We received our second CSA delivery today, and just like a kid on Christmas, I couldn’t wait to open up our box, even though I already knew what would be in it (they deliver the weekly newsletter on Wednesday telling us what is in the box). This week we received more bok choy, more green garlic, another bag of baby greens, more pea shoots, a bunch of radishes and another pint of strawberries. In addition to these repeats (all of which I am very grateful for as it gives me a chance to play with these items even more!!) we received a bunch of Hakurei turnips, an early ripening Japanese variety of turnip. I’m really looking forward to “playing” with those as I have never had this variety before, although, from what I have read about them, most of them may get eaten simply washes and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper!

Since I still hadn’t used up the bok choy (a chinese variety of cabbage) and all of the green garlic from last week, and having received more of each, I knew that tonight’s dinner would have to feature both of them. I figured a simple stir-fry would be perfect. Not necessarily the most creative way to use up bok choy, but the meal hit the spot, and was done-start to finish-in just under 15 minutes, not counting the time it took to cook the brown rice that went with it.

Green Garlic

Chicken with Bok Choy
serves 2

1/2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tsp. hoisin sauce
2 Tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs. water
1tsp. corn starch
3 bulbs green garlic (white buld and an inch or 2 of the green stem), thinly sliced
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3-4 bunches baby bok choy
1 pound chicken breast, boneless & skinless, thinly sliced
4 Tbs. sesame oil
1-3 pinches red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup cashews, roasted

Combine the first 5 ingredients and mix well. Set aside. Heat a wok over high heat. Add 2 Tsp. of the sesame oil and once it starts to smoke add the chicken. Quickly stir-fry the chicken until done. Remove from wok. Wipe the wok out and add the remaining sesame oil. When it starts to smoke add the green garlic and ginger. Toss once or twice and add the bok choy-do not let the garlic burn or it will become bitter. Stir-fry the vegetables for about 2 minutes then add about 1 oz (2 Tbs.) of water to quickly steam the bok choy. Add the chicken, and red pepper flakes if using. Then add the reserved sauce you made up earlier. Toss to coat. Add the cashews and serve immediately. This dish is best when the bok choy still has a bit of crispness to it. Let it sit too long and the bok choy will go completely limp. Not the end of the world, but I like it better when there is still a bit of crunch to it. Serve with white or brown rice.

We were very excited today as today marked the first delivery, of the season, from our new CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm. My wife and I had belonged to a CSA for a number of years, but stopped just before our daughter was born. After a 5 year hiatus we were more than ready to sign up for another season of fresh, locally grown produce. While we had been happy with the farm from which we had gotten our food from, for years, we were ready to try a new farm. After much research, on the internet, I narrowed our choices down to 3 or 4 and let my wife have the final say. We decided to try out Good Earth Farm, in Oakfield, WI, about 20 minutes from our home in Fond du Lac. You can check out there website here.

For those of you who are not familiar with what a CSA farm is, basically you purchase a “share” that entitles you to a set number of deliveries, of the farm’s product throughout the year. While there are all kinds of CSA’s, from fruit and vegetable shares, to egg shares, to honey shares, to meat and/or poultry shares, the most popular are the fruit and vegetable shares. While the price of a share varies from farm to farm and region to region, a good average price for a share in Wisconsin is $500-$600 a season. While this may sound like a lot of money once you start breaking it down then it ends up being a really good deal. Most shares will consist of approximately 20 deliveries (give or take depending on the weather) and often those deliveries will weigh in at between 10-20 pounds, again depending on the year and the season (spring and early summer boxes can be on the light side while late summer boxes can be overflowing with produce. Of course, all of this depends on the weather and Mother Nature. That’s why many of these farms plant tens to hundreds of varieties of vegetables so if one fails hopefully others flourish. It becomes a win-win situation for both farmer and consumer as the consumer gets lots of great (oftentimes organically raised) produce and the farmer gets some security knowing that they have been paid for their hardwork, even if Mother Nature doesn’t want to cooperate.

