Saturday, July 31, 2010

Use Your Booty: Orecchiette with Chard, Sausage and Ricotta

This meal was inspired by a dish I used to make a long, long time ago. It was called Rigatoni alla Buttera. It's a hearty plate of pasta, sauced with ricotta (or cream) and tomato and studded with peas and chunks of sausage.

Dave begged for some meat on the dinner plate (we've been eating a LOT of all-veggie dishes), so I pulled out the last of some pork sausage I made in my last sausage-stuffing binge (time to pull out the grinder again I guess). I also had a half container of ricotta in the fridge, so it was logical to try to pull a dish together using that too. I had to add some vegetables to the pan so I used Swiss chard (you can sub in spinach, kale or any other green you have on hand) and sliced raw onions.

To add a little crunch I made a handful of big breadcrumbs by cubing stale bread and pan frying them in olive oil.

Orecchiette with Chard, Sausage and Ricotta
2-3 servings
  • 8 ounces Italian sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 8 ounces orecchiette pasta (substitute shells if you can't get your hands on orecchiette)
  • 1 bunch Swiss chard, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 12 ounces ricotta
  • 1 small onion, sliced into paper-thin rings
  • 1-2 handfuls big breadcrumbs
In a large skillet, sauté the sausage over medium-high heat until cooked through and browned.

While the sausage is cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the orecchiette to al dente. Right before the pasta is done, add the Swiss chard into the pasta pot to wilt it down. Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the cooking water to use in the sauce (I usually put a coffee cup in my colander to remind me to save a cup of water.)

Put the pasta and chard back into the pasta pot with the ricotta, sliced onion and sausage. Stir everything together, adding a little pasta water to loosen up the sauce and make it creamy. Taste and add salt & pepper as desired. Just before serving, stir in big breadcrumbs.

This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.

CSA Booty - Week 11

If you're just stopping by - be sure to check out Use Your Booty: Show Your CSA Box Who's Boss for ideas about how to manage your CSA vegetables.

This week's share was made up of:
  • 1 bunch Swiss chard
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 bunch amaranth
  • 1 bunch of broccoli
  • 2 boxes of onions (one yellow, one red)
  • Lots of tomatoes: big red beefsteak types, plum tomatoes and cherry tomatoes
  • I cut a big bunch of parsley
  • I cut 6 beautiful zinnias
So here's what I think I'm doing with these items:
  • The Swiss chard will be sautéed down and dressed with olive oil, lemon and chili flakes and served on bruschetta and/or wrapped in prosciutto (thank you, Alice Waters for the prosciutto idea)
  • I am in a pasta-making mood, and this gorgeous lasagna on my friend Jane's blog has spurred me to act: lasagna verde, made with amaranth (in the pasta and filling) and kale (filling)
  • BLTs are in my future, methinks
  • I think I'll make a batch of oven-roasted tomato sauce with some more of the tomatoes
  • The parsley is the main ingredient in salsa verde and I think I'll make a batch to sauce something grilled
  • The broccoli is probably going into a pasta salad with some tomatoes and herbs
So how'd I do with last week's haul? Here's what we ate from the CSA last week:
This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share.

Use Your Booty: Panzanella con Verdure

No recipe, just an idea for you to play with.

Here's another version of Panzanella. This once had bok choy (sautéed), green beans, tomatoes, lettuce and oat cheese. I made a sherry vinaigrette to dress it and showered it with torn basil.

This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Drink of the Week: Sun Gold Tomato Martini

I tried making quite a few variations of a sun gold tomato martini last summer. What challenging research projects I give myself!

Before this most recent attempt, I have made these all as muddled drinks, that is, I've crushed the tomato in with the gin, shaken the drink and then strained the tomato out. Delicious, but sorta bloody Mary-ish. In this version, I made sun gold tomato gin by steeping crushed tomatoes in gin and straining it through a coffee filter. This made for a drink that was the essence of tomato without any of the heaviness of tomato juice.

Even better, I can stockpile bottles of tomatoey sunshine to enjoy in the cold winter.

Sun Gold Tomato Martini

Prepare the gin by steeping crushed sun gold cherry tomatoes (slightly overripe ones are perfect) in gin. Just put the tomatoes in a jar and cover them with gin. Let steep for three-four days. Strain the liquid through a coffee filter into another jar.

