I was going to make pasta for dinner this week and got the sudden urge to not buy sauce, but instead make my own. Sadly, I still have not received tomatoes in my CSA, so I went and bought some organic ones at the market. I had some yummy basil from my CSA and I couldn't wait to use it up!
Homemade Pasta Sauce
2 lb Plum tomatoes, peeled*
1 red onion, chopped
1 head garlic, roasted**
3 small carrots, peeled and chopped
1 C fresh basil, chopped
2 T dried oregano
2 T olive oil
2-3 C Vegetable Stock
1/4 C red wine (optional)
1 small bunch of basil
2 garlic scapes
1 T olive oil
2 T Nutritional Yeast
In large sauce pan heat oil over medium heat, then add onions and carrots and saute 5-7 minutes. Add basil tomatoes (whole), and garlic cloves, then cover with stock - don't make it too liquidy, just enough to cover tomatoes. Add red wine and stir thoroughly. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, drop down to low and simmer as long as you can until the tomatoes break down. Ideally you would slow simmer for 6 - 8 hours, stirring often and breaking apart the tomatoes. Once the sauce is done, set to cool for an hour. In a food processor, add scapes, basil and olive oil, then process until smooth. Add 1/2 the sauce and process on low just until smooth, not completely though, with small chunks. Place in bowl. Add rest of unprocessed sauce to processor and nutritional yeast and process on medium until a bit smoother than the last batch. Add to bowl and mix together thoroughly. Reheat when ready to use.
*To peel a tomato, place them in boiling water for about 10 minutes until skin starts to crack. Shock them with cold water and peel off the skin with your hands.
**Slice off the top of garlic exposing the tips of the cloves. Place in baking dish and drizzle with oil. Bake 15 minutes at 400 until garlic tops turn golden brown. Remove from oven and using a fork or some other small point, pop out the roasted garlic cloves
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Mushroom Bacon
I opted for a CSA of mushrooms this summer. I did this on a whim since my husband does not like mushrooms, but I promised him that 1 pound of mushrooms a week would help change his mind. The key has been trying to find different ways of cooking mushrooms. This recipe does just that. He devoured these delicious little strips eagerly at dinner last night and insisted I put the recipe on my blog for others to enjoy. Being a vegetarian 95% of the time, bacon is something we miss eating. Why is there something so special about bacon? Well, whatever the reason, here it is....the best vegetarian bacon I've ever had.
Mushroom Bacon
1 lb King Oysters, thinly sliced in strips
4 T butter (at least...it's not healthy, but either is bacon)
salt and pepper (lots of these, too!)
Preheat oven to 375 and oil a baking sheet. Meanwhile, melt a tablespoon of butter in a heavy cast iron skillet and add a 1/4 of the strips of mushroom. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until bottom is dark brown (but not burnt). Flip and cook until dark brown. Set on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mushrooms. Bake for 5 minutes and serve hot!
These would be excellent in omelets, or on BLT's (or MLT's as they would be called), or on any type of breakfast sandwich. We had them as a side to baked eggs and cheese. Delicious!!!
Mushroom Bacon
1 lb King Oysters, thinly sliced in strips
4 T butter (at least...it's not healthy, but either is bacon)
salt and pepper (lots of these, too!)
Preheat oven to 375 and oil a baking sheet. Meanwhile, melt a tablespoon of butter in a heavy cast iron skillet and add a 1/4 of the strips of mushroom. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until bottom is dark brown (but not burnt). Flip and cook until dark brown. Set on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mushrooms. Bake for 5 minutes and serve hot!
These would be excellent in omelets, or on BLT's (or MLT's as they would be called), or on any type of breakfast sandwich. We had them as a side to baked eggs and cheese. Delicious!!!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Pesto & Veggie Egg Sandwich
I love this time of year for CSA's because everything is green. Green foods energize me and get me on track for summer fun. This weeks CSA shares had the once a year delight, garlic scapes, in abundance. Scapes are the tops of the garlic that shoot up in early summer. To get nice fat garlic heads, the farmer cuts the scapes so that nutrients are no longer lost on these shoots. The scapes are long and curly and have a mild garlic taste. I use them in everything I would use garlic in, plus add them raw to my salads. This recipe also calls for pesto, which I had a jar of in my fridge, but I'm thinking next time I'd like to try and make a spinach scape pesto. Either way, this open-face sandwich was kick-ass. I also used bread and mushrooms from my CSA add-ons, too. This is one yummy, Maine grown meal!
