Summer Farm Share, Week 4

Ah, a holiday week. I know that at present it is actually after the holiday week and therefore you are probably all sad like me that we had to go back to work and can't relive the 4-day weekend. Boohoo. But what a great haul for a holiday week from the farm share!

Super excited about: fava beans, rainbow beets, CARROTS (what!? I thought these didn't come out until the fall!), many different little summer squashies, bok choy, and a new herb, summer savory.
Meh about: green oakleaf lettuce, fennel.
Ugh about: red russian kale (again, argh) and broccoli plant leaves?!!!!!

Overall, this was a great basket for a weekend full of cookouts, and a few recuperating meals to finish the next week off. So let's get started.

I love get-togethers, particularly those that are outside and involve grills. Fortunately for me, when moved back up to New England, the cement "patio" that we had in Philadelphia was blown out of the water by a really nice yard space with grass. This space is GREAT for a cookout because although it is not enormous, it is the biggest grassy space on the street, and  has enough space for two grills and all the tables and drinks and seating you could want for a group of up to 20. PERFECT space for hosting a July 4th cookout right? Well, not if it's 95 zillion degrees with humidity of 100%. So after I had invited several family members over for a cookout, I realized, this would be a cookout only in the literal sense in that we would cook outside, but eat and socialize inside. But, I forged ahead in using my farm share supplies to the best of my abilities to wow guests with the food.

Meal 1 (side dishes really): Cookout Fare
Ingredients used: half of summer squash, green oakleaf lettuce, beets

So I made another beet salad, using more lettuce and fewer beets this time. Sorry to bore you. But the summer squash was much more exciting, at least for me. I have to say that I once was a summer squash hater. I hated the texture, the taste, everything about it... except the outside of course, which is always pretty (particularly the variety in the share this week). But recently I've been realizing that there are two things that will make summer squash unappealing: if it is too big, and therefore the seeds and mushy part around the seeds make up most of what you are eating, and/or if it is steamed. Man oh man does that stuff get watery and bland if it is steamed. And I did not want anything of that description at my cookout. So, I grilled it. So much better. I sliced it the long way (to make it easier to handle on the grill without slipping through the grates -- still a challenge though, so be vigilant!) marinated it in (yes, again) my trusty balsamic vinaigrette a few hours ahead (you can do it for as little as 10 minutes), and then my father-in-law, manning the veggie grill, cooked them for a few minutes on each side until they browned up. Unfortunately they were all scarfed down before I remembered to take a picture of them cooked, but hopefully you'll get the idea from the before picture.

After this cookout I managed to eat out or at other people's houses for the remainder of the weekend, with the small exception of omelets for lunch on Saturday, in which I used some of the summer savory. This herb puzzled me, because it looks like rosemary, but tastes like thyme. Either way, it was good, but unfortunately, since it is relatively strong, I was not able to use all of it before it shriveled up soon after. Anyway, Monday, I tried to get us back on the eat-at-home wagon.

Meal 2: Haddock Filet with Steamed Carrots and Fava Bean Salad
Used: Carrots, Fava Beans, Fennel, Summer Savory

The fish was prepared using the same "slapping" technique I have mentioned in week 1. So carrots! So exciting to get them in the farm share. I love tiny carrots because you don't even have to peel them to eat them, only wash, and you can serve them all whole, so even less work.

Here is how I prepared these babies. I cut off most of the greens (I recommend trimming them all the way off if you use this technique -- I thought the ends would look cute but with this technique they sort of all just ripped off in the cooking process making a mess). Then I filled a small saucepan with an inch of water and a pinch of salt, put the carrots on top of them, and turned up the heat to high, with the cover on. Once they started steaming, I left them for about 5 minutes, and then opened and poked a knife into the side of one of them to see if they were done. They were not. Mine took about 10 minutes, but yours may be different depending on the sides. You want the knife to slide in pretty easy, but keep checking so they don't get overcooked and mushy. Just test every few minutes and you'll be fine! Then I drained, tossed, and finished them in olive oil and salt and pepper to serve.

And finally, fava bean salad. Ok, this (left) is how the fava beans looked when I got them. Gross right? Well Siena Farms says all those black warts are normal and they are not rotten. Ok fine. What is probably not normal is them accidentally freezing in your fridge because one of the beans was touching the cooling element on the top. Crap. But they turned out to be mostly salvageable -- but the beans don't produce very much anyway, which was why I was annoyed to have to toss even a few. With fava beans, you have to peel them twice. First, take them out of the bean pod, and they will look like they do on the upper right. Then you have to put those in boiling water for one minute, take them out, and then peel them again, and they will look like they do on the lower right. Much more appealing in my opinion. But that is not very many beans as you can see. I made a fava "salad" but it was really more like a condiment at that point. But it was delicious. I got this recipe from the Farm Share Newsletter (that thing is turning out to come in pretty handy).  Here's Ana Sortun's recipe, with my tweaks -- because who has Aleppo pepper hanging around anyway?

Fava Bean & Walnut Salad

1-2 cups cooked fava beans (I used what I had)
1 small onion, chopped
1 bulb fennel, chopped
2 T olive oil, or a bit more (was walnut oil--power to you if you have it)
1 T fresh parsley, chopped
Red pepper flakes to taste (if you like it hot, use more, if not just do a quick shake or pinch of flakes)
1 clove of garlic, minced
A bit of summer savory, chopped
1/2 of toasted walnuts, chopped

What you want to do is put some olive oil into a skillet with the heat on medium low. Add your fennel and onion, and let them cook down until they are soft. This can take about a half an hour. Keep the heat on the low side so they don't scorch. Add in the parsley, red pepper flakes, and the minced garlic when they seem almost done (or done -- they won't overcook with a minute more cooking to go). Cook until the garlic is fragrant and tan, about one minute, but just watch it. This stuff cooks fast sometimes. Then, take all of this stuff and dump it into the food processor. Don't be lazy and because your food processor is in the sink ready to be washed and just try to use your blender (yes, I did this, and it wouldn't grind it up at all -- you can only use a standard blender interchangeably with a food processor if there is a lot of stuff in it and it has at least some liquid, otherwise, it's bad motor-burning news). Unless you have a Vitamix, in which case, you are super lucky, and yes, you can put this in the blender instead.

