Use it Up

Just a quick shot of the turkey roast Gerry cooked a few days ago, surrounded by whatever we had left in the crisper drawer. It smelled like Thanksgiving at our house!

Fall Comfort Food

Tuesday was dreary and rainy, with no sunshine and cloud cover that made it feel like dusk all day long. As it got closer to lunchtime, I wanted something from the past: a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. There is nothing better than a meal that takes you back to a time in your life when everything was just simpler. I guess that is why they call it comfort food! Of course, what I had in mind was a little more involved than opening a red and white can.

I used this recipe as the basis for my soup. We had plenty of tomatoes on hand from our half share, and I also used both basil and onions from the farm.

The cooking time was a little longer than just heating up a can of soup, but infinitely more rewarding, as the house filled with the aroma of stewing tomatoes.

Preparation was also a bit more complicated than twisting a can opener.



But the final result? Fabulous. Worth it. Just what I wanted. And dare I say it? Mmm, mmm good!

Weekend

Just a little late with Gerry's Labor Day indulgence: a meatball sub with mushrooms and peppers.

Oh yeah, there was cheese, too, but I made him hand it over for pictures before he obscured all the peppers!

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend!

A Change of Pace...Or Not

Susan says: I've been after Gerry to make something that isn't based on tomatoes. Not only do I despise tomatoes, but the blog was looking like a gallery of tomato dishes! So when I saw this recipe in an old Martha Stewart magazine, I thought it would make a nice change from all the 'maters. Of course, look how it wound up: covered in salsa!

Gerry says: I made the recipe exactly as the directions stated--mark this day on your calendar--and it was absolutely delicious! I can see serving it with something like fried chicken and a green vegetable, especially on a cool fall evening. Then I thought about it a little bit and realized that most polenta is cooked and then fried, isn't it, in little patties? So I tried it with the polenta and fresh corn. WOW! EXCELLENT! I dressed them with a dollop of sour cream and a spoonful of fresh salsa and had a couple accompanied by an ice cold Corona. Perfect!

Susan interjects: How about homemade salsa with the polenta fries?

Gerry finishes up: I was expecting these to be a little firmer but that didn't happen. I think if I had used a bit less liquid in the original recipe they would have held up a bit better and been great as a finger food for football season.

Pizza, Please!

Just a simple dinner for our last day of vacation.

Tomatoes from our CSA share, and basil from another local farm.

Personal-size pizza shells from Petruzzi Pizza in Hazleton, via Glenwood Foods in Ephrata. They are worth the trip!

Whoops!

I ate it so fast, I forgot to take a picture.

Delicious.

How do you make your corn on the cob? My mom always did hers on a pot on the stove, so that's how I MUST have it. No microwave or grill for me!

Spice It Up!

With the positively frigid weather we had on Thursday (only in the seventies!), Gerry took the opportunity to cook a dish with a lot of heat: chicken paprikas. I debated for a long time whether it was okay to call this paprikas, which traditionally uses sour cream, but Google turned up a few instances of genuine Hungarians preferring their paprikas sans sour cream, so I'm running with it. The couscous on the other hand...I'm not sure how they'd feel about that in Hungary.

For some reason, Gerry doesn't think to use paprika too often, which explains why our tin of it was six years old! He used it anyway, liberally, but some of the fire had gone out of it. There are also different types of paprika, which was news to me. Now that we need a new supply, we'll keep that in mind! Do you have a favorite place to buy spices? We have been happy with My Spice Sage, because shipping is free and there are always free samples!

One thing Gerry really enjoyed about this dish was the slightly smoky flavor imparted by the paprika. And although the top of his head broke out in a sweat, he wishes it were a little hotter!

Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes

Another quick, easy, tasty and healthy lunch/dinner/snack idea when the weather is just too darn hot to cook. How about fresh tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad? This goes together in a snap--make your favorite tuna salad, cut a nice deep well in your tomatoes, place a heaping scoop of tuna salad in the tomato, eat!

Simple as can be! AND requires no oven/stove/heat whatsoever!

Cooling Off

Summertime, summertime, sum- sum- summertime.

What's that? Watermelon and honeydew?

We didn't get either one from the CSA this week!

What's this doing on the blog?

Surprise! It isn't honeydew--it's cucumber!

This is perfect for me because I hate honeydew...

but I loooooooove cucumbers.

(I had to show off my mad peeling skillz. Not bad for a beginner, huh?)

I know, I know. I just talked about how I need to leave the skin on, but I didn't think it would look as nice with the watermelon.

Besides, I wanted to fool you!
Did I fool you?

Eat Up!

Have you ever eaten a chive flower? I never had until this week! For the picture, I left it whole so it would look pretty, but I broke it up before I ate it. Yum!

Other Myerov Farm elements in this salad included the cucumbers (Wonderful! Full cuke post later this week), mint, and some chopped chives.

