Eating my share (06.28.11)

Welcome Tribeca CSA members! I've been asked to be the "official" blogger for the week, so I'm happy to be the representative of a CSA that has brought me so much inspiration (and challenge) these past two-plus years. This week's share (at left, clockwise from bottom) was cilantro, peas, green leaf lettuce, mint, sage, red spring onions, pak choi, and carrots. The challenge is how to use as many of these ingredients as possible.

For my regular readers, all five of you (thanks, mom!), you'll remember when I wrote about my enthusiasm in Week 1 for salad and that I would be over lettuce by August. Well, it's not even July and I'm done with lettuce. I'm now trying to come up with creative solutions.

So what better way to use up lettuce than by way of lettuce wraps. Thus, what follows is my lettuce wrap recipe. A couple of quick notes: I'm a firm believer in using what you have in your kitchen. Thus, I had some garlic scapes from another CSA, along with some Asian spices/oils. This was a good fit for this recipe. As for the cilantro, well, you may think this is not an Asian herb, but since the overwhelming majority of items in the swap box was cilantro, I'm guessing most members of the CSA are looking for a few good cilantro recipes (and you can't say that cilantro isn't an Asian vegetable if you've never tried it in a lettuce wrap!).

Asian Lettuce Wrap

For the crust:

• 1 head lettuce (this week, it was Romaine, and the large leaves - after being cleaned and dried - gave me approximately 15 leaves)  
• 1 pound grilled chicken (I used organic breast meat)
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons sesame oil  
• 1/2 teaspoon wasabi powder
• 1 spring onion (I used one of the large ones from this week's share)
• 4 carrots
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 3 garlic scapes
• 1/4 lime 

Use 1T of the sesame oil to fry up the ground chicken (you can substitute beef, pork sausage or - eek - tofu). Season with soy and wasabi. Julienne dice the vegetables. Clean and dry the lettuce. When meat is cooked, transfer to a plate and add the other tablespoon of sesame oil. Unlike the picture above, sautee the carrots, then onion/garlic and finally add the cilantro (the carrots will take the longest to cook; you want them al dente; the onion whites should be translucent). Add vegetables to cleaned lettuce leaves; sprinkle meat along top; squirt with lime juice. Roll or "squinch" the lettuce leaves and enjoy!

Eating my share (06.21.11)

A Remedy For Herbs
 

One of the issues nearly every CSA faces is how to use up all the products you receive each week. Of course, some CSAs establish trade boxes or bi-weekly shares, but it is my humble opinion that you really aren't embracing the notion of the CSA mission if you don't eat what's in your share. Early in the season, that probably means you have a surfeit of herbs.

In just the first two weeks of the CSA season, I've had the following herbs: cilantro, oregano, mint, chives, basil and garlic scapes. That's a lot of zest in my diet, and I always struggle with certain herbs (i.e. mint; I have CSA friends who really begin to dread cilantro, but as readers of my blog know, I adore salsa, so cilantro is the least of my herbal problems).

First off, it's important to remember that herbs should never end up in your compost (trash), excepting maybe the stems. I remember last year somone at the CSA talking about keeping herbs fresh by standing them in a glass of water and covering them loosely with plastic wrap. This would prolong the life of the herb by a couple weeks or more, depending on refrigerator temperature. She then noted, however, that she still wasn't able to use up all her herbs, still throwing away a percentage of them.

I was somewhat incredulous. "Why didn't you dry them?" She just stared. It had never occured to her to dry her herbs. I learned my lesson early on in the CSA experience. While not all fresh herbs dry particularly well (e.g. basil), certain herbs will dry with no effort at all (e.g. oregano, thyme). Whenever I get these herbs in my share, I go ahead and separate out approximately two-thirds to dry. I make sure the herb is clean and separated (ideally, I'd have an Austen-esque kitchen whereby I could hang them upside down, but a flat space away from the cats does almost as well, even if it's far less romantic!).

One of the ways to use up your herbs is simply to remember to use them! I made fried zuchini, dipping the egg-and-cream-washed vegetable slices into a mixture of bread crumbs, whole wheat flour and chopped chives. Green eggs are always my breakfast of choice this time of year (simply add herbs to your eggs; if you're more industrious, try a quiche!). Make mint lemonade (or mint julep/moxito syrup, which keeps in the fridge for weeks). Or try this pesto recipe:

Basil-Mint Pesto

1/2 bunch basil (approx. 40 leaves)
1/2 bunch mint (approx. 40 leaves)
1/2 cup pine nuts (courtesy of Whole Foods, if you cannot find them elsewhere)
2/3 cup olive oil

Clean the leaves and combine all ingredients in a blender. Once creamy, the sauce is enough for a pound of pasta, or spread on crustini for a cool, fresh bread-based snack.

