Liver and Onions with Collard Greens and Corn

I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day. We used our day off to explore a couple of neighborhoods in Queens. We continue to expand our horizons and consider new places to live. A couple of neighborhoods were really promising, but we haven't found an actual apartment we like yet.


Labor Day is often associated with cook-outs, grilled meat and all those great summer foods. We don't have a grill, so we had something more akin to a Sunday dinner (on Monday). We had liver and onions, collard greens and corn. I read about a technique in Mark Bittman's column a while back that recreates the taste of grilled corn without a grill. What you do is heat up a cast iron skillet, melt some butter, and pan fry the corn. It looked beautiful, but unfortunately tasted mushy and flavorless. I think our CSA farmers gave us cow corn! Oops! We each took a couple of bites, but couldn't finish it.

The rest of the meal was a huge success. We always like liver and onions. This time around it was bison liver. Here is my recipe. For the collard greens, I basically followed ChezSuzanne's recipe off of Food 52. My husband exclaimed, "These are the best collard greens that I have ever tasted!" and a few bites later "These are amazing." They are definitely worth a try. It includes garlic chips, bacon, and a butter and apple cider vinegar sauce- need I say more?


Here is a close up of the garlic chips and bacon bits awaiting their fate (That's a small plate).

This post is part of Two for Tuesdays at A Moderate Life, Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace.

Smoked Trout

Two years ago we were in Arizona to visit my family, and we spent several days on an AZ sightseeing trip. We went to Jerome, Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, Williams, Grand Canyon and Flagstaff. My husband hadn't seen most of it before, and I was excited to show him the rest of the state where I grew up. In Flagstaff, we ate breakfast at a small diner downtown. It was great! We love the type of places where the waitstaff knows how the regulars like their coffee and their eggs. My husband ordered scrambled eggs and smoked trout, and the combination was amazing. We wanted to buy some, and we tracked the trout to Oak Creek Canyon, but they only smoke it for restaurants. We hadn't tried it again... until, yesterday! We were walking through our Whole Foods, and spotted some local smoked trout. We were so excited!

We had smoked trout and poached eggs for breakfast, and it was delicious. I hadn't tried poaching eggs in a while, so I looked up some tips. People recommended cracking the egg into a ramekin, and then gently submerging the ramekin into the boiling water and transferring the egg into the pan. We don't have any ramekins, so I used a small shallow bowl. They don't look perfect, but they were delicious. My husband came up with the idea of using a ladle tomorrow. We sprinkled a little chopped sage over the top. The creaminess of the egg yolk with the smoky, salty taste of the trout and the herby, fresh taste of the sage created the perfect flavor combination.





We also picked up our farm share yesterday. It was another roof top week, and we had to climb the 7 flights of stairs to pick-up our veggies. I just tried googling Anthill Farm the other day (the farm that provides our veggies) and they now have a website!


This week we will be enjoying garlic, onions, leeks, beets, carrots, kale, yellow beans, and corn. My goal is to eat them all from root to tip (if possible).

Chicken with CSA Succotash

My husband made dinner last night while I worked away on the computer. I worked at the table while he was cooking about 9 feet away (I know because I counted floor tiles.) We chatted about our days as we cooked and worked. He asked a couple of times if I was ready to type up the recipe, and taunted me that I was going to find the succotash recipe shocking. Mmm, what could make succotash shocking?


As he was plating up dinner, he revealed his recipes. The "shocking" ingredient was Sazon. It is really tasty, but I worry that it's full of chemicals.

This was a great meal for using leftover bits of veggies. We were getting down to the end of our CSA veggies, so my husband supplemented the succotash with the "emergency" can of black eyed peas from the cabinet. You can substitute whatever you need to eat up, and if you want to forgo the Sazon choose some spices of your own. A little chili powder would be a good choice for a similar flavor.

Chicken with Herbs
4 cloves of garlic
2 T fresh basil, chopped
2 T fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 t red chili peppers flakes
1 t paprika
1/2 t Dijon mustard
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T melted butter
1 T olive oil
2 large chicken breasts, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the garlic, spices, mustard, vinegar, butter and oil in a mixing bowl. Add the chicken and mix together with your hands. Let marinate for an hour or more. Heat a wok or pan with deep sides, and add the chicken mixture. Cook until cooked through (about 5-8 minutes).

