Welcome to the Summer 2010 CSA edition of Unplugging Desdemona. Yes, I did a winter CSA and there were some great food experiences that came out of that, but I wasn't in a writing mood. Next year I'll extol the joys of a winter of farm-fresh root vegetables, preserved goods, eggs, meats, milks, etc.. I worked on cheeses, ice creams, and as many ways as I could think of to prepare beets and cabbage.
New York is an amazing city for people who want to live in the center of it all, yet remain connected to agriculture. Sure, I have one sad rosemary struggling on my window sill, but I can support a myriad of local farmers through the many Greenmarkets, volunteering, CSAs, and by making my purchasing decisions support the small stores that stock responsibly. Red Jacket orchards is working to get fresh fruits and juices into bodegas in Bed-Stuy--I have to shoutout to "Not Eating Out In New York" for this one. I did hear from the Department of Health in Bed-Stuy about this one but I hadn't gotten the details. I'm glad that the word is getting out there. Just know that there is a kickstarter campaign to fund this initiative that is very, very far from reaching its goals.
If you would like to read more about the food system and health situation in Bed-Stuy to get you thinking about why it's important to support valuable programs like the Healthy Bodegas initiative, check out my work with City Harvest--Bed-Stuy Community Food Assessment. None of this work can be done without your support.
OK, now onto the CSA!
I'd like to give some love to Culinate who put out a recipe for buttermilk ice cream a few months ago. I was able to grab some buttermilk from the Union Square Greenmarket on Saturday and some organic lemons and limes from whole foods (I'm looking for a local option, but the citrus is just so good). I doctored up the recipe with a little fresh mint from my CSA to give it just a little hint to compliment to lime and lemon zest. If the idea of a dessert creamier than lemon ice but lighter than ice cream appeals to you, this buttermilk sherbet will knock your socks off!
So, I hope you join me for the summer season.
Showing posts with label CAMC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CAMC. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Summer may be over, but tell that to my CSA!
This has been a summer truly rich with flavor and I am sorry to see it go. We have had our share of repetition, but this has been a wonderful "my first CSA experience." The "Cooking Away My CSA" Google Group has been a valuable resource for inspiration and I am so grateful to vicariously enjoy their experimentation and learn together. I hope that in the future because of the information that is becoming more readily available online, people will be more inclined to enter into a shared risk CSA agreement with a local farm. It's daunting when you first think about getting an unspecified quantity of unspecified vegetables delivered every week, but it has turned into an adventure.
I am sorry that I will be out of town for the next two boxes from our CSA. I hope that my husband will find some use for the fresh veggies that will be coming his way. I will miss everyone while I'm visiting Japan!
Here are a few things that I've been up two for the last few CSA meals:
- Zucchini bread. As the late summer days grow long, so do the zucchini. This recipe is one that I found to be fairly bland and too heavy, but with a bit of doctoring it can be made to be quite delicious. I substituted the oil for applesauce, added 1/2 cup raisins, split the grated zucchini for some grated carrot, cut the sugar down, did 1/2 and 1/2 whole wheat flour, and added ground allspice and cardamom. It made great morning muffins as well!
- Sloppy Joe's. I haven't made these in so long, but the 1lb CSA beef was just calling me to think back to my favorite childhood recipes. Basic bolognese sauce with worcestershire sauce, but they are so much more. If one thing can transport me back to childhood it's that slightly sweet combination of meat, brown sugar, tomato sauce, ketchup (my mom's homemade ketchup), onions, green peppers, and worcestershire sauce. This meal (pictured above) was one that took me back to a time long passed but not forgotten.
- CSA Beef Pesto Burgers. This past Wednesday was our 2-year wedding anniversary. Val and I are not the type of people to get dolled up and go out somewhere we are going to spend too much money on a meal we will later was good, but over salted and heavy. Our anniversary dinner was just what we love, cooking together and eating together. This recipe inspired me to make a pesto using spinach, garlic, and walnuts to use both in the burger patties and in a meal the following night (recipe to follow). I can't think of a better way to spend the occasion.
- Zucchini Pizza Crust. In the bottom of my fridge had more zucchini than I could shake a.. well.. zucchini at. This recipe is a great use for those big veggies that look like they could feed an army. The last time I made zucchini pizza crust it was from the Moosewood Cookbook, so I must say that I got the inspiration from there. However, that recipe is very laden with cheese and it's really unnecessary when you see this simple combination. The zucchini are so moist, the egg holds it together nicely, and the right mixture of flour gives it just enough substance to not be zucchini omelet with pizza toppings. Roasted tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant with rosemary and just a little kosher salt did the trick for us as toppings. Also, grating just a tiny bit of fresh Parmesan on the top made it *pop*. Word of warning though, 8 minutes for the first round of baking (untopped) is not sufficient. Give it more like 20 if you roast your eggplant ahead of time.
