Week 10: July 9, 2014

In this week’s box:

2 pints blueberries

1 half-pint raspberries

half dozen eggs

2 bags tomatoes

1 dozen ears corn

1 heirloom cantaloupe

1 bag of dried white onions

2 eggplant

2 bags Yukon gold potatoes

1 bag sweet Italian frying peppers

**OPTIONAL BONUS** 2 half-pints pick-your-own raspberries, from 8 a.m. until noon, CSA members only

Total retail value of goods in this week’s box: $58

Total retail value of goods distributed so far this year: $653.50 

Emily’s notes:

The onions in this week’s box are dried, and will keep longer than the spring onions distributed so far this year. If you keep them in a cool, dry, place, you could use them any time in the next several months!

I’m a big fan of roasting eggplants, either whole on the grill or in the oven, or sliced lengthwise, as The New York Times suggests here. As the Times says, and as I have found, if you try to fry or sautee eggplant slices in oil, they will quickly soak up every bit of oil in your pan like a sponge, and then you’ll end up ingesting all that extra fat in the finished dish. When you roast, the eggplant naturally becomes softer and more flavorful. With the onions, tomatoes and eggplant in this week’s box, I’d suggest trying this recipe for Eggplant Tomato Gratin. For a simpler preparation that can be served at lunch, dinner or snacks, try this technique I detailed last year:

I threw the whole eggplant on the grill for about 25 minutes total, let it cool a bit, peeled it and let the water drain out in a colander in the sink for about 10 minutes. I roughly chopped the cooked eggplant and added about a quarter-cup of chopped basil, a tablespoon of tahini, the juice of one lemon, one chopped garlic clove and salt and pepper. I meant to add olive oil, but it never happened, and I didn’t miss it. I beat this mixture up with a wooden spoon until all the flavors had melded. It was great atop fresh-made homemade pizza the first night. The second night I used it as a dipper for cheese-and-corn quesadillas. I highly recommend throwing your whole eggplant on the grill, burning its skin and then using the cooked inside with whatever flavorings your heart desires. Even just simple olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper wouldn’t be bad.

Eggplant and tomatoes together get me thinking about panzanella, an Italian salad that uses stale crusty bread (you will want good bread for this, not the flimsy-crust stuff). A salad like this can be anywhere on the spectrum from extremely simple to much more involved. I have thrown together panzanella before by tossing chopped tomatoes with the bread and a bit of salt and pepper. While that sits and “marinates,” I’ll roast some cubed eggplant in olive oil and seasonings in a 450-degree oven for 15-25 minutes. You could throw chopped onions onto the roasting pan, as well. Toss everything together with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and more salt and pepper to taste, and add some chopped parsley or basil and chunks of a cheese like parmesan, mozzarella, pecorino, feta or chevre, depending on what you have. Williams-Sonoma, however, has a much more detailed recipe here for a grilled eggplant, corn and tomato panzanella that looks delicious.

Italian frying peppers are mild, thin-walled peppers that aren’t great for oven-roasting, but do lend themselves to frying and sauteeing. They would be excellent served aside grilled sausage prepared according to this recipe for cast-iron charred peppers with parmesan.

I’ve been disappointed with many a recipe for blueberry muffins, but last week I made this one from celebrated cookbook author Mollie Katzen. It produced the fluffy, not overly sweet muffin I was looking for, and I highly recommend it.

Week 18: August 28, 2013

In this week’s box:

1/2 dozen eggs

1 flat of peaches

4 heads of garlic

1 pint of blackberries

2 pints of raspberries

4 eggplants

4 peppers

3 pounds of butter beans

*Optional Pick-your-own between 9am-12pm only*

2 pints of raspberries

1 quart of grapes

Total retail value of this week’s box: $100.50

Total retail value of goods distributed this year: $1,117

Emily’s notes:

It’s hard to believe this is the last pickup before October!

One possibility for your eggplants and peppers is a caponata. This is a Sicilian dish made of chopped cooked vegetables dressed with olives and capers. You can alter this recipe to suit your taste, but here’s the basic idea:

Eggplant and pepper caponata

2 eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 tablespoons olive oil

juice of one lemon

one garlic clove, minced

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained

handful pitted olives (kalamata would be nice) optional

juice of half a lemon

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup feta cheese (optional)

Place the eggplant and peppers on a roasting tray. Sprinkle on oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until all vegetables are coated. Roast in a 450-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until vegetables are cooked and slightly browned.

