Short & Sweet

There is only one brand of Greek yogurt I like, Fage.  I like to keep those individual cups on hand.  They are great for making a savory dips like mint and garlic or a sweet snack with honey and nuts.  The other night, too late to cook, I wanted something chocolaty and I wanted it right away.  That's how I came up with the best chocolate (not) pudding recipe ever!

Chocolate (not) Pudding

1/2 of an individual container of Fage 2%

1 tsp of Nutella

1 tsp of raspberry jam

Mix all ingredients together.  Enjoy &...

Ess Eppis!

Note: I have no connection to Fage, it is just honestly the ONLY yogurt I like. I also have no connection to Nutella, but seriously, who doesn't love Nutella!

Dirty Frank's Comfort Food Cook Off 2012 - FRITO PIE!!!!

There are few things I feel I can't live without.  I've always preferred living in my wee studio apartment over larger digs - a move that really saved my bacon when I was laid off.  I live by the philosophy that I rather have a little of something really good than a lot of something just so-so.  I happily live a car free life (with the occasional Zipcar reservation) & even prefer to travel (internationally) with little more than backpack, so when I say I have to have something I mean it!  I need Dirty Frank's.

Since moving to Philly over 10 years ago, I have not lived more than 3 blocks from, in my opinion, the best dive bar in Philadelphia - Dirty Frank's.  There was a very short period when I moved away for about a month and a half.  In that time the house I was living in flooded, my housemate went nuts, I skinned my knee, and a friend was diagnosed with cancer.  I am not saying living further than 3 blocks from Dirty Frank's causes cancer, but why take chances.  I quickly moved back to the neighborhood and normalcy returned... coincident?  Maybe, maybe not, but who am I to question it?

Frank's is not your typical dive bar.  They have an every changing art gallery on the wall showing and selling the works of local artists.  They have a bank of books patrons are free to enjoy.  And year round events for everyone.  One of the events is the annual Comfort Food Cook Off.  Although it is a competition, it feels more like an awesome pot luck.  The winner takes home the giant stainless steel spork & runner ups walk away with a choice bottle of wine.

A couple of years ago I entered a turkey pot pie that was enjoyed by many.  Last year I worked on a bacon mac & cheese, but got the flu right before the cook off.  I figured no one would want to eat food served by a girl with a runny noses and hacking cough, so I sat that one out.  That gave me a whole year to come up with a comfort food that would knock their socks off.  The answer... FRITO PIE!

For those not familiar with this delicacy, it is chili served in individual Frito corn chip bags.  It is the official food of summer camps & trailer parks across this great nation.  Many people at the event had never even heard of Frito Pie, but one taste got them hooked.  My chili was flavorful without being too spicy to appeal to the most people.  Everyone who tried it loved it & even wrote in as much on their ballots... and the presentation was also a big winner.  Unfortunately I didn't actually win in the end.  I think my chances were hurt that I ran out of chili pretty early, so I didn't get any votes in the latter half of the event.  It would have been nice to win, but it was still lots of fun and I got to enjoy lots of good food.  There were a couple mac & cheeses, shepard's pie (the big winner), amazing flourless chocolate cake & peanut butter ice cream, my fave, the homemade pierogies (they even made me up a little to-go pack of them!), and a bunch of other dishes.

Inspired by the crowd's reaction to it, I'm going to be re-entering my Frito Pie in the Annual Chili Cook Off on March 24th.  Because I am entering it an up-coming event, I am going to hold off on posting my chili recipe.  But don't let that stop you from making Frito Pies!

Frito Pie

1 pot of your favorite chili (my recipe to come)

as many individual Original Frito Corn Chip bags as you want/need

plastic spoons/sporks (optional)

Open a bag of Fritos.  Gently crush the chips in the bag (if you don't open the bag first it will pop and you'll have corn chips everywhere).  Spoon in some chili into the bag.  Mix the chili with the Fritos and...

Ess Eppis!

More Than Just Polenta & Shrimp

As the storm clouds rolled in, I knew I wanted shrimp for dinner, but wasn't sure exactly how.  I thought of couscous, rice, pasta... all favorites, but I wanted something different.  I remember the package of polenta in the cabinet.  It has sat there for awhile now.  I have never made polenta and always seemed to find away to push it back for more familiar fare.  Not tonight, it was coming out front & center!

I poked around the fridge for ideas.  I grabbed some grape tomatoes, sharp cheddar, scallions, & bacon.  I cleaned the shrimp & stashed the shells in the freezer for future stock.  To clean shrimp, I use a fork.  I run one of the tines up the back and pull it thru the shell.  Then the shell can be easily peeled off.  It should also open up the back to be able to pull the vein out.  If not, just use a paring knife to gently cut into the back to get the vein. I tossed the shrimp in a sprinkling of salt & a generous helping of Valle del Sol Chili Powder (I won a free bottle of Whole Foods 365 spice last month) and set aside.

I started heating up the liquid for polenta.  I was going with a 4:1 ratio (I have since learned that 4:1 makes a polenta that will firm up for slicing and 6:1 will make a looser spoonable polenta).  I started 2.5c water & .5c fat free evaporated milk over med heat.  I added 1c of polenta to 1c of water.  I added s&p to both sets of liquids.

The grape tomatoes went onto a parchment lined baking sheet & drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt & pepper.  They went into a 350F oven to roast.  Then I sliced up half a package of bacon and started that in another pan.  The liquid was boiling by then so I added the water/polenta mixture and kept stirring till it thickened.  I continued cooking it, stirring often, for about 10 minutes on low heat.  I turned off the heat & mixed in a few handfuls of shredded cheddar.  I covered as I finished the rest of the meal.