Add your savory to the food processor, and some salt and pepper. Turn that sucker on and drizzle in olive oil while it's on, through the top. Grind until it is all combined (just a few seconds should do). Take this out and mix with the fava beans and walnuts. And now you have a delicious fava bean salad! It really is the best way I have ever eaten fava beans, or any beans really. So try it out!

Meal 3: Grilled Pork Loin with Hoisin Glaze, with Grilled Bok Choy and Red Peppers
Items used: Bok Choy

This grilled pork loin was killer, and it all has to do with the glaze. I don't know if you all read Cooks Illustrated, but if you don't, you should start. Every recipe they have is just amazing because it has been tested a zillion times to make sure this is the best whatever you ever made. I was reading in their latest issue about grilling pork loin and I had the exact ingredients I needed to make the sweet and spicy hoisin glaze since I made those lettuce wraps a few weeks ago. This dish is simple: just turn on your grill to high, let it heat up nice and hot, and then shut off one set of burners. Put the pork loin on the side that is OFF. Let it cook, turning about halfway through, for 25 minutes or so. Then, move it to the burner that is on, and put on the glaze, rotating it and adding more glaze, for about five minutes.  Once it is ready, let it rest for a bit before your serve it. Here is the glaze recipe:

Sweet and Spicy Hoisin Glaze

1 tsp oil
1 glove of garlic, minced
1 tsp of ginger, minced
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1/2 cup of hoisin sauce
1 TBSP rice vinegar

Heat up a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the oil, and then the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Cook this for about one minute until it starts to smell fragrant -- don't let it get brown!  Then dump in the hoisin. Mix it around until incorporated, and then turn off the heat. Then add the vinegar and stir while still warm. Divide it up now so you can use most as a glaze but can save some for a sauce, which is deeeelicious. While the pork is cooking, you can have your bok choy, or any other veggies cooking on the other side of the grill, in an open foil packet. As you know, I hate to turn on the stove when the grill is already on, so this is a great way to cook everything together. With each of these veggies I just simply tossed them in oil, salt, pepper, and a little bit of soy sauce (not sure that made a difference), and then put them in a piece of foil, with the sides rolled up so they wouldn't fall out. Just keep rotating them around in the packet every once in a while to make sure they get cooked evenly. In just 45 minutes, you can have this snazzy plate staring up at you!

Meal 4: Beans and Greens with a Fried Egg
Used: Broccoli Leaves, Kale

This meal was technically during the next Farm Share rotation, so I will have to reveal that we got garlic in the next batch. But all I really did was cook down the greens like I have shown you before in week one. I treated the broccoli leaves just like kale -- they were a little more chewy than the kale, but definitely edible, to my surprise. I guess those farmers at Siena Farms were not playing a joke on us recipients. I added a little fennel and garlic to the greens too. Additionally, I opened a can of cannellini beans, and cooked those for just a few minutes with poached garlic (more on this next week), which I will share next time. I topped it all with a fried egg. Super easy dinner, nutritious, and actually pretty filling. Noah only needed two post dinner snacks which both were fruit rather than old leftovers, so that is definitely
success in my book!

Unfortunately, I did not follow all the rules this week:

1. Try everything? Yes. 2. Use everything? No. I stupidly left the other half of the summer squash out in a bowl on the table. They looked so pretty! And I basically forgot that they weren't gourds. So they rotted -- sigh. Also I barely got to use that summer savory before it shriveled. I should have frozen it when I realized I wasn't using it fast enough. But still, not too bad for a holiday week. Hope this next one feels like a holiday for you all.

Summer Farm Share, Week 3

Welcome back, everyone, for the third segment of "what to do with my farm share." This week, we had a host of new veggies in the box, and some old favorites. And NO cilantro this time, thank the Lord! Also, because of the Fourth of July holiday, this is a short week, and we get a new box on Wednesday, so there was the unique challenge of using up all the veggies even faster. Challenge accepted.

So, what did we get?

Newbies: rainbow chard, garlic scapes, broccoli, flat-leaf parsley, summer squash (yay!)

Repeats: russian purple kale, red oakleaf lettuce, boston bibb lettuce, english shelling peas, fennel, and scallions (still yay!)

Now, even though I love all of these ingredients, some of them were unfortunately harmed in the making of my first meal, which was, I will admit, a disaster, and which I will now chronicle for you.

Meal (disaster) 1: Pizza with garlic scape pesto

Ingredients used (wrecked): half of garlic scapes, half of kale, 1 bulb of fennel.

So some of you may have heard rumors that garlic scapes can be made into a delicious pesto -- well you, and I, heard wrong. I made pesto with these (see my earlier blog on Fancy Fish for a reference on how to properly make one with a fresh herb such as basil or parsley) and oh my GOD was that stuff spicy. It was basically like eating raw garlic, which I guess in a sense, it was. So I added some basil to make it sweeter. No dice. Then I thought, well, it's raw now, so if I cook it, that will mellow its taste. So I spread it on a pizza dough, and then topped the pizza with sauteed fennel and kale (like we did for the flatbread in week 1), and some cheese. When it came out of the oven it looked great. But when I bit into the pizza the pesto had this weird, now too-sweet and super garlicky flavor. Not a good combo. I spoke (read: left an exasperated message about garlic scapes on his answering machine) with my brother about this because he has his own garden and "couldn't wait" until his garlic scapes came out so he could make a pesto. Turns out he mixed a little bit of the pesto with tomato sauce for the pizza base, and rather than coating the whole thing with it. Whoops! So the lesson here is: don't use garlic scape pesto as if it were regular pesto, use it as a flavoring. I will keep this in mind for next time. But now you know too, and you won't have to waste your ingredients nor force your significant other to eat seven pieces of weird pizza for dinner and lunch the next day.

