Jess & Nick's CSA Delivery # 5 - June 30, 2011

A fresh batch of CSA goodies has arrived just as we say good-bye to June. It's our first official 'summer' delivery and some of the produce certainly reflects it. This delivery includes our first bunch of red beets, complete with their greens, which are also incredibly tasty, tinged with some of the same earthy flavors found in the roots. We've also received two more boxes of beautiful strawberries that taste even better than they look (I know because I've already sampled). More scallions have arrived, as well as our first fennel of the season. I love fennel, with it's slight anise flavoring, in slaws. It adds a perfect crispiness along with the unexpected (if you're used to cabbage) licorice taste. We also received our first summer squash of the season! Two little broccoli heads, some green and red baby romaine lettuces, and a gigantic head of napa cabbage, perhaps for an Asian-inspired slaw, have also been squirreled away in our refrigerator. The very last picture above shows some garlic scapes, with their flowers about to burst. Not pictured this week is a beautiful bag of salad greens. What a perfect way to ring in the first holiday weekend of the summer!

Thank you Harmony Valley Farm!

Bacon and Grapefruit Salad - June 28, 2011

Here is the second iteration of the bacon jam. Nick and I used some of our lovely CSA greens which included the remainder of our arugula, mixed with some of our salad greens (complete with spicy nasturtiums!). I sectioned a grapefruit and reserved the juice, which I mixed with about three tbsp of bacon jam that I had reheated in the microwave. This made for a delicious dressing for our greens. I poured the grapefruit-bacon dressing over the greens and tossed to coat, adding some freshly ground pepper and a wee bit of salt (not much, though...the bacon already adds some saltiness). The greens wilted slightly from the heat in the dressing. We topped the greens with the grapefruit sections, toasted hazelnuts, and another dollop of bacon jam, for good measure. The flavor combinations in this salad were amazing. Bitterness from the greens balanced the rich sweetness of the bacon jam. The acidity of the grapefruit brightened the whole dish. And the hazelnuts just made everything taste even better. 

And, we still have more bacon jam...

Bacon Jam - June 27, 2011

Yep, bacon jam. One of the food blogs I read, Kitchen Konfidence, posted a recipe for bacon jam hand pies a couple weeks ago and it piqued my interest, to say the least. We had an extra pound of bacon in the freezer that Nick had brought home from work. It turns out that one of his co-workers, who deals in meats, doesn't eat pork and generously passed some along to Nick, who decidedly does. That was all it took and I got to work. The recipe takes some serious time. I had to cook the bacon down over a period of 3 to 4 hours, then refrigerate overnight and cook for about another hour the following day. So, before you jump into this project, make sure you are committed. The end result, however, is well worth it, as you get a sweet and salty, gooey treat. If you like bacon-wrapped dates, you'll love this jam.

Now Brandon, over at Kitchen Konfidence, used his jam to make some hand pies, but I still had sandwiches on the brain. Nick and I decided to try a riff on one of those classic summertime sandwiches, the BLT. We spread a layer of our bacon jam on toast, topped it with sliced cucumbers, avocado and arugula. Since we don't have any fresh tomatoes growing here yet, I decided to make a tomato aioli to add that essential ingredient.

I consulted How to Cook Everything and found a mayonnaise recipe that sounded easy and I went to work. I think I need more practice at homemade mayonnaise, however, since my first attempt turned out more like salad dressing and less like the creamy spread I was hoping for. It tasted good, though, so we drizzled some on our sandwiches and used the rest for a dipping sauce.

These sandwiches were a very fun experiment. They were quite flavorful.  The sweet, salty jam combined nicely with the bitter greens. The cucumbers added a much needed crunch. And the best part is that we still have more bacon jam left.

Pimm's Cup - June 26, 2011

The Pimm's Cup is the official potable of Wimbledon, much like the Mint Julep is to the Kentucky Derby. We are well into the second week of this year's Wimbledon tournament and if you haven't enjoyed one of these yet, now's the time. I sucked back a couple of these babies over the weekend while taking in some tennis matches. Here's my recipe, which is in no way the official recipe. I do believe there are as many ways to make a Pimm's Cup as there are seats at Centre Court.

