German Farm Stock

CSA is Landscaping Inspiration

2010-07-27T15:25:00.001-05:00

To read about my home garden, click here for a recent article about the German Farm Stock homestead in Spaces magazine.

Cuban Vegetables

2009-07-29T09:46:00.004-05:00

On a recent trip to New York City the family ate at a wonderful Cuban restaurant called Cafe Habana on Prince Street. One of my favorite dishes was the grilled corn with a spiced mayo and cheese topping. And each ear comes with a lime wedge to squeeze over the corn just before eating.

When I got home from the trip, I quickly searched online for the recipe. Mike and I made it for a dinner party with our Mexico trip friends the other day. The corn was as big a hit in our backyard as it was at Cafe Habana.

For the corn, you wait to put the mayo butter on until the corn is grilled; however, since Mike had a bowl of the mixed mayo, garlic, cayenne, salt, butter, and lime ready to go. He slathered some on zucchini wedges as they were grilling as a marinade of sorts. The zucchini also turned out wonderful with a lighter hint of the Cuban flavors.

A few days after our dinner party, I thought that I would adapt those Cuban flavors for a coleslaw that I was making. Most of the cabbage this summer went into either a traditional creamy mayo coleslaw or an Asian vinaigrette coleslaw, so I was looking for something different. I grated carrots and sliced the cabbage; only those two vegetables would be the base of my coleslaw. Then I made a dressing in the food processor by pureeing four cloves of garlic, a small onion, a small green pepper and one cup of cilantro leaves. To the pureed vegetables I added one cup of mayo, the juice of two limes, salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper and 1/2 tsp. chili powder. I pureed all of this together to make my dressing. The Cuban flavors of the coleslaw were subtle and delicious.

Juneberry Pancake Sauce

2009-07-04T08:50:00.003-05:00

The German Farm Stock Fruit Farm has yielded its first bounty. Sarah said that she enjoyed eating Juneberries last week while at camp at Lake Wapo, so Joe and Sarah ate a few right from the bush yesterday. This morning I told Mike to harvest a few for his cereal because Juneberries are similar to blueberries (his usual morning cereal fruit).

The next thing I know, Mike had harvested three cups of Juneberries, so I suggested that he make a pancake sauce. He simmered the berries with sugar, lemon juice and corn starch to make a great topping for our Fourth of July breakfast. The sauce tastes similar to a Lingonberry sauce that I once had over crepes in Door County. Click here for the recipe from cooks.com.

While the sauce was simmering, I quickly googled the history of the Juneberry and discovered that it was a staple in Native American cuisine, especially pemmican. Read here for more information on this prolific fruit.

Sugar-free Rhubarb Jelly

2009-07-03T08:36:00.003-05:00

Since my doctor ordered me to watch my sugar intake (my glucose level hovers around 110), I've been searching for recipes that use Splenda (my favorite artificial sweetener). I discovered this tasty rhubarb jelly recipe, and I used much of this spring's rhubarb crop from Harmony Valley to make enough jelly to freeze for the winter. The kids ended up liking it, so they might be using up my supply, but that's okay.

I just had a tablespoon on a piece of toast. It tastes like spring. In fact, the jelly is tasty enough that I don't even need to butter my toast, saving me the fat that the doctor also advised me to reduce. It's hell getting old.

Click on the link to see just how easy the jelly is to make and freeze. Yes, I froze it in jelly jars, just like my mom used to do. Who needs to worry if your canning seal worked properly.

Pink Stir Fry

2009-07-03T08:22:00.005-05:00

Last night I was feeling like I was on a meat overload, so I wanted to create a stir fry with just the veggies from the box that I picked up yesterday. The beet greens looked beautiful, and I knew that if they didn't get used last night, they would wilt before I got a chance to cook again this 4th of July weekend.

The creation turned out great and was the perfect light meal when served over a bed of rice. Here's the concoction:

First, I made a stir fry sauce so that I could cut down on the amount of oil needed in the wok. I combined 1/4 cup chicken broth, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tsp. ginger, a dash of black pepper, and a dash of an Asian Seasoning mix from Pampered Chef.

Three garlic scrapes chopped and sauteed in two tablespoons of oil in the wok.

Add the chopped beet stalks and a dash of the sauce.

Then add the pea pods and chopped zucchini.

The beet leaves were the last to receive a quick starry before I added the rest of the stir fry sauce and thickened it with a tablespoon of corn starch dissolved in water.

I garnished the stir fry with a handful of pine nuts and enjoyed.

Farm in the City

2009-07-03T07:57:00.008-05:00

I have been cooking up a storm with my CSA boxes this spring; however, establishing a backyard garden has really taken a toll on my time, causing blogging to take a back tractor seat.

After our recent home remodel, Mike and I decided to strip the entire yard down to just three established trees and start over with a blank dirt slate. We enlisted the services of Molly M. of Heart and Soil Landdesign, who has been working tirelessly with us for two months now. The front yard design has been inspired by a native landscape while the backyard theme is "Farm in the City." For a month now we have successfully maintained a rabbit-proof backyard thanks to Mike's meticulous efforts at turning our chain link (and partial picket) fence into a rabbit-proof wonder that also goes into the ground in case the rabbits ever get the idea to try and burrow under the fence. The chicken wire used on the bottom two feet of the fence is difficult to notice unless you are looking for it. Check out the photo below of the fence around the blueberry and strawberry patch.

And yes, the plans for this were in the works before Michelle Obama decided to dig up part of the White House lawn.

The backyard garden has four raised beds for veggies, two areas for perennial herbs, two strawberry patches, nine blueberry bushes (3 each of 3 varieties), five Nanking cherry bushes, two Honeycrisp apple trees, one fireside apple tree, two Regent Juneberry bushes, 17 raspberry bushes (in four varieties), an asparagus bed, and a lone grapevine to climb a trellis of an old family farm tractor wheel and scythe.

Raised Vegetable Garden

Sarah's Raspberry Patch

The area of the yard known as the orchard

Planting and maintaining the backyard garden has been exhausting, but now I am hoping that my workload will be cut down to just a few hours a week of weeding, watering, and harvesting. We did install a drip irrigation system for all of the veggies and fruits, so once they are established, I will also save time by not having to haul water from the rain barrel.

Dreams of My Own Garden

2008-12-27T10:43:00.003-06:00

Although I have already enrolled with Harmony Valley Farm for next year for a full veggie share, summer and winter fruit shares, a coffee share, and a cheese share, I've decided that I will supplement the HFV produce with my own garden next year.

The addition to our house has left our yard in shambles, so we will need to complete a comprehensive landscaping project this spring. And I have finally convinced Mike that a vegetable garden will be incorporated into the design. Mike has visions of a fancy yard with an underground sprinkler system. I envision hardy native grasses, a rain garden, a vegetable garden, two rain barrels, and a composter.

Fortunately, the kids are on my side. It must be the residual German Farm Stock that courses through their city veins. Anyway, Mike is so outnumbered, that he's beginning to come around to our way of thinking. We keep telling him, "Why would we fertilize and water 100% of our land when we could reap some practical benefits from at least a portion of the yard." Mike also bought me The Postage Stamp Garden Book for Christmas, so I really think that he's committed to the venture too.

It will be fun to sit around as a family and design our garden. Sarah has already requested that we plant a raspberry patch, and I'm thinking of sowing an asparagus bed--even though both of those will require years before we enjoy the fruits of those labors. I also have to figure out a way to tastefully build rabbit-proof fences around everything. Send me ideas if you have any.

Crock Pot Soups

2008-12-27T10:03:00.008-06:00

Oh, remodeling. My kitchen looks like this . . .

Since the kitchen will be out of commission until February or March, Mike and I set up a temporary kitchen in his workroom in the basement (seen below). I really thought that we'd eat out most of the time, but that the hot plate and microwave would allow the kids to fix a meal if their schedules prohibited them from joining us for dinner; however, the hotplate, microwave, crock pot kitchen has been easier to manage than I expected. Cooking meals with my Harmony Valley vegetables is almost a fun challenge. In the past month without a kitchen, I can count the number of times that we've eaten out on one hand.

A staple of our diet has been soups made in the crock pot. With all of the root vegetables from Harmony Valley, the temptation was just too strong.

Chicken Soup with Parsley Root

Last week I made the best chicken soup--EVER!! I read in the HVF newsletter that parsley root (a veggie that I had never heard of before that appeared in our box one week) was the secret ingredient in chicken soup by top chefs. So even though I was limited to a hot plate and crock pot, I couldn't pass up the chance to incorporate this ingredient into my usual chicken soup recipe. I also had two parsnips from HVF, and I didn't think that they would get used, so they were also destined for the crock pot.

After I boiled the chicken with onion, celery, a bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper, I was able to use the hot plate to saute all the diced veggies I had been preparing--carrots, parsnips, celery, onion, parsley root, and garlic. I sauteed the veggies just until soft and put them in the crock pot with the diced chicken, a box of chicken broth and the stock from the chicken (there wasn't a lot of stock since I had to boil the chicken in minimal water considering the hot plate's small size). I added another bay leaf, a bit more salt and pepper, and let the soup cook on high for five hours. During the last hour, I added wide egg noodles to the crock pot.

The flavor was incredible. The parsley taste came through, and the parsnips added a tender sweetness to the mix.

Russian Borscht

Without an oven, the common fall dish of roasted root veggies was off the menu, so the beets were piling up in the crisper drawer. I had never made borscht before, but since I have enjoyed eating it at Crossroads Deli, I thought that I'd give borscht a try. I searched the Internet for a recipe that used the most ingredients that were piling up, plus one that I felt could be easily modified for a crock pot. I found this classic Russian Borscht recipe on cooks.com.

I loved the fact that the beets, carrots, onions and cabbage were all shredded and simmered together for two hours. I pulled out the food processor and shredded 8 beets, 6 medium carrots, a bunch of small onions, and a head of red cabbage--all from HFV. I put all of the shredded veggies in the crock pot and covered them with beef broth. I added the cup of white wine, plus I put in 1/4 cup white wine vinegar and a teaspoon of sour salt. I thought the sour tastes would complement the borscht nicely--and they did.

