Sunday, November 22, 2009

CSA week one - starting up after all

I contacted Margie about the missing shares and it turns out they weren't actually missing; they were camouflaged. They accidentally switched the numbers of half and full shares and then some folks who picked up full shares didn't sign off on the sheet which hid the excess boxes. So I went down a picked up a full share. I left a couple ears of corn since I had picked up two earlier, but since this is for two weeks I think I should be able to use it all up, barring maybe the beans. The trick is using more than one ingredient in each dish.

I figure I can use the corn, bok choy and lemongrass in a soup. I'm going pickle the green beans with the dill. Avocado and tomato will go into a guacamole. Mizuna and lettuce in a salad. The turnips I'd like to use in a gratin. The calalloo in mchicha. Or maybe it would work better than the bok choy in the soup? That just leaves the hibiscus. I made an unsuccessful sorbet last time and I think I'd like to try them in a savory side-dish this time around. As I mentioned then, I've read that somewhere in Africa they stew them and serve them with ground peanuts. I might try that. If you look up hibiscus recipes, keep in mind that we've got calyces, not flowers and most recipes that call for flowers really mean dried flowers so adjust amounts accordingly.

The real problem for me here is going to finding uses for the leftovers after making dishes that use up half of a particular vegetable. I'll have to make new plans when I see what I've still got around after a week.

6 comments:

June said...

All is well that ends well! I wish I'd gotten turnips! We have a half share and the only thing in the xtras box when we picked up was corn, bok choy and green beans.

Cintia said...

My half share was missing as well! Can't wait until the next pickup date!

SteveBM said...

Just stumbled upon your blog. A woman I worked a trade show booth with made these KILLER "dilly beans" and passed the recipe along to me. I havent had a chance to make them but thought Id pass it along since you said you might not use all the beans.

Here is what she sent me...

"Trim ends of beans. Combine 2 1/2 cups of vinegar I use apple cider. 2 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of canning salt Bring to a boil. Pack beans lengthwise into hot pint jars. To each jar add 1 tsp to 1tbs cayenne pepper or more to taste. 1 clove of garlic, 1head of dill, 1/2 to 1 tsp of mustard seed.Pour hot liquid over beans leaving 1/4 inch head space. Process in hot water bath 10 min. I usually do a half bushel and that gives you about 16 pints.I can not remember how many brine's I need for a half bushel but I think 4."

billjac said...

Thanks a lot! I found a lot of dilly bean recipes and I've been torn whether to use white or cider vinegar, dried or fresh pepper, etc. But if these are killer, I'll take your recommendation. If they're lousy, it's on you.

Linda Keller said...

Have you tried your corn yet? Ours was not so good at all (dry, chewy and tasteless...) It was marginally better cut off the cob and sauteed in butter and salt than hopefully boiled - a bad idea altogether. Hope you have better luck with yours!

billjac said...

Yeah, the corn wasn't great. I've made a couple dishes with them and found that blending them into soup and adding a bit of sugar hid the worst of their texture and brought out the best of their flavor. That post is queued up for tomorrow.