To make your cocktail, combine in an iced mixing glass:
  • 3 ounces tomato gin
  • 1 ounce dry vermouth (Dolin is great if you can find it)
  • 2 dashes orange bitters
Stir until very well chilled and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh sun gold cherry
tomato if you have one.

This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Use Your Booty: Show Your CSA Box Who's Boss

What a well-fed and inspiring summer I've been having! I've been getting produce from my CSA for nearly three months now. I have made some gorgeous meals, like this dish of seared gnocchi and pea tendrils. I have also made some rather pedestrian dishes: sautéed kale anyone?

In the last few weeks I've also been dealing with a lot of stress about how to use all these vegetables. I'm really busy these days. I have a number of great clients who keep me busy during the week and then on weekends, I'm a baked goods vendor at my local farmers' market.

No matter how tired I am though, the idea of wasting any of this gorgeous produce is really distasteful to me. So here are a number of tips I've developed to help me get through the remainder of my CSA's growing season with a relatively clear conscience (at least with respect to wasting food!).

Make your CSA part of your weekly routine: Make a date with yourself to do your pickup and put things away when you get home. When my pickup's been a rushed affair I enjoy it less and am more likely to put things away in a slapdash manner.

Pack your booty up properly: To me, there's litte that's more depressing than pulling out a bag of produce only to find it's wilted, soggy, slimy, etc. I have made the process packaging my produce part of my CSA pickup experience. This really saves time when I'm searching for dinner ingredients. When I get home from the farm, everything gets wrapped up in a way that makes things easier for me later:
  • Bunches of greens are loosened up (if there's a rubber band holding a bunch together I cut it off) and wrapped in a dish towel and then bagged in an open plastic bag (like in that picture there, see?). This also makes the greens take up less space.
  • Any non-edible parts of the vegetable are cut off - for instance carrots tops are tossed directly into the compost bin.
  • I put similar items together: scallions and herbs go into one bag, carrots join beets and turnips in one bag, lettuces are all bagged up together.
Put together a recipe box: It's handy to have a collection of meal ideas to use as inspiration for your cooking. You don't need to be working directly from recipes; I use a list of go-to meals (frittata, tart, pasta with vegetables) in combination with recipes I pick up on the internet and in magazines. I use my computer to keep track of my meal ideas, but a binder or notepad might be just fine.

Make a meal plan: Make meal planning part of your CSA pickup process. Use your collection of recipes to put together a list of what you're making in the next few days. It doesn't have to be super detailed, but I find it very comforting to know that I'm planning on a frittata, a tart, a pasta dish, sides for a grilled chicken, etc. I also use this meal planning time to note any holes in my pantry so that I can pick up additional vegetables and ingredients at the farmers' market or supermarket.

Cook down your greens ASAP: We've gotten pie after pile of greens this summer, so I've made pan after pan of sautéed greens.
Greens with garlic, greens with ginger, greens with chilies, greens with spices, etc. Cooked greens can go into pasta, a frittata, on a sandwich, on bruschetta. Cooking greens down is easy and it can be done ahead of time. Plus cooked greens take way less space in the fridge than raw greens.

Soup is your best friend: I agree that when it's 90 degrees outside, the last thing you want is a hot, steaming bowl of soup.
There are some nice chilled soups you can try (like lettuce soup, gazpacho or vichyssoise). I also make soups and put them into the freezer for use on colder summer nights or in the fall. Soups are great sponges for a 1/4 cup of this and a handful of that.

The freezer is your other best friend: Don't get me wrong, pickling and canning are great, but on a hot day, and when you're in a hurry, there is nothing simpler than throwing something into a Ziploc and then into the freezer. Most vegetables do need to be cooked prior to freezing, so I'll usually blanch or sauté my vegetables and then put them into LABELED and DATED Ziploc bags and squeeze all the air out. Tomatoes don't need to be pre-cooked: I core them and throw them right into bags. When they thaw later, the skins will slip right off. Most important: keep a list of what you've put into the freezer so you don't forget what's in there.

