CSAshare

New blog

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:17:00 +0000

After much hemming and hawing, I have settled on a new blog name to reflect a slightly new direction in the blog. Please check it out at: www.thecookiesare.blogspot.com!

Meat sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:37:00 +0000

As every month's batch of meat seems to have at least two pounds of ground beef, I needed to do something a bit different from what we've been doing so far: meatballs, meatloaf, tacos...and while this recipe isn't much of a departure from the norm, it's easy to do on a weeknight, and takes only a few ingredients, most of which are already in the kitchen cabinet.

I served this with a small amount of pasta - about 1/2 a pound to the whole recipe, and the recipe yields 4 servings. This is not a very saucy pasta sauce. I could see adding some zucchini to the mix with the tomatoes if they were laying about, but since this isn't zucchini season, that's not likely to happen. Eggplant would be a possibility, too, as would substituting sausage for the ground beef. To increase the volume, one could also add a second can of tomatoes; in that case, also increase the garlic, salt, and oregano to taste.

Weeknight Meat Sauce
Serves 4

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion
1 lb ground beef (medium or lean)
3 cloves garlic
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes (or chopped tomatoes, or pureed tomatoes - whatever is on hand)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano

Heat olive oil in wide pan. Once hot, add the onions; stir briefly, then add the beef. Break up the meat into small pieces. Saute the meat and onions until meat is browned and onions are softened. Add garlic; cook until fragrant. Add can of tomatoes. If using whole tomatoes, cut up the tomatoes into small pieces (I do this in the can with a pair of scissors). Add salt and oregano. Stir and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the excess liquid has evaporated. Cover and keep warm until pasta is ready. Taste; the mixture may need more salt. Season to taste.

Turkey pot pie

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:26:00 +0000

While I love Thanksgiving, I could completely leave out the turkey and be entirely content. The sides are where it's at for me - the spoon bread, the corn pudding, the stuffing...a plate full of side dishes would still be a perfect Thanksgiving. What keeps me coming back to the turkey, though - besides the expectation of its presence at the table - is the turkey pot pie I make afterward.

After the first Thanksgiving I held myself when I moved to Canada, I had a lot of leftover turkey. E, another graduate student in my lab at the time, passed along this recipe. For the super-lazy, just use pre-made pie crust; this couldn't be simpler, and it freezes well. I usually end up with two pies, since there is always lots of dark meat hiding where my less-than-stellar butchering skills can't find it when dinner is originally served.

Turkey Pot Pie
(makes 1 9" pie - double for two pies)

2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup onion
2 stalks sliced celery
2 Tbsp leftover gravy
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup of milk
2 cups chopped turkey
2 - 3 cups of frozen vegetables*
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Saute onions and celery in butter until tender. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Put in two-crust pie. Bake at 425 degrees of 28 minutes.

*The original recipe calls for 1/2 a bag of frozen veggies, like peas, carrots, and corn. However, often these bags are enormous - and without lots of freezer space or the tendency to eat these otherwise, I use a combination of frozen peas and corn, and cut up a carrot into small pieces and throw that in, too. Use whatever you like in a pot pie.

Black forest cake

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Wow, I've been neglecting this blog. Not for lack of cooking - we've been using our delicious meat share faithfully, and I've made some very good things. There's something about the lack of natural light by the time we eat dinner, though, that makes picture taking difficult - and makes going to bed much more appealing than writing a blog post.

In any case, last Saturday we made Black Forest cake in my baking class. We each made two 7" cakes; not knowing what, exactly, to do with two cakes, I brought one into work. One of the women I work with, F, thought it was so good that she asked me to make one for her daughter's birthday party this Saturday. Since the only real reason I don't bake as much as I'd like is because there aren't enough people to eat all of it, I was happy to do it - what a great excuse to try out my new skills!

