76: Honey Lemon (& Basil) Marmalade

I go through little obsessive spurts. It looks like I'm coming up on one for canning (again). Apologies (but not really) in advance. I'm thankful I didn't get a fruit share this year- it's an intensive hobby to get sucked into- but I did happen upon a free bag of lemons the other day, so I had to make something.

I came across this honey lemon marmalade recipe from food in jars, which I followed (halving it) with a little help from these tips. I sliced up the lemons- not as thin as I'd like, but it was late and I cut myself about a third of the way through. Acids and cuts do not mix, so with no gloves handy in my kitchen I just rushed through the rest. It'll just end up going in my oatmeal, and I'm not terribly picky about that kind of thing.

This is a whole fruit marmalade, so I let the lemons soak/macerate overnight in the fridge with the sugar and water. Waited to add the honey until I actually made the jam- it's mesquite from Trader Joes.

I used my huge creuset, which was lovely. Most other small batches I've made were in pots, which can take forever. If it looks like I'll be making a ton of these, I may just get a big stainless steel skillet to speed up the process. It'd been a while since I'd made marmalade, but I remembered most of the process and even noticed new little details as it thickened up. Geeky stuff.

Although the recipe said it would yield six pints, and halving it meant I should've ended up with six half-pints, I got three. Hm. I didn't measure out the lemons, just went with half the 14 mentioned in the recipe, so that could be part of it. But the consistency was good and it passed the nudge test so I don't terribly mind. To play with flavors a bit (and get a little of my CSA share in) I sliced up some amethyst basil and tossed it in one of the jars.

I've had some rough luck with herbs in jam (an insanely rosemary-y apricot jam springs to mind), but it's only one, so I'll have a nice comparison point in a month or two when I feel like opening these up.

So look for updates when that happens, though I'll try to use one relatively soon. If they were to really go to the end of the jam/marmalade queue you probably wouldn't get word on them until next year sometime :)

73: Cucumber Soup

Hey, I used a recipe I actually linked to in my delivery post to make this!

To be honest my process usually involves researching recipes like crazy Tuesday night- which is when I write those posts- then consolidating my ideas for a shopping trip Wednesday. Recipes are chosen based on feasibility, interest and extra costs.

The only thing I needed to buy for this was yogurt, which I like to have on hand for easy meals anyhow. My only adjustments were to eschew some of the garnishes (extra costs), cut the recipe in half and use a mix of slicing and heirloom cucumbers instead of European. 

It was a seriously gorgeous mix. As European are seedless I measured out a pound of deseeded cucumbers. These were chopped up and blended with yogurt in batches, then the rest of the ingredients thrown in. I prepped the soup before I went to a mozzarella making class (awesome, easy with practice, may attempt if I find an easy source of rennet), and ate it for dinner with a little amethyst basil. 

There had been a moment of worry as the recipe didn't specify whether or not to peel the cukes, but I noticed the flecks in the pic in the original recipe, so they were left on. Can you see them in the pic above? The variety of color really makes the soup gorgeous. Every time I went to eat I had to resist the urge to get my camera out and take more pictures.

I'm still digging yogurt in savory dishes, too. And (not pictured) this actually goes decently with the SCRATCH buckwheat sour.

Notes for Improvement: Keep up on the substitution methods used in this recipe- I'm happy I didn't just sub out one slicing cucumber for one European. Used my brain and hey, it worked out well!

69: Ratatoullie

Instead of the one I linked to in my delivery post, I used this recipe from the kitchn. It was a similar idea- cook each ingredient individually to get good browning and flavor development, then mix everything and simmer down so the flavors meld.

My favorite part of making this- knife skills practice! Chop chop chop everything up. I used my Creuset for the first time at the new place, too.

It turned out well- I used the squash and white eggplant from my share. The skin on the zucchini ended up being rubbery. It's a weird texture, one that I haven't experienced before when cooking with zucchini so I'm not sure what caused it.

I used rosemary and a little of my purple basil at the end.

It ended up being a bit brothy but that's not the worst thing- just means I can throw some bread in to soak up all that goodness.