While the bacon was still cooking, I chopped up about the top 3 thirds of the a bunch of scallions & stirred those into the polenta.  When the bacon finished cooking (I like it super crispy), I just grabbed it with my tongs and popped it right into the pot with the polenta - a little bacon grease can't hurt - and stirred it in & covered the pot.

The easiest and quickest for last.  I heated up the pan with a little olive oil.  In went the shrimp for about 3-4 minutes.  I turned off the heat and let the shrimp finish cooking with the residual heat from the pan.  And by then, the tomatoes were perfectly wrinkles and slightly charred.

A ladle full of beautifully yellow polenta topped with some of the grape tomatoes & shrimp was a perfect combination.  The scallions gave a nice mild onion flavor that went nice with the cheddar.  Of course the bacon was a delicious addition.  The roasted tomatoes gave little bursts of sweetness that balanced the spice of the chili powder on the shrimp.

The rest of the polenta is sitting in a loaf pan in the fridge firming up for slicing tomorrow - griddle cakes topped with roasted veggies!

Ess Eppis!

Urban Gardening & Pizza Making

I have never had much of a green thumb.  I have even successfully killed Lucky Bamboo.  At the end of April I was at the PIFA Street Fair (Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts), a Parisian style street fair to wrap up the month long festival.  I have to say, it was great.  They really transformed several blocks of Broad Street into a beautiful, entertaining, and exciting festival that ended with an amazing musical/aerial/acrobatic performance high above the intersection of Broad & Spruce.  As soon as the show ended the huge crowd parted.  I took one more stroll up and down the Avenue of the Arts to savor one of the few times I have actual seen it earn that moniker.  I was checking out the plants as the vendors were packing up.  I asked the ladies packing up the flats of unsold herbs if there was any end of the night special.  I scored 5 plants - basil, lemon thyme, cilantro, rosemary, & chives - for $10!

And here they are today...

They have been thriving sitting in the window of my apartment, soaking of early morning and late day sun.  I attribute their success to the fact that they have almost become like pets to me.  I have named them, talk to them, and groom them.  Please meet, starting in the back row left to right, Tyne Daly the lemon thyme, Trevor the terrarium (not a herb, but a very successful & tall terrarium borne at one of the Art in the Age workshops), Clive the chive, Rose Mary the rosemary, Sully the cilantro, and Basil the basil (yes, pronounced differently).

They have been growing and providing lots of tasty herbs for my kitchen.  Sully is starting to go to seed & in the process producing pretty little white flowers.  Clive grows faster than I can even trim him - some days I swear he grows an inch or two over night.  Tyne is beautiful & fragrant and lemony enough to stand in for lemon zest in some recipes.  Rose Mary is keeps up a nice steady pace.  Basil looks a little thin here because he recently gave up enough basil to put the finishing touch to my pizza.

The other night I wanted pizza, my pizza, but I didn't have any dough.  Normally, the pizza dough I use is left to rise very slowly in the fridge over the course of at least 24-48 hours.  This gives me a very thin, crispy, and tender crust - exactly what I like.  So I did what everyone does in this situation, I took to Google.  I came across this recipe for pizza dough by Mark Bittman and figure - hell it's Mark Bittman's!  I used it as a jumping off point to create this very delicious dinner in only an hour and a half - start to tummy!

I didn't follow all the directions for Mr. Bittman's pizza.  First was simply a mistake, I only added one teaspoon of yeast but it didn't seem to adversely affect the results.  I added about a 1 1/4 cup of hot tap water - hot water because it would activate the yeast quicker.  I also added about a tablespoon or two of a Mediterranean spice mix I have into the flour.  I tossed all the dry ingredients into my food processor and gave them a whirl.  I slowly added the oil & water till it formed into a ball and turned it out onto a floured piece of parchment paper (simply to make clean up easy).  I kneaded it a bit and put it into a lightly oiled bowl, turning it to get the oil all over the surface, covered with plastic wrap and stuck it on top of the stove to rise.

While the dough was rising, I was preheating the oven to 350.  I rinsed off a pint of "cocktail" tomatoes (they were on sale & I had a coupon - grape, cherry, or any other smallish tomato will do), tossed them onto a parchment lined sheet pan, poked them all with a paring knife (so they don't explode), & drizzled with olive oil.  They sat in the oven about 30 minutes and were popped into the beaker that came with my immersion blender.  I gave them a quick 2 second zip with the blender and TA DA SAUCE!  Of course I added s&p.

Then I took a couple of balls of fresh mozzarella to drain off a bit and diced those up.  I don't grate mozzarella because half of it just smears on the grater, it melts easy enough it doesn't need to be grater thin, and good mozzarella will pull off in strips if you try to grate it.  Then Basil joined me in the kitchen to give up a nice handful of his leaves for my dinner.  I just rolled those up and gave it a quick chiffonade (fancy word for cut into ribbons).

By now the spice spike dough has risen for an hour.  I tossed the dough on to a unlined sheet pan & pressed it into the corners giving it a bit of a crust thicker than the bottom.  This was hands down the most easily manipulated pizza dough - usually I have to pull and coax it onto shape.  At this point I think the dough is suppose to rest and puff up a bit before topping & baking, but I was hungry and decided to skip that step.  I poured on the  roasted tomato sauce on and used the back of spoon to spread it around, sprinkled the basil (I wanted it against the sauce and not on to of the mozzarella to keep it from burning), & added topped it all with the diced mozzarella.  The whole thing went in a 350 oven.

Because it was fresh tomatoes lightly roasted & fresh mozzarella, there is a bit more liquid in these ingredients then their long cooked or grocery store counterparts.  I was keeping an eye on the pizza and noticed that it appeared very "wet" for the first 15 minutes.  After another 5 minutes any extra moisture was gone.  I personally prefer when the cheese is browned on top of my pizza so I put the broiler on for the last few minutes of baking.  The pizza came out easily and slid onto my bamboo cutting board to cool a bit... and shortly there after, it was in my tummy!!!!