Eating my share (06.14.11)

It's Week 1 of the CSA summer share!

This week I have three CSAs starting up: My vegetable CSA launched on Tuesday, tonight is The Piggery (for which I am CSA coordinator in Manhattan; High Point Farms is also launching summer meat tonight, but I'm taking the summer off after enjoying their beef, chicken and eggs all spring), and on Sunday I start a new monthly CSA from Frolic Farm (very excited about this one, and hope to do an update about them on Sunday after I open my first artisanal box!).

So, what is my first recipe of the new season: It's salad!!! (crickets chirping, crowd goes silent)

Yes, yes, I know that salad is the most lame of CSA recipes. Salad is, in fact, the reason why a lot of people never join a CSA because they worry all they'll ever be eating is salad. While I agree that come August, the last thing I want to see is another head of red leaf lettuce, for the first share, I get overly excited by all the greenery that ends up in my fridge. As I was preparing my salad mix, I was salivating over all the incredible smells given off as my knife tore through the gentle herbs and greens. It's not unlike that thrill at Christmas time when the smell of real pine wafts through the apartment. It's just, well, yummy.

One of the problems with salads is that they are really time consuming to put together. I create a week's worth of salad in a large tupperware-style bowl that I store in the fridge. The biggest problem with this is that the vegetables must stay clean and dry. Nothing will spoil a salad faster than moisture. I have been able to add even items such as diced tomatoes and artichoke hearts (organic, canned) by putting these items inside a small dish and carefully placing on the dry salad mixture before sealing it shut. Of course, those of you who do not live with a NYC-sized kitchen could probably find space for all the individual containers, but I prefer to keep all my salad "fixins" in one spot.

So, this year I am attempting to go a bit (okay, a lot) greener with my greens and switch to cotton towels. Thus, my greens are now being towel dried (as opposed to paper towel dried). While I like the convenience of paper towels, it's such a waste, both in terms of the environment and the actual cost of the paper towels. In fact, I was able to dry all my lettuce with two small hand towels (one on top and one on the bottom). I was really pleased by the results, as the greens were dryer faster with the hand towels.

So, what greens did I use? Torn romaine (CSA) and red leaf (last week's Farmers' Market); diced combo of a few flowering red mustard greens (CSA), metzuna (CSA), cilantro (CSA), and radish greens (CSA). To this I added week old radishes (from FM; my CSA radishes are so good that I'm just dipping them in Kosher salt and eating them by themselves), some chopped baby carrots (yes, I know, but it was a moment of weakness in trying to populate school lunches, so I gotta use them up before they rot... in about six months), a bit of old celery (mostly the flowery stuff; the stalks are on their way to the compost), and a bit of store-bought Granny Smith apple.

To this I added High Point Farms' sirloin steak, which I had marinated in spring garlic (FM), cilantro (CSA), Worcestershire, salt and pepper (organic, but only because it was the only kind sold at the store! my pepper grinder broke). I diced the steak to be stored separately and added as needed.

Dressing a salad is an interesting process. I never personally use commercially made dressings (I do buy ranch for the kids; I pick my battles on more veggies, even if it requires "sauce" on top). I also am a "what's in the fridge" cook, meaning I try to use up whatever happens to be on hand. I almost exclusively use organic apple cider vinegar, even when not putting apples in my salad. I switch between olive and flax oil for the fat. And generally some kind of mustard ends up in there (whether powdered or actual). For this salad, I also added Divine Brine's beet caviar, which I stumbled upon at the Brooklyn Flea a few weeks back. This is also where I discovered Tin Mustard; possibly the best mustard I've ever tasted (I literally have to stop myself from eating it with a spoon!).

The final salad in its "dressed" form is below. Hope you make the most of your early summer salad, and enjoy!

Saturday Morning Chef

So, Saturday morning has become my cooking day. I did a cassoulet last week (I'm working on the post) and a quiche yesterday. I find the routine to be comforting, but I do wish I had someone in the kitchen to keep me company. I'm guessing I'll have to settle for a Mother's Day request of an ipod dock so I can listen to music, at the very least. Of course, an ipod dock won't do me much good without an ipod...

Nonetheless, the cooking continues, with or without company. And if I don't get company soon, I may as well add a freezer to my Mother's Day list!

Saturday Morning Chef

Today I made a quiche from scratch. I’m still working on the whole portion thing, but in my life, the easiest thing to do is make extra and freeze. This recipe makes two quiche with dough for four.

