Thursday dinner:
On Thursday I made another Ital stew, and realized I'd left the salt out of the original recipe. It doesn't need much, just a generous pinch that goes in with the spices. Adding salt is not strictly ital and is completely optional, but the salt does complement the heat nicely. In making this, I used up a few more small squashes and the rest of our kale.
Friday dinner:
Matt made a miso soup, based on the Autumn miso soup in Peter Berley's Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. Used another little squash! I made a small pot of short grain rice because I like a bit of chewy rice in my miso soup sometimes.
Friday afternoon I made a big batch of arugula pesto and divided it into two containers: one for a wheat berry salad, and the other to have for other uses. As dinner was cooking, I made a large pot of wheat berries and composed the salad on Saturday morning.
Saturday lunch:
Arugula Pesto Wheat Berries, based on the 101cookbooks recipe. It's good! Arugula: done.
Saturday dinner:
We took the night off, and let the kids eat Trader Joe's frozen pizza and masala veggie burgers.
Sunday lunch:
Leftover miso soup and rice.
We had our lovely friends and neighbors over for dinner on Sunday, and they kindly brought a green salad, some watermelon, and wine.
Sunday dinner:
Salads: Beet (all of our farm beets) and Fennel salad with Pecorino (from A16 Food and Wine cookbook), green salad with balsamic vinaigrette (the tomato in this salad was unbelievably good), leftover wheat berry salad.
Soup: Butternut squash soup (it is better the next day).
Bread: Rustic sourdough from Witherspoon Bread.
Dessert: Watermelon, Peppermint Tea, and Conscious Kitchen Guajillo Chile-Chocolate Cupcakes.
Monday lunch:
Leftover butternut squash soup and bread.
Whenever I take stock of what is left from our farm share, I always think we are doing better than we actually are. The refrigerator isn't bursting anymore, but there are a lot of things in it. Especially hot peppers. And bell peppers. And watermelon. And lettuce. And sweet potatoes in the pantry.
Showing posts with label squash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label squash. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Recipe: Autumn Ital Stew
On Saturday we ate some leftovers for lunch, then went out to pick up some cheese and bread for panini. We've been on a bread/sandwich kick since my no-knead experiment.
Saturday dinner:
Simple. Matt gathered up the twiggy remains of our basil and combined them with parsley to make an excellent pesto. I then used the pesto for panini with roasted peppers (from the farm, prepared earlier in the week), tomato, arugula, and fontina on a baguette. Roasted cauliflower, shiitakes, and scallions to serve on the side.
Sunday lunch:
Leftovers from Dad.
After lunch, I started a new batch of stecca.
Sunday dinner:
Ital stew over brown rice. Ital is vital.
Lavender shortbread for dessert.
Update: I left out the scallions!
Update2: I left out the salt!
Saturday dinner:
Simple. Matt gathered up the twiggy remains of our basil and combined them with parsley to make an excellent pesto. I then used the pesto for panini with roasted peppers (from the farm, prepared earlier in the week), tomato, arugula, and fontina on a baguette. Roasted cauliflower, shiitakes, and scallions to serve on the side.
Sunday lunch:
Leftovers from Dad.
After lunch, I started a new batch of stecca.
Sunday dinner:
Ital stew over brown rice. Ital is vital.
Lavender shortbread for dessert.
Recipe: Autumn Ital stew
About the thyme: I like to find a hardened twiggy sprig of thyme that has many tender green stems shooting from it. These are easier to find and fish out later. About the habanero: I use them whole and make incisions in the peppers to allow them to release their flavors more easily. This also saves me from handling them too much -- they are very hot, and can really irritate skin. Do not touch your eyes without multiple washings with soap and water! You can use gloves if you have them, but I never do. If you prefer, the habaneros can be seeded and minced instead.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 habanero peppers
sea salt (optional)
2 scallions, whites and greens cut in 1-inch pieces
several sprigs of fresh thyme
1 medium acorn squash, peeled, seeded and diced to about 3/4 inch (about 4 cups or so)
3 small-to-medium potatoes, diced to about 3/4 inch
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups cooked garbanzo or other beans (fresh is best, canned ok)
2 cups diced tomatoes (fresh is best, canned ok)
1 large bunch chard or other dark leafys, stemmed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 bunch cilantro
In a large stockpot (I used my 8-quart, but a 6-quart wide-bottomed pot will do), warm the oil and add the onion. Saute over medium heat until the onion is translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, allspice, scallions, and a pinch of sea salt. Holding the habaneros by the stem, make a few vertical incisions around each pepper, then drop them in the pot. Saute the spices for another minute. Add the squash, potatoes, water, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the squash and potatoes are just tender but not quite. Uncover and add the remaining ingredients -- garbanzos, tomatoes, chard, and cilantro. Simmer for another 10 minutes, then remove from heat. Fish out the thyme and habaneros. Discard the thyme, save the habaneros on the side for extra heat. Serve over a mound of brown rice. The habaneros can be divided and the pieces stirred into a serving and removed again (or eaten); they will leave behind their heat.
Update: I left out the scallions!
Update2: I left out the salt!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Completed: No-Knead Stecca; Enjoyed: Beet-Arugula-Goat Cheese Sandwich on Homemade Bread
Thursday dinner:
Butternut squash soup and fresh bread. I used water instead of stock for the soup and I think that is why it tasted a bit bland to me. I'm not sure because my taste buds were deadened by all the salt on the bread.