I hope you do lots of cooking for me for the next few weeks! I can't wait to hear all about it.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Late Summer CSA Recipes
I'm still cook-cooking away my CSA(s), but apparently lagging on blogging it :-)
In this post:
- Kohlrabi - raw! What else do you do with it?
- Basil/Eggplant - Basil light appetizer and thai basil eggplant stir-fry
- Tomatillos - relish or roasted salsa
- Peppers - hot pepper jelly
- Kale - Sweet and Savory kale
- Summer Squash - Summer Squash Risotto
Due to construction of a new burger joint on the first floor of my apartment building we have had intermittent services. It's been nothing but frustration and the timing has been less than ideal. However, when is it a good time to have your gas cut off for a week and a half, your water off multiple days, and your electricity being shut off during your morning prep 8-10am? (That's what I have to look forward to for tomorrow.)
If ever there was a bad time to have no cooking gas, it's when you are the recipient of not one, but two bountiful late summer CSA boxes every week! My Washington Square CSA has been a great experience and I was so surprised when I was called and informed that I had won a membership to the West Village CSA for August. The produce from each has been different, so while I have had the regular doubles of cucumbers, eggplant, and summer squash, the two farms have provided enough variety to keep me guessing about recipes and searching the internet and the "Cooking Away My CSA" google group for inspiration.
Some of the items I've gotten over the last few weeks that have been particularly wonderful:
- Kohlrabi - Something I never think to buy but love the crisp hicima-like freshness. I gobbled it up raw before I even looked for ways to prepare it.
- Basil - I have killed two basil plants since moving to this sunless apartment, so receiving fresh, fragrant, bunches of deliciousness has kept me sane. The huge sweet basil leaves that I used fresh for a light app of roasted eggplant, feta, a think slice of heirloom tomato, salt, pepper, and a garlicky balsamic drizzle were to die for. Tonight I tried this recipe and despite its simplicity it is really delicious! Be warned though, I used one Washington Square CSA jalapeno with the seeds intact and when it hit the hot oil my lungs burned and I coughed and snotted for an hour. Good thing I like it spicy!
- Tomatillos!! I am secretly plotting starting my own business selling my mom's famous tomatillo relish, but I just might have to make a little of this on the side. That roasted tomatillo salsa was just what I was craving. Dry sauteing the garlic, peppers, onions, and scallions while broiling the tomatillos takes only a short time and the smell as you trow it all in the food processor just makes your mouth water. I highly recommend this if you have a handfull of tomatillos around, we made only 1 lb worth, 1/4th of the recipe.
- Hot Pepper Jelly - Now, anyone who is friends with me on Facebook has heard me complain about what I call my habenero-induced stigmata, but it was well worth it. Because of a mix-up with some hot peppers and what were supposed to be sweet, Puerto Rican "ahi dulce" peppers, I ended up with my hands SOAKED in habenero juice. I tasted one pepper and it wasn't hot, so it wasn't until my hands BURNED that I knew that I was in for. It led to taking my marriage one step deeper and allowing my lovely husband to take my contact lenses out for me. That is definitely NOT something I expected to ask him to do for me until much, much later in life.
- Kale - As many people in CSAs experience, there are a lot of prolific cooking greens in the early to mid summer. While this is nice and everyone enjoys it for a little bit, it starts to get tiresome. Also, later in the season the stems are more woody and it's not those young, tender spring greens that are great in salads. I was losing steam with it and found myself in over my head with kale and chard piling up. I put my husband in charge of finding a recipe that would break the kale-with-garlic-and-sauted-onions monotony. This tangy and sweet recipe is definitely one worth trying. We used sour cherries, spicy brown mustard, and roasted almonds along with the red summer onion, garlic, and veggie broth. Surprisingly, the next day it tasted a little like sauerkraut and I served it with one of my mom's venison brats!
- Summer Squash Risotto - This was my first attempt at making risotto. I did not use that recipe exactly, but used it as a guide for the method of making risotto along with one of the recipe books from the shelf. It was not a total flop, but I would like to give it another shot. I only had red wine on hand and I think it was a little strong. I used veggie broth, lemon, garlic, onion, red wine, summer squash (pre-roasted in the oven with the garlic), and pureed some of the squash to improve the creamy texture. I also threw in some wild rice and fresh chopped basil at the end. I also got a little silly and roasted some "space-ship squash" hollowed them out, and served each person their own plate of stuffed squash with a light vinegarette drizzle. All in all, it was good, but I definitely made enough to feed an army!