Thankfully, the rest of the week was not so dire.

Meal 2: Seared Scallops on Spring Pea Risotto

Ingredients used: peas, some parsley



Browned and ready to flip



After that disaster on day one, I decided to go back to something I really knew for the next meal: risotto. Now, I've already covered risotto on my blog, so check it out here if you want to know the basics. All I did for this one was to shell and steam the peas for a minute (as in the second week of farm shares), then pureed half of them with a little salt, olive oil and parsley, and left the others whole. I added all of this at the very end, so the risotto would stay bright green.

But I do find that searing scallops is a really easy way to add something -- protein yes, but really it's a little bit o' fanciness. And doing this is really easy. Here's how. Take your scallops, and pat them dry. As you may or may not know, a sear will not happen if whatever you are trying to sear is wet on the surface, so pat them with a paper towel. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Now, take a non-stick frying pan and crank the heat to medium high. Add half a TBSP of butter, and half TBSP of olive oil. Once the butter bubbles begin to subside, stick as many scallops in the pan as you can without them touching each other. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the underside is brown (see above right), and then flip each one over with some tongs. Let the other side cook for another 1-2 minutes, until that side is brown. Remove from pan, and serve. Tah-dah. These taste delicious with the risotto, but can be laid over other things (sauteed greens for instance, or beans, etc.). And see, don't you agree that fancies it up?

Phew. At least I haven't lost my touch.

Meal 3: Chard and Kale Dumplings with Tomato Pan Sauce

Items used: rainbow chard, other half of kale, parsley, and a garlic scape

So it was Sunday night. I had just come from an afternoon Red Sox game, which was blazing hot, but which we thankfully also won (walk off single...um...error). Needless to say my well-intentioned planning earlier in the week to make Chard Dumplings on Sunday night was now making me irritated at said self. But, we had A/C and I luckily had eaten an entire bag of cotton candy at the game, so I gathered up all that sugar rush, and got started.

Where did I get this idea? Why the handy dandy Farm Share newsletter of course! The recipe was a little off kilter, but I'll spruce it up for you in a minute. First, I want to tell you something about these here dumplings. They are not your typical potato gnocchi with spinach in them, or ricotta nudi, or whatever you usually order at restaurants. These dumplings are meant to taste like a dumpling made of solely swiss chard. I hate to say this as an example, because it makes me sound like a food snob, but if you've ever had the spinach gnocchi at Vetri, that's what these taste like (although obviously not as good as that). They are delicious, but not what you might expect is all I am saying. If you have a little time on your hands, and a lot of greens to use up, I would definitely try these because they are delicious and interesting. Also a note on portion size: Noah says, this recipe is only a "side portion for two" amount, and normally I'd disagree because his portion size is not normal, but everyone likes dumplings, so make more if you have more than two average eaters at dinner.

Rolled and ready.

They float!

Here is the recipe Siena Farms gave me. And here's what I changed. First of all, for the sauce, I kind of went off the reservation. That sauce seemed like it would be really heavy for these things, so I used a small can of diced tomato, only 3T of butter, and parsley, and called it a day. Just let it reduce in a pan for a few minutes and it makes a lovely compliment to the dumplings. And for those dumplings, I didn't change any ingredients, I just sort of adapted the method. First of all, I had to add more flour. My dough was really sticky, so I added two additional Tbsps. Still sticky. Oh well, I thought. I'll just put flour on my hands and roll these babies into small balls quickly so that they hold together. It worked fine -- but just make sure not to handle them too much. Roll in your hands until just formed and drop onto the cookie sheet. I also chilled them in the freezer for 20 minutes, rather than leaving them out for an hour (in this heat? yeah right). I must say, I was preeeeettttyyy nervous that these were going to dissolve once they hit that boiling water, which, as my Grandma will tell you, is a common problem with regular potato gnocchi and the reason why to this day she refuses to make them. But miraculously, they did not!  Here they are, floating to the top after three minutes of me holding my breath and watching them like a hawk. They had a very delicate texture, and really were delicious.



Chard and Kale Dumplings: served.



Meal 4: Chicken and Veggie Kebabs with Quinoa

Items used: summer squash, broccoli, parsley, and a garlic scape

With the gross garlic scape pesto behind me, I decided to just use garlic scapes in place of garlic for the rest of the week. Every time I wanted to use garlic, I instead chopped up the scape into tiny pieces and used that instead. This actually worked quite well, particularly in the marinade I made for the next dish.

Now, we've probably all tried to make kebabs, or if you haven't you probably think they are simple enough, and they are. But there are a few tips I have for making kebabs that will make your experience far more enjoyable because you will avoid common kebab-killers like: kebab skewers burnt in half, fflavorlessness, and the most irritating, ree wheeling veggies that are no longer stuck to the skewer so they cannot be turned and cooked on their other side. So, how to combat these problems.

First, I always use wooden skewers because those metals ones a) look way too hard cre, b) are often too thick, and c) stay too hot for too long when you just want to eat your food. But if you use wooden skewers you must soak them for at least 30 minutes in water. They will catch on fire and burn quickly into separate pieces, and I know because I have done it. I thought, when in a  rush, how necessary can this be? Very necessary. Just do it first thing when you're preparing dinner, and it won't seem like a bother. Next: if you can, marinate the meat, in this case chicken, overnight. I made a marinade that is very similar to the balsamic vinaigrette in Week 2,  but I added chopped fresh parsley and a chopped garlic scape to the base with the usuals. Then I added a bit more water to make it a little dilluted so that it could spread evenly over the whole piece of chicken.  Also, once you've cut the veggies, allow them to marinate in the same mixture for a few minutes while you prepare the grill. Finally, use two skewers instead of one (see left). This way, all the ingredients will stay  put. This is a little more challenging when sticking them through the raw ingredients, but just make sure you cut the pieces big enough to allow for two skewers, and you should be just fine. Bring them out to the grill (med high heat) and make sure to turn them often and watch them, so that nothing burns, and you'll have a delicious dinner in no time (see during and after shots below. You can serve it over rice or quinoa, like I did, or even by themselves if you are just really into kebabs.