Spinach and lettuce were local as well.

A is for Asparagus

As promised, Gerry will be chiming in more often this time 'round. This seemed the perfect place to start, because he kind of loves asparagus, as you shall see. I asked friends for input on cooking the asparagus, because I wasn't wild about it previously, and everyone said to roast it. Well, that didn't work out too well the last time we tried it, but we had another go. Now I'll turn it over to Gerry!

Asparagus--ah, asparagus! One of my favorite vegetables, and we got it the first week! Thank you, Myerov Farm, THANK YOU!

This is such a delicious food. I have even resorted to popping them into the microwave to heat them up quickly. Asparagus is elegant--it complements fish and poultry extremely well. Many people ruin it, in my opinion, by drowning it in Hollandaise sauce. There is nothing wrong with Hollandaise sauce, I just prefer my asparagus fairly plain.

Tonight, we put the asparagus on a baking sheet (on parchment paper-love parchment paper!) drizzled it with good olive oil, some freshly ground salt and pepper then baked them in the oven at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. The salt and pepper melded into the olive oil and the asparagus retained a nice crunch with a wonderful salty, peppery, olive oil flavor. Asparagus turns just a gorgeous, vibrant, deep green when it is cooked. And the color-green is my favorite color, ok?

Susan was a good sport about trying the asparagus. I think she preferred (I hesitate to use the term "liked") the stalks. I prefer the stalks as well, and have found that I especially prefer the thicker asparagus. Maybe because it's a bit more "forgiving" in the cooking process because it is thicker, I'm not sure, but I am certain that I prefer the nice fat ones!

And how about this: asparagus has only about 4 calories per stalk! Obviously, this does NOT include the olive oil, but olive oil is a very healthy fat as well as a great source of flavor. It's also a good source of vitamin C and potassium. More nutritional information may be found via the website of the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board.

Mid Winter Report

Hey, all! Long time, no post. We had intended to continue posting about vegetables and recipes and such, even after our CSA was finished for the season, but you know what they say about good intentions!

Gerry is slowly making his way through the peppers he froze back in September. They've found their way into everything from breakfast omelets to spaghetti sauce. He also used his first pack of frozen, shredded zucchini for muffins. I thought they came out a little weird, but he thought they were fine. More experimenting will follow.

If you remember, back in November I wrote about Gerry's love of parsnips and blogged about a new recipe he tried with them. Now that I reread it, I even mentioned Christmas dinner! Well, he didn't make that dish for Christmas dinner, but he did make his favorite: carrots and parsnips. You can see them in the picture above.

To make the classic, all you do is boil the carrots and parsnips, then mash them. Easy.

Edit: Gerry told me a few more things about making C&P. Okay, obviously you're going to peel them and chop them up first. Then boil until soft and drain well. Also, add butter, salt and pepper when you mash. Oh, and you can throw in a turnip too, if you'd like.

And if you're interested, you can find the recipe for potatocakes on my other blog.

Squashapalooza

I was right! This weird, warty thing is a buttercup squash! When I first saw it, I asked, "Are we supposed to eat that?" but then I found out buttercups are supposed to be a particularly tasty squash. And, like carrots, they are full of vitamin A and beta carotene. Pretty soon we should be able to see in the dark!

So, what do do with it...hmm. I saw a recipe in this month's Cottage Living that looked promising, so Gerry gave it a try.

Cider Roasted Winter Squash

1/4 cup fresh apple cider or unfiltered apple juice

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

about 4 1/2 pounds winter squash, halved, seeded, and cut into 2-inch wedges

4 sprigs fresh sage, chopped

4 sprigs fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk first four ingredients together in a large bowl. Add squash and remaining ingredients and toss to coat. Place in a single layer on a shallow baking pan and roast, turning once, for 50 to 55 minutes or until tender and a light, golden brown around the edges. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Gerry had his along with some boiled beets and local turkey.

I had mine smushed up with butter. The picture is sort of embarrassing.

In my defense, this is the first time I've eaten squash that wasn't almost completely hidden in bread or a casserole. Gerry told me it would taste kind of like mashed potatoes, and I thought, "Sure, SQUASHY mashed potatoes." He was right, though, it did kind of remind me of mashed potatoes, and it was nowhere near as squashy as I'd feared. Melting some butter on top didn't hurt, either.

Neat Beets

Gerry tried a new beet recipe, and he's eating it right now. Not me. Don't even go there. But if you like beets...

Orange Beets, from Too Many Tomatoes, Squash, Beans, and Other Good Things: A Cookbook for When Your Garden Explodes. (Serves 4.)

Layer in buttered casserole:

6 raw medium beets, peeled and sliced

3 tablespoons of bread crumbs

1/4 cup sugar (Gerry left it out.)

Pour over beets:

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup orange juice

Cover and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Add a layer of buttered breadcrumbs to the top and run under broiler.