CSA Succotash
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 ears of corn
6 oven roasted tomatoes
2 frying peppers, julienned
1/2 lb of green beans, chopped
16 oz black eyed peas
1/4 c pepitas
1 package Sazon

Saute corn for 2 minutes. Add garlic, onion and peppers and cook for 1 more minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 5 minutes or until they are tender.

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays from Food Renegade, Finer Things Friday, Frugal Fridays, and Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap.

Eggs Glorious Eggs

I think the recall of a half a million eggs is a reminder to us all that we need to be eating better quality eggs. Get out there and support your local farmer or farmers' market and buy eggs from their pasture raised hens. They will be safer, tastier, and more nutritious. Here are two ideas for those farm fresh eggs:


A while back, we had burritos for breakfast. We peeled and chopped some kohlrabi and sauteed it with some onions. When they were softened and starting to brown, we added some eggs. Serve in tortillas with condiments of your choice. Prepared this way the kohlrabi has a texture similar to potatoes, but with a slightly sweet flavor. It pairs nicely with the onions and scrambled eggs. My favorite thing about that picture is that one burrito has salsa and one has ketchup. Can you tell which one belongs to the girl that grew up in AZ and which one belongs to the boy from upstate NY? It makes me chuckle each time I think about it.


This is not the best photo, but it documents our breakfast yesterday morning. I'm actually impressed that I managed to take a photo during the morning scramble before work. This was very simple, but delicious. My husband sauteed some spinach until it started to wilt and added some beaten eggs to the pan. We topped it with salsa we made the night before. (I learned that he will eat salsa on eggs if it is homemade.)

Eggs are a satisfying way to start the day.


This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS, Ulitmate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom, Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cooking, and Things I Love Thursday at Diaper Diaries.

New Profile Picture

I'm thinking of using a new profile picture. I have used different photos of meals we have made, but I want to use something more consistent. I figure the most appropriate thing to use is a picture of our kitchen. That is where all the magic happens, and I think our Manhattan kitchen might be of interest to people.

The entertaining thing is that our kitchen is really small, but it's not even THAT bad by Manhattan standards. We looked at apartments that were so small they didn't have ovens, or only had an under-the-counter fridge. When we walked in and looked around them, it would take me a minute to realize what was missing. I told the real estate agent I required an oven and a larger fridge. She seemed a bit surprised. Apparently a lot of people really don't cook.


What do you think? Now that I'm looking at it, I'm thinking I should clean off the fridge and straighten out (or remove) the basket of our picnic supplies. In case any of you were dreaming of living in Manhattan, or looking back with longing of past days in NYC, I'm providing you with a little taste of reality. We bought that island and pot rack. Can you imagine preparing a meal without it? There is almost no other counter space! The stove is a challenge because we can't fit more than one large pot at a time, but we make it work.

All in all we love our tiny apartment and kitchen. It has helped us whittle our belongings down to the truly essential (and we both have parents that are generous with garage/barn/attic storage space for things we want to keep for the long term). We love our location and are willing to sacrifice some space for all our area has to offer.

This post is part of Twister Tuesday at GNOWFGLINS.

This post is a part of Top 10 Tuesdays at Oh Amanda.

Week 13

We went to go pick up our CSA share yesterday to find no tent, no people and no vegetables in the normal spot. We did get there a little later than usual because we had a busy morning, but we were still well within the 12-4 time slot. We decided to head into the Bluestockings Bookstore (they help organize the CSA) and see if they knew what was going on.

We were informed that they had been running into problems with the parks department (he used the phrase "the Man was keeping them down"), so the share pick-up point had to be moved. He directed us to walk around the corner to an address, someone would be there to let us in, climb to the roof, and we would find our vegetables. It almost felt like a scavenger hunt or a speakeasy during prohibition. We walked around the corner, a girl sitting in a lawn chair asked if we were with foodstockings, we said yes, and she let us in. We climbed 7 flights of stairs, and got to enjoy a great view of the city while picking out our vegetables.


This week we will be enjoying tomatoes (there are 3 additional heirlooms that I forgot to put in the photo), garlic, corn, green beans, collard greens, leeks, and onions.