Meal 5: Grilled Sirlion Steak with Scallions, and a Fennel and Orange Salad

Items Used: Scallions, Fennel, Boston Bibb Lettuce, the last of the parsley

Ok, so last meal of the week. Steak. Noah told me in so many words that we were eating too many salads, so I figured I would appease him with steak. I used the inexpensive but versatile sirloin steak, and marinated it overnight in an Asian-style marinade: 1/3 cup of soy sauce, 1 clove of garlic minced, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, and 1 TBSP of brown sugar. Again, add a bit of water to thin out if you don't think this will cover your steak. I put it in a large ziplock bag, covered it with the marinade, and popped it in the fridge overnight. The next evening when I came home, I removed the steak from the marinade, patted it dry with a towel (drying it for the same reason we dry the scallops, to create a good sear), and popped it on the grill. I also trimmed the hairy ends of the scallions off, and tossed them whole with olive oil, salt and pepper, and threw them on the grill. For this grilling, I kept the lid open. If you want to grill scallions, I would trim the ends of the thinner green parts off -- if they burn they taste TERRIBLE--and keep turning them so that the white parts of the scallions don't burn. Are they amazing? No. But they do make a nice garnish and accompaniment to steak if you are using the grill anyway.

The final thing I made with the farm share was orange and fennel salad with a red wine vinaigrette on a bed of Boston Bibb lettuce. This was my mom's suggestion. Let me just say I do not like oranges, and as you know, I'm not a big fan of fennel, but she said it was amazing, and I had to give it a try. So I did. I sliced the fennel with my food processer flat blade (you can use a knife too) and placed the slices on top of the lettuce. Then I sliced 1 orange thinly and put it over the fennel. And finally, made a vinaigrette just as the balsamic one, but changed the vinegar for red wine vinegar (balsamic would be too strong) and also added the remaining chopped parsley I had. Was it edible? Definitely. But I wouldn't make it again if I were only cooking for myself. Noah really liked it though, and if you like oranges, I encourage you to try it. Plus, it looks pretty.

So, that's another week of Farm Shares down -- already a quarter of the way through! It has been so much fun so far, and I hope these musings on vegetables have been interesting to you too.

Before we close, let's check the rules:

1: Try everything? Yes! 2: Use everything? Almost. I have a few garlic scapes still left, but I can keep chipping away at those by using them in place of garlic for the next week.

Until then, have a great weekend, and, if you're in New England, or some other place having a giant heat wave, keep cool!

Summer Farm Share, Week 2

It's officially Summer! I think Siena Farms knows this too, because the Farm Share this week was much more colorful than last week's many shades of green. And, bonus, there was more stuffed into that box than there was last time (and more than I thought could possibly fit in there).

So, what did we get this week?

Exciting: Beets! Radishes! Shelling Peas! More green garlic!
Confusing: Kohlrabi.
Irritating: Cilantro?! (This was not even permitted to be in the picture). Also only slightly less irritating, fennel (to be discussed).
And all the rest, which were solid: braising greens, mixed greens, green oakleaf lettuce, Russian purple kale, and Boston bibb lettuce.

Meal 1: Udon Noodle Stir Fry
Items used: kohlrabi, 1 green garlic stalk

You already know what the first meal is going to be if you read last week's post. I wanted to save those scallions in order to make noodle stir-fry with whatever "stir fry ingredients" were in the next box. Well, as you can see, this was a puzzle -- none of these things seemed to be calling to me to be put into a stir fry. I was certainly not going to use those shelling peas because I was virtually certain to overcook them in a stir fry. Luckily, that handy little newsletter Siena Farms sends gave me an idea. The taste of Kohlrabi, they said, reminded them of broccoli. So, I told myself that I'd just cook it as if it were broccoli, something that I often put in noodle stir fries. Also, to be safe, I googled "kohlrabi" and "stir fry" together --- some entries came up, which I assumed meant that someone either has put kohlrabi in a stir fry, or at least has thought about it enough to ask a chat board. Good enough for me!

Kohlrabi, above peeled and cut

The final dish: kohlrabi are the yellow cubes.

But how to prep it? It looks like an upside down purple turnip with spider arms sticking out. Trusty google solved this, too: just snip those legs, peel it and chop it up into cubes. I took a taste of it before cooking and it tasted like a cross between broccoli and an apple to me. But overall it was pretty mild, which was good, because I knew I could add flavor to it. I cooked them first, with about a tsp of shredded fresh ginger, garlic, a very teeny bit of sambal, and soy sauce. Then proceeded with the rest of the recipe that I've shown you before here. And to the right is the final dish.

Meal 2: Vegetable Frittata
Used: Braising greens, other green garlic stalk, half of mixed greens (for side salad)

Braising greens, green garlic
and mushrooms: ready for eggs

One of the things I have learned so far with a farm share is how to get a lot of veggies into a meal with little effort. What is a great way to use a lot of veggies with little effort, you ask? A frittata! Had I ever made one before? Nope! But I have made a lot of scrambled eggs, and they have been mostly successful, so, I thought I'd give it a shot. I used my trusty Cook's Illustrated Cookbook to look up a frittata, but man did that recipe seem complicated. I wanted something easy for a Friday night, and I am not picky when it comes to frittatas, so I searched on Epicurious and found a good base recipe (meaning you can feel free to change the veggies I have in here to suit your tastes, or, perhaps, your own farm share). I must say, it came out pretty good.

