…so how I used my csa, weeks 8-12. This photo was inspired by the great earthquake that hit the region on August 23, 2011, devastating precariously perched potatoes across more than a dozen states!

But little of note came from this assortment (at least, there are no pictures), and I’m pretty sure the potatoes are still waiting for love somewhere in my refrigerator six months later. I really never eat potatoes.

Week 9 yielded a fabulous favorite kale chips, even though I never let them get chip-y enough, and fantastic tempura battered deep fried green beans. I am not including a photo of the beans because there was never a large enough amount of them to photograph. As each batch fried, I devoured most of the previous, burning my tongue and fingers and I went along. I will deny it though. So here’s something a bit healthier and just as tasty. We all know about kale chips by now— so here are mine.

Easy easy 3 step process— wash and thoroughly dry kale; toss with just a little olive oil, salt, and pepper; bake for 10 or so minutes at 400 degrees F. Ok, 4 steps— eat directly off sheet pan.

Weeks 10-12 were more of the same, and I admit I was lazy and not creative at all. But all of the food was eaten somehow, some way, I promise. The beginnings of fall/winter vegetables were seen, with a few parsnips and turnips, some golden delicious apples, and then super spicy arugula the size of my HAND.

My summer CSA experience went out like a lamb though. I will actually be starting up again soon, now that the busy season is over at work and I will have time to be sort of interesting again. *crosses fingers*

Where is week 6? Well it resides in the belly of a fellow csa-er and friend of mine, who was happy to take my portion of the share during the week I was out of town on vacation. It was nice to get my refrigerator cleared for once! I left a few heirloom tomatoes for the sweet-eater, hoping he’d consume them all by the time I returned, but I came home to just a few slightly shriveled and sad-looking leftovers. So I made some fresh tomato sauce, which I forgot how much I loved.

An assortment of yellow, green, and red tomatoes, all bubbling away with onions, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Yep, that’s it. After 10-15 minutes on the stove, I pureed it all in a blender and then strained it (easily done in one step if you have a food mill). A little fresh basil was tossed in afterward. Because I love basil.

The final product was a lush, cheesy-looking yellow. I made a quick pasta with ground beef, spinach, and the tomato sauce. A little off in appearance, but perfect fresh flavors.

So then there was week 7.

More beautiful rainbow chard, onions, potatoes, peaches, a head of red leaf, mint, and basil. The wine had to be included in the picture because that’s just how my night was going. What can I say?

I did go for the chard first. With chorizo & mussels. Yep, this was my best (only?) creation this week.

And just because I was proud of this one, another shot:

In another news, Hurricane Irene approaches, and the whole east coast is going crazy just as with the recent blizzards. All this talk about it is giving me a headache. Time to go cook something!

Another nice haul, but lacking anything terribly interesting. I tried to work some magic though.

Three ears of corn, broccoli, a green pepper, lots of grape tomatoes, some heirloom tomatoes, yellow onions, potatoes, basil, peaches, and also a bag of spinach not pictured.

The green pepper, an onion, and an ear of corn found their home in some very impromptu crab cakes, after discovering a can of lump in the depths of my refrigerator.

They turned out to be fantastic little sliders, with homemade basil mayonnaise, greenery, pickles, and just a little bit of sharp cheddar cheese. Yes, it’s ok to put cheese on fish! I am just glad I managed to get a few of these into the freezer for later gluttony.

And then vacation began.

I ate a lot of food. A lot of good and a bit of mediocre food.

From the ridiculously huge Italian meal at DiPaulo’s the first night (pictured here, only half of the leftovers)

to the fabulous tuna sandwich from Yvette’s

and strawberry zucchini bread from The Painted Pie

I don’t think I managed to make any bad choices that week. However, the absolute best meal of the week was of my own creation. Figures.

A salad entirely from the grill, with corn, broccoli, red onion, green pepper, and beets. For those, I made a little foil package for steaming on the grill. I had no oil, so I used just a little pat of butter in it. When they were finished, the butter and beet juices became my dressing, mixed with the juice of one lemon, and a bit of chopped garlic. All of that came together on top of a mesclun mix with just the help of some luscious honey goat cheese. The sweetness of the honey with all that char of the grill and the acidity of the lemon and the creamy of the cheese… perfection!! If you don’t have honey goat, I suggest adding a little honey to your dressing (and you could certainly use olive oil too, to make a true dressing) to really make it sing. Why can’t I eat this every day?