Ess Eppis!

Eggplants & Red Peppers

Homemade red pepper pesto & baba ganoush

The CSA box has had some nice big eggplants and red peppers recently.  I am always trying to find simple solutions to make the produce last longer.  Lately that has involved roasting an turning them into dips like red pepper pesto & baba ganoush.

First I cut the red peppers in 3rds, removing all the seeds and ribs.  I put them skin side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put them under the broiler.  I could hear the skin popping and sizzling as it blackened and blistered.  I turned the pan about half way thru (about the 5 minute mark - will differ with the oven) to be sure all the skins got blistered and blackened.  After removing the peppers from the oven, grab the edges of the parchment paper and toss the still hot peppers in a plastic bag & tie up the opening.

While the pepper are cooling enough to handle, turn the oven down to 350F & put fresh parchment paper on the baking sheet.  I poke 2 eggplants with a knife - 3-4 stabs - lay them on the sheet and into the oven they go for about an hour.

Once the red peppers have cooled enough to handle, the skins slip off without much effort.  Any stubborn bits come off when scraped with the back of my knife.  The soft flesh and any liquid from the bag go into the food processor work bowl.  Next a pinch of kosher salt, a couple turns of the pepper mill, and a splash of olive oil.  I let the food processor do its thing and pulverize everything.  I add a little more olive oil and a couple tablespoons of water to thin it to the consistency I want (it will thicken in the fridge).

I have to give my former upstairs neighbor, Harry, the credit for this recipe.  We would have Shabbat dinners together most Fridays when he lived here in Philly.  It was always super convenient being he was just upstairs and it was a great relaxing ritual for us to reset from the week.  I don't have Shabbat as often anymore with Harry since he and his ever expanding family moved to DC, but when I do make it there it is still a great time with him, his wife, & his two great kids.

I use this pesto on everything!  I spread it on fresh warm malawach.  I toss pasta in it.  I spread it on chicken and bake.  I put it on a sandwich.  It's delicious!  You can store it in a jar in the fridge or you can freeze it.  When I freeze it, I like to do it in an ice tray so I have a few tablespoons to use at a time without having to defrost the whole batch.

Back to the eggplants, once they cooled I scoop the flesh out and drop it in the cleaned food processor work bowl.  I added in a handful of rough chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic, a generous drizzle of tehini, a squeeze if half a lime, a sprinkle of salt & pepper.  With the food processor running I drizzle in some olive oil to thin out the baba ganoush mixture.  I stop a couple time and taste it to make adjustments in seasoning.  Once it's smooth, it goes into the jar & into the fridge.

These are two of my favorite spreads for malawach and sometimes I just can't decide which one to have...

 

So I don't!

Ess Eppis!

Delicious Fast Easy Soup

Included in the CSA box this week were leeks & potatoes that just seemed to beg to become soup.  After checking out a couple recipes online, I check out what was already on hand in my kitchen and set to work.  I am sorry I forgot to take photos as I went along... and I ate all the soup really fast!

When I say this is easy... it is EASY!  Plus you'll be eating soup within the hour (including the time to prep the ingredients) - soup made from scratch.  I happen to have thyme, sorrel, & bay in the house.  I love the flavors of thyme & bay together (reminds me of France) & the French Sorrel was something new to me I got in this weeks CSA.  If these flavors don't appeal to you, experiment with others.

If you aren't familiar with leeks, they look like scallions on steroids.  They are the same family, but milder.  They also hold on to dirt like a bugger so you have to follow the instructions to clean them properly.  One bite down on a bit of grit can ruin the whole batch.

Olive oil
4 Leeks
2 lbs. potatoes
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme - leaves removed & stems discarded
4-5 stems of French Sorrel (from the CSA swap box this week) - stems removed and rough chopped
6-7 cups water
2 bay leaves
S&P

To clean your leeks:
First peel off the outer layer by just pulling down from the top.  Cut off the tough tops (right below where the leaves start to fan out) and the roots at the end.  Cut the leek in half lengthwise and turn the flat side of each half down against the cutting board.  You can cut each half separately if you are more comfortable with that, but I place them next to each other and slice down both stalks together - about 1/4-1/2 inch pieces.  Toss all the sliced leek pieces into a large bowl.  Fill the bowl with cold water so the leeks float to the top with room for the dirt to fall to the bottom away from the leeks.  Separate the rings of the leeks so all the dirt falls to the bottom.  Carefully scoop the leeks out and on to a clean dish towel to drain and dry.

After the leeks are prepped, prep the potatoes.  Peel and dice the potatoes (1/4-1/2 inch).  I use my big dutch oven, but any large pot will work.  Heat up some olive oil in the bottom of your pot (just enough to coat).  Add in your leeks.  Keep heat around medium - you want the leeks to soften and wilt, but not brown.  Add a bit of kosher salt to help them wilt down.  It will seem like a lot a first but as the heat up and you stir it occasionally it will wilt down.  It will take about 10 minutes.  Then add the herbs (I had thyme & French Sorrel) and some fresh ground pepper.  Add in 6 cups of the water.

Add the potatoes & bay leaves.  Cover and simmer the pot for 30 minutes.  Take off the lid and turn off the heat.  I use an immersion blender (but I am sure a regular blender will work, just be careful and don't fill too much and cover the top with a towel before turning on) to puree the whole thing right in the pot.  Make sure you take the bay leaves out first.  If it's too thick for you (it is never too thick for me!), add a some more water, a little at a time till it is at the consistency you like.  Taste and adjust s&p if it needs it.

