What a great haul this week at Wolfe Spring Farm. Great tomatoes, multi-hued peppers, onions, garlic, eggplants and (new this week) celery.
Here’s what we’ve prepared so far:
Details to come. Must rest now.
So much Veg!
Next, we made an amazing grille-roasted chicken with a Wolfe Springs Farm naturally raised chicken, some WSF fingerling potatoes, some herbs from our garden and some WSF tomatoes.
Slip a few herbs under the chicken’s skin, cram some lemon wedges and whole herbs in the cavity, salt and pepper everything in sight and throw it in a pan (this one was a wedding gift that we dedicated to the grill) cook for a while, add some sliced onions and crushed garlic, cook until done, serve with sliced fresh WSF tomatoes and chopped basil. The whole cooking time was about 1.5 hours – just enough time to have a bloody mary or two. This was a truly sublime feast.
The raw ingredients
Had a delicious meal last night at cousins Kara and David Milner’s beautiful bayfront home in Bristol, Rhode Island. Is nothing better than a lovingly prepared home-cooked, market-driven meal prepared by someone else?? Add a to-die for view and easy-going companionship and you’ve got a recipe for a perfect evening. Kara prepared Campfire Salmon, Israeli couscous and a crunchy seasonal salad.
Kara’s Camfire Salmon
The Campfire Salmon is a variation on a recipe from a handy cookbook called Simply in Season. Kara kindly walked me through the recipe briefly. Good thing about it is that you can prepare it in advance, wrap it up in tin foil, and pop it in the fridge until you are ready to grill (or bake in oven). Kara sliced up onion, placed a large filet of wild salmon on top, sliced up lemons and local zucchini to go on top, sprinked with some fresh dill, a dash of olive oil and a splash of white wine. Fold up the tin foil and cook immediately on a heated grill or 450 degree F oven, or store in fridge until ready to do so. This versatile recipe is a great way to feed a large group and you can add/subtract veggies based on what’s in season. Like it.
On the side, I loved Kara’s crunchy salad featuring heirloom cherry tomatoes and yellow cucumbers from a local CSA, crunchy fresh corn kernels, spinach, maybe some watercress (?) and sliced sweet red onions. Kara, chime in if I missed anything.
Kara’s Salad: tomatoes, yellow cucumbers, corn, spinach, red onion and watercress
And did I mention the Sour Cream Blueberry Pie for dessert?? So yummy, with a crispy lattice top and crust. Hubs refused to even taste at the mere mention of the words “sour cream.” His loss – was scrumptious. I haven’t bugged Kara yet for the recipe and probably won’t. Fear if I make it, it will go straight to my hips.
Thank you, Kara & David!
Such a bountiful CSA Pick-up on Saturday…Here it is on my countertop and I already stored the purple potatoes.
CSA Pick-up 8/4/12
I had a few recipes in mind, like Gazpacho and Zucchini Bread. I also wanted to think of something to do with the corn, since we had corn on the cob the night before, and our pick-up included 6 ears. After June graciously picked some kirby cucumbers for us, I considered a standard gazpacho, but then remembered a favorite recipe from summers past.
I’ve made this recipe for Roasted Gazpacho from Mark Bittman many times and it’s always been a success. It’s also a good way to use some vegetables like eggplant, squash, and overly ripe tomatoes in bulk that might be otherwise difficult to use up. In a nutshell, you chop up zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, onions and garlic, toss with olive oil and roast at 400 degrees. I used yellow squash instead of green zucchini here (picture below). Either works fine – another forgiving recipe.
Preparation for Roasted Gazpacho: Chopped vegetables tossed in olive oil and dash of kosher salt, ready to go into oven.
Cool, purée with 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and 4 cups water. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped pepper, cucumbers, and/or tomatoes to add crunch. Enjoy!
Rebecca, a blogger in Colorado, transcribed the recipe and included a pic, and funnily enough, her final product looks nothing like mine.
I also made 2 loaves of yummy Orange Zucchini bread.
Orange Zucchini Bread
Our friend Nash passed along the recipe and it was the first time I tried this variation on the classic zucchini bread. The orange rind and juice add a nice touch – slight tartness and interesting accent of flavor. You can also use less white sugar since the orange juice adds natural sweetness than with a traditional recipe (usually calls for 2 cups of sugar).
Zucchini Orange Bread batter
Here is the recipe I followed, similar to the Cooks.com recipe I linked to above:
Orange Zucchini Bread
1/2 c. canolaoil
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour [I used 1 cup whole wheat, 2 cups all-purpose]
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. orange juice
2 tsp. grated orange rind
2 c. grated zucchini
Instructions:
Mix all dry ingredients and set aside. Then mix the rest of the ingredients and cream well. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Grease 2 bread pans and bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes. You can add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts to batter as well.