Don't take it if you don't want it: CSAs are a great way to try new things, but if you know you aren't going to use those tomatoes or that Swiss chard don't bring it home. Most CSAs give their uncollected produce to shelters or soup kitchens, so the produce won't go to waste. That said, if a vegetable is new to you, try it at least once before you give up on it.

What are your tips for managing your CSA share? I'd love to hear from you.

This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.

Monday, July 26, 2010

CSA Booty - Week 10


This week's share was made up of:
  • Beefsteak tomatoes
  • 1 bunch of bright lights chard
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1 quart of green beans of amaranth
  • Summer squash and zucchini
  • Sun gold and red cherry tomatoes
  • Broccoli
  • Onions

So here's what I think I'm doing with these items:
  • I've already used the zucchini and squash in a sauté with some fresh corn
  • The kale's been sautéed with a lot of garlic
  • The broccoli's going into a simple salad like this one again
  • We ate the tomatoes in a panzanella with last week's bok choy and lettuce and some of the onions and green beans
  • I'll use the chard in a pasta dish with last week's amaranth and some more onions
So how'd I do with last week's haul? Here's what we ate from the CSA last week:
  • I made a Genoese green bean and potato salad with pesto (beans, pesto made with Week 8's basil)
  • We enjoyed a version of fattoush made "BLT style"
  • We made a gorgeous tart with tomatoes and chard
  • I have absolutely no idea what I did with the rest, but I do think a fair amount of it is still in the fridge and being cooked this week!
This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Drink of the Week: Flat Tire

I'm a huge fan of the Sidecar and its variations. Traditionally made with lemon juice, brandy and Cointreau, I thought pineapple would be an interesting twist on the recipe.

My pineapple was super sweet, so I needed to add some lemon juice back in to the recipe, but I recommend you hold back the lemon juice until you've tasted the drink without it then add a squeeze if you need it.

I called this cocktail the Flat Tire because I thought that's what your sidecar would have after you hit a spiky pineapple with it.

Flat Tire Cocktail

In the bottom of a mixing glass, muddle 4-5 cubes of pineapple until it looks very juicy. Add ice to the mixing glass and add:
  • 1 ounce brandy
  • 1 ounce Cointreau
Shake well. Taste for acid, if things seem to sweet, add a squeeze of lemon juice. Strain into a coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with a pineapple slice.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Use Your Booty: Easy Vegetable Tart


So here's a savory tart made with the tart dough recipe that I used to make the fruit tart.

I pulled the filling together while Dave made the crust. He's never made any kind of pastry before, and he put the dough together quickly and pressed it into the tart shell.

I tossed together some CSA tomatoes, cooked Swiss chard and cubed goat cheese (Middletown Tomme) from West River Creamery. I crumbled a leftover savory shortbread over the top of the tart - next time I think I'll use chopped nuts or shredded parmesan over the top.

So nice to have another quick weeknight recipe on hand. In the time it took to preheat the oven, we made the tart crust and put together the filling. The tart takes about 35-40 minutes to bake, so a really delicious, elegant dinner is on the table in about an hour.

This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Use Your Booty: BLT Fattoush

I really like bread salads. They're a great way to showcase fresh vegetables. Panzanella is the bread salad that I make most often; it requires a hearty, rustic loaf, which I don't always have on hand. Fattoush is a bread salad made with fried or toasted pita bread. Traditionally fattoush is pita with parsley, tomato, onion and herbs.

I actually wanted to make BLT sandwiches for dinner, but had so sandwich-suitable bread in the kitchen. I did have a bag of pita chips left over from an event earlier in the week, so I decided to use them as the base for a fattoush salad. The devilled eggs are definitely a non-traditional garnish as is the addition of bacon.

The fattoush formula is very adaptable to whatever's in the pantry. It's a great "sponge" for bits of leftover cooked and raw vegetables. I like the pita to be about 1/3 of the total salad, but you should feel free to find your own perfect ratio of pita to vegetables.

No recipe today, just a guide:

BLT Fattoush
For each person you're serving, combine in a large bowl:
  • 2 handfuls of torn lettuce leaves
  • 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped tomato
  • 1-2 slices of cooked bacon
  • a few slices of very thinly sliced onion
  • 1-2 handfuls pita chips, crushed lightly
Dress generously (the chips will soak up a lot of dressing) with a lemon or red wine vinegar-based vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper.

