Missed Meals

Found some photos that I wanted to share of the beautiful produce I've gotten at Langwater so far this season.

This doesn't count, but a pretty strawberry plant from a picking trip.

Nice way to dress up a mummy hotdog - fresh pea shoots

fresh peas, spring onions and those crazy garlic scapes, and pink turnips!

The above veggies turned into a spring soup w/ a poached egg

Shrimp Pad Thai w/ Miracle Noodles

lemon chicken w/ peas & a beet salad

Last Winter CSA

Today was a little sad - the end of the winter CSA. We did get a double share to get all of our weeks in. Here's what I took home:

2 Acorn Squash
1 Butternut
2 bags Beets (3 lb.)
2 bag Carrots (3 lb)
1 bag Sweet Potatoes (1.5 lb)
1 pint Fingerling Potatoes
1 bunch Kale

1 quart Red Potatoes or 1 pint Fingerling Potatoes
5 ears Popcorn
1 bunch Mustard Greens
1 bag Salad Mix

With my new, favorite and super-easy soup - carrot, ginger, sweet potato, I'm sure I won't have a problem using this up. Not sure what to do with the mustard greens. The girl there said they are a bit spicy but braising them makes them tamer. I just bought a fairly large container of Olivia's spring greens, but the salad mix looks like it has quite a bit of spinach in it, so I'll probably cook that up too. Maybe add it to the carrot soup!

Winter CSA Share

1 Acorn Squash
1 Butternut Squash
1 Sugar Pumpkin or 1 bunch Cilantro and 1 bunch Rosemary
1 Red Onion or 1 Yellow Onion
1.5 lb Turnips or 1 Kohlrabi
1 bunch Carrots or 1 bag Carrots
1 bag Sweet Potatoes
1 head Garlic
1 bunch Kale

Weekly CSA Share

1 Sugar Pie Pumpkin - Pumpkin stuffed with everything good - Dare I? Thinking of trying it in the crock pot.
1 head of broccoli - roasted w/ garlic
3 Green Peppers - fried w/ onions & eggs
1.5 lb Sweet Potatoes - Twice-Baked Sweet Potato Cups with Sour Cream, Chipotle, and Lime

1 bunch Red Russian Kale - sauteed w/ garlic & pasta
1 bunch Spinach - braised w/ garlic, chopped acorn squash, ground chourico, and vegetable broth

Also purchased:

3 large beets, 3 onions, lots of apples

I got the beets to try and recreate what we ate at the Empty Bowls Project from Muza's. It was much thicker because I cooked it for the day in the slow cooker with the potatoes and kidney beans. I put a couple of sliced carrots, the chopped beets, a couple chopped cloves of garlic, a chopped onion, and the chopped potatoes and beans in the slow cooker along with (I embarrassingly admin) a couple of cups of frozen, sliced red cabbage from last year! I only had about a cup of vegetable broth left, but put in water until it came about 1/2 way up. I vetted the idea, as I usually do, by finding something similar that's already been tested. My model was this Beet Root Soup with Kidney Beans.

After it cooked for the day, I added sour salt, table salt and white sugar. We sprinkled some dill in our bowls and Alan and I added hot pepper flakes too. Next time I'll use vinegar and a different kind of sugar. Maybe brown sugar to give it a little more depth. It was a little flat, and the beets lost most of their color. However, I'm looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow!

Weekly CSA Share

1 Delicata Squash - roast w/ either italian or indian seasonings
1 Yellow Onion
3 Sweet Peppers or 1 bunch Beets - turkey chili or a Chinese stir-fry
1 bunch Hakurei Turnips
1 bunch Kale - sauteed w/ red onion & garlic, mixed in with a little mushroom soy sauce
1 bag Arugula Spinach - asked to switch the turnips & arugula. - spinach, beet, boiled eggs, & bacon salad w/ garlicy dressing

salad w/ egg

eggplant w/ ricotta cheese & chipotle garlic salsa

I also got lots of Honeycrisp and Macoun apples, a beefsteak tomato, a Japanese eggplant, 2 summer squash, baby bok choy, and a poblano pepper. I'm planning on making a stir-fry with the bok choy, eggplant & squash and a turkey hominy chili with the peppers & onion.