Ok, so I haven’t updated in more than two weeks. However, I have an excuse! I was on vacation. And away from the internet! Well not really, I was online pretty much every day posting yelp reviews (chefleah.yelp.com!) but I was not on my own computer (yuck, a Mac) and frankly, I didn’t feel like blogging since I was too busy eating out, getting a tan, and just relaxing.

But here’s week 4.

A bunch of baby red potatoes, two pickling cucumbers, two pretty zucchini, three ears of corn, a gorgeous red onion with tops, and a bunch of rainbow chard.

In addition, four more peaches, a handful of roma and heirloom tomatoes, a bunch of parsley and a bunch of basil.

Clearly I did not need the basil. That is my happy “little” plant, of which I am oh so proud.

I offered the chard to my mom when she stopped by, mostly because I didn’t feel like cooking it, but also because I like when she cooks for me.

She produced this, which I gorged on a few days later when I stopped by her house. It is one of the many dishes from my childhood— a garlicky, greasy (not this time, mama went low-fat!) concoction of potatoes, greens, and pepperoni. Simple, and perfect.

We call it “minesta” though most people know that as a soup with beans. Whatever, we’re a weird bunch of Italians.

My first success of the week was in using up the two zucchini. I julienned them into very fine, spaghetti like strands on a benriner (that’s a Japanese mandolin), cut some genoa salami similarly, and sauteed it all up with some anchovies. Into some angel hair pasta it all went, with a splash of white wine and ricotta cheese folded in at the last minute.

And then lots and lots of fresh basil. Salt wasn’t even necessary with the salami & anchovies in there. I could so eat this every day. If you do this, make sure to saute the zucchini separately and make it quick. It should still have some texture to it, so that every time you take a forkful, what you think is pasta actually becomes zucchini, with that chewy bite to it. Yum! After taking this picture I fried up some of the roma tomatoes and threw them in too. There was so much flavor in the dish I didn’t even notice I was eating them.

I made turkey burgers another night. Never had a better one.

Topped with a few leaves of spinach, and what was essentially my peach salsa from week one, only roasted, warm, and ooey gooey, this was a perfect weeknight dinner.

The potatoes were grilled and made into a mayonnaise-free potato salad, with boiled eggs, the red onion tops, parsley, celery, green pepper, lots of roasted garlic, and just a touch of truffle oil. This made its way into my lunch several days this week.

It was a good week! Weeks five and six will be coming soon, in the form of a double feature.

This was not a successful week. I did not have a lot of opportunities to use my produce since I went out to eat more often than usual— took mom out for her birthday one night, attended the Newark Food and Brew Fest. And the options I had were unfortunately slim and disappointing.

Four peaches, four tomatoes, three zucchini, one yellow squash, three yellow onions, one eggplant, a huge bunch of parslane, a bunch of collard greens, and some fennel.

The tomatoes were offered up to the resident sweet-eater. I knew he’d enjoy them as a snack or a quick breakfast, and raw tomatoes are the one food I do not like. Yes, I am weird. And rather than cook them I’d rather somebody get to enjoy them as they were.

I took the peaches as my lunchtime fruit a few days. The zucchini and squash are still waiting to be used. The collards and fennel died (whoops).

The only thing I did manage to make was eggplant parm. It was a little unconventional; I grilled the eggplant and layered it with marinated roasted red peppers and some of the parslane, which turned out to be a great way to use the relatively flavorless weed.

Cheeses of choice? Ricotta and mozzarella.

The finished product was quite good, The roasted red peppers totally made it. And as a bonus I got to use up a container of sauce that probably wouldn’t have survived the freezer much longer. It was, however, a lot of food. There is still some left that I am hoping to finish tomorrow.

Next week will be better!

or, “How to make food you’re tired of eating taste good again.”

There is a point in the summertime that we’re all trying to find ways to use the glut of summer squash or zucchini that is available in our gardens, friends’ gardens, or from our *ahem* CSA. So aside from the rather large gratin I made the other day, I still had enough yellow squash leftover to make something. And I wanted it cooked and gone. So here was my solution after ransacking my refrigerator for ten minutes, trying to find anything that I could use up.

Yellow Squash with Pepperoni

2-3 medium sized yellow squash

1 large yellow onion

3 oz pepperoni

4-6 basil leaves, chiffonade

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Use a mandolin to thinly slice the squash and onion. Sauté in just a little olive oil on high heat until the onions start to brown. Slice the pepperoni very thinly and add to the pan. Continue cooking on high heat, stirring only occasionally to let everything caramelize, for about 5 minutes. Add a little salt (taste first! pepperoni is salty) and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and stir in the basil so it barely wilts.