If you want some potato chunks in your soup, first only add 1.5 lbs of the potatoes and follow the instructions.  Once the soup is pureed, turn back on the heat and add the half pound of diced potatoes left and let simmer for 30 mins.  You'll have a nice creamy soup with little bites of potatoes.

Ess Eppis!

Yom Kippur Menu Sneak Peek

...

Rosh Hashanah Sneak Peek

This year Rosh Hashanah falls on my grandmother's birthday.  For Rosh Hashanah, she usually has everyone over her house for a New Year's luncheon.  And for her birthday, she usually takes us all out to dinner.  This year I wanted to give her something special for her birthday and make Rosh Hashanah less stress for her.  This year to celebrate her 84th birthday and ring in the year 5771 I will be catering the family celebration at my grandmother's condo.

Here is a sneak peek at the menu for Rosh Hashanah/Grandma's Birthday

Carrot Soup

Moroccan Orange Salad
Vegetable Couscous Salad

Sole Rolled With Veggies (this was originally going to be a potato encrusted sole to use up the surplus potatoes I have, but I think this will stay moister during transport)
Soy Orange Glazed Chicken Legs

Roasted String Beans
Sweet Noodle Kugel
and/or
Salt & Pepper Kugel

Honey Apple Cake
Fresh Fruit

I am also going to make Steamy Kitchen's No Knead Challah (just plain because it has to be a nut free meal).

I think this will be my new Rosh Hashanah e-card...



Ess Eppis and Shana Tova!

SHANA TOVA (שנה טובה) means 'Good Year' in Hebrew.  It's a common greeting during Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year - following the Hebrew calendar.

Does Eating Local Really Make a Difference?

I am not going to spout data at you.

I am not going to lecture about the benefits to the farmers or the environment.

You only have to look at the news to see the strongest argument for eating local: The Egg Recall.

I have lost track of the number of eggs recalled when it started to mass hundreds of millions of eggs.  There was no reason for me to watch for the next batch of eggs being recalled, even though I eat eggs.  I eat a lot of eggs.  I even use them raw on almost weekly basis - making a batch of fresh mayo each week (not that I go thru it all, but I only keep it a week).  And even when I cook my eggs, they are nearly always soft boiled or poached.  I love a runny yolk!

Meatloaf topped with sauteed rainbow chard & a poached egg.

But I know where my eggs come from.  I have met & spoken with the farmers at the farmer markets.  I am not saying that you can ever be 100% any of your food is 100% safe.  I do things to avoid cross contamination in my kitchen even if the chance there is anything dangerous is low:

• washing hands after handling eggs, or any other kind of animal proteins before touching any other foods or surfaces.
• using separate & dedicated cutting boards for animal proteins and fruits & veggies.
• wash fruits and veggies before cutting just in case something is on the surface (who knows how many people at the market touched it before you?)

I still take chances - I have been known to eat fruit and vegetables right out of my CSA box without washing them.  But I know where that food is coming from and I know when it was picked (only 24 hours before I got my grubby lil hands on it!).

Buying local, eating local, and getting to know who is producing your food is good for you!  Even if you don't concern yourself with the environmental, social, economic impact of supporting your local farmers, it will lower the chances you will every have to be concerned with a spinach, tomato, egg, etc recall.  So for your own healthy piece of mind and wallet (how many other people had to dump the eggs they just bought 'just in case' while I was topping my meatloaf with a poached egg?), eat local... plus it makes you a mench.

A MENCH is used to describe a good person: He is a real mench!  It literally translates to 'a person', but is commonly used to call someone a good guy.

Ess Eppis!

CSA Brunch... or quick please eat this so I'll have room for more!

The bounty from the Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA has been great & plentiful!  So plentiful in fact that my fridge seems to be bursting at the seams each week.  The other week it was already coming up on the weekend and soon it would be Tuesday & time for another CSA box.  I needed help, quick!  I decided to throw a last minute brunch for a few friends for a nosh and a schmooze.

NOSH is literally a snack, but if you have ever been invited over for a nosh, you know that the amount of food well exceeds what many would consider a nosh.  If you are NOSHIE, it usually means you are hungry but just looking for a nibble.  To SCHMOOZE is to chat and make small talk.  Nothing is better than a nosh while schmoozing on a lazy Saturday.

Tomatoes and potatoes seemed to be multiplying on their own so I needed to tackle them first.  I found this recipe for Spicy Tomato Chutney.  It seemed full of everything I like so I started that simmering on stove.  It needs about an additional hour simmering to get to a good consistency than is stated in the recipe.

Next I brought out one of my newest toys - the mandoline.  I love this thing!  I sliced down potatoes, red & yellow tomatoes, and onions.  Along with some spices, herbs, and half-and-half (I didn't have cream), I made Spiced Tomato Gratin from 101cookbooks.  This is not a quick recipe, but soooo worth it!  Do not rush thru the caramelizing & spicing the onions step.  This is what makes it amazing!

In addition to the gratin, I also roasted some burgundy beans - which are actual MAGIC BEANS!  My first thought when I got these dark purple string bean was that it would be great to make with kids because when you cook them they turn green!  How cool is that!?  Little did I know how excited my friends would go over this little trick.  All I needed was a lovely assistant as I put the burgundy beans coated lightly with extra virgin olive oil and salt & pepper into the hot oven, only to remove *drum roll* GREEN BEANS!  It was shock & awe!

I rounded out the menu with some quickly whipped up hummus, a (store bought) baguette, a couple of NY Strip Steaks from my U.S. Wellness Meats prize box, and fresh cut cantaloupe - half of which I turned into aqua de melon.   This was very easy, even without a blender.