This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Use Your Booty: Green Bean and Potato Pesto Salad

Yesterday was a red-letter day vegetable-wise: our first green beans of the season and the first corn! The corn needed no embellishment other than a gentle enrobing of butter, and I turned the beans into a salad. I had fresh pesto on hand from last week's basil so I prepared a Genoese-inspired potato and green bean salad.

Green Bean and Potato Pesto Salad
Serves 3-4
I didn't have any on hand, but this salad would even better with the addition of a handful of toasted pine nuts or walnuts added in at the end.
  • 4 handfuls green beans, stem ends cut off, beans cut into 2" lengths (I used both green and yellow beans)
  • 3 medium-sized red-skinned or Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1/2" dice
  • 1/4 red onion sliced thin
  • 1/4 - 1/2 cup pesto
  • salt and pepper
  • red wine or sherry vinegar
This is a little fussy, but you really need to cook the beans and potatoes separately to ensure they are cooked properly.

Fill a large bowl with very cold water.

Put a large saucepan of water on the stove and bring it to a boil. Salt the water well (2-3 healthy pinches). Put the beans in the water and boil for 2-3 minutes until they are bright green and tender. Using a slotted spoon or strainer, transfer the beans out of the boiling water and into the bowl of cold water. When cool, transfer the cooked beans to a mixing bowl.

Since I used yellow beans too, I then repeated this step with the yellow beans.

Bring the water back to a boil and then cook the potatoes until tender, about 7-10 minutes. Transfer the potatoes out of the boiling water and into the bowl of cold water. When cool, transfer them to the bowl with the beans.

Add the onions to the beans and potatoes.

Stir in the pesto, adding enough to sauce the vegetables well. Taste and add salt & pepper to taste. If the salad tastes a little flat, add vinegar, a few drops at a time, until the flavor is right for you.


This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.

Amanda Hesser's Peach Tart


Except I didn't make a peach tart. Instead, I made a fig and blueberry tart. I was turned on to this recipe by my friend Lynn. She told me how her young son (like 10 years oldish?) made these tarts himself.

See, these are his in the oven:

This is not meant to be intimidating. This recipe is super easy and super adaptable. Use the fruit you have on hand and you'll be fine. It's fast too - I had the tart ready to go in the oven before the end of the oven's preheat cycle.

I'm going to use this tart recipe in a savory application too: I'll fill the tart shell with chopped fresh tomatoes, cooked Swiss chard and goat cheese. Will let you know how it goes.

I don't normally post other people's recipes, especially when I don't own the cookbook (a situation I'm about to remedy), but this recipe is all over the interwebs, so I'm a little more comfortable posting it.

Fruit Tart
Based on Amanda Hesser's recipe for Peach Tart from Cooking for Mr. Latte.
Makes 1 tart (I used an 8" tart pan, but I think you could use a 9" or 10" pan - you can see my crust was sorta thick, which I prefer)
  • 1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces) flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) olive oil
  • 2 tbs (1 ounce) milk
  • Fruit or other filling of your choice - I used about 3 cups of fruit but a lot depends on the size of your tart pan
  • 3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) sugar
  • 2 tbs flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbs (1 ounce) cold butter
Preheat the oven to 425.

Mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients together. Combine the dry with the wet. It'll become a dough, right under your fingertips - I promise. When the tart dough has come together, press it into the tart pan. Make sure you press it in evenly, so the crust is evenly distributed across the bottom and sides.

Fill your tart with the fruit or other vegetables you've prepared.

In a small bowl, use your fingers to combine the sugar, salt and butter. Pinch and rub until you have a crumbly sugar mixture. Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the tart. (Obviously, omit this step if you're making a vegetable tart.)

Bake the tart until crust if well browned and the fruit is cooked and bubbly. This took me about 40 minutes in my oven.

Enjoy!

