Featherstone Farm Cookbook

We used our Featherstone cookbook to find recipes to use up our Featherstone veggies!  Yeah winter CSA share.

Our new veggie for 2010 - tatsoi.  It's a green and we loved it stir-fried with some onion, a bit of broccoli (for crunch), sesame oil, and soy sauce, & topped with toasted sesame seeds.  The nuts are something we've started to add to our veggie sides thanks to Meryl and Casey.

In addition to the tatsoi, we made rosemary lamb chops under the broiler.  Both turned out pretty good and it was a super-fast dinner.

Squash Galore

Lane and I went to the Kingfield Farmer's Market on Sunday and took back the last of the boxes to Tiny Planet.  Andrea and Ben sent us home with a red kuri squash and then another 10+ lb bag of various squash for hosting the drop site. 

Needless to say, we're set on the squash front for some time now.   :)

-----
Things still from the CSA:  (amazingly) spinach, potatoes, & a carnival squash

Frittata

We still have quite a bit of CSA foodstuffs, but surprisingly 90% of our dinner tonight was from the garden - picked fresh!!!

Unlike Emily, we don't care for the turnips.  I'm sure ours will stay in the fridge until they shrivel into tiny balls.  Or we say fuck it and blend them in small portions with potatoes again (they were tolerable that way).

We made a frittata tonight, our first ever.  I told Lane we might be making more of them since it doesn't require the crust and therefore a bit healthier for us, and faster. 

• duck eggs from the co-op
• taters from the CSA
• swiss chard, kale, leeks, garlic, and red peppers from our garden
• CSA provolone to top it off

Recipe we loosely based ours off of.  Timing was a lot shorter on the stove, but the oven time was pretty spot on.  It was so pretty (rainbow brite-like) on the stove:

Not gone yet...

This week I still used potatoes and turnips and onions from the box. Have both turnips and onions left as well. It's been so convenient these last few months to just open the crisper to find veggies for dinner. Last night, it went like this:

Pat: What's our vegetable tonight?
Me: What's in the drawer?
Pat: Turnips, broccoli (from the FM), one leek (also from FM)
Me: Well, we had broccoli last night...
Pat: Turnips? [sigh]
Me: The sooner we eat them, the sooner they'll be gone.
Pat: Okay...

He is not overly fond of them (I like them just fine), but he'll eat almost anything I cook for him. Last night, I sliced them thin, boiled them long enough to soften without mushing, and served with butter and shallot salt (my new spice from Penzey's, which I am putting on everything). We also had pork chops and brown rice. Yums.

Also, for the record, I'm pretty sure I have decided to not join the CSA for next year. Despite my happiness with it this year and the fact that I now have a chest freezer, I think it will just be overwhelming. I see myself going to the market, with my baby strapped on my person, and only buying the things I want to cook and know how to cook. I don't want to feel the guilt I felt this year, composting maybe 20% of my produce. Yes, that's a high estimation, but there were weeks when it had to come close. It was a great experience, and I'm sure I'll do it again someday. Just not when I have a newborn :-).

Dinner, Fall Style

(Excuse our super-dark dining room)

Cider roasted chicken, mashed cauliflower, and bread.  Apple pie for dessert.

The Last CSA Box Dwindles...

Savory Pancakes: vegan chipotle sausage, purple onion*, garden jalapeño (we had okonomiyaki sauce with these, but I didn't think it was the best fit)

Greens: swiss chard*, garden kale, gomasio

Turnips: roasted in peanut oil and salt

Is this our last week for the CSA boxes?

