Sunday, January 31, 2010
CSA week nine
Why didn't anyone tell me I was off by a week? And that the week number was stated clearly on the top of the newsletter had I cared to look? I'm not going to go back and change the titles that are mislabeled, but I'm going to try to get it right from this point on.
CSA week seven - Black spaote banana meringue cookies
I had no reason to think this was going to work. My searching didn't turn up any recipes that combined whipped egg whites and fruit pulp which is usually a pretty good indication that it's not a good idea. But I had everything I needed lying around so I thought I'd give it a try just to see what would happen.
Ingredients:
pulp from several small black sapotes
1 banana, frozen and defrosted
1-3 Tablespoons sugar depending on how sweet your fruit is
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 Tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
some agave nectar
2/3 cup egg whites
0. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
1. Blend the fruit. Add the sugar and vanilla and blend some more. Stir in the flour.
2. Beat
the egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the fruit mixture to lighten. Fold in the second third. Fold in the third third. Check for sweetness. Fold in agave nectar until the flavors pop.
3. Using a coffee or small ice cream scoop, dispense dollops of batter onto cookie sheets prepared using your most extreme non-stick procedure.
Bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway through. Take them out, try one, discover it's raw in the center and put them back in for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
For my second batch I found 25 minutes at 350 degrees worked well, but the hour of sitting around deflated the cookies which may have had some effect so use your best judgement.
I call these cookies, but only because I can't think of a better word for them. They've got the soft squishy/chewy texture of angel's food cake. Actually many are partially pre-squished due to troubles I had getting them off the parchment paper I baked them on.
Fresh out of the oven they were a little crisp around the edges, but that fades. There's still a little crystal-crunch from the sugar which I actually like, but you may want to avoid by using confectioner's sugar.
Despite having substantially more sapote than banana, the flavor is predominantly caramelized banana. The sapote rounds it out, but it could be mistaken for a hint of chocolate. Pretty tasty. Maybe it could use a little acid to brighten it up--a lemon sugar glaze maybe?
Ingredients:
pulp from several small black sapotes
1 banana, frozen and defrosted
1-3 Tablespoons sugar depending on how sweet your fruit is
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 Tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
some agave nectar
2/3 cup egg whites
0. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
1. Blend the fruit. Add the sugar and vanilla and blend some more. Stir in the flour.
2. Beat
the egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the fruit mixture to lighten. Fold in the second third. Fold in the third third. Check for sweetness. Fold in agave nectar until the flavors pop.3. Using a coffee or small ice cream scoop, dispense dollops of batter onto cookie sheets prepared using your most extreme non-stick procedure.
Bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway through. Take them out, try one, discover it's raw in the center and put them back in for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.For my second batch I found 25 minutes at 350 degrees worked well, but the hour of sitting around deflated the cookies which may have had some effect so use your best judgement.
I call these cookies, but only because I can't think of a better word for them. They've got the soft squishy/chewy texture of angel's food cake. Actually many are partially pre-squished due to troubles I had getting them off the parchment paper I baked them on.
Fresh out of the oven they were a little crisp around the edges, but that fades. There's still a little crystal-crunch from the sugar which I actually like, but you may want to avoid by using confectioner's sugar.
Despite having substantially more sapote than banana, the flavor is predominantly caramelized banana. The sapote rounds it out, but it could be mistaken for a hint of chocolate. Pretty tasty. Maybe it could use a little acid to brighten it up--a lemon sugar glaze maybe?
Saturday, January 30, 2010
CSA week seven wrap-up, week eight start-up
I thought my canistel meatball post would generate a bit more comment. Ah well. Other than that, for week seven, the greens went into the noodle dish I posted about and the avocado and one of the tomatoes went into bacon-avocado-tomato sandwiches. The other tomatoes are still waiting for marching orders; The cabbage I haven't touched; and the black sapote was only ripe when I got back from my trip so I'll be using it today. Oh, nearly forgot the celery; there's that too. That's quite a bit, isn't it?
Week eight, then.
Starting in the bottom right corner for a change, you can see that the broccoli has a sallow tinge to it. That's just going to get worse so I'd better use it today. Unless something else occurs to me in the next few hours, I'll serve it over ziti with lots of garlic and maybe some tomato.
The komatsuna above that I'll likely have with some of the leftover cabbage in a yakisoba.
The breakfast radishes are best with butter and salt on good bread. The tops I'll add to one of the two pasta dishes I just mentioned.
I just ate one of the tangerines and was disappointed that it didn't have much flavor. At least it wasn't bitter like the clementines were. I'm thinking of juicing the other one, but I think I've got a salad recipe for the grapefruit.
