Week 11: Filling the Freezer and San Fran

Well, first off I feel I owe everyone an apology.  I had all intentions of writing an entry last week either on Tuesday night or on the way to San Fran but I just never did it.  I can only blame it on my own laziness.  On the plus-side this post will be extra long and filled with pictures!!

After coming home from San Fran, I realized just how much I love the CSA and how much I am reliant on it in the summer.  Since B and I were both going to be gone, we gave our food away last week.  When I came home Sunday night I opened a very sad, very barren fridge.  I decided it wasn't worth going to the grocery store since I knew I would just be getting more in a few days.  But those couple days were so hard!  I was like a lost puppy!  Luckily I did have a few tomatoes left that were still good so I used them for a BLT and Caprese salad for dinners, but still!  Like many things in life, you don't realize how much you rely on something until it is gone.  It also made me realize that my life is built around the CSA in the summers.  It has become a big part of my life.  I will be so sad once this season is done but luckily we still have 6 more weeks!

Green Beans:

I discovered this week that B is in love with green beans.  We had the largest bag of green beans I had ever seen and somehow he ate 95% of them in 3 days.  I was stunned.  Some of them he just steamed and topped with pepper.  But with most of them I tried to replicate a recipe from the Whole Foods salad bar.  They were quite delicious.  A little spice from red pepper flakes.  A little tang from vinegar.  The best part is beans absorb all of the vinegar so they are quite juicy.

http://www.twobluelemons.com/2009/06/whole-foods-green-beans.html

B helping cut the beans.  Every once in a while I am lucky enough to have him join me in the kitchen.

Finished product.  They were best cold!

Corn:

Because we didn't have a lot of time to eat this week's CSA, we didn't get to have corn-on-the-cob.  Instead I made an awesome corn chowder.  It is so good, B and I just kept eating little bowls-full while it was cooling even though it was supposed to all go into the freezer.  Super creamy. Super sweet with just a little bit of spice.  I added a roasted poblano pepper and some red bell pepper for color.  Num!  Can't wait to eat this on some cold winter day with homemade popovers.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/corn-chowder-recipe/index.html 

Freshly husked corn.  Quite pretty actually.

Chowder after boiling down for a little bit.

Tomatoes:

Again, since we only had a few days to eat everything, I had to make something that used A LOT of tomatoes.  I decided since I have made so much salsa, I needed something different.  This time I searched for the perfect fresh pasta sauce.  Last year I made a sauce where you roasted the tomatoes and then put them through a food mill.  I remember it being quite messy and a little frustrating so I decided to find a new one.  The recipe I used called for peeling and coring the tomatoes.  Then I had to chop the remaining and press the seeds and insides through a mesh colander for the juices.  With all of that being said I think this recipe was messier and more frustrating BUT it turned out wonderfully.  So if you have the time and patience, I recommend making it.  It tastes way better than the jarred stuff. 

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/fresh_tomato_sauce.html

Chopped, cored, juiced tomatoes

Finished sauce with the final ingredient....fresh basil

Broccoli:

I know I have said this before, but I will say it again.  Second best way to use up some veggies is a giant stir fry (with #1 best way being a big dinner with friends).  So Sunday night we did just that.  We made the biggest stir fry we could put together and topped it off with a red curry sauce from Trader Joe's.  We had never tried the sauce before.  I liked it quite a bit but I love curry.  I do prefer green though so next time I am going to search for it.  B thought it was a little too sweet but he doesn't love coconut milk.  Broccoli was one of our main ingredients along with many others. (see below).

Red Bell Pepper:

Pretty easy this week.  We added the pepper to the chowder, stir fry and the green beans.  Such an easy veggie to use. 

Onions:

I love onion.  Such a little thing but with so much punch!  We still have a few left but last week I put onion in the stir fry, chowder, and with the cucumbers in my normal salad.

Cooking up some veggies

Finished stir fry



Cucumber:

I was boring...I made the same old cucumber salad I always make.  The recipe should be back a few weeks on an older post.