I can't remember, and can't seem to find the info...

cross posted: a not-so-vegetarian stew

When we were little, my mother used to make us beef stew, and I loved it. I'd been waiting to make a stew like this for me and the husband, but something had always stopped me--his pickiness, my inability to dedicate three hours in the kitchen to dinner. But now, the soup is on the stove, simmering for later, and I have a recipe to share with you, from March Cooking Light:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon butter, divided
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 5 cups chopped onion (about 3 onions)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1 (11.2-ounce) bottle Guinness Draught
• 1 tablespoon raisins
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices carrot (about 8 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices parsnip (about 8 ounces)
• 1 cup (1/2-inch) cubed peeled turnip (about 8 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons butter to pan. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt; dredge beef in flour. Add half of beef to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan with a slotted spoon. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, and beef.

2. Add onion to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and beer, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return meat to pan. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, raisins, caraway seeds, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil. Cook 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrot, parsnip, and turnip. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.

(Ryan said, "Look, I cut you an alligator tail!)

I omitted the parsnip and turnip and replaced those with celery and potatoes from our CSA. We also used onions from our CSA and instead of tomato paste, I only had diced tomatoes, so I replaced that as well. Oh, and we only had vegetable oil, so I used that instead of canola, though I know canola is healthier.

We don't have a Dutch oven, though I suppose we ought to add it to our holiday wish list as we've had to maneuver before; instead, we used our copper pots, which are much-abused and very loved and part of our wedding loot.

I love any time we can be a team in the kitchen. I usually stare at the recipe, blank-eyed, the onion-fumes and the pregnancy drawing pillow-and-down-comforter fantasies as I stir. He usually chops. And chops. And chops. And chop he did: two cups of carrots, a cup and a half or so of celery, the remaining russet potatoes, and five cups of onions. And I got to go to the liquor store--the first time since I got pregnant, I think. All those rows of cider and beer... Sigh.


A few recipe notes, post-feast: it's excellent the next day. And the next. And the next. Because it's enough to feed two families. Hungry families.

I would have cut down on the celery as it's a very prominent flavor and put all the vegetables in earlier than 40 minutes before consumption time, especially the potatoes. (Big surprise that my adaptation vegetables are the ones giving me the trouble in the recipe.) This used up a great amount of potatoes and onions we had from prior CSA boxes, as well as carrots and turnips (Meryl takes the turnips from our box, which is a good thing).

The stew has also come in handy for Ryan and myself: we're both struck with a nasty, nasty, nasty cold, and one knows how wonderful soup can be when one's temperature is unsteady, when everything is blurry and tiresome, and when one cannot stand up to cook in the kitchen. Reheated stew. Yum.

A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powder

In contrast to the goodness we get to eat every day -

A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powder - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

Kale Soup for Everyone

I've been holding onto this recipe for the longest time.  Now that we have an abundance of kale (and tomatoes), I made it for dinner.  All I can say is - yum.

Portuguese Kale Soup

It can easily be made vegan.  We used a bit of leftover andouille sausage and added corn.  The whole recipe makes tons, but its perfect to freeze for later.  We filled up our 8 quart soup pot.  With a large serving for both of us, we still have 2 lunch servings and at least 6 servings to freeze.

If anyone wants to take some kale on Thursday to make this, feel free to raid our plants. 

Bi-Color Dinner

Our dinner was Honey Ginger Carrots and steamed green beans with crumbled bacon.  That, and wine.  (Szechuan green beans would have been a better match, but our week+ old beans needed a little face lift before consuming)

I also made tabouli for lunch tomorrow to use up some of our cucumbers and tomatoes.

Even though we still have an abundance of summer squash, I feel as though we've made a serious dent on our veggie supply tonight!

The Corn...

is so fucking good!

storing summer herbs to savor in later seasons...

Just wanted to start a post on how everyone stores herbs.

The only herb I am very familiar with storing is basil, as I am italian and therefore I cook with basil a lot! I usually make a quick simple pesto with only basil, garlic, and olive oil. (easier to cook with, sometimes you might not want the cheese or nuts) Then you can freeze in ice cube trays, or what I like to do is put it into a ziplock bag, and lay it out flat to freeze, that way it makes a sheet that might be about 1/4 inch thick or so. Then it doesn't get any freezer burn, and you can just break off pieces of whatever size you desire. Plus, it sores flat on the bottom of an overcrowded freezer!

