Winning Produce

My most recent haul from the CSA brought in lots of  the usual goodies - tomatoes, Thai and Italian basils, zucchini, squash, eggplant, potatoes, garlic and peppers.  

This garlic really is phenomenal - I'm planning to roast a head of it to make some garlic butter - perhaps I'll freeze that to bring me the flavors in the winter.

This week also brought, of course, more peaches!  Every week I keep looking at them, thinking "I'll try a new recipe with the peaches this week."  And every week, I simply cut them up and eat them just as they are.  They've been wonderful with no additions at all.

This week I also got a few more tomatoes, and combined them with a couple more for a slow roast.  I simply cut them in half, sprinkled them with olive oil, salt, a little thyme and a smidgen of sugar and put them in a hot roasting oven.  Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express includes a recipe for what she calls "Moonblush Tomatoes" that she puts in a very hot oven right before bed, and then turns off the oven and leaves the tomatoes in the oven overnight as it cools.  I'm a fan of her methods, and while I toy with the ratios in her recipe, it offers a nice flavor profile.

These tomatoes are slightly roasted, and get just a bit wrinkly as the flavors are concentrated.  I love eating them on their own, but they also make great additions to salads, and are wonderful sauteed a bit and put over pasta.  This is just a generally fantastic way to enjoy some tomatoes!

This Week in the Bull Run Mountain CSA

This week was more fun, not only because I got more yummy, gorgeous produce, but also because I got several things I've never cooked with before - including one I've never even tried!

As with past weeks, the haul included more cucumbers, eggplant, squash and zucchini, all of which I am enjoying immensely. I also got more Thai and Italian basil. I've started freezing the basil, because I'm just getting too much of it, but I know I'll use it! Also included were more potatoes, and some teeny, tiny onions - the size of pearl onions. He pulled them early because the heat has done a number on their growth, but I can't wait to use them. There was also more garlic. This garlic is to die for...it's just so fantastic. I'm hoping to roast some this weekend (it should not be as hot, so having the oven on for an extended time is a more bearable concept) and making a garlicky compound butter.

Let's not forget the half dozen eggs...which are proliferating a bit. I need to do more baking, or more frittatas. Of course this week's fruit share was more peaches - if possible, these are even more gorgeous. I've been so lucky to be eating these peaches...I really am loving it!

New this week, and new in my kitchen (though not to my tastebuds) were mustard greens and tomatillos. I'm particularly interested to fiddle with the tomatillos!

And brand new in Amandaland this week - ground cherries! These are amazing little bits of goodness, wrapped in tissue-thin, papery skins that peel away to reveal golden fruits. The flavor is quite unique...a little pineapple, a little raisin, a little vanilla...almost intoxicating. I look forward to experimenting with them!

CSA Summer

This week, my camera battery died, and it was such a busy week I've just gotten a new one. So while I do not have pics of all the wonderful produce from this week, I have wonderful produce all the same.

This week we got more garlic, a beautiful and vibrant yellow zucchini, some lovely broccoli (if all broccoli were like this, I think I'd love broccoli!), more tomatoes and cucumbers, potatoes, arugula, a new green called Tokyo Bekana, and more Thai and Italian basil.

I also got my weekly egg share, and this week for fruit I got about a dozen beautiful and fragrant peaches. Again, they were so soft and tender they filled the car with the smell of nectar on the drive. Mmm....

Just Peachy

This week, the CSA email that came was the most exciting in a while - FRUIT IS STARTING!!!

I arrived to a line of folks, all excited about the produce. It smelled wonderful. I wandered through, grabbing my eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, garlic, broccoli, Italian basil and Thai basil. Then, over to the van...to get some lovely little tomatoes, and of course, I am still getting those beautiful, farm fresh eggs.

Most exciting, I got two Summer Mac apples and 11 (yes, 11!) peaches. These fruits are not huge, but boy are they pungent. The relatively short drive home filled my car with the sweet scent of fresh peaches. When I unpacked the bag, some of the peaches were so soft and juicy their nectar had run onto the basil, which made me ponder peach and basil as a combination...there is probably a good sorbet, or cocktail, or maybe both, in there!

I can't wait to peel, cut open and indulge in those peaches!

Mise en Place

It’s been so hot around here, I’m not even hungry every night. On days where I have a very late lunch, cooking doesn't always appeal. However, looking ahead to a busy few nights, I know I should at least make a few things…easier on myself for later in the week.

It’s a perfect time to chop, slice and process a few things…no cooking required!

My first stop – slicing up some veggies for use later in the week. I do not do this will ALL veggies, but some are just fine. In this instance, I took a few hot peppers and some garlic and sliced them, then chopped a few slices as well. This can be the basis of a dressing, or a spicy Thai-style dish, or generally anything I want to be spicy and pungent. If tomatoes magically appear in my world any time soon, this could go in my gazpacho too!

Next up, I had some lovely Italian basil, and some sprigs of Thai basil as well. While I can use Thai basil in those spicy dishes I mention, above, the Italian basil is begging to be made into pesto – especially since I finally found some pine nuts! I put the basil in the cuisinart mini-prep with some parmesan, some salt and freshly ground pepper, and some toasted pine nuts. This time, I toasted them in a skillet on the stovetop, but you can also toast them in the microwave too – they key, using either method, is to monitor them carefully to ensure they don’t burn.

