the house)
• ·      1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ·      3 cups all-purpose flour
• ·      6 large eggs
• ·      1 teaspoon vanilla
• ·      ½ teaspoon almond extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.

Add the sour cream and mix until incorporated.

In a separate bowl whisk baking soda and flour together.

Add to the butter and sugar mixture alternating with eggs

Beating in each egg 1 at a time

Add the vanilla and almond extract Mix just to combine.

Pour the mixture into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan.

Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.

This cake is delicious on its own and I will confess is used as a quick breakfast food by my family.  You can dress it up with some fresh peaches or if you are like me, some plum preserves warmed and fresh whipped cream.