 

A word about the crust. As I age I’m prone to repeating myself, so if you’ve heard this before, I beg your pardon. I am no baker. I love to cook, which I consider an art form, but baking is a science. My sister is a fantastic baker, but I’m the cook (no pun intended) of the family. That said, I’m trying to branch out and take some risks. I recently learned to make lemon sugar cookies without burning them (a big deal for me!). Thus it was I came across a great starter site for crusts. According to Perfect Pie Crusts at allrecipes.com , you need only four ingredients to make a great pie crust: flour, fat, water and salt. And by “water” they mean “liquid.”

I wanted to make a Piggery-based quiche, so I chose bacon lard as my fat. I had a bit of leftover sour cream (the liquidy part), so I used a quarter cup mixed with a quarter cup water. I was in a bit of a hurry, so rolling out the dough was not perfect (but you can see from the picture that the crust still looks okay); ideally, I would have let the dough cool another hour or so, instead of the 20-30 minutes I gave it to set.

Spinach & Ham Quiche

For the crust:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 2/3 cups pork lard
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 sour cream
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Mix or sift dry ingredients together. Cut in lard until course. Remember that lard melts very easily, so if your kitchen is warm, you may want to pop this mixture into the fridge for a bit. In a separate dish, combine water and sour cream until smooth. Beat in egg and vinegar. Make sure liquid mixture is cold enough that it won’t melt the lard, then mix liquid in until dough forms a ball. If ball is solid enough, divide into four pieces and refrigerate. Excess dough can be wrapped and frozen for future use.

When you are ready to bake, remove ball of dough (one at a time) from fridge and roll out on a flour-covered surface. If you are an expert at making dough, you don’t need this piece of advice: Fold flattened dough into quarters for easier movement to an 8- or 9-inch baking dish (I didn’t grease mine, but I did add some flour to keep the dough from sticking). For the quiche recipe below, you’ll need to do this twice.

For the quiche:

• 3 cups diced fresh ham (I used my “ends” from the Piggery)
• 10 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• Optional spicy ingredient (more on this below)
• 5-6 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded Mozarella
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

If you haven’t already done so, chop and place into quiche crust (evenly dividing the ingredients between the two pies) in this order: ham, spinach, green onion, optional spicy add-on*, and mixed cheddar and mozzarella (preferably both are freshly shredded).

*I like a bit of “zing” to my food. I also like to use up stuff from my kitchen that might not stand well on its own. Thus it was I came upon some incredibly spicy pickles. These were the kinds of things that no one in a sober state would ever eat. I diced into relish size about ¼ cup and added this into the pies.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, and salt and pepper to taste (I used very little salt, since the ham was cured). Pour over the quiche ingredients. The top of the ingredients should just be moist, not covered. You may want to use a rubber spatula to spread the egg mixture.

Cook for 20 minutes and then sprinkle on 1/8 cup (per quiche) grated Parmesan. Cook an additional 15 to 20 minutes until quiche can be cut with a knife (from center). Do not burn your quiche! Crust should be puffy and brown, not overcooked.

If serving at a meal other than breakfast, a nice side of greens with a light vinaigrette complements a quiche quite well.

Eating my share (03.11.11)

So, I admit to being a bit lazy today. It's a Friday night and I had a really busy work week, having just started a new in-house gig (on top of my other writing assignments). On nights like these, I fall off the whole foods (NOT the grocery, thank you very much) bandwagon and look for some short cuts. Well, opportunity is a dish best served cold. Or something like that.

As I was heading off to my CSA meat distribution yesterday afternoon, two very nice ladies were handing out what appeared to be free samples of Philadelphia Cream Cheese. I generally buy this brand because it's easy and my kids like it (sometimes we make allowances; I get the fresh baked bagels, then schmeer with the Philly brand). When I finally got home (several hours later), I realized that what I had been handed was a new mass-produced product, a sauce, from the makers of the ubiquitous cream cheese. I hesitated, but after reading the ingredients (milk, water, whey protein... I had to get to the 12th ingredient before I found anything suspect, i.e. maltodextrine), I thought maybe this could pass the Velveeta test (that's what I consider the worst food we'll consume; it's saved for those really bad mommy days where the kids are in a bad mood and I'm in a worse mood... out comes the Velveeta shells and cheese, although, in my defense, I usually slice in some nitrate-free hotdog).

Thus it was, I managed the following recipe. It turned out really well. A nice end to the winter season (although maybe not appropriate for a Friday during Lent!).