Shara designed chicken burger

corn dogs!

Shara w/ a grilled mushroom wrap

Weekly CSA Share

1 Butternut Squash - cubed and sauteed with chard
2 lb. Topped Carrots or 2 lb. Topped Beets
1 b. Hakurei Turnips or 1 b. Radishes
1 b. Chard or 1 b. Kale - sauteed with the butternut
1 bag Arugula - salad w/ prosciutto, figs, asiago & strawberry balsamic

tofu & veggies in peanut sauce

weekly CSA share

1 Acorn Squash (have 2) - baked w/ maple sugar & vanilla; baked w/ Garam Masala, salt & pepper
2 lb. topped Beets or 2 lb. topped Carrots - roasted & tossed w/ balsamic & bleu cheese
1 pint Fingerling Potatoes - roasted w/ prosciutto & rosemary
1 Yellow Onion or 1 bunch Radishes - Summer Radish Salad
1 bag Spinach or 1 bag Arugula - braised w/ garlic, salt, pepper & a touch of butter

Weekly CSA Share

2 lb. Red Tomatoes - sauce & sandwiches
4 Sweet Peppers - sauteed w/ portobello mushrooms and leeks to top polenta
1 Acorn Squash - baked w/ maple sugar, vanilla & garam masala
1 bunch Turnips or 1 bunch Beets - sliced and baked into chips. Like Giada's recipe for sweet potato & beet chips w/ garlic rosemary salt, but will need to sprinkle prior to baking because she puts on the salt after deep frying.

Weekly CSA Order

From August 14th!

2 lb. Red Tomatoes - salads
1 Eggplant - ratatouille
1 Green Pepper - ratatouille
1 Musk Melon (Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Galia or Canary) - honeydew and it was delicious. Made for great breakfasts in Quebec.
1 bunch Beets - roasted, then froze
1 Hot Pepper - put in a carrot salad; shredded carrots, lemon juice, chopped dried apricots & craisins, cumin, cinnamon, non-fat Greek yogurt
2 Slicing Cucumbers - salads
5 Patty Pan Summer Squash - stuffed & simmered in tomato sauce

weekly CSA order

3 Early Girl tomatoes - Jamie Oliver's Evolution Tomato Salad
1 Walla Walla onion - grilled, again!
5 patty pan summer squash - marinated with pickled ginger (with pickling cucumbers)
3 summer squash/zucchini - chocolate zucchini bread
6 ears corn - steamed, but may make into corn chowder
4 pickling cucumbers - marinated with pickled ginger (with patty pan squash)
1 bunch beets - roasted (with beets from last week) & put into salad w/ balsamic & blue cheese

weekly CSA share

3 pieces of summer squash/zucchini - sauteed 1, will grill the others. Got a beautiful pattypan - green & yellow.
1 bunch carrots - sauteed a few, nice and sweet
1 pint new potatoes - steam and serve w/ salt & butter
1 sweet Walla Walla onion - ??
1 bunch onions - sauteed with carrots & squash
1 bunch chard or kale - sauteed w/ garlic

weekly csa share

1 lb green beans or 3 pieces of summer squash/zucchini - sauteed w/ butter & prosciutto
1 bunch carrots -  butter glazed spiced carrots
1 pint new potatoes - steamed w/ a little salt & butter
1 bunch chard or 1 bunch kale - sauteed w/ garlic & olive oil
1 bunch onions - still have some left from last week! - sauteed/caramelized and served w/ leftovers from last nights dinner at Al Wadi - mostly hummus
1 head garlic