I froze last weeks dill into ice cube trays... I had read that if you use hot water, it helps the herbs retain their nice green color. I have yet to use it, but it still looks vibrant at least!

Now I am thinking of today's oregano that I know I may not get around to using for months... The sheet says to dry it, but I was wondering if anyone has frozen oregano like I did with the dill? Or maybe I should make an oregano-pesto to freeze? It would be nice to retain that fresh quality to use all winter... I already have plenty of dried oregano!

Deenuh Time!

1. Brown Rice

2. Sauteed Swiss Chard* (margarine, salt, red wine vinegar)

3. Roasted Purple Top Turnips (peanut oil, salt, sugar)

4. Black and Red Bean Salad (patty pan squash*, tomato, purplette onion*, sage*)

any clue what this is?

Quiche

Since we got a dozen eggs yesterday at Callister Farm in addition to the chicken, we had tons in our house.  Two dozen eggs at once either means Red Velvet Angel Food Cake or quiche.  Quiche was easier and could use up some kale in addition to the eggs.

I made up 2, each with a variation of this recipe. 


The first one had kale*, onions*, & garlic all sauteed together, then some fresh baby tomatoes*, swiss cheese, and the egg custard.  The second had the same kale, onion, and garlic mix, with a red bell pepper thrown in, cheese, and egg custard.

The egg custard I used was (per pie):

• 4 eggs
• ~1 C half & half
• dash of nutmeg
• ~1 1/2 T flour

The mushrooms at the corner store looked disappointing so I didn't use them, like we normally do.  

And I just realized why I couldn't find our pie pans!  I wasn't looking for glass, I was looking for metal.  So instead I used cake pans.  I'm sure they'll still turn out delish. 

* from the garden or the CSA

Green Things

Dinner, and dinner guest:

Slaw Recipe Repost

I discovered last night that when you search the blog, it doesn't search comments.  Which made it hard to find this recipe from Casey... that we used last night.

We put it on coleslaw and also used it as a stir-fry sauce on our veggies.  It was killer.

3 clove garlic
2 tbs ginger
1/2 c sesame/canola oil mixed
1/3 c soy sauce
3 tbs honey
1/3 c lime

Roughly chop garlic and ginger, then toss everything in the blender and you're done! (the honey needs to be warm to mix properly, and measurements are estimates)

Purple Top Turnips

Has anyone tried the caramelized turnip recipe from the CSA handout? I only noticed it after I had already cooked mine!

I have this new theory that every vegetable is delicious when slathered in toasted sesame oil, heavily salted, and roasted in the oven. With moderate success with beets and cauliflower I put it to the test on turnips.



Since Casey's baby arrived I'm been cooking veggie sides more than one-pot meals to bring her. Then she can combine them in different ways with different meals, sometimes adding on top of a salad, throwing into soup, etc. I wasn't watching the clock while I baked these, but I'm guessing it was at least 45 minutes.



Don't they look a lot like red potatoes? Well, they tasted just like... turnips. But they were good! The caramelizing recipe interests me because the sugar might tackle some of that bitterness. I'm happy that I did this though, because Shawn and I learned that we like turnips roasted as well as raw. And I got them out of the house before my mother arrives tonight who is steadfastly anti-turnip. Casey and Ardeshir have yet to weigh in...

Kingfield Farmers Market - Tiny Planet Produce

The write-up is from last year but its interesting to read some of the details behind the Certified Naturally Grown network.

Kingfield Farmers Market - Tiny Planet Produce

The standard is as rigorous as USDA Organic, governing input requirements, land use practices, soil fertility and crop nutrient management, seed and planting stock, crop rotation practices, and pest and disease standards. It does not allow for synthetic pesticides and fertilizers nor does it allow the planting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In fact, it goes beyond the USDA Organic standards because it randomly conducts pesticide residue tests on farmers’ products, which the USDA does not do.