I set the crock pot on high for seven hours, and the borscht turned out a beautiful purple shade. I garnished the bowls with a dollop of plain yogurt, and served the soup with toasted rye bread. Delicious!!

Grilled to Perfection

2008-08-04T09:38:00.005-05:00

Mike surprised me on Saturday night by cooking a beautiful feast while I was slaving away reading an English 10 novel at the pool. For Mike's 50th birthday I gave him a Webber grill because he wanted to return to the charcoal roots of his youth. Mike feels that the gas grill is just not giving him the flavor he desires. And after Saturday night's awesome meal, I agree.

To accompany the steaks that were grilled to perfection, Mike grilled marinated beets and sweet corn. He marinated sliced beets in a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, and then he grilled them for a few minutes. Grilled sweet corn, which was Minnesota-grown not from Harmony Valley, is the family's new favorite summer flavor. To prepare, simply cut off the silk ends and husk the ears, leaving the last, thin layer of one husk leaf. Brush the ears with garlic olive oil to prevent burning and give the flavor a boost. Grilled corn takes about 15 minutes over the coals, rotating often.

For another side dish, Mike boiled the new red potatoes from Harmony Valley, and the potatoes were served simply, tossed with butter, salt, pepper and freshly chopped parsley.

For a salad, Mike took cole slaw to a new level. In fact, he called it cabbage salad. The salad was simply chopped cabbage and tomatoes (although the recipe called for green onions too, but we didn't have any) tossed with a lemon juice, mayo, honey, salt, pepper and celery seed dressing. Mike's dressing is so close to my creamy cole slaw dressing; however, switching the apple cider vinegar in my typical dressing for lemon juice really made the difference. I will use this cabbage dressing recipe in the future instead of the apple cider one.

English 10 Lunch 2008

2008-08-02T10:15:00.003-05:00

KC and Rachel helped me cook the English 10 lunch again this summer. In fact, I mainly delegated, and they did all of the work.

Lunch yesterday included:

A tray of grapes and cheeses, featuring Muenster and Garlic Jalapeno cheeses from Harmony Valley.

Creamy coleslaw that was simply shredded cabbage and carrots covered in a dressing of mayo, honey, apple cider vinegar, pepper and Lawry's seasoned salt.

A lemon garlic spaghetti with veggies. We (and I use that pronoun loosely since Rachel and KC did almost everything) sauteed four garlic cloves (pressed) and the zest of two lemons in a few tablespoons of olive oil. We added nearly a pound of cooked whole wheat spaghetti, the juice of three lemons, and cut broccoli, carrots, and green beans that had been blanched.

We also made pesto for a baguette topping. Rachel had watched a Magic Bullet infomercial featuring making pesto, so she called Friday morning with the pesto request. Since I didn't have any Parmesan cheese (I've been trying to live exclusively on the cheese that I get from my Harmony Valley cheese share), we substituted Muenster in the pesto, and it turned out lovely.

Dessert was chocolate zucchini cake with vanilla ice cream with Sarah J., Sarah B., Fred, Jessica, Rachel and I all having a huge piece.

Zucchini-Mint Soup

2008-07-29T10:24:00.003-05:00

On Saturday afternoon, Joe who had just finished watching an Iron Chef episode all about zucchini, volunteered to make dinner featuring a pureed zucchini soup. I had no idea what to expect, but Joe googled zucchini and mint (since mint is running over the herb garden), and he took a recipe he found and set to work.

Joe also whipped some heavy cream to add a dollop to the top of each bowl. The meal was light with a refreshing flavor for a hot July day. I highly recommend this dish, and you can find the recipe by clicking here.

Black Beans and Greens

2008-07-19T21:30:00.004-05:00

I returned today from a week-long conference in Albany, New York with The National Urban Alliance, and I was craving some farm fresh vegetables after a week of buffets. I noticed that the crisper drawer was filled with greens (amaranth and beet tops) and chioggia beets. The beets were easy, I simply sliced and steamed, but I didn't know what to do with the greens since my pantry lacked a can of cannelloni beans.

But I took a chance on a can of black beans. I simply modified my traditional beans and greens recipe with an eye on the Southwest. I really didn't expect the dish to turn out as amazing as it did.

To make black beans and greens, I boiled the amaranth and beet leaves (stems removed) in salted water for two minutes. In my cast iron skillet I sauteed two cloves of sliced garlic and a diced cipollini onion in a little olive oil. I drained and discarded half of the water from the can of beans, adding the remaining water and beans to the skillet. I seasoned the dish with salt, the juice of 1/2 lime, and 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro (from my herb garden which had gone wild in the week that I was gone). I then added the greens that had been drained and pressed in a sieve, and thicken the dish with 1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese (only because that was the only cheese already shredded, and I was exhausted).

The dish had such a nice, refreshing flavor. Just what I needed after a week away, especially since my trip was extended by an extra night stranded in Chicago. My flight from Albany to my connection in O'Hare, arrived shortly after the Mexican Airlines jet slid off the runway at O'Hare. United Airlines put me up at The Westin, and since there were other teachers from the NUA conference staying at the Westin, the night was topped off with five of us feasting on Giordano's Chicago Deep Dish pizza before returning to The Westin.

Hockey Bag Stew

2008-07-08T11:29:00.006-05:00

Last night I was searing some chicken thighs covered in tons of freshly chopped oregano before roasting them with potatoes, carrots, and white turnips in my cast iron Dutch oven. Joe came home from work right as I was creating a sauce of sauteed (chopped) purple scallions, chicken broth, white wine, and half and half, in the pan that I had used to sear my meat so that I could capture all of the brown bits and leftover oregano. My plan was to add this sauce to the thighs and veggies in the Dutch oven.

Anyway, Joe started investigating what was for dinner, and as an aside I told him that we really needed to pick up our cheese consumption since a new cheese shipment was coming from Harmony Valley this week. Joe asked what cheese he could have for an appetizer, so I showed him the remnants of last shipment's cheddar, veggie, and Camembert cheeses. Joe asked me why I was saving the two lonely tablespoons of Camembert (most had gone to the strawberry pancake recipe). Joe continued, "Are you going to toss that Camembert in that sauce on the stove or something?" I thought that was a good idea, so I did. But oh, the smell. Joe coined the dish, "this smells like my hockey bag stew." To save the day, Joe and I started adding stuff to the pan to dilute the pungent taste of the Camembert. More wine, broth and cream along with a few tablespoons of honey. Once the taste met Joe's approval, we steamed the potatoes, carrots and turnips in the broth for a few minutes before adding them to the Dutch oven to roast until the chicken and veggies were done.

I called and warned Mike that dinner would smell like a hockey bag when he arrived home, but that Joe and I were confident the taste would be okay. The roasted dish was more than okay. The Camembert added an awesome flavor to the chicken and veggies. Mike even made a gravy out of the sauce, and we smothered everything in the hockey bag gravy. At dinner Joe and I laughed over my quickness to toss the Camembert into the pan without much thought. Oh well, we invented such a tasty new dish that Mike said, "You have to write this up on the blog so that we don't forget how to make this meal."

The Hiding of the Greens

2008-07-08T11:06:00.003-05:00

Pasta with kale and swiss chard

The cool spring has delayed the arrival of summer squash, new potatoes, etc., so I continue to stretch my creativity with the abundance of greens in my box each week. When kale arrived last week, I groaned. Last year I was not able to find a recipe that I liked with this tough green, but I was bound and determined to find a use for it this year. I created a winning recipe with my mind set on "hiding the greens."

I laughed when I read KC's comment on my spring spaghetti sauce post that said, "This looks awesome. I'll definitely "hide" some greens this way!" My life this spring has been about hiding the greens from Mike and Sarah. Joe and I can eat greens straight up, simply sauteed in olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper. However, Mike and Sarah refuse these dishes.

This week I basically adapted Gina's Greens and Beans recipe to make a sauce for pasta. I boiled the kale leaves (stems discarded) and swiss chard leaves in salt water for three minutes and then drained them in a strainer, even squeezing excess water out. I browned a pound of Italian sausage in my cast iron Dutch oven and then added garlic scrapes, scallions, and chopped swiss chard stems to saute in the sausage fat. I was generous with the salt and pepper too. When those ingredients were soft, I added a can of cannelloni beans along with the packing water from the beans, 1 cup of chicken broth, 1/4 cup white wine, 1/4 cup grated Parmesean cheese, and 1/2 cup half and half. Once this sauce had simmered for five minutes, I added the greens to the pot and simmered for five more minutes. I added one pound of cooked pasta to the Dutch oven and heated through. The pasta was a hit, just like my spring spaghetti sauce.

Kohlrabi Slaw

2008-07-02T09:09:00.003-05:00

I had intended to make Gina's Asian Slaw for supper; however, a fatal flaw in my preparation left me punting ten minutes before the family's slated dinner time.

To save time, I always make my cole slaw in the food processor with the grating attachment. This works wonderfully for a head of cabbage and all of the add-ins. Not so much for Napa cabbage. I jammed the Napa leaves into the chute, pressed on, and ended with a disgusting soup. Unfortunately, I didn't look in the Cuisinart bowl until I had finished food processing the cabbage, and what remained was unsalvagable.

I decided to forge ahead and just make kohlrabi the main star of the cole slaw. I grated two Kohlrabi bulbs, three carrots and six radishes. I also thinly sliced the Kohlrabi leaves to add to the mix for some color. However, I think the texture of the leaves detracted from the overall slaw, and I wouldn't add them again.

I tossed the grated kohlrabi, carrot and radish with a creamy dressing instead of trying for an Asian theme. The cole slaw tasted just like my regular dish, and no one in the family realized that they were cabbageless.