Check back in to see how we eat it all up. The big challenge for the week: tomatoes. We still have some left from last week, and we got a bunch more this week. Readers have made some great suggestions for pasta sauce, but my husband doesn't really like red sauce. I mentioned to him that the tomatoes we got yesterday would make a great tomato sauce, and he responded that he thought they would make an even better salsa. So, I guess we will be having some salsa this week.

Adventures in Farming

I haven't told my coworkers about my blog. Maybe one of these days I will come clean, but for now it is a private part of my life. I have told them about my CSA share. None of them had heard of a farm share before, and it was an intriguing concept to them. Most of them don't really cook, it is amazing how few people in NYC really do. I guess it could be blamed on small apartments with even smaller kitchens, so many good restaurants only steps away, or busy lives with long hours at work. Anyways, I always try to bring a homemade lunch to work, so between that and the farm share, I'm really the odd woman out.

A couple of days after I mentioned my farm share, a coworker shared that he found a show on a new cable channel that featured the story of two former New Yorkers who moved upstate to try their hand at farming called The Fabulous Beekman Boys. He was telling me about their trials and tribulations and how much he enjoyed the show. I asked where they lived, but he couldn't remember. He happened to mention that there was a hotel close by. I asked if he could remember the name of the hotel. He answered, "The American Hotel." It turns out the show is set only about 20 miles from where I used to work, and I think I have driven down their road. What a coincidence?!?

I think this show and my coworker's interest in it reveal a growing interest in food, where it comes from, and getting back in touch with the land. There seem to be a fair number of books coming out on the topic. Last weekend I noticed a sign in our neighborhood bookstore, McNally Jackson, that there would be a book reading today by Keith Stewart from It's a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life.


I had no expectations for the reading. I knew only the title of the book before going. It turns out that he sells his tomatoes, garlic and other organic vegetables at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He has been selling there for 24 years and is one of the longest running vendors. There were about 30 people in attendance, and many of them were his long-time customers. Keith shared some stories from the book about his transition from a corporate job in NYC to organic farmer in Orange County, NY at the age of 40. He was charming and entertaining, his New Zealand accent animating his humorous anecdotes. It was an evening well spent.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday at A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa, I'm Lovin' It Fridays at TidyMom, and Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

Week 12

I grew up in a house where there was almost always a grocery shopping list on the fridge. If someone drank the last of the milk or ate the last slice of bread, they needed to put it on the list. This was our household inventory, and helped to ensure the basics were always around.

Our CSA veggies have started to pile up a bit, so I decided to make a list. This one is not a list of what we need to purchase, but a list of what we already have. It's pretty impressive, right?


When we went to pick up farm share #12 yesterday, we got more corn, tomatoes, garlic, green beans, onions, basil and our first blueberries. After running the vegetables home, we hopped in a Zip Car to head out of town to a family party. We just got back today, so we haven't made any additional progress on the veggies. Better add the new ones to the list!

Do you have any suggestions for way to eat up lots of vegetables or ways to preserve them for later?

Blackened Catfish with Quinoa and Greens

People living elsewhere in the country ask us if it's difficult living in New York City. I always answer with a resounding "No." Maybe we set up our lives to make things simple, but living here has been really easy. My husband walks to work. I can take one subway to work. During the weekend, we often don't take the train at all because there are so many things to do within walking distance. There is lots of great food all around us. The list goes on and on, but the moral story is that we find living in NYC really enjoyable. There is one exception to this easy, enjoyable life; we have an ongoing battle with the Post Office. We cannot get them to deliver packages to us. We have gone round and round with the little brown package slips, and it's really frustrating. Yesterday my husband and I met at the Post Office to pick-up a package, but the mission was unsuccessful.


