124: Celery Leaf Pesto

This is the tiny bowl that contained all the stems from the bunch of celery I got in my last delivery. I had a few dishes in mind, but I'm not even sure how to scale to such a tiny amount, so I just ate those raw, with a little pesto I made from the leaves. You can pesto anything.

The most surprising thing about the celery is that it had distinct and strong flavor, which I'm not used to from the stuff you buy at grocery stores. I'm hoping we get some more substantial bunches in the weeks to come.

Celery leaves are amazing, if you haven't noticed how much I've been using it this past week, and yet there were still so many more to play with. So I made a pesto.

It was (approx):
- 2 packed cups of celery leaves
- 1 packed cup of basil leaves
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup toasted walnuts
~ pecorino, salt, lemon juice, walnut oil

We ran out of olive oil so I switched it out. Added the lemon to hopefully keep it looking nice, and cut some of the bitterness from the celery. It was a little heavy on the garlic (not necessarily a bad thing) and a little too salty. But a lot of this is up to taste.

I went on a little postemptive search, as this was largely winged, and there's a huge variation in recipes. Maybe not huge huge, you can see some patterns emerge, but the ratio of greens to nuts to olive oil and other additions vary. Everything is up to personal preference.

Part of my doing this project is to kind overwhelm myself to the point that my "what ifs" get drowned out by the sheer volume of recipes I go through. There will be time for repetition of the good recipes, but I can't really dwell on mistakes when hey, there's another mountain of produce coming my way in a few days.

So I'm not sure I'd make this again. I liked it when I made it, but not at 2 am when I tried a little more. It was delicious again this morning but then not when I had some with my lunch. Pesto isn't generally my favorite. Also look what else exists: celery salt!

121: Roasted Salsa V2

I wanted to make that roasted salsa again, but didn't have the same things on hand, so there were a few variations. No pics, taken to a party. It looked fairly similar to the last batch though.

The minor differences: four plum instead of a slicer tomato, two serranos instead of two jalapenos. Major difference: I didn't have cilantro, so I used celery leaves and basil. Why not?

It was vastly different than the first version, obviously. My subs were more savory. Using that name sets up expectations that the flavors didn't match. Not bad exactly (though undersalted), just not what I would've liked. More at home on some bruchetta and pasta than a chip.

117: Sicilian Stuffed Tomatoes

Addicted to stuffing tomatoes? Probs.

A little white lie in my last post. I actually saw this stuffed tomato recipe from the NY Times first (I'm over my limit for the month, it's another feed of the same recipe), but thought "ew anchovies and olives" and moved on to something else. But then I saw anchovy paste in the supermarket, and, well, here we are. 

These were good, overall, but too liquidy. This recipe did not call for salting the insides of the tomatoes- not sure how big of a part that played. It most likely came from the filling itself, which either needed more breadcrumbs, less liquid, or a combination of both. It might be nice to do something with slightly larger chunks of bread, even.

Flavor-wise it was really nice, except when I ran into a piece of olive that I'd chopped on the large side (and even then it was rather good). The anchovy was not discernible- I actually went back and added a little more after an initial taste (the internet says ~1/2 tsp is equivalent to a filet).

Oh and I followed the recipe, scaling to two tomatoes, except once again used celery leaves instead of parsley and the shallot instead of a partial onion.

I'd say overall I liked the first stuffed tomato better? But I think if the filling had a better texture it would've given that one a run for its money.

116: Roasted Stuffed Tomatoes

Mmmm. This was a really good idea, guys. I'd never stuffed things before- it always seemed like more or a less just a vessel- but I guess I was thinking more of peppers, where there isn't already innards inside. Or innards you would keep So I was a bit intrigued when I saw this recipe from smitten kitchen. Scooping out the tomato bits to use as the base for the sauce? That I can get behind.

For once I followed a recipe. No wait, I added a bunch of extra pepper, and used celery leaves instead of parsley. And a shallot instead of onion. Pretty close for me, though. Additional herbage of basil. Huzzah for making a ton of extra breadcrumbs for that gratin so I had some for this.

I made two. The first was taken out at the allotted 30 minutes, but the rice wasn't quite there, so I threw the second back in for another 10 minutes. You can see how nice and wrinkly the skin got, and yeah, totally improved. So nice, simple and comforting. I love recipes that don't require a lot of fuss. And I still have two stuffable tomatoes to try something else!

Delivery 12

Tomatoes - 4 plum, 4 slicers

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 basket

Peppers - 1 large bell

Bright Lights Swiss Chard - 1 bunch

Thyme - 1 bunch

Cabbage - 1 head

Collards - 1 bunch

Celery - 1 head

Shallots - 4

Hot Peppers - Serrano - 4

This is a tough one. Not so much the ingredients, but the fact that I was booked solid Tuesday after work so I took a late late lunch and picked it up myself as soon as they opened. It lived (as well it could) in the work fridge until I could take it home Wednesday. Hence the lateness.

Tomatoes

Someone once fortold I'd get tired of tomatoes. Clearly this person didn't know what they were talking about. I'd be happy eating them like handfruit, but as I'd like to push myself, here are some new things: roasty cherry, frittata, stuffed.


The cherries have been going bad very quickly (I actually remade that candied cherry tomato dish for the party, but ended up having to use tomatoes from the