CSA Booty - Week 9


This week's share was made up of:
  • Tomatoes
  • 1 bunch of bright lights chard
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • lots of green and yellow beans
  • 1 bunch of amaranth
  • 1 small box of onions
  • 2 small boxes of sun gold cherry tomatoes
  • 2 heads of bok choy
So here's what I think I'm doing with these items:
  • I think I'm going to make this kale pasta again - it was really good and super easy to put together. I'm out of pancetta, so I'll make it with bacon. (Wanted to do this last week but didn't.)
  • I'm going to try a Mexican recipe of chicken in amaranth sauce (it uses both the green and the grain which is sorta neat) with the amaranth greens. (Wanted to do this last week but didn't.)
  • Some of the tomatoes already went into a fattoush salad (post to come).
  • The onions are going to be added into many dishes: they are super thinly sliced and raw in various dishes.
  • I'm going to pickle some of the beans.
  • Some of the beans are going to be a Thai-style green bean salad.
  • The chard. Hmm again. Maybe a greens pie again - that 'twas delicious.
So how'd I do with last week's haul? Here's what we ate from the CSA last week:
  • And another busy week. We ate the callaloo I made and froze last week.
  • I made pesto from the basil.
  • The kale went into kale pesto.
  • I started getting desperate toward the end of the week and sauteed up the kale and amaranth to use in dishes.
  • I made a broccoli stirfry with carrots to have alongside a Vietnamese-caramel marinated grilled chicken.
  • I know I made more than this, but I have no idea what!
This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share.

Friday, July 9, 2010

CSA Booty - Week 8


This week's share was made up of:
  • Plum tomatoes
  • 2 bunches of bright lights chard
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1 bunch of amaranth
  • 1 head of lettuce
  • 1 bunch of basil
  • 1 bunch of spring onions
  • 2 bunches of broccoli
  • Parsley, chives and rosemary
  • a lovely lily stem - so fragrant
So here's what I think I'm doing with these items:
  • I think I'm going to make this kale pasta again - it was really good and super easy to put together. I'm out of pancetta, so I'll make it with bacon.
  • I'm going to try a Mexican recipe of chicken in amaranth sauce (it uses both the green and the grain which is sorta neat) with the amaranth greens
  • The lettuce is either going to be a salad (maybe), but I didn't make lettuce wraps last week and I think I might want to this week.
  • The basil is going into pesto to sauce some trofie pasta I bought last week. Hello Genoa!
  • The onions are going to be added into many dishes: they are super thinly sliced and raw in various dishes.
  • I think I'll make a quiche with the broccoli and some of the chard.
  • The rest of the chard ... hmm ... maybe Swiss chard tacos? I might take some of the larger leaves and use them as a wrapper for fresh fish on the grill.
  • I'll just slip those tomatoes in here and there for color and flavor.
So how'd I do with last week's haul? Here's what we ate from the CSA last week:
  • This past week was super busy, so I decided to stock the freezer with a few soups to tide us over for future weeks: the lettuces all went into lettuce soup and the amaranth into callaloo. Each batch yielded 3-4 servings of soup.
  • The kale went into pasta with kale and pancetta - make this pasta (pictured left), it's a great use for kale and because you slice the leaves thin, the kale isn't as assertive as it can be sometimes.
  • The tomatoes went alongside a burger (with some grilled lettuce and chard pickles), into breakfast hash and a tomato salad we served with grilled mackerel.
  • The broccoli was turned into a salad along the lines of this one from the NY Times.
  • The spring onions were sliced thin and shredded over and it various dishes, like the pasta dish, the burger and the tomato salad.
  • The chard went into a frittata with some leftover pasta, peas and goat cheese.
  • I have to confess that I didn't get to the bok choy in time and it went into the compost bin. Made me sad to waste it, but it's the first vegetable from the CSA I haven't used, so I think that's pretty good.
This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share.

Use Your Booty: Kale Spectacular


As a service to my blog readers and fellow CSA members, here's a wrapup of the ten kale recipes I've got on this blog.

This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.

Use Your Booty: Pasta with Kale and Pancetta

What a great way to use up kale. Plus, put enough crispy pancetta on top and you've got a chance at winning over kale-haters. From start to finish, this dish took less than half an hour to pull together.

