Grilled Tomato Bruschetta

Picking up our share last week, I was disappointed to find that we were short on pluots and peaches.  I was immediately buoyed by finding out that we had received extra heirloom tomatoes, and our benevolent CSA coordinator gave me a bunch of bonus heirlooms instead of the stone fruit.  Having been mildly overloaded with peaches, plums, etc. the past month or two, this was a very welcome development.  

I knew right away what I wanted to do with some of these - grilled tomato bruschetta. 

I'm admittedly an admirer of Martha Stewart, or at least her recipes.  I don't really know much about her decorating, empire-building, etc., but she seems to know what she's doing. 

Here's what you'll need for this recipe:

• about 1.5 pounds (heirloom) tomatoes cored and halved
• 2-4 slices of italian bread, sliced THICK
• olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced (leftover from last week's CSA)
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (we got CSA basil this week and it is fantastic)

While it is good to have tomatoes of a consistent size, it isn't necessary.  Core and halve tomatoes, then toss with a good amount of salt and pepper with a tablespoon of olive oil.

Heat grill to medium-high, oil the grates, and put the tomatoes on.

Grill for about 5-10 minutes per side, or 5-7 for smaller tomatoes.

Remove from grill to a medium bowl, and allow to cool while you brush the bread on both sides with a generous amount of olive oil.  Add the garlic and red wine vinegar to the tomatoes.

The tomatoes will still give off a fair amount of liquid.  This is OK, just don't spoon ALL of it onto the bread when you finish.  Some of the liquid is good, and will soak into the toasted bread nicely.  As the tomatoes cool, grill the bread for 2 minutes per side.  When the tomatoes are somewhat cooled, cut into smaller pieces with scissors.

When the bread is done, spoon tomato mixture on top and then top with basil.  The flavor is greatly enhanced over regular bruschetta - the heat of the grill caramelizes some of the sugars in the sweet heirlooms, and the grilled bread is crusty on the outside and warm and soft inside.  Fresh basil is also a must.  

I can't recommend this enough.  Enjoy!

Prettier photo from www.marthastewart.com:

Penne with Basil and Heirloom Tomatoes

In trying to refine and improve my postings, I am going to start posting the ingredients and prep on top, which should make the recipes a little more user friendly.  I'm also going to continue using my better camera and actually editing the photos, which should result in better depictions of the finished product:

This recipe features a lot of farm share ingredients: tomatoes, basil, onions, and garlic.  Here is what you'll need for this recipe:

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, slivered
• 2-3 small onions, or 1 large onion, slivered
• 4-6 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped (i used 4 small to medium sized, with about 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes)
• 1 cup green olives, rinsed and coursely chopped
• 1/3 cup grated parm
• 2-4 mild italian chicken sausages, cooked (optional - omit to make this vegetarian)
• 1 pound whole wheat penne, just slightly undercooked
• 1/2 cup of fresh basil, torn

Get everything prepared and ready to go before you start cooking - it will make the process go much smoother. Think of the 7 P's: proper prep prevents piss-poor performance.  That being said, you can cook the pasta as you make the sauce (just get the water boiling as you chop everything up).

The farm share tomatoes are gorgeous - the assorted cherry tomatoes are very, very sweet and I think the orange ones have a ton of flavor with less acidity than their red brethren.  Anyway, heat the olive oil in a large skillet, and add the garlic.  Cook for about 10 seconds on medium high, then add the onion.  Add about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.

Cook until onions are softened, but not mushy.  Then add the olives and the sausage (if using).

Saute until sausage is warmed, then add the tomatoes.

Cook until the tomatoes release some liquid, and a little of that liquid cooks off.  Turn the heat down to medium low, and add the penne and stir to combine (you use a large pan/skillet for this).

Add the parm and stir it in - this will thicken the sauce and help the tomato flavor stick to the noodles.  Finally, turn off the heat and stir in the basil.  It should wilt down a good amount.  Taste, and adjust seasoning.  I held back on the salt because of the salt in the sausage and olives, but it was rather flat initially.  A little more salt and pepper really made the flavors of the tomatoes and basil jump out.  I really wouldn't change anything about this, I'm very happy with how it turned out.  I think it would be just as good w/out the sausage.  This would be great with an earthy pinot noir or a chianti.  Enjoy!