Vegetable Frittata

12 eggs (yes, 12! but it should serve 4-6 people so don't worry too much about your arteries)
1/2 cup sour cream
Chopped parsley (a handful)
3/4 cup of shredded cheese (I used a combo of mozzarella and parmesan)
1 small package of mushrooms, sliced thin
1 bag of braising greens
1 stalk of green garlic (you can use an onion or leek, too), sliced into rounds
Olive oil

Egg dumped over it all.

Preheat the oven to 350. For this recipe you will need a deep oven-proof skillet (no plastic or rubber on the handle!) that will be large enough to accommodate the eggs. When in doubt, go larger, as the eggs will puff up when cooked. Put about a TBSP of olive oil in the pan on the stove over medium heat, and add in your sliced green garlic. Once that has browned up a bit, add the mushrooms. You may need to add some water to keep everything from burning because mushrooms suck up oil fast and take a while to release their own liquid. I kept a little cup of water near them for this purpose. Then, once the mushrooms are browned (about 5 minutes or so), add in the braising greens on top of everything, just like last week. Stir them around until they wilt, and add a generous amount of salt and pepper to season everything. After all this is cooked, put it on low while you combine in a large pitcher type container: all the eggs, the sour cream, the cheese (but keep a bit to the side to sprinkle on the top) and the parsley, plus some salt and pepper. Whisk these up until everything is combined. Put the vegetables up to medium, sprinkle some olive oil over them, and then dump in the egg mixture over them. Let this cook for a few minutes.

Frittata, flipped.

At this juncture if you are using braising greens I would recommend that you take some tongs and gently pull up some of the greens from the bottom of the pan to spread through the egg. The greens tend to clump together and you'll see in my pictures that they mostly crowded on the bottom. It would have been nice to have them throughout the frittata but it was not the end of the world.

When the edges start to curl from the sides and harden a bit, then sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top, and pop it in the oven. In 20-25 minutes, you should see that the center is cooked (not jiggly anymore), and you can take it out. IMMEDIATELY put a potholder over the handle of the skillet. If you don't you risk seriously burning your hand because you forgot that you put that pan in the oven and therefore the handle is ~300 degrees. (Of course I did this. Thanks mom for telling me to run it under cold water and then keep it in ice water as long as I could stand it -- minimal blistering.) Let it cool for a minute and then take pot holders, and flip the pan upside down onto a cutting board or large plate. Cut into slices like a pie and serve.

Meal 3: Roasted Beet Salad
Used: Beets (and arugula from last week)

Now for the beets. Can I just tell you, beets are the freaking best. I used to think they were disgusting because the only place I had seen them when I was a kid was pickled in the Papa Gino's salad bar. They got their red juice all over everything and were sour and slimy (sorry PG's. I know you removed that salad bar long ago so thanks.) But beets are not like this at all. They have a great earthy, sweet, but adaptive flavor, and roasting is my favorite way to prepare them. I made a large beet salad for my sister-in-law's birthday party, and as you can probably tell from the above picture, three tiny beets were not going to serve more than one person, particularly since I was also attending said party. So I bought six more beets to supplement. Here's how to roast beets - prepare to be amazed.

Roasted Beets

Beets (however many you want)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 375. Or if you're cooking something else at a different temperature in the oven, that's fine. Beets are flexible. Rinse your beets off in water. Take a piece of tin foil large enough to hold your beets in a packet. Place beets in the middle of foil. Drizzle with oil, and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Wrap up beets in foil (opening of foil should be on the top of the beets), place on cookie sheet, and roast for an hour. When you can put a knife through the beets without resistance, they are done!

Then, when they have cooled, just peel them with a peeler. The skins will slide right off...and your hands will be very very purple. You will have to resign yourself to purple tinged hands for a day. Chop up the beets to the size you like and enjoy as is, or as I did, which was to toss in a salad with arugula, walnuts, goat cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette (see below).

Meal 4: Garden Salad
Used: Green Oakleaf lettuce, mixed greens, half of radishes

I know you all know how to make salad, so I will not detail this part of the recipe. But salad dressing? That tastes good? Maybe another story. Making your own dressing is intimidating, I know. But salad dressing in a bottle is typically just terrible for you. It is just a bunch of chemicals and salt and fat and stuff ...and normally I wouldn't harp on this because we are all grown ups, but typically, when you are making yourself a salad, you are trying to be healthy right? Adding that bottled dressing usually just cancels out that effort. I will wholeheartedly admit that one of my favorite things to eat is a good iceberg salad with ranch dressing on it, but I am here to tell you that I pretty much could eat a Snickers and be just as well off. Just want to advocate for awareness here.

So here's how we make balsamic vinaigrette. Get this stuff to the left out: Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, and dried herbs of your choosing (I am using herbs d'provence, but you can use dried parsley, basil, or even skip this altogether). Also get a bowl big enough to house your salad in. A big bowl is key because you can make your dressing, and then when ready, add the greens, etc. on top of it, and toss it around with tongs so there is an even coating. This also curbs my tendency to pick bowls that are two small when making vinaigrette. The whisk needs room to move, and with a large salad bowl, it has plenty. I also need to make a note that if you have really good oil, and really good vinegar, then it is only natural that your dressing will be really good. I buy special stuff just for my dressings because I know I'll be eating it as is, and not cooking with it, so I get good flavor and life of use for my buck.

Ok, so, to the bottom of the bowl, add about a TBSP of vinegar, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Easy right? These are your base flavors. If you want to get fancy later you can change this up (you can use mustard, or a different vinegar, or even beet juice). There's really only one step left, the one everyone dreads -- adding the oil so that it emulsifies. But don't worry, this is not as hard as it appears. Take a whisk in your dominant hand and a bottle of olive oil in the other. Begin dropping a little stream of olive oil in the bowl and immediately begin whisking at a pretty fast pace. Continue the stream and the whisking until everything is combined. You will probably use about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of olive oil. If it still looks separated, stop the stream of olive oil. Whisk it hard until it comes together. Taste it. If it seems thick, add just a teaspoon of water, and whisk again. I promise, it will emulsify if you whisk it hard and in a big enough bowl. Check out the visuals below, and give it a try!