The key here is to use good pepperoni. You should be using a stick, not a bag of pre-sliced garbage. You’re looking to add flavor, not Hormel-ness. And it could probably be a little healthier if you fry up the pepperoni separately and drain off the fat (start it in a dry pan, no extra oil necessary) before adding it to the already cooked veggies, but I didn’t bother. If I’m eating pepperoni, I’m eating pepperoni.

Enjoy!

*Bonus* Reheat any leftovers in a pan, add beaten eggs. Mmm breakfast.

Week 2 brought me a little more action in the vegetable patch… and lots of color! A bunch of fennel fronds, a head of purple cauliflower, a handful of potatoes (yellow and baby redskin), three more yellow squash, a pickling cucumber, three more ears of corn, five carrots, and not pictured are a small bag of baby spinach and a perfect, beautiful cantaloupe.

The cantaloupe was cut and devoured within about 10 minutes of me getting home. There are no photos because I was too busy shoving it into my face. Needless to say, I like good, fresh cantaloupe.

This became the week of grilling; though really every week in summer is for grilling, as I think pretty much all food is tastier when charred and smoky.

There were a couple of brown-dud spots on one or two, so I ended up with about five and a half ears of corn, which I grilled at once so I could use them at will, in salads, salsas, and omelets for the next couple of days.

Unfortunately my plan was thwarted when I ate three of the ears that night, straight off the grill. I do not bother with salt or butter or anything when grilling my corn. These were simply husked and thrown on hot coals. See all that char? That’s what I love. If the corn is sweet enough, you shouldn’t need any other seasonings. And even if it’s not that sweet, I frankly think it’s still good just like that.

One of the ears that made its way into a dish instead of straight into my mouth was part of a simple salad of spinach, arugula, some of the fennel fronds, grilled chicken, and homemade pickled red onions, with a raspberry vinaigrette. I forgot to take a picture but it wasn’t very pretty. It was mostly all corn anyway. The other ear saw much the same fate, only in frittata form, with spinach, pickled red onions, and some button mushrooms.

Next I tackled the leftover broccoli from last week. I had been ogling this recipe from the June issue of Food and Wine, and knew immediately that my CSA broccoli was destined for this Charlie Parker powerhouse of flavors. I already had the pickled red onions in my refrigerator, which I used in place of the shallots. Rather than dress the broccoli and then grill it, I was hasty and hungry so I grilled the broccoli and bread while making the dressing. Then it all went into a bowl with unsoaked raisins, which were plump within minutes from all that heat and moisture. I didn’t have pine nuts, so I didn’t even worry about it.

The almost perfection of this salad was really quite surprising. The tender snap of broccoli and the chew of the bread mixed nicely with the flavor from the grill. A dressing altogether sour, spicy, and savory, and then the touch of more sour/sweet from the onions and sweet from the raisins… I am so ready to make this again.

That’s all that was left when I remembered I should take a picture.

So of course after broccoli comes cauliflower. Purple cauliflower. Beautiful stuff, really. And I do love cauliflower of all shapes, sizes and colors. So I wanted to try something new and interesting this time. Why not Cauliflower Fritters? With some of my favorite spices— cumin and coriander— and healthy enough to be fried without me feeling bad, this was definitely the one. I took care to shock my cauliflower so that the beautiful purpley blue would remain:

In pastry school I was told blue was not a color naturally occurring in plants & flowers, therefore it should never be used for decoration.

I beg to differ.

But seriously, if you don’t care what your food looks like (or if you actually get a kick out of eating crazy-looking food) then go for it. Otherwise stick with the white varieties for this recipe. I would certainly make these again, and maybe add just a touch more of the spices, since they were not as fragrant as I’d like. I ate them with a tiny bit of cottage cheese instead of yogurt. They’re pretty decadent-tasting while still very healthful. A real treat!

Meat and potatoes came the next night, with more grilling of course. The baby redskins were perfectly sized to cook whole, and I wedged the Yukon Golds so they would all cook together and evenly. I’m not a big potato eater, but with only olive oil, salt, pepper, and a few leaves from my curry plant, these were winners.

I also make a quick and easy gratin with much of the squash and zucchini that had been sitting around because I was in the mood for some melty, gooey goodness. I used asiago rather than a typical swiss or gruyere which added a saltier bite. Very good.

The rest of my squash made it into another dish, which will be the subject of its own post!

So I think I’ve officially not slacked this past week. I can only hope I will be as successful next week!