When vegetables have cooled slightly, toss them in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Serve warm, room temperature or cold.

Just in case you have trouble getting though your berries before they begin to spoil, here is a recipe I adapted last week from a Barefoot Contessa cookbook. It’s a great way to get a little more mileage out of your berries, as these muffins will keep for about a week in the fridge, or you could freeze them for longer storage.

Summer Berry Muffins

Makes 18 muffins

3 cups flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat and 1 all-purpose)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups milk (substitute any mix of yogurt, sour cream and milk if you are running low on milk)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup blackberries
1 cup raspberries
1 1/2 cups sugar

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Throw in the salt (if you use kosher salt it usually won’t go through a sieve). Stir this mixture lightly to ensure all the ingredients are mixed.

In another bowl, combine milk, eggs and butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix by hand to incorporate but don’t overmix. This batter will have lumps.

Add berries and sugar and stir gently until combined.

Spoon into lined muffin cups and bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean (A cake tester in my house is a dry spaghetti noodle.).

If you’ve only ever had canned butter beans, you are in for a treat. The fresh version is much better! This post from the blog A Taste of Carolina has some helpful tips and recipes for cooking fresh butter beans. It also tells you how to freeze them to eat later in the year.

Enjoy this last boxful of summer. I’ll be back later for some tips on using fall vegetables!

Week 17: Aug. 21, 2013

Concord grapes

In this week’s box:

1/2 dozen eggs

2 watermelons

1 flat of peaches

14 ears of corn

1 pint of blackberries

1 1/2 pints of raspberries

2 eggplants

2 peppers

3 lbs of string beans

*Optional*

Pick-your-own bonus available only between 9am – 12pm

2 pints of PYO raspberries

1 pint of PYO blackberries

1 quart of PYO grapes

Total retail value of this week’s box: $105.50

Total retail value of goods distributed this year: $1016.50

Emily’s notes:

What a feast of watermelon we have had this year! If you’re looking for a new way to serve it, try pairing it with corn in a salsa. Simply chop the watermelon into a small dice, add an ear or two’s worth of corn kernels (No need to cook them, but sometimes it makes it easier to cut them from the cob if you zap the unshucked ear in the microwave for a couple minutes.). Throw in chopped red onion, some minced jalapeno pepper if you have it, olive oil, lime juice and chopped cilantro, parsley or basil (My rule on herbs is to use whatever’s growing best.). Sprinkle with a little salt and black pepper. This would be great with some hearty blue corn tortilla chips, and would make a pleasingly colorful appetizer at a party.

Turn your peaches and blackberries into a quick and relatively healthy crisp for dessert. For this recipe, I would use two peaches and about a half dozen of these giant blackberries. It’s fairly forgiving, though, so adjust it as you see fit.

Peach and blackberry crisp

2 peaches, peeled and cut into 8 slices each

half-dozen (or so) of Snead’s giant blackberries

cooking spray

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour (All-purpose is fine, but I feel like I can pile on more ice cream if I use “healthy” whole-wheat.)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1/8 cup chopped almonds or walnuts (optional)

Spray a 1.5-quart baking dish with cooking spray and arrange peaches and berries in dish.

Combine flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon, salt and butter in a medium mixing bowl. Use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until just about all of the dry ingredients feel coated with butter. Lightly mix in the nuts, if using. Spread this mixture over the fruit and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and the top is browned. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Those grapes are something else. Such strong, true grape flavor. It’s hard to eat grocery store grapes after this. But they do have a lot of seeds. Last week I made freezer jam out of mine. It took about an hour, and I did it after the kids were in bed, but it was worth it. I have made a lot of freezer jams that haven’t jelled, but this one worked. I think that’s because grapes contain a lot of natural pectin. I have three jars in my freezer, but kept one in the fridge to eat right away. It was great on buttered toast and, of course, in peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. If I have time this week I’d like to take it to the next level by putting the jam between two layers of peanut butter shortbread crust and making PB&J bars. Like I said, if I had time. Here is the process I used to make jam out of my grapes. I highly recommend doing this, so that you can go enjoy a great big spoonfull of that glorious grape-y goodness without stopping to spit seeds.

Concord Grape Freezer Jam

Ingredients:

2 quarts Concord grapes, washed

3 8-oz canning jars made specifically for freezer use (I used Ball plastic freezer jars with green lids), plus one more container for the jam you will use right away and store in the fridge (This does not need to be canning-quality. I used a recycled glass jelly jar).