Here's a photo of the results - beautifully positioned in my refrigerator. (Judge the other contents if you must.) It's since been transferred to its cake carrier and back into the fridge so the whipped cream on the outside stays fresh. This cake is better the day after it's been made, and was still equally good the day after, so it should still be excellent on Saturday for the party. The only downside of making a cake, though, is that you can't test it to make sure it's good - people definitely notice if a slice has been taken out of it!

Short rib and cabbage soup

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:03:00 +0000

This month has been very busy for work - which has meant little time for cooking, and even less time for blogging. I even forgot to pick up our last box in the vegetable CSA - the fact that it was a Tuesday that day completely escaped me.

I did manage, though, to make good use this week of the pot roast and the short ribs we got with our meat CSA. Working at home helped with that - otherwise, there would have been no time to turn the pot roast over every 30 minutes for the 3 or so hours it was in the oven. I made Donna's soup at the same time.

Sure, cabbage soup sounds not so exciting. I admit, when the research assistant extraordinaire first brought some in to the lab for me to try, I was skeptical. Instead of being just boring cabbage soup, though, this soup was amazing. Meaty, and filling, and slightly sweet; the cabbage was perfectly tender. I loved this soup. Donna wrote the recipe down for me from memory, but I couldn't find the short ribs she described in my grocery store - so when they arrived in the first meat delivery, they were earmarked for that purpose immediately.

I used the quantity of short ribs I was given - 4 really meaty strips - and had to leave out a can of tomatoes because the pot I was using just wasn't big enough to hold it all - and it was still delicious. To be true to Donna's original and amazing recipe, though, here it is! (Thankfully, this freezes well, since it makes a ton of soup.)

Donna's Short Rib and Cabbage Soup

8 sets of short ribs
4 beef soup bones
1 head green cabbage, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 cans tomatoes - no salt or herbs added
1 can tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup brown sugar

In the biggest pot you have, cover the short ribs with cold water. Bring to boil. Boil for 30 minutes, skimming the scum that rises to the top off while boiling.

Add remaining ingredients, erring on the low side for the sugar and salt (you can always add more later to taste). Cook on low for several hours, or until the cabbage is tender. Remove the bones from the soup, and cut the remaining meat into bite-sized pieces; return to soup.

Soup is better the second day, and freezes very well. Top with Parmesan cheese for extra deliciousness.

New CSA?

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0000

As the vegetable CSA winds down, I told myself I wouldn't sign up for another one. Despite the vegetables being amazing, and the opportunity to challenge myself to try new recipes and experiment with vegetables I wouldn't normally buy, the box's arrival on Tuesday created two stresses that became worse with a 9-to-5 job: picking up the box added a hour to my commute (downtown and back), and coming up with a plan for the week's meals in the middle of the week.

However, I'm a sucker for local food, and a recent trip to the local grocery store reminded me why I was so excited about getting the boxes in the first place: the produce varies in quality, and it adds another step to think about where it comes from. And while I do indulge in berries flown in from around the world on my morning cereal, I like to try to buy seasonally otherwise. I like the close contact with the source of the food.

So when I saw that Culinarium is offering a winter CSA, I was curious. The bi-monthly boxes would include typical winter vegetables, some hot-house produce, and other local fare (maple syrup, etc.) One plus: they offer delivery for a nominal fee. The downside? Delivery is at noon on Thursdays, which just won't work for us. And the box's arrival is still mid-week. I'm disappointed, but I recognize that it just won't be feasible for us this winter. Instead, I'll try to head down to Culinarium on a regular basis to stock up on what they've got on hand on the weekends. I encourage anyone in the Toronto area to check out this winter CSA, though - I wish we could do it.

The bright spot in this is that the meat CSA is working out very well. It's more manageable because it arrives only once a month, and the fact that the meat is frozen gives a great deal more flexibility with meal planning. I'm already looking forward to my Thanksgiving turkey...

Two hauls!

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Excuse my laxness in putting up any new posts - this month has been a very busy one. P's grandfather (100 years old!) passed away, then P and I went to London for a week, and then his parents visited for a long weekend. On top of that, work has been ramping up progressively, all with good things - but cooking and taking pictures and posting has been low on the list of activities, after sleeping, patting our cat, and trying to keep up with the laundry.

