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.

Week 12 - Sometimes it's all about the sauce

[Posted by Ruth]

Have you ever made a sauce you liked so much that you had to fight the urge to run through your neighborhood wielding  a spoonful of it and shouting, "Try this sauce; it'll change your life!"?  I came pretty close last night.  We got a bag of bright green, crisp, fresh green beans in our farm share box on Thursday and I wanted to do something special with them that would make them a meal we could take to the Levitt Pavillion last night.  I found a creamy nut sauce recipe in Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" but it called for a cup of heavy cream and 4 T of butter which was way too heavy for my taste (and my thighs).  I lightened it up a bit, made a few tweaks and ended up with a sauce that I think I'd like to put on everything.  It was subtle and lush.  Put over the beans and finished in the oven for a quick gratin, it worked well for us as a main course and will also serve as a hearty side dish to a simple meal with chicken or fish.

Green Bean Gratin with Creamy Nut Sauce

Creamy Nut Sauce

2/3 cup whole, unblanched almonds
1/3 cup walnuts
3 T butter
1 cup skim milk (more or less for desired consistency)
Salt, pepper to taste
freshly grated nutmeg
Optional: 1 tsp of instant blending (Wondra) flour

Combine the almonds and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until finely ground.  Add 2 T of the softened butter to the nuts and continue to process until the mixture forms a paste that is as smooth as possible.

Melt the remaining butter in a small, nonstick, pan, add the nut mixture and cook over low to low/med heat, stirring constantly as if you were making a flour/butter roux.  Cook like this for a few minutes, until the nuts are fragrant which means they have browned slightly.  Gradually whisk in the milk and heat to the point of a gentle simmer.  Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.  At this point, if you want a thicker sauce you can sprinkle in the Wondra flour and whisk for a few minutes while simmering until it reaches the consistency you want.  Note: if you are using the sauce for the gratin below, it will thicken a bit more upon baking.

Green Bean Gratin

3/4 lb fresh green beans, ends nipped off, cut in 1/2 if very long
1 clove garlic, minced
3 T minced onion
Butter or olive oil for pan

1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Creamy nut sauce, recipe above

Preheat oven to 400.  Have a baking dish that will fit the beans ready -no need to grease it.

Heat oil or butter in pan and gently saute garlic and onion until fragrant and beginning to be translucent.  Add the beans, stir to coat with oil and continue cooking a few minutes.  Turn heat to low, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the beans are tender/crisp.

Toss the beans with the nut sauce, place in baking dish and top with the Parmesan cheese.  Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, until mixture bubbles and the cheese has browned a bit on top.  Serve hot from the oven, or at room temperature.

The mixture of almonds and walnuts in the sauce was a happy accident.  I had two small partial bags of nuts I wanted to use up so I combined the two.  They both added a different note to the sauce and it's definitely worth having them both on hand.

Here, by the way, is this week's haul.  We have our first cantaloupe.  Stacia from Stone Gardens Farm wanted to know how we all liked the cantaloupe and if she should grow them again next year.  Our vote is YES!  The melon was perfectly ripe and delicious.