2 tablespoons instant pectin (I used Ball RealFruit Instant Pectin)

2/3 cup sugar

*You’ll also need a food processor, a medium saucepan, a medium mixing bowl and a fine sieve or strainer.

Method:

Set up the counter so that you have your sauce pan and your food processor right next to each other.  Skin the grapes by holding them, one by one, with your fingers so that the stem end is pointing into the sauce pan. Squeeze so that the flesh and seed pop into the saucepan, then throw the skin in the food processor. This takes a while. Maybe put your setup in front of the TV so you can stay occupied.

Place the saucepan of grape flesh over medium heat until it starts to boil. Cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, add 1/3 cup of the sugar to the grape skins and whir them in the food processor until smooth. 

When you’re finished cooking the grape innards, place your sieve over your mixing bowl and pour in the hot grapes. Use a wooden spoon, a ladle or a potato masher to mash the grape pulp until most of the pulp and juice is in the bowl and you are left with just the seeds in the sieve (It is nearly impossible to separate all the flesh from the seeds, so don’t sweat it.).

Mix the remaining 1/3 cup sugar with the pectin in a small bowl. Add the strained grape pulp back into your sauce pan, along with the pureed grape skins and the sugar and pectin mixture. Place over medium heat and stir for about 3 minutes. 

Pour this mixture into your clean jars. Leave 1/2 inch of space at the top of the freezer jars to allow for expansion. This should fill the three freezer jars, plus leave a little extra to store in the fridge for immediate use. Let the jars sit uncovered on the counter for 30 minutes. The jam will seem very runny when you put it away, but after a night in the fridge it will thicken.

Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, freezer for up to a year.

Week 14: July 31, 2013

In this week’s box:

1 dozen eggs

28 ears of corn

1 flat of peaches

2 half pints raspberries

2 half pints blackberries

1 bag of heirloom tomatoes

1 pepper

1 eggplant

1 pick your own bouquet of sunflowers

3 seedless watermelons

Emily’s notes:

We really are in the peak of summer, when the vegetables are so good and require so little in the way of cooking.  A favorite side salad of mine these days involves popping an ear or two of corn in the microwave for 2:15 (4 minutes for two), removing the kernels from the cob and then adding some chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and olive oil. Serve aside scrambled eggs or grilled meat for a simple summer supper.

And don’t relegate fruit to desserts and breakfasts. A simple bowl of berries and chopped peaches would taste great next to a char-grilled chicken breast. Maybe add a few slices of tomato on the side. See? Nothing fancy going on in my kitchen these days. With peak produce like this, there’s no need to let cooking get in the way of setting up the backyard sprinkler or kiddie pool and watching the little ones go wild.

What to do with eggplant? The beauty of eggplant is its ability to transform from its raw state, which can resemble the texture of a pool noodle, to its cooked state of creamy, custardy goodness. I was recently inspired by this post on Alexandra’s Kitchen, a local blog profiled in The Free Lance-Star. I did not follow her recipe exactly, but I did throw the whole eggplant on the grill for about 25 minutes total, let it cool a bit, peeled it and let the water drain out in a colander for about 10 minutes. I roughly chopped the cooked eggplant and added about a quarter-cup of chopped basil, a tablespoon of tahini, the juice of one lemon, one chopped garlic clove and salt and pepper. I meant to add olive oil, but it never happened, and I didn’t miss it. I beat this mixture up with a wooden spoon until all the flavors had melded. It was great atop fresh-made homemade pizza the first night. The second night I used it as a dipper for cheese-and-corn quesadillas. I highly recommend throwing your whole eggplant on the grill, burning its skin and then using the cooked inside with whatever flavorings your heart desires. Even just simple olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper wouldn’t be bad.

Peaches need to be eaten at their peak ripeness, so if you don’t think you’ll be able to get through yours before they start to spoil, take the time to freeze some sliced peaches for later. Last year, I used the method outlined in this tutorial from Better Homes and Gardens with great success.