In any case, the two new CSA portions were picked up yesterday. The penultimate vegetable box, and another big bag of meat. Here's what was in the vegetable box:

A big pile of red potatoes
2 carrots
3 beets
A bunch of Mizuna greens
A Delicata squash
2 onions
A green bell pepper
A Sicilian eggplant
A Tiger baby watermelon

I've amassed a serious squash collection in my cabinet - I don't think I've used any of the squashes we've received yet because I find them a bit of a pain to use, since they can be so difficult to peel and slice up. They also go bad the slowest, so I have more flexibility in when I use them. The next few weeks, though, will be squash-tastic - if you have any squash recipe suggestions, please pass them along.

As for the meat, I'm very excited about using it all. I can't rattle it all off from memory, but there was osso buco in there, and pork sausage, a beef roast I can make a pot roast with, T-bone steaks, and a rack of lamb...the list goes on, but those are definitely my highlights. I think with the beef roast and the assorted root vegetables I've gotten in the last little while, a pot roast is definitely on the list of future posts.

Swiss Chard & Potato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:13:00 +0000

In this week's box (which I realize I never posted about), we got a bunch of Swiss chard. Since the weather has now definitely turned toward fall, it seemed like a good time for some soup. Here's an easy recipe for a hearty, comforting soup that makes a nice centerpiece for a delicious meal. If you're not a fan of bacon, just use a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

Swiss Chard and Potato Soup

2 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch wide pieces
1 leek, sliced thin crosswise and washed thoroughly
1 cup carrot, cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 cups new potato, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
6 cups chicken stock
1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon in large saucepan until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; put on paper towel-lined plate. Saute leek in remaining fat until softened; add salt. Add carrot and potato to pot; stir. Add chicken stock, and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are cooked through. Add Swiss chard to pot, and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add bacon back to pot. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Baking class - finally!

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Today was the first session of the baking class I'm taking through the Continuing Education program at George Brown College. Months after going for a tour there, going through the whole rigamarole of not getting in because I didn't apply early enough (What? You need my high school transcripts, too?), and ultimately finding a day job that keeps me happy doing what I already know how to do pretty well, the day of the first class finally arrived.

First day's class: pie dough and uniforms. Our instructor gave us a tour through some of the equipment we would need. Unsurprising to those who have seen my kitchen, I own about 95% of what's on the list already. However, that will not stop me from visiting Cayne's tomorrow to get better versions of what I have (my scraper isn't bendy enough!), and to fill in the gaps.

Then we traipsed down to the bookstore and picked up our uniforms. It is required we wear them in class, and they were included in the cost of the class. I'm guessing this is a bonus of the fact that the sizes were made for men, but...I'm a size XXXS. In pants and the top. It just made the kitchen even more of a fantasy land of gumdrops and rainbows than it was before!

After we all had our uniforms, our instructor demonstrated how to make pie dough, and then sent us to our stations to follow through. After this, I think I'm no longer afraid of pie dough - finally, someone checked over my shoulder to tell me that yes, the pea-sized blobs of shortening were the right size, and yes, I had mixed in the water-sugar-salt mixture enough. Ina Garten just can't do that from your television set. Now I, the timid pie-baker, want to practice this week making pie. If that's not already my money's worth on this class, I don't know what is.

Next week: we use that dough to make apple pie. I'll have pictures to show off our results!

Panzanella

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I have a hard time thinking a meal is complete without bread. So to make bread an integral part of the main course? Perfection.

This panzanella, or Italian bread salad, was an delicious way to showcase the fresh tomatoes from the CSA, as well as the milkweed pods we had picked up a week or so ago. The recipe originated in the Mark Bittman book, Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express: 404 inspired seasonal dishes you can make in 20 minutes or less, that I've been writing so much about. I decided to just go on memory for the components from last time. To substitute for capers, I used the milkweed pods, which are brined, but are larger and squishier than capers. The rest was a jumble of tomatoes, bread, basil, parsley, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. While I'm sure I left out a few traditional parts, the result was delicious. Thank goodness for half-baguettes - any larger, and I would have just kept eating the bowl of salad until it was gone...