Pimm's Cup (makes 1)

1/4 cup Pimm's No. 1
2 cucumber slices
1 - 2 lemon slices
small bunch of mint

Put these ingredients in a tall glass and add ice. Fill the remainder with ginger ale (I use homemade ginger soda).

Weekly Fish #7: Seafood Pasta

I bought some great fresh fettuccine from Broder's, perfectly portioned for two, at the Fulton Farmer's Market this AM. Being that it was Weekly Fish time, tonight's dinner was ordained.

To start, I seared the scallops for a couple minutes in oil and butter, and set them aside to be added back to the sauce later after quartering.

Next, I cooked the clams in a hot pan with butter and oil, which opened most of them up after a few minutes, and put on the lid to steam the rest open. I added some onions, coarsely chopped tomatoes, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and then the scallops to warm it all up.

The fettuccine, being fresh, cooked up in about 90 seconds, and was left for the very end of preparations.



Not included in the picture is the savory brown sauce left in the pan, built from the clams, scallops and tomatoes. It was a deep and spicy sauce that was reminiscent of a roux, but which had almost nothing in common with it. It was a very satisfying dish, not overly heavy, and gone in about 3 minutes.

The Golden Ale from New Glarus Brewing Company ranks near the top of the list of our favorite beers in their stable. It has a great sour note, which paired well with the dark and spicy seafood.



This was our last bottle of Golden Ale, which can only be purchased on site at the brewery, so it looks like another trip to Madison is gonna have to happen soon...

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos with Mango Salsa - June 23, 2011

Yesterday was unseasonably cool and overcast here in Minneapolis, a perfect day to spend in the kitchen, which I did. Despite the weather, or maybe because of it, I was craving a vibrant, tropical meal. My plan fell into place as I started to whip up some mango salsa.



My mango salsa is one chopped mango, which was probably a little riper than it should have been for this application; one quarter of a finely chopped large red onion; one quarter cup of chopped fresh cilantro; the juice of one lime; and a teaspoon of white vinegar. I seasoned this with a little salt and refrigerated for about an hour to let the flavors combine.



Next, I decided to utilize one of our many sweet potatoes that we've been storing since last fall. I was pleased to see that the supply is indeed dwindling. We probably only have one quarter of a metric shit ton* left to use up. As you can tell from the above picture, I cut the potato into bite sized cubes. I mixed these with some coconut oil (please try this combination...it's amazing) and roasted them in a 425 F oven for 30 minutes, stirring once, halfway through.

These I mixed with some black beans that I had cooked and put in the freezer, some grated cheese, and some avocado and put it all in a flour tortilla to make a burrito. The burritos were good, especially with the coconut sweet potatoes, but the unquestionable star of the meal was the mango salsa. It was so flavorful and tropical...the perfect antidote to a cloudy, 60 degree, late June day.

*'shit ton' is my favorite arbitrary unit of measure.

Pitas with Hummus and Veggies - June 20, 2011

It would appear as though Nick and I are on a bit of a sandwich kick around here. In our defense, when our CSA farm supplies us with two beautiful heads of lettuce it's hard to plan otherwise. Lettuce just means sandwiches to me. So, for sandwich number two of the week I made up a fresh batch of hummus. While I had the food processor out, I shredded up some carrots and one of our kohlrabi bulbs. My initial plan was to use the lettuce leaves to make hummus 'wraps,' but then Nick found some pitas in the fridge that I had forgotten about, so we decided to incorporate them into the meal. We heated up the whole wheat pitas and promptly stuffed them with crispy baby romaine lettuce leaves, hummus, shredded carrots, and shredded kohlrabi. The results were incredibly satisfying. All the veggies brought a nice crispness to accompany the creamy texture of the hummus. And, the lemon juice and garlic in the hummus added great flavor.  You will hear no complaints from me when sandwiches show up on my plate more than once a week. 