I hope that message makes up for my slacking and I will try to keep the updates coming.
In this post:
- Kohlrabi - raw! What else do you do with it?
- Basil/Eggplant - Basil light appetizer and thai basil eggplant stir-fry
- Tomatillos - relish or roasted salsa
- Peppers - hot pepper jelly
- Kale - Sweet and Savory kale
- Summer Squash - Summer Squash Risotto
Due to construction of a new burger joint on the first floor of my apartment building we have had intermittent services. It's been nothing but frustration and the timing has been less than ideal. However, when is it a good time to have your gas cut off for a week and a half, your water off multiple days, and your electricity being shut off during your morning prep 8-10am? (That's what I have to look forward to for tomorrow.)
If ever there was a bad time to have no cooking gas, it's when you are the recipient of not one, but two bountiful late summer CSA boxes every week! My Washington Square CSA has been a great experience and I was so surprised when I was called and informed that I had won a membership to the West Village CSA for August. The produce from each has been different, so while I have had the regular doubles of cucumbers, eggplant, and summer squash, the two farms have provided enough variety to keep me guessing about recipes and searching the internet and the "Cooking Away My CSA" google group for inspiration.
Some of the items I've gotten over the last few weeks that have been particularly wonderful:
- Kohlrabi - Something I never think to buy but love the crisp hicima-like freshness. I gobbled it up raw before I even looked for ways to prepare it.
- Basil - I have killed two basil plants since moving to this sunless apartment, so receiving fresh, fragrant, bunches of deliciousness has kept me sane. The huge sweet basil leaves that I used fresh for a light app of roasted eggplant, feta, a think slice of heirloom tomato, salt, pepper, and a garlicky balsamic drizzle were to die for. Tonight I tried this recipe and despite its simplicity it is really delicious! Be warned though, I used one Washington Square CSA jalapeno with the seeds intact and when it hit the hot oil my lungs burned and I coughed and snotted for an hour. Good thing I like it spicy!
- Tomatillos!! I am secretly plotting starting my own business selling my mom's famous tomatillo relish, but I just might have to make a little of this on the side. That roasted tomatillo salsa was just what I was craving. Dry sauteing the garlic, peppers, onions, and scallions while broiling the tomatillos takes only a short time and the smell as you trow it all in the food processor just makes your mouth water. I highly recommend this if you have a handfull of tomatillos around, we made only 1 lb worth, 1/4th of the recipe.
- Hot Pepper Jelly - Now, anyone who is friends with me on Facebook has heard me complain about what I call my habenero-induced stigmata, but it was well worth it. Because of a mix-up with some hot peppers and what were supposed to be sweet, Puerto Rican "ahi dulce" peppers, I ended up with my hands SOAKED in habenero juice. I tasted one pepper and it wasn't hot, so it wasn't until my hands BURNED that I knew that I was in for. It led to taking my marriage one step deeper and allowing my lovely husband to take my contact lenses out for me. That is definitely NOT something I expected to ask him to do for me until much, much later in life.
- Kale - As many people in CSAs experience, there are a lot of prolific cooking greens in the early to mid summer. While this is nice and everyone enjoys it for a little bit, it starts to get tiresome. Also, later in the season the stems are more woody and it's not those young, tender spring greens that are great in salads. I was losing steam with it and found myself in over my head with kale and chard piling up. I put my husband in charge of finding a recipe that would break the kale-with-garlic-and-sauted-onions monotony. This tangy and sweet recipe is definitely one worth trying. We used sour cherries, spicy brown mustard, and roasted almonds along with the red summer onion, garlic, and veggie broth. Surprisingly, the next day it tasted a little like sauerkraut and I served it with one of my mom's venison brats!
- Summer Squash Risotto - This was my first attempt at making risotto. I did not use that recipe exactly, but used it as a guide for the method of making risotto along with one of the recipe books from the shelf. It was not a total flop, but I would like to give it another shot. I only had red wine on hand and I think it was a little strong. I used veggie broth, lemon, garlic, onion, red wine, summer squash (pre-roasted in the oven with the garlic), and pureed some of the squash to improve the creamy texture. I also threw in some wild rice and fresh chopped basil at the end. I also got a little silly and roasted some "space-ship squash" hollowed them out, and served each person their own plate of stuffed squash with a light vinegarette drizzle. All in all, it was good, but I definitely made enough to feed an army!
I hope that message makes up for my slacking and I will try to keep the updates coming.
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