On the way home, we stopped by Gourmet Garage to pick-up some fish. We decided to get catfish. It's really mild, so I always like to add some spice to it. We served blackened catfish over some quinoa and greens. Here are our recipes:

Blackened Catfish
1/4 t cayenne
2 t chili powder
2 t oregano
2 t paprika
2 t chili pepper flakes
2 t Old Bay
1 lb catfish fillets
oil

Mix all of the spices together in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Rinse the fish and pat it dry. Coat each fillet in blackening mixture. Heat a frying pan and coat the bottom with oil. Add the fillets and cook on each side for about 4 minutes. The key is to not fidget with the fish while it is cooking, so that the spice mixture forms a nice blackened crust. This spice mix was pretty spicy. If you like things mild, cut back or cut out the chili pepper flakes, Old Bay, and/or cayenne

Quinoa and Greens
1 c quinoa
1 large bunch greens, roughly chopped
4 c water
1 clove of garlic, minced
pinch of salt

Rinse quinoa and drain. Place quinoa in dry sauce pot and cook until it starts to smell nutty. Add greens and water. Cook over high heat until it starts to boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, and mix in the garlic and salt.

This was an experiment to use only one pot, but the results were great. The extra water I added to help cook the greens made the quinoa have a really creamy texture. I used mustard greens in our version, but any braising greens will work.

Week 10

We love getting out of town and visiting new places, but this year each weekend away is a little bittersweet. Our farm share pick-up is on Saturday afternoon, so each time we go away we miss out on the week's vegetables. Last weekend we were in Boston, and missed out on week 9. That put us up all the way up to week 10 of our CSA. Hard to believe! This week in our share we got some old favorites including kale, radishes, beets, braising greens, cucumbers and carrots, plus onions and basil.

We have been feeling a bit under the weather, so it will be good to eat lots of fresh vegetables and get us back to our regular selves. Any suggestions on easy greens recipes? We're not using our oven because of our hot summer weather, so we're looking for stove top recipes for collard and mustard greens, kale and beet greens.

Boston, Part I

We are so spoiled. We have been eating lots of delicious homemade food prepared with fresh local ingredients. We are accustomed to vibrant tomatoes bursting with flavor; nutty, whole grain breads with naturally fermented starter; and creamy fresh mozzarella from the Italian cheese shop down the street. All these foods have raised our standards.


We were in Boston over the weekend to visit family and do some sightseeing. We had a great time. The weather was gorgeous and provided the perfect backdrop for 2 days of walking and seeing the sights. We always keep an eye out for local institutions to try. We were looking for some food to take on the road when we came across Cardullo's in Harvard Square. We were excited to explore the old school deli and charming gourmet food shop. Unfortunately, the sandwiches were a bit disappointing. We chose Caprese and Italian sandwiches. The tomatoes were green in the center which was a shame because it was the centerpiece of the Caprese sandwich. The Italian had a variety of meats and lots of hot peppers. Both were solid, and made a good dinner for our trip back to New York, but they didn't beat sandwiches we had at home.

All in all, the next time we are in Boston I would still peek in the store to see what's on the shelves, and I would try another sandwich. There was one with pate and figs that was intriguing.

Summer Salmon Orzo Salad

My mother-in-law makes a great salmon orzo salad with cranberries, asparagus, and goat cheese. We decided that it would be the perfect dish to share with a dinner guest coming over last night. We have gotten the recipe from her more than once, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I have an undependable system for organizing recipes; I stick them inside my cookbooks. Slips of paper with my great aunt's famous chicken, my friend's lentils, a few pages from magazines, and more are all stuck inside the cover of my Joy of Cooking. I looked through other cookbooks and there was a recipe or two in each one of them as well. I have started saving recipes on the computer which works for recipes I find on-line, but I never type up the ones I get hard copies of... What is your system for keeping track of recipes? How does it work for you? Tomorrow we are dedicating the day to some deep cleaning and organizing. When you live in a TINY space, it is more necessary than ever to purge belongings and keep everything super organized because it doesn't take much for things to spiral into total chaos. I'll let you know what I come up with on the recipe organization front.


We served our Salmon Orzo Salad with a green salad of lettuce, green bell pepper and cucumber. I never did find the recipe for the orzo, so here is our recreation from memory:

Summer Salmon Orzo Salad serves 4 as a main dish, or 6-8 as a side dish
Because it is summer and asparagus is no longer in season, we used green beans instead.