Tomato, goat cheese, and basil pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

This pizza was inspired by my friend L - her dad had made a ravioli with similar ingredients last week. The pizza has fresh tomatoes from the CSA, goat cheese, and fresh basil from the balcony garden. The base was the pizza dough I've made before. Very simple, and it was great cold for lunch the next day.

An entirely CSA meal

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:13:00 +0000

With the addition of the meat CSA, we can now have all of the major elements of our meals be from Ontario - a truly exciting event. Our first meal with the CSA meat? Lamb chops, grilled on the stovetop, with boiled potatoes and a salad of lettuce, tomatoes, green pepper, and red onion. Super simple, but everything was so fresh it all tasted amazing with very little effort.

It seems silly to include a recipe, since neither of the cooked elements were even deserving of one. They can each be captured in one sentence:

Lamb chops: Sprinkle with salt and pepper; cook on grill pan heated to very hot on each side until it reaches the desired doneness.

Potatoes: Boil cut potatoes in salted water; drain and mix with butter and salt to taste.

So simple, and so good. This meat CSA is going to be fun to work our way through - 16 pounds of meat sounds like a lot, but I think we'll make our way through handily; if not, look out for dinner invitations!

Two hauls!

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:02:00 +0000

I picked up this week's vegetable box from Culinarium, and this month's bag-o-meat from Twin Creeks Farm at the Trinity Bellwoods Farmer's Market. So much amazing local food! Here's the list:

- a small watermelon
- a huge red pepper
- an eggplant (very round and very purple)
- a large turnip
- a bunch of beets, plus the greens
- a head of lettuce
- some red potatoes
- a red onion
- a dumpling squash
- two tomatoes

And, just to show how little I really know about cuts of meat, I can't even really give an accurate list; here's the gist:

- some pork sausages
- a smoked ham steak
- two pounds of ground beef
- some beef short ribs (I think that's what they're called - this may require some looking into)
- some lamb
- some beef

Very accurate, I know. I'm really looking forward to using it. Gerald, the owner of the farm, said that the beef had just been butchered today. The color of the meat is amazing - a deep purpley-red that is just begging to be eaten (sorry, vegetarians). I'll have to do some serious thinking about what gets frozen - some already is, but some wasn't - since there's no way we can or should eat everything that isn't frozen in the next few days. I'm thinking meatballs...

Lest you thought this would end in October...

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:32:00 +0000

On Wednesday night, I had the opportunity to attend the Harvest Wednesdays Tasting event at the Gladstone Hotel, courtesy of Taste TO. So I wouldn't attend alone - and because he loves this stuff as much as I do - P bought himself a ticket and downtown we went. There were lots of vendors of locally-made and locally-farmed products; I was a veritable pig in sh*t.

Thank goodness I had cash in my wallet, because I would have been heartbroken to miss out on buying some cinnamon honey (in a bear jar, no less!) and chai lip balm from Honey Pie Hives and Herbals, garlic and Cajun Ontario peanuts and smooth peanut butter from Kernal Peanuts, and some milkweed pods from Forbes Wild Foods.

Possibly the best moment of the evening, though, was finding a meat CSA that would fit P's and my needs. The one offered through Culinarium is just too big for the two of us, and it seemed too expensive. This one, though, has enough variety in the size of the shares and the types of meat to make it doable for two - and the price is right. For those in the Toronto area, check out Twin Creeks Organic Farm. They even have turkeys available - and for you who know of my love of the American Thanksgiving dinner, this is exciting stuff.

We also found a CSA that will be experimenting with doing vegetables in the winter: Kawartha Ecological Growers, which I'm considering signing up for. We might get sick of potatoes and squash, but I think it could be worth a shot.

