CSA week eight round-up

I've finished up early this week due to the scant share and a bout of tummy trouble that left me disinclined to any serious cooking. Along with the dishes I already posted about I just made chips from the kale and did a spicy sweet pickle with the zucchini and some leftover eggplant. I'll post about that in a few weeks when I crack open the jar and see how they taste. That leaves the canistels and avocado still not quite ripe and the lettuce which I haven't touched.




There is one other thing, though. A little while back, tired of not having access to an important southeast Asian ingredient, I mail ordered a kaffir lime tree which has finally arrived. I'll grant you that it's currently more of a kaffir lime twig but I'm hopeful it'll grow into the pot I bought for it. The recipes that call for kaffir lime leaves generally only call for one or two so maybe it's indulgent to buy a tree (and the pot and the soil and the fertilizer and the watering can) just for that grace note of flavor. But kaffir lime leaves are often the flavor that gives that ineffable something that's so distinctive about Thai cooking. There's no substitute and when it's there you know something important is missing. It's not like making Chinese food without soy sauce; it's more like making Chinese food without ginger. It's not in the forefront, but it's not right without it. So, something to look forward to, there.

Next post Saturday with the new share and the Slow Food stone crab picnic.