Week 11 Haul

I just got back from a week home in Michigan, luckily in time to pick up this week's share.  Unfortunately, I totally missed last week's; the friends with whom we share our share got our half.  

This week's stuff looks fantastic - we've finally started getting substantial amounts of tomatoes.  I'm going to try to up my game with photography for this site... Tonight marks the start of using my digital SLR instead of my point and shoot.  I don't have a macro lens, but I'm hoping one of the lenses I have will work well enough:

Here we go, clockwise from bottom left: Japanese eggplant, donut peaches, white peaches, other peaches, plums, mixed beans, apples, red and orange tomatoes, garlic, onions, huge zucchini, grape tomatoes, thai basil, basil, bell peppers, sweet frying peppers, and a red serrano pepper (usually these are green, but I grabbed the red one...I assume it is riper and sweeter than the green ones).

And, because they are so weird looking and perfectly named, a close up of our donut peaches:

I really haven't figured out what to do with these, save eating them straight.  That seems to be working, though.  I'm open to any other suggestions.  

Not sure what will come of everything this week, but I think think peppers stuffed with turkey sausage and shredded zucchini, grilled peaches (new apartment has grills on the roof), and something featuring these tomatoes prominently.  

Using Eggplant - Eggplant Parm!

If you can't tell by now, way too many of my recipes come from Saveur.  This is true of this entry, eggplant parmesan.  I more or less followed the recipe.  I'm really not a big eggplant fan, but breaded fried, and covered in tomato sauce loaded with fresh mint and basil?  Yes, please.  For the record, this recipe uses CSA eggplant, mint, basil, and garlic.

Starting with a medium to large eggplant, peel and cut into 1/3 to 1/2 inch slices.  Prepare a flour/eggwash/breadcrumbs station - it is good to have some room to spread out here.

I'm pretty glad to have moved into a new apartment a week ago with a much larger kitchen... We'll see if my postings get more ambitious accordingly.  Flour --> eggwash --> breadcrumb all of the eggplant slices.  I used panko breadcrumbs, which worked nicely.  Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking, and cook the eggplant in batches, not crowding the skillet.  Give it about 2.5-3 minutes per side.

Cool on a cooling rack over paper towel.  While this is going on, cook the sauce as specified in the recipe.  I made the sauce as called for, but with a small handful of fresh CSA basil and mint added in at the end, stirred in right before it comes off the head.  Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a large pyrex baking dish, then  layer the browned eggplant slices on top of the sauce.  Cover the eggplant with more sauce, then some greated parmesan-reggiano, and finally with grated provolone or mozzarella, whichever you like \

Bake for 20 minutes at 375 or until cheese is melted and a little browned and sauce is bubbling, let cool for a couple minutes, and serve with pasta and a salad.

Shakshuka!!!

A dish I enjoyed making even before my trip to Israel is shakshuka, which is eggs poached in tomato sauce.  Terrible renditions of this showed up at kibbutz dining halls for breakfast pretty often while I was there, with the eggs cooked solid over flavorless tomato sauce.  As bad as this sounds, when it is well made, there aren't any egg dishes I like more.

The one great rendition I had was at Dr. Shakshuka, an institution in Jaffa - the port city adjacent to Tel Aviv.  We had about 90 minutes of free time, and while it might have been well spent wandering the shuk looking for souveniers, I spent it having one of the best meals I've ever had with some great people.  We ordered the special, which we thought was going to be shakshuka and some salads.  This was the case for the first 45 minutes or so; perfectly cooked, runny eggs sitting on top of flavorful tomato sauce with big chunks of fresh tomato served with huge loaves of crusty bread, followed half a dozen different fresh salads.  One had a great lemon dressing over mixed greens, another was like a slightly less spicy kimchi.  I wish I had the right lens on my camera to have taken some good photos.

