Summer Sky: Learning as I go

Chop, chop.

It feels strange to shift from the suffering of Haiti to the comforts of home, but right now this is our reality.  We live in gratitude for what we have, ever mindful that others do without.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It's been a while since I've done some serious cooking, beyond the old standbys.  In late December, a spot suddenly opened up at the CSA where we've been wait-listed for a whole year.

We get the medium box (a mix of vegetables with one or two fruits) delivered to our door (!) by the same farm that delivers our milk. For our family of four it's just enough to eat heartily for a week.

In the winter, many of the vegetables are (to quote the CSA) "from a little further away," but the vegetable varieties (like the burgundy carrots) are beyond what's at the grocery store.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate this new-to-us bounty. We'll always go to the farmers' market, but having someone choose vegetables for us really helps me out with meal planning. 

The other night, I was in need of a new recipe for a whole head of cauliflower. So, I opened Love Soup by Anna Thomas and found her cauliflower bisque with buttered breadcrumbs. It's a vegetarian cookbook Amy Karol recommended and I couldn't buy it fast enough after checking it out of the library.

Each soup calls for a vegetable broth base (she has several versions). Thomas lets you used canned broth instead, but why bother? You can easily make her basic root broth in an hour, with only 10 minutes of labor; I recommend putting a gallon of water in a stockpot on the stove before you chop the vegetables, so it's ready to simmer when you are.

I used 6 or 7 medium-sized turnips, two bunches of kale, 2 onions, several stalks of celery, 5 parsnips, 2 potatoes, a head of peeled garlic, and 5 carrots. (It's a great way to use the tops and stems of veggies; I'm going to start saving them for stock.) I didn't have fresh parsley, rutabaga, or leeks, so I used extra parsnips, onions, celery, and some dried parsley instead.

Add a bay leaf, a teaspoon of thyme, a few peppercorns, and you're in business! Just simmer for 45 minutes. The vegetables are then strained out—their flavor and nutrition gone—and they can go straight to a compost pile. One batch of broth made enough for 3 soup recipes, so I froze the leftovers in two batches.

4 cups of this broth go into Love Soup's cauliflower bisque. The soup is finished with a tad of goat cheese or cream cheese (stir until melted). I only added the cheese to the soup we were about to eat—extra soup freezes better without dairy and you can add the cheese to the leftovers just before serving.

D could not stop raving. I think this soup holds the record for the most comments from him in one meal. I liked it just fine, but it did make me realize I had been in a bit of a cooking rut. Oh well--onward and upward!

One local summer: week 13, off my rocker

Well, one local summer is winding down. I'm a little sad about it, really.  It truly does feel like the end of summer, although the local, seasonal eating will continue.

I figured we'd go out with a bang by taking my go-to lasagna recipe and seeing how much of it I could make local.  No, I don't do this all the time, I just wanted to try it out. For fun. Let me assure you, something like this can only be done (by me at least) in stages over the course of several days. Preferably while your kids are bugging playing sweetly with your kindly neighbor for a couple of hours.

The lasagna components

noodles

ricotta filling (ricotta, spinach, parmesan cheese, pepper, dried oregano, fresh parsley, nutmeg)

6 cups of tomato sauce (mine is tomatoes, garlic-infused olive oil, and red pepper flakes)

mozzarella cheese

The story of the noodles

Well, I couldn't find lasagna noodles at the farmers' market. I wasn't too surprised. So I had to go with option B: make them myself.

I used this recipe and the grist mill flour. I followed her instructions and had paper-thin noodles using a rolling pin without a single problem. I only needed 5 T of water to get the dough to come together. The most important rule: let the dough rest if it's not cooperating.

(I did let the noodles dry for a couple of hours and then placed them, wrapped, in the fridge overnight, because I read some online horror stories about using fresh pasta for lasagna.)