Crab wonton soup

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000

This post has nothing to do with something made from items in the CSA box. Instead, I just wanted to display a delicious soup that P made over the weekend. A crab-filled wonton soup from Asian, the cookbook I mentioned a few posts ago. My only contribution? The chicken broth that he spiked with ginger and garlic, and picking up the crab and green onions at the store. This was better than wonton soups that I've had in restaurants for as long as I can remember.

Roasted cauliflower, and sage and thyme roasted chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000

I like roasting things. Take any vegetable, and it's delicious roasted. It's the same with meat (no, not fish...I don't think). When in doubt, put some olive oil and salt on it and put it in the oven at 450 degrees. It might smoke up the kitchen a bit, but the outcome is usually good.

When we visited my mom this summer, she made us a sage-lemon-butter roasted chicken. In that spirit, I created a sage and thyme roasted chicken, and stuffed a quarter of a lemon in its cavity (it was a small chicken). Other than needing to shove butter, sage, and thyme under the skin, this could not be easier; just stick it in the oven until the meat reaches a safe temperature. For those who find the idea of poking around under chicken skin gross, just think: it makes the skin crispier and more delicious.

Since we did have a Romanesco cauliflower (a greenish-colored cauliflower that looks like a cross between cauliflower and broccoli), when the chicken was resting on the counter I put the florets into the hot oven. They were just coated with olive oil and salt, and cooked until tender. With a squirt of lemon juice to finish, the flavor was both bright and sweet.

No recipes here; just three guidelines: cook at 450 degrees (or, if you're brave, 500), don't be afraid of salt, and keep an eye on things; you don't want what you're roasting to burn. Depending on the layout of your kitchen and the sensitivity of your smoke detectors, you might also want to set up some fans to clear the smoke.

Sausage and pepper tomato sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:39:00 +0000

I haven't been posting for lack of cooking. As a result, much of what was already in the haul last week was still in the fridge, but thankfully still edible. We seemed to have accumulated quite a few peppers over the course of a couple of weeks - a red one, a green one, a light green one, and a few small orange ones - and something had to be done with them before all of their crisp gorgeousness turned to brown mush in the crisper. We also had three tomatoes that were miraculously still firm and edible from last week, as well.

To use them all - and give us a few leftovers for the freezer, as I'm sure this new "going to work every day" thing is going to cut into my cooking time (not to mention that horrid commute home on the 401) - I made a large batch of sausage and pepper tomato sauce. It's a riff on sausage and peppers that, if I may say so, was delicious. Not necessarily a weeknight dish - it did take about 40 or so minutes to cook - but a great way to use up peppers. Here's what I threw together; feel free to change the proportions based on whatever you have on hand.

Sausage and Pepper Tomato Sauce
makes approximately 6 servings

1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large red pepper, sliced into long strips
1 large green pepper, sliced into long strips
1 large light green pepper, sliced into long strips
3 small orange peppers, sliced into long strips
1/2 large Spanish onion, sliced into strips
1 lb hot Italian sausage, cut into 1" pieces
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
salt to taste

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large non-stick saute pan. When the oil is hot, add the peppers and onions. Sprinkle with salt. Stir occasionally until they are soft and browned.

Meanwhile, add a dab of olive oil to a large stainless steel skillet. Cook the sausage pieces through, moving only occasionally so that they get nicely browned and a fond (little brown bits that aren't burned) develops in the pan. Remove when cooked through and put on a paper towel to drain. Pour out the remaining fat; return to heat. Add the garlic to the pan; cook 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the tomatoes. The juice in the tomatoes will allow you to deglaze the pan; scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan. Add salt, and cook the tomatoes until they have broken down, stirring occasionally. Add the sausage back to the pan.

The peppers and onions will be done at approximately the same time as the tomato-sausage mixture. When they are suitably soft, add them to the pan with the tomatoes and sausage. Don't worry - they will have cooked down considerably, and it will all fit into the large skillet. Turn the heat to low, and continue to simmer while you cook the pasta. Add salt to taste.