Pesto & Veggie Egg Sandwich
4 eggs
2 C spinach, ripped into pieces
1 tomato, sliced into rounds
4 T pesto (or more if you love pesto like I do!)
1 C blue oyster mushrooms, chopped (this really could be any type of mushroom)
2T unsalted butter
4 thick slices of bread
4 oz shredded cheese (I used a creamy onion & herb cheese from Pineland Farms)
Melt butter in skillet and saute mushrooms for 5 minutes, then add spinach and scapes. Saute for another 2 minutes until spinach is wilted. Meanwhile, toast the bread and spread 1 tablespoon of pesto on each slice. Add sliced tomatoes and spinach & mushroom mixture. Quickly fry 4 eggs, leaving yolks runny and place one on top of each sandwich. Sprinkle with cheese and serve with a large salad for a quick, summery lunch or dinner.
Pesto & Veggie Egg Sandwich
4 eggs
2 C spinach, ripped into pieces
1 tomato, sliced into rounds
4 T pesto (or more if you love pesto like I do!)
1 C blue oyster mushrooms, chopped (this really could be any type of mushroom)
2T unsalted butter
4 thick slices of bread
4 oz shredded cheese (I used a creamy onion & herb cheese from Pineland Farms)
Melt butter in skillet and saute mushrooms for 5 minutes, then add spinach and scapes. Saute for another 2 minutes until spinach is wilted. Meanwhile, toast the bread and spread 1 tablespoon of pesto on each slice. Add sliced tomatoes and spinach & mushroom mixture. Quickly fry 4 eggs, leaving yolks runny and place one on top of each sandwich. Sprinkle with cheese and serve with a large salad for a quick, summery lunch or dinner.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Beet Green Risotto
I know you must be sick of risotto recipes on here, but it is seriously my favorite food. I know it probably does not compare to real, Italian risotto, which is more soupy and creamy, but mine is pretty darn good and makes my family happy. And if I want perfect risotto then it's practice, practice, practice. Risotto is labor intensive in that you have to continuously stir for the entire 30 or so minutes it takes for the rice to reach that perfect al-dente state, where the center is still white with a bit of firmness. Have everything chopped and ready to go before you start cooking. This weeks risotto was planned specifically for my recipe book I want to write based on a typical summer CSA.
Beet Green Risotto
1 C arborio rice
1 C white wine
4 C stock, kept warm on the stove
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 T unsalted butter
2 C baby beet greens, stems removed & set aside, leaves chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1 T vinegar (to help the beet greens retain their bright color)
In a large skillet add 2 T butter and melt over medium-low heat. Add onions and stems of beet greens (if they are bigger than 1 inch, chop smaller) and saute until onions are translucent and soft. Add rice and stir thoroughly. Once it starts to lightly brown add wine and start stirring. Once the wine is mostly absorbed in, add a ladle of warm stock and continue this process. Check the rice often and when it is just about cooked, still slightly firm in the middle, add one last ladle of stock with the beet greens and vinegar. Stir until stock is mostly absorbed and rice has soupy quality. Remove from heat and add butter, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly and serve immediately with a light side salad.
Beet Green Risotto
1 C arborio rice
1 C white wine
4 C stock, kept warm on the stove
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 T unsalted butter
2 C baby beet greens, stems removed & set aside, leaves chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1 T vinegar (to help the beet greens retain their bright color)
In a large skillet add 2 T butter and melt over medium-low heat. Add onions and stems of beet greens (if they are bigger than 1 inch, chop smaller) and saute until onions are translucent and soft. Add rice and stir thoroughly. Once it starts to lightly brown add wine and start stirring. Once the wine is mostly absorbed in, add a ladle of warm stock and continue this process. Check the rice often and when it is just about cooked, still slightly firm in the middle, add one last ladle of stock with the beet greens and vinegar. Stir until stock is mostly absorbed and rice has soupy quality. Remove from heat and add butter, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly and serve immediately with a light side salad.
