Month: December 2013

Ramen with bok choy and poached eggs
December 22, 2013

Week 7, freezing vegetables and Ramen with Poached Egg and Bok Choy

Dare I say it—we are just about caught up on our vegetables. Tonight I’m making Serious Eats’ Lemongrass Beef Stew (again!) to use up the last few daikon radishes, carrots, and Asian greens. So we go into Week 7 with a fair amount of confidence that we can eat and enjoy all our vegetables.

Week 7 CSA basket

The green beans were a nice surprise and will be perfect with a Christmas pot roast.

2 small kabocha squash
Lacinato kale
Lettuce
Tatsoi bok choy
Swiss chard
Carrots with greens
Broccoli

I WISH I WAS FREEZING…MORE THAN JUST BROCCOLI

It’s hard to get in the holiday spirit when the temperature can’t seem to settle anywhere south of 80 degrees. In my head it’s time for warming stews and hot beverages, but in reality I wore flip-flops to pick up my basket, with the car’s AC cranked to high. The nights are blessedly cool (unlike in the summer time) and at least Christmas day should dip into the 60s, but my blood just hasn’t thinned enough to find this amusing.

Holiday spirit aside, it’s hard to do other things when the weather is so unseasonably warm—like steam a load of veggies for freezing. But I soldiered through sweating in my kitchen for a couple of hours, knowing that I’ll appreciate it when it’s too hot for fresh vegetables in the summer (yes, you read that right. I live so far South that it’s too hot to grow anything in the summer time. Our CSA is fall–spring only.)

The Internet holds much debate on the nutritional virtues of frozen vegetables. From what I’ve read, lightly blanched or steamed then frozen vegetables carry much the same nutrients as their fresh counterparts. But there’s no debate that the texture suffers in freezing, so I generally only freeze vegetables that are great for soups and stews. Today I steamed almost 2 pounds of acorn squash and 1.5 pounds of broccoli, cooled them and bagged them for the freezer. I’d normally prefer to store in glass for the long-term, but I’m a little short on freezer space these days what with all the cooking I’ve been doing.

I use this handy guide for blanching or steaming times for most vegetables. It’s recommended to use the freshest vegetables possible, but if it’s a choice between freezing and tossing in the compost pile, I’ll freeze a less-than-fresh batch of veg any day.

RAMEN WITH BOK CHOY AND POACHED EGG

RamenWithEgg

This vegetarian-friendly dish was proclaimed by my boyfriend to be one of the best things I’ve ever made. He happens to be a tiny bit obsessed with poached eggs, but even I had to admit it was up there on the list.

Serves 2
Time: Quick (<25 minutes)

Ingredients
4 oz plain ramen noodles (might also be called Chinese noodles; just don’t get the flavored Maruchan variety!)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup water
2 tbsp sherry
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp grated ginger
1 pod star anise
1 head bok choy, lightly steamed
2 scallions, sliced
2 eggs, poached (if you don’t mind them a little runny, that’s perfect for this dish. The egg acts as a sauce for the bok choy)
Sesame oil and sriracha to serve

Instructions

  1. Bring the water, broth, sherry, soy sauce, ginger and star anise to a boil in a medium pot. Break up the ramen and add to the pot. There might not be enough liquid to cover it, but ramen cooks quickly so it doesn’t matter. Leave the pot boiling for about 3 minutes till ramen is softened, then turn to low. The ramen will continue to absorb most of the liquid.
  2. Meanwhile, steam the bok choy and poach the eggs.
  3. To serve, remove and discard the star anise. Split the ramen and any broth that hasn’t been absorbed between two wide, shallow bowls. Place the bok choy to the side of the ramen and lay the egg on top of the bok choy. Sprinkle the scallions and drizzle with sesame oil and sriracha.
  4. To eat, break the egg yolk over the bok choy, mixing in the broth, sriracha and sesame oil. Try not to slurp ramen all over yourself.

With Christmas in the middle of the week I’m sure my posting will be even more sporadic than usual, so in case I’m not back sooner—

As the year coming to a close, I’m pretty darned grateful that I have the means and time to enjoy preparing so many vegetables. Not to mention being able to share those vegetables with someone who enjoys them to. It’s with a thankful heart that I wish all my readers and anyone who’s stumbled on this post a very happy and safe holiday season and a bountiful new year.

