Week 4 of 2010

What remains from last week…basil, broccoli, parsley, scallions, and summer squash.

We got…

Basil, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cucumber, Head Lettuce, Kale, Scallions, Sugar Snap Peas, Summer Squash, Zucchini
Fruit – Cherries

My plans…

Beets
A Beets and Beet Greens Salad

Cabbage
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Lentil-Cabbage-and-Tomato-Dal-153240
You can substitute ground fenugreek with ground mustard.

Summer Squash and Zucchini
Pasta Salad with Shrimp
The recipe is in the current issue of Everyday Food. I find Martha Stewart magazines don’t publish their recipes on the web until the next issue is out.

Cucumber, Head Lettuce, Sugar Snap Peas, Cherries (well almost)
These are already gone.
Tuesday Menu: leftover Chicken Tikka Masala, Salad, Sugar Snap Peas, Cherries
Farm Share Produce: see above – just one of those weeks where lots of things looked good and got eaten up right after they came in the door

Freezing
The herbs are getting ahead of me, especially since they are also growing outside. I’ll probably freeze a bunch of those, the broccoli, and the kale.

Braised Kashmiri Greens

Dinner last night was a birthday celebration for our friend from Kashmir. Lots of fun and yummy food!

Monday Menu: Chicken Tikka Masala, Rice with toasted lentils and mustard seeds, Braised Kashmiri Greens, Naan
Farm Share Produce: Kale, Turnips Greens, Braising Mix

I still had that Kale and had been meaning to make Braised Tuscan Kale, but never got that far. I still also had the tops of the turnips and my braising mix to use, so the following recipe was a great dish to add to last night’s dinner. I used these two recipes to make the greens for last night.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Braised-Kashmiri-Greens-236820
http://www.seasonalchef.com/recipe1205f.htm#Braised

Braised Kashmiri Greens

6 cups of greens (kale, turnips greens, braising mix)
Olive oil, 1 – 2 turns of the pan
1/8 t asafetida
1 t cumin
½ medium onion, diced
2 t fresh ginger, minced
1 dried red chile, broken in half
Broth or water, ¼ - ½ cup
Salt and pepper

Discard any tough stems from the greens. Roughly chop any large leaves.

For tougher greens (kale, collards) boil a pot of water and cook for 3 – 5 minutes. Remove greens and reserve.

Heat oil in a skillet. Add asafetida, cumin, onion, ginger, and chile. Cook on medium high heat until onions start to turn translucent. Add tougher greens and broth. Bring to a boil. Simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Add tender greens (turnip greens, radish greens, chard, braising mix) and simmer an additional 20 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

NOTE: asafetida is available in Asian grocery stores. This website http://www.allfoodsnatural.com/condiments/spices/313-asafoetida.html
Suggests substituting ¼ t asafetida for ¼ t garlic powder + ¼ t onion powder

Pan Seared Arrowhead Cabbage

Friday Menu: Lemon Cilantro Shrimp over Pasta, Pan Seared Arrowhead Cabbage
Farm Share Produce: Arrowhead Cabbage, Cilantro

Pan Seared Arrowhead Cabbage
Inspired by this idea in Food Network Magazine
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/garlicky-bok-choy-recipe2/index.html?nl=ROTD_030310_9

I had read that arrowhead cabbage is very tender. I thought this bok choy idea would work well with it. Simple and tasty, I really enjoyed it.

½ head arrowhead cabbage, chop in half again
2 T peanut oil
Salt, crushed red pepper to taste
1 t minced fresh ginger
2 t green garlic or 2 cloves garlic minced

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add salt, crushed red pepper, ginger and garlic. Cook until garlic starts to brown. Add cabbage and partially cover with lid. Allow to steam on medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Uncover, allow to cook an additional 1 – 2 minutes to add color to cabbage. Turn cabbage to brown on the other side, another 1-2 minutes.

The Lemon Cilantro Shrimp was just a little too bitter. It is now time to admit one of my cooking aversions. I don’t buy a whole lot of fresh lemons. I don’t enjoy juicing them, too many seeds. I love lemon zest, but hate when I have a lemon zested in the fridge and forget to juice it or juice a lemon but don’t need zest right then and feel as though I let something go to waste. I know, just get OVER IT! Recently I came upon dried lemon zest that you rehydrate, I thought now this is the ingredient for me. Too bitter! Doesn’t work. I learned this last night, but I wasn’t about to zest 6 lemons. This is what the recipe calls for and so I thought it the perfect time to try my dehydrated lemon zest. This is the recipe I worked from, just not a success at our house.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/lemon-and-cilantro-shrimp/Detail.aspx

Roasted Garbanzo Beans and Garlic with Swiss Chard

I was supposed to go to a pot luck last night and started making this dish early in the day. Then the pot luck got cancelled and dinner became the swiss chard dish and whatever else was in the fridge.

The Garbanzo Beans with Swiss Chard makes a perfect pot luck or party dish because you can roast the beans up to a day in advance and the swiss chard can be prepared up to 2 hours in advance. The whole thing just needs to come together and be warmed through right before the party starts.

