CSA 2016 Week 2/3

I was out of town last week, so I ordered all greens that I could cook down so they would last to this week.

What's in the box this week:
week 2 -
kale
chard
scallions

week 3 -
head lettuce
mixed baby lettuce
escarole
1/2 crusty bread loaf
asparagus (bought at work as part of a green market for $1.50)

What also went into the cooked greens were some spinach and arugula that were going to go bad while I was out of town (why I thought I would eat 2 giant extra containers of greens, I will never know). So when I got back from my conference, I made green rice to use some of the greens and scallions.

To continue using the greens, I made 2 crustless veggie quiche. One went to a BBQ on Saturday and the other will go with the salad greens for lunches this week. It's a neat idea - you use onions as the "crust" then add in any veggies you have - so this one had the cooked greens and asparagus. Only one had the pretty top on it, so that one went to the BBQ.

The escarole went into a sausage-bean soup. I neglected to read the weather report and it's to be in the high 80s/low 90s this week...oops. Well it's pretty delicious, so it will be worth it, sweat and all.

CSA 2016 Week 1

It's so wonderful to have such a wide variety of places to choose from when it comes to CSAs in my area. In the end, I have decided to go back to my original CSA through Covered Wagon Produce. Last year, one of my co-workers went with Covered Wagon, so this year we are splitting a whole share among 3 families and they live up by that farmers market, so I don't have to drive 30+ minutes in afternoon traffic once a week to pick up the box - what a blessing. My biggest complaint with Covered Wagon was that they had limited greens in their offerings. I think this is mainly due to when they start offering the share - which is July and by that time, it's too warm to have dainty lettuces and spinach.

So to offset this, I joined a second CSA through Old Tioga Farms - and will be splitting this as well. I heard about them when I lived in Central PA and their farm-to-table dinners in their own farm house. Since then, I have had 2 lovely Italian dinners over the past few years and now can utilize their CSA (they didn't deliver up toward me for the first bit and it would have been about an hour drive down to the farm). There's a few benefits to this CSA - they have my greens and it starts earlier in the season - June! They also have cooking classes occasionally and go to Italy to cook in the late winter/early spring - anyone interested??

Another fun thing with this CSA is the pick up location - which could end up being deadly. It's a local dairy with a farm store and some crazy-delicious ice cream. I've heard a lot about it and driven by but have not stopped in - boy, was I missing out! I'm looking forward to the milk I bought this week - it comes in glass, I didn't know that was a thing anymore! I think my future yogurt will also be extra delicious...

For the initial week we got:
mixed greens
spinach
beets and greens
radish and greens
rainbow chard
focaccia bread - did I forget to mention we opted for the bread share as well??

The mixed greens and spinach went to my co-sharer, as well as half the bread. The greens all went into a pot to braise. I added in my homemade pancetta, some reserved cooking liquid from a pot of beans and that's it. I just couldn't wait and made my inaugural CSA dish a plate of avocado toast on focaccia bread with braised greens. This dish made me so happy, I just couldn't help but show it off via text to all my fellow CSA sharers to make them jealous!!!

The rest of the greens were mixed with some white beans and will make a lovely addition to lunches.

I got really fancy with the beets and made a Beet, Cheddar and Apple Tart based on this recipe from Martha Stewart. I made bread dough with my sourdough starter rather than use puff pastry, so it's not quite as buttery as I imagine the original recipe is...but you have to feed the starter and it was rainy today! (somehow that seems to make sense in my head...)

Rather than go raw with the radishes (particularly since I have been enjoying many salads lately with radish), I found a recipe for Braised Radishes with Bacon and Shallot from the Kitchn. My grocery store didn't have shallots so I used regular onions instead. I also use the last of the beets as well - the share this week was 1 very large beet and few smaller ones. It's a very nice flavor, and once again, will go nicely with lunches alongside my tarts.

Yum!

Back in the saddle again...

Well, it's been quite a while since I last posted. There are many reasons for this - mainly my computer started being funky and it made the whole blogging and writing process such a pain it just wasn't worth it to me any longer. I was in denial about how much I did or didn't need a new laptop - why do I need a laptop at home when I spend my entire work day in front of a computer and possess a tablet and smart phone? Apparently the answer is yes, I still do need a separate laptop for home use...so I finally broke down and got one. Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself....

In my blogging hiatus I have started to dabble in meat curing and have made my own duck prosciutto and pancetta. I also continue to ferment and took the plunge into wine making, starting with a box kit of Italian Pinot Grigio - this is currently in process and I am waiting to get to the right specific gravity for degassing and clarifying.

I bought half a pig last fall and had the enjoyable experience of choosing which cuts I wanted, how to cure specific parts and how much sausage I could get. There were a few things that surprised me about the process - as much as half a pig sounds in my head, it's actually not that much meat. Also I wanted to do way more than there was available meat, so I am looking forward to my next half this coming fall.

The duck and pig came from the same local farmer. The pancetta was a happy accident - I asked the farmer to set aside a 1lb piece of pork belly for braising. Apparently the local butcher didn't quite get what I was asking because when I defrosted the package, there was belly but no fat. In an attempt to turn lemons into lemonade, I tried my hand at pancetta. It wasn't entirely successful, as most recipes I looked at were for 5lb cut of pork belly. I tried to adjust the cure appropriately and not let it cure for as long, but in the end, after the drying time, I found the meat to be too salty. Oh well, live and learn. I put the lot in my food processor and I'm adding a little, bit by bit to various things - so no waste here!

This spring I had the good fortune to have a friend with a friend that knows how to forage for ramps on her property. I say "good fortune" as I was the happy recipient of some of these beauties for the first time and made ramp butter - it was such a lovely shade of green! I'm keeping it in my freezer and it is making appearances in eggs with the pancetta.

Another fun thing I found this spring were fiddle head ferns. I was in Boston visiting a friend in mid-April and found them. What an experience! I have been reading about fiddle heads for years in my cooking blogs but have yet to be blessed with finding them myself. I made pasta - it's my go-to when I come across a veggie that I have yet to dabble in. They were so bright and green tasting - a lovely way to bring in spring. (Also don't mind the "flat Stanley" in my picture - she belongs to one of my PAs from work and it was my assignment to bring her with me to Boston)

I'm not only about food - I have also been doing some crafting. I made a pottery garden gnome - which is funny, as it seems that I can cook most things but I have trouble growing them. After glazing, I realized he's naked! Guess that's why he has such a shocked expression...

I also found a fun "drinking while crafting" experience in making silk scarves - the company is called Sip-n-Silk. We made a zentangle pattern. Next will be sarongs! I also enjoy the painting while drinking experience as well - we have a local place called Art-n-Vino and have made some fun paintings in my off time as well.

So that's pretty much my year in review. I have also gotten a promotion at work and am now responsible for educating and molding minds - somewhat of a frightening thought, but I'm up to the challenge!!

I joined a CSA again, so keep an eye out for upcoming posts. I joined 2 separate ones and am sharing them with different work people, so I'm hoping that I didn't over commit!! Only time will tell...

My feeble attempt at gardening - at least they are growing and healthy!!!