Creamy Dressing Recipe

Using a wire wisk combine:

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoned salt
2 teaspoons honey
a dash each of pepper and celery seed

Gina's Asian Slaw

2008-06-30T16:06:00.002-05:00

Gina emailed the following:

I had a ton of kohlrabi, so I peeled it and chopped into matchsticks. Then I chopped carrots, garlic scrapes, the red scallions and a whole head of napa cabbage. I salted the kohlrabi sticks and let them sit in a strainer for a couple of hours. Then I mixed a dressing of rice wine vinegar, celery seed, garlic powder, a few dashes of sesame oil, soy sauce, some dashes of shiracha sauce, sesame oil, about three tablespoons of sour cream, salt , pepper, honey and a ton of fresh ginger and tossed it all with the veggies, chilled for a couple of hours and it was a really good Asian slaw.

Strawberry Chicken Salad

2008-06-27T08:50:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite restaurants serves a Strawberry Chicken Salad, so yesterday when I picked up the veggies and noticed five boxes of strawberries and and all of the beautiful lettuce, I knew what was for dinner.

The salad is simple and satisfying. Just slice strawberries, cooked chicken, and scallions. Toss that with freshly grated cheese, sesame seeds, and poppy seed dressing (I used Drew's Natural Poppy Seed dressing).

Just 15 hours after picking up the veggies, two of the five boxes of strawberries have been devoured. Sarah and two of her friends were in the car when I picked up the veggies since they were returning from basketball camp at St. Thomas, and the girls enjoyed one box right then and there. The other box went to the salad and my breakfast this morning. I know that Mike wants to make strawberry shortcake again; he'd better hurry or the berries will be all gone. They are so delicious this year--better than any that I have ever tasted.

Mo, one of Sarah's friends, commented in the car yesterday that the strawberries were the best that she had ever tasted, but she asked why they were so oddly shaped. It is really amazing that people today think that all fruit is naturally uniform in shape and color. I told Mo that these berries were grown naturally without pesticides that help the berries in the store to be so uniform in shape.

Tonight we're having pulled pork sandwiches for dinner (made with the leftovers frozen from Joe's graduation pig roast), and I'll make a cole slaw with the napa cabbage and kohlrabi.

Strawberries Abound

2008-06-26T09:47:00.002-05:00

We've been enjoying the bumper crop of strawberries this year--using those from Richard and even buying more at the Farmer's Market. Mainly, Mike loves making homemade shortcakes for a traditional dessert, but this week I commandeered the strawberries to make homemade ice cream. I even added a 1/2 cup of strawberry slices in the last five minutes of freezing. The frozen strawberries, however, proved to be too cold for my teeth, and I felt the ice cream itself was more icy than creamy. Next time I make homemade ice cream I will add a tablespoon of vodka to slow the freezing process. That's what America's Test Kitchen advises. Mike and I always add alcohol to our sorbets for this reason, so I guess I should have done the same with the ice cream.

Earlier this spring I made a delicious strawberry rhubarb crisp with sliced almonds as part of the streusal topping. I froze half of the dessert to eat later when rhubarb was not in season, so I pulled that out, and I served it warmed with a scoop of the homemade strawberry ice cream. Delicious!

Asian Flavors

2008-06-26T09:12:00.009-05:00

typical stir fry

photo by Sarah

So many of the spring vegetables beg to be made into Asian dishes. Although I often stir fry veggies with a little chicken or beef to serve over rice, I wanted to expand my menu options last week so I made an Asian salad of thin slices of Napa cabbage, komatsuna leaves and stems (chopped separately), pea pods, sliced scallions, grated kohlrabi, pine nuts, cilantro, chow mein noodles, and orange wedges over a bed of salad greens. The cilantro and pea pods came from the farmer's market, but the other veggies were all in the Harmony Valley box.

The salad dressing:

1 garlic scrape, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. honey

The salad received rave reviews from the family, especially from Kenna (my son's girlfriend), that I wanted to imitate the flavors in a risotto side dish a few days later when Kenna was once again having dinner at the house. The following dish was also well received:

Asian Risotto

Saute three chopped garlic scrape and two chopped scallions in two tablespoons of olive oil until tender. Add one cup of risotto and saute until golden brown. In 1/2 cup increments stir in three cups boiling chicken broth, waiting to add the next 1/2 cup of broth until the previous one is absorbed. Adding the broth and stirring the risotto takes about twenty minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile stir fry sliced Napa cabbage, pea pods (cut into thirds), and diced kohlrabi in a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of soy sauce.

Add the stir fried veggies to the finished risotto and serve.

Spring Spaghetti Sauce

2008-06-25T10:09:00.006-05:00

Thursday night is always a big veggie night. I have to clean out the refrigerator's crisper drawer to make room for the box of bounty that I just picked up from my CSA site. I usually make a stir fry, beans and greens, or a chef salad, but last Thursday Sarah and I were craving spaghetti with red sauce. Spaghetti with red sauce is a household mainstay when the refrigerator is bare because I simply head to the pantry for a jar or prepared sauce, so I needed to reconcile the refrigerator full of veggies with my craving.

As I browned a pound of Italian sausage in my cast iron Dutch oven, I started chopping anything that looked like it would compliment a red sauce. As I finished chopping something, I tossed it into the Dutch oven to saute the veggie a bit, right in the grease that was forming from the Italian sausage.

Here's the order of the ingredients that I added:

Three garlic scrapes
Three green onions
1/2 red pepper
1/2 package of sliced mushrooms
The stems of two bunches of Red Komatsuna
10 chive stalks
Tons of Oregano leaves (oregano came back naturally like a vengence in my herb garden this year, so it's going in everything)
The kohlrabi and Red Komatsuna leaves

Once everything was sauteed, I added two cans of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato paste. I also seasoned the sauce with salt, pepper, fennel seed, and a teaspoon of dried Italian Seasoning. After everything simmered for about 15 minutes, we ate the sauce over whole wheat spaghetti and topped it with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

The dish was awesome and so much better than a jar of sauce. Plus, I knew that the sauce was filled with veggie surprises. The true testament to the dish's success was that I saw my son eating the leftovers two days later, and my son generally frowns on leftovers.

Summer CSA Reading

2008-06-14T11:05:00.003-05:00

I recently finished reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food which really opened my eyes to the problems that politicians and large factory farms have caused in our food chain. Pollan, a professional journalist, reports on the history of the food industry and how the lobbyists for big food companies have influenced policy. My favorite is that food companies convinced Washington that imitation foods did not need to be labeled as such. Pollan further expostulates on the science of nutritionism, and he proposes that people should not worry about the nutrients in the food as much as just eating food. I know it sounds simple, but Pollan advocates that people "eat food, mostly plants." And by food, he means whole foods, nothing processed. Foods that your great-grandmother would have eaten, or better yet your neolithic ancestors. Pollan is a strong proponent of belonging to a CSA and "shaking the hand that feeds you"--meaning that people need to get to know their farmers (meat, veggie and dairy) as much as possible. The book is a bit of dry reading at times; however, the fascinating background into food science and politics makes the journey through the book worth it in the end. And besides, it is short enough to not bog you down.

The book that I am currently reading is Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. KC, a friend of mine who is also a Harmony Valley CSA member, recommended Kingsolver's book to me last summer, but I didn't get around to it until just now. Kingsolver discusses many of the same ideas that Pollan includes in his book. In addition, Kingsolver tells the story of her family's year of eating locally. Her family moved from Tucson to the family farm in Virginia and began growing as much as they could to sustain their family. The items that they didn't grow, they bought from local farmers. In fact, most of their food was grown (or raised in the case of meat) in their county. Each family member picked one luxury item that they agreed that they would get from outside the county, and those items were coffee, olive oil, spices, and dried fruit. For sugar, they simply substituted honey--which is grown abundantly in their area.

Kingsolver's book outshines Pollan's in the practicality of the piece. Kingsolver's daughter Camile, the book's co-author who is studying nutrition at Duke, includes recipes and weekly menu ideas. Last night I made Camile's spinach lasagna recipe. It was delicious, and I will definitely make it again.

Winter Viewing: The Real Dirt on Farmer John

2008-01-19T11:26:00.000-06:00

Photo from www.angelicorganics.com

Last week on a cold winter night, I re-watched The Real Dirt on Farmer John, now that it has been released on DVD. I enjoyed the film even more than when I first saw the documentary during a theater event attended by Farmer John himself and Harmony Valley's Farmer Richard.

The movie reminds me of growing up on my own Midwestern farm with its own collection of characters--the old neighbor who waxes poetic about the old days, the wild uncle who tosses old tractor oil on the family bonfire as an accelerant before the wiener roast, the mother who nostalgically recounts feeding the farm hands on threshing day, and the father whose daily relaxation comes from driving the tractor around--even if he's just moving snow from one pile to the next.

Taggart Siegel's documentary also renewed my commitment to Community Supported Agriculture since the film delves into the relationship between the farmer, the soil, the bio-dynamic movement and the city folks who enjoy the harvest. As I watched the film, I longed for the first box of spring (even though I am still enjoying the extended season of root vegetables) because with spring comes the green vegetables, the warm weather, clothing back on the line, and the beginning of a new CSA season.

Root Veggies in the Crock Pot

2008-01-19T11:23:00.001-06:00

Gina sent in another recipe for the many root veggies that we've been getting in our farm share.

I chopped leeks, shallots, mushrooms, carrots and a ton of peeled and chopped sunchokes in a crock pot. I also put in about 10-15 garlic cloves. I poured sherry cooking wine over it and tossed it with thyme and let it sit in the fridge over night. In the morning, I put about six pieces of cut up chicken in the mix along with pieces of that morning's leftover bacon. I dumped on a can of no fat cream of mushroom soup and let it cook all day on low in the crock pot while we were at work. We served it all over buttered spaeztle noodles tossed with flax seed and a big salad. It was great! The sunchokes made the whole thing taste like a gourmet artichoke chicken dish! Love, Gina

Gina's Winter Ideas

2008-01-08T20:03:00.000-06:00

Since I was off to Cancun for winter break, Gina picked up my extended season vegetable box and last week's winter fruit box. Below is a report of some of the dishes that she made with the goodies.

Baby parsnips: I peeled and chopped matchstick style and sauteed in a bit of butter and then added some fresh squeezed lemon, lemon zest and garlic and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Really citrusy and kid friendly.