December 15, 2013

Week 6, keeping vegetables longer, and knits!

Wasn’t it just week 5? It’s getting into that season where the days just don’t seem to be long enough, and things like weeknight cooking get pushed aside for holiday errands, long days at work full of too much food, and dinners out with friends and family.

I’ll never say that fresh isn’t best, but something that I like about getting my veggies so fresh is that they keep longer in my fridge than grocery store veggies do. I don’t cook every night—I’m human, I commute, I work at least 40 hours a week, and some nights I just feel like popcorn for dinner.

So I’m grateful that when I have those days (or weeks) where I just can’t cook a nice meal from scratch, my farm-fresh vegetables are still waiting for me, little worse for wear.

Keep in mind that some vegetables keep longer than others. Greens and herbs should always be used soonest. But stored in an airtight bag with a piece of paper towel, fresh greens can last a week or more. The paper towel trick is how I store all my vegetables, and the strawberries we get too, for maximum shelf life.

Week 6 CSA Basket

And to think, I’m not caught up with last week…

1 lb. strawberries
Tatsoi bok choy
Bok choy
Broccoli
3 daikon radishes
Swiss chard
Red Russian kale
Carrots with their tops
4 acorn and 2 delicata squashes

And now for something completely different; I have photographic evidence that I am both an eater and a knitter. Of the seven years I’ve been knitting, this year has been toughest—I’ve struggled with motivation, despite having a yarn stash that will last long past my lifespan. Living in the Southeast does make one wonder what the purpose of one.more.sweater could be.

But when a friend is in need of knitwear, I do my best to heed the call. I just completed this commissioned ski mask for a friend who will be taking a trip at the end of the month—just in time to get it to her before the holidays.

Knitted ski mask, blue and aqua

Excuse the messy drawing. I don’t really want to hook up my mouse and Illustrator really takes some effort on a track pad.

Like me, my friend wears glasses, and so the air holes prevent steaming of said glasses while still offering the mouth and nose some comfort and warmth. It’s loosely based on this pattern, and made with baby yarn for extra softness around the face.

I’m generally a sweater knitter, but as a sweater may take several months to complete, it’s not likely many will be featured here. But as I complete knitwear, I do hope to post about it and consequently get better about photographing it. Until then, enjoy some vegetables instead!

December 13, 2013

Magic carrots and lemon pepper chard

Carrots, chard and salmon

Ignore the boring salmon behind the curtain; its only relevance here is that I ate it.

My deepest vegetable regret is that I don’t like carrots. There, I said it. While I’m being honest about my food hangups, I don’t like bananas either, and I don’t particularly enjoy chocolate, but that’s another post entirely.

I tolerate carrots, but I dislike them enough to pick them out of dishes, request they don’t appear in my stir fry, and generally avoid them in my cooking unless they’re destined for a slow-cooked soup in which everything eventually just tastes like salt and broth.

But late last year, just to see what would happen, I planted some carrots in my sad little home vegetable patch (that one in which I grow almost nothing but bok choy.) But the carrots grew. And grew. And much to my surprise, thinking I’d harvest some piddly little stalks and use the greens for compost, come April I pulled up a half pound of delicate, multi-colored carrots. And realized I had no idea what to do with them.

Garden fresh carrots

My own proud carrot harvest. Thanks for the photo, Mom!

Enter Terry Walters’ book Clean Start (of cilantro pesto fame,) and my life changed forever. Yes, a little dramatic, but in its pages I found carrots that I liked. Carrots that I would choose over other foods. Of course it helps I made the recipe with young, garden-fresh carrots, but the simple sauce they’re coated in works some kind of magic that I can only begin to understand. So I share my adaptation with you, in hope that you too can enjoy the best carrots of your life. Oh, and some lemon-pepper Swiss chard too—not life-changing, but a great side dish.