lyonnaise garlic and herb cheese - French Fridays w/ Dorie

I read a few posts from other people who made this to get some tips because I really didn't know if I'd like this or not. I love Boursin and when I was younger I would eat tubs of it. Some of the other posts said the longer it sat, the better so I let it sit all day and it tasted ok, but I wouldn't call it Boursin. First, there wasn't enough garlic. I put in a frozen cube of garlic (Dorot). They're very convenient but also very potent. I also had fresh chives from the CSA (Langwater Farms) so I skipped the shallot and added some extra chives. I also had fennel fronds which I substituted for the chervil and parsley. I sound like those reviews on recipe sites that trash the recipe though they altered it completely. It really wasn't so far from the recipe. The rest of it was very true - I used whole milk ricotta, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. I strained the cheese overnight, but no water came out. The texture was actually good but it could have used maybe cream cheese? Something to make it stickier, if that makes sense.

To serve the spread, since this wasn't going to be for a party with cheese and crackers I thought it may be interesting to put a dollop on the pizza we had for dinner. I made two pizzas - one with sauce and one without. Both had prosciutto, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. We had a bag of arugula from the CSA that I mixed with some wonderful strawberry balsamic vinegar and dijon mustard. I don't think the pizza was enhanced by the cheese spread but I wouldn't call it bad. We'll see how it tastes tomorrow.

m. jacques armagnac chicken - French Fridays w/ Dorie

Another recipe where I can understand why they didn't put a picture in the book, however after you taste it you won't wonder why it's in there to begin with. I had gotten a chicken from my sister, who raises them, several months ago and didn't have a chance to roast it yet. I took it out of the freezer a few days before I was going to cook this, to give it time to thaw, and put it in out downstairs refrigerator. I always thought the refrigerator didn't feel cold enough, and was a bit nervous that I'd be ruining this, but apparently it's fine. After two full days the chicken was still frozen on the inside. So the rest of this story is not a good representation of the recipe, since I didn't want to wait to cook this. It was actually Sunday, so I did have quite a long time before the "deadline", but that wasn't the point. The point was I wanted to make the chicken on Sunday. So I did.

I cooked onions, carrots, and parsnip in a little oil, just until they were heated through a bit. I really didn't believe I would be able to fit a chicken in the pot too, but managed. Originally I was going to use my Le Creuset pot and then realized the handle wouldn't heat to 450 and I didn't feel like taking it off for this project so switched to my stainless one. I didn't think there would be a need for the iron because nothing would be caramelizing.

The carrots and parsnip are from my winter CSA. I have been saving these for special dishes and thought a Dorie one would be worthy. After these cooked a bit, I got the chicken and did not do any washing of the bird. None was needed, especially since half of it was frozen anyway. I know, I could have done a water bath and had this bird thawed in an hour or so, but I didn't want to. I actually thought that we would eat it on Monday and I'd just cook it longer. I was simply being lazy. After I put the chicken in I got out the only brandy in the house that I would use for this. My mother has always put apricot brandy on her roast turkeys and baked stuffed chicken breasts (with the skin on so they'd get nice and crispy - oh these were sooo goood!) and I always have a bottle around for similar situations, this being one of them. I didn't think the raspberry brandy would fit this dish. I also realized that baking this at 450 wouldn't be too cook for a 1/2 frozen chicken so I lowered it to 400. After 5 hours (just kidding, it was about two) I took out the chicken and it looked fine. There was a good amount of juice and fat, so I was actually happy to be waiting until the next day so I could take off most of the fat. The smell was incredible. I think this would be on my list of favorite food smells and it's all about the brandy. I will try it with  Armagnac because I love prunes with roast chicken. My mom used to make Chicken Marbella as well! After the chicken cooled I put it in the refrigerator and realized with all the vegetables it would be difficult to get the fat off. To make it easier, I rested the pot half-way on a lid so it would tilt the juice to one side. I am a genius (at the time sure I felt like it (- : 