This week's haul (late again!)

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:19:00 +0000

My apologies for the lateness of this post - this week has been busy with starting a new job. I'm not even 100% sure if I'm getting this list completely right, but the box has long been unpacked...

- four ears of corn
- a bunch of beets, with greens
- a bunch of white turnips, with greens
- a small watermelon
- two (or three?) tomatoes
- carrots
- peppers - one lighter green one, some smaller ones, some jalapenos
- potatoes (some purple!)

I think that's it, though there may have been a red onion that I'm missing that we've already used. My work with all of this so far? I've boiled the corn so that it doesn't go bad, and it's sitting (still on the cob) in the refrigerator. Only today have I gotten it together to make a list of what we're probably going to have with it all - I've even managed to think of a way to use the turnips! More to come this weekend.

Peach and blueberry cobbler with blueberry sour cream ice cream

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:56:00 +0000

Two things inspired this dessert:

- the fragrant baskets of Ontario freestone peaches at the grocery store

and

- the delectable lemon sour cream ice cream I had at Oliver & Bocacini Cafe Grill on Monday night

I have to be honest: I originally planned to make a pie. I always originally plan to make a pie. However, pie-making requires actually planning ahead: making the dough, letting it chill for at least an hour, and then having the counter space to roll it out. This is not always realistic, and since I still find pie dough making somewhat stressful, I tend to avoid it, despite my best intentions.

Instead, I had planned to do something halfway in-between; a cobbler with a pie-like crust, from The All-American Dessert Book. Fate, however, had other plans. I cut my thumb pretty badly while slicing the slippery peeled peaches. Now minus a hand, rolling out dough of any kind was out of the question. So I turned to Epicurious for some quick guidance.

I found one recipe that approximated what I wanted to do, and then changed it for my own purposes. And what is a warm fruit dessert without ice cream? Before the knife-slicing incident, I had managed to put together the Blueberry Sour Cream ice cream from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan. P thinks this may be the best ice cream I've made yet - and it was so easy. No custard required; only a short cooking of the blueberries with sugar and lemon on the stovetop, and blending with the sour cream and heavy cream in a blender. The ease calls for experimenting with other flavors!

Peach & Blueberry Cobbler

for the fruit mixture:
5 - 6 cups of sliced, peeled peaches
1 cup of blueberries
2 tbsp cornstarch
juice from half a lemon
1 cup sugar

for the cobbler:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) of butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup of heavy cream (any milk will do, but the heavy cream is nice)
1 tbsp sugar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Mix the ingredients for the cobbler in a large bowl. Pour into a 2.5 quart oven-safe dish, or a baking dish that will comfortably fit the fruit. Bake fruit mixture for 10 - 15 minutes, or until just bubbling. It is a good idea to put a cookie sheet on a rack below the fruit, so that if there is overflow the oven stays clean.

While the fruit is baking, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Using your hand or a pastry cutter, incorporate the butter into the flour until resembling a coarse meal. Add the heavy cream until it forms a dough; you may not need all of it.

When the fruit is bubbling, distribute the dough across the top of the cobbler. Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the cobbler. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top is browned. Serve warm.

Sausage and potatoes, and roasted eggplant

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:45:00 +0000

I really like eggplant, but for some reason cooking it has a history of being touch-and-go for me. It got to the point in grad school that we'd always buy Japanese eggplants, because the flavor of the typical globe eggplants would be so unreliable when I cooked them. That's the glorious thing about getting these boxes of veggies, though - if there's a globe eggplant in the box, well, we have to do something with it.

Again I turned to Mark Bittman for inspiration. (For those thinking this is monotonous, you seriously should check out this cookbook. I'm in love - and a non-baking cookbook rarely holds my attention this long.) He suggested a broiled eggplant with miso-walnut vinaigrette. Since we don't have a broiler-safe pan, though, I was nervous about using my Pyrex pans - which clearly say "no broiler" on them. Instead, I cranked up the heat in the oven to 500 degrees, and followed Mr. Bittman's instructions.

