I Can’t Like Everything, I Guess

I consider myself a relatively adventurous eater in that I will try almost anything once. I don’t promise to like it, of course, but I’ll try it. I’m also not all that picky. Pickier than my husband, yes, but in general I feel that I do okay. However, I have to come clean and admit that I am really not into the Chinese cabbage and bok choi from our farm share. I like the bok choi stalks — the crunchy white parts. The texture and taste actually reminds me a bit of water chestnuts. But the leafy part? Not so much. And the Chinese cabbage? Not at all. The flavor is so much stronger than I expected raw, and I didn’t like the texture in the stir-fry I made for lunch. I feel guilty, like I should like these things because they’re so beautiful and healthful. But the fact is, I just don’t like them one bit. Drew isn’t so crazy either.

So I don’t know what to do with them now. I might leave a few stalks out for the bunny that has been hanging out around the house and see if he might enjoy them. I hate wasting food, but I guess on the bright side, if we end up not eating them, at least they’ll be feeding our compost bin which will provide great fertilizer for our plants. What are some things you feel like you should like, but you just don’t?

CSA Distribution #4

CSA Distribution #3

If it’s Tuesday, you know what that means… CSA day! Yesterday was a gorgeous day and there were tons of people picking up early like we were. Pick-up on Tuesdays is from 4-6, and I usually go right around 4. The past few weeks there haven’t been too many people yet but yesterday it was actually crowded! Very cool. I did see Nate, who writes From the Ground Up, but unlike last week when it was quiet and I was able to chat with Erin, this week there was a lot going on, so I didn’t want to bother anyone – I just let him get on with his work. But anyway, hi! 🙂

This week we got two enormous (and I mean ENORMOUS) heads of lettuce, a head of ENORMOUS Chinese cabbage, a huge head of bok choi, one zucchini, one squash, 5 garlic scapes, pick-your-own peas, 5 heads of broccoli, and 3/4-lb spinach (which I actually passed on this week because I am just spinached-out). The pick-your-own peas was a lot of fun and Jake discovered that he loves (and I mean loves) peapods! How could you not, though? They’re so sweet and yummy. We also bought a dozen eggs from Thunderhill Farm. I don’t remember seeing them there before, but I hope they continue to be sold because it’s convenient and man, those eggs were delicious this morning! They’re over in Stanfordville too so I might need to check them out for poultry.

At any rate, there will of course be lots of salads with the lettuce. I think I’m going to make Dara’s Sweet Sesame Cabbage and Radish Slaw with the Chinese cabbage and I’m going to sautee the bok choi with garlic and olive oil and serve both with pork tenderloin later this week. I still have scapes from last week and thought I’d make a small batch of pesto, but Drew’s not so hot on that, so instead I’m going to make a compound butter with them to keep in the freezer for a very mild garlic bread. I might use more bok choi, cabbage, and peas for a stir-fry this weekend with leftover pork. I’ll make a quick zucchini-squash sautee with parmesan cheese (maybe add canned tomatoes too). And the broccoli will be eaten raw or steamed as a simple side dish.

By the way, I am finding so many great recipes in The Vegetarian Epicure. If you’re finding yourself stumped, see if your library has it! (Note to Dara: there are a bunch of chard recipes in there that sound great, including a crepe recipe!)

Well, I need to get crackin’ and cleaning. This afternoon D.’s dad and brother are visiting. His dad is up from Miami for a few days so that will be fun seeing him! I also would like to take down some of my spring decorations and make it a bit more summery. Have a delightful day!

CSA Distribution #3

CSA Distribution - Week #3

Will you look at that absolutely gorgeous table of veggies from this week’s farm share? I left it all arranged on the table so Drew could see it when he got home from work. (Usually it’s all packaged up in the fridge by the time he gets to see everything). He couldn’t believe it, LOL! This week we got two heads of lettuce, two heads of bok choi, 2 pounds of spinach, a bunch of turnips, 1/2 lb. of arugula, 1 bunch of broccoli, and 6 garlic scapes. As you can see, the scapes are not only delicious, but they also make a dandy bracelet:

245 | deliciously fashionable

That’s right — delicious and fashionable! I snipped some onto my cream cheese-laden bagel this morning and they are so yummy! The boys were actually fighting over the broccoli in the car on the way home. Crazy kids! Last week Drew and I discovered that we really like the turnips raw. They’re a bit midler than radish, and they are great for salads. I’m super excited about the bok choi. I plan on cooking up some stir-fry action with those. I will probably blanch and freeze the spinach to use in soups and sauces later because I just don’t think we can consume all this before next Tuesday! (I know, what a problem to have — believe me I am not complaining!) I also got to briefly meet Erin, one of the farm interns. It’s always so much fun to meet the person behind the blog!