Pasta with Kale & Pancetta
Serves 6-8
  • 1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
  • 2 bunches kale, leaves pulled from the stems and cut into thin strips
  • 4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (if you only have thick-cut pancetta, cut it into small cubes)
  • 1/2 of a small onion, sliced into super-thin strips
  • 1 egg, beaten, optional
  • parmesan cheese
  • salt & pepper
  • sherry vinegar
Boil the spaghetti in a large pot of salted water. When the pasta is almost cooked through (just still a tiny bit chewy) add the kale to the pasta pot. When the pasta is cooked to your taste, drain the pasta and kale, reserving a cup of the cooking water (to make sure you don't forget this part, put a coffee mug in the colander to remind you to scoop out some pasta water).

In the meantime, sauté the pancetta in a skillet until it's crisp. Set aside.

When the pasta ia cooked, dump it back into the pot, add in the sliced onion, and stir in a little pasta water. Add in the beaten egg, if using, and keep stirring, adding more pasta water if needed to make a saucier consistency. Stir in a handful or so of parmesan cheese. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste (I like this dish peppery).

Portion the pasta into soup plates and top with crispy pancetta. Drizzle a few drops of vinegar over the top. Enjoy!

This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Fresh Fruit Galette

I do a ton of baking for my clients, but recently I feel like I'm been too busy to do any baking for us! Last night I wanted a tart for dessert and I had some gorgeous cherries from Arrowhead Family Farm and some black raspberries from our yard.

The crust in this recipe is a Flo Braker recipe from Baking With Julia. It's a great addition to your baking repertoire and works well in sweet and savory applications. Make sure you give yourself time to let the dough chill - I didn't and pushed it: the results were fine, but the dough was a lot more challenging to work with than it should have been.

Substitute any mixture of fresh fruit that you have on hand. You can layer the fruit daintily into the crust or just tumble it in like I did. If your fruit is super juicy, you can put a tablespoon or two of breadcrumbs or cookie crumbles into the crust before you add the fruit.

Fresh Fruit Galette
Serves 4-6
  • 1 recipe cornmeal galette dough (below)
  • 1 1/2 - 2 cups cut up fresh fruit - I used a mixture of yellow and red cherries and black raspberries
  • 1-3 tablespoons sugar (depending on the sweetness of your fruit)
  • 1 tablespoon butter
On a lightly floured surface, roll the galette dough into a 12" circle (it's okay if it's not a perfect circle, galettes can be "rustic"). Transfer the round of dough to a parchment-lined or non-stick baking sheet.

Stir the fruit and sugar together and spoon the fruit onto the center of the dough, leaving a 3-4" margin of dough. Dot the fruit with the butter.

Lift the dough up and over the fruit, forming a pleated edge (see the picture up there).

Bake for 20-30 minutes until fruit is juicy and the crust is nicely browned.

Cornmeal Galette Dough
From Flo Braker in Baking with Julia
  • 3 tablespoons yogurt or sour cream
  • 1/4 cup ice water
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal - I like a coarse-grind cornmeal, but you can use a finer grind if you don't want a crunchier crust
  • 1-2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 7 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
Whisk together the yogurt and water, set aside in the fridge so it stays cold.

Whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt together. Toss in the butter and cut the butter in (with your fingers, 2 knives, a pastry cutter or in the food processor - your choice) until you have a mixture that looks like like cornmeal with some pea-sized pieces in it.

With a rubber spatula, fold in the water/yogurt mixture. If the dough seems too dry, add more water, a tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together. Wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for 2 hours or so at a minimum. The dough freezes really well, so make a double or triple batch and freeze the dough for later.

Make This Please: Scallop Roll

The lobster roll is a staple of the summer dining menu: chunks of lobster meat cloaked in mayonnaise, and accompanied by chopped celery and herbs. When Dave asked for a scallop roll for dinner he was thinking of what we see at the clam shacks around here: deep fried, breaded scallops in a hot dog bun. Somehow I had a brain fade and thought lobster roll instead. Happy accident.

I dressed chunks of cooked scallops with mayonnaise, whisper-thin slices of onion, chopped parsley and scallions and a squeeze of lemon juice. The scallops then got spooned into a butter-grilled hot dog bun.