Anyway, the eggs and salads were followed by like 5 different meat and fish courses, which we weren't exactly expecting.  They were all very different, and all very delicious.  There was a beef stuffed cabbage dish, a delicately poached (I think) piece of white fish over a spicy red sauce, and what seemed kind of like a mixed grill with homemade merguez sausages.

Anyway, great shakshuka is attainable with basic pantry ingredients and it makes an excellent brunch, lunch, or dinner that is a nice departure from the norm.  It's also vegetarian, cheap, and easy to make.  I use a non-stick 12-inch skillet with a lid for this.

I really just follow this recipe exactly, so I'll go light on details. Basically, sautee onions (1 small chopped) and hot peppers (3 farm share - 2 jalepenos and 1 serrano) until softened, then add 1 tablespoon paprika and 1 teaspoon cumin.

Cook another couple minutes, until garlic is softened.  Open a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes, and crush them a little with your hand as you add them to the pan.

Allow to cook down for about 20 minutes, then crack as many eggs as you would like in an even distribution over the tomato sauce.  Cover, and cook over medium for 4-5 minutes or until the whites are cooked.  Spoon sauce over edges of whites as they finish cooking.

While not super-traditional, or so I understand, top with a tablespoon or two of chopped parsley and about 1/4 cup of crumbled feta if so inclined.

Serve with warmed pita or crusty bread, and enjoy!

Peach Pork Chops with Tomato/Cucumber Pearl Couscous

I really like using sweet fruits in savory applications, and to me, fresh peaches seem to cry out to be paired with pork.  I picked up 4 thin cut (or "quick fry") pork chops, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and seared them in a heavy, hot skillet (avoid both non-stick and cast iron for this) for about 3 minutes per side (or until cooked through).  Set aside, and tent with foil.

Deglaze skillet with wine of your choosing (I used about 1/2 a cup of a rose I had open and around), and add 1/2 a red onion and 1/2 a bell pepper (both chopped) with a couple cloves or garlic and chile of your choosing if you like a little heat (both finely chopped).  I used a red fresno, the most versatile hot chile to cook with, in my opinion.  Cook over medium heat until everything is softened. 

As the onions and peppers cook, drop 3 peaches into boiling water for about 20-30 seconds, and then remove to an ice-water bath.  The skins of the peaches should run right off.  Remove them, cut in half to remove pits, and chop into about 3/4 inch cubes give or take.  Add to the skillet once the onions and peppers are softened, but not mushy.  

Cook until peaches soften up a little, then finish with a small splash of red wine vinegar to liven up the flavors a little.  Spoon over chops and serve -

The couscous is about as simple as it gets:

• cook some pearl couscous, and allow to cool
• chop up peeled and seeded cucumbers (we had lots of CSA ones around)
• chop tomatoes
• finely chop some parsley and mint
• toss couscous with herbs, vegetables, and a couple tablespoons of olive oil
• add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste

Serve at room temp or chilled (can be made ahead of time).  This goes really well with just about anything, and it is very light and summary.  It is basically tabooleh flavors with pearl couscous.  Enjoy!

Spice Rubbed Flap Steak with Za'atar Summer Squash and Pereg Mix Rice

On my last day in Israel, I had about two and a half hours of free time to explore Ben Yahuda Street and the Shuk (market).  I spent a good deal of time trying to find gifts for my family and girlfriend, but I was able to do a little shopping for myself.  I came across a beautiful, small spice vendor in the shuk, with huge mounds of fragrant, colorful spices.  I picked up some hot paprika and za'atar, but also some bulk dried fruit and vegetable mixtures to put in rice.  They are made by Pereg Gourmet Spices, and you can actually buy them online here.

I also got a spicy rub for grilled meat, but I don't know exactly what it is.  It's a rich red color, kind of smokey and spicy, and it was actually too course to use without grinding it up some more in my spice/coffee grinder (I recommend having a cheap blade coffee grinder dedicated to grinding whole spices) -

I rubbed this on a piece of locally sourced (somewhere in VA...I should pay closer attention) flap steak from WF, and broiled about 4 minutes per side.