The spring onions I bet would be good grilled. I'm not sure where to go from there, though.
The parsley isn't enough to worry about. I tend to heavily garnish with it so it goes quickly.
The lettuce maybe I'll actually use this time, but I wouldn't bet on it. If I don't I'll start leaving lettuce in the extras bin; I don't like seeing them go to waste like that.
And finally, the avocado. This looks like the same sort as last time which had good flavor and texture so at least we're ending avocado season on a high note. I'm thinking ceviche with it since I haven't made that in a while. Or fish tacos with the mahi mahi I've got in the freezer. That might be nice too.
I'll have to think of something for the celery too; I do want to use it this week. I think I've got a braise recipe around somewhere for it. I'll have to dig it out.
Week eight, then.
Starting in the bottom right corner for a change, you can see that the broccoli has a sallow tinge to it. That's just going to get worse so I'd better use it today. Unless something else occurs to me in the next few hours, I'll serve it over ziti with lots of garlic and maybe some tomato.
The komatsuna above that I'll likely have with some of the leftover cabbage in a yakisoba.
The breakfast radishes are best with butter and salt on good bread. The tops I'll add to one of the two pasta dishes I just mentioned.
I just ate one of the tangerines and was disappointed that it didn't have much flavor. At least it wasn't bitter like the clementines were. I'm thinking of juicing the other one, but I think I've got a salad recipe for the grapefruit.
The spring onions I bet would be good grilled. I'm not sure where to go from there, though.
The parsley isn't enough to worry about. I tend to heavily garnish with it so it goes quickly.
The lettuce maybe I'll actually use this time, but I wouldn't bet on it. If I don't I'll start leaving lettuce in the extras bin; I don't like seeing them go to waste like that.
And finally, the avocado. This looks like the same sort as last time which had good flavor and texture so at least we're ending avocado season on a high note. I'm thinking ceviche with it since I haven't made that in a while. Or fish tacos with the mahi mahi I've got in the freezer. That might be nice too.
I'll have to think of something for the celery too; I do want to use it this week. I think I've got a braise recipe around somewhere for it. I'll have to dig it out.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
CSA week seven - Canistel meatballs
Back in this post, where I made a meatloaf using overcooked carrots and turnips, I wondered how a meatloaf using canistel might work. The texture of the wad of mushed-up overcooked root vegetables was pretty similar to the texture of roasted canistel so I suspected that that aspect would work, but what about the flavor? In the comments, Russell expressed skepticism, but also mentioned trying pumpkin meatloaf.
It
was a good comparison. Roasting canistel brings out its nutty pumpkiny flavor elements, leaving a mild sweetness and, at least this time, a slight bitter aftertaste, probably from the fruit being a little under-ripe--but just a little--they were squishy-ripe, not gooshy ripe.
There are actually a fair number of pumpkin meatloaf recipes out there so I was fairly confident the canistel would work. But no point in wasting a lot of food unnecessarily; best to start the experiment with a small batch of meatballs and go from there.
I roasted two canistels, sprayed with olive oil and lightly salted, at 350 degrees for a half hour, but I decided to only use one for this recipe.
I ran that canistel through the food processor, skin and all, to reduce it to a paste. To it I added:
1/3 pound ground pork
1/3 pound ground beef
1/2 small onion
1/4 green pepper
1/2 stalk celery, all three very finely chopped
1 handful breadcrumbs, and
1 sizable dose of Milwaukee Ave. Steak Seasoning from Spice House
I
mixed that all together and rolled out balls about 1 1/2-inches across which I shallow fried for 6 minutes with a flip half way through. I had my usual trouble getting the temperature right, but a thick crust helped the meatballs hold together so even the slightly overcooked ones had their virtues.
They turned out really pretty well. Texturally, the canistel holds the meatballs together, but not quite as well as I would have liked. I should have cut a few minutes off the roasting to leave them a little moister. Or added an egg or maybe replaced the spices with chipotle peppers.
Flavorwise, the mild sweetness of the canistel balances with the smokey pepperiness of the spice mix similarly to how barbecue sauces do. The pumpkiny flavor of the canistel pairs well with the meat and the smoke. It worked; I ate up the whole batch without hesitation. So, if you don't know what to do with your canistels or haven't liked the sweet preparations you've tried, roast them and substitute them into pumpkin recipes. It'll probably work.
