Box two has arrived! I spent Wednesday afternoon sorting and cleaning, and discovered that this week's box yielded the following: two heads of romaine (I think one of them weighs as much as my toddler), rainbow chard, beets, carrots, onions, a bulb of fennel, a small head of broccoli, and some cornmeal. The mouse wheel started turning. What to do with it all? I have found I have the most trouble narrowing down my choices. Once I start looking up recipes, I want to try them all. Luckily I got some repeat produce. So last week it was beet and edamame salad, this week it's roasted beets with cumin and mint. The roasted beets, by the way, will be served with pomegranate-glazed carrots and harissa chicken for a little Moroccan flavor this week. Tonight was grilled shrimp with spicy bbq sauce and Cheese Grits (from last weeks' box) with sautéed rainbow chard.
Turns out I don't much like chard. While I thought the stalks were alright, I found the greens just a little too overwhelming. It could have been how I prepared them and I’m willing to give them one more shot. That being said, my husband didn't care for them very much either. And he likes almost everything. Did I mention that my husband is an awesome eater? Unlike my toddler, he is always willing to try anything and I love cooking for him. We decided that while we might like the stalks in some soup, we could pretty much do without the greens. But I figure one thing (or half a thing?) out of two boxes so far is pretty darn good. At least I know I’ll be chard-free for the next several days! The rest of the meal, thankfully, was very good.
I started out by making my own bbq sauce for the shrimp. This was good, but required time and effort that I don’t usually have. I’ll post the recipe, but if you have a sauce that you already love (especially one with a little kick), use it instead ;) I used 26-30 count shrimp, basically because they looked the best and were friendly enough on my wallet. The grits were the best part. Sharp and creamy, they were a perfect bed for the spicy shrimp. Waist-line Warning: These grits were not low-fat, but they were worth it. At least every once in a while. Although I have no plans to tell my trainer that I ate them. I made that mistake once about pie for breakfast… it wasn’t pretty. And now, since you’ve patiently read through up to here, I’ll reward you with some recipes:
Cheddar Cheese Grits (from foodandwine.com)
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock (or homemade if you have it)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup Riverview Farms grits
4 oz extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp half and half or heavy cream
salt and pepper
In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the garlic and slowly stir in the grits (I found a whisk works well). Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until the grits are tender. *The recipe said this should take about 20 minutes, my grits took about 30.* Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the cheese, butter, and cream. The grits will thicken significantly. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
BBQ Shrimp
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1 1/4 cups ketchup
1/4 cup bourbon
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons Tabasco
1 teaspoon chopped thyme
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the ketchup, bourbon, cider vinegar, molasses, honey, Tabasco, thyme and cayenne. Simmer over low heat, until thickened, about 40 minutes. Transfer the barbecue sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Pour 1/3 cup of the sauce into a small bowl and reserve the rest. Preheat a grill pan. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and brush on both sides with the 1/3 cup of barbecue sauce. Grease the grill pan with the oil. Grill the shrimp over moderate heat, turning once, until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve with the cheese grits and the remaining barbecue sauce.
Swiss Chard with Garlic (from epicurious.com)
3 pounds Swiss Chard
1 large garlic clove
1 tablespoon olive oil
Tear Swiss chard leaves from thick white stalks and coarsely chop leaves, reserving stalks. In a large saucepan or kettle of boiling salted water simmer stalks until tender, 5 to 10 minutes, and drain in a colander. Chard may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead, stalks cooled completely and leaves and stalks chilled separately in sealable plastic bags.
Mince garlic. In a large skillet heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook garlic, stirring, 30 seconds. Add leaves in 2 batches, tossing to coat with oil and stirring after each addition, and cook until leaves are wilted. Add stalks and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Season chard with salt and pepper.
Tonight we will be having Fennel Rubbed Pork Tenderloin, Roasted Fennel and Broccoli with Parmesan, and a green salad. I look forward to sharing it with you.
Happy Eating!
Shar
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
These Ain't Yo Mama's Collard Greens
So I cooked, ate and liked Collard Greens. The wonderful foodandwine.com offered up Seared Scallops with Braised Collard Greens with Cider Sauce, and I accepted. You dyed-in-the-wool southerners might be thinking, “That’s not like any kind of green I’ve ever had”, and I agree. But these are my kind of greens. Big, fat, sweet sea scallops served over a bed of CSA collards slow cooked with bacon, onions, chicken stock and cider vinegar, and topped off with a sauce of wine, apple cider, and butter. Heavenly. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised.
Since suffering through the spinach of my youth, I had pretty much sworn off dark, leafy greens completely. Ok, there was that creamed spinach one time… But I was on vacation and it was only one bite. I love spinach salad, but something about the interaction between greens and heat turned me off. And so, it was with great trepidation that I cooked my first ever collard greens.