Next we got a big bag of shallots--one of my most favorite ingredients ever! I found a recipe that I kind of followed from Bon Appetite magazine this month for chicken braised with sauteed shallots and prunes steamed in brandy. We made it last night and served it over couscous. Everyone LOVED it.

Lastly, we also got a bunch of mandarin oranges and avocados. I made a fresh spinach salad with segmented mandarins, sliced avocado, chopped shallots and an Asian dressing--it was great!

Christmas Dinner

2007-12-27T10:35:00.001-06:00

Even though the winter is officially upon us and the farmer's vegetables and fruits are delivered less frequently, I managed to incorporate a few items into our Christmas dinner. To accompany our prime rib, I ground a fresh horseradish sauce from the skinny roots that I have saved all fall from Richard's boxes.

Since the roots were so skinny, I didn't bother to peel them. I simply scrubbed the roots well and tossed the one cup of small chunks into the food processor. I added two tablespoons of white wine vinegar, a dash of salt and a teaspoon of sugar to the food processor. I pureed until semi-smooth. I could not get the horseradish creamy, but the coarsely-ground sauce was the perfect consistency for prime rib.

I put out one bowl of this un-doctored horseradish sauce and then made a creamy sauce in another bowl. That sauce consisted of two tablespoons of the horseradish, two tablespoons of sour cream, one tablespoon of lemon juice and a dash of garlic salt and pepper. I must confess the straight horseradish was actually less bitter and tastier than this recipe.

Our salad on Christmas day featured the bosc pears that we received in our last fruit box. I sliced the pears over arugula and added carmelized walnuts, blue cheese and pruscitto to the mix. For a dressing I simply wisked together 3/4 cup of plain yogurt, two tablespoons of Raspberry vinegar, a teaspoon of honey, and a dash each of freshly ground salt and pepper.

For dessert we planned persimmon sorbet that Mike made in his new ice cream freezer, but people were too stuffed to eat it. Oh well, we'll be able to enjoy this fresh taste of spring in the dead of winter.

To make the persimmon sorbet, Mike pressed three persimmons (that were very ripe because they came from Harmony Valley a few weeks ago) through a sieve. Those three yielded just over one cup of juice, so Mike squeezed a few oranges to get to the required two cups of juice for his freezer. Mike food processed the juice, one cup of sugar and a tablespoon of Grand Marnier, cooled the mixture for an hour in the fridge, and then churned in the ice cream freezer for one hour. Mike has found that adding a small amount of alcohol to his sorbets, even when the recipe doesn't call for it, ensures a smooth, less crystalized dessert.

Thanksgiving Favorites

2007-11-11T19:25:00.001-06:00

Sarah announced at dinner tonight that the year was really flying and she couldn't believe that Thanksgiving was just around the corner. She stated, "It's the best meal of the year." Oh no, the pressure is on.

I will celebrate with my five brothers, their families, my cousin Catherine and my Aunt Doris again this year. When we all were emailing each other our side dish requests, it became clear that we all simply wanted to repeat last year's meal. As Sarah says, "it's the best meal of the year."

So once again I will highlight some of Richard's fruits and vegetables in the meal. Last year, Tom and Steve got such a kick out of their city slicker sister who gets her veggies all clean and in a box, when they are still out growing their own.

Back by popular demand this year, I will be making persimmon cranberry sauce with star anise. This recipe was featured this year and last year in Harmony Valley's newsletter, and it really is the best cranberry relish/sauce that I have ever eaten.

I will also make for the third year running, roasted butternut squash with bacon. I peel and dice the squash, sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary and roast in a 400 degree oven until soft. Meanwhile, I fry bacon until nearly crisp; I set that aside to break into bits. Then I pour off all but two tablespoons of bacon grease which I use to saute sliced red onions, cipollinis or shallots (whichever is on hand from Richard at the time). I toss the roasted squash with the bacon bits and sauteed onions. The dish is a hit.

The final dish that I will prepare is a pomegranate mixed greens salad. The mixed greens, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, asiago cheese, and red onion slices are tossed with a pomegranate juice vinaigrette. The salad dressing this year will feature yogurt instead of olive oil since I have been substituting plain yogurt in most of my dressings lately in an attempt to increase my calcium consumption. For the dressing, wisk together 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 teaspoon honey, a dash each of salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice, and 1 tablespoon raspberry or balsamic vinegar.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

2007-11-11T19:14:00.000-06:00

Richard has sent sweet potatoes every week, and although I love to simply bake them like a regular russet, I needed to prepare them in a hurry the other night. So I found a recipe for mashed sweet potatoes which is similar to regular mashed potatoes. Instead, of boiling small, peeled chunks though, you steam the sweet potato. I also made them sweet enough that when Sarah ate them, she said, "Umm, pumpkin pie." The second time I made them, Sarah had a friend over who claimed that she hated sweet potatoes; however, I told Claire that the rule at our house is to at least try everything. So Claire took a spoonful and said, "Umm, pumpkin pie" and continued to eat an entire serving. Here's the recipe:

Sweet Potato Mash

Ingredients:
Four sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar
dash of nutmeg and a dash of ground cloves
1 to 2 tablespoons butter

Method:
Steam the sweet potatoes until very soft and ready to mash. Place the cooked sweet potatoes in a large bowl and retain a little of the water from the steaming saucepan (about 1/2 cup). Add the remaining ingredients to the sweet potatoes and add a little of the retained cooking water (just a little at a time). Mash all the ingredients together until smooth adding a little more of the cooking liquid as necessary.

Mint pesto

2007-10-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

Another beautiful fall day is here. I still have so many herbs left in my garden. Last week I pulled up my basil plants in anticipation of a freeze coming (but it has stayed warm). I made a couple big batches of pesto with the basil and froze them in 1 cup blobs, which is just about right for a pound of pasta. When the globs are air-sealed they keep great in the freezer for the whole winter, and every few weeks we can have a taste of summer with our pasta.

Today I noticed that my two mint plants are still thriving to the point of practically taking over the herb garden. I know that mint does that, but in the past when I simply grew mint in pots, I didn't feel like I was getting enough.

Today, I'll pull up all my mint and make mint parsley for dinner tonight (on grilled lamb chops), and I will freeze the rest in small blobs to use throughout the winter on fish and lamb.

Since my Italian parsley is also growing crazy, I found a recipe that will use up both of those herbs before it freezes. Here's the recipe for mint pesto that I found on Epicurous.com.

Pesto
1 cup fresh Italian parsley
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup walnuts, lightly toasted
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 small garlic clove, peeled2
1/4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

On another note, Joe came home for the weekend with loads of laundry. I'm washing and hanging them out on this crisp, fall day. Even though I can see my breath outside, his clothes will be so fresh. Mike noticed a drop in our natural gas bill this summer as compared to last; it must be because our gas dryer has been lonely.

Steamed Kohlrabi

2007-10-10T17:34:00.000-05:00

Sometimes simplicity is best. Last night Mike was making dinner and cole slaw with cabbage and kohlrabi was on our calendar. Yes, we do meal planning some weeks, and we should really do it every week. Anyway, Mike didn't have time to make cole slaw since his fish was already baking in parchment paper in the oven, so he simply peeled the two kohlrabis that had been gathering dust in the crisper drawer and steamed them for about 7 minutes until crisp tender. Then he sauteed them for one minute in butter, salt and pepper. They were awesome! Even Sarah enjoyed them. The taste was mild brussel sprout crossed with zucchini.

Peppers Stuffed with Greens and Beans Rice

2007-10-07T19:05:00.001-05:00

photo by Jackie

The last few weeks the boxes have contained swiss chard, which is my favorite green for greens and beans (although I also tossed in kohlrabi leafs this past week too).

I wanted to make a full meal of the swiss chard one night, so I modified the traditional greens and beans recipe. First, I took the leaves off the swiss chard stems and chopped the remaining stalks like celery. I sauteed the stems along with two cloves of chopped garlic and 1/4 cup diced onion in two tablespoons of olive oil. Of course, I used my cast iron skillet. Meanwhile, I blanched green or red pepper halves in boiling, salted water for two minutes. I removed the peppers and placed in a casserole dish, reusing the boiling water to bl ache the swiss chard leaves for two minutes. I then pressed the leaves dry in a sieve.

Back to the skillet--when the onions and stems were soft, I added a can of Cannelloni beans, the liquid too, 1/4 cup of chicken broth, 1/4 cup of half and half cream, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Once the liquid in the skillet was cooked down a bit, I placed the drained, blanched leaves on top for the last few minutes of simmering. I mixed two cups of cooked white rice into the skillet and then filled the blanched pepper halves. I topped the stuffed peppers with grated cheese and warmed the casserole for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

A side note: This summer when my son Joe returned from school, he lectured me on the use of our calaphon skillet. Joe's chemistry professor had included a warning on the dangers of Teflon coated pans in class, and Joe refused to eat food cooked in Teflon or calaphon. So I headed to the basement to pull out the cast iron skillet from our camping box (a box that hasn't been used in 10 years). Mike and I have discovered the wonders of cast iron, and we don't know why we had neglected our now-favorite pan for the past ten years. We're even planning on investing in an even bigger cast iron pan.

Fall Salads Remind Me of Spring

2007-10-07T18:53:00.000-05:00

"spring" salad with stuffed pepper

Richard planted some salad greens and radishes after the flood, and we are now reaping the benefits. The salad mix, arugula and leaf lettuce the last few weeks have been awesome. I wash and spin the greens right away and then wrap them in a single layer in a flour sack towel. The keep fresh longer and are ready for a quick salad.

This last week Richard also send radishes, and the salad that I made with radishes, avocado, tomato and greens had such a fresh, spring taste to it. I almost think summer is coming. But then, with the temperatures in the 80's in Minnesota in October, no wonder I am confused.

My favorite salad dressing of late is a citrus vinaigrette. I use the juice of half of whichever citrus fruit I have on hand--orange, lemon or lime. I add a dash of salt and pepper, a 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and 3/4 teaspoon of honey to the juice. Then I add a few tablespoons of olive oil and whisk to blend. The honey serves as an emulsifier and the vinaigrette almost becomes a creamy blend. The fresh taste of citrus helps to fool my body into believing that summer is right around the corner.