Parsnip Croquettes
Summer CSA has started with Hatchet Cove Farms and boy was I excited to get the first bag, delivered right to my front porch, on Tuesday morning. On top of my veggies, I also did some add-ons that they offered, through association with other food producers. One is a pound of fresh mushrooms from Oyster Creek in Damariscotta, and the other is a fresh loaf of bread from Village Bakery & Cafe in Waldoboro. I am so excited! The first batch of veggies contained early summer Broccoli (so sweet and tender), Pea Shoots (my favorite part of growing peas!), Mesclun Mix, Lacinato Kale (also known as Dino Kale), and Baby Beet Greens. The mushrooms were King Oyster's, which I've never had so should be exciting to try those, and the bread was a big moist loaf of classic sandwich bread. All-in-all, a great start to the summer CSA season.
That said, I still have some root veggies in the fridge to use up. Especially the parsnips. We have had parsnips 80 different ways this winter and I really thought I had run out of ideas. Then I stumbled across a recipe for Parsnip Croquettes - these are usually made with potatoes, and there heyday was back in 1970's (perhaps because they fry up nice and golden, like the color of that nice mustard yellow floor tile in the kitchen....and just about everything else in the 70's) - but I'm thinking about bringing them back in style. With a twist. I gathered up the ingredients I had and whipped up these nice little croquettes. We had them with Beet Green Risotto (recipe to follow) and a small side salad. I even made some yummy honey mustard dip for them. Delicious!
Parsnip Croquettes
5 large parsnips, peeled and cut into sticks (center rib removed)*
3 T chives,
1/2 C milk
1 egg
4 T wheat flour
1/2 C bread crumbs
3 T unsalted butter
salt & pepper
oil for frying
Steam parsnips until extremely soft and mushy. Remove from heat and mash in a large bowl. Add milk, a little bit at a time, and whip by hand. You want the mixture to be like mashed potatoes, not overly runny, but creamy. Add egg, chives, 2 T of flour, butter, and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Mix remaining flour and bread crumbs in a separate dish. Roll parsnip mix into golf ball sized and roll in bread mixture until thoroughly covered. Set aside on a plate and repeat until all croquettes are made up. Place in fridge for at least 1 hour to set. When ready, heat oil in large skillet and fry up croquettes until brown on each side, gently pressing them into thick patties after the first flip. Makes 10 croquettes. Serve with the following dip or anything you'd like.
*Remember to keep those peelings, ribs, and any other unused part of your veggies for a weekly stock.
Honey Mustard
2 T mustard
2 T honey
1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
Whip ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.
That said, I still have some root veggies in the fridge to use up. Especially the parsnips. We have had parsnips 80 different ways this winter and I really thought I had run out of ideas. Then I stumbled across a recipe for Parsnip Croquettes - these are usually made with potatoes, and there heyday was back in 1970's (perhaps because they fry up nice and golden, like the color of that nice mustard yellow floor tile in the kitchen....and just about everything else in the 70's) - but I'm thinking about bringing them back in style. With a twist. I gathered up the ingredients I had and whipped up these nice little croquettes. We had them with Beet Green Risotto (recipe to follow) and a small side salad. I even made some yummy honey mustard dip for them. Delicious!