The story of the ricotta filling

The real reason I wanted to make this lasagna is that I can't stop thinking about homemade ricotta (really paneer). Freshly made, it keeps in the fridge for a couple of days.  The only reason I don't make it more often is that it leaves behind an incredible amount of whey, more than I can freeze and use in other recipes.

So, take 3 1/2 cups ricotta. Add to that 2 T chopped fresh parsley, ground black pepper to taste, one tablespoon of dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg, one cup cooked spinach, (or, in late summer, kale), and 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese. (I did not opt for a local substitute for the parmesan. Sorry!)

Putting it all together

Spoon a layer of tomato sauce (which you can also make in advance and store in the fridge) on the bottom of your lasagna pan. Then place four lasagna noodles on top. (I usually use the pre-cooked noodles. It saves a lot of time and certain brands are surprisingly good.) Next, spoon half of the ricotta filling onto the noodles, spreading to cover. Liberally place mozzarella cheese (local today!) on top.  Place the last four noodles on top of that, and repeat.  On top of the second mozzarella layer, add a last covering of sauce and a final topping of mozzarella cheese.

My lasagna recipe is based on the Beef and Vegetable Lasagna from the New Basics Cookbook. However, I almost always omit the beef.

How did the noodles taste? Pretty darn good! I have no intentions of making lasagna noodles on a regular basis, but this turned out to be a tasty experiment.

 

One local summer: week 12

I opted for soup and sandwiches for our OLS dinner this week--chilled corn chowder with BLTs.  I used this recipe for smoky corn and chile chowder. It would be just as delicious served hot on a colder night.

Let's see: it has fresh corn (of course), summer squash, roasted red peppers, onions, lots of potatoes, and chives for the garnish. And cream. Yum.

(FYI: rather than use a grill to char the peppers, I just put them skin down over the open gas flame on my stove top until they're blackened. The link above provides the rest of the steps.)

The BLTs were quite tasty too--bacon, super ripe tomatoes, lettuce (yes, local, but from a hot house). We used a local rustic bread and homemade mayonnaise (or as we say now, aioli) to complete these scrumptious sandwiches. 

The mayo was barely local: the eggs, vinegar, and mustard were local, but the crucial ingredient, lots of fine olive oil, of course was not.  Colleen is gonna bean me (not because it wasn't local, but because she hates mayonnaise!).

I will tell you, I just had to make the mayo, because I've been trying to find a good excuse for some time to make Julia Child's famed recipe.  Like just about everyone else who's read it, I adored her book, My Life in France* (co-authored with her nephew).  I came away deeply impressed by her persistence in testing and refining fool-proof proportions and techniques so that even the amateur chef could whip up something authentic. 

Plus, who could resist a recipe that was labelled "Top Secret" and "Eyes Only" when it was forwarded to her sister in California to try, over 55 years ago?  You can see these very pages here along with a funny little story which just goes to show why Julia Child is still a towering force in the American kitchen.  

 

*Let me just say for the record (although not for the last time) that it pains me that there is a movie-tie-in version of this book with Meryl Streep on the cover as Julia. I linked to it only because there isn't another one available at the moment. Yes, I plan on seeing the movie, I love Meryl Streep, and anticipate enjoying it immensely, but for crying out loud! why couldn't they keep the original sweet cover, which showed the REAL Julia, together with her beloved husband Paul, as depicted in one of Paul's carefully crafted annual valentines sent out to friends? It was perfect! Some things should be left completely alone!

One local summer: week 11

We were gone again last week--this time, to Michigan's Leelanau peninsula, where D finally takes off work and joins us for a true family vacation.

 

There were farmers' stands everywhere, town markets on different days of the week, and quite a few farms within a 30 minute drive, so it wasn't too hard to come up with local ingredients.  The trick was preparing them with a less than full kitchen and few spices.

I was surprised there was no (very) local sweet corn--the woman at the stand pictured above told me it was two weeks away (!) but it's been a cool summer for them.