My normal cucumber salad.  I would find a new one but I love this one so much.

Zucchini:

The shares of zucchini are finally starting to slow down.  This time I cut them the long way and we threw them on the grill.  After the picture below I topped them off with fresh shredded parma.  I also put a couple zucchini in the stir fry.  For some reason I have never thought of doing this in the past but it was great!  Not sure why I have never put them together in my head.  I guess I just don't think of Asian and zucchini in the same thought but now I have changed that.



Grilled Zucchini

SAN FRANCISCO!!

Last week I went to San Fran with my best friend to visit my sister-in-law.  We had a fabulous time!  A little time in Napa enjoying the sun and wine.  A little time in San Fran enjoying the sites and street food.  Below are some pictures from our trip...of course all food related.

View of the Bay Bridge and the city.  Looking over the farmer's market at the Ferry Building

Busy Saturday in the Ferry Building.  LOTS of food to try!

Nummy fresh CA raspberries.  SO good!

MMmm....Mexican on the sidewalk.  My favorite breakfast too.  Chilaquiles with guac and margaritas.

Fisherman's Wharf

Lots of crabs!!  A little fishy smelling.

A San Fran must!  Bay Shrimp and an Anchor beer on the sidewalk of Fisherman's Wharf. 

The best Irish Coffee ever!!

Beautiful scenery of Napa!  Just so breath-taking.

My favorite type of lunch.  Cheese, fruit, cured meat, wine and good friends!

We stayed in Yountville where French Laundry (a very very nice restaurant) is located.  This is their garden.

Beautiful tomato!  I have the same type on my deck.  Still haven't been able to get it to produce any fruit. 

Champagne tasting.  Great way to start the day!

Week 13!!

The farmers say this is the last really big week.  I think it will be pretty easy to use it all.  Especially since I have been going through withdrawals.

14 ears of corn, tomatillos, red peppers, jalapeno, raspberries (finally!), summer squash, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, broccoli and a cucumber.

Have a fabulous Labor Day weekend!!!

Week 10: Veggie Avalanche!

Last weekend I attended my absolute favorite event in Madison, The Great Taste of the Midwest.  Tickets are kind of hard to come by since you have to buy them in May by either a lottery or standing in line.  In past years we got the tickets through the lottery but this was not our lucky year.  But, as always, a week before the event plenty of tickets go on sale on Craigslist and we snatched some up.  For those of you who have no idea what Great Taste is, its a huge beer festival with around 100 breweries and over 500 beers.  Its actually fairly overwhelming, especially your first time.  This is my 4th year going so we have started to get a routine down.  Eat a nice sized lunch while waiting in line to get in...Once in, go directly to the middle or far tents...then start consuming.  And always remember it is a marathon not a sprint.  I realized this year that we have started to pick our favorites and stick to those.  Though I love IPAs and stouts, by the end of the day they start to all taste the same.  This year though we tried some beers that were really out there.  For instance, one brewery had a Peanut Butter Stout.  Yea, I know that sounds horrific but we all still tried it because its only a taste.  It was actually quite good!  It didn't really taste like PB but more smelled like it.  Definitely a novelty beer but still fun...maybe paired with a chocolate dessert.  Another hit amongst our group was a Jalapeno beer.  The style was basically a typical Mexican lager but it had a kick.  Something a little different and I would probably buy it.  Finally, one I was really stunned by was a beer infused with tea that was made by Milwaukee Brewing Co.  They actually have a couple beers that were made with tea but the one I liked the best was called Weekend at Louie's.  It was an amber base with a hint of hibiscus.  So unusual but very good.  When I lived in Milwaukee, the brewery was just a brew pub in the 3rd Ward.  Now they have started to bottle and distribute.  It will be interesting to see what kind of crazy beer they come up with next.  It also looks like I have a new brewery tour to go on the next time I'm in MKE.  Yay!