After a few pulses of the cuisinart, I added a few glugs (yes, that’s a technical term) of olive oil, and whirred it again. I scraped it a few times, tasted, adjusted with salt and pepper, and added an additional dollop of oil. Voila…pesto!

I put it in a pyrex container with an airtight lid, topped with a little extra oil to maintain the freshness, and it’s in the fridge, waiting for use.

The last little adventure in not cooking was cucumber…in preparation for the next night’s dinner.

Feeding a Crowd

It was recently Family Day at work, and in my group we always do a pot-luck luncheon, as not everyone has family attending the event. Knowing we needed more hearty main dishes, I thought about what I could make (more or less) at home, ahead of time that transports well and that would be good to eat!

I started with some store-bought cheese tortellini, cooked and drained them. I mixed in a couple teaspoons of olive oil to prevent sticking. I then chopped tomatoes (fresh) and roasted red peppers (from a can). I also tore some arugula and basil leaves for inclusion in the pasta. Finally, I marinated some perline mozzarella (little balls of mozzarella) in balsamic vinegar, a little olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper. I also planned to use the last of my pesto on the tortellini.

Perline mozzarella marinating in balsamic vinegar, oil and seasonings.

I packed it up separately, with the mozzarella in one container, the pasta with some tomatoes and peppers in another, and the rest of the peppers and tomatoes, with the arugula and basil on top of it, in a third container. They were all in the fridge overnight at home. After the drive to work, I put the pasta and mozzarella in the fridge at work, but left the tomatoes, peppers and greens container out.

The tortellini with pesto, tomatoes and roasted peppers.

When it came time to serve, I simply mixed it all together in a large bowl, using the marinade from the mozzarella to dress the salad. It tasted fresh and flavorful, and was a nice, lighter treat on a hot day. The leftovers kept well enough that I even ate the rest (over three more meals)!

The finished dish.

Vegetable Parade

Last Wednesday evening, I was supposed to be three different places at 5:30, one of which was picking up my vegetables. I wasn’t going to skip that. On my way to pick up my CSA vegetables, I must have been distracted by the other places I should be…I’ll also blame the intense heat for my absent-mindedness. I didn’t go the usual way to the pick-up point, and instead headed directly home from work. Knowing enough about the area that I could get there, even if in a round-about way, I headed up the highway. When I got there, I realized that way, while less scenic, was much quicker…apparently my brain was working at a higher level than I realized!

The haul for the sixth week of my CSA engagement presented the first real bag chock full of vegetables. I came home with small potatoes, more eggplant, some delicious garlic, additional Italian basil, a cucumber, a yellow squash and a zucchini! I can’t wait to get to eating these. They smell marvelous and, being so fresh and yummy, require little effort to be delicious.

The Veggies Are Coming, the Veggies Are Coming!

For the fifth week of the CSA, I could see the transition beginning. With the heat coming on, and summer going into full swing, the spring herbs and greens are starting to wane, and the full summer vegetables are making their first appearances.

This week, there was more Thai and Italian basil, some fresh arugula, the last of the garlic scapes we’ll see, a beautiful garlic bulb which smells heavenly, oregano, a potted sage plant and some baby eggplants. Next week promises more vegetables, which is exciting to me!

The garlic scapes, in a vase.

I have mixed feelings about accepting the sage plant. I’ve gotten two calendulas, a cilantro plant and two little pots of basil…none of which have survived. While I can blame the calendulas on weather – I had them outside, and it’s been oppressively hot – I must accept the blame for the others. Alas, my thumbs appear to be decidedly brown.

The sage I hope to keep alive...

Presto Pesto!

This week in my CSA goodies, I got a large handful of basil! I adore fresh pesto, and was excited to make some pesto with the fresh basil!

In my kitchen, I always make the pesto with basil, and perhaps a little parsley if I have it on hand. Often pesto recipes call for a mix of basil and parsley, as the basil has a sharper flavor...but I like it!

I began by toasting some nuts. Normally I use pine nuts, but I only had hazelnuts at home this time. I put them in a pan over medium-high heat, and let them start to get fragrant. Then I tossed them in the pan for a minute or so, until the skins began to darken.

Toasted hazelnuts, with their skins.

After they were toasted, I rubbed them in a paper towel to help remove the skins, and put about a handful of the toasted hazelnuts in my food processor. I added the leaves from my large handful of basil, about a two-inch chunk of fresh parmigiano-reggiano cheese, and some olive oil. I blitzed it for a minute or so.

Blitz de pesto!

At this point, I also put two garlic scapes in the oven at 350 to roast a bit. After about 15 minutes, they were soft and fragrant. I cut off the tender, curled ends, and tossed those soft, garlicky stems into the processor as well, with some additional basil leaves from the potted basil plant from the first week. [Side note: I am VERY proud of myself for keeping all three potted plants alive!]

Garlic scapes, basil and goodness.

I continued to pour a slow stream of oil into the processor until the pesto reached the right consistency, almost creamy and smooth, with small chunks of basil. It looked beautiful! At this point, I put on some water to boil for some store-bought cheese ravioli. When it was done cooking and drained, I put a few dollops of pesto into the pan and swirled it around. I put the leftover pesto in a little pyrex dish I have with a lid, and poured a little extra oil over it to keep it from drying out or oxidizing too much and turning black (it still tastes the same, but it is not very pretty!). I plated my ravioli and pesto and put a few shavings of parm on top...yum!

Mmm...ravioli, parm and pesto!