Good stuff.

Hot Enough For Ya?

hydrengea

Yes, I titled this entry like that just to be annoying. Everyone seems to be complaining about the hot weather here in the Northeast. Granted, it is not my favorite, but I think there are more important things to complain about. If the worst you’ve got going on in your life is sweating, well… that ain’t so bad 😉 One thing about the heat though, is that it cooking anything is rather unappealing. Who needs appetite supressants like Phentermine 37.5 mg when it’s too hot to eat? Of course, I don’t really have that problem.

Yesterday morning I decided to use up some spinach from last week’s CSA distribution, along with some low-sodium bacon I had in the fridge and I made a delicious quiche. That along with a simple green salad was a light and delicious lunch yesterday. I think I’ll enjoy the same thing today! Tonight I think I’m going to grill the last two filet mignon steaks we have frozen (and hooray – it’s on sale this week so I can re-stock!), and serve that along with a pasta salad and maybe some shrimp cocktail. I’ll make the pasta salad early before it gets too hot out, and Drew and I will probably have a late dinner, so grilling shouldn’t be too sweltery.

I’m looking forward to picking up our farm share tonight and I’m so curious what there will be! Saturday’s distribution included bok choi and broccoli rabe (both of which I love), and garlic scapes (which I’ve never cooked with and I’m super excited to use – I think they’d be awesome mixed into cream cheese for a bagel spread). I’m hoping Drew will be able to come tonight too so he can check it out.

By the way: isn’t that a gorgeous hydrangea? I could not resist it when I saw it over the weekend. I bought it along with two rose bushes (one pink, one yellow). Now I just need to figure out where I want them! Well, that’s all for now. Have a great day!

A Little Wine?

FUTAB (with wine!) I hear from a lot of my online friends that they want to know more about wine. And since lately I’ve been suffering from wine-blog-itis, I thought this could be an opportunity to help anyone who wanted to learn about one of my favorite subjects. So, if you have any questions, why not consider posting them in the comments to this entry and I will answer them on my wine blog. The questions can be as general or as specific as you want! I’m trying to think back to when I was first getting into wine and it’s hard to remember the things that confused me at the time. So how about it? Ask away!

CSA Distribution #2

CSA Distribution #2

This week’s share included two heads of lettuce (I let the boys choose and they picked one green leaf and one red leaf), kale, turnips, arugula, radishes, and spinach. I could have taken more arugula or mixed in some mustard greens or another variety of greens that were there, but by that point the boys were really being a handful and some… er, how shall I put it nicely… impatient middle-aged women were crowding the bins, so I called it a day. This should more than last us the week.

When we got home Jake immediately wanted some spinach with his dinner (the boy loves it dipped in Ranch dressing), and I made a salad with the lettuces, some grilled chicken, and some shredded cheese. The only “challenging” veggies this week are the kale and turnips. I’ve asked Drew to make his famous kale soup (with mushrooms, stew beef, onions, and topped with feta before serving), so that takes care of that. The turnips are a little tougher since I have only ever had them mashed at Thanksgiving. I found a recipe for apple-carrot-turnip salad that sounds interesting so I think I’ll give that a try. I guess if all else fails, I’ll just roast them! Aside from raw in salads I’m planning on making a spinach-gruyere strata this week too. I usually make it at Christmas but since we have all this spinach… why not?

CSA Distribution #1

CSA Distribution #1

Hooray! Today was the first pickup for our farm share. We’re members of Sisters Hill Farm in Stanfordville and I have been waiting for this moment for months! I’ve been keeping up with the blogs written by two of the interns (Farmer Erin and From The Ground Up) and I have such an appreciation for these delicious vegetables. When we were kids, my Uncle Frank had a huge (and I mean HUGE) garden and probably everything we ate during the summer came from it. (I’m sure my brother will attest to the overabundance of yellow string beans every year — to this day I am not crazy about them because we had so many of them!). It’s great to have a little of that back this season. Though it might not be grown exactly in my backyard, it’s local, fresh, and organic. And not to mention delicious! Unfortunately I was kind of rushing around this afternoon, so the boys didn’t get to see the chickens or explore the farm at all, but hopefully there will be time next week. Here’s what we got:

– .75 lb. salad greens
– .75 lb. arugala
– .75 lb. spinach
– .50 lb. tatsoi (or red mustard greens)
– 1 bunch of radishes (or turnips)
– 1 head of lettuce

Afterwards, we picked up dinner (pepperoni pizza for the boys and a cheese calzone for me) and I enjoyed a fresh salad alongside it. I only wished I had a bottle of wine open tonight. (The chardonnay I got from that wine of the month club back in the fall would have been yummy with the fresh greens). I am also resisting the urge to eat the entire bunch of radishes. I promised Drew I’d save him a couple!