Cleaning Raspberries

2007-10-07T18:45:00.000-05:00

The raspberries from Richard are often moldy, and Richard has been trying to solve the problem. With the flood recovery, I can't believe that Richard is even worried about the berries, but he is.

There have been some great pints though this fall, and I have discovered the perfect cleaning method. Mike usually just rinses the berries and then places them on a paper towel in the fridge. By the time we would go to eat them, the mushy berries would inevitably be stuck to the towel, so eating them involved a little extra paper fiber.

So one day I decided to see what America's Test Kitchen had to say about cleaning raspberries. I tried their method, and it's awesome.

The steps:

Run cold tap water over the berries in a colander for 30 seconds.
Place the berries on a paper towel in the salad spinner.
Spin about 20 rotations.

The berries are perfectly clean and still firm. Considering the cost of raspberries, I think the cleaning time is worth it.

English 10 Lunch

2007-08-04T13:57:00.000-05:00

Sarah J., Jackie, Jim, Sarah S., Rachel and KC enjoy the second annual English 10 CSA lunch.

photo by Sarah B.

The English 10 team met at my house last Tuesday to enjoy a farm-fresh CSA lunch. Rachel and KC arrived early to help cook. We felt like we were in the middle of a Top Chef show as the three of us moved around with the food processor spinning, the grill sizzling, and veggies being chopped everywhere.

Rachel mastered the art of the chocolate zucchini cake, KC conquered the chicken green bean salad in a lemon-lime vinaigrette, and I pureed up some pesto for baguette and made greens and beans over pasta. The eye-catching dish of the day was the inspiring purple potato salad. We also cleansed our palates between the main course and dessert with a grapefruit sorbet that Mike had previously whipped up for us from the bag of grapefruit that Richard had sent us a few weeks ago.

To make the potato salad we boiled the blue potatoes whole, leaving the skins on so that the blue color did not boil out into the water. As the potatoes were boiling, KC enlightened us with Barbara Kingsolver's potato fact that the colored varieties used to be plentiful but were bred out, making way for the white potato dominance. Rachel and I were quick to jump to the metaphorical, conspiracy theory that potatoists were probably racists. Anyway, back to the recipe--besides the diced, cooled potatoes, we tossed in some chopped celery and cucumber. Then KC mixed in all with a taste-as -you-create dressing of mayonnaise, Dijon, chopped dill, salt, pepper and a splash of fresh lemon juice.

Here's the recipe for the Grilled Lemon-Lime Chicken and Green Bean Salad:

2 lemons
3 limes
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon
Pinch each of sugar, salt, and fresh ground pepper
3/4 c. olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast pounded lightly and cut into strips
1 pound green beans trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 small red onion

Finely grate the zest of the lemons and limes; squeeze 3 tbsps. lemon and 3 tbsps. lime juice. In a blender combine the zest, juices, vinegar, Dijon, sugar, salt and pepper. Blend to combine. With motor running slowly, gradually add oil to form an emulsified dressing. Reserve half of the dressing for tossing later and use the other half to marinate the chicken. (KC actually used more the lemon and lime juice and made a larger bath of dressing since she would be grilling an entire skinless chicken cut into pieces.)

While chicken is marinating for at least 20 minutes, steam the green beans for 4 minutes and plunge into an ice bath. Slice the onion (KC actually used one of Richard's sweet ones instead of a red onion) and brush with some of the non-marinade dressing and grill. After grilling the chicken, KC tore into bite-sized pieces. The onion slices, green beans, and chicken are simply tossed with the remaining lemon-lime dressing.

This chicken salad would serve well as a main dish for any meal. I also used some leftover dressing the next day to marinate salmon before grilling. The lemon-lime flavor was great on fish too.

The English 10 CSA lunch food was a culinary success almost equalling the animated conversation. However, when the discussion turned to the English 10 summer reading book that three of our school district's mothers challenged because there was "too much sexual content," the conversation was as hot as the kitchen that day.

Speaking of hot--KC mused, "What's with the phallic eggplant that Richard sent this week?" My question: "Why is the eggplant (pictured here) called a bride eggplant?"

My Father's Ratatouille

2007-07-28T16:23:00.000-05:00

Jackie, Jerry, Jim T. and Bob & Donna on the night my folks were named Western Hennepin County Citizens of the Year

photo by Helen

Thursday's box contained the first eggplant of the season. Eggplants always take me back nostalgically to the summer of 1981. That summer I had just finished my sophomore year in high school, and my summer job was to cook my father's "hot lunch." Seriously, that was my entire job description. My father had just had his first heart attack, and my mother was concerned that he would not stick to his low-fat, low-salt diet.

The "hot lunch" is in quotes because the term is a standing, family joke. The background: My father moved from his mother's house to my mother's house at age 28 when he was married. My Grandmother R. had coddled my father, and she always made him a "hot lunch." My father drove the two miles home from the Hamel Bank where he worked each day for his mother's "hot lunch." So when my parents were married, my mother continued the "hot lunch" tradition. Family legend has it that when my mother returned from the hospital after the birth of her first child, my Aunt Doris, who was helping with Baby Jerry, made my father a sandwich for lunch. My mother broke down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably, "Bob has to have a hot lunch." When Cousin Catherine eulogized my father, she joked, "Aunt Donna is up there waiting for Bob with a very special hot lunch."

At any rate, my 1981 summer job was to make my father's "hot lunch." My mother had continued making his "hot lunch" for thirty years, even coming home from her job to do so since she began working herself in the 1970s. So why all of the sudden did she need to hire me to cook it? As I reflect back, I'm sure that my mother hired me because she was afraid my father would have another heart attack while he was alone at home.

It really was the easiest job that I ever had because, I must confess, my father made his own "hot lunch" most days. And when he cooked, the menu was the same--ratatouille, sweet corn and tomato slices. Around 11:00 a.m. my father would start the water boiling for the corn because he firmly believed that if he picked corn from the field before the water was boiling, he had picked it too soon. Then he would head to the garden to pick an eggplant, a few tomatoes, a zucchini, and a green pepper. He chopped the veggies into big chunks, placed them in a casserole and sprinkled on a little Mrs. Dash's seasoning (no salt or oil was used in his recipe). He simply microwaved the dish for the ten minutes that the corn was boiling. The first time he made the dish, I asked him what he called this. He said, ratatouille. And I guess it was. Like I said, we ate this almost every day that summer for lunch, and sometimes my dad would ask me if we dared to splurge and add a sausage to the casserole.

So that's why the first eggplant of the season means ratatouille to me. On Thursday, I looked up a ratatouille recipe in my favorite cookbook, America's Test Kitchen, and got to work preparing dinner. America's Test Kitchen had an easy recipe that was very similar to my father's. All I did was chop an eggplant, a zucchini, and an onion and toss with olive oil, a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes, salt, pepper and thyme. Instead of microwaving, the recipe called for roasting the mix for one hour at 375 degrees. After cooking, I tossed the veggie dish with a few tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar. Although I will always love my father's ratatouille, I have to admit that this was a tasty dish. Even my husband loved it. And prior to Thursday night, he always turned up his nose when I told him, "ratatouille is for dinner."

Back in the Kitchen Again

2007-07-24T11:43:00.000-05:00

After an intense week of studying strategies to close the achievement gap between white students and students of color at the National Urban Alliance Summer Academy, I am back home, hanging clothes on the line and cooking up a storm with my CSA vegetables. My reel mower, however, is gathering dust in the garage since Minnesota has suffered from too little rain all summer, and my lawn is browning up nicely.

Back in the kitchen, the first thing I did was caramelize the entire bunch of cipollini onions in a little butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Joe and I ate the whole batch on slices of fresh baguette. We didn't even butter our baguette. This is my favorite use for cipollini onions because the special flavor really comes through. KC asked me why these onions, "are so damn good," so I did a little research and found that cipollinis have a higher water content than regular onions which makes them sweeter. I first discovered cipollini onions last year when they arrived in my CSA box. I didn't know the treasure the onions contained, and while I was chopping veggies for soup and talking on the phone with Gina at the same time, I reported to Gina that I was tossing some cipollini onions in my soup. Gina had a fit and told me I was wasting a valuable ingredient in a soup that wouldn't appreciate them. I confessed that I didn't know anything about these onions, so Gina suggested that I caramelize them and eat them on baguette. She was right. They are awesome this way.

I was excited to see my first blue potatoes of the season. I just love to make dishes with them because the blue color just makes the potato dish more festive. I suggest boiling the potatoes whole because if you peel them, the color seeps out into the water, and they look like plain, boring, white potatoes. If we get more this week, KC is going to make a blue potato salad for the English 10 Team CSA lunch next week. Johnny B. made a blue potato salad last weekend, and he said it turned out great. He just peeled the skins after the potatoes were boiled and cooled to retain the color.

Since I am playing catch-up with my veggies because I was in Albany, New York for the NUA conference, Sarah and I are stepping up our lunches too. Yesterday I put basil, arugula and goat cheese on my veggie burger. The taste was out of this world. Sarah and I accompanied our burgers with a huge portion of steamed green beans. One of the best lunches of the summer.

Tonight I will use the summer squash, green beans, fennel, chard, and broccoli in a stir fry. That will just about clean out my crisper drawer before this week's CSA delivery. I still have some beets from two weeks ago, but a roasted beet and goat cheese on a salad is on tap for tomorrow.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2007-07-24T10:27:00.000-05:00

photo by Jackie

Since I have a weakness for anything chocolate, it is only fitting that I incorporate chocolate into some of my vegetable recipes. I having been making chocolate zucchini cake for a number of years and love the great taste and the fact that the nutrients of 2 1/2 cups of grated zucchini accompany my vice. The greatest review for my cake came yesterday as I pulled it out of the oven. My daughter exclaimed, "Yum!!" and then quickly added in a concerned tone, "You didn't make this for some teacher group or something, did you? I mean, I get to eat this, right?"

Sarah and I indulged last night in a large slice accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and then today I sent a Tupperware of slices to work with Mike to share with all of the folks on the third floor of his building.

Recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake:

2 1/2 cups unpeeled, grated zucchini

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

6 oz. package of chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Combine dry ingredients. Cream butter, oil, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Mix the dry ingredients with the creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in the zucchini. Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes or until done.

Eating Organic: The Dirty Dozen

2007-07-24T09:26:00.001-05:00

The July/August issue of Nutrition Action features a variety of articles on eating organic. Reading the newsletter further solidified my beliefs in Community Supported Agriculture. Not only is the organic movement helping the environment, but also people's health, especially lowering their cancer risks. Nutrition Action's research, however, did not find any significant increased nutrient value in organic produce over pesticide-ridden fruits and vegetables, except perhaps a slight increase in vitamin C content.

The list that I found most enlightening was Nutrition Action's Dirty Dozen list of the fruits and vegetables that retain the most pesticides when eaten in the typical way. When I discussed this matter with John B. last night, another Harmony Valley CSA member, he asked me if peeling helped reduce pesticide levels. Nutrition Action does state that peeling helps, but then so many valuable nutrients are lost in the discarded peel.

The dirty dozen are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes.

At any rate, I am committed to always buying organic for the dirty dozen, even though the cost is so much more. In fact, yesterday at Byerly's three organic peaches cost me $4.54. I was shocked and further disappointed that the peaches were disgusting when compared to the awesome peaches that we have been getting from Harmony Valley all year. I told Mike that we really will have to rely on Richard's fruit more. For example, if Mike filets the bag of grapefruit that we got nearly two weeks ago (which we still have not touched), placing the clean and ready segments in a Mason jar, the kids will grab a bowl and indulge.

If you clean it, they will come!!

Another smart organic shopping tip that I picked up from Nutrition Action is that we can put our organic dollars where they are needed most (The Dirty Dozen) and save money by buying non-organic fruits and vegetables on the Consistently Clean list. The chemical analysis shows that the following fruits and vegetables do not retain a high level of pesticide residue when eaten in the typical way: papaya, broccoli, cabbage, bananas, kiwi, frozen sweet peas, asparagus, mango, pineapples, frozen sweet corn, avocado, and onions.

The Basil Jar and Another Green Thought

2007-07-13T09:53:00.000-05:00

photo by Jackie

Yesterday, when I was taking basil from the Harmony Valley choice veggie box, I almost skipped it because it looked so sad and wilted. Besides my two plants in my herb garden are thriving. But with dreams of pesto in my head, I grabbed some anyway.

As soon as I arrived home, I remembered that by basil connoisseur brother-in-law John, Gina's husband, usually has a jar of fresh basil sitting on his counter for ready access during cooking. So I snipped off the ends of my wilted stems and sunk them in a cool jar of water. I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I staggered to the kitchen for my first cup of coffee and was greated by a freshly revived Basil Jar.

On a side green note: I was listening to MPR yesterday on one of my many Sarah taxi runs of the day, and I heard two women discussing the over-use of paper towels in society. I must confess, Mike and I are paper towel hogs. But this morning, besides being refreshed by my Basil Jar, I have vowed to purchase a pile of cotton flour sack dish towels to keep on hand for wrapping my cleaned lettuce and greens.

Peak Season Family Favorites

2007-07-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

This week's Box
photo by Harmony Valley

During peak garden season in Minnesota, the boxes have tons of family favorites, so using all the vegetables is a snap. Most of the vegetables that will come in today's box can simply be steamed, boiled, roasted or sauteed. The only additions they need are a few fresh herbs from the Harmony Valley herb garden I planted and butter or olive oil. This is eating simply.

I didn't get black currants last year, so I've done a little research to see how they differ from the red currants Harmony Valley sent a few weeks ago. Besides the biology of the red growing in clumps and the black not, the cooking difference mainly seems to be aesthetic. I plan to pair the black currants with the salad mix and toss with a lemon vinegarette. That salad was such a hit with the red currants, and then we are able to fully appreciate the flavor of the black currants.

A few Lonely Pea Pods

2007-07-09T13:48:00.000-05:00

My refrigerator is getting a little bare, and I need to make a side dish for supper. So I went to the Internet to see what I could do with pea pods and carrots, the main items left in my crisper drawer from last week. I found an interesting recipe on Cooks.com that pairs pea pods and carrots with honey and oranges (which I still have left from the last Harmony Valley fruit delivery).

I'll try this Pea Pod Julienne recipe tonight and report back.

The Report Back: This was an outstanding dish. I chopped fresh ginger for the saute too, and the orange and ginger flavor on the pea pods and carrots was a huge hit at the dinner table last night, except Danny B. (Joe's friend known as son #2) left a few on his plate. This recipe had no fat in it--the veggies saute in orange juice, no oil, nothing. I did add a little salt and pepper to the saute for extra flavor. I used the entire bag of Richard's pea pods to three carrots and one of the Valencia oranges that we got from Richard two weeks ago. Half of the orange for the juice and other half for orange cubes right in the saute.

I will definitely make this again.

My Daughter in the Kitchen

2007-07-09T13:29:00.000-05:00

One of the reasons why I wanted to join a Community Supported Agriculture program was to provide my daughter with a closer relationship with her food. Granted, I wasn't willing to start weeding a huge vegetable garden with my brothers on the family farm in Medina, but I felt a CSA would be a start in providing Sarah with exposure to a wider variety of fruits and vegetables. The CSA also allows me to push my liberal agenda about the organic movement, and Sarah has more interest cooking with me when she sees the wide assortment of ingredients.

This Saturday Sarah helped Mike and I make a huge batch of vegetable soup for the family reunion. After she did a great job chopping her first fennel stalks, I told Sarah to chop the summer squash in chunks. To which Sarah replied, "How do you get this round vegetable into squares?" But once I told her I was using "chunks" loosely and gave her a quick demonstration, she was off and had the squash chopped in no time.

The soup tastes incredible, but it is definitely purple. The Harmony Valley purple cabbage and red orach are the culprits for the purple broth. The strong purple colors from those veggies also colored the potatoes and the summer squash a beautiful shade of lilac. I wonder what comments I will get from the family about the purple color.

We deleted the lima beans from the recipe, and Sarah also insisted that I delete the Cannellini beans from the recipe. I guess there were too many Thursdays of greens and beans. Although the Cannellini beans would compliment the soup nicely, Sarah's request won out, and seeing her gobble down a bowl of the beautiful, purple soup, was reason enough to omit the beans.

My Husband and a Bag of Limes

2007-07-09T13:10:00.000-05:00

Last year some of the summer fruit boxes contained bags of limes. I really hoping for some again this year since limes are a staple in our house to garnish drinks, to provide juice for salsas and salad dressings, and to have on hand to squeeze on fruits.

This past weekend my husband brought home a bag of limes and made awesome mint limeade and a key lime pie with a recipe from Reluctant Gourmet. Mike read in our favorite cookbook, America's Test Kitchen, that key lime pie can be made with regular limes as no taste difference has been found.

Whenever I have a cooking question, my new favorite source is the America's Test Kitchen cookbook that Joe gave me for Christmas two years ago. Joe, the chemistry major, loved the sidebars with all of the chemical analysis of recipes and the cooking tests that the cookbook creators underwent to ensure that the recipes included in the cookbook were scientifically the best recipe they could find. America's Test Kitchen was right about the key lime pie. It tasted just as wonderful made with regular limes.

Too Many Greens, so soup for you

2007-07-05T15:56:00.000-05:00

Just returned from picking up my Harmony Valley box. So many greens this week that the plan to use them all in one greens and beans meal won't work. So Plan B is to have greens and beans as a side dish tonight and then to make soup tomorrow.

My To Do list includes making a summer vegetable soup and freezing it for an upcoming family reunion. I found a recipe on Epicurius.com that uses so many of the vegetables in today's Harmony Valley box--fennel, cabbage, zucchini, summer squash, and orach. I'll be modifying the recipe slightly by replacing spinach with orach, deleting the lima beans and cheese rind, and using all of the fennel even the stalks. I love to chop the stalks and use like celery in vegetable soups. I will also simply add basil and garlic to the soup itself instead of making the pistou since I'll be freezing the soup.

At the family reunion we feature a soup of the day each lunch. So I'll just need to heat the soup in the morning, place in a crock pot to keep warm, and then head out water skiing. Whenever people are hungry for lunch, they can serve themselves--another reason for me not to worry about the pistou.

Small World Story: I noticed in today's edition of the Harmony Valley newsletter that Chef Andrea Yoder, included a recipe for orach that looks hauntingly familiar to Wendy's New York Italian greens and beans.

My Laundry is on the Line Again

2007-07-05T10:53:00.001-05:00

Article by Karen Youso, Star Tribune, July 3, 2007

I'm blogging today between hanging loads of laundry on the line. The light breeze and heat will have the clothes dry in no time, and then tonight I'll have an excuse to watch a movie while ironing.

Two days ago, Karen Youso, the FixIt columnist for the Star Tribune, wrote a great article about hanging clothes on the line that captures many of my sentiments regarding my latest hobby for living green. Youso claims that a family of four saves "$100 a year" by hanging clothes on the line, but more importantly, they save "1,500 pounds of greenhouse gases a year" in dryer emissions. Youso's entire article is worth the read. (Notice that I learned today how to make words link to Internet sites, so you can click on "Youso's entire article" and go right to the Star Tribune story.)

Some of Youso's ideas I haven't tried, like using vinegar in the rinse cycle to prevent stiffness. The family is getting used to the stiff clothes, and I have to admit, that I still use the dryer for towels. If I don't have a full load of towels, I toss in small items like underwear and socks, and that also saves hanging time for all those little pieces.

Yuoso also advises hanging your bras and underwear to the inside to be polite to your neighbors. I do my best to abide by this practice. However, the clothesline-side neighbors, Les and Marie, really wouldn't care. Les told me he thought it was nice I was going a bit green, with the clothesline and my reel mower, and that he would never mow his lawn while my clothes were out.