The rice was just a couple cups of basmati rice cooked with a couple cups of the mix.  It's a pretty simple way to make rice a lot more interesting. 

I also roasted some CSA zucchini and squash and seasoned it with just salt, pepper, and a little za'atar.  Everything turned out well - I'm glad I picked up the rice mix (even if I can apparently order it in the U.S. and not have to worry about getting back through customs), and I will definitely keep my eyes open for flap steak going forward.  It is along the lines of hanger or skirt steak,and pretty similarly priced.

Bluefish with Basil Sauce and Japanese Eggplant with Green Beans and Thai Red Curry

The weekly haul from the CSA has really picked up in the past few weeks.  Combine that with me being out of town, and that means a backlog of veggies that need to be cooked.  I was very happy to find a few heads of fresh garlic waiting for me; I think fresh garlic has a sweetness that is not even closed to matched by most store-bought.  We also had a few bunches of basil, about a pint of mixed beans (green, wax, and some purple kind I've never seen before), and a lot of Japanese eggplant that needed to be used sooner rather than later.

I'm not a huge eggplant fan generally, but I think I now prefer the Japanese to conventional.  The long, slender shape allows it to simply be cut into quarters and stir fried, as in this recipe for Japanese Eggplant with Haricot Verts and Thai Red Curry.  To adapt this for farm share ingredients, specifically normal sized beans and not haricot verts, I just added the beans about 30 seconds after the eggplant and not the whole 2-3 minutes.  Here are the eggplant, beans, garlic, and ginger pre-prep:

I was in the mood for seafood, and wild caught bluefish for $9 a pound jumped out at me.  This is not the most delicate of fishes, but it holds up to high heat for quick cooking, and works with with a sauce.  It is also wild caught, which I like, and not at risk of being overfished anytime soon.  I've seen it on the menu at Tackle Box and Blue Ridge in DC, both affordable seafood spots that emphasize sustainability.

Anyway, I used a big clove of fresh CSA garlic and a head of CSA basil to make Broiled Bluefish with Basil Sauce.  The sauce couldn't be easier - just throw everything in a blender.

While this isn't necessarily in the same vein as miso/curry eggplant and green beans, the both worked well together.  I think some ginger could've been added to the basil sauce to bring them together a little more, but both were very fresh and delicious.  The miso/curry prep was great, and I want to use it again for other veggies.

Back From Israel - Ultimate Bagels and Lox

I got back from Israel late Thursday, and I am just now (Sunday evening) starting to feel rested and adjusted to this time zone.  I had a great time, and even picked up some ingredients at the Jerusalem market (or "Shook"): za'atar, hot paprika, a spicy meat rub, and some rice seasonings featuring dried fruits and vegetables.  I imagine some of these will be popping up in future postings.

I will also try to write a little more about the food there, but one thing that was great was the ever-present cucumber and tomato salad.  Unlike hummus, which I can't imagine eating again for months, I could not get tired of the great cucumbers and tomatoes grown in Israel and served with practically every meal.  I was happy to find our fridge full of farm share cucumbers when I got home, and a number of flawless, deep red tomatoes on our counter.

I had gone about 2 weeks without milk and meat in the same meal, so for brunch yesterday I felt like I wanted both on the same plate.  Bagels and lox are a quintessential Jewish-American breakfast/brunch (although not at all Israeli) - this was exactly what I wanted.

I don't think this really qualifies as a recipe, just a list of what I like on a bagel with lox:

• very thinly sliced red onion
• sliced tomato
• thick sliced cucumber (peeled and seeded if large)
• drained capers
• whipped cream cheese

Pile it on the toasted bagel of your choosing (I like everything, Meghan always goes with sesame), and enjoy.  I like to go capers and onion first (so that the cream cheese keeps the capers from rolling off), followed by tomato and cucumber, with the lox on top.  I don't think order really matters - it is hard to screw this up.