Leelanau County is home to most of Michigan's cherry orchards, and their tart cherries are great for cooking and baking (especially pies).  I wanted to incorporate cherries into our meal, but my resources were just too limited, so I opted for cherry wine in a marinade.  The shame of it is, cherries were readily available, because their peak was about two weeks later than usual; when we've come in the past, the season is over.

 

Dinner was very simple. Super fresh local vegetables roasted in olive oil--green beans, beets, and onions (the beets and onions were still small, because we were so much further north), plus local steak marinated in local cherry wine with a little garlic.

 

I would have liked to grill everything, but the grill ran out of gas and I had to finish up in the oven. Which worked out fine.

 

 

Dessert was local red raspberries that had been picked just two hours earlier. I wish we had been able to pick our own, but we were swimming in the lake, visiting local sights, and catching up with old friends.  We gobbled these up, just the same, still slightly warm from the sun.

 

One local summer: week 7.

 

Like a lot of other people, I've been eagerly awaiting tomato season and it's officially here. Besides eating them fresh, we enjoy baking them into our favorite savory summer tart. The tart is full of different kinds of easily obtainable, local, fresh vegetables.

Oh, there's one more veggie in there. Celery.  Before the ols challenge, I never knew you couldn't just drop by our farmers' market in July and buy celery. I had no clue celery requires a colder climate than ours, and is, apparently, a fickle plant to grow. Finding a local version, I came realize, was probably not going to happen.

I really wanted to make this tomato tart as part of an all-local dinner. So what to substitute? Swiss chard stalks! The first swiss chard I've ever bought. As I was considering my options at the farmers' market, this one presented itself, and in this recipe, it works great as a substitute for celery.

 

It's a little hard to tell the swiss chard stalks from the onion in this pic, but it's in there, looking rather celery-like.

 

To round out our meal, we cooked fresh corn on the cob and tossed some greens with a fresh honey-mustard vinaigrette (local honey, local mustard--McCutcheon's--and local vinegar) using a recipe straight from The Joy of Cooking.

 

This tomato tart is based on a luscious one from the trusty Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It's a super easy two-step recipe (you make the crust, then the filling) but because the veggies stew for an hour and you need to pre-bake the crust, you need a couple of hours (with lots of down time) to do it right. Don't bother buying your pie crust from the store, and skip the step of rolling the crust--just press it straight into the tart plate.

I used 100% stone-ground red whole wheat flour from the Burwell-Morgan Mill, and it gave the crust a nutty flavor that complemented the filling very well. This tart is also delicious as leftovers, although the crust gets a little soggy after the first day.

 

Savory Tomato Tart (adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)

To make the dough:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons white all-purpose flour or 100% whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temp, cut into small pieces

3 tablespoons of ice water

(the cookbook calls for sugar, even for the savory tart, but I omitted it)

Stir flour and salt in a bowl, then work the butter into the flour with your fingers until you get fine crumbs (but short of being smooth). Stir in the water, a tablespoon at a time, continuing to work the dough until it just pulls together. Wrap and place in the fridge for 5 minutes (the cookbook says 15, if you'd like to roll your crust).

Press the crust evenly into a 9-inch tart plate (unless you've rolled your dough). (Make sure the dough is even and not too thin--but you do want it to come up at least 3/4" to 1" high (thicker on the bottom than the sides) to hold all the filling. I prefer a 1.5"* deep tart plate because my "regular" tart plate nearly didn't hold the filling the last time [you can press the crust so it rises above the tart plate in order to hold the filling in, per the cookbook]). 

Place the tart pan in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

Pre-bake your shell while the veggies for the filling are cooking (see next recipe). Bake the tart crust in a 400 degree pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes. (The tart also bakes at 400 degrees so you might want to leave the oven on if it takes a while to heat up again.)

To make the filling:

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pot. Add:

2 small swiss chard stalks (or celery stalks), chopped

1 carrot, finely diced

1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 onion, finely diced

1 minced garlic clove

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

5 basil leaves

You'll also separately need for later: 3 well-beaten eggs

Heat the vegetables to a low boil and reduce the heat to low. Cook on low for one hour. Stir occasionally. (The recipe says to add water if it seems dry, but that's never happened to me.)