16 oz. orzo
water
1 lb. green beans, trimmed
1 lb. salmon
3/4 C dried cranberries
5 green onions, finely chopped
6 -8 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

Dressing
1/4 C olive oil
juice of one lemon
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
pinch of salt and pepper

Cook the orzo according to the package instructions. Drain and add to a large mixing bowl. Pour the dressing over the top and mix together to prevent the orzo from sticking. Steam the green beans until al dente and add to the mix. Salt and pepper the salmon and place in a hot pan lightly coated with oil. Cook over medium high heat for 4 - 6 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of your fish) until the fish easily flakes with a fork. Remove the salmon from heat and flake into bite size pieces with a fork. Add the cranberries, onions and goat cheese. Can be served warm or chilled.

Energy saving tip: I placed the green beans in a bamboo steamer over the pasta pot and cooked them together.

Homemade Pasta with Pesto and Summer Squash

We were starving when we got home from work yesterday. We had thought of making stuffed zucchini, but it was much too hot to turn on the oven. We decided to have a snack of bread and cheese to tide us over and allow us to come up with a plan for dinner. We wanted a quick meal that would use up vegetables with limited heat. We had a big bunch of basil so we decided to make walnut pesto, and somehow we made the leap from there to homemade pasta to accompany it. My husband - who hates flour because of the mess - even volunteered to make the pasta. So dinner wasn't so quick after all, but it was worth the time investment. Homemade pasta has a rich, buttery taste which pairs nicely with the herby, garlicky flavor of the pesto. I was sad when I felt full because I just wanted to keep eating.









Pasta serves 3
1 C flour
1/2 t salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 T water

Mix flour and salt. Make a well in the center and add the egg and water. Mix together. Mixture should form a stiff dough. Pour out onto a well floured counter, and knead for 3 to 4 minutes. Roll out to desired thickness and cut into strips. Place over the rim of the mixing bowl. Let rest. Drop into boiling water and cook 3 to 5 minutes.



Walnut Pesto inspired by kiss my spatula
2 C loosely packed fresh basil leaves, rinsed and dried
1/4 C coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 C olive oil
1 large garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Store any leftovers in an air tight container.

We tossed the pasta with some sauteed summer squash and pesto, and added a dollop of pesto on top.

Pork Chops with White Wine and Mustard Sauce

Saturday night we prepared a feast, but by the time we polished off the eggplant caviar we were only hungry enough for a little taste of the meal. This worked out well because we were really hungry and tired by the time we came back from Oyster Bay yesterday, and there it was waiting for us.

These pork chops and sauce are an example of my husband's talents at work. They were served over a mix of red and white quinoa with sauteed onions and a white wine and mustard sauce. The unexpected ingredient is Old Bay. He sprinkled it over the chops before frying them. He is a huge Old Bay fan. Too much of it does something strange to my mouth, so he let me regulate how much was used. The results were fabulous. The flavors combined beautifully.

Pork Chops with White Wine and Mustard Sauce serves 2
2 pork chops
Old Bay
oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 scallion, sliced
1 T Dijon mustard
1/4 C white wine
1 T butter

Sprinkle each side of the pork chops with Old Bay to taste. Heat up a cast iron pan over medium high heat. Lightly oil the pan and place the chops in the pan. Cook on each side until browned. Add the onions to the pan. Place the chops on top of the onions, and cook until they are tender. When the onions are tender and the pork chops are cooked through, add the mustard, white wine and butter. Heat through and then serve.

Week 7

This week's share looks skimpier than previous deliveries, but it has a nice variety. We will be enjoying bok choy, cucumbers, kale, carrots, summer squash, zucchini, lettuce, kohlrabi and scapes.


We went to the Union Square Greenmarket to round out our veggies. While we have been eating a lot of vegetables since starting the share, I don't feel like we have gotten much variety. We have eaten a lot of greens, radishes and salad turnips, and I'm ready for something new. Last week, I went to a reading by Leda Meredith on her book, The Locavore’s Handbook: A Busy Person’s Guide to Eating Local on a Budget. One of her tips for saving money was to get to the farmers' market at the end of the day when farmers are packing up and sell things at a discounted rate. We decided to try it out. I felt a little bit like a cast member from Gleaners, but the deals were incredible. A pint of blueberries, a beautiful big bunch of basil, and green beans were each only $1! We came home with a bargain shopping high.