Now back to our CSA share. As typically of early season boxes ours was on the light side, but that didn’t matter because what was in it was excellent! We received a bunch of green garlic (can be used as garlic or in place of scallions), a nice large bunch of radishes, a large bag of spring greens for salad, some wonderfully sweet pea shoots, a pound of rhubarb (not that we needed any of that!), a pint of beautiful, local strawberries, and some wonderful bok choy.

In addition to our regular share, we purchased a bread share, which means that each week, with our box of vegetables, will be a loaf of bread baked, in the European tradition, by a local baker. This week the bread was a hearty, nutty 9-grain loaf. Overall, lots of great stuff to cook with and play with. Tonight though, I wanted to keep it simple and let the produce speak for itself. So I simply tossed the spring greens with the pea shoots and dressed this salad in a light vinaigrette of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced green garlic, salt and pepper. To accompany the salad I sliced up a few radishes and served the salad with 9 grain bread which I first brushed with a mixture of butter and minced green garlic and gently grilled until toasty and crisp. It was the perfect meal to celebrate the beginning of our weekly deliveries.

I look forward to sharing what we receive each week, and the recipes that our little box of goodies inspires me to make. Stay tuned!

In my effort to add some more vegetables to my diet, I’ve been going through my numerous cookbooks on the cuisines of the Mediterranean region and I’ve come across many wonderful recipes for vegetable “stews.” While many of these countries have numerous vegetarian dishes and stews I am most intrigued by the vegetable tagines of North Africa. I think it it because of the heavy use of spices in these dishes that I am so attracted to them. I have found that I, personally, am less apt to miss a meat component in a dish if it is heavily spiced.

To truly be called a tagine, the stew should be cooked in a dish of the same name, a large, shallow earthenware dish topped with a very distinct, conical lid. The food is placed in the bottom bowl and allowed to simmer slowly until all the ingredients are tender and flavorful. Well, I don’t have a tagine to make my tagine in, but other than that this dish stays pretty true to the flavors and ingredients of North Africa. Placed on a bed of couscous, this meal easily satisfies even a die hard meat eater like me.

Vegetable Tagine

1 cup garbanzo beans, dried (chickpeas)
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium butternut squash (or other winter squash) peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 can (14.5oz) stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup prunes, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (more if you like the heat)
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
salt
pepper
olive oil

Soak the dried garbanzo beans in 3 cups of water for 8-10 hours. Drain, place in a pot with fresh water, to cover, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45-60 minutes, until tender but not mushy. Drain. In another pot, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until onion turns translucent. Add carrots and squash. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, then add the cinnamon, cumin and red pepper flakes. Saute for 1 minute then add the tomatoes, prunes, water and garbanzo beans.

Season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender and the squash is just starting to fall apart. Adjust seasoning, stir in the cilantro and serve.

It seems to be a universal truth that kids hate brussels sprouts and who can blame them, especially if they were all served like my parents served them; cooked to death then drizzled with vinegar. It’ no wonder that many of us ever outgrow that hatred. That’s too bad because brussels sprouts can be a wonderful vegetable. Sure, overcooked they can be mushy, slimy and sulfurous, but when cooked properly they have a wonderful earthy quality about them and just a hint of a sharp bite that makes them lively.

While many people still prefer to blanch them whole, or cut them in half and blanch them, before giving them a quick saute in butter, I prefer to pull them apart so that each leaf is its own individual. I then saute the raw leaves and finish them by steaming them with a little liquid. Sure it is a little more time consuming this way, but I like the resulting texture and flavor cooking brussel sprouts this way.

Brussels Sprouts with Pecans & Dried Cranberries
1 1/2 pounds Brussels Sprouts
2 slices Bacon, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Butter
1/4 cup Pecans, toasted
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries
1/3 cup Madeira (Sherry works great also)
Salt
Pepper

Core and peel apart the brussels sprouts. Thinly slice the tight centers of the brussels sprouts. In a large skillet cook the bacon over medium high heat. When brown and crispy remove from pan and pour off all but 1 Tbsp. of bacon fat. Add the butter to the skillet and allow to melt. When the foaming subsides add the the brussels sprouts and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes longer, continuing to stir. Toss in the dried cranberries and the Madeira. Continue to cook until the Madeira as reduced to almost dry and the brussels sprouts are tender. Add the pecans and cooked bacon. Season with salt and pepper and serve. This serves 4 as a side vegetable.