I slow braised the greens, seared up some monster scallops and plated everything up. Eating commenced, yummy noises were made and plates were cleaned. Everyone agreed the meal was awesome. By the way, in case any of my foodie followers are also fans of the grape, we ate the greens and scallops with a lovely, cold Muscadet. I will definitely be making this again should I find collards in my box. Traditional and Southern? Nope. Totally worth making? Heck yeah!
Seared Scallops with Braised Collard Greens with Cider Sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 thick slices of bacon, thinly sliced crosswise
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds collard greens, stems and ribs discarded, leaves cut into 1-inch ribbons
1 cup dry white wine (use the same wine you’ll be drinking with dinner)
4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
16 very large diver scallops or 2 pounds large sea scallops
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup apple cider
In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil. Add the bacon and cook over moderate heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the collard greens and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the collards are wilted, about 5 minutes longer.
Add all but 1/3 cup of the chicken stock to the collards and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately low heat until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add 2 tablespoons of the cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the butter and simmer for 10 more minutes; keep warm.
Season the scallops with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the flour, tapping off the excess. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the scallops and cook over high heat until golden on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Turn and cook the scallops until lightly browned and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer the scallops to a large plate and keep warm.
Return the skillet to high heat. Add the apple cider, the remaining 1/3 cup of the chicken stock and 1 tablespoon of the vinegar and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until slightly reduced, 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderate, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of the butter and shake the pan until the butter is incorporated. Strain into a bowl.
Using a slotted spoon, mound the collards on 4 or 8 plates. Top each serving with 2 or 4 scallops and sauce and serve.
Recipe courtesy of foodandwine.com
Tomorrow is another drop. I wonder what the box will hold.
Happy Eating!
Shar
Since suffering through the spinach of my youth, I had pretty much sworn off dark, leafy greens completely. Ok, there was that creamed spinach one time… But I was on vacation and it was only one bite. I love spinach salad, but something about the interaction between greens and heat turned me off. And so, it was with great trepidation that I cooked my first ever collard greens.
I slow braised the greens, seared up some monster scallops and plated everything up. Eating commenced, yummy noises were made and plates were cleaned. Everyone agreed the meal was awesome. By the way, in case any of my foodie followers are also fans of the grape, we ate the greens and scallops with a lovely, cold Muscadet. I will definitely be making this again should I find collards in my box. Traditional and Southern? Nope. Totally worth making? Heck yeah!
Seared Scallops with Braised Collard Greens with Cider Sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 thick slices of bacon, thinly sliced crosswise
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds collard greens, stems and ribs discarded, leaves cut into 1-inch ribbons
1 cup dry white wine (use the same wine you’ll be drinking with dinner)
4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
16 very large diver scallops or 2 pounds large sea scallops
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup apple cider
In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil. Add the bacon and cook over moderate heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the collard greens and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the collards are wilted, about 5 minutes longer.
Add all but 1/3 cup of the chicken stock to the collards and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately low heat until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add 2 tablespoons of the cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the butter and simmer for 10 more minutes; keep warm.
Season the scallops with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the flour, tapping off the excess. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the scallops and cook over high heat until golden on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Turn and cook the scallops until lightly browned and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer the scallops to a large plate and keep warm.
Return the skillet to high heat. Add the apple cider, the remaining 1/3 cup of the chicken stock and 1 tablespoon of the vinegar and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until slightly reduced, 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderate, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of the butter and shake the pan until the butter is incorporated. Strain into a bowl.
Using a slotted spoon, mound the collards on 4 or 8 plates. Top each serving with 2 or 4 scallops and sauce and serve.
Recipe courtesy of foodandwine.com
Tomorrow is another drop. I wonder what the box will hold.
Happy Eating!
Shar
Friday, May 28, 2010
What the Heck is a CSA Anyway?!
If you're like I was a year ago, you have no idea what a CSA is. A friend of mine (thanks Matt) had posted something about it and, being the curious and nosy woman I am, I had to know more. Turns out CSA means Community Supported Agriculture and it works something like this:
You sign up with a farm and buy a share, paying for a session up front. The CSA I joined begins the end of May with a ten week session. Every week at a pre-determined drop, you pick up your weekly mystery box o' goodies. This is basically a box filled to the brim of whatever was ready to harvest that week. The veggies are all organic, local and seasonal. With thoughts of the phrases "Climate Change", "Think Globally, Act Locally" and "Pesticide Free" in my brain, I decided this was a good idea. I signed up and received my first box this week.
A bounty of Southern goodness awaited me. My first box contained gorgeous Red Leaf and Romaine lettuce, delicate baby beets, deep green bok choy, yellow onions, collards, hand milled grits and garlic scapes (more on that later). Ok, now what to do with it all?! To some of you this may seem simple enough, but let me explain a little something about myself. I'm a novice foodie. I love to cook. I love to eat. I'm excited about using super fresh, local ingredients. However, while I have lived over half my life in the South, I lived most of my formative eating years in California. Now don't get me wrong, we have our fair share of awesome veggies out there, and although I ate my weight in garlic, indulged in artichokes and suffered through brussels sprouts, I couldn't tell you what a collard was and grits sounded more like something you'd dump out of your beach bag than put on your plate and eat. Since moving to the South, I have embraced the grit but, hating my mother's spinach as a child, the quintessential collard has never touched my Le Creuset or lips. But, I had made a deal with myself (and my husband who funded this little endeavour) that I would cook everything I got at least once. I figured I could beg, borrow, or trade my way out of any unsavory items after that if need be. Anyway, after washing and putting away my treasures I sat down to do a little research.