Meal 5: Grilled Salmon with Grill-roasted Potatoes, Fennel and Radishes, and Peas
Used: Fennel, half of radishes, shelling peas

So, Noah and I try to eat fish once a week. I buy whatever looks good (and is on sale) at the fish counter and try to use it by the next day, or I freeze it right away (no one likes smelly fish). Because it is so summery out, I was going with the grill. I still have really not mastered the grilled fish. Putting the fish directly on the grate seems like a good idea. I even put olive oil on the fish and rub an oiled paper towel over the grates, but it always sticks and breaks when I flip it over. Ugh. See my best fish of the night on the left (not impressive I know).

But luckily, my side dishes were a super success; even using the dreaded fennel. Ok, I have a bone to pick with fennel. I first off hate the licorice-y taste of fennel, anise, anise seed, black jelly beans...yuck. Secondly, fennel seeds are terrible. Whenever they are in sausages or whatever other roast there is I am always pleasantly enjoying my meal until I bite into one of those babies and just want to gag. Some people love them. My mom eats these terrible "cookies" that are literally just studded with fennel as if they were chocolate chips. Ugh. So with these things in mind, you can see why I was not thrilled to get fennel, the plant, in my basket. However, I am aware that the plant is not the same as the seed, and many say it is much more mellow, and much more delicious than its seedy partner.

Veggies ready for packaging

Goal 1 is to try everything I get, right? So I was not going to give the fennel away. I decided to roast it, along with some other veggies, right on the grill.

Grill-roasted potatoes, fennel and radishes

3-4 Red bliss potatoes, washed
1 head of fennel
A few radishes (only if you like radishes)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

The key to this recipe is to slice everything thinly. Before you start cutting, turn on your grill to high and let it heat with the cover closed. Then take the potatoes, fennel and radishes, and cut them into slices about a 1/4 in thick (when in doubt, go thinner). Toss them in a bowl together with olive oil (1 TBSP or so) and salt and pepper. Take a large piece of foil and spray one side with cooking spray. This part is essential -- last time I ended up with delicious potatoes that unfortunately had to be pried off in pieces. Lay the foil on the table spray side up, and but all the veggies on it in one layer (or close to it). They should not be piled in a mound but in an even layer. Add a final sprinkle of salt, and then wrap the packet up by folding over the corners so you have a rectangle of vegetables. If your foil does not cover everything, get another piece and wrap it over that. You will be flipping this packet over, so it needs to cover the contents.

Take that packet out to the grill, and plop it down. In 10 minutes or so, flip it over with a spatula. 10 minutes after that, flip it again. Continue to keep it on the grill and flip it every once in a while until whatever else you are cooking is done. It will need at least 20 minutes, but can take a lot longer. It would take a really long time for these to burn through the foil. When finished, open the foil, and take out the veggies to serve! Very simple, but a crowd-pleaser.

Lucky for me, this roasting method made the fennel delicious. I seriously loved it and thought it was even better than the potatoes. Surprisingly (or maybe not), the radishes were the worst part. They were pretty bitter, so, unless you are a big fan of radishes, I probably wouldn't add these. Although they certainly make the dish look nice.

Naturally, I also wanted something green on the side. I was really excited about these shelling peas. You don't get to eat fresh peas from a pod every day, and once the peas are outside of a pod, they really only have a few hours before their quality declines. The Farm Share newsletter said you could eat them raw and they would be delicious. Well, they were definitely right about that. I also mixed a few with a little ricotta and salt and pepper and spread that on some crackers. Deeelish. But anyway, I did want Noah to be able to have some, too. So I shelled all these peas and tossed them into some water, and heated them until they boiled for about one minute. These do not need a lot of cooking at all. Basically just a shock. Then I added a couple of chopped up basil leaves, a sprinkle of olive oil, and salt and pepper. Man, those were the best peas I ever tasted. And I usually don't even like peas. The finished dish didn't look half bad.


Meal (snack really) 6: Kale Chips
Used: Kale

I had to use up this kale, and I didn't really have a space in any of the meals this week. So of course, I went with the cliche: kale chips. I never really liked kale chips, but if you do, this recipe will do the trick. It is really easy. Cut the kale leaves off the stems and then into chip sized pieces. Toss with 1 TBSP of olive oil, salt and pepper, and pop into a 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, until crisp. Tadah!

Meal 7 (phew!): Asian Lettuce Wraps
Used: Boston Bibb Lettuce

Dinner is served!

Finally I said to myself, I need to use this Farm Share to make something that I have never even thought of trying. Otherwise, I'll just be making a lot of omelets, pizzas, and side dishes which is my typical vegetable M.O. So when the handy newsletter said that Boston Bibb was great for lettuce wraps I said, hey why not? And you know what, they were delicious! I highly suggest trying these.

Asian Lettuce Wrap Filling

1 Tbsp Canola or Peanut Oil
1 onion, diced
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup peanut sauce (make your own! Use 3T peanut butter, 3T soy sauce, 1T rice wine vinegar, 3T hot water, and one clove of mince garlic all mixed up together)
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce

Heat a large skillet on the stove, and add the oil. Then put in the onions and cook them for a few minutes until they soften. Then add in the turkey and as it cooks, break it up with a wooden spoon so it crumbles. Once it is all brown and there is no pink (about 7 minutes), add in all the other ingredients, and stir it around until coated and heated through. That's it!

I shredded carrots and cucumbers to put on as toppings, and made rice as an accompaniment. Now, for the lettuce piece. These leaves were ideal for wraps -- they were large and even shaped like cups. But one thing they also were was very dirty. There were so many nooks and crannies that it took several washes to get all the dirt out. So if you are going to make these, just make sure you have a little extra time washing and drying the leaves. It is definitely worth it. They really were delicious.

So, that's it this week! Let's do a rule check.

1) Try everything? Yep (Ok, I am eliminating the cilantro, but still). 2) Use everything. Yes!