Peaches and blackberries pair beautifully in baked dishes. Nearly everyone has their favorite cobbler, clafoutis or pie recipe, but on busy weeknights, I almost always go for a crisp recipe that’s easy to throw together at the last minute. You can use this with just about any fruit, fresh or frozen. This is a relatively healthy dessert, so if it ends up being the only thing your kids eat for dinner one night, you don’t have to kick yourself too hard…

Peach and blackberry crisp

Serves 4

3 peaches, peeled and sliced

4 to 6 large blackberries

cooking spray

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

half stick of unsalted butter, diced

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

pinch salt (omit salt if you use salted butter)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup walnuts or almonds, chopped (optional)

Spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Place fruit in baking dish. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place flour, butter, sugar, oats, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Work this mixture with your (clean) fingers until it attains the texture of coarse wet sand. This has the added benefit of exfoliating your hands. If using nuts, mix them in lightly after the rest of the ingredients are already incorporated. Gently place this mixture over the berries. Bake 45 minutes to an hour (closer to an hour if you’re using frozen fruit), until fruit bubbles and the topping is slightly browned. If you use really ripe fruit, it will need no adornment, but if it’s less than peak, try tossing the fruit with a bit of honey and cornstarch before placing it in the baking dish to help the juices and flavors come out. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

 

Week 13: July 24, 2013

In this week’s box:

1/2 dozen eggs

1 quart of okra

1 eggplant

1 pepper

2 watermelons

1 heirloom cantaloupe

3 quarts of peaches

4 pints of grape tomatoes

1 bushel of corn

2 containers of berries

1 bag of italian peppers

Emily’s notes:

Is there a produce item that says “summer” more than watermelon? Since it’s July in Virginia, I’m craving something icy cold these days, and when I saw the watermelons show up on this week’s list I immediately started thinking about watermelon granita. All granita is is liquefied fruit and other optional flavorings that are frozen. Every few hours during the freezing process, you scrape a little bit of the ice crystals to loosen them so that the final product is the consistency of a snow cone. But it’s fruit. So it’s good for you. I’m going to send you to this post by the Pioneer Woman for a well-photographed tutorial on granitas. But don’t limit yourself to the recipe. Swap the sugar for honey if you like. Add some mint. Cantaloupe and peaches could be added to the blender to make a mixed-fruit granita. Go wild!

You have plenty of corn to experiment with this week, so here are a few ideas that go beyond the everyday:

Sweet corn ice cream from Cooking Light

Savory corn cobbler from Real Simple

Blueberry and corn clafoutis from Marcus Samuelsson (You could swap out the blueberries for the berries in your box this week.)

Summer Succotash from Smitten Kitchen (This recipe will also use some of your grape tomatoes.)

Remember that corn is easy to freeze. You can freeze whole ears with or without the husks, or you can remove the kernels from the cob and bag them. I do not think it’s necessary to blanch the corn before you cut it from the cob to freeze it. I froze some using both methods last year and found I liked the un-blanched corn much better when it came out of the freezer.

Okra is a Southern favorite, but some folks just aren’t that into it. I thought I was one of those folks until I got okra in last year’s CSA share. My favorite way to cook it is to stew it in tomatoes using this recipe from the New York Times. Another technique: Simply toss the okra with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes. Really, there aren’t too many vegetables that don’t respond well to this technique (Peel and cube your eggplant and add garlic and lemon juice to the olive oil toss. Roast at 400 degrees until soft and slightly charred, and you’ve got a flavorful salad topper.).

Speaking of eggplant, it’s great on the grill. In fact, looking at this list, I think you could throw together a visually pleasing and appetizing grilled side or main dish by placing grape tomatoes and 1-inch chunks of  pepper and eggplant on skewers. Marinate these in salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice (add garlic, crushed red pepper flakes or other seasonings as desired). Grill until the eggplant has softened. If you’re feeling adventurous, add a few peach chunks to these.

Italian peppers are a sweet pepper variety that’s great for frying, grilling or oven-roasting. If you roast or grill them, then stick them in a paper bag to steam, you will be able to remove the skins, then slice them into thin slivers to enjoy on sandwiches, salads or all by themselves with olive oil, salt and pepper as a side dish. You can also stuff them. One recipe I have my eye on for this week is this one for sausage-stuffed Italian peppers. I’ll probably modify it quite a bit to leave out expensive ingredients like pine nuts (almonds would probably work) and spinach (I’m going to use chard from my garden, but this could be omitted.).

Sliced or chunked eggplant and pepper can be seasoned, grilled and then stored in the fridge for a few days. If I’m cooking meat on the grill on a Sunday, I like to grill extra vegetables to use later in the week. Their smoky flavor is a great addition to sandwiches, quesadillas, salads and pizzas.