Basically, here's what I did:

1) Cut an eggplant in half lengthwise. Rub it with vegetable oil and salt.
2) Roast at 500 degrees (or if you can, broil), cut side up, until browned on top.
3) While it's in the oven, whisk together some miso paste, soy sauce, and rice vinegar, using proportions to taste. Add in some chopped walnuts.
4) When the eggplant is done, make cut into it a bit (sort of like a baked potato), and apply the vinaigrette.

So easy, and so good. The eggplant was perfect - a definite for the repeat list.

On the side (or was the eggplant the side?): roasted lamb Merguez sausages with red onions, and some boiled sliced new potatoes mixed in. Another Bittman suggestion, substituting roasting for broiling. Seriously, check this cookbook out.

This week's haul

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:46:00 +0000

I forgot to post about what we got this week! Here's the list:

- one watermelon
- a red pepper and a green pepper
- several tomatoes (including a green stripey one)
- four ears of corn
- a bunch of radishes
- celery
- Romanesco cauliflower
- a red onion

My challenge this week: celery. Ants on a log is always good, but it's hard to eat a whole head of celery worth of it. I usually only use celery in soups, or to make chicken broth (or a few stalks tossed into recipes here and there). Any creative suggestions for ways to use celery? I've found some salad recipes on Epicurious so far, but haven't committed to one yet...

What to do with radishes, Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:39:00 +0000

I'm embarrassed to admit that we didn't use the radishes we got last week - not for lack of interest, but they just got soft before I had a chance to use them. Happily, though, the little cucumbers from last week lasted longer, and were still fit to use last night.

My plan: a sweet radish and cucumber salad. On Epicurious, I came across a few uses for radishes and cucumbers that brined the vegetables. For dinner, I made a quick brine using cider vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper, and let it soak for 10 minutes. The recipe is found here. I think this use of radishes is the best yet - and it was excellent a day later for lunch. I plan to experiment a bit with the flavors of the brine, and possibly the vegetables the radishes are paired with. The salad would probably be just as delicious without any other vegetable at all!

On the side with the radish and cucumber salad: some pan-grilled steak, corn on the cob, and leftover potato salad from last week.

Singapore noodles

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:54:00 +0000

In addition to the cornbread cookbook (The Cornbread Gospels) I picked up on the visit to Connecticut, we also purchased a cookbook called Asian from the bargain table. Usually bargain table cookbooks are there for a reason, but this one stood out for the selection of Asian dishes we'd been meaning to try at home (like our favorites from the Banana Leaf, the best Malaysian restaurant in Vancouver.) We took a trip to T&T this weekend to pick up a few things we were missing, and dove into the book.

P - since he was the one who found the book - had the honor of choosing the first recipe we made. He selected Singapore noodles. When P and I started ordering Chinese food together, he introduced me to the wonderful world of this noodle dish. Chinese BBQ pork, shrimp, and tasty curry-flavored noodles. In the right hands, this is delicious; just spicy enough, with large pieces of pork and shrimp and lots of flavor. In the case of more disappointing Chinese delivery, it's greasy and sort of tasteless, with tiny bits of the added meats.

The result? Delicious. We're making our not-so-great Chinese delivery place obsolete. (Also a nice way to use the green beans from last week's box!)

Impromptu fish and vegetable stew

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:36:00 +0000

Again inspired by Mark Bittman, I used a tomato and the peppers from the CSA box and the Japanese eggplant from our balcony garden in a quick fish stew. I call it a stew because of the accumulation of pan juices when it's cooking; it's a bit too wet to be called something else (a saute? A stir-fry? Definitely not.)