Stay tuned for a great recipe for Sauteed Corn and Herbs…
So what happened to the tomatillos? As many folks suggested, I prepared salsa verde, and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and downright tasty. No fear factor anymore, my little green friends. The technique I had seen down in Mexico was more complex, using a comal, and probably more authentic, too, but the end result of this recipe was delicious. I boiled the whole tomatillos, then used the hand blender to blend them with white onion, cilantro and jalapeno. No need to marginalize this because of its simplicity – it definitely worked.
Looking to get a head start on things, I made the salsa verde Monday night in prep for Wednesday’s night menu inspired by Novagirl’s comment on shrimp tacos. Sad to say, the salsa verde has virtually disappeared by Wednesday afternoon. Uh-oh. I foolishly gave away 1/2 the batch thinking that it would never be consumed, but underestimated the addictive nature of salsa verde and tortilla chips.
Looking deeply in a glass jar: Salsa Verde (practically) all gone
I am such a fan of salsa verde now that I would even outright purchase tomatillos to make it again. Yum. So, I also prepared Pico de Gallo to make up for the salsa verde shortage. I chopped and seeded 2 small tomatoes, chopped 1/4 of a medium-sized white onion, 1/2 jalapeno pepper and a few sprigs of cilantro. Mixed them altogether and listo, fresh Pico de Gallo. Since I had done such an expert job of seeding the tomatoes, the salsa turned out a little dry, so I added a handful of chopped cherry tomatoes that I had on hand from my CSA pick-up. They worked like a charm and added some interesting, if nontraditional, color.
Pico de Gallo with heirloom tomatoes and yellow cherry tomatoes
What to drink tonight? Beer would be an obvious choice, but I was thinking of a glass of wine. This dish is a tough one because it has a lot going on, particularly the heat from the jalapenos in both salsas. I thought about the bottle of J Vineyards Russian River Valley Pinot Gris that I had chilled in the fridge. I decided to do some research before risking it and opening this bottle I’ve been saving for a year. I was thrilled to find a reco from Snooth.com for Oregon Pinot Gris (close enough!), suggesting medium-bodied, fruity whites. A rose’ would work, too, or Torrontes from Argentina. I like Snooth’s tag line: Drink Better Wines.
Looking forward to tasting: J Vineyards 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Gris
I stumbled upon a similar taco recipe from Food & Wine for Shrimp tacos with Pickled Red Onion Salad in a post on Blog Your Own Wine. I’ll have to try that at some point, too.
In the meantime, off to pull all this together into dinner. Stay tuned, Novagirl!
Ever heard of “Early Drought Corn”? Well, that’s what we picked up today at the Farm. Unfamiliar phrase to me as well, but the result of all the intense heat and sun combined with below average rainfall means that the first corn cobs of the season are small, not super flavorful and even kind of ugly.
We had our first of the season local corn on the cob last night purchased from the Amenia Farmers Market in Dutchess County, NY. We soaked the ears, grilled them and then slathered them with butter, salt and pepper. They were good, not great.
Prepping for the grill: soaking the corn on the cob, silks removed
Fresh off the grill, grilled corn on the cob still wearing their husks
Today’s haul of 8 ears from Wolfe Spring Farm had a similarly undernourished look to last night’s, so we decided better to cook with them than feature them in all their glory ‘naked’ on the cob. I decided on a corn chowder and combined 2 recipes to make my own: this recipe from Mark Bittman’s Minimalist column and this recipe from the Red Cat Cookbook. I like Bittman’s recipe because he makes a rustic ‘broth’ from the corn cobs and I like the Red Cat’s recipe because they add a little heat. Here’s my adaptation.
Early Corn Chowder
Instructions:
1. Shuck the corn and use a paring knife to strip the kernels into a bowl. Put the cobs in a pot with 6-8 cups water; bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 10-20 minutes.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan or soup pot and turn the heat to medium-high. When the butter melts, add the onion and shallots, along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes; then add the potatoes and saute another 5 minutes; add the tomatoes if you’re using them and cook, stirring, for another minute or two. Add the dried peppers, crushing them if you like more heat.
3. After the corn cobs have cooked for at least 10 minutes, strain the liquid into the onion-potato mixture. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down so the mixture simmers. When the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes, add the corn kernels and milk and heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Can be prepared in advance and served at room temperature or chilled. If you like a creamier soup, you can puree the soup partially with a stick blender, and/or use 1/2 cup of heavy cream in place of 1/2 cup of the milk. Garnish with the chives, and serve.
It’s still early days for the corn season. Please share your favorite recipes, too.