Swordfish Steaks Slathered with Tapenade

Tapenade is one of my absolute favorite things to make, and probably to eat.  I say make and not cook because, well, there really isn't any cooking involved.  It is definitely one of my go-to recipes if I am having people over for a non-sit down affair.  It goes great with wine and cheese, and is a fantastic use of fresh herbs if you have them lying around.  Over the past few weeks, we have gotten oregano, basil, and thyme from our CSA.  Incidentally, those are three key ingredients in Wolfgang Puck's tapenade, which is the recipe I always use.  When I have time, I'll oven dry tomatoes to put in (but that's another post).  When I don't, I just buy sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil.  For starters, this recipe is good served on fresh baguette or crostini:

You really want to just pulse the food processor until it chopped finely, but I like that you can still make out bits of fresh herbs, pieces of dried tomato, etc.  The capers, anchovies, and garlic really give it a lot of depth of flavor.  I tend to go light on the olive oil, and I like to rinse the olives before I add them.   I feel like it cuts down on salt and lets the herbs shine through.  Don't obsess on finding the right olives, just use some good ones that aren't from a can.

While tapanade is great on just about anything, I think its flavors work really well with swordfish steaks.  I bought a 14 oz steak for this recipe, which is a good amount for two people.  Meghan started this while I was at work by getting the fish in a quick marinade: about 4 TB olive oil and 2 TB balsalmic whisked together with couple crushed garlic gloves added.  The fish should have about 30 minutes in the marinade (flip it half way through), but no more.

I got a well seasoned cast iron skillet really hot, and then seared the fish for about 3-4 minutes on one side.  I then flipped it, and put it the pre-heated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or cooked until or liking.  I like swordfish about medium.  This oven temp is good for roasting sliced summer squash and zucchini (which we got from the CSA again...these things must grow like weeds), and the 10 minutes is about all they took.  Served everything on top of some plain couscous:

This ended up being one of my all-time favorite fish preps.  It is also super-easy if you make the tapenade ahead of time (it will keep in the fridge for at least a week).  There's something elementally good about the combination of swordfish and olives - these ingredients are meant to be with each other.  While I need to start doing more interesting stuff with the squash/zucchini, the timing worked really well with this fish prep.  On the other hand, one thing I like about summer squash is how simple it is to prepare in a pretty tasty manner.

That's about it... I really recommend you try making at least the tapenade if not the whole recipe.  For my regular readers (hi mom), I will probably only post one once or twice more before taking about 10 days off for a trip to Israel!  Not sure if I'll find a way to post from there (202 Kibbutz Review?), but hopefully I'll find a cool ingredient or two to bring back that can clear customs.

Buffalo Hanger Steak with Chimichurri

Hanger steak is one of my favorite cuts - it has tons of beefy flavor, and can be quite tender if it isn't overcooked.  I've heard that it gets its flavor from "hanging out" so to speak by the kidneys and other organs.  I'm not really a huge fan of offal meat, but if tasted like hanger steak I think I could get on board.  I've made beef hanger steak a number of times, but never buffalo.  If I'm cooking buffalo, it is usually in burger form.  In fact, I think turkey and buffalo burgers vastly outnumber the beef burgers consumed in this apartment.

Anyway, I wanted to make a special dinner, because yesterday we were celebrating our 5 year anniversary.  We both like buffalo, and we're both fans of hanger steak.  We finally decided to combine the two, and picked up a nice sized buffalo hanger steak at the Dupont Farmers Market (it probably weighed 1.3 pounds).  Like all un-butchered hanger steaks, there was a line of gristle running down the middle that had to be taken out.

Wanting a more summary prep, Meghan suggested a chimichurri sauce.  Having never actually made one before, we were able to pull up some recipes on my phone at the market.  While every recipe is different, one thing is universal for chimichurri - parsley, and lots of it.  Given the centrality of parsley in the sauce, we splurged and bought some really nice looking farmer's market parsley.  I think chimichurri sauce can pretty much be doctored according to taste; if you like more vinegar, add more vinegar.  If you like lots of garlic, add more garlic.

Here is how I made the sauce.  In a blender, combine:

• one bunch parsley, stems mostly trimmed
• 3 tablespoons packed fresh oregano - I used the rest of CSA oregano from a couple weeks back)
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 spring onion, green and white parts course chopped
• pinch of salt and pepper (adjust to taste)
• small pinch red pepper flakes

Transfer to a bowl, and stir in about 1/2 cup of olive oil and a 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar (I used sherry).