Hummus
1 cup cooked, cooled, drained chickpeas & reserved water from cooking
2-3 tablespoons of tahini
juice of one lemon
about 1/4 cup of olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Put chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, s&p in the work bowl of a food processor with a generous splash of olive oil.  Start food processor and drizzle in the rest of the olive oil slowly.  Let in run 1-2 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and taste.  Add s&p as needed.  If consistency is too thick, start running the food processor again and slowly add the water from cooking the chickpeas (if you are using canned, use the water from the can) till you get the consistency you want.  Taste and adjust as needed.

Aqua de Melon
Half a cantaloupe cut into chunks
About 4 cups of water - divided
1/4 cup of sugar or to your taste

The cut up cantaloupe went into the food processor with about a cup of water and 1/4 cup sugar.  Let it whiz around till you have basically made cantaloupe juice concentrate.  Put it into a pitcher and add the rest of the water.  You can make it thicker or thinner depending on how much water you add.

We discovered that this aqua de melon makes an excellent replacement for orange juice in a mimosa thanks to one of my friends bringing a bottle of champagne.

Almost everything was gone by the end of brunching.  Everyone seemed very happy and full... and my fridge was empty (well, just not as full) and ready for the next week's CSA box of produce.  Looks like there maybe many brunches in my future.

Ess Eppis!

My New Trick - A Quick Post

TA DA!  I flipped my malawach without dropping it on the floor, stove, or myself!

Malawach isn't Yiddish, it is Hebrew מלווח.  It's a pan fried layer flat bread that is a staple of the Yemenite Jew.  It is very delicious and is a great base for hummus, baba ganoush and other dips and spreads that has made up many of my Shabbat dinners.

Ess Eppis!

Week 7 Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA

Well it is week 7 and this is the moment I have been waiting for - the first tomatoes of the season!  They are big beautiful red & orange slicing tomatoes.  Oddly, we had 3 shareholders not pick up their share without a heads up... but lucky for me a got a few extra tomatoes & string beans out of it.  The rest of the box contained:

2 lemon cucumbers – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics
1 head green cabbage – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
4 green zucchini – certified organic – Bellview and Rolling Ridge Organics
1 bag red and yellow slicing tomatoes – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 bag pickling cucumbers – certified organic – Meadow Brook Organics
1 bag mini-white cucumbers – transitional – Liberty Branch Farm

I also  bought some mint to make some mint iced tea and this drink a friend posted a link to.

It was a long hot day at the CSA pick up site.  I enjoyed the moments I had in the big walk-in fridge.  Today in Philly we hit 102 degrees Fahrenheit.  The whole day I was dreading schlepping all my stuff home from the market.  By time I got home I was schvitzing so bad I was dripping.  It doesn't help matters that I am having air conditioning issues the last couple days.

Today's Yiddish lesson is a two-fer - SCHLEPPING & SCHVITZING.  Schlepping is to lug or carry something, usually heavy, awkward, and/or laborious.  Schvitzing is sweating.  You can also go for a schvitz in a steam room.

Tomorrow I'll be putting up more pickles!  I've got lots and lots of pickles pickling.  In the couple weeks I'll have reports on all the different pickles I am making.  I am experiment with lots of different herbs, spices, and peppers.  Good thing I found those canning jars on sale this holiday weekend when I was shopping with my mom.  I am going to fill them up fast and may need more soon.

Ess Eppis!

Week 6 Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA

Sorry for slacking... here is last week CSA goodies:

1 bag red-gold potatoes – certified organic – Millwood Springs Organics – 2 lbs
2 green slicing cucumbers – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics
1 bunch cippolini onions – transitional – Liberty Branch Farm
1 bunch Detroit red beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
2 yellow straight-neck squash – certified organic – Goshen View Organics
1 bunch spring onions – certified organic – Healthy Harvest
2 hearts Romaine lettuce – certified organic – Riverview Organics

June 26th, Hillside Organics hosted the first of many picnics for the CSA share holders.  It's a really great time to head out to the country, meet the farmers & their families, see where our food is coming from, & eat LOTS of great food.  The picnics are always a potluck.  All the CSA members bring something homemade and yummy.  You could easily tell that delivery everyone received the week of the picnic contained generous amounts of potatoes & kale.

I took a family friend's kid with me to the farm.  We had a sleep over the night before and made a batch of homemade granola bars with raisins, cashews, & almonds for the picnic.  The recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Thick Chewy Granola Bars.

Picnic Granola Bars

2 cups rolled oats - not instant - 1/3 cup reserved.
1/2 cup raw or turbinado sugar
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon - I am not a big cinnamon person, if you prefer more go for it.
15 ounces mixed dried fruit & nuts - rough chop nuts and larger dried fruit like apricots or dates
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup raw honey - locally produced from the farmer's market
2 tablespoons maple syrup - I have a bottle of locally made organic labeled "dark amber grade A".
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Using parchment paper, line an 8x8 cake pan so it goes across the bottom and up on only 2 sides - leaving two sides uncovered.  Leave the ends of the paper longer than the edge of the pan so you can use it to lift the finished granola out.  Give the pan and the paper a quick spray of non-stick baking spray.
Put the reserved 1/3 cup of rolled oats into a food processor and process till flour-like, approximately 1 minute.  Add to the remaining oats in a large mixing bowl.  Add  sugar, salt, cinnamon, and fruit & nuts to mixing bowl.
Melt butter & raw honey slowly over low heat - do not let it bubble.  Remove from heat and add maple syrup, vanilla, & water.  Whisk together and then pour over oat mixture.  Stir together well so that all the oats and other dry ingredients are are coated with the butter/honey mixture.
Pour mixture into the prepared pan.  Using another piece of parchment paper or wax paper on top of the granola, press down firmly.  Press it down evenly across the whole pan and be sure to make sure it is nice and compacted down.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges brown.  Let it cool in the pan for one hour, then use the parchment paper to lift the granola bar onto a wire rack to continue to cool for at least 5-6 hours before cutting.