We also got some little baby eggplants at the greenmarket. I had just seen a recipe earlier in the day for Eggplant Caviar in an old issue of Real Simple. I loved the name and the recipe, so we gave it a try. We didn't have all the ingredients, so I made some adjustments. Here is my version of the recipe:

Eggplant Caviar inspired by Real Simple
4 baby eggplants or 1 eggplant, peeled and chopped
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 T olive oil
1 T apple cider vinegar

Saute the eggplant until very tender. Combine the ingredients and smash with a fork to break up the eggplant. Enjoy with bread or pita.

The version I actually prepared was too heavy on scallions, so I have adjusted the quantity. I only coarsely chopped them and they were a bit chewy, so I have adjusted the directions to finely chopped. Because of this, yours will look a bit different from my photo.

Fennel may not be that bad after all...

About 10 years ago, I found a recipe and it intrigued me, so I trotted out to my grocery store to purchase all of the ingredients. I came home and followed the directions explicitly, and then sat down to enjoy the fruits of my labor. The results literally made me gag (is that too graphic?). What was the dish? It had mango, fennel and onions stir fried with rice noodles. Or at least that's what I remember the combination to be, but as I type those ingredients, it sounds really disgusting. It was from a cookbook that I felt was very dependable and had never steered me wrong. Now I'm not sure what made it attractive to me in the first place because I hate black licorice and anise flavored anything.

I was not in the habit of throwing away food, so I painstakingly removed every little piece of chopped fennel. It still wasn't enjoyable because the flavor of the fennel had infiltrated the rest of the dish. I was unable to finish it, and had to throw the leftovers away.

Because of this experience, I have steer cleared of anything with fennel in it ever since. If a recipe has fennel in the title, I skip to the next one. If a menu lists fennel as an ingredient in a dish, I say, "No thank you." Well, what do you know? We got fennel in our farm share this last week! I shoved it in the crisper drawer and hid it under a bunch of veggies I like, and it has been there until today.



We had company coming over for dinner tonight and we decided to make a Moroccan inspired bison stew served over quinoa with salad. At the last minute, I decided to prepare the fennel too. I looked for some ideas on-line and came up with a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa for Roasted Fennel with Parmesan. It has not cooled off enough in NYC to make me want to turn on my oven, so I adopted it for the stove top. I decided to go out on a limb and try a small sliver of the final dish. It wasn't bad. I actually dished up a serving for myself, and not only ate it but enjoyed it. Everyone agreed it was the best part of the meal. The licorice flavor really mellowed out and the Parmesan cheese was the prominent flavor. Here is the recipe:

Pan Fried Fennel with Parmesan
2 bulbs of fennel
2 t. olive oil
1/4 C water
pinch of sea salt and pepper
2 t Parmesan cheese

Remove the stems and bottom. Slice into 1/4 inch vertical strips. Heat up the oil and add the fennel. Saute until it starts to brown. Add the water and cover. Cook until tender and stir occasionally. (The fennel may be quite dark by the end, but don't worry) Place in a serving bowl, sprinkle with salt, pepper and cheese.

I had planned on this post being about the Moroccan inspired bison stew - that's why the stew is front and center in the photo - but the results were really disappointing. We made a batch of beef "tagine" two summer's ago and it was amazing. We wanted to recreate it tonight, but I couldn't find the recipe anywhere. I thought it was saved on the computer or written on a slip of paper in a cookbook, but no luck. I couldn't find anything similar online. Oh well. I'll focus on the fennel victory.

Quinoa Burgers with Beet and Radish Salad

I planned on making this dinner last night, but by the time we got home from a day out and about we decided to stretch the leftover burrito mix with an extra can of beans. We spent the day in Hoboken visiting the Hoboken Historical Museum and following their map for a walking tour of historic sites. Frank Sinatra wasn't the only famous person born in Hoboken. Did you know that Alfred Steiglitz, Dorothea Lange and Stephen Foster are all from there too? I didn't until yesterday. Hoboken makes a great day trip. It's got a small town feel with big city amenities.