It
was a good comparison. Roasting canistel brings out its nutty pumpkiny flavor elements, leaving a mild sweetness and, at least this time, a slight bitter aftertaste, probably from the fruit being a little under-ripe--but just a little--they were squishy-ripe, not gooshy ripe.There are actually a fair number of pumpkin meatloaf recipes out there so I was fairly confident the canistel would work. But no point in wasting a lot of food unnecessarily; best to start the experiment with a small batch of meatballs and go from there.
I roasted two canistels, sprayed with olive oil and lightly salted, at 350 degrees for a half hour, but I decided to only use one for this recipe.
I ran that canistel through the food processor, skin and all, to reduce it to a paste. To it I added:
1/3 pound ground pork
1/3 pound ground beef
1/2 small onion
1/4 green pepper
1/2 stalk celery, all three very finely chopped
1 handful breadcrumbs, and
1 sizable dose of Milwaukee Ave. Steak Seasoning from Spice House
I
mixed that all together and rolled out balls about 1 1/2-inches across which I shallow fried for 6 minutes with a flip half way through. I had my usual trouble getting the temperature right, but a thick crust helped the meatballs hold together so even the slightly overcooked ones had their virtues.
They turned out really pretty well. Texturally, the canistel holds the meatballs together, but not quite as well as I would have liked. I should have cut a few minutes off the roasting to leave them a little moister. Or added an egg or maybe replaced the spices with chipotle peppers.
Flavorwise, the mild sweetness of the canistel balances with the smokey pepperiness of the spice mix similarly to how barbecue sauces do. The pumpkiny flavor of the canistel pairs well with the meat and the smoke. It worked; I ate up the whole batch without hesitation. So, if you don't know what to do with your canistels or haven't liked the sweet preparations you've tried, roast them and substitute them into pumpkin recipes. It'll probably work.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
CSA week seven - Not quite banh pho xao he
This is a pretty straightforward vietnamese noodle dish modified from using a pound of garlic chives to using everything leafy and green within reach. The recipe I modified was from Andrea Nguyen's Into the Vietnamese Kitchen cookbook.
I cut the recipe down by about a quarter to adjust for the amount of noodles I had on hand. I'm going to use the original amounts to avoid weird numbers.
Ingredients:
1 pound banh pho flat rice noodles
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, divided
3 Tablespoons fish sauce
3 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and cleaned
1/3 pound ground pork, broken up into bits
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound assorted leafy green vegetables [I used 1 bunch each of garlic chives, mizuna, swiss chard and cilantro], chopped or torn into 3- to 4-inch-wide pieces.
1 lime
1. Put the noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot tap water. Let them soak until pliable and opaque, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain. Cut into short lengths. The original recipe called for 3 to 4 inches, but I liked them a little longer.
2. Coarsely
grind the shrimp into pea-sized pieces. Break up the pork into similarly sized pieces and mix with the shrimp.
3. Mix the fish sauce, water and 1 1/4 teaspoon of the sugar in a small bowl.
4. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. If it took less time and/or the garlic started to brown, turn the heat down; this isn't real stir-frying. Add the shrimp and pork. Break up the meat and add the salt and remaining sugar. Cook, stirring and breaking up clumps, until shrimp and pork have turned opaque, about 2 minutes.
5. Add
the greens. Stir and fold to mix in the shrimp and pork and get different bits of the greens on the bottom. When the greens have wilted down by a third, add there's room in the wok, add the noodles. Mix well and add the fish sauce mixture. Turn the heat up until the sauce starts to sizzle and continue stirring 2 to 3 minutes longer, until the noodles and greens are soft and the noodles have absorbed a bit of sauce and darkened in color.
6. Remove from heat and squeeze in the juice from the lime. Mix once again and serve.
Hmm. Not bad. The shrimp and pork are, of course, great together and enhanced by the fish sauce. [When genetically modified lab-grown meat improves (right now they can just do a meat paste suitable for hot dogs and not much else and they have to use cells from animals that actually exist), they really ought to work on shrimp-pig.]
The chard goes pretty well with the other flavors and adds a substantially different flavor and texture than the garlic chives which I think is an improvement in the dish. The mizuna and cilantro seem to have wilted away to nothing, though, which is a shame.
I used the milder Vietnamese fish sauce so it's a low key dish that could do with some nuoc cham (or at least a little more fish sauce and lime juice) and sriracha to perk it up and maybe some fried garlic or shallots for crunch. Most Vietnamese recipes, I think, assume you've got your condiments and garnishes on hand to finish the seasoning of the dish. I added ground peanuts to my first serving, but the flavor isn't quite right. Fried garlic is a much better choice.
I cut the recipe down by about a quarter to adjust for the amount of noodles I had on hand. I'm going to use the original amounts to avoid weird numbers.