MAPLE-MUSTARD AND TAHINI GLAZED CARROTS
Serves 2
Time: Quick (<25 minutes)

Ingredients
1/2 lb. young, fresh carrots, trimmed (small carrots from the farmers’ market, not adult carrots cut into ridiculous shapes and called “baby”) — young carrots just need to be scrubbed well, no need to peel
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp good whole grain mustard (I used Inglehoffer Stone Ground, my favorite)
1 heaping tsp tahini
1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Heat 1-2″ of water (enough to cover your carrots) in a wide, shallow pan until simmering.
  2. Meanwhile, stir the syrup, mustard, tahini and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Simmer the carrots in the pan for 6-10 minutes, until tender but still a little firm.

    Carrots simmering in a pan

    Little cuties.

  4. Drain the carrots, then add them back to the pan over medium heat. Toss them in the sauce and saute till the tahini in the sauce starts to dry and get a little crumbly, just a couple of minutes. Salt lightly and serve.

LEMON-PEPPER CHARD AND COUSCOUS
Serves 2
Time: Quick (<25 minutes)

Ingredients
1 bunch Swiss chard, cut into strips
   Kale, spinach or arugula would also work well here. Adjust cooking times to suit.
1 tbsp salted butter
1 tbsp lemon juice, plus more to serve
   Not only is citrus tasty with greens, but studies suggest that the Vitamin C
can help you absorb the calcium locked up in most greens.
Salt and lots of pepper
1/3 cup whole wheat couscous (dry), cooked according to package instructions

Instructions

  1. Heat the butter over medium in a saute pan till melted. Add the Swiss chard and cook, stirring till just wilted. Add the juice, salt and pepper.
  2. Turn the heat to low, cover the pot and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, till the stalks are tender.
  3. Stir the chard into the cooked couscous, drizzle with a little extra lemon juice and serve.

Eventually I will find many more carrots in my CSA basket, and while I’m sure they’ll make their way into smoothies and overcooked soups, I’m glad to be armed with a recipe I couldn’t do without. What about you—do you have any recipes that have changed your mind about a food you once snubbed?

December 10, 2013

Week 5, and Pulled Pork with Collards and Pesto Mash

We’re back! And this week’s basket is exciting enough that I almost wish we’d come back a little early.

Week 5 CSA basket

Tomatoes! In December!

Head of cabbage
4 radishes
4 tomatoes
Bunch of carrots with greens
3 turnips with greens
Bok choy
Swiss chard
Asian spinach

Tonight’s dinner uses last week’s collards, plus the carrot tops from this week.

Pulled pork

Pulled pork, mashed potatoes with pesto and almost-Southern collards

I live in the U.S. Southeast — I’m a transplant here, and while some of the South’s culinary traditions have made their way into my heart (shrimp and grits, anyone?) others, like cooking vegetables for hours with a mysterious hunk of pork for flavor, leave me a little cold.

These collards are a nod to the hours-in-the-pot-with-a-ham-hock variety, but without the hours or the ham. I made these last week before we left, knowing that the collards would last longer cooked than loose in the fridge.

NOT-SO-SOUTHERN BRAISED COLLARDS
Time: long (<45 minutes)
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
One large bunch of collards, trimmed and stems removed (about 7 oz. trimmed,) sliced into strips
  If you can’t get collards in your area, try another firm green like mustard or dandelion.
  Or use chard or kale and cut the cooking time in half.
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
Hot sauce or vinegar to serve

Instructions
In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, cook till the onion is softened. Add the collards, chicken stock and liquid smoke, turn the heat to medium low and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Serve with a drizzle of hot sauce or hot vinegar for a more authentic flavor.

I served the collards with crockpot pulled pork — a large pork butt covered in a dry rub and braised in water and cider vinegar all day. I love a large pork roast because it’s so versatile; with about 12-20 servings, it can make its way into tacos, stews, chilies, anything really.

Topping the meal off were pesto mashed potatoes; red potatoes mashed with a cup of carrot-top pesto. Carrot tops are perfectly edible, but tend to be really sandy so you want to wash them thoroughly. And if you choose to make pesto with them, do yourself a favor and chop them first or you’ll have carrot stems throttling your food processor.

Ask me how I know.

Kale chips and lamb
December 4, 2013

Smelly food is the best food (or, Apple-Glazed Lamb with Blue Cheese and Kale Chips)

It seemed only appropriate after an afternoon discussing the finer points of the Brassica family (yes, I’m back on that) I would make some nice, stinky kale chips for dinner.