Because these granola bars do not use any corn syrup (I just couldn't bring myself to add something so overly processed like corn syrup into something homemade & healthy), they will be more crumbly than bars made with it.  I originally made these with "regular" honey, but the raw honey seems to help the bars stick together and they are less crumbly - although both ways tasted great so if you don't have raw honey on hand, don't let that stop you from making these.  They make a great nosh to keep in the house.

Yiddish lesson #2, NOSH.  A nosh is a snack or something to nibble on, but not a full meal.  If someone says they are noshy, it means they are hungry but just for a little (or bissell) of food.

Ess Eppis!

Week 5 Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA

This week's CSA box of goodies contained:

1 box new red potatoes – certified organic – Green Valley Organics – 1 quart
1 bag pickling cucumbers – certified organic – Meadow Brook Organics – 2 lbs
1 bunch beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 green zucchini – certified organic – Bellivew and Autumn Blend Organics
1 bunch spring onions – certified organic – Healthy Harvest
1 bunch green kale – certified organic – Autumn Blend Organics
1 bunch dandelion greens – certified organic – Hillside Organics
1 head butter head lettuce – certified organic – Goshen View Organics
1 head radicchio – certified organic – Bellview Organics

I found a recipe for bread & butter pickles posted by Smitten Kitchen on Facebook for the pickling cucumbers last week.  This afternoon while manning the CSA pick up site, I opened my laptop to find a mouth watering recipe posted on Smitten Kitchen for a blue cheese red potato tart - perfect timing.  The Fair Food Farm Stand carries lots of local sustainable foods, including one of favorite local cheese makers Birchrun Hills Farm (they are at Headhouse Square Farmers' Market every Sunday).  So I picked up some of their blue cheese to make the tart.  I even picked up some broccoli to make more of the Blasted Broccoli I discovered last week.

One of the farms that participates in the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative is hosting a potluck picnic this weekend.  I'll be going with my best friend and a daughter of close family friends.  She'll actually be spending the night before so we can make the potluck dish together.  Any suggestions of something that can be easily packed, transported, and deal with not being refrigerated are welcomed.

The Cabbage & The Cupcake

Early in the week I had what can only be described as cupcake-a-paloza in my apartment.  I was trying to create a sampling of different cupcakes & since you can't just make one cupcake (well maybe you can, but I can't), I now have a dozen assorted cupcakes in the fridge ready to eat and 2 dozen more in the freezer.  I think my neighbors are worried I am trying to fatten them, although it doesn't stop them from eating my cupcakes.

In need of something savory, I grabbed the Napa Cabbage from my latest CSA box.  Its long broad leaves just begged to be stuffed, and I was happy to obliged.  Two pounds of ground beef, some spices & rice made 12 perfect meaty packages.  I cooked them covered in a simple tomato sauce of a can of whole tomatoes blended with garlic.

I decided to give the Blasted Broccoli from Dana Treat a try.  As I said before, I hate broccoli so I didn't really care if I ruined it.  I cleaned the head of broccoli - finding a wee inch worm hiding in the stalks.  I tossed it on olive oil and popped it in a hot oven.  Then tossing it in a bit more olive oil with 3 or 4 cloves of minced garlic and a schtickle of red pepper flakes.  Back into the oven it went to sizzle away.  It actually smelt good.

Here is your first Yiddish lesson - SCHTICKLE.  A schtickle and bissell are similar that they both mean "a little bit", but in cooking a schtickle - a generous pinch - is a bit more than a bissell.

I thought I had really burnt it when it finally came out, but decided to taste it anyway.  It was GREAT!  Garlicky & kind of crunchy, it was perfect.  In fact, after my dinner guest left, I ate all the left overs.
 
Since Masha was coming over for dinner and cupcakes, I decided to also make a salad with the last of this week's CSA lettuce (thank goodness the lettuce season seems to be slowing down).  I made a quick simple vinaigrette & tossed in the raspberries left over from make buttermilk cupcakes with berries.  Masha brought red wine to go with our dinner.  The dinner and the company made the night.

After a couple of helpings of stuffed cabbage, salad, and broccoli (we both agreed that the Blasted Broccoli was simply amazing in the way it transformed this veggie), we were ready for cupcakes.  I had 3 to choose from: banana daiquiri with blueberries topped with a rum glaze, vanilla with dark chocolate chips topped with vanilla chocolate swirl cream cheese frosting, & buttermilk with berries,.  We each indulged in a couple different flavors & Masha left with an assorted 4 pack.

For the stuffed cabbage recipe, click the read more link

Week 4 Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA

Click to go to Flickr & roll over photo for details

1 head broccoli – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 bunch red beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 head Napa cabbage – certified organic – Bellview Organics
1 pc summer ball squash – certified organic – Hillside Organics
1 bunch spring onions – certified organic – Healthy Harvest
1 head green butter head (bib) lettuce – certified organic – Goshen View Organics
1 head red leave lettuce – certified organic – Railroad Organics
1 bag cress – certified organic – Back 40 Ranch

And a happy accident landed me a flower share this week.  It is a huge bunch of mixed flowers & greenery.  Some of it looks & smells like mint, but I am going to double check with the farm before trying it just to be safe.

I have never been a fan of broccoli.  I always thought it smells & tastes like farts (well what I imagine what a fart would taste like).  I found a recipe called Blasted Broccoli that quick roasts the broccoli at a high heat with olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.  I have never had broccoli roasted and always roast my other veggies like Brussels Sprouts and asparagus, so maybe this will be the thing that finally brings me around to broccoli.