Ingredients:
1 pound banh pho flat rice noodles
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, divided
3 Tablespoons fish sauce
3 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and cleaned
1/3 pound ground pork, broken up into bits
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound assorted leafy green vegetables [I used 1 bunch each of garlic chives, mizuna, swiss chard and cilantro], chopped or torn into 3- to 4-inch-wide pieces.
1 lime
1. Put the noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot tap water. Let them soak until pliable and opaque, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain. Cut into short lengths. The original recipe called for 3 to 4 inches, but I liked them a little longer.
2. Coarsely
grind the shrimp into pea-sized pieces. Break up the pork into similarly sized pieces and mix with the shrimp.3. Mix the fish sauce, water and 1 1/4 teaspoon of the sugar in a small bowl.
4. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. If it took less time and/or the garlic started to brown, turn the heat down; this isn't real stir-frying. Add the shrimp and pork. Break up the meat and add the salt and remaining sugar. Cook, stirring and breaking up clumps, until shrimp and pork have turned opaque, about 2 minutes.
5. Add
the greens. Stir and fold to mix in the shrimp and pork and get different bits of the greens on the bottom. When the greens have wilted down by a third, add there's room in the wok, add the noodles. Mix well and add the fish sauce mixture. Turn the heat up until the sauce starts to sizzle and continue stirring 2 to 3 minutes longer, until the noodles and greens are soft and the noodles have absorbed a bit of sauce and darkened in color.6. Remove from heat and squeeze in the juice from the lime. Mix once again and serve.
Hmm. Not bad. The shrimp and pork are, of course, great together and enhanced by the fish sauce. [When genetically modified lab-grown meat improves (right now they can just do a meat paste suitable for hot dogs and not much else and they have to use cells from animals that actually exist), they really ought to work on shrimp-pig.]
The chard goes pretty well with the other flavors and adds a substantially different flavor and texture than the garlic chives which I think is an improvement in the dish. The mizuna and cilantro seem to have wilted away to nothing, though, which is a shame.
I used the milder Vietnamese fish sauce so it's a low key dish that could do with some nuoc cham (or at least a little more fish sauce and lime juice) and sriracha to perk it up and maybe some fried garlic or shallots for crunch. Most Vietnamese recipes, I think, assume you've got your condiments and garnishes on hand to finish the seasoning of the dish. I added ground peanuts to my first serving, but the flavor isn't quite right. Fried garlic is a much better choice.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
CSA week seven wrap-up, week eight start-up
I don't think I've got any other week seven cooking to report. The sapotes and avocado haven't ripened yet (beyond the one sapote I used in the sauce for the mousse) and I haven't touched the cabbage. I held off using the garlic chives too hoping for more this week or at least something compatible to fill out the vegetation contingent in the recipe I've got. I think the mizuna and cilantro should do nicely and maybe some scallion if I bother to go shopping this afternoon. I've still got half the kale too, but I think I'll freeze the remnants. It may be tender as kale goes, but it's plenty hardy enough to survive time in the freezer.
As for this week, I'm going to be out of town for the latter half (back for Saturday, but busy on Sunday) so I'm going to have to be careful about what I use and what I store. My mizuna is already a little yellow so I'm going to use that right away in the recipe I alluded to in the first paragraph. The oyster mushrooms I've already used; all the other CSA bloggers were so enthusiastic about having them with eggs so I just did that for lunch. I cooked them in the drippings I saved from last night's steak for a touch of extra flavor. It was a good idea; very tasty.
The tomatoes look good to go and my avocado nearly ripe so I ought to use those soon. A salad of some sort is obvious enough or slices on a sandwich or I could stuff one in the other.
If the sapotes ripen before I leave, I've been thinking of pairing them with banana, although just how I'm not sure. Mushing them both up and mixing them into something seems the obvious way to go. I don't want to do another custard, though. I thought about meringues, but I don't think I can successfully fold that much heavy wet flavorings into egg whites without deflating them. I suppose a quickbread is an easy choice. I know people have substituted black sapote into banana breads; have any of you made a bread using both?
The chard and celery I think will keep although neither will be at their best next week. Maybe it would be better to freeze them now before they've had a chance to degrade. When I do use the celery, I think I'll braise it. I like it a lot better than way than raw.
The canistel is probably going to ripen while I'm away but it's good to hold off an extra day or two with canistel anyway just to be safe. I'm still committed to using it in a savory dish, but I think I'll try meatballs instead of a full meatloaf. No point in wasting an enormous amount of other ingredients when it doesn't work. Shame I don't have any betel leaves, their smokiness would probably play well against the canistel's sweetness. Some other time for that idea, I suppose.