And since that pungent, sulfurous aroma wasn’t enough, I broiled two lamb shoulders along with it. If you’ve ever cooked lamb, you know that its rich, gamey flavor comes with an even gamier smell.

Finally, to (literally) top off the world’s smelliest dinner, I crumbled some blue cheese on each piece of lamb.

And you know what? Smelly food really is the best food. As long as it’s supposed to be smelly.

APPLE-GLAZED LAMB WITH BLUE CHEESE AND KALE CHIPS
Serves 2
Time: Quick (<25 minutes)

Ingredients

2 bone-in lamb shoulders, about 1/2 lb.
   Lamb is expensive here in the states, so I typically get small amounts of tougher cuts.
   This recipe would also be great with pork chops instead.
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp apple butter
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 oz crumbled blue cheese
Salt and pepper
1 head of kale, chopped coarsely
1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the kale with the olive oil and some salt.
  3. Place the lamb in a small baking dish and brush on the 2 tbsp of apple butter on either side, add some salt and pepper.
  4. Spread the kale on a baking sheet and place on the center rack of the oven. Put the lamb on the bottom rack (we don’t want it to cook all the way through just yet.) Remove the kale from the oven after 12- 14 minutes.
  5. Move the lamb up to the top rack, turn off the oven and turn on the broiler. Broil on either side for 1-2 minutes, till slightly charred on the edges.
  6. MEANWHILE, stir together the rest of the apple butter and the chicken stock in a small pot and heat through.
  7. When the lamb is done, drain the pan juices into the apple butter sauce and stir.
  8. Serve the lamb with the sauce and a sprinkle of blue cheese.
December 2, 2013

Trying Something New: Kohlrabi Two Ways

I grew up in the ‘burbs, where kohlrabi was just an alien-looking bulb only seen at health food stores. I’d never given it much consideration until I became a gardener, and I started reading eloquent tributes to the strange looking vegetable on gardening blogs. And yet, this is still my first time preparing and eating it, as it’s hard to find outside of farmers’ markets.

Kohlrabi is a member of the Brassica family, which boasts fine cousins like kale, cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Its bulbous stem is crunchy and a little sweet, and its leaves are similar to collards or kale. Both parts are edible raw or cooked, and I chose the cooking route this evening.

KOHLRABI TWO WAYS
Serves 2
Time: Quick (<25 minutes)

Ingredients
3 small or 1 large kohlrabi stem with leaves attached
2 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
2 tsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Dash of hot pepper flakes

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. Peel the leaves off the stems and set aside. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the tougher outer parts of the stem, then cut the stem in half and then into semicircles about 1/8″ thick.
  3. Toss the stem pieces in 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes until slightly golden around the edges (Kohlrabi does not soften much with cooking, so crispness isn’t a great indication of doneness.)
  5. Meanwhile, saute the shallot in the other tbsp of oil. Add the leaves from the kohlrabi, tearing the larger ones in half. Add the lemon, pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
  6. The leaves are done when softened and bright green.

I served this with seared salmon, with capers in butter and wine, and a little couscous. Sometimes the simple preparations are the best!

Salmon with kohlrabi and couscous

Fry a heaping tablespoon of capers in butter till browned, add a glug of white wine and you have a sauce that’s perfect on any fish.

Pork spare ribs with bok choy
December 1, 2013

Week 4, and Sweet Pork Ribs with Broiled Bok Choy

My only excuse for not posting this past week is that after the whirlwind of Thanksgiving prep, (yes, even a low-key holiday sends me into stress-ville) I’ve rather enjoyed a seriously lazy weekend.

But I’m back! With a roundup of Thanksgiving’s highlights, another week of vegetables, and a pork ribs recipe that darn near made me cry. Happy tears.

THE TURKEY DAY WITH NO TURKEY (OR PICTURES)

It felt awfully rude to halt the serving line to snap shots of heaping plates. I’ll do my best to describe the most memorable dishes and will share the recipe (not mine!) for the one we’re all still talking about.