Puree the veggies. (Please, if you've never tried to puree hot liquids in a blender or food processor, BE CAREFUL. Volcanic explosions may ensue. I prefer to use an immersion blender and puree it right in the pot.)

Season the puree with salt and pepper. (The recipe calls for at least 1/2 tsp salt but I've found that's too little. I'll go out on a limb and say 1 tsp, plus lots of fresh ground pepper.)

Next, stir your beaten eggs into the puree.  Pour the filling into the crust and bake in the 400 degree oven until a toothpick comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes (I typically have to cook it the full 35 or even slightly longer--you will notice the middle becomes firm instead of soupy).

Cool at least 10 minutes (or more) before serving.

*corrected from first posting

 

One local summer: week 6

It's mind-boggling that we are into our sixth week of one local summer. I'm so glad we joined up. In addition to getting around to a local farmers' market each week, I've had fun making up dinner ideas on the fly according to what's being harvested.  This week--finally--we saw lots of tomatoes and some garlic.

 

The kids were out and about all day and not particularly hungry when we got home. So while D put them to bed, I fixed something for just the two of us. We've been eating out on the porch in the evenings when it's cooled down. With a bouquet of market flowers, it's quite romantic.

Anyhow, for this quick meal I roughly chopped some tomatoes--a small, pretty variety called Juliette (so apropos!), and sauteed them in some garlic-infused olive oil (in plain English, fry slices of fresh garlic in olive oil until brown, then remove). I added some red-pepper flakes for bite, then cooked the tomatoes for about 15 or 20 minutes.  We served the sauce over fresh pasta with an extra dribble of olive oil, local mozzarella, and basil from the garden.

  

 

For a side salad, we had fresh mixed local greens with a blueberry vinaigrette (saute a sliced fresh local shallot and one bulb of garlic, cool, then add to 1 part red wine vinegar in a small food processor together with a handful of blueberries; blend until blueberries are chopped, then drizzle in 3 parts good olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste, blending a little more).

And for dessert, a little more blackberry gelato, which had all-local ingredients except for the sugar and salt. (I should get a little braver and try honey as a sweetener, but making gelato, period, was brave enough for now.) 

 

Drive-by: one local summer week 5 + Seasons Round Exchange (autumn harvest)

Where has the week gone? My last post, scarily enough, was about ols, week 4. We have done a thing or two since then. Lots of time at the pool. Extra-long days with good friends. Actually getting started on a sewing project or two (although nothing interesting yet to show for it).

Before quickly describing our menu for week 5, let me mention the Seasons Round Exchange organized by K from the lovely blog, are so happy. Until July 15th (or the list reaches 100), you can join in. Each participant will be assigned someone to send 3 to 5 items, at least one of which is handmade, for a nature table display. The theme is autumn harvest and items must be sent by September 15. You don't have to have a blog and you don't have to have kids to participate.

Also, I have finally posted many of my blog photos on Flickr. I'll eventually host the photos there as well (meaning when you click on a photo, you will be sent to Flickr) but it's just a tad time-consuming with nearly 300 photos. Not sure why I waited so long! But talking to Molly gave me the nudge I needed.

Ok, dinner: Thai-inspired beef stir-fry. 

 

I started out with this recipe, but used (obviously) beef instead of chicken.

I also threw in yellow squash and sugar snap peas (again!).

For the onions, I used shallots, a tiny new red onion, and a small spring onion.  

I used garlic scapes instead of garlic, again.

For the dried chilis, I used some, ahem, ancient ones I grew...a while ago, I chose not to calculate the date exactly.

I did use fish sauce (with some apprehension--I've had the flavor overwhelm a thai dish or two I've eaten at a restaurant) but I was encouraged to try again after reading The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper this past winter (they loooove fish sauce, or nam pla). I couldn't detect it and the dish turned out yummy. 