The no-knead stecca was completed around 6pm yesterday evening. Everyone gathered around to gaze at it before we tore into one (of four). The crust was oil-saturated, having had a good dousing before baking, and salty. Almost too salty in places. And crisp. It was very good, but perfect? Perfectly delicious, but I may not have stretched the dough as carefully as I should have, because three of my four stick-loaves were quite flat in the middle. Or did it not rise enough? Did the oil prevent it? -- who knows, but I will happily carry on with this tasty experiment. Those flattened sticks were not ideal for sandwich bread, but we ate them and saved the fullest for
Friday lunch:
From the Lahey book, a sandwich of marinated beets and onions, with arugula and fresh goat cheese, on stecca. It was a truly great sandwich.
I will be starting my next batch of stecca forthwith. For the purposes of evaluating the no-knead process, I would have preferred to start with the basic bread-in-a-pot boule, but I'm still sorting out the pot. The stecca only requires a baking sheet.
Butternut squash soup and fresh bread. I used water instead of stock for the soup and I think that is why it tasted a bit bland to me. I'm not sure because my taste buds were deadened by all the salt on the bread.
The no-knead stecca was completed around 6pm yesterday evening. Everyone gathered around to gaze at it before we tore into one (of four). The crust was oil-saturated, having had a good dousing before baking, and salty. Almost too salty in places. And crisp. It was very good, but perfect? Perfectly delicious, but I may not have stretched the dough as carefully as I should have, because three of my four stick-loaves were quite flat in the middle. Or did it not rise enough? Did the oil prevent it? -- who knows, but I will happily carry on with this tasty experiment. Those flattened sticks were not ideal for sandwich bread, but we ate them and saved the fullest for
Friday lunch:
From the Lahey book, a sandwich of marinated beets and onions, with arugula and fresh goat cheese, on stecca. It was a truly great sandwich.
I will be starting my next batch of stecca forthwith. For the purposes of evaluating the no-knead process, I would have preferred to start with the basic bread-in-a-pot boule, but I'm still sorting out the pot. The stecca only requires a baking sheet.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday pickup and so-so dinner
This week, from our half of a full share, we got:
1/2 bunch beets
1 small bunch basil
1/4 pound salad mix
2 heads lettuce
1 pound unblighted tomatoes
5 bell peppers, green and purple
2 pounds summer squash, mostly crookneck
1 bunch cippolini onions
1 small bunch lacinato kale
1 small bunch toscano kale
1 small bunch chard
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes
We gave my parents the head of garlic, the eggplant, and the beautiful celery this week. We didn't use any of our celery from last week, and we had determined to alternate weeks on the garlic.
PYO: small bunch of parsley, 3 jalepenos, 20 stems of really wonderful flowers in deep reds and pinks, yellows, and purples.
Of last weeks share, we still have a lot of cucumbers. I'm going to have to try doing the garlic dill pickle thing asap. I had to toss last week's salad mix; it was going black and liquidy. And we still have quite a bit of lettuce. We'll have to be more prepared on the salad front.
It was late when we returned from the farm and began cooking. I made a quickie meal that everyone ate and enjoyed, but fell short of what I was going for. The plan was based on a memorable meal I ate at a friend's house in Boulder Creek, CA about 18 years ago, and had attempted unsuccessfully once before. It was supposed to be a pureed squash sauce over linguine, ideally. But there was no linguine in the pantry, so we had penne. And since we don't have a blender anymore, I tried using the food processor, but that left things somewhat chunky. I should have known, really. The texture was not at all what I was going for. The flavor was pretty right-on, though it could have been a bit spicier. Sauteed, and slightly carmelized, chunks of squash with garlic and shallot, subsequently pureed with lots of basil and olive oil, salt and pepper.
1/2 bunch beets
1 small bunch basil
1/4 pound salad mix
2 heads lettuce
1 pound unblighted tomatoes
5 bell peppers, green and purple
2 pounds summer squash, mostly crookneck
1 bunch cippolini onions
1 small bunch lacinato kale
1 small bunch toscano kale
1 small bunch chard
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes
We gave my parents the head of garlic, the eggplant, and the beautiful celery this week. We didn't use any of our celery from last week, and we had determined to alternate weeks on the garlic.
PYO: small bunch of parsley, 3 jalepenos, 20 stems of really wonderful flowers in deep reds and pinks, yellows, and purples.
Of last weeks share, we still have a lot of cucumbers. I'm going to have to try doing the garlic dill pickle thing asap. I had to toss last week's salad mix; it was going black and liquidy. And we still have quite a bit of lettuce. We'll have to be more prepared on the salad front.
It was late when we returned from the farm and began cooking. I made a quickie meal that everyone ate and enjoyed, but fell short of what I was going for. The plan was based on a memorable meal I ate at a friend's house in Boulder Creek, CA about 18 years ago, and had attempted unsuccessfully once before. It was supposed to be a pureed squash sauce over linguine, ideally. But there was no linguine in the pantry, so we had penne. And since we don't have a blender anymore, I tried using the food processor, but that left things somewhat chunky. I should have known, really. The texture was not at all what I was going for. The flavor was pretty right-on, though it could have been a bit spicier. Sauteed, and slightly carmelized, chunks of squash with garlic and shallot, subsequently pureed with lots of basil and olive oil, salt and pepper.
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