Egg Salad Sandwiches - June 17, 2011

Nick and I love a good egg salad and these sandwiches fit the bill nicely. Now that all the farmers' markets are up and running in and around Minneapolis, we have been getting our eggs on our market excursions. I was a twinge envious to see that Jaime gets hers right in her CSA deliveries, but on the bright side, this gives us something to buy at the market since we rarely ever need to buy veggies. Friday night I whipped these up by first hard boiling some eggs. I boiled nine, with six going into the salad and three left over for snacks. They turned out really well with perfect yellow centers...no grey/green ring. Once cooled, I chopped the eggs and added a chopped garlic scape and some mayonnaise with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. This was a very simple egg salad. I piled loads of our precious green romaine lettuce leaves on seedy toast, followed by a big scoop of the egg salad.



The sandwiches were simple and perfect and accompanied by the best homemade ginger soda I have ever made. Instead of chopping the ginger by hand like I usually do, I used the food processor with the grater attachment which got the ginger much more finely chopped. I added that to the simple syrup along with some gently crushed coriander seeds and let everything steep for about an hour before straining out the solids. The syrup is a good three shades darker than normal and the resulting soda has a much more intense ginger flavor. What a treat.

Weekly Fish #6: Scallops

The day began at the Fulton Farmer's Market, where I picked up a baguette from Sun Street Breads, planning to put together a crawdad po' boy for Weekly Fish #6. Coastal Seafood had been promoting their crawdads lately, and so I was inspired. Sadly, they had run out of the diminutive crustaceans by the time I visited them. So, I called an audible and picked up some sea scallops instead. With our new How to Cook Everything, I was well-prepared for the task.

This preparation was fast and simple. All it takes is some butter, oil, and a few minutes on each side, for a perfectly-done scallop. After removing the seared scallops, I poured in some Wollersheim chardonnay to deglaze the pan and reduce a nice sauce.

The baguette became a bruschetta, topped with oven-dried tomatoes. While I was preparing the scallops, I had forgotten about the bruschetta under the broiler, so after burning half the lot, Jess had to make an emergency second batch. Nice save.

I decided to saute some pea greens for a colorful garnish. On paper, it seemed to make sense; I could imagine seeing this on the menu at a nice restaurant: "Pan seared scallops with sauteed pea greens." But in practice it wasn't the best idea ... sauteed pea greens are about as tender as dried switchgrass. But it made for an appealing presentation.



Overall, not bad. The scallops were creamy, with a touch of crispiness on the edges. And it was a pleasure alternating between the buttery bivalves and the crunchy, acidic bruschetta.

But I still have a hankering for a po' boy...

Radish Salad with Smokey Quesadillas - June 16, 2011

As planned, I used our French breakfast radishes from our latest CSA delivery to make a citrus-y salad to serve alongside smoked provolone quesadillas. I used a recipe from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman, but modified it to include the radish greens as well as the roots. In addition to the radishes and greens, the salad contains a chopped onion and some fresh parsley. I dressed it as instructed, with a combination of fresh lime and lemon juice. It was very flavorful with the spicy radishes and the sharp tang of citrus, plus the onion thrown in for good measure. The bite was tempered nicely by the creaminess of a fresh avocado and the smokey, cheesy quesadilla. It was a good combination and a vibrant meal.

Peach Buckle - June 17, 2011

The peaches are here! We had some branches that were collapsing under the weight, so they needed to be trimmed lest they break and take more with them while we were away this past week. We harvested what we could from the trimmed branches and left the rest on the tree to get to full maturity.

These early peaches are on the small side, but given a chance to ripen they taste pretty good and are perfectly acceptable in baked applications, such as the peach buckle recipe I got from my friend Martha Stewart.

I didn't have an almonds in the house, so I substituted pecans. Delicious!

Jaime's CSA Delivery #3 - June 16, 2011

The solstice might still be a few days off, but summer is definitely arrived in Virginia as evidenced by the items in my CSA share this week!

The bag this week included the usual free range eggs, another bunch of beets, some more spring onions, zucchini and yellow squash, green peppers, one head of cabbage, radishes, cucumbers, white potatoes, a couple sprigs of sage, and some unbelievably massive blackberries. It is hard to see them in the photograph, so I took an additional picture of one in my hand for scale.

I already ate a few of the blackberries, and I cooked up an egg and some of the smaller potatoes as part of breakfast this morning. The next two weeks are going to be as busy as the last two weeks were, so it will be a challenge to put all this to good use without it going to waste.