Tonight for dinner we had quinoa burgers with beet and radish salad. It took a while to make dinner, but it made enough for several meals and it was delicious. The quinoa burgers were crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and full of flavor. The beets and radishes were cooked which mellowed their bite and combined nicely with the mustard vinaigrette. It had never occurred to me before to cook radishes as a stand alone dish, but I was trolling the web for radish ideas when I came across a whole list of radish recipes. Jack pot!

Quinoa Burgers makes 8 patties
1 C quinoa
1 1/2 C water
1 bunch greens, chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 salad turnips, shredded
1/2 large zucchini, shredded
2 eggs
1 t Old Bay (or more to taste)
Oil

Rinse the quinoa and add to a hot dry sauce pan. Cook until the grains start to smell nutty and add the water. Bring to a boil, and then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Saute the greens until tender. Squeeze the turnips and zucchini to get rid of the liquid. Add the shallots, turnips and zucchini to a skillet. Cook until they are soft.

Beat eggs and add the Old Bay. Combine all of the ingredients and chill.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Shape mixture into eight 1/2-inch-thick patties, pressing firmly. Cook in batches until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.

I could taste the Old Bay when I tasted a bit of the mixture raw, but when it was cooked it mostly disappeared. It just added some complexity to the flavor. If you would like to be able to taste the Old Bay you will want to add at least 2 teaspoons.

Beet and Radish Salad serves 2-4
3 small beets
2 long French radishes
2 T olive oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T mustard
lettuce or salad greens

Scrub the beets and radishes. Boil them until they are fork tender. Let cool and then peel the beets. Cut the beets and radishes into bite size pieces.

Combine oil, vinegar and mustard and pour over the radish and beets. Chill in the fridge. Serve over lettuce.

Vegetable Burritos

I'm a cook. I can follow a recipe and come up with the desired results. Since meeting my husband, I have even gotten better at using a recipe as inspiration and adapting the ingredients/directions to what I have on hand. My husband, on the other hand, is a chef (not for a living). He is great at looking at the ingredients before him and coming up with a scrumptious meal. I tell you this because last night my husband took the lead on dinner, and it was lots of fun to see his thought process at work. It was interesting to see how he chopped the vegetables, cooked and then combined them all in a way different from how I would do it. The results were delicious too.

He made vegetable burritos and guacamole. We have made burritos before. The previous burritos were good and really fast, but if you have little bit more time this recipe is even better. I loved the combination of vegetables with the scapes, beans and cheese. As always, our cooking decisions are driven by what is available from our farm share. Cooking radishes and salad turnips for a burrito might sound bizarre, but we really needed to eat them up. If we were head to a store to buy ingredients for vegetable burritos, we might select other things. This can provide inspiration to others needing to eat up some random veggies in the fridge. Try them in a burrito!

Vegetable Burritos serves 4
2 small bunches of turnip greens, chopped
2 small bunches of radish greens, chopped
1 bunch of beet greens, chopped
4 salad turnips, chopped
4 radishes, chopped
handful of scapes, finely chopped
1 can of pinto beans
cheddar cheese, grated
salsa
guacamole
tortillas

Saute the greens until tender. Place in a large mixing bowl. Saute the salad turnips, radishes and scapes until browned, and add to the mixing bowl. Drain the beans and rinse. Drain well and add to the mixing bowl. The heat of the vegetables will heat up the beans. Combine ingredients and mash with a fork until the salad turnips and beans break up a bit. Heat up the tortillas over the burner or in a dry skillet to soften them. Layer the cheese, the vegetable and bean mixture, salsa and guacamole in the tortilla. Roll up and enjoy.

Guacamole
1 avocado, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 pinch of salt

Mash together with a fork. Serve immediately.

Some people like to add tomatoes, onions and lime, but we are purists and like that avocado flavor to shine through. Of course, you should add any other ingredients you enjoy.

Week 6

We woke up with a lot of vegetables still in the fridge, and it was already time for another farm share pick-up. I decided to make a breakfast chock full of veggies. I steamed a bunch of kohlrabi greens (very similar to kale) and one of radish greens until they were tender. In the meantime, I chopped up 7 garlic scapes. I sauteed the scapes and once they were tender, added the greens. I spread them out in the pan and added 4 beaten eggs. I cooked them until they started to firm up around the edges (about 8-10 minutes). Sprinkled some soft goat cheese over the top and placed it under the broiler for 3-4 minutes. You can see in the photo it looks like greens with a little bit of egg, but it was really good. We enjoyed it with some bread from the Sullivan St. Bakery. Mmm, better than eating out.