I marinated the steak in about 1/2 of the sauce for 2-3 hours, and set the rest aside.  I then seared it in a very, very hot cast iron skillet for about 5 minutes per side.  Unfortunately, this took it a little past medium rare.  The steak came out somewhere between medium rare and medium, and ended up a little tough.  Beef hanger steak really can't be cooked past medium rare, and I think the possible toughness is exaggerated with buffalo. The taste was great, and the texture was still passable.

On the side, I roasted some red young potatoes tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper at about 400 degrees for maybe 20-25 minutes.  They were small, so they cooked quickly.  When they came out, I tossed them with some CSA thyme, and topped with more chimichurri.

Finally, I cooked a big pack of trimmed, washed mustard greens.  One thing I really like is that Whole Foods has started carrying a number of varieties of pre-cut, washed greens - collards, mustard greens, beet greens, different mixes.  These are great for weeknight dinners, they save a lot of time and are just as healthy as the huge bunches you'd buy otherwise.  Anyway, I sauteed 3 garlic cloves, chopped coursely, in olive oil until they got blonde.  I then dumped in the greens, and added a cup of homemade vegetable broth.  Then, I covered and cooked for about 6 minutes over medium heat, until most of the liquid was absorbed.  I think cooked uncovered for a minute or two.  These turned out brilliantly; I think the veggie broth was really the key.  I load my broth up with lots of carrots, celery, onions, a parm rind, etc. and it usually turns out pretty dark and with some nice sweetness.  This really mellowed out the flavor of the mustard greens, which can be pungent and even a little bitter.

All in all, everything turned out pretty great:

"Fine Wein" pairing suggestion... We had this with a bottle of wine we'd been saving for a special occasion - a  Jordan Cambernet Sauvignon 2005.

We had tried this winery's cab about 4 years ago, when we went out to my favorite steakhouse in Boston: Grill 23.  It is owned by the same group that owned Excelsior, a really nice high-end place that looked out over the South side of the Common.  Excelsior is no longer in existence, but it is where Meghan and I went out the evening we kind of decided to get serious - five years ago yesterday.  Anyway, we'd been searching for this wine for a while.  When it turned up at Costco for a pretty reasonable price a few months ago, I picked up the bottle.  The pairing was perfect; for a cabernet it is complex, mild, and full of fruit flavors. Buffalo is leaner than beef, and a bigger, ballsier cabernet full of tannins was not what we were looking for here.  I really would recommend this with any lean red meat - it is delightful.  I also claimed credit for picking a wine that was bottled the year we started dating.  This was obviously completely intentional.  

In Praise of the Everona Dairy

I am a huge fan of the Dupont Farmer's Market, which is open Sundays from 9-1 in the summer (and 10-1 in the winter).  One of the reason's I love it is the presence of the Everona Dairy every week.  Their sheep's milk cheese is fantastic - they usually have like 5 or more different varieties every week.  This week we picked up a piece of cracked pepper, which is delicious with a nice, peppery flavor without being overbearing.

Today is Meghan's and my 5th anniversary (if you count dating anniversaries, which it appears we do).  We both enjoy a good breakfast sandwich, whether it is from Dunkin Donuts or a high-brow take prepared with ingredients from the market.  We went with the latter today.

I sliced a few thin pieces of the black pepper cheese, put it on pieces of a halved baguette, and toasted it in the oven for about 7 minutes.  While this was happening, I seared a few thin slices of Everona's Lamb Summer Sausage, and fried two eggs.  I put a layer of the sausage on each baguette, and topped with the fried egg (runny of course).  It made for a great brunch served alongside some CSA blueberries (and other-sourced melon).

And after a few bites with the egg running everywhere:

Asian Swiss Chard with Shrimp

One of the ingredients I was most excited to get this week was rainbow chard.  I love how colorful rainbow chard is, and compared to other greens such as collards or kale, chard cooks super quickly and the stems are great to eat.  Just cut the stems off of the leaves, chop the stems, and cut the leaves into 1 inch ribbons.