Let's see, I didn't use lime leaves, and I was at a loss for what to use for lime juice. I added a little bit of my local Dragonfly vinegar and it was fine, although not quite the same.

But!!! I did use lemongrass. From our garden. FYI for those who didn't know: you don't use the grass part, you use the bulb at the bottom (like garlic or onion). I was able to break away a couple of bulbs from the base of the plant without (I hope) doing too much damage.

 

and there you have it!

One local summer, week 4

A week ago, at the farmers' market, Westmoreland Berry Farm had brought in the big guns: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, and even peaches. That day it was pouring rain, but the line was 30 people long, and you could see their worried eyes scanning to see if there was going to be enough left for them when they reached the head of the line. I was just trying to assemble my OLS menu for week 3 without getting drenched, so the berries would just have to wait.

The line was still that long this past Saturday at their stand, which should be no surprise, because it was a lovely sunny day. I decided then and there, I'm setting my alarm clock on Saturday mornings, because there is no way I'm going to miss out on their raspberries for even one more week. I have a plan, yes I do, and when it's accomplished I will share it here.

Meanwhile, the summer squashes were...abundant.

 

The night before, I was leafing through an old Martha Stewart Living--pre-kids, of course, from 2001--and I spied an entire article of summer squash recipes. The vegetable pot au feu caught my fancy.

From what I understand, a pot au feu usually included stew meat, and it stayed on the fire all day. This recipe contains no meat and what I loved about it was that the whole thing cooked in under 25 minutes. I just can't call it pot au feu.

Quick Summer Vegetable Stew (adapted from Summer Vegetable Pot Au Feu, Martha Stewart Living, March 2001).

some extra-virgin olive oil

2 ounces of onions, I used fresh shallots, Martha likes pearl

3 cloves garlic; I chopped up some garlic scapes

1/4 cup white wine

4 ounces baby carrots, sliced thin

1 bay leaf

2 springs fresh thyme (from our garden, yay!)

2 sprigs flat leaf parsley

3/4 cup homemade or canned chicken stock

3/4 cup water

4 ounces tiny new potatoes cut into quarter inch pieces (I used about 9 ounces because I knew my kids would love them)

9 ounces assorted baby summer squashes, cut in half

1 ounce trimmed sugar snap peas (I think I used about 3 ounces; they're a fave too)

1 ounce lima beans (I skipped these, maybe another time)

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until light brown. Add white wine, cook about 3 minutes.

Add potatoes, carrots, bay leaf, thyme, parsley, chicken stock, and water; simmer for 12 minutes. [Martha wants you to add the potatoes after the carrots have cooked for 5 minutes, cooking the potatoes with the carrots for 7 minutes. I knew the potatoes wouldn't get cooked, even though I had deliberately cut them into smaller chunks, and sure enough, I had to pick them out and microwave them a little at the end before adding them back. So put your potatoes in with the carrots.]

Add squash, cooking until tender, about 5 minutes. Add sugar snap peas (and lima beans, if using), and cook 2 minutes.  FYI: watch the stew and add a little chicken broth if it looks like it's getting low, but the liquid is supposed to cook down into a "gravy."

To serve: remove bay leaf, thyme, and parsley sprigs. Ladle veggies and broth into bowls. Serves 4.

 

I served some sauteed chicken breasts from the farmers' market with the veggie stew. I vaguely recalled a favorite Cooking Light recipe that I couldn't find anywhere so I made it as best as I could remember: ground red pepper flakes (I use a spice grinder), salt, and plenty of local honey with a little flour to thicken.  Coat the chicken and then fry in olive oil. I cut the chicken through the center so that the pieces were very thin and cooked through quickly without burning. 

 

E (who is 5) and dear D, my husband, ate every single bite. N (who just turned 4) ate all the veggies and one bite of chicken. Getting non-dairy protein into that boy is a full-time job.

Late spring meal.