After Great Taste I started thinking about how the same idea would translate to food.  I guess we already kind of have it with food festivals and farmers markets.  But wouldn't it be interesting if you gave a bunch of chefs the same veggies/ingredient and then tasted all of their different creations.  Its kind of like the show Chopped on the Food Network or even Iron Chef but not some sort of elimination.  More the idea of trying new ways of putting things together and getting inspired!  I definitely needed some inspiration this week with the CSA.  Everything I made only used 1 or 2 items so I didn't get through last week's share...and then we got this weeks.  Another huge week to add on the the stuff I already have.  Hence the title for this week....there will definitely be a few veggie avalanches when I open the fridge this weekend.  They are just jumping at me to be used!   Luckily I have all weekend to figure it out.

ZUCCHINI:

Still eating zucchini!  Luckily its slowing down but now with two week's worth it is starting to pile up.  This week I did make an amazing dinner with one of them.  It was a no bake lasagna with sauteed garlic, zucchini and cherry tomatoes.  Super fast and actually tastier than I thought it would be.  I will definitely make this again.  Maybe even this weekend.  I ended up licking the plate!

http://www.marthastewart.com/334102/no-bake-summer-lasagna?center=276955&gallery=274270&slide=332288

No Bake Lasagna -- I am not great with presentation but this was super tasty

EGGPLANT:

I decided I had to try to use the eggplant this week otherwise it would probably get pushed to the back of the fridge until it went bad and was thrown away.  I looked through tons of recipes but decided I should maybe just go traditional, Eggplant Parmesan.  I used a recipe that you bake the breaded eggplant on a pan coated with oil.  This method worked great.  I did throw them under the broiler for a couple minutes just to get a little brown since I have a gas stove.  I also added garlic powder, oregano and red pepper flakes to the breading mix just to spice it up.  I have to admit though, I didn't love this.  I think it was just too much eggplant for me.  If I only ate one slice on the side with other stuff, I think it would have been fine.  But after I had one, I was done with it.  I guess eggplant is still not my one of my favorites...

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1857

Right after taking them out of the oven.  I liked this baking method better than frying.  Also look how huge these slices are!

Layered with cheese and pasta sauce.  I also threw in some slices of tomatoes.

My dinner!



TOMATOES:

MMmmm....delicious delicious tomatoes.  God these are so good but it so hard to get through them.  I ended up making another batch of salsa this week with LOTS of our hot peppers.  I was hoping to make a salsa hot enough for B.  I put in around 12 peppers both jalapeno and our mysterious hot peppers but it still came out fairly mild.  Well more like medium.  I love it and actually B does too but still wasn't that hot.  I used the same recipe as last week.  Other than the salsa, I have just been slicing the tomatoes and eating with salt and pepper or using them as taco toppings.  Oh, and last night I had a BLT.  Num!!  Nothing makes a BLT better than a perfect heirloom tomato.  Well, I guess avocado helps too.



Beautiful sliced tomatoes.  This is one of those really dark purple ones.  They are unbelievably sweet.

My BLT!



CUCUMBER:

I made the Cucumber Salsa from a few weeks ago again this week.  Last time I brought it to work and it was gobbled up so fast I only had 2 bites.  I decided to make it again so I could really enjoy it.  Very refreshing!

PEPPERS:

Since I made salsa again, the red peppers once again went into the salsa.  Nothing too exciting there.  As for the yellow bell pepper...first of all, it was delicious!  We had friends over on Sunday for barbacoa tacos and we used the pepper for a topping.  I hope we get some more of these in the upcoming weeks.

LETTUCE:

In the newsletter from the farm, they said that the lettuce may be a little bitter and it would be best to use in sandwiches.  Sadly, I only had one sandwich this week; the BLT.  So, we will have to finish up the rest of the head this week (along with another one we got yesterday).

CORN:

This week we boiled the corn and again ate it off the cob.  It was a great side dish for our tacos on Sunday.  We still had 3 ears left after the meal.  I cut the kernels off and I am thinking of making a corn chowder this week.