Since moving to Ontario, we've eaten a lot less fish than we did while in Vancouver. Out there, it was easy: wild salmon was relatively cheap and always available. Here, it's not so clear-cut. The wild salmon is exorbitantly expensive, and doesn't always look so fresh. Not to mention that there are all sorts of complicated rules for what fish you should buy, what you shouldn't buy, what is bad for the environment, what has too much mercury...I just can't keep up. To be completely "right" all the time would require carrying a list of the "good" and "bad" fishes around in your wallet - a list that changes all the time - and I already have enough jammed in there. Instead, I have 3 general rules for buying fish:

1) It is preferably on sale. I'm cheap, and I rationalize this by thinking they have enough to put on sale, so it's probably fresh and "in season," whatever that is in fish-world. This may be entirely wrong, but the "I'm cheap" part of the reason wins out.

2) It looks fresh. The people behind the fish counter at my local Loblaws are not the types who love letting you smell the fish, so I go on sight. Does it look mushy? Does it look like its been unfrozen more than once? If either are true, I walk on by.

3) It's wild. Yes, I realize farmed fish is sometimes (often?) on the "good" fish list. But ever since my friend M (who did his dissertation work on salmon and has his PhD in zoology) said that farmed salmon don't really look like normal salmon when they're alive, I prefer to buy wild fish.

Now, these rules probably violate all sorts of proper fish shopping behavior. I accept that; I don't paint myself as someone who is 100% correct in how to buy fish or produce, or anything, for that matter. These are just my quick-and-dirty rules, and they seem to work well for me: we haven't bought bad fish yet. (Except for some mussels...but that's a different story. My rules probably do not apply to shellfish.)

Fish and summer vegetable stew
serves 2 generously (with leftovers)

1 tbsp olive oil
2 large shallots
3 - 4 small peppers, in various colors
1/2 lb firm white fish
1 Japanese eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1 large tomato, chopped
juice from half a lemon
1 - 2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large saute pan. Cook shallots and peppers on medium until slightly softened. Meanwhile, dry the fish, sprinkle salt and pepper on each side. Once softened, push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add fish. Sear slightly on each side. Add chopped tomato and eggplant; mix everything together. The fish will start to fall apart; this is all right. Cover and cook until the tomatoes and eggplant are soft and the fish is cooked through, 3 - 4 minutes. (If the pan you're using does not have a cover, use a piece of tin foil.) Remove cover and add lemon juice and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with good bread to sop up the juices.

Notes: This is easily multiplied by adding more fish and/or vegetables - watch the size of the pan when adding volume. Nearly any summer vegetable will do, but adding tomatoes is important because of the moisture they release and the texture they add to the dish.

Warm Corn & Ham Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Alexa) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:12:00 +0000

We started the week out with 6 ears of corn. I really like corn - but have never really been in a position to use this much all at once. The last few weeks I've simply frozen the bounty, but this week was inspired to use all of it.

Rather than just eat in on the cob - which isn't so good if the corn sits in the refrigerator for days and days - I cooked all 6 ears at the same time when we ate corn earlier in the week, and cut them off the cob for last night's dinner. Again, I turned to Mark Bittman for ideas. He has a recipe for a warm corn and ham salad that sounded tasty, especially since P and I found a really good ham in the deli section of the local Loblaw's. This ham tastes like what you'd make at home - but without having to buy a whole ham.

For those who envision a mayonnaise-laden salad when hearing "ham salad," this is far from that. It's simply some onion and ham sauteed in a pan until browned (I added a jalapeno from the balcony garden), with some corn and frozen soy beans added to heat through. The dish is then finished with a bit of wine vinegar, parsley, and salt and pepper. Bittman originally called for lima beans, but since neither P nor I like them, we used soy beans; the only white wine vinegar I had on hand was champagne vinegar, which worked fine. This was a great way to use the corn and onion from the box, as well as one more jalapeno from the garden. It was equally delicious for lunch today.

As an accompaniment, P made onion rings with our new deep fryer. Though his recipe is still being perfected, I think freshly-made onion rings are probably more delicious than most you'll get in a restaurant - there's that fresh-from-the-fryer taste that is hard to get when moving the onions from the kitchen out to a restaurant table.