Jess & Nick's CSA Delivery #4 - June 16, 2011

It's here and I'm excited. I just picked up our latest installment of veggies and it's quite a delightful box. First up are some white scallions which will probably find their way into salads and salsas over then next couple weeks. The scallions are followed by pea vine, which is the young vine of a growing pea plant. These guys are quite fun to work with since they give us a fresh, sweet taste of peas well before the peas are actually ready. The stems can get pretty stringy if they are too tough, so be sure to avoid them in your finished meals. More vibrant French breakfast radishes arrived as well. I have plans to make them into a radish salsa from a recipe in our new How to Cook Everything book, by Mark Bittman (Thanks Chip and Nan!). Both green romaine (pictured) and mini red leaf (not) lettuce showed up this week too. The farm grew these smaller varieties for our boxes to help minimize waste. According to the newsletter, head lettuces are quite fussy to grow and require very specific soil temperatures and light. We will make sure to cherish our little heads after all the work that went into growing them!

The first picture in the bottom row shows our bundle of garlic scapes. These guys are lots of fun and quite delicious. I am excited because I planted garlic in the yard last fall and my plants have also produced scapes in the last two weeks, so everything appears to be right on schedule. I love these chopped up and added to salads, or grilled. They have a perfect mild garlic flavor. A very special treat has shown up this week as well...our first little basket of strawberries! This is so exciting. I can tell you all right now that these will all be eaten fresh, just popped into our mouths over the next 24 hours. We also received some kohlrabi, of which I am quite fond. I really just love anything in the brassica family. Mark Bittman also had a few ideas for how to use kohlrabi, so I will most likely be consulting him for a preparation technique. The last picture is bok choi, which appears to be a little bonus since it's not listed on the newsletter. We're happy to see it. Not pictured above, but also found in our box this week are arugula and salad mix, complete with colorful nasturtiums.

As always, a big thank you to the Harmony Valley Farmers, delivery truck drivers, and pick-up site coordinators for making all of this possible. You guys are the best!

Fresh Coconut, Banana and Mint Smoothie - June 11, 2011

So, just for giggles, I bought a whole coconut last week at the co-op. Nick and I had eaten dinner at a favorite neighborhood Thai restaurant recently and ordered coconut water for dessert (we were a little too full for mangoes and sticky rice). It was so good that when I saw the pile of fresh Mexican coconuts in the store I thought it would be fun to try it at home. We looked up how to open a coconut and had excellent success using a corkscrew through one of the 'eyes.' This allowed us to drain out the coconut water and sample it. It had an interesting nutty, salty flavor, very different from the slightly sweet version we were served at the restaurant. Apparently, coconut water can be used as a plasma substitute in a pinch because it has the same electrolyte balance as human blood, and is naturally sterile sealed inside the shell. A handy bit of information to keep in mind if you find yourself in need of a transfusion while in a remote tropical area, although you might want to double check the validity of that story just in case, as my source, the restaurant menu, could be questionable.

Once we had the coconut drained, Nick cracked it open by tapping around the circumference several times using a knife handle. It split open without much fight to reveal the pure white meat, which we proceeded to scrape out with spoons. It also had a nutty quality, not unlike an almond. We decided we would make our own coconut milk, which we did by heating up two cups of water to boiling and pouring it over our cup or so of coconut meat. I let this sit for 10 minutes and then poured everything into the food processor, pulsed five times and then ran straight for about 30 seconds. If you have a blender, use it as food processors (at least ours) leak. Then I strained the solids from the liquid and voila, homemade coconut milk. You do not need fresh coconut meat to do this by the way. The instructions we found actually called for unsweetened dried coconut. Anyway, we saved the coconut solids to use at a later date and I made up some coconut-banana-mint smoothies using our homemade coconut milk, coconut water, bananas, fresh mint, ice and a little almond milk to top things off. I added a bit of simple syrup along with a drop or two of molasses to sweeten everything and bring out the tropical flavors. The whole thing was an interesting and tasty adventure.