WEEK 11:  Like I said, another big week on top of the green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, etc that we didn't finish last week.  I think I will have to make some big meals this weekend and start freezing some items.  If anyone has some good ideas for green beans, please send them my way!  We got a HUGE bag of them this week.  I have a lot of work on my hands this weekend.  We have to finish this all up by Tuesday because both B and I are going on trips next weekend.  For next week's blog I will probably end up writing about my trip to San Francisco and the food I ate.  I will try to have whoever takes our CSA next week keep track of their recipes so we can see what someone else might do.  And maybe we can see what B eats on his vacation in Vegas this weekend!  I have a feeling it will be a lot of the Flamingo Champagne Brunch Buffet.

Corn, Onions, Butter Lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, Broccoli, Green Beans, Zucchini, Cucumber, Garlic, Red Fryer Peppers, Red Bell Pepper, and lots of tomatoes!!



Week 11 -- LOTS of food!

Week 9: Tomato Season Begins

The weather has cooled off dramatically the last couple days.  There has been a cool breeze at night.  The sun doesn't seem to be quite as high.  And I am starting to get Packer updates on my phone.  I hate to say it but I can feel the "F" word coming....Fall.  I absolutely love summer.  I am addicted to heat, sun and being hot.  But I will have to say that the Fall season is always a welcome change.  I love cuddling up in a hooded sweatshirt and drinking hot apple cider.  BUT I am not ready for it yet.  It is still mid-August!  That means we all need to savor every last bit of summer we can.  For me, the epitome of summer is the taste of a homegrown heirloom tomato.  The taste is unlike any tomato you will ever buy in a grocery store.  Rich, juicy, sweet but still enough acid to make a wonderful balance. And then the color!  They can range from orange and yellow striped to a deep purple that almost looks black.  They are all amazing and I will slowly enjoy every last bite.  Last week we received about 3 1/2 lbs of tomatoes in the CSA.  This week we probably have double that. Obviously, I can't eat that many tomatoes in a week!  So its time to find ways to freeze the taste of Summer so I can thaw it out during a snowy cold night in January and reminisce of the days filled with sun and humidity.  Sometimes that the only way to get through those horribly cold days....hope!  I think everyone's mission in the next couple weeks is to figure out what food screams Summer for them and make sure to enjoy it!  It will be squash, apple and pumpkin season before you know it!


Big Tomatoes: 
This was the week of salsa for us.  I made both a fresh pico de gallo salsa and a cooked salsa to freeze for the colder months.  The things I liked most about making these salsas is that all of the ingredients were local and  in my fridge besides the lime.  Onion, garlic, tomatoes, peppers all from last week's CSA.  Cilantro that I froze a few weeks back from the CSA.  Jalapenos and Hot peppers from my own plants.  I just think it is so amazing when I can do this.  All local, all fresh.  I wondering if I can start growing limes...

Freezer Salsa

http://www.food.com/recipe/diners-freezer-salsa-12275

Fresh Tomato Salsa

http://www.marthastewart.com/339894/fresh-tomato-salsa

Preparing the tomatoes to be peeled.  Pretty colors!

For the tomatoes, you have to peel them.  Here is instructions on how to do it.  Though an annoying step, it is quite easy and quick.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/how-to-peel-tomatoes/index.html

All the flavor ready to go in!

Finished product.  Salsa cooks down for 3 hours!

Fresh Pico de Gallo -- Love using different colored tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes:

As with most weeks, I made Caprese Salad and just ate the tomatoes as a snack.  I also made a very filling and refreshing salad of Tomatoes, Avocado, Fresh Mozzarella and Basil that had a lemon vinaigrette.  I think it was a little too much dressing for the ingredients so you may want to reduce or pour over each serving to your taste.

http://ashleyscookingadventures.blogspot.com/2011/05/meatless-mondays-mozzarella-tomato-and.html

Tomato, Avocado, Mozza Salad

Red Fryer Peppers:

I ended up using these peppers in a lot of everyday meals.  I made scramblers on Sunday morning and a Cheese Quesadilla for a quick dinner.  Always great to add a little crunch. Probably the biggest thing I used the peppers in was the Freezer Salsa. 