Th recipe is based on a Martha Stewart recipe for swiss chard.  I cooked about a pound of shrimp first - pulled off the tails, seasoned with salt and pepper, and cooked on high heat with a little peanut oil.  I then removed them from the heat and set aside.

I minced 2 cloves of garlic, a thumb-sized piece of ginger, and a CSA spring onion.  Finally, against my better judgment, I cut a jalapeno into rings (and didn't really separate out the seeds...more on this later).  I sauteed the aromatics in about a tablespoon of peanut oil (which I like for asian cooking) for about 30 seconds on medium high heat, at which point I added the chopped chard stems.  I love cooking with chiles, and I love hot food.  But let me tell you, if you don't remove the seeds from the peppers, you'll be somewhat uncomfortable.  It wasn't so much my eyes as my lungs - I was coughing entirely too much while the aromatics cooked.  Anyway, if you make this recipe (or anything with hot peppers), it will be much smoother sailing if you just use the flesh of the peppers and not the stems/seeds.

At this point, just cook until the chard is tender but not soft.  Add the chard leaves, and cook until slightly wilted.  Then, add the cooked shrimp, and if you're so inclined, a tablespoon or so of hoisin sauce.  Stir until evenly coated and the shrimp is warm.

Everything was cooked well; cooking the shrimp separately first, and then adding the chard stems before leaves allows you the chance to cook everything to the doneness required of each ingredient.  The final produce ended up too spicy and too saucy.  If I could do this over again, I would have gone a totally different direction; just spring onion and a little garlic for aromatics, and I would have used a little lemon or lime juice instead of the hoisin.  Meghan, who can eat most hot salsas without any problems, didn't have more than a bite or two of this dish.  It really does boil down to the seeds - I've made a similar dish with probably twice as much hot pepper which had just been stemmed and seeded.

Here's the final product, served with some caramelized onion quinoa and topped with the green parts of some CSA spring onions:

Fresh lime juice squeezed on at the end cooled of some of the burn, but not enough really.  Oh well, I guess you can't win 'em all (as the USA soccer team showed us yesterday)... I just hope we get more chard.

CSA Week 4 Haul

I didn't manage to get a shot of what we got last week up, but I wanted to be sure I didn't miss week 4.  As best as I can tell, we are past lettuce season and heading into summer produce.  Here is this week's haul:

Roughly, from left to right, we got: cucumbers, beets with greens, rainbow swiss chard, blueberries, summer squash (including pattypan), peaches, english peas, dill, basil, zucchini, some yellow squash (not sure what kind), broccoli, cauliflower, and spring onions.  We kept the chard and basil and gave the beets and dill to our friends that we're splitting the CSA with.  Everything else we split down the middle.

I'd say this is probably the most impressive week of produce yet.  I've already used the chard (recipe to follow), and I just roasted the broccoli with a little parm on top.  The blueberries are great, and I'm looking forward to having them on top of some homemade ice cream... Meghan got me an ice cream maker as an anniversary present, so I can see a lot of fruit this summer going on top of or in ice cream.  

Iceberg Lettuce Chopped Salad

This recipe is adapted from a Jamie Oliver Chopped Salad recipe - available here.  I used a head of CSA iceberg lettuce instead of the suggested butterhead, and added the white meat from the roasted chicken I made a couple days ago.  I also couldn't find english mustard at Whole Foods, so I just used dijon.  For the sprouts, I used broccoli sprouts because 1) I like their flavor, and 2) they seem to last longer than other microsprouts.  Finally, because they were around, I threw in a couple chopped tomatoes which added some color.  Here is the result:

I feel like I keep using the same adjectives for the recipes I've been making: light, delicate, fresh, etc.  I think it is because of the ingredients I've been using as much as my lack of vocabulary.  Anyway, this salad turned out fantastically, and I will definitely make it again.  The red wine vinagrette was great, and I look forward to making it with an english mustard.  The iceberg lettuce feels almost like a guilty pleasure - dark greens are obviously more healthy and Romaine is about as light as I go for salad greens.  Maybe it is the common pairing with bleu cheese and bacon with a wedge that connotes a lack of healthiness, but there was something strangely indulgent yet still refreshing about a big iceberg salad.  One last thing - if you choose to add chicken, cook it ahead of time so it has time to cool.