Parsnip Croquettes
5 large parsnips, peeled and cut into sticks (center rib removed)*
3 T chives,
1/2 C milk
1 egg
4 T wheat flour
1/2 C bread crumbs
3 T unsalted butter
salt & pepper
oil for frying
Steam parsnips until extremely soft and mushy. Remove from heat and mash in a large bowl. Add milk, a little bit at a time, and whip by hand. You want the mixture to be like mashed potatoes, not overly runny, but creamy. Add egg, chives, 2 T of flour, butter, and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Mix remaining flour and bread crumbs in a separate dish. Roll parsnip mix into golf ball sized and roll in bread mixture until thoroughly covered. Set aside on a plate and repeat until all croquettes are made up. Place in fridge for at least 1 hour to set. When ready, heat oil in large skillet and fry up croquettes until brown on each side, gently pressing them into thick patties after the first flip. Makes 10 croquettes. Serve with the following dip or anything you'd like.
*Remember to keep those peelings, ribs, and any other unused part of your veggies for a weekly stock.
Honey Mustard
2 T mustard
2 T honey
1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
Whip ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Asparagus & Eggs
My CSA share last week from Little Ridge Farms included Asparagus. I love asparagus. In fact, I wait all year for it as the first official sign of spring. Those green wonderful little trees are so delectable when fresh off the farm...once you have them, you will never go back to the tasteless green sticks at the supermarket. In light of these wonderful veggies, I made a light spring dinner tonight.
Asparagus & Eggs
1 bunch of fresh asparagus, tough ends trimmed if necessary
2 eggs
2 handfuls sorrel
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper
1 T butter, unsalted
3 T water
Citrus Avocado Sauce
1/2 avocado
1 T olive oil
1 lemon, squeezed
1/4 C orange juice
1 T honey
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1. Place all ingredients for sauce in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.
2. Heat 2 oil in large saute pan with a tight fitting lid, sprinkling pan with salt and pepper.
3. Saute asparagus spears for 5-7 minutes, stirring once or twice.
4. Cover with water and place lid on pan. Keep covered for 8 minutes, or until spears are tender.
5. Meanwhile, heat frying pan over meat heat and add butter. Fry 2 eggs, leaving the yolks runny.
6. Remove asparagus from pan and set aside, keeping warm.
7. Add sorrel to asparagus water and saute until wilted.
8. To plate: Place 1/2 sorrel on plate and cover with fried egg. Wrap asparagus around the egg/sorrel in a C shape, drizzling citrus avocado sauce over asparagus spears. Serve with toast.
Asparagus & Eggs
1 bunch of fresh asparagus, tough ends trimmed if necessary
2 eggs
2 handfuls sorrel
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper
1 T butter, unsalted
3 T water
Citrus Avocado Sauce
1/2 avocado
1 T olive oil
1 lemon, squeezed
1/4 C orange juice
1 T honey
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1. Place all ingredients for sauce in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.
2. Heat 2 oil in large saute pan with a tight fitting lid, sprinkling pan with salt and pepper.
3. Saute asparagus spears for 5-7 minutes, stirring once or twice.
4. Cover with water and place lid on pan. Keep covered for 8 minutes, or until spears are tender.
5. Meanwhile, heat frying pan over meat heat and add butter. Fry 2 eggs, leaving the yolks runny.
6. Remove asparagus from pan and set aside, keeping warm.
7. Add sorrel to asparagus water and saute until wilted.
8. To plate: Place 1/2 sorrel on plate and cover with fried egg. Wrap asparagus around the egg/sorrel in a C shape, drizzling citrus avocado sauce over asparagus spears. Serve with toast.
The Power of Green
In an attempt to lose weight and get that great glow before my wedding, I'm pushing more raw foods in my diet. I've been doing my best with the local veggies that have been available, but now that I'm heading into CSA season, I can do even better. Today's power-packed lunch is all green and all goodness. The only non-raw item is the nori roll I used to wrap it all up....but close enough.The Power of Green Wrap
1 stick of asparagus
1 scallion
1/2 avocado
few slices of cucumber
1 sheet nori
Cut off top of asparagus and leave that for garnish. Cut scallion and cucumber into sticks. Slice avocado, leaving some on the side for garnish. Place veggies on sheet of nori near top. Wet edges of nori with a damp finger. Roll tightly, slice in half and garnish with top of asparagus and pieces of avocado. Devour!!!
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