Hope this helps you cook some new fresh dishes this week -- if you happen to see any of these things at the market, pick them up! You know they are in season and now you know at least one way to cook them.

Summer Farm Share, Week 1

You thought I had disappeared, I know. But, nope! The Honest Chef is simply reincarnated with a new concept going forward. Here's the new deal: I will cook most days each week, like I normally do, and each week tell you what happened, honestly. What I made, what went well, and what didn't. I will also take honest photographs; i.e. my food will look normal, and your food will look like my food because a) I only have an iPhone camera and I am not a photographer or food stylist, b) even if I was, the food would be cold by the time I styled it and no one would appreciate their food getting cold trying to replicate that, and c) I don't own white plates, which I now see is a prerequisite to any food picture being totally beautiful and appetizing. So here you have it, your new Honest Chef!

The blog concept will restart with something I am very excited about: a FARM SHARE (or Community Supported Agriculture -- or, you pay the farm up front, they give you fresh produce from the farm every week once stuff starts growing). This year, Noah and I combined efforts with Santa Claus to purchase a Summer Season share of vegetables from Siena Farms. I was SUPER excited for this, and frankly, I spend a considerable portion of my week planning what to do with this week's allotment and wondering what we'll get in the next one. So each week I'll show you what we got from the farm, and how we used it, while detailing a few of the recipes, successes and mishaps with these ingredients along the way. The cool and also sometimes not so cool thing about a farm share is: you get what you get. That box might contain something you have never tried (green garlic, awesome!) or something you truly hate (cilantro, yuck!), but there are two rules I am trying to follow, and hopefully, you will help keep me honest: 1. Try everything in the box, and 2. Use everything in the box (don't waste it or let it rot).

Greens of all shapes and sizes!

So, what did we get this week?

GREENS. Lots and lots of different types of greens. And even what wasn't greens, was green.

1 bag arugula, 1 bag mixed greens, 1 bag braising greens, 1 head red (but mostly green) lettuce, 1 bunch broccoli rabe, 1 bunch scallions, cilantro (seriously?), 1 bag spinach, and 2 stalks of green garlic.

So needless to say many people were laughing at me because I "would be eating salad for every meal!!LOlol." Well, you know what? Haters 'gonna hate. I, however, was psyched to meet the challenge. I had never even heard of green garlic, and I wasn't sure how I'd use all the greens in different ways, but I couldn't wait to get started.

Meal 1: Grilled Pizza with Mesclun Salad
Items used: braising greens, green garlic, half of mesclun salad

Braising greens, green garlic

After a small amount of panicking I realized that greens have one property in common: they shrink when they're cooked. So although it looked like I had massive amounts, each would probably shrink down to a serving size or two. Now, this is a great way to use practically anything -- throw it on a pizza. Friday was such a nice day that I decided to make grilled pizza, which seemed easy from reading about it in my latest issue of Food Network Magazine. I also had eaten a delicious white pizza with sauteed greens down in Philadelphia at Stella once, so I thought, I can make something like that. Here's what I did.

Greens going in!

And done (a lot smaller!).

First, I sauteed the braising greens, which, from what I could tell, were a combination of mini kale, mini collard greens, etc. Probably I technically should have braised them, but whatever. I had two pieces of bacon in the freezer, so I thawed those and cut them into bite sized pieces. I threw them in a BIG frying pan, in order to hold all the greens later), and waited for them to cook down. Just in case you were wondering, you do not need any extra oil or butter in the pan when you cook bacon (have I done this? yes). Once the bacon was turning brown, I added a clove of minced garlic and let it cook for 15 seconds before dumping all the greens into the pan. I then used a pair of tongs to move the greens around, because as they heat, they shrink. So, move the heated ones to the top, and the raw ones to the bottom near the heat. Then I let them cook down as much as possible, so they would be nice and tender when I put them on the pizza. The only weird thing that happened was that the bacon turned purple from some of the greens' stems. Oh well. Everyone likes bacon, no matter what color it is.

Green garlic, ooo

G.garlic and B.greens, ready

Meanwhile, I had the green garlic. The nice little newsletter that comes along with the Farm Share said "use like you would a leek." Ok. Well, I chopped it up in 1/2 inch thick rings like I would a leek. But I didn't soak the pieces in water like I would a leek (to get the sand out) because these seemed to be pretty clean. (Luckily, they did not only seem clean, they were clean). I took these and put them in a small frying pan with a little olive oil on medium-low heat, and let them cook down until a little brown and soft. OH MY GOSH was it delicious! It was reminiscent of garlic, but was nutty and not nearly as strong. Just delicious. I hope they give me some more of that next week.
Now to assemble the pizza. I rolled out the pizza dough in an oblong shape so it would fit all the way across my grill. I heated the grill up high, and then brushed olive oil on one side of the dough. I put the dough on the grill olive oil side down, and waited 5 minutes (grill uncovered). Once there were good grill marks and brown edges, I brushed the side facing up with olive oil, and flipped it over. Worked like a charm. I waited five minutes again, and then took the dough inside to put the toppings on it. I spread the green garlic pieces and the greens and bacon evenly over the dough, and then added parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella and a few left over little balls of mozzarella, cut in half. Then put a little salt and pepper. Then back on the grill, (cover closed this time) for about 8 minutes (just until your cheese melts). Dude, it was delicious. I would make this every day if Noah would let me. And of course, we had a side salad of mesclun greens with balsamic vinaigrette.

The final pizza.