Roast Lemon and Thyme Chicken with Squash and Zucchini

Tonight I really wanted to try a roast chicken recipe out of a new Jamie Oliver cookbook, which I recently received as a gift.  I don't know much about Jamie Oliver, other than that he's British and recently tried to teach some mining town to eat food without corn syrup or something along those lines.  Anyway, I didn't really check the cooking time when I chose to make the recipe this week, and I was somewhat surprised that the roasting time was an hour and 20 minutes.  Having walked in the door to the apartment at about 8:30, this prep was out of the question.

I took apart the chicken, something I've gotten pretty decent at doing, and tossed the back and wing tips into the freezer to make stock.  As Alton Brown would say, "but that's another show."  I then started looking for lemon and thyme chicken recipes online (if you do this in the opposite order it saves you a hand washing).  My instinct was to just make a thyme and oregano butter and put it under the skin and roast away.  I probably should have done this, but I figured that if I just found a recipe I could post the link and I'd have to write less.

Two paragraphs later, this is obviously not shaping up as I had planned.  Here is the recipe I used, let's call it Roast Chicken with Lemon and Thyme.  I threw in some extra garlic and some oregano from what I believe was the first week's share, and just used an entire chicken worth of parts instead of just dark meat.  To try to keep the cooking times around the same, I took apart the thighs from the legs, but left the wings on the breasts (white meat cooks faster than dark).  This actually worked well.

During the last 5 minutes of cooking, I threw some 1/3 inch slices of farm share squash and zucchini tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper spread out on a baking sheet.  The high heat didn't turn the thicker pieces soggy, but I had to be careful to get them out after only 5-6 minutes.  I served it with some boxed pearl basil and herb couscous, which was overly salty (like most packaged everything).

This turned out decently... The chicken was kind of oily.  I should have finished it under the broiler to brown it a little more, and it probably could have benefited from being drained on paper towel or patted off.  The flavor was pretty mild, but it was good chicken so I think this was OK.  I'm not going to rush to make this again, although it was a pretty good use of farm share thyme and oregano, and the zucchini and squash turned out really well.  I'm hoping we get more pattypan squash soon!

Weekend Brunch - Scrambled Eggs Dragged through the Garden

I'm generally a fan of having brunch at home on the weekends.  I'm not big on sweet breakfast stuff, and I think good eggs are pretty easy to make.  Yesterday, I realized we still had a fair amount of produce from last week's share, and it was all still fresh enough to use 9 days later (a benefit of getting fruits and vegetables that were picked that morning).  I essentially made scrambled eggs with spinach, spring onions, garlic scapes, ham, and tomatoes.  I think this is best described as scambled eggs dragged through the garden.  "Dragged though the garden" is the only way to order a hot dog in Chicago; it has tomatoes, relish, a dill pickle, hot peppers, celery salt, onions, and tomatoes.  While these eggs don't have all of that in there, there's a healthy amount of veggies.

First, saute a couple chopped garlic scapes and spring onions (bulbs and green parts) in 1/2 tablespoon of butter.  Season with salt and pepper, and cook until they soften but before they brown.

Add 1-2 chopped tomatoes, and cook over medium high until most of the liquid from the tomatoes cooks off.

Keep over medium high heat, and add 1/2 a bunch of fresh spinach, washed and spun dry with stems trimmed.  Cook until it starts to wilt a little.  Add 5-6 eggs that have been beaten with a tablespoon or two of milk, a pinch of salt, and a dash of the hot sauce of your choosing (if you like it a little spicy).  If you want, you can sear a couple pieces of ham in another skillet, cut into thin strips, and stir in towards the end of cooking the eggs.  Stir occasionally throughout cooking until the eggs are cooked to your liking, and serve with toast, fruit, whatever you like.  Enjoy!