Now if Les would just tell me that he is okay with all my dandelions because I refuse to use weed killer. Mike and I have been using corn gluten for a few years, but the war against weeds is a slow one with this organic method. Les actually refuses to use lawn chemicals too, but he weeds his dandelions one at a time with his tool. Les is over 70, and he's out there almost every day bending over and plucking a few.

Joe, aka "The Boy," returned from his semester in Spain with a number of green living ideas, and he has implemented the "re-use your cloth napkin" policy because that's what his Segovian host mom, Carmen, did. Instead of putting our cloth napkins down the laundry chute after each meal, we re-roll them and place them back in our personalized napkin holders, leaving them at our spots at the dining table. If we deem that a napkin is too dirty to re-use, then we toss it down the chute and get a clean one. The whole family loves this new method because a cloth napkin is readily available for all meals. And my ironing is reduced.

The washing machine just turned off, so I need to don my Menard's nailing apron (where I store my clothes pins) and head outside.

It's Thursday--It must be greens and beans

2007-07-05T10:16:00.000-05:00

A new box of veggies arrives from Harmony Valley today, as it does every Thursday from May to January. I make every attempt to have a veggie-rich menu each Thursday night so that the family enjoys the food at its freshest. I also pick up my box as early as possible after delivery in order to get the produce in my fridge before it starts to wilt.

Last summer I implemented a procedure of cleaning all of my greens--lettuce, saute mix, turnip tops, etc.--in the salad spinner as soon as I got them home. Then I wrap the dried greens in paper towels and squeeze all the air out their storage Ziploc. I re-use the Ziplocs as much as possible; however, I haven't taken to washing the bags and hanging them on the clothes line like my mother-in-law. Although she influences me enough, that I might someday.

Cleaning the greens immediately really saves time later in the week plus they stay fresher longer, so I recommend this to all Harmony Valley patrons.

Since my crisper drawer is always running over, I'm planning on implementing Thursday greens and beans night. That way I can use any leftover greens (e.g. I still have beet greens from Saturday's farmer's market visit in the Crisper) plus I can use the new beet and turnip tops without having to wrap them in paper towels and store them. I've even used kohlrabi greens, and the slight cabbage flavor doesn't detract when mixed with other greens.

I will use Gina's original recipe or her sister Wendy's New York modification with sausage and ziti.

Gina's latest ideas

2007-07-03T09:10:00.000-05:00

My sisters-in-law, Patti & Gina, can really "cook" in the kitchen. Here they take a timeout from cooking to serenade the family.

photo by Pam (another sister-in-law)

Gina emailed this morning that she's a bit shy about making contributions to the veggie blog, but she has such great ideas that I will keep sharing them. My friend KC, who is a Harmony Valley newbie, also really appreciates all of Gina's recipes. Just so you know, Gina is definitely not German Farm Stock. She can best be described as Sizzlin' Italian Chicago Stock.

I also have to encourage Patti to send her recipes from Maine since Patti is, bar none, the best cook you'd ever encounter. Patti is also the person who first turned me on to Community Supported Agriculture. Patti knows the producer of the documentary The Real Dirt on Farmer John, so when Real Dirt had an event in Minnesota, the family attended. That's where I met Richard and signed up for Harmony Valley. Thanks Patti for opening my eyes to a new way of cooking, and a better way of life.

Gina and I also receive Harmony Valley's fruit boxes and share ideas about uses for those. Here's the latest email excerpt from Gina:

"I like to use cut peaches, plums and nectarines in half and have John grill them -we especially love them with pork tenderloin. I drizzle a little honey (we are way into honey this year too-our favorite is from Tupolo Florida-a guy at work bought it over the Internet).

Another peach, plum nectarine idea: I cut them in half and lie them down in a bed of brown sugar mixed with lemon zest and cinnamon and nutmeg in two greased round baking cake pans. Prepare a yellow cake mix according to the package and pour into the two pans on top of the fruit. Bake according to the box time for two pans and check until a toothpick comes out clean. While still hot, flip the cake over on top of a plate and you have upside down yummy cake. Delicious-and you can stack each of them too with homemade fresh whipping cream made with almond extract and vanilla extract and powdered sugar in between the layers!"

Cabbage Again

2007-07-03T08:25:00.000-05:00

I still had tons of Gina's Napa Cabbage salad leftover yesterday (I had saved it without dressing on it), so I served the salad for lunch with Rachel and KC. This time I really diluted the peanut sauce in the salad dressing with more soy sauce and rice vinegar. The flavor was still outstanding, and my lips weren't burning this time. I guess the proper proportions for a medium spice level would be 1/3 each of peanut sauce, rice vinegar and soy sauce. Rachel and KC gave the salad two thumbs up.

Joe, who was at a Spain reunion all weekend, missed the meal Sunday night with the cabbage salad. I had placed the leftover salad, which already had dressing on it, in a Tupperware in the fridge. Joe leaves for work each day at 6:00 (before I get up) and always grabs something from the fridge. He saw the Tupperware and thought it was a leftover Chinese lo mein, so he had microwaved the dish for his lunch. When Joe got home from work last night, he asked me what was in his lunch Tupperware. He said it was the most amazing dish he had ever eaten. When I told him it was meant to be a cold salad, he said, "It's awesome hot." Joe also thought the dish was too spicy though, and Joe can eat hot at a Thai restaurant. Next time I'll have to find a milder peanut sauce.

I still have a head of Napa cabbage in the fridge. It never seems to end. I am going to make an Asian Cole Slaw for the family Fourth of July picnic. I'll shred cabbage and carrots add bite size pea pods and some chopped cilantro. All of those ingredients will be from Harmony Valley. For the dressing I will use fresh ginger, chopped garlic scrapes, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil and a dash of Pampered Chef's Asian seasoning. At the last minute I will toss in some chow mein noodles.

Gina's Roasted and Grilled Veggies and Basil Butter

2007-07-02T17:24:00.000-05:00

Gina's latest email had some great ideas:

"We made some good food at the lake this weekend. I did make a huge roasted veggie dish. I cut fennel bulbs, the awesome striped beets, the baby turnips, onions, lots of whole garlic cloves and some loose green and red peppers. I seasoned them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lots of rosemary, thyme and garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper. I mixed in all in the baking pan and let it sit for about 5 hours then roasted it covered with foil for about an hour on 325 and then uncovered a half hour at 400. Very good.

I also length-wise sliced all the zucchini and spread with olive oil and a little of Baba's brown (Asian) salad dressing. John grilled it.

I served the zucchini with a really easy and yummy recipe that we used on top of not only the zucchini, but also on the chicken and the sweet corn. It was called basil butter. I made a variation of one I found in Bon Appetite. It was about 2 cups of basil leaves loosely packed, a few of our farmer scallions, a clove of garlic and lots of lemon zest and some lemon juice and a pinch of salt. I food processed all of that and then on pulse added a stick of butter. It was very good and again used on everything that you could use butter on. We also went starwberry picking and rhubarb picking and made a big good juicy rhubarb pie recipe. Love G"

Gina's Greens and Beans, Take 2

2007-07-01T21:32:00.000-05:00

Don't throw away all the beet and turnip tops!! Use those and other greens for greens and beans. Read more in the June posting on Gina's greens and beans plus see the recipe addition below in a Gina email excerpt:

"You have inspired me with all those spare greens to do my old standby greens & beans. FYI my sister does the same recipe I gave you except she adds browned bulk Italian sausage and serves it over Ziti-it is served in NY restaurants like that and it is awesome!"

Turnips in Mustard Sauce: Two Thumbs Down

2007-07-01T21:31:00.001-05:00

I made the turnips in mustard sauce recipe from the Harmony Valley newsletter, and I didn't think it was that great a dish. KC concurred in this excerpt from her email to me:

"I tried the white turnips with honey mustard glaze yesterday from last week's newsletter, and I'd give it a C. It was edible, but it was far from the best thing on the plate. If you try it, I would make about double the sauce -- I didn't think the honey-mustard flavors came through very well. Also, I think I made a mistake in that my pan was too hot when I added the sauce."

Laundry on the Line

2007-07-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

I have baskets of fresh laundry to iron and fold, but my new blog fascination is too distracting. Since May I have been hanging almost all of my laundry outside on the clothes line. When the family was in Spain, we noticed that clothes dryers were basically non-existent and that every apartment had laundry lines. Our car is Spain also got 50 miles to the gallon. So the guilt got to me, and with a little encouragment from Maxine at Curves, I was soon hanging everything on the line. Maxine washes and hangs out everything, and she even washes cloth diapers for her grand-daughter so that her grand-daughter doesn't have to use disposable diapers. I figured that if she could do it with diapers, I could do it with our everyday clothes.

The stiff clothes took a little getting used to, but I also fold after steam ironing most items. The steam takes a bit of the stiffness out and our clothes have never been so wrinkle free. Plus, the bedding smells so great.

Manual Mower

2007-07-01T21:04:00.000-05:00

To reduce my carbon footprint, I have also taken to mowing the lawn with a reel mower. I purchase the Scott's mower seen here. The photo is courtesy of Amazon.com, the place I actually purchased my reel mower from. I found the best deal at Amazon.com, and the shipping was free with the mower arriving in just over a week from when I ordered it. Home Depot and the local hardware stores were sold out, so I would have needed to wait until the end of the summer, plus they were more expensive anyway.

The reel mower is so easy to use and does a satisfactory job. I work up a bigger sweat than with the old gas hog, but, heck, I am paying for a Curves membership to get some exercise, so I figured getting exercise with daily activities was actually a good thing. I recall reading a magazine article a few years ago that argued that our mothers were healtier because they had to use more muscles for daily household tasks, mowing, weeding, scrubbing, hanging out clothes, etc. whereas today's women pays for appliances and cleaning folks to make their lives easier, and then they pay for gym memberships.

So I returned to my roots in my mowing too and bought the reel mower.

Green Grocer

2007-07-01T20:46:00.000-05:00

The family biked to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning to pick up produce to supplement the CSA box from Richard this week. I was surprised to see so many items there that were Minnesota Grown. Everything seems to be in early this year. It must be the heat. We were able to get cucumbers, red potatoes and more beets. The beet greens looked so fresh, and we wanted to make Gina's beans and greens again. The sweet corn is still from Mississippi, but one farmer told us it's just a week or two until Minnesota corn is ready. What happened to my dad's saying that corn just needs to be "knee high by the Fourth of July"?