Notes for Improvement:
- Cut the zucchini smaller, may help with skin issues
- Finish with the lid off the pot to reduce it down a bit if there's a lot of liquid
- The recipe mentioned a few variations- like using some smoked paprika. Try that with some of the leftovers. I could use a little spicy.

65: Brie Tomato Basil Sandwiches

Super easy and tasty. Cut up your crusty bread (this is sourdough from SCRATCHbread- sandwiches are like 8.5/10ths about the bread for me), put a little cheese, a big basil leaf or two, a tomato slice and a little balsamic.

As much as I love brie, the traditional mozz may be a better choice for these. But it's nice to use up some of the five (seriously, five) kinds of cheese I have in the fridge right now.

Notes for Improvement:

- Thinner bread, thinner tomato slices

- Try out different cheeses

Delivery 7

I continue to feel like I'm getting the hang of this CSA thing. I've planned out about 80-90% of the things I want to do this week, and went on a little grocery trip already to pick up the extra ingredients. It's nice that things are coming together well.

Summer Spinach - 1 bunch

Summer Squash - 2 pcs

Heirloom Cucumbers (Boothby and Poona Kheera) - 6 pcs

Marketmore Cucumbers - 3 pcs

White Clara Eggplant - 1 pc
Scallions - 1 bunch

Fennel - 1

Amethyst Basil - 1 bunch

Leeks - 1 bunch

Oriental Eggplant - 2 pcs

Cucumbers!

Such a bounty. The CSA email said they thought last week would be the week for cucumbers, so yay? there were a ton on the swap table- understandable- but it's much better than lettuces. If only because I can eat them straight up (confession: I had half a marketmore left over from last week's. Just at it like a handfruit when I gote home). I'd still like to do something interesting with them though. No tzatziki this week- OD'd a little on it- but there are a surprising number of recipes for this. For example: limeade, cucumber avocado salad, bread salad (looks great but too many extra ingredients), easy sesame salad, or soup. 

Amethyst Basil

Not finding too much easily about this kind of basil- other than it's the standard "genovese" style, but just happens to be purple. It's really gorgeous- almost black. The CSA email said it was good to flavor vinegar with- which I could see as it would also dye it nicely- but can be used in lieu of standard basil.

I found a few recipes that call it out specifically: tomato/brie/balsamic sandwiches or biscuits (I keep finding biscuit recipes so it's going to happen one day). But there are a few standards I could do- like cucumber/tomato/basil/feta salad. Or just make crazy-colored pesto.

Eggplant 

White Clara and Oriental varities. The white one has wicked spines on the stem, and I've read it's apparently sweeter than the standard. I'm not finding a ton of recipes for it specifically though, so I'll most likely use it as a standard eggplant.

This veggie was never something I felt super strongly about, but I do rather like it now. Somehow I'd forgotten my favorite Indian dish was an eggplant dish, so I may have to attempt that this week. Baba is also super tasty- but not sure I want to use the food pro more than is absolutely necessary. 

A few other options: eggplant and pickled beet sammies or ratatouille (bonus for squash! and I also love that movie...).

Leeks

I love leeks. True story. I'd always heard they were fussy- required a decent amount of cleaning- so I hadn't tried them until about a year ago. Then, one day, stumbled on them frozen at Trader Joe's. Does any other store have these on a regular basis? They were my go to in scrambled eggs before I started this CSA project. Apparently you can grow them from scraps in a container of water- I may try that.

I want to take advantage of their melty-oniony-garlicky-ness (yep). Example recipes: easy/uses spinach and extra garlicy.
 

Fennel 

I'm not the hugest fan of fennel seeds- or anise flavor. I've grown used to it in certain circumstances (and small amounts), but I'm a little nervous about using it. The recipes I see for it are so varied, though. It seems to go well with the standard savory onion/garlic profile, but there are a ton of recipes with blood orange in particular. A few that stand out for me (mostly for lack of extra ingredients): tarts, dip, simple salad, and nommy caramelized.