Now to find some recipes…

Long Weekend

I hope you all had wonderful Memorial Day holiday weekends (applicable only to those in the U.S., though). Ours was really nice and I’m trying so hard to get back into the swing of things today. Yesterday we went to the parade over in Rhinebeck, like we do every year. It was a lot of fun because Rhinebeck Little League and a local karate school marched so Jake saw a few of his friends. (Little League assigns teams by zip code, not school district, so he got put in a different league with a few other kids from this side of town.) I feel like everyone was throwing even more candy than ever before. Seriously — it was like Halloween, only you didn’t have to go door-to-door! The weather was just gorgeous — an absolutely perfect day for a parade. After it was over we had lunch at Del’s (a local drive-in type of restaurant). We thought it was going to be packed, but we were one of the first people there. We then realized that the way the roads were closed off, it didn’t make it easy to get over there, so most of the weekenders probably lunched right in town. Meanwhile, we enjoyed some yummy hot dogs, cheese fries and soft-serv ice cream cones. So good!

After lunch we went to Home Depot for more pavers. Drew is making a small patio up by the kids’ swingset. We have a small bistro set up there and the patio blocks will look so pretty. We came home and set up the pool for the boys and they splashed around while we enjoyed gin & tonics. For dinner I make ribs, grilled pineapple, and cole slaw. It was just a fun, relaxing day.

Now I’m trying to tackle my to-do list. I’ve got one item crossed off (using one of my trusty personalized pens, of course). Does that count for anything? I really need to rally though and get some of this stuff done. I will probably order a pizza for dinner tonight because today is our first CSA pickup!!! The farm is just down the road from where we usually get pizza, so that will work out great. I’ll update later with a photo of the delicious veggies in our first distribution. I can’t wait!

Chicken Scarpariello

chicken scarpariello

I’m not sure where I had my first taste of chicken scarpariello, though I do know that somehow my mother-in-law and aunt-in-law were involved in the process. It very well could have been at the annual St. Augustine Italian Festival. Ossining Pizza also makes a delicious chicken scarpariello pizza that I haven’t had in ages. I’ve been craving this spicy dish lately and there are dozens of completely different recipes for it floating around online. Some didn’t even sound remotely like the version I’ve always had. So, I consulted my Sopranos cookbook (don’t laugh – some of the recipes in it are excellent!) and used the recipe in it as a jumping-off point. I tweaked it around a bit and came up with this:

Chicken Scarpariello
6 Hot Italian sausages (or 3 hot/3 sweet)
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
6 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup hot cherry peppers, cut in half
1 cup mild cherry peppers, cut in half
1/2 cup brine from mild cherry peppers (or vinegar)
1/4 cup chicken broth
olive oil
dry white wine (did not measure), optional
salt
pepper

Prick sausages with a fork and bring to a boil. (I do this to remove some of the grease before adding them to my dish). Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat enough olive oil in a pan to cook the chicken breast cubes, and saute until golden brown. After sausage have boiled for a few minutes, drain and cut into 1-inch chunks. Once chicken has cooked (approx. 10 minutes), add garlic and sausage. Sautee 3-4 minutes. Add hot peppers, mild peppers, brine, and chicken broth. Simmer for 5 minutes and give a taste. Adjust seasoning and add a splash of dry white wine if you desire. Simmer another 10 minutes to reduce sauce.

I like to serve this with thin spaghetti. I’ve also had a version that includes potatoes, in which case you’d have an all-in-one meal. The verdict: HOLY SPICY, BATMAN! This was so hot I was actually sweating. Lucky for me I like spicy food. Next time I think I would use both types of sausage instead of just the hot, and I would also cut the peppers into smaller pices. I’ll be honest: I only cut them in half because it made for a pretty presentation. I also might add the potatoes next time to see if they soak up a little of the heat. All in all, though, it was really delicious and I’m looking forward to perfecting this recipe!

Free Chicken!

Did you guys get your free Southern Style Chicken Biscuit at McDonald’s this morning? I did! I expected quite a line at the drive-thru, but there was only one other car. The sandwich was quite yummy. I really enjoyed the chicken itself. It had a nice, peppery flavor. I am not a huge fan of biscuits (unless they’re with a soup or stew), so for me it was a little too much bread. If I wasn’t driving, I would have taken off half of the biscuit, but even still it was good. Obviously it’s not something you’d want to get all the time — with all that greasy food you’d surely be headed to the dermatologist for acne treatment, but once in a while why not? Especially when the price is right! And if you missed out on breakfast, you can get the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich free (with a med. or large drink purchase) tonight until 7.