As for this week, I'm going to be out of town for the latter half (back for Saturday, but busy on Sunday) so I'm going to have to be careful about what I use and what I store. My mizuna is already a little yellow so I'm going to use that right away in the recipe I alluded to in the first paragraph. The oyster mushrooms I've already used; all the other CSA bloggers were so enthusiastic about having them with eggs so I just did that for lunch. I cooked them in the drippings I saved from last night's steak for a touch of extra flavor. It was a good idea; very tasty.
The tomatoes look good to go and my avocado nearly ripe so I ought to use those soon. A salad of some sort is obvious enough or slices on a sandwich or I could stuff one in the other.
If the sapotes ripen before I leave, I've been thinking of pairing them with banana, although just how I'm not sure. Mushing them both up and mixing them into something seems the obvious way to go. I don't want to do another custard, though. I thought about meringues, but I don't think I can successfully fold that much heavy wet flavorings into egg whites without deflating them. I suppose a quickbread is an easy choice. I know people have substituted black sapote into banana breads; have any of you made a bread using both?
The chard and celery I think will keep although neither will be at their best next week. Maybe it would be better to freeze them now before they've had a chance to degrade. When I do use the celery, I think I'll braise it. I like it a lot better than way than raw.
The canistel is probably going to ripen while I'm away but it's good to hold off an extra day or two with canistel anyway just to be safe. I'm still committed to using it in a savory dish, but I think I'll try meatballs instead of a full meatloaf. No point in wasting an enormous amount of other ingredients when it doesn't work. Shame I don't have any betel leaves, their smokiness would probably play well against the canistel's sweetness. Some other time for that idea, I suppose.
Friday, January 22, 2010
CSA week six - Kale and ricotta salata salad
The particular sort of kale we got this week, Russian Red, has a reputation for being relatively tender so I looked around for recipes where I could use it raw. Raw kale salads were kind of a foodie trend last year so there are a fair number of recipes littering the web. I settled on one that I found on the Bitten blog where it says it's credited to Kim Severson from the New York Times. But a little research turned up that it appeared in the January 2007 issue of Gourmet where it's credited to Lillian Chou and described as "inspired by an antipasto that's popular at New York City's Lupa." I know you don't actually care about any of that stuff, but I'm a librarian so I'm picky about correct attribution even as I stretch the bounds of fair use of other peoples' intellectual property.
Anyway...
Ingredients:
1 1-pound bunch tender kale, trimmed and stemmed
1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 2 Tablespoons)
juice of 1 meyer lemon (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup ricotta salata (or feta. Anything semi-firm and salty, really. I used the 1-year aged farmers cheese that screwed up my salt cod dish last week.), crumbled or coarsely grated
1. Roll up the kale leaves and thinly shred.
2. Whisk together shallot, lemon juice, salt (not a lot) and pepper. Slowly whisk in the oil.
3. Toss kale and cheese with the just enough dressing to coat well in a large bowl. Check and adjust seasoning.
I added some small-diced tomato which I think added some pleasant brightness. Some pine nuts for crunch would be nice too, but I'm all out.
The salad has a lovely combination of light freshness and hearty earthiness as each bite fades from the dressing to the kale as you chew. And it is a bit chewy-- this is kale not baby spinach--but not at all excessively so. I found both flavor aspects to be great pairings with sirloin tip. I wouldn't want to actually add meat to the salad, though; it stands very well on its own. If you wanted to add something to make it a little heartier, maybe hard boiled egg?
Anyway...
Ingredients:
1 1-pound bunch tender kale, trimmed and stemmed
1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 2 Tablespoons)
juice of 1 meyer lemon (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup ricotta salata (or feta. Anything semi-firm and salty, really. I used the 1-year aged farmers cheese that screwed up my salt cod dish last week.), crumbled or coarsely grated
1. Roll up the kale leaves and thinly shred.
2. Whisk together shallot, lemon juice, salt (not a lot) and pepper. Slowly whisk in the oil.
3. Toss kale and cheese with the just enough dressing to coat well in a large bowl. Check and adjust seasoning.
I added some small-diced tomato which I think added some pleasant brightness. Some pine nuts for crunch would be nice too, but I'm all out.
The salad has a lovely combination of light freshness and hearty earthiness as each bite fades from the dressing to the kale as you chew. And it is a bit chewy-- this is kale not baby spinach--but not at all excessively so. I found both flavor aspects to be great pairings with sirloin tip. I wouldn't want to actually add meat to the salad, though; it stands very well on its own. If you wanted to add something to make it a little heartier, maybe hard boiled egg?
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