First off, what are those curly green things at the bottom of the box? Apparently they're garlic scapes. Farmers cut the stalk off garlic in the spring to force the plant to direct all of its energy into the bulb. They have great (yet stronger than I expected) garlic flavor and were turned into a garlic scape pesto compliments of my slightly modified version of Dorie Greenspan's recipe (doriegreenspan.com):
Garlic Scape Pesto
10 garlic scapes, finely chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)
1/3 cup toasted pinenuts
About 1/2 cup olive oil
Sea salt
Put the scapes, 1/3 cup of the cheese, almonds and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor (or use a blender or a mortar and pestle). Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil and, if you want, more cheese. If you like the texture, stop; if you'd like it a little thinner, add some more oil. Season with salt.
I tossed some of this with pasta and froze some for later use. I'm thinking smeared on some crusty Ciabatta would make some pretty super garlic bread. Next up, I'm tackling my first ever collard greens. I'll let you know how it goes.
Which brings me to the point of why I'm doing this blog in the first place. As I said before, I am a novice foodie who loves to cook. I surprised myself with the level of passion and excitement I have toward this CSA experience and wanted the opportunity to share it. I also happen to like to write. In a former life, I was a pretty good technical writer, meaning I wrote IT training manuals and user guides. Great for end-users, maybe not so great for blog readers. So I hope you'll bear with me and my sloppy prose. I hope I can make you all laugh and learn a little as I stumble and succeed through my first CSA seasons.
Happy Eating!
Shar
You sign up with a farm and buy a share, paying for a session up front. The CSA I joined begins the end of May with a ten week session. Every week at a pre-determined drop, you pick up your weekly mystery box o' goodies. This is basically a box filled to the brim of whatever was ready to harvest that week. The veggies are all organic, local and seasonal. With thoughts of the phrases "Climate Change", "Think Globally, Act Locally" and "Pesticide Free" in my brain, I decided this was a good idea. I signed up and received my first box this week.
A bounty of Southern goodness awaited me. My first box contained gorgeous Red Leaf and Romaine lettuce, delicate baby beets, deep green bok choy, yellow onions, collards, hand milled grits and garlic scapes (more on that later). Ok, now what to do with it all?! To some of you this may seem simple enough, but let me explain a little something about myself. I'm a novice foodie. I love to cook. I love to eat. I'm excited about using super fresh, local ingredients. However, while I have lived over half my life in the South, I lived most of my formative eating years in California. Now don't get me wrong, we have our fair share of awesome veggies out there, and although I ate my weight in garlic, indulged in artichokes and suffered through brussels sprouts, I couldn't tell you what a collard was and grits sounded more like something you'd dump out of your beach bag than put on your plate and eat. Since moving to the South, I have embraced the grit but, hating my mother's spinach as a child, the quintessential collard has never touched my Le Creuset or lips. But, I had made a deal with myself (and my husband who funded this little endeavour) that I would cook everything I got at least once. I figured I could beg, borrow, or trade my way out of any unsavory items after that if need be. Anyway, after washing and putting away my treasures I sat down to do a little research.
First off, what are those curly green things at the bottom of the box? Apparently they're garlic scapes. Farmers cut the stalk off garlic in the spring to force the plant to direct all of its energy into the bulb. They have great (yet stronger than I expected) garlic flavor and were turned into a garlic scape pesto compliments of my slightly modified version of Dorie Greenspan's recipe (doriegreenspan.com):
Garlic Scape Pesto
10 garlic scapes, finely chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)
1/3 cup toasted pinenuts
About 1/2 cup olive oil
Sea salt
Put the scapes, 1/3 cup of the cheese, almonds and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor (or use a blender or a mortar and pestle). Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil and, if you want, more cheese. If you like the texture, stop; if you'd like it a little thinner, add some more oil. Season with salt.
I tossed some of this with pasta and froze some for later use. I'm thinking smeared on some crusty Ciabatta would make some pretty super garlic bread. Next up, I'm tackling my first ever collard greens. I'll let you know how it goes.
Which brings me to the point of why I'm doing this blog in the first place. As I said before, I am a novice foodie who loves to cook. I surprised myself with the level of passion and excitement I have toward this CSA experience and wanted the opportunity to share it. I also happen to like to write. In a former life, I was a pretty good technical writer, meaning I wrote IT training manuals and user guides. Great for end-users, maybe not so great for blog readers. So I hope you'll bear with me and my sloppy prose. I hope I can make you all laugh and learn a little as I stumble and succeed through my first CSA seasons.
Happy Eating!
Shar
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