Spring Turnips: Roots and Greens - June 8, 2011

It seems that I have a bit of catching up to do since this meal, originally planned for last Monday but rescheduled due to an errant heat wave, dates back to last Wednesday. By Wednesday things had finally cooled off enough around here to allow for stove top cooking. Think I'm being overly dramatic? Check out our back yard thermometer as of last Tuesday evening.




It hit 102 F here in Minneapolis.  'F' is right!  I was not turning on lights, let alone the stove if I could help it.  Lucky for us Northerners, heat waves never seem to stick around too long and by Wednesday night I was able to open windows to let in the cool, dry breeze, and finally cook my turnips. 

This recipe is tried and true, from one of my favorite publications: 'Asparagus to Zucchini.'  It's a lovely recipe because it incorporates both the roots and greens of the turnips conveniently into one delicious dish.  You can check out last year's version of this recipe right here. As always, I substituted a different dried fruit for the raisins.  This year I again threw in some currants.  We kept it simple this time around and omitted adding any grains or pasta, opting to go for pure turnip goodness.

Cold Chicken Salad with Greens - June 6, 2011

I had grand plans of cooking up our spring turnips the other night, but could not bring myself to turn on the stove as it was a record setting 97 degrees out. So much for our colder than normal spring here in Minneapolis. It seems we are making up for months of below normal temperatures in just a couple of days. Chicken salad, using up the leftover chicken from Nick's grilled meal, was my plan B. I briefly searched for a recipe online, but in the end just decided to wing it (he he).

Here is a loose description (certainly not a recipe) of what I did. I shredded the leftover chicken, about 3 cups worth, into a bowl. To the bowl I added one chopped green garlic, one chopped green onion, one chopped ramp, and four French breakfast radishes, sliced into coins. Next I added a handful of slivered almonds and approximately 1/4 cup of chopped dried apricots. I braved the brutal heat to run to the back yard and snip four small sprigs of fresh tarragon, which I chopped and threw into the mix as well. I tossed in some kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and then mixed everything together with 2/3 cup of plain yogurt and about 2 - 3 Tbsp of mayonnaise.

I let this concoction chill until Nick got home. To serve I added some of our salad greens to bowls and piled the chicken salad on top. It was cool, I didn't have to turn on any appliances, and to my delight it was quite tasty. 

Grilled Chicken and Parsnips - June 5, 2011

Nick actually cooked this, in place of his weekly fish, because I bought a whole chicken at the co-op and it needed cooking. Normally Nick blogs what he cooks, and I blog what I cook, but he's having a busy week so you get me instead. As you may remember, the grill ran out of gas (or so we thought) the night Nick tried grilling the branzino. So, before he began this meal, Nick ran out to exchange our "empty" tank for a full one. After a bit of running around due to an incompatible nozzle issue, he had the full tank installed. Unfortunately, the grill was still not getting any hotter than 300 degrees. This simply would not do. So Nick, Internet wizard that he is, found a trouble shooting guide online* and worked his magic to fix the thing. He's my hero.

We decided on a simple Thomas Keller recipe for the chicken that involved only salt and pepper for the seasoning. Once the chicken was done, quite quickly once the grill started working properly, Nick threw on some parsnips which he had parboiled and seasoned with smoked Spanish paprika, salt and pepper. At this point, I chipped in and mixed up a little green salad to serve alongside everything.

Dinner was delicious. The chicken was moist and full of good char-grilled flavor. The parsnips were sweet and smokey. The green salad was cool and refreshing. Not a bad Sunday supper.

*I will have Nick post a link to the trouble shooting guide shortly.

Roasted Beet Salad - June 5, 2011

I could have sworn that I hated beets. I remember eating them as a child and I thought they tasted terrible. Either I've grown up and my tastes have changed, or the beets I was eating back then weren't prepared in a very tasty way. Probably a bit of both!

These were beets from this week's CSA delivery. I found a recipe in one of my Cook's Illustrated, but decided to tweak it slightly to make it a chilled salad. I think that is the key to tasty beets - the flavor mellows into a delicious sweetness when chilled.

First I roasted the beets in the oven. I scrubbed them, wrapped them in tin foil, and placed them in a baking pan at 400 degrees for about an hour. Then I let them cool completely, peeled and sliced them, and then put them in the refrigerator so they'd be even colder.