I’ve spent a good deal of time making or at least contemplating foods that look like other things. Mostly in the form of cakes, made to look like sports cars, high heels, books, or cheeseburgers. Since the resident meatatarian does not eat sweets, and has been bugging me to show him how to make meatloaf (aka make it for him) I took the opportunity to indulge in one of my favorite creative pastimes. A cake that looks like a meatloaf? Nope, it’s a meatloaf that looks like a cake.

Here is sort of my recipe, if I can remember well enough. All of this is approximate. And designed for someone allergic to dairy, corn, and food colorings!

1.5 # ground beef
1.5 # ground pork
1 zucchini, grated
1 yellow squash, grated
2 carrots, grated
1 yellow onion, grated
6-8 oz mushrooms, grated
2 eggs, beaten
2 slices bread, soaked in chicken/beef stock (or milk) then mashed/crumbled up
probably about 3 heads roasted garlic
salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary, parsley to taste

Combine into loaf form and bake until done! (That means a thermometer inserted reads 165 degrees F)

This would be much tastier with some homemade tomato sauce or my personal favorite, a can of cream of mushroom soup on the top for extra saucy, baked-in flavor goodness. However, I opted just to bake the loaf alone so that it would be easier to work with and “ice in.”

I flipped the meatloaf out from its 8” round cake pan, then cut it into two layers so that I could fill it with my mashed potato icing. Using a ricer or a food mill will create perfect, lump free potatoes, and I added chicken stock instead of dairy to make them soft and creamy. This makes for a bit of a yellow-ish mashed potato, but also a rich, savory flavor perfect for folding in some chopped herbs.

From here it was easy as “cake!” A comb for some texture on the sides. A large star tip for a shell border on the top. And french-fried onions as a “chocolate shaving” garnish around the bottom edge. The writing is ketchup, thickened a little bit with flour, which piped surprisingly well.

I am so pleased with myself for having done this that is more of a present to me than it is for him. But at least he has been eating the hell out of it and there is almost none left after only four days.

Unfortunately there are no pictures of the process, as I was too busy trying to keep him out of the kitchen, but there are plenty of the aftermath!

So I’ve joined my first CSA, courtesty of Highland Orchards, a lovely little farm located right in the middle of the suburban sprawl of the Brandywine area. I have thirteen exciting weeks coming up, in which I will basically be using only the produce I am given. Week 2 just began, so I am going back in time just a bit for a new blog of “How I Used My CSA” each week. I think this will give my home cooking just the boost needed— forcing me to be creative, when all along I really want that, I’m just too lazy! Well no more.

Week 1 was simple, and a great introduction to cooking by the whims of the farm’s availability. In the lot: turnip greens, a bunch of basil, a head each of broccoli and heirloom cauliflower, one yellow onion, one cucumber, one zucchini, two yellow squash, two pattypan squash, three ears of corn, and four white peaches.

That night I immediately jumped on the turnip greens, and went super traditional, with bacon, shallots and white wine.

I was inspired by the peaches next, and threw together a salsa that was ridiculously good. Kind of a combination of a few different recipes based on what I had on hand and what I like, I’m posting my concoction here because it is my new go-to summertime refreshing salsa. You’re welcome!!

Peach Salsa

4 peaches, firm but ripe, small dice

4 leaves of basil, chiffonade

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 inch piece of ginger, minced

1/2 jalapeno, minced

1 very small (or half a medium) red onion, very small dice

juice of one lemon

pinch salt

double pinch sugar

Combine, let flavors meld 10 minutes, best when eaten that day. Yum!

After eating half of it with pita chips on the deck that night, I got the grand idea to throw in a handful of the blueberries I’d picked at Mood’s Farm Market. Also absurdly good. Here it is, sans the berries. They added a nice color pop making this dish perfect for entertaining, too.

The zucchini, yellow squash, and onion made their way into my meat-cake (more to come tomorrow), and the rest are leaking over into Week 2’s repertoire. Uh oh, am I slacking already? We’ll see how it goes, but I’d say not a bad start!

…in every which way possible. Today I hate food because it is never what I want it to be. It doesn’t matter how many times I make beef stew, or how many variations or secret ingredients or new methods I try. It will never be what I remember from my childhood. Not even my mother can make her own beef stew the same way I remember. So either she has forgotten how (highly unlikely) or this simple dish exists only in my mind.

Not that my beef stew doesn’t taste just as good— in fact, considering all the changes I’ve made, like the adding of more and more sherry as the years go by, or the extra handful of peas for more sweetness, or leaving the red skins on the potatoes for the added texture, I’m betting this beef stew is actually BETTER than the beef stew of my younger years— it just doesn’t take me places anymore.

It is pretty damn good, though. And I still burn my tongue on the first bite, every time, just like always.