Garlic Pork Casserole

• 2-3 medium grass-fed pork chops (de-boned)
• 1 1/2 cups short grain brown (or your favorite) rice
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 container Savory Garlic Philadelphia-brand Cooking Cream
• 1 cup chicken broth + 1 cup water
  
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In a saute pan, flash grill the pork chop until slightly brown. Cut into small pieces and remove from heat. Turn oven on to 400 degrees.

I like cooking in a Romertoff clay cooker, but any covered casserole dish will do. Put in rice and stir in peas and sauce until well distributed.Combine chicken broth with 1 cup water. Mix into rice mixture. Add meat. Stir in with salt & pepper.

Cook in oven for 30 minutes, then stir. Another 30 minutes should have the rice fully cooked (you may want to "peek" after 20 minutes to make sure rice is not overdone. Serve with garlic knots.

Just Food's 11th Annual CSA in NYC Conference

This past Saturday was Just Food's 11th (and my 2nd) CSA in NYC Conference. I spoke with Jacquie Berger at the Expo, and she said the biggest complaint she heard this year was, "There were too many workshop options to choose from!" I told her that I thought that's the best kind of problem to have, but I admit that I have to agree. I wanted to attend no fewer than five of the AM workshops and had bulleted three of the afternoon sessions. In the end, I let my extracurricular obligations dictate my attendance.

Thus, in the morning, as a staff representative for GetDirtyNYC, I went to the Urban Food Production panel, where John Ameroso (Cornell University), Aley Kent (Heifer International), Kristen Schafenacker (Added Value), and Anastasia Cole (Brooklyn Grange) all spoke about urban agriculture projects going on in the five boroughs. John carefully explained the evolution of growing food in the city, beginning with community gardens that were meant mostly for individual consumption during a time when the cost of living in NYC was even worse (if you can believe it) and community gardens allowed people access to affordable food. Next came the idea of an urban garden, whereby a group of people farmed collectively, perhaps sharing the various crops among their garden community. Finally, there now is urban agriculture, which is all about production and growing food more efficiently with an aim to feed people who are not necessarily working the farm.

Interestly, the morning keynote was given by Roxbury Farm's Jean-Paul Courtens, who gave several pertinent statistics about small farms and the global food supply. Among the more surprising figures was that seven percent of the world's food supply is provided by urban gardens. The work being done by the urban agriculturists backs up this statistic. (On a side note, 12 percent of the world's food supply comes from hunting/foraging; nearly 50 percent comes from 1.5 billion family or "peasant" farms.)

In the afternoon session, I joined in with Cathy Erway and Hungry Filmmakers as the representative of Jimmy's No. 43. Technical issues aside (next year, I'll bring my speakers so Cathy doesn't have to hold a microphone over the computer!), the biggest problem was all thse great short films couldn't be viewed in a one-hour, 15-minute timeslot. However, those who are interested to find out what is going on with the media should definitely join Hungry Filmmakers on May 11 for their next viewing/talkback.

The favorite part of every Just Food CSA in NYC Conference is the farmer panel. John-Paul was joined by Chris Cashen (The Farm at Miller's Crossing), Zaid Kudieh (Norwich Meadows Farm), and Elizabeth Henderson (Peacework Farm and NOFA). Among the many serious issues discussed, there were some moments of levity and tenderness, as these farmers spoke of the bonding that takes place between them and their significant others while running a family farm. (Elizabeth got the biggest laugh of the day, however, when she admitted that she preferred not working with a "pillow partner.")

The Expo gave us all a chance to mingle over Brooklyn Brewery and Kelso beer, Clover Bee Foods chocolate truffles, lovely cheeses, and wine from Upstate Wine Co., among many others. Because I love that this conference is so affordable ($15 for members, and that includes lunch!), I'll give a shout out to Jarden Home Brands (makers of Ball Brand), which was the main sponsor of the conference.

The long absence

I know I have neglected this blog terribly! However, I check in today because I want to emphasize the importance of CSAs and locally grown food. My daughter, who is nearly an adult, decided to support a cause with a monthly contribution from her own account. I was proud of her that she made a choice like this. It was a token amount, but I pointed out to her that the amount is not as important as the impact.

I support three CSAs not because it is cheaper for me to buy my groceries this way (it isn't) or easier than shopping at Whole Paycheck (it isn't) but because I believe that buying American food from small local farms benefits my country, my family and my conscience.

It isn't always an easy choice, but I want to ask everyone who is struggling to demand from everyone who is prospering to buy local food. Our welfare depends on locally grown, sustainable food. Take pride in what we are as a people and buy local!