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up some ground meat so I can use my Napa Cabbage to make a batch of stuffed cabbage.  It's perfect for the crock pot & freezes well so I'll have some for the future.  I am also looking forward to trying a new and exciting recipe for a flourless cupcake using the the sweetness of the beets to keep the sugar added to a minimum.

Tomorrow will be a fun day of baking & cooking in the Ess Eppis kitchen!

Garlic Scape Oil

 With a couple of bunches of garlic scapes from the CSA, some grape seed oil, & a food processor I made a small jar of bright green garlic scape oil.  It was quick and simple.  I think this will work nicely as a finishing oil, in salad dressings, and in marinades.  It will top grilled veggies & meat, hummus, and other foods to add color & flavor.

Click to go to flickr & roll over for details

If you aren't familiar with garlic scapes, it is the top part of the garlic plant harvested before it flowers.  They kind of look like scallions, but tastes like garlic.  They are the long green tendrils in this picture.  They can be used raw, sauteed, grilled, any way you want.

To make the garlic scape oil:

2 bunches of garlic scapes
1 tsp cream of tartar (this gives the green color a little 'kick')
1 tbsp kosher salt
1-1 1/2 cup grape seed oil (I use this because it is nearly tasteless & light allowing the flavor of the scapes to shine)
s&p to taste

Cut the garlic scapes into 2-3 inch pieces.  Add the cream of tartar & salt to boiling water and then drop in the scapes.  Remove them from the boiling water in 1 minute and drop into ice water to stop cooking.  Drain the scapes and pat dry with a paper towel. Place scapes into a food processor or blender with about 1/2 cup of oil.  Turn on food processor and let it run till the scapes are broken up and nearly pulverized.  Add more oil to get the consistency & taste you are happy with.  Add salt & pepper to taste.  I am keeping it in the fridge in an air tight jar.

Week 3 Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA

Click to go to Flickr & roll over photo for details

This weeks CSA share was a another bumper crop of greens:

1 bag snow peas – certified organic – White Swan Acres
1 bunch radishes – certified organic – Friends Road Organics
1 bunch garlic scapes – certified organic – Orchard View Organics
1 bunch green shallots – certified organic – Shady Brook Organics
1 bunch dandelion greens – certified organic – Hillside Organics
1 head endive – certified organic – Meadow Valley Organics
1 head red leaf lettuce – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
2 heads red oak leaf lettuce – certified organic – Back 40 Ranch
1/2 head of Napa Cabbage shared from the other site host's full share

The photo is of my half share AFTER giving half the dandelion greens, half the endive, 1 head of read leaf lettuce, and 1 head of red oak leaf lettuce to Catlyn when she came over for a dinner of BBQ shredded beef over lettuce.  Nearly everything I have been eating has been on a bed of lettuce.  Luckily, it's all really good lettuce!  The BBQ shredded beef from my winning of U.S. Wellness Meats was GREAT!  I loved it so much, I wish I had more.  I am tempted to order more knowing the quality of the food and way it is raised, but I do know I can find quality like this with a local farmer.  If I was closer to network of farms that this impressive cooperative or did not live in an area with access to exceptional farmers, I would not hesistate to regularly order from them.

This weekend I am making a dish for a Paleo potluck.  I do not follow a Paleo diet, but want to participate in the potluck with Catlyn & her CrossFit group.  The idea of swearing off potatoes, beans, and grains makes me shake in my boots - I think my love of those foods is imprinted on my Eastern European DNA.  I have narrowed it down to two possible dishes:

Almond Date Balls Drizzled with Dark Chocolate
Cucumber & Radish Rounds Topped with Garlic Mint Aioli

I just have to decide if I want to go sweet or savory.  Either way, I am sure there will be lots of goodies and new people to meet this weekend.  Only once I figure out what I am making, I then have to figure out what to wear!  Will the decisions never end?!  I think I should mull all this over while a make a cake.

Veggies, Veggies, & More Veggies

Week 2 of the Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA.

Click to go to Flickr and roll over photo for description of the produce.

2 bunches spring onions – certified organic – Bellview and Plum Hill Organics

1 bunch garlic scapes – certified organic – Life Enhancing Acres

1 pkg white mushrooms – certified organic – Mother Earth Organics

1 bunch Lacinato kale – certified organic – Goshen View Organics

1 bag baby lettuce mix – certified organic – Farmdale Organics

1 bag wrinkle-crinkle – certified organic – Back 40 Ranch

2 heads green oak leaf lettuce – certified organic – Back 40 Ranch

& some Snow Peas that came with the full share that the other hosts of the site shared with me.

I really love being part of a CSA and have written about it in past post.  Being a site host, I get a share for free.  I opted for a half share and the fruit share that starts later in the season.  Even with a half share, I find myself not getting thru all the weekly goodies before they start to waste in my fridge.  This year I am determined not to waste any part of my weekly half share.  The first thing I did was to wash all the produce this week and package it all up so it is all ready to go in my fridge.  To wash lettuce & other leafy stuff I fill the sink with cold water and gently place in the lettuce.  I swish and swirl it around gently.  The lettuce and leafy goods will float while all the soil that may still be on it will sink to the bottom.  I gently scoop out the greens and dry them in a salad spinner, then lay them out on paper towels to get any left over moisture.  Then I package them in ziplock style bags or the reusable containers my take out Chinese comes in.

The best part if a CSA is that you end up with produce you have never tried or even heard of.  This week I got something called wrinkle-crinkle.  It's a cress that looks like slightly sickly parsley, but is very peppery.  I discovered this after tasting a leaf while cleaning all the greens.  Unsure of exactly how to use it, I decided to treat it more like an herb than a lettuce.  I chopped it up and added it to some pasta, tomato, garlic, and Parmesan cheese.