Which reminds me, this week’s box has so many great pizza toppings. Corn, tomatoes, pepper, eggplant (Grill or roast it first.) and peaches (Great with barbecue sauce and chicken on pizza.) are all great examples. And making the dough is a lot easier than you probably think. Below is a recipe used once a week or more in my house. It requires no equipment fancier than a bowl and a wooden spoon. I have replaced up to half the flour with whole wheat or white whole wheat flour with good results. This can be a crowd-pleasing way to serve a lot of vegetables at the dinner table.

Weeknight pizza dough (adapted from Jim Lahey)

Serves four generously

1 1/3 cup hot tap water

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry or rapid rise yeast (I have used both, with results that didn’t differ much)

3/4 teaspoon sugar

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Method:

In a small mixing bowl (preferably one with a spout), combine the yeast and the sugar. Pour the hot tap water over this mixture and whisk briefly. If your yeast is good, a foam head will develop on this mixture as you prepare the rest of your ingredients.

In a really large mixing bowl, combine flours, wheat germ, salt and herbs (if using). Pour in olive oil, then give your yeast slurry one last whisk and pour it over the flours. Give this mixture a few good turns with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula, then get your (clean) hands in there and get everything good and incorporated, kneading the dough lightly for about 30 seconds once everything is mixed.

Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and leave at room temperature for at least two hours, but it will be fine if you leave it for much longer.

At least 30 minutes before you want to make the pizza, preheat your oven to 500 degrees. At the same time, turn out the dough onto a floured surface and cut it in half. Shape each half into a ball and let sit under a dish towel on the floured surface until the oven has pre-heated and you’ve assembled your toppings. Cover a standard baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush with olive oil or spray with cooking spray.

When the oven is ready, gently shape one of the dough balls with your hands or a rolling pin until it fits in the prepared baking sheet. If you are only making one pizza, you can place the leftover dough in an oiled zip-top bag and freeze it, or refrigerate it if you plan to use it within the next three days.

Top your pizza as desired and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool for 3 to 5 minutes, then dinner’s ready.

One last quick note: as of last week, the total retail value of produce distributed this year was $612. We’re still researching retail value for this week’s box.

Week 11: July 10, 2013

In this week’s box:

1 dozen eggs

2 large bags of tomatoes

14 ears of corn

2 quarts of peaches

3 pounds of string beans

1 1/2 pound bag red potatoes

1 1/2 pound bag of yukon gold potatoes

2 eggplant

1 bag sweet peppers

Emily’s notes:

I’m going to start off with some fresh ideas for green beans (Although I can’t seem to stop myself from making this recipe for Green Beans and New Potatoes over and over and over again. It’s simple and fantastic.).

– This recipe for a weeknight-friendly version of Eggs Benedict looks promising. I’m all for dinners that come 100 percent from the CSA box, so I might swap out the polenta for some grilled or breaded and fried eggplant rounds.

– This recipe offers a nice, simple green-bean-and-goat-cheese salad that delivers a different flavor profile than the green bean dishes we’ve been eating in my house lately.

– Green beans are one element of the French salade niçoise. A lot of the other elements are also in this week’s box (Use this recipe as a rough guide, but I always encourage improvisation.). If you can prep your ingredients (boiled potatoes, blanched beans, hard-boiled eggs) ahead of time, the salad will come together without too much fuss at mealtime. Tuna is traditional, but I’m thinking of doing this with a can of salmon that’s been in my pantry for a while.

Just looking at this list, I think a tomato, corn, sweet pepper and peach salsa would be fantastic, especially spooned over grilled chicken. I would probably just toss diced tomatoes, peppers and peaches with corn, olive oil, salt, pepper and perhaps a little basil or cilantro. I don’t think I’d want citrus competing with the peaches.

Speaking of peaches, last year I threw some peach slices into a leftover pesto pasta salad and discovered that peaches and pesto are an amazing combination. I would consider tossing short pasta, chopped tomatoes, roasted or grilled corn and/or eggplant and some nice fresh peach chunks with a pesto sauce for a really summery dish that’s a different take on your usual pasta salad.

If you can get your hands on some good summer squash (not a tall order this time of year), you will have the makings with this box of the traditional French dish ratatouille. There are many strong opinions on how to make this dish, but one that is particularly friendly to this week’s CSA box is in Alice Waters’ book, “The Art of Simple Food,” a great reference for any CSA cook. That recipe is reproduced with adaptations here. This dish is great topped with a fried egg.