For the dressing I mixed some chopped dill, a chopped shallot, about a tablespoon of lemon juice, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, some salt and pepper, and olive oil (about 5-6 tablespoons). I tossed the beets with the dressing, then layered them over mixed greens from our patio garden and topped with chopped walnuts.

Unbelievably delicious!

Garden Update - June 6, 2011

Our container garden is looking ever more beautiful! It simply amazes me what we can grow in a little bit of soil with some regular watering.

We have baby green tomatoes...

And baby peppers...

And cucumber flowers...

The spinach and arugula are done, but we still have lettuce and peas...

... and we will soon have peaches!

Warm Asparagus Salad - June 2, 2011

I prepared our CSA asparagus last night, before all of the tasty sugars could turn to starch. The recipe I found on 101 Cookbooks. Heidi's talent to turn a handful of ingredients into something incredibly delicious never ceases to amaze me. The asparagus salad was no exception. I made a few minor changes, including omitting the broccolini and simply replacing it with more asparagus. The dressing needed to be tweaked as well. Since I didn't have any shallots, green garlic substituted nicely. This recipe also used some of our French Breakfast radishes, leaving me just enough for breakfast this weekend.



Nick and I served our salad with poached eggs and toast, always a winning pair at our house. The combination of lemon juice, toasted pine nuts and green garlic in the dressing really added bright flavor to the asparagus and radishes. I loved every bite.

Jaime's CSA Delivery #2 - June 2, 2011

I picked up my second summer CSA share from Olin-Fox Farms in Reedville, Virginia yesterday and am trying to figure out how to use it over the next two weeks... two weeks that include two out-of-town trips for me and one for Richie and two yoga teacher training weekends! I think there is only one night that we will both be home at dinner time... Need to plan some dishes that will refrigerate well!

This week's delivery had one item I recognized immediately and was thrilled to see: raspberries! I so miss my dad's epic size raspberry patch in Wisconsin. True, toward the end of July the task of picking them started to feel more like a chore, but still a delicious chore. I ate several before even leaving the pick-up location (which is my lovely yoga studio Pure Prana in Alexandria, Virginia - shout out!) and was immediately transported back to summer days picking raspberries, popping nearly as many berries in my mouth as went in the bowl.

The rest of this week's share includes kohlrabi, turnips, beets, fennel, broccoli, snow peas, eggs, oregano, and garlic scapes. I recognized almost everything this time, except for the garlic scapes! That one is new to me. I'm also not sure what to do with the fennel. I have worked with it in the past and I think the licorice flavored veggie is an acquired taste I don't have. Any ideas?

Jess and Nick's CSA Delivery #3 - June 2, 2011

Our third farm share arrived today and I couldn't be happier. In our box this week we have beautiful white spring turnips, which I love to serve together with their greens. Our first asparagus is here as well and this will be part of tonight's meal, as the taste and quality of asparagus is best when consumed as close to picking as possible. Next up we have our green garlic, which is a spring favorite of mine. It adds a soft garlic flavor when added fresh to salads and is excellent grilled. And, like Jaime's last delivery, we have some French Breakfast radishes, which are hands down my favorite kind of radish. These are very mild as radishes go and are excellent on breakfast sandwiches with toasted bread and some creamy, herbed cheese...even eggs if you choose to be really fancy. I welcome more rhubarb wholeheartedly as my infusions from last week were consumed and gifted over Memorial weekend. I can't wait to make up a fresh batch of syrup for my rhubarb juleps. This week's Harmony Valley Newsletter has instructions for how to make some, or you can check right here on the blog. The last picture in the collage is yukina savoy, which is great in an Asian-style salad, dressed with some toasted sesame oil and ginger. It's also a nice ingredient for stir-fries. Not pictured are our Egyptian Walking onions (which are difficult to tell apart from the green garlic, but just look at the green tips and you will see that garlic is flat, while the onions are tubular, and not in the 80's surfing-term-meaning-awesome way, but in the geometric shape way); spinach; saute mix; and salad mix.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone at Harmony Valley Farm.  I know you are working hard to bring amazing vegetables to our tables despite the unseasonably cool spring.  You guys are my heroes!