I cut the richness of the scallop roll by serving it with a lemony slaw and some sun gold tomatoes.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

CSA Booty - Week 7

This week's share (week SEVEN? Wow Summer is starting to fly isn't it?) included:
  • 1 bunch Swiss chard
  • 1 bunch amaranth
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 small box of tomatoes - yay!
  • 2 lettuces
  • 2 bunches of broccoli
  • 2 bunches of spring onions
  • 1 bunch of bok choy
So here's what I think I'm doing with these items:
  • The lettuces are going to be used as wraps for pork larb (a salad of ground pork and herbs).
  • The tomatoes are going into either a salad or a quick tomato sauce for fresh pasta.
  • I have a bushel of lettuce that I'll turn into lettuce soup.
  • I'm pickling the spring onions and using the long scallion-like leaves as scallions.
  • The kale will be turned into a white bean and kale pesto spread.
  • I'm going to use the amaranth to make callaloo again.
  • The broccoli will be steamed and sauced with lots of garlic, anchovy and parsley.
  • Bok choy becomes a stir fry (with last week's still unused bok choy).
  • I'll probably make some sort of tabouli-ish salad with the chard.
So how'd I do with last week's haul? Here's what we ate (and what CSA items were used) last week:
This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Use Your Booty: Torta d'Erbe

In Italian cuisine, a torta is a pie or tart. This one is a greens pie with a yeasted dough crust. For those of you afraid of pie crust, a yeasted dough might be a nice gateway pastry: you can't overwork the dough like you can with a short crust, the dough provides a firm case for the filling and doesn't get soggy like a pastry crust can.

To make for easy assembly, make the dough when it's convenient for you and after it rises, punch it down and refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the tart. Make your filling ahead as well - a warm filling will make the dough harder to work with. I made my tart in a free-form gallette style with a pleated top but you could easily make your tart in a tart, cake or pie pan if you wish.

Torta d'Erbe
Makes 1 large tart, 6-8 entrée servings
  • 1 recipe yeasted tart dough, below
  • 4-6 cups cooked, chopped greens (I used kale and Swiss chard in this tart)
  • 4 ounces mozzarella, cubed
  • 1 ounce parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • red wine vinegar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 egg for egg wash
  • sesame seeds for garnish
Combine the greens, cheeses, and olives. Combine well and taste. Add salt & pepper to taste. If you think the greens need more acidic brightness stir in a few drops of red wine vinegar. When you're happy with the seasoning, stir in the 2 eggs.

On a lightly flour surface, roll the tart dough into a large circle (about 18"), sprinkling with more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Transfer the dough onto a greased baking sheet or into an 11" tart pan.

Evenly spread the filling onto the dough, leaving a 4" margin if you're using a baking sheet and over the entire tart pan if using a tart pan. Lift the dough up and over the filling, pleating the dough to layer it evenly across the top of the tart.

Beat the other egg with a tablespoon of water and brush the egg wash over the tart. Sprinkle the tart with sesame seeds.

Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes until the crust is well browned. Check the underside of the tart - if it's not browned well, bake the tart for another 10 minutes or so. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yeasted Tart Dough
Makes enough for one large tart
  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 cup room temperature water
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 13.5 - 18 ounces (3-4 cups) flour
  • 3 ounces butter, at room temperature OR 1/3 cup olive oil (I like the butter version best)
Stir together the yeast, sugar and water. When the yeast is dissolved in to the water, stir in the salt, egg and half the flour. Stir well to form a stiff paste (use a mixer with paddle attachment if you wish). Stir in the butter (the dough will soften back up). Keep adding more flour until the dough is dough-like.

Turn the dough out onto the counter and knead, adding more flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Knead until the dough is tender, shiny and smooth, about 10 minutes of contemplative kneading. It shouldn't be sticky. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap

Let dough rise for about 1 hour, until doubled. Form tart as above, or if you aren't ready to make the tart, press the dough down to deflate it, recover and put the dough in the fridge until you're ready to make the tart.

You can freeze the dough for a week or so: put the dough into a ziploc bag, press out the air and freeze. Let thaw in a cool place for 6-8 hours.

This Summer, I am chronicling my first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experience. My CSA share is from Arrowhead Farm, a farm based in Newburyport, MA. Each week, I am posting about what was in my share and what I'm doing with it. By way of full disclosure, I won my share through a raffle and am not paying for it. However, Arrowhead did not know I was entered in the raffle, and I received no special consideration because of this blog. I paid for my livestock share. A full set of all the photos I've taken of this share is here.
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