Corn:

Super simple and pretty obvious.  We ate the corn on the cob after throwing it on the grill.  We have tried corn-on-the-cob several ways -- Boiled, Soaked in the husks and thrown on the grill and husked and put on the grill.  Right now we are liking the char you get from putting the corn right on the grill.  This is best if you have a really sweet corn.  If the corn isn't quite a sweet, then I would boil it because you can add sugar to the water to sweeten it up.  Whatever way it is cooked, corn is always good.

Red Onion:

Again, used this in EVERYTHING this week.  Both salsas, quesadilla, salads, scrambler, brat topper...the list goes on.

Garlic:

Great to have around since I needed it for the salsas and the Tomato Avocado salad. 

Purple Beans:

This week I cooked up the beans for an easy side.  Just steamed them and topped them off with coarse salt and a drizzle of olive oil.  Can't really go wrong with that. 

Basil:

Just using the basil to top off everything!  It was in the Tomato Avocado salad.  I also had some with cut tomatoes, on top of a scrambler and added to a pasta dish.  I love having fresh herbs around.  They add an element of freshness to every dish!

Zucchini:

We have finally eaten enough zucchini that I have needed to start hiding them in baked goods.  We still roasted a few last night and topped with basil and goat cheese.  But we can only do that so many more times until we are really sick of it.  This week I made DELICIOUS Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.  In this recipe the zucchini is in there more to keep the muffin soft and moist and not for the flavor.  Most people probably wouldn't even notice the zucchini in them.  The chocolate in these muffins so intense, they are almost like a brownie.  I will definitely be making them again.  NUM!

http://www.simplylifeblog.com/2012/07/double-chocolate-zucchini-muffins-from-whats-baking-in-the-barbershop/

Roasted Zucchini with Basil



Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins



Week 10!  Can you believe I have been doing this for 10 weeks!?  Another huge week of food.  I will need to make a game plan, once again.

Summer Squash, Broccoli, Butter Lettuce, Globe Eggplant, Corn, Green Beans, Red Fryer Peppers, Yellow Bell Pepper, Cucumber and A LOT of Tomatoes.



Week 10


Have a great weekend and find that food that defines Summer for you....before its too late!

Week 8: Cooking Extravaganza and an Olympic Obsession

Along with the rest of the world this week, I am Olympic-obsessed.  I love seeing people's hardwork and dreams come true.  How can't you not be moved by seeing the Women's (more like girls) gymnastic team win gold?!  They have been working at this since they were 3!  Or seeing Phelps become the most medaled Olympian ever...so amazing!  But what I enjoy the most are the unusual the sports.  The ones they didn't use to show on TV when I was little, so I wasn't aware that if I would have tried them, I may have been an Olympian.  Like white water kayaking through gates, synchronized diving and hot air ballooning. OK...Hot air ballooning was only in the Olympics one year and it was a long time ago.  But you get the gist.  I guess the equivalent of the Olympics for cooking is shows like Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen-- but it doesn't seem the same.  Maybe its because they are so commercial or maybe it because everyone on those shows is already fairly successful.  Anyway, I am having my own cooking Olympics this week and, looking at this week's share, it will continue into next week.  Last weekend, we decided to take a mini-vacation and go up-north to my in-laws place.  I saw this as an opportunity to cook up some of our veggies and use a nice, new, big kitchen!