I thought about getting a jump on our one local summer challenge by preparing an all-local meal yesterday evening. We had had a glorious day--a picnic in the park with lots of friends, neighbors, and acquaintances--and the sun was starting to peek through our kitchen window, which faces due west. It's the best time to be in the kitchen.

 

Rhubarb for a crumble.

 

E was on the front porch, shelling peas.  Both she and N eat a raw pea or two out of every pod, so this is a somewhat hazardous undertaking, unless you have lots and lots of fresh peas.

 

 

Our menu (all vegetables and meat purchased from various stands at the McLean Farmers' Market):

a warm salad of roasted beets, wilted beet greens, and grilled asparagus, tossed with Dragon Fly Farm's merlot and black currant wine vinegar (from the Falls Church Farmers' Market) and toasted sesame oil (based on a recipe from The Splendid Table); 

grilled pork chops (very simple--salt, pepper, and olive oil) and caramelized whole spring onions;

pureed English peas with a touch of local cream;

mashed tiny new red potatoes with butter made from local cream.

E shaking the cream to make butter.

 

 

The beets were roasted in foil packets with a pat of butter and some star anise.

 

The warm salad:

 

The main course:

 

E ate pork chops and potatoes; N ate mostly peas. Both kids love asparagus. E tried a beet and pronounced it sweet and sour, but didn't go for seconds.

Everyone, however, gobbled down dessert (paired with vanilla malt chip from Middleburg Creamery. I'm curious where they get their milk).

 

Sorry for the blur. Couldn't let ice cream melt on warm rhubarb crumble, now could I?

I confess: I screwed up the "local" angle with the rhubarb crumble. The rhubarb and butter were local, but the sweetener (white and light brown sugar) obviously was not. I had even bought some local honey in case I made a marinade or sauce that called for a sweetener, and then totally forgot about it.  Even while I was making the crumble, eating the crumble, and sleeping with a tummy full of crumble, I didn't think about the fact that the sugar (not to mention the flour) wasn't local.

Well, that's why they call it a "challenge!" and also explains this blog's title, all at the same time.

Nature collage, watercress soup, and a loose tooth.

Spring is whizzing by waaaay too fast. Part of that feeling comes from the heat wave we just had, with temps in the high 80's. The daffodils are gone, the tulips are spent, and the dogwood trees are in full flower with some leaves peaking through.

Our silver maple (I think it's a silver maple) has been raining down small, pink "helicopter seeds" until they cover the walkway, porch, and grass (er, the green stuff that grows where the grass is supposed to be).  E and I decided to appreciate the bounty by making nature collages. We gathered yellow dandelions, violets, other random flowering weeds, and grass to add to our pictures.

 

 

 

While E finished up her picture, I pondered the enormous pile of watercress sitting in the refrigerator. We've been eating it on sandwiches daily since we bought it at the farmers' market, but that barely puts a dent in.

 

So, I broke out an old favorite, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and was pleased to find exactly what I had in mind: potato, leek, and watercress soup. With a touch of cream. For once, I had each item on hand (well, spring onions instead of leeks--but the recipe said they would work too).

 

 

 

This recipe is simplicity itself. You thinly slice 1 1/2 pounds of boiling potatoes (I used red bliss), thinly slice 6 medium leeks (or spring onions), then wilt the onions with the potatoes for ten minutes on low with a couple of tablespoons of butter. Next, add 7 cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt, and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes or more (until the potatoes are tender). The basic recipe stops there (you mash up some of the potatoes to thicken and add salt and pepper to taste). But I went with one of the variations which calls for blanching a "bunch" of de-stemmed watercress, pureeing it, and then adding it with some cream to the base soup.

 

 

 

I still haven't used up all the watercress, but this was a delicious way to try.

 

Just as I was finishing this post, E came running in all excited. "My tooth is loose! It's really loose!" she said. Her first loose baby tooth.  She is my eldest, and yes, it brought tears to my eyes.