Meal 2: Summer Pasta Dish
Items used: spinach, arugula

Prosciutto, spinach, onions, tomatoes

Ok, so you've seen my entry before on making pasta dishes out of any number of ingredients with just one tip: save the pasta water. Refresh your memory here. That's what I did for Meal #2, made a pasta dish with spinach, tomatoes, caramelized onions, pine nuts, and arugula. I cooked down the spinach by putting a little garlic and olive oil in a frying pan and heating it up, then adding the spinach on top and flipping it around like I did with the braising greens above. I did however, need the extra step of draining the spinach, because fresh spinach retains a ton of water once it's cooked. A ton; and no one likes watery pasta. So put that cooked spinach in a towel (once it's cool! I did slightly burn myself trying to do this with spinach that was still too hot. I put it down after that and waited -- always working on my patience), and twist it over the sink until you can't get anymore water out (or until your hands get too tired to twist anymore). Then chop it up and add it to your pasta. I also added arugula. It wilts very easily, so you can always add it right at the last step. Just stirred it into the hot pasta with the cheese and the pasta water. Worked like a charm.

Meal 3: Sauteed Haddock with Quinoa and Broccoli Rabe

Arugula and non-sprouty broccoli rabe

Items used: broccoli rabe and arugula

If you've ever had broccoli rabe, you are probably thinking, "Well, that doesn't look anything like the broccoli rabe I have seen. Where are those parts that look like broccoli?" I had no idea about this either, but that nice little Farm Share newsletter informed me that these are intentionally picked before "flowering" because the rabe is more tender and delicious that way. Whatever you say Siena Farms!

Rabe cooking

So, I did a little research on how to cook this since I never had. Most internet cooking whizzes said to boil (or blanch) first to remove the bitterness. Ok, so I did that. I boiled it for about three minutes until the leaves wilted and it started to change from bright green to darker green. That may have been too long, but broccoli rabe is resilient. So I then drained it and ran it under cold water to stop the cooking. Then I heated up some sliced garlic in olive oil for a few minutes until it started to brown, and threw in the boiled rabe as whizzes recommended. Errrr... didn't work as I planned. There was a lot of water left in those leaves, not just from the boiling, but I think also from the rabe itself. It didn't really saute, it sort of just continued to steam, now with garlic floating around it. I added salt. Noah loved it. I thought it was gross, but not necessarily because of the flawed cooking method (it still wasn't too mushy unlike it's more familiar cousin would be). I think I just don't like broccoli rabe - it just is too bitter for me, even after the boil. Oh well. It did not go to waste!

Arugula stirred in

I also added arugula to the quinoa I was making: just added it in after the quinoa had fully cooked, stirring it around to make it wilt, like I did in the pasta dish above.

Sauteed haddock, arugula quinoa, and rabe

And the fish? This is easy and once you have eaten it you'll use this for fish all the time. I learned this in my "Fish Without Fear Class." Freaking amazing. Ready? Heat a small pat of butter and a little olive oil in a frying pan (enough to cover the bottom). Take fish (something white (haddock, cod, etc. works well). Sprinkle with salt and pepper liberally on both sides. Then coat with flour. Then (THIS IS THE SECRET) smack that fish with your hands (over a sink if you don't have a Noah that cleans up all your kitchen experiments for you -- thanks love!) so that all the excess flour is off of it, and there is just a thin coating. Then pop the fish into the pan. Let it cook until the underside is brown (3-4 mins), flip once (use two spatulas, it is easier), and let the other side brown, take it out. Sprinkle with a bit more salt, pepper, and lemon, and viola! Best fish ever, and also awesomely, easiest fish ever.

Meal 4: Lunch salad
Items used: arugula (there was a lot of it, ok?).
Just added it to some nice leftover corn salad from my mother-in-law and some spare grape tomatoes. Almost used up!

Meal 5: Chicken Caesar Salad
Items used: red lettuce, other half of mesclun salad

Ok, so I did still have a lot of lettuce to use. Luckily I've found one "salad meal" that Noah will always eat, and that is a big Chicken Caesar Salad. This one is delicious (p.s. you must like garlic).

This is very simple to make, and you can use any kind of chicken. Lots of people grab a rotisserie from the store, but I like to just bake up some boneless skinless breasts -- turn on the oven at 350, drizzle olive oil, and salt and pepper, and maybe some other herbs, and cook until it's done (like 20 mins). Then I shred it. This time, to be honest, I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer, so I just threw that sucker into the oven with the above-mentioned seasonings, and just kept rotating it and cutting it up until it cooked through. Not ideal, but if you're gonna end up chopping it up and covering it with dressing anyway, no one will even notice. It's the garlicky Caesar dressing that makes all the difference. My mom passed down this recipe to me. Just warning you though, no one is gonna want to kiss you for a long while after you eat this (did I mention it is garlicky?)

Caesar Dressing:
3 oz cream cheese (you can, and she would, use reduced fat)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 and 1/2 tsp anchovy paste (this stuff is worth keeping in your fridge)
1/4 cup skim milk
Salt and pepper (use a pinch and taste it. add more if you like)


Dump everything in a blender. Turn blender on and blend it up! This will make enough for a big batch of salad, from two heads of lettuce, or incidentally, from half a bag of mixed greens and a head of red lettuce. Toss the dressing with everything, the chicken, lettuce, croutons and parmesan cheese if you have it (I even snuck some tomatoes in there). I usually do half of the dressing first, toss it around to see how much more I need, and then add. Turns out, this recipe works a lot better with the traditional romaine lettuce. The red lettuce got soggy after a while, but hey -- I had to use up these greens! (touche salad-mockers).

I decided to save the scallions to make Udon Noodle Stir-fry on Thursday night, with whatever other veggies that came in the next batch that would go well in a stir-fry. In order to preserve the scallions the whole week, I placed them with the roots down in a glass of water. This keeps them from wilting, which they will do after a few days. (You can actually regrow scallions this way (cut the usable parts off but keep the roots in water and they will grow new shoots), but I never have enough patience for this.) I am also saving the left over arugula (please don't give me more!), which lasts a pretty long time, for a nice beet salad I'm making for my sister-in-law's birthday.

So, Farm Share Week 1 = awesome!

Rules followed: 1. Try everything? Fail. Cilantro is disgusting and I refuse to eat it (why? see here).
2. Use everything? Success! I gave the cilantro to my mother-in-law so even my herb-enemy was not wasted.