After breakfast, we headed over to the Union Square Greenmarket where we made a beeline for some of our favorite stalls. We picked up a loaf of the whole wheat multi-grain bread from Our Daily Bread Bakery. I should consider branching out and trying something else, but this is just soooo good that we have gotten it for the last 3 times. We headed over to Elk Trails Bison, and we picked out some bison stew meat and beef livers. I love these farmers. They wouldn't sell us the stew meat until we promised not to brown it first. We promised, and were sent on our way with some crock pot instructions for the stew meat. We got some eggs from Northshire Farm in Herkimer Co, and had a lovely chat with the farmer. We learned that he's been making the trek from West Winfield, NY to NYC for 17 years. My husband grew up not far away, so we know that drive well. Picked up some milk from Milk Thistle Farm, grabbed some peaches and headed on our way.

After the farmers' market, we walked over to pick-up our CSA share. Here's the photo of this week's loot:

This week we will be enjoying summer squash, zucchini, purple and green kohlrabi, bok choy, fennel, lettuce, mustard greens, salad turnips, radishes and garlic scapes plus the leftovers from last week.

Stay tuned to learn how we do on eating our way through all of these vegetables.

Kohlrabi Hash

I woke up this morning wondering what I should make for dinner tonight. In my half-asleep state, I was trying to figure out what we had left in the fridge from the farm share. I could think of greens, radishes, turnips... aha, we have kohlrabi. I was excited to remember the kohlrabi because that guaranteed something new and different to prepare, eat and write about. I decided right then that I wanted to have kohlrabi hash with steak and salad.

I had seen kohlrabi in the stores, but I had never purchased it, prepared it, or eaten it. I got some tips from our CSA coordinator last weekend, and I double checked on the internet to make sure I wasn't missing out on any other stellar ideas. Everyone seemed to agree that kohlrabi hash was a great way to go. When our CSA coordinator mentioned kohlrabi hash, I envisioned grated kohlrabi in a cast iron pan cooking away in some olive oil, but when I looked up kohlrabi hash on-line all the recipes were inspired by potato pancakes. They included eggs, breadcrumbs, onion and seasonings. Of course all 5 or 6 of the recipes ended up referring back to one source – funny how that happens. We decided to go with the original idea - simple kohlrabi hash browns.

We made a salad with salad mix, radishes, carrots and salad turnips from our CSA share. Salad turnips are interesting because from the outside they look like regular turnips with a white waxy skin, but once the skin is peeled off, the texture is much closer to jicama. It has a slightly sweet flavor and is great raw. Salad turnips and kohlrabi are the two new things I have tried so far through our farm share. We topped the salad off with our house vinaigrette. My husband's salad dressing came through yet again - it was delicious!

We cooked the steak in a cast iron pan on the stove top. Before living in an apartment, the idea of frying a good thick steak would have appalled me. I thought the only way to cook them was on a grill, but they turn out great this way. We generously salted and peppered each side and placed it in a hot pan over medium high heat with a bit of olive oil. The trick is to leave it alone for as long as it needs to cook on that side, ours was over an inch thick so we did 6-7 minutes per side. This part is hard for me because I'm a cook that likes to fiddle (stir the pot, push thing around while they are sauteing, etc.). But in this case, it's best to set the timer and leave it alone until it is time to flip it because it will create a wonderful crust on the steak. Here is a photo of the finished meal:


Kohlrabi Hash Browns
2 heads of kohlrabi, peeled
olive oil
salt and pepper

Grate the kohlrabi with a box grater or food processor. Place the grated kohlrabi in a piece of cheese cloth or paper towel, and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Heat up a skillet and generously coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil. Dump in the kohlrabi and spread out into an even layer. Cook for a couple of minutes over medium heat and then flip. Cook until the kohlrabi is browned on both sides. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The kohlrabi hash browns were great! We both wished there were more so we could go back for seconds. They are very similar to potato hash browns, but slightly sweeter and a slightly firmer texture.