At the Farmer's Market we also visited our usual honey supplier. I am using honey as much as possible to sweeten dishes, e.g. fruit dips, salad dressings, hot cereal. The family goes through a large jar a month. Mike and I were debating the splurge on a small jar of single source buckwheat honey in addition to the regular clover mix for daily use. I just love the near-molasses flavor of pure buckwheat honey. We got into a discussion with the bee keeper on grades of honey from a single source. The man next to me was fascinated by the discussion and asked what I meant by single source. So I told the onlooker that the bee keeper has to work hard to segregate the bees so that they are only feeding from buckwheat blossoms to get the pure single source buckwheat honey--hence the reason that single source honey is so expensive (like fine wine). The onlooker proceeded to buy a small jar of buckwheat honey and told the bee keeper that he should keep Mike and I around because we'd boost sales.

Gina's Cabbage Pasta

2007-07-01T20:41:00.000-05:00

I made Gina's recipe with the Napa cabbage and the Chinese rice noodles in the June 19 blog post "Gina's veggie use this week." The dish was outstanding. Although spice wimps, like myself, should consider cutting down on the amount of peanut sauce. My lips are still burning. I'd suggest spice wimps add more soy sauce and rice vinegar to the dressing.

Another idea: My daughter saw the dish and exclaimed, "Yeah, lo mein for dinner." So I heated the salad, and Sarah said it tasted just like lo mein. But a bit spicy for her too. My husband thought the spice level was just right though.

Gina's Veggie Use this Week

2007-06-29T18:26:00.000-05:00

I made a variation of the napa salad that maybe you both would like. I made package of those chinese rice noodles-the see through kind and kept them really cold after cooking. I slice the cababge super thin and a bunch of all the onions, I also sliced carrots in matchsticks and two kohlrabi's super thin matchsticks and a red pepper-I tossed it all togther then mixed it up with the cold noodles and soy sauce and rice vinegar and put full bottle of leeann chin's peanut suace on it. Then I put a huge bag of fresh bean sprouts and crushed peanuts on top and it was great. We all commented on how shredded rotissere chicken also would have been great on it to make it a meal.

Last night we had a make your own tacos and to use up some squash I sauteed a ton of chopped up garlic scrapes and after they were golden, added matchstick chopped summer squash and let it cook for a long time with a chili/lime/salt mixture. It was a great topping for turkey tacos.

Great rhubarb recipe if we get more of that-yellow cake mix-prepare as box states in 13 by 9 pan, on top of batter place 4 cups chopped rhubarb and then sprinkle on top of that 1 cup of sugar then pour one cup of half and half on top-bake 45 to 50 minutes or until set at 350 degrees-it was outstanding!!!!

Currant Fennel Salad

2007-06-29T18:23:00.000-05:00

I used the recipe in the Harmony Valley newsletter as a guide. For the dressing I did add some finely chopped garlic scrape (I still have so many from last week) and a ¼ tsp. of mustard. Otherwise I followed the honey and lemon juice recipe on the newsletter. I didn’t use the beets since I’m saving those to roast with turnips for another meal. I replaced the beets with green leaf lettuce that I still had left from last week. I did chop some fennel fronds for the salad. I used one fennel bulb and sliced it thin for the salad after I cut out the bottom core. I also used all the currants for the week. This was a great, refreshing flavor, and the boys thought the salad was awesome.

Gina's Greens and Beans

2007-06-29T18:21:00.000-05:00

Gina’s Greens and Beans Recipe--
I used last week’s leftover turnip greens and kohlrabi greens and added those to this week’s turnip and beet tops. (Some of the greens that looked bug-eaten I tossed out). I boiled/steamed the greens briefly in an inch of water until tender and then drained well in a sieve. Meanwhile, I sautéed two chopped garlic scrapes in olive oil in my cast iron fry pan. When soft, I added one can of Cannelloni beans (I didn’t drain) and about ¼ cup each of grated parmesan cheese, white whine and chicken broth, plus I seasoned with salt and pepper. I simmered that a long time since I was working on other dishes, and eventually it got really thick. I added the drained and squeezed greens to the top of the fry pan and kept on low heat until we were ready to eat. This was such an awesome dish. My husband, who hates cooked greens, even asked for more (and he had to get those from his daughter's plate since the pan was empty). I’m trying this with the sauté mix next time that comes. Plus it’s a great use for all the greens that I used to just throw away last year.

Gina's Baked Ziti with Saute Mix

2007-06-29T18:16:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law Gina, who also gets Harmony Valley, used the saute mix in her baked ziti. She’s Italian, and mustard greens and Swiss chard were staples of many of her family dishes, so she is an awesome cook with all types of greens. She made her baked ziti for Father’s Day, and no one even noticed the healtful addition of greens. I’m planning on making a hot, bacon dressing and using it on the saute mix for a salad similar to the dandelion salad my grandma used to make. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Burdock Soup

2007-06-29T18:10:00.000-05:00

I made Burdock Chicken Soup for lunch. I’m determined to find a tasty use for this crazy stick. My parents are probably rolling over in their graves watching me use the root of what they considered a noxious weed growing prolifically in the pasture.

Burdock Chicken Soup (Serves 1 person)

Ingredients:
1 Chinese burdock root (Huai Shan)
110g Chicken breast meat
120g chinese long cabbage
Salt to taste

Method: Peel the Chinese burdock root and cut into long thin wedges. Wipe clean, instead of rinsing, to prevent the chunks from becoming too slimy. Cut the cabbage into smaller pieces. Place chicken and burdock in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 mins. Add cabbage last and cook for a further 5 mins. Add salt to taste. Serve hot.

Sliced carrots may also be added halfway through burdock simmering time.

Spring Dinners

2007-06-29T18:05:00.000-05:00

Last night I made a salad with the radishes, cilantro, field greens, green leaf lettuce, green onion and a stalk of bok choy from the farmer (I also added carrot slices, plucked chive blossoms and tomato from home). I tossed the salad with the lemon vinageratte recipe on the back of the farmer’s salad bag. Omigod, the best salad of the year! I remember last May as a month of incredible salads.

I also had grilled asparagus and made corn bread loaded with chive stems and blossoms. It was so good that when Joe’s friends came over to visit him, they were even eating the corn bread as a snack. It didn’t need any butter because the flavor was awesome.

Tonight I’m making a pork roast on the grill rotisserie and serving it with this table rhubarb sauce recipe from Harmony Valley:
http://www.harmonyvalleyfarm.com/NLTR/csa010512.pdf

The pork roast will be served with the same salad as last night and the coconut-curried bok choi recipe from yesterday’s newsletter. I’ll serve the bok choy on a bed of brown rice.

Radish Ideas

2007-06-29T18:01:00.000-05:00

I made the black radish salad from the Harmony Valley newsletter, and I wasn’t a huge fan. I like to slice radishes in salads and cole slaws, especially with fresh cabbage from Richard. If you’ve never been a fan of cole slaw, now you will be. One of the cabbage varieties is so beautiful, and I have never seen it in the store before. I also like radishes sliced with hummus and a veggie tray. I keep fresh veggies and dips or hummus in the fridge during the peak season for the kids to snack on.

KC's Greek Pasta

2007-06-29T17:58:00.000-05:00

KC's Greek pasta salad recipe: Rotini or rotelle pasta + pitted, chopped kalamata olives+ coarsely chopped artichoke hearts+ coarsely chopped spinach+ crumbled feta + a bit of Greek salad dressing or your own vinagrette.

Ramps: How we love them

2007-06-29T17:51:00.000-05:00

You only get Ramps (wild leeks) for the month of May. Ramps are not even listed in the Asparagus to Zucchini cookbook. Our farmer (Richard de Wilde) must be one of the few farmers to harvest ramps. They grow wild in his woods. My son and I think ramps are one of the best veggies of the year. Joe sautes them and eats them straight, or he tosses a few chopped and sauted ones in an egg scramble. What 20-year-old sautes ramps for snacks?

Roast Chicken and Jerusalem Artichokes

2007-06-29T17:44:00.000-05:00

The roast chicken with Jerusalem Artichokes and parsley recipe on p. 91 of the cookbook From Asparagus to Zucchini is awesome. Jerusalem artichokes are the same as sunchokes when searching for recipes. If you’ve never used them before, they look like an Iris root, and you won’t believe you should eat them. I sometimes peel them, but you don’t need to if you scrub well.

Why the blog title

2007-06-29T16:27:00.000-05:00

When choosing a title for my blog devoted to organic, gourmet cooking, I couldn't ignore my farming childhood nor my German heritage. My love of farm fresh produce started on the family farm in Minnesota.

Although I hated weeding the garden as a child, I loved driving the tractor while my five older brothers threw hay bails onto the wagon. I also loved harvest time, and my fondest memories are of canning tomato juice, grinding apples in the food mill, and scrubbing cucumbers in a five-gallon bucket of ice cold water on a hot day.

The "German Farm Stock" title specifically refers to an incident last year at Timber Creek Golf Course. My husband, Mike, and I were walking the 18 holes with Mike carrying his clubs on his back and me pulling my clubs on a cart. Holes number 4 and 11 both require walking through the woods and up a steep hill for about 100 yards. After hole #4 Mike, being the chivalrous guy he is, pulled my golf cart while sporting his own clubs on his back. So later that round after putting out on hole 10, I started up the hill to #11 but decided to wait for Mike to pull my cart again. However, Mike had taken a short cut through the woods, and since I didn't know this, I waited at the bottom of the hill a few minutes before sighing and trekking up the hill on my own. Four men who witnessed this scene while they waited to tee off on their own hole starting laughing at me. I hope they thought I was out of ear shot. Anyway, I heard one man comment, "Oh no, she has to pull her clubs herself." To which his companion responded, "It doesn't matter. She looks like good GERMAN FARM STOCK." Yikes, next someone will tell me that I look like I'm good for fixin' fence.