The next evening I had by husband take out the chicken and put it in a 350 oven when he got home. I then turned it up to 400, took the lid off and got it heated up more, removed the chicken and cooked down the juice on the stove a bit. There was so much juice I didn't add the water. I served it with leftover mashed potatoes, thanks to my mother-in-law, and that was pretty much it! It tasted wonderful and I'm sure it was due to the quality of the ingredients over the cooking method. 

kale-stuffed pork roast - French Fridays w/ Dorie

One other FFWD member commented that this got her daughter to eat her vegetables. I had the same experience. I think if I can put meat into all meals, the vegetables would be easily eaten. This was a terrific dinner to make on a work day. It helped that I got home early today, but even if I didn't, it took no more time than any other dinner and really seemed like a much more elegant meal that could be served at a dinner party.

I didn't have any swiss chard available at my local farm stand, but they had a gorgeous bunch of kale. We decided that super-fresh kale trumped the chard called for in the recipe. So I cooked the filling a bit longer than chard would have taken, but all else remained the same. I wasn't sure if all the filling would fit, but it did!

I really don't like working with meat, but I did and it tasted great. My roast didn't have hardly any fat on it, so I didn't get that nice, crispy top that others had. One thing I needed to do differently was position the thermometer closer to the middle of the roast. I didn't want to hit the stuffing and throw off the reading, but it was in too close to the surface and I had to throw the slices into the microwave for a few seconds. Fortunately it didn't change anything, other than making it a little safer, I assume.
This was a keeper. I served it with a grainy mustard, as suggested, but think it would be good with a brandy sauce too.

spiced squash, fennel, and pear soup - French Friday's w/ Dorie

Cheese Squash

After missing making the duck in time to post on the FFWD site, I made sure to get this one done early. Sunday turned out to be a perfect day for it. My daughter and I were going to go for a hike to search for a geocache, but she decided she's rather go out and play with her neighborhood friends. I took a look at the next "assignment" and couldn't believe that the squash Dorie recommends using just happened to be sitting on my front steps. What were the chances a Long Island Cheese Squash happened to be the heirloom squash I took from the CSA a few weeks back?  I took the squash, carved off the top (with a saw from pumpkin carving) and scraped out the seeds and "guts". I roasted the cleaned squash, thinking I'd use it as the bowl to serve the soup.

I still needed the pears and fennel so took a trip to the farm. Unfortunately they didn't have any fennel this late in the season, but I did get some cute little Bosc pears. I actually had put fennel fronds and stems in the freezer, from a bulb this summer. I figured the stems would be ok for this. So I followed the recipe, sauteing the onions, fennel, ginger, etc. The squash didn't roast up as I thought it would. As you can see from the picture, the skin of a cheese squash is no where near as thick as a pumpkin. But it made it fairly easy to scoop out the flesh and add it to the other vegetables.

roasted Cheese Squash

I also started throwing out the water/juice from the cavity, but then realized I should add it to the soup. I put in about a cup of the juice, along with chicken broth.

We toasted the seeds, tossed with some curry powder. They were tasty and seemed to go with the cumin in the soup. I was really surprised to see cumin in the list of ingredients and am not sure I liked it. The other problem I had with the soup is the flavor was so dependent on the sweetness of the pears, fennel and squash, if any one of these weren't perfect, the flavor wouldn't hold up. I really don't think the vegetables I had were strong enough to give enough flavor to the soup. Obviously having a fennel bulb would have made all the difference, I'm sure. It wasn't bad, and was actually enjoyable, but it was too mellow for my taste, even with the lemon and pumpkin seeds. I froze what was left and am going to serve it at Thanksgiving. What I think I may do is saute or roast more pears and fennel to mix in. What may be neat is to puree the pears & fennel and swirl it in before serving.

 

Pics for french friday

Blini and pumpkin totam from langwater farms.

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