The bag of mixed baby lettuce has provided a nice addition to nearly every meal.  I made a quick and simple vinaigrette by whisking together a splash of apple cider vinegar, a squirt of Dijon mustard, and s&p to taste.  I keep whisking as I drizzle in some olive oil - about twice as much as I have acids.  Some canned tuna on top of some dressed greens with an extra drizzle over the tuna and I had a meal!  A left over cupcake from the weekend baking rounded it out to complete the meal.

While cleaning the produce I decided to also clean and blanch it so I could keep it in the fridge to snack on.  It never made it to the fridge.  After cleaning - pulling that fibrous string along the edge, I dropped them into salted boiling water for just a minute.  They turned bright green and stayed crunching after dropping them in ice water to quickly cool them.  After testing one, I ended up eating the whole container of the sweet crunchy snack.  They were so good I think I am going to go back to The Fair Food Farmstand at Reading Terminal Market and pick up some more.

Tonight I plan on making Kale chips.  I am going to try experimenting with some flavored salts that I won from goodLife{eats} give-a-way.  I have lavender rosemary & cherry pistachio Secret Stash Salts, in addition to my standard Kosher salt.  Maybe I'll try some different spices too.  I think the smoked paprika might work nice to give a bbq chip taste, but healthier than potato chips.  I'll post how they come out soon.

I'M BACK... and with Mac & Cheese

I am not sure if enough people read this yet to have noticed, but I was away for a bit.  I took a road trip to FLA with my parents to visit my brother, sister-in-law, & niece in Orlando and my cousin's graduation in the West Palm area.  Two weeks on the road & in hotels with the family and we all survived!  Mostly thanks to the super swanky digs my brother booked for us... having a brother who works for Loews has its benefits.  He even got us the hospitality suite at the Royal Pacific where he works.  Everything at the Royal Pacific & Portifino is first class and I'll be posting soon about all the goodies we were treated to during our stay.

I came back in time for a couple of real special goodies here.  From goodLife{eats}, I won a $75 variety box of meats from U.S. Wellness Meats.  It was a big meaty present of NY Strip Steaks, Free Range Chicken Breasts, Shredded BBQ Beef, and Nitrate Free/MSG Free Beef Sticks & Summer Sausage.  I also got a jar of Cherry Pistachio Salt by Secret Stash Salts (and a small baggie of Lavender Rosemary Salt).  On top of all that, I was just a couple days away from my CSA's first delivery!  It was an awesome welcome home!

The first thing I tore into was the beef sticks and they were tasty.  Tonight I made one of the four chicken breasts that came in the pack with lots of CSA & farmers market goodies.  I made chicken lettuce spring rolls and asparagus & tomato mac & cheese.  The mac & cheese looks darker than the average mac & cheese because I use a cheddar cheese that is made with Guiness Beer & I add in tomato paste to give it some extra tomato flavor.

ASPARAGUS AND TOMATO MAC&CHEESE
(measurements are only approximations)
1/2 lb whole wheat elbow macaroni
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cup 2% milk
1/4 lb Cahill Guiness Cheddar grated (it was all they had left at Salumeria in RTM - I love this stuff!)
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 pint grape tomatoes halfed
1 bunch asparagus cut in about 1-1 1/2 inch pieces
salt & pepper to taste

After tossing the macaroni in about 5 cups of boiling water, start the butter melting in a good sized saute pan (I use this oven safe pan from IKEA - so later I don't need to dirty another pan) over med/high heat.  Also preheat the oven to 350.  Stir in  the flour to the butter and let it cook for a few minutes (you just made a roux!) and then stir in the tomato paste, cooking another few minutes.
The macaroni should be ready to be drained about now.
Slowly stir in the milk into the roux.  Once the milk is fully incorporated into the flour add the cheese and stir gently till it completely melts.  Add the spices and salt & pepper to taste.  Fold in the drained macaroni and then the tomatoes and asparagus.  Gently fold together till mixed evenly.
If your pan is oven safe pop it in the oven for 30 minutes.  If not, put it in a baking dish then into the oven for 30 minutes.

CHICKEN LETTUCE SPRING ROLLS
1 chicken boneless skinless chicken breast slice into 1/4 inch thick strips
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lime halved
1 red bell pepper
2 medium carrots
4-5 scallions
handful fresh cilantro rough chopped
1 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 head green leaf lettuce
kosher salt & pepper

Season the chicken with salt & pepper.  Heat olive oil in a pan over high heat.  Add the chicken to the pan.  As the chicken cooks squeeze half a lime over chicken.
While the chicken cooks, peel the pepper & carrots with a vegetable peeler.  You won't be able to peel where the pepper curves in so use that curve as the natural line to cut the pepper.  The pieces will come apart easily and you can peel the bits of skin left.  I also like to remove all the ribs - the peeler works nicely on that too.
Chicken should be just about done.  When it is, just put it on a plate and set aside.
Julienne the peppers and carrots by cutting the peppers into thin strips long ways.  Slice the carrots on an angle and then stack the slices and cut down the stack to create "match sticks" (or you could grate the carrots with the biggest grater holes).  Slice the scallion into small rounds (about 1/4 inch) all the way up the greens.  Toss the veggies & the cilantro in a bowl and add in the vinegar, soy sauce, & sesame oil and toss to coat.  Adjust the seasonings and salt & pepper to your taste.
Cut the base on the head of lettuce so all the leaves are free.  Gently rinse & dry (best in a salad spinner).  Holding a leaf in your palm, add in the veggies and then the chicken.  Fold over the sides of the leaf.

And now... ENJOY!