It’s hard to believe that it’s October already. This year seems to have flown by. I’m still trying to figure out where summer went. Some would argue that we never really had summer due to the unseasonably cool weather we had. I wouldn’t disagree with that sentiment, but I am glad to see fall arrive. With the advent of Fall, I start to think of the holidays that are just around the corner. Yes, I know that they are still a ways away, but some preparations need to be made now. My family often gives “homemade” gifts for Christmas, and in my family that usually means food, and more specifically home canned goods and homemade cordials. These are items that need to be started now as they often take months to cure and/or mature. This also gets me to thinking of our holiday meals. Our meals tend to be traditional, but elaborate affairs complemented by a number of pickles and relishes, most of which take a number of weeks between initial preparation and the time they are ready to eat.

One of my favorite of all these relishes are the homemade pickled beets and the purple pickled eggs made using the liquid from those same beets. Normally these are prepared using standard red beets, but this past Saturday, while perusing the local farmer’s market I came across some beautiful golden beets.

These were too nice to pass up so I decided to use them instead of the traditional red. I imagine that later this month I will also pickle some red beets also, as Thanksgiving and Christmas just aren’t the same without purple pickled eggs. I also plan on using the liquid, from the golden beets to try and make some yellow pickled eggs also. Don’t know how it will work, but I’m sure I’ll share my attempts here. (continue reading…)

It has been years since I have prepared squash blossoms so it was a great surprise when my wife brought home a bunch of them that she had found at the Dane County Farmer’s Market in Madison, WI. Preparing squash blossoms always takes me back to my childhood. I can remember a number of breakfasts that featured fried pumpkin blossoms. Mom would go out to the garden early in the summer morning and gather the blossoms, still heavy with dew. Dad would then flour them and fry them up, usually in bacon fat, to be served along side eggs and bacon. Fast forward to my days in fine dining and when we got our hands on squash or zucchini blossoms we would often stuff them with some forcemeat or mousseline and gently steam them to serve as a side to some summertime entree.

Deciding to incorporate the best of both approaches what I decided to do is stuff the blossoms with a mixture of shrimp, corn, mild green chiles and a little cheese. I would then bread them in masa harina(the corn flour used to make tortillas and tamales) and fry them. Completing the Southwestern theme, I served them simply, topped with homemade pico de gallo.

When choosing squash blossoms, at the market, make sure you are getting zucchini, yellow squash, or pumpkin blossoms. While all squash blossoms are edible, some types of squash, mainly winter squashes, produce blossoms that are unpleasantly bitter. I also suggest removing the stamen or pistil as it can, sometimes, also be bitter.

Stuffed Squash Blossoms
24 each Squash Blossoms, picked that day
1/2 pound Shrimp, peeled, deveined and tail removed
1 ear Corn, kernels cut off cob
2 ounces Green Chiles, roasted and chopped (canned is fine)
1/2 cup Queso Cotija (substitute Feta if you can’t find the Cotija)
Salt
Pepper
2 each Eggs
1/4 cup Milk
1 1/2 cups Masa Harina
Vegetable Oil

Finely chop the shrimp and mix with the corn, feta, and chiles. Season with salt and pepper. Prepare the blossoms by removing the stems, and stamens or pistils. Stuff each blossom with 1-2 tsp. of the filling, more if the blossoms are large, but do not over stuff. The petals should completely enclose the filling. Beat the eggs and add the milk. Place the masa in a shallow pan then bread the blossoms, first dipping into the egg mixture then dredging in the masa to cover. Meanwhile, heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. When hot, but not smoking, add a couple of blossoms. Don’t crowd the pan or you will lower the oil temperature too much. Fry for about 4-5 minutes, turning every minute or so to make sure the whole blossom cooks to a golden brown.

When done drain on paper towel. Season immediately with salt and serve hot. Serve plain or with your choice of salsa or pico de gallo.