Thursday Menu: Roasted Garbanzo Beans and Garlic with Swiss Chard, Salad
Farm Share Produce: Swiss Chard, Salad Mix, Head Lettuce, Scallions

Roasted Garbanzo Beans and Garlic with Swiss Chard
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Garbanzo-Beans-and-Garlic-with-Swiss-Chard-241110

NOTE: I like to serve it in a party setting with Naan or Pita. I had only one bunch of swiss chard and easily halfed the recipe.

Strawberry Shortcake and another Stir Fry

Dinner was okay last night. I adapted the recipe to use up items in the fridge and it turned out to just be okay. BUT dessert with our strawberries from the farm was loved by everyone.

My friend made this Strawberry Shortcake after we had gone picking a couple of weeks ago. Her husband said it was the best he’d ever had. I wasn’t so sure it was going to work out as I was preparing the shortcakes. I was remembering I am NOT a baker! They turned out okay, but not fluffy and they did not rise enough to allow me to split them like in the directions. My husband said he agreed they were the best, but asked if maybe my friend could make them and we would compare. The kids just thought the whole thing was fabulous!

Wednesday Menu: Stir-Fry with Turnips, Sugar Snap Peas and Chicken, Strawberry Shortcake
Farm Share Produce: Sugar Snap Peas, Turnips, Strawberries

Stir-Fry
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/scallop-and-snap-pea-stir-fry
Here is the link – I would try it again and definitely use scallops or shrimp. I think their sweetness would be balance the dish and be good. I used leftover grilled chicken and it dulled dish. I did add turnips and I think that would work with the original recipe. They need more cooking time, about 10 minutes total. Add the snap peas after 7 minutes.

Strawberry Shortcake
I’m writing it just like it’s in the cookbook, and the baker’s out there will have the best Strawberry Shortcake EVER!
From Baking Illustrated from the editor’s of Cook’s Illustrated Magazine

Fruit
8 cups strawberries (about 2 ½ pounds), hulled
6 T sugar

Shortcakes
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
5 T sugar
1 T baking powder
½ t salt
8 T (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ cup plus 1 T half and half or whole milk
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

2 cup Whipped Cream

For the Fruit: Place 3 cups of the hulled strawberries in a large bowl and crush. Slice the remaining 5 cups berries and stir into the crushed berries along with the sugar. Set the fruit aside to macerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
For the Shortcakes: Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the over to 425 degrees. In a food processor, pulse the flour, 3 T of sugar, the baking powder, and salt to combine. Scatter the butter pieces over and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 15 one second pulses. Transfer to a medium bowl.
Mix the beaten egg with the half and half in a measuring cup. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture. Combine with a rubber spatula until large clumps form. Turn the mixture onto a floured work surface and lightly knead until it comes together.
Use your fingertips to pat the dough into a 9x6 rectangle about ¾ inch thick, being careful not to overwork the dough. Flour a 2 ¾ inch biscuit cutter and cut out 6 rounds (You can use the scraps to cut out 1 or 2 more rounds). Place the rounds 1 inch apart on a small baking sheet, brush the tops with the beaten egg white, and sprinkle with the remaining 2 T sugar. (Dough rounds can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 hours before baking.)
Bake until the shortcakes are golden brown, 12 – 14 minutes. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and cool the cakes until warm, about 10 minutes.
Assembly: When the shortcakes have cooled slightly, split them in half. Place each cake bottom on a serving plate. Spoon a portion of the fruit and then a dollop of the whipped cream over each cake bottom. Cap with the cake top and serve.

Guesstimate Week 4

Week 4 Guess

Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cucumbers, Head Lettuce, Peas, Salad Mix, Scallions, Zucchini, Basil, Cilantro, Parsley

Fruit Share Guess

Strawberries

Please send me your favorite ideas and recipes for these items in the comments or e-mail me at purplecook8@gmail.com

Week 3 of 2010

What remains from last week….kale and turnips.

We got…

Arrowhead Cabbage, Braising Mix, Broccoli, Head Lettuce, Salad Mix, Scallions, Sugar Snap Peas, Summer Squash, Swiss Chard, Zucchini, Basil, Cilantro, Parsley.
Fruit arrived this week! We got Strawberries.

My plans…

Arrowhead Cabbage
I had not seen this variety before. The chat on the web says it is very tender and buttery. I plan to treat a little like bok choi – sauté it in peanut oil with a little garlic, salt and pepper.

Braising Mix
Either this
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Braised-Kashmiri-Greens-236820 or http://thespicedlife.blogspot.com/2010/03/balsamic-glazed-orange-roughy-with.html - the mustard greens part

Sugar Snap Peas and Turnips
Make a version of this Stir-Fry
http://everydayfoodblog.marthastewart.com/2010/06/todays-recipe-scallop-and-snap-pea-stir-fry.html

Swiss Chard
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Garbanzo-Beans-and-Garlic-with-Swiss-Chard-241110

Cilantro
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/lemon-and-cilantro-shrimp/Detail.aspx

Strawberries
Strawberry Shortcake

Storage Info for this week’s produce
Remember this boring post I did about zones in the refrigerator
http://purplecook.blogspot.com/2010/06/maintaining-freshness-and-storing-csa.html
Here is where Cook’s Illustrated JUL/AUG 08 suggests storing…

Berries and Peas – the front of the fridge
Broccoli, Cabbage, Herbs, Leafy Greens, Scallions, Summer Squash, Zucchini - crisper