On the dinner menu was:

Crockpot chicken

  • One whole chicken, skin removed, cooked all day in the slow cooker with water, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce (trust me.) So tender and delicious. Plus you can make stock after the guests leave!

Cranberry wine sauce

  • For the chicken. I emptied a 1-cup jar of homemade cranberry-pear-lemon preserves, added a half a cup of Beaujolais and a few sprigs of rosemary. Very festive.

Squash and apple soup

  • I don’t ever want to cook squash any other way again. I could eat this soup every day. Go make it right now. I used a 2 lb kabocha from the farm basket, fuji apples and 2 tsp curry powder since I had no mace and my cardamom isn’t ground.

Brussels sprouts with bacon and shallots

  • Crisp the bacon in a pan. Drain off some of the grease but leave some to saute 2 shallots and a bunch of quartered brussels sprouts till browned. Crumble the bacon and toss it with the sprouts.

Apple cinnamon corn bread

  • 1 box of Jiffy corn muffin mix, 1/2 cup apple butter, 1 can corn, 2 eggs, a little milk to thin it out and some cinnamon sprinkled on top. Bake for a few more minutes than recommended on the box.

My stress was reduced somewhat because my mother-in-law brought the most sinfully good pumpkin cake for dessert. I don’t really do dessert — the instincts just aren’t there and I’m much more comfortable in the savory realm (unless it’s jam, I make a mean jam.)

But wait! There was more. We also shared a lovely Thanksgiving breakfast with my parents, who made pumpkin muffins and had bagels ready. I brought a strata, with swiss chard from our farm basket. I think I’m still full.

WEEK 4 BASKET

I had a chat with our farmer today about how difficult this season has been. We’ve been seeing unusually high rains and weeks without any sun—and I don’t live in the Pacific Northwest. I hope that most of their customers understand that the weather’s been tough, and that we all accept some risk in buying a farm share. And that they like greens as much as we do.

Week 4 CSA basket

We can eat the heck out of some greens. Greens grow well in lower light and in almost any condition, as I know from my own garden in which nothing grows but copious amounts of bok choy. As if I needed more.

Bok choy
Collards
Baby Swiss chard
Lacinato kale
Kohlrabi
Cilantro
Asian greens
Tiny sweet peppers

We’re a little crunched for veggie-eating time because we’re taking a small vacation next weekend, so expect some serious veg heavy dishes this week.

SWEET PORK SPARE RIBS WITH BROILED BOK CHOY

These ribs are adapted from an issue of Donna Hay magazine. I can’t believe I’ve been at this for four weeks and am only just now sharing a Donna recipe — she’s a staple in our house. An Australian food stylist and cooking goddess, every one of her books and magazines is full of simple recipes that never fail to impress everyone. These ribs are no exception.

Pork spare ribs with bok choy

I wish I’d made some leftovers.

SWEET PORK SPARE RIBS
Serves 2
Time: Long (>45 minutes)

Ingredients
4 pork spare ribs
2 tbsp Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp Oyster sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
1 heaping tsp Chinese 5-spice powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Place the ribs in a shallow baking dish. Mix the next 5 ingredients in a bowl and pour over the ribs.
  3. Bake, covered with tinfoil, for 1 hour.
  4. Remove the foil, bake for another 20 minutes.
  5. Turn on the broiler to high. Broil the ribs for 2 minutes, turn and broil for another 2 minutes until edges are slightly charred and sauce has thickened.

BROILED BOK CHOY
Serves 2
Time: Quick (>25 minutes)

Ingredients
1 head baby bok choy
1 tbsp Sriracha
1 tbsp + 1 tsp peanut oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Wash and trim the bok choy. Lay out in a shallow baking dish and drizzle with 1 tsp peanut oil.
  2. When pork ribs are in the broiling stage, add the bok choy under the broiler too.
  3. After the first 2 minutes, stir the bok choy and put back under the broiler for a minute more.
  4. Meanwhile, whisk together the Sriracha, oil and vinegar in a bowl.
  5. When bok choy is done, coat with the sauce.
  6. Serve with a drizzle of sesame oil and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

I had extra of the sauce for the pork and put it in the freezer — it would make a great glaze for chicken or tofu as well. I love versatile recipes, don’t you?