ZUCCHINI:
We had 12 zucchini last week.  I knew I needed to make something BIG to get through them.  Luckily, I had volunteered to make dinner Saturday night for 5 people and (as I said last week) that is the best way to get through food.  I found a squash casserole-type dish to try and planned the rest of the meal around it.  It turned out quite delicious but I kept thinking to myself "hmm...why doesn't it look like the picture on the blog?".  I ignored my thoughts since everyone commented on how good it was. -- Until I woke up in the middle of the night..."I forgot the SOUR CREAM!"  Well, I still think it was good, but it would have been better if I would have followed the recipe.

http://www.mykitchenescapades.com/2012/07/feta-parmesan-zucchini-bake.html?m=1

Zucchini Feta Bake -- without the sour cream

CUCUMBERS:

Its hard for me not to make my favorites but I decided it was time to make some refrigerator pickles.  Sadly, I can't find the recipe I used but I can give you an idea.

First, cut the cucumbers and mix with some coarse salt.  Let sit in the fridge for 1 hour, rinse and drain.  This helps get out some of the excess liquid in the cucumbers  In a 2 qt container mix 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup water with a couple Tbsp sugar, some pickling spices, sliced garlic and dill.  I also added some onion and turmeric.  Add cucumbers and let sit in the fridge for a few hours or up to a week.  These were good but mine were a little too vinegar-y after 2 days.  I think I will try a new recipe next time.  Maybe some Bread and Butter Sweet Pickles.  Num!

Fridge pickles

EGGPLANT:

I am not really a fan of eggplant.  It has always been a little too mushy for me.  And then I realized that I formed this opinion when I was 13.  That was a long time ago.  So I decided for the reintroduction of eggplant into my live I was going to fry it.  I found an easy recipe for eggplant fries and bought all of the ingredients.  The nice thing about this recipe is you can either bake or fry them in oil.  I decided to go all out and fry them. Why not?  Can't hurt, right?  These actually turned out quite well.  I would recommend serving them shortly after cooking because they can get a little soggy.  I didn't really mind the mushiness though because of the contrast of the breading.

http://acozykitchen.com/cornmeal-crusted-eggplant/

Frying some eggplant

Final product

SWISS CHARD:

I wanted to try a new saute recipe for the swiss chard this week.  After a little bit of searching online I found one that seemed simple and had great reviews.  Lemon, parmesan and wine.  How could it not be good?  Well honestly, I hated it.  I had to throw out my leftovers.  I'm not sure if it was because I put in too much lemon or if I wasn't in the mood to eat something I'm not quite sure about but this wasn't for me. Now, I am not saying that the 300+ people that gave it a good rating are crazy.  I am just discovering that I need to walk a cautious line with swiss chard.  Stick with the recipes I like for a while before I really step out.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sauteed-swiss-chard-with-parmesan-cheese/

Swiss Chard stems sauteeing in wine


FENNEL:
Another vegetable that I am not too fond of yet.  Last time I hid it in a pasta dish.  This time I featured it a little bit more in a tomato soup.  I liked this soup because I had almost all of the ingredients on hand.  Fennel, onion, garlic, thyme.  The only thing I had to buy was canned whole tomatoes.  This was fairly easy and I loved the color.  A bright red-orange!  The first night I had it I liked it but it was too salty, as is with most things with canned tomatoes.  Since then I have been adding a pinch of sugar and a dollop of ricotta to my bowls.  MUCH better!

http://simmerboston.com/tomatofennelsoup.html

Tomato Fennel Soup, Cheddar and Green Apple Grilled Cheese and Swiss Chard



And this week's box!  Lots of great food again.  You would never think we have been going through a drought.  Our farm is amazing!

Corn, Red Onion, Squash, Basil, Cherry Tomatoes, Big Tomatoes, Red Peppers, Garlic and Purple Beans.  Looks fantastic but I have a lot of work ahead of my this week.  Looks like some salsa for the freezer!

Week 9!

And I will leave you with some pictures of a dessert I made on Saturday.  Grilled peaches (covered with cinnamon and brown sugar) with vanilla ice cream and pound cake.  Delicious!

Dessert!



Peaches off the grill

I hope everyone is getting out to their local Farmer's Markets this weekend.  Almost everything is in season right now.  So fresh!  And I hear that the second round of raspberries may be starting. YAY!