Notice anything missing? In the interest of full disclosure, the way the recipe is printed in the book is sort of confusing. Gerry thought the three tablespoons of breadcrumbs were just for on top, so he didn't layer them in between.

And THEN we got wrapped up playing "Black Magic Woman" on Guitar Hero and let them burn a little. Eek. Nevertheless, this is the first beet recipe that Gerry likes! He says the orange juice gives the beets a nice acidic touch that's almost like pickling, but easier and (in his opinion) tastier. I asked how they'd be with the breadcrumbs layered in between, and he said, "Even better." Well, we have more beets this week, so he can try again!

The Ever-Morphing Pot

This is the story of the tomato sauce that turned into soup. Starting with tomatoes, peppers, and onions from the farm (and some seasonings and mushrooms that were not), Gerry set out to make another batch of sauce.

He cooked the 'maters.

Peeled them. (I helped by running them under cold water first.

Cooked up the garlic, onions, peppers, and herbs in some olive oil. See those smushed tomatoes in the background? I did that.

And then he dumped the tomatoes in and put the lid on the pot to let it all simmer. Oh, and mushrooms. And a can of tomato paste. But don't ask me when they went in--I don't cook.

But then he started thinking. We're sort of under the gun this week, because we just had last week's pick up on Friday, and the next one is Tuesday. Hmm. How about throwing some squash in there and turning it into soup? So he threw in "the round one and the flower-looking one." (Patty pan, I think he means.)

And so it became soup!

Shana Tova

If you're wondering what happened to this week's share...pick-ups were rescheduled this week, due to Rosh Hashanah, and we don't pick up until tomorrow. I took a year of Hebrew at college, so I thought I'd show off my awesome skills up there in the title. (That's about as much as I remember, though, so go easy on me.)

I wanted to show you what Gerry did with last week's tomatoes. Although he was initially reluctant to make tomato sauce from scratch, I kept chattering on about how SMART it is, because then he KNOWS what's in it. Not only is it free of HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, but it doesn't even have SUGAR in it! And wouldn't you know, he made it again? (Maybe just to shut me up?)

.

Pasta is out because he's diabetic, so he baked a spaghetti squash, mixed in some turkey sausage from Bolton's, and topped it with his homemade sauce. The bread is not our usual no-knead homemade. No, we filled an entire suitcase with sourdough bread on our trip to California. Yes, we're a little obsessive. But don't you wish you had some?

Farmy Dinner

These little Yukon gold potatoes we've been getting make the BEST crash potatoes. If you haven't tried them yet, check out my first post about them and follow the link to the recipe. You'll be glad you did! I wasn't around when Gerry made that egg dish, but I'm told it has bok choy and zucchini in it (also eggs, cheese, turkey sausage). Hmm, the zucchini is sliced much thinner than usual...wonder if that means the food processor was involved.

By Popular Demand

I've had a few requests for the zucchini bread recipe Gerry's been using. It's from the Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book, copyright 1998. There are six hundred other recipes in there, so they can't be too upset with me if I put one measly recipe online! I will write it as is and put Ger's amendments in red.

Makes one loaf.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (He sometimes substitutes oat bran for part of it.)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
(Instead of cinnamon and nutmeg, he uses the mixed spice I wrote about before...right here. I think you can really taste the spices, and that's what makes them so good.)
1 beaten egg
1 cup sugar (He uses raw sugar and cuts it to about 3/4 of a cup.)
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini (or whatever summer squash you have)
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel (leaves it out)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (leaves them out, but adds in raisins or sultanas or whatever we have)

1. Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of an 8x4x2 inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Make a well in center of dry mixture; set aside.

2. In another medium mixing bowl combine egg, sugar, zucchini, oil, and lemon peel. Add zucchini mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in the nuts.

3. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for ten minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Squash it In

In the past couple of weeks, we've been trying to use up some of the stuff in our freezer (to make room for vegetables!). Digging around in there, Gerry found a package of organic ground beef. His first thought was stuffed peppers, but he's not a big fan of them, so he thought he'd try something along those lines, but different: a stuffed summer squash.

First he hollowed out the squash as if he was making jack o'lanterns. Setting those aside, he sauteed the beef in olive oil with some garlic and onions. (He also threw in some corn we had left from the previous week.) In a separate pot, he cooked up some couscous with garlic and herbs. Once the couscous was done, he combined it with the meat and mixed in some cheese.

Then he filled each squash with the mixture and baked for about 45 mins at 350 degrees.

Finally, he topped them with homemade tomato sauce. He really liked how this came out and said it was just as good reheated a few days later. He will make this again!

For Now...

Quick Draw McGraw had a dog named Snuffles. When Snuffles was given a dog biscuit, he would hug himself and float up in the air and generally throw a fit of joy, because he loved them so much. That's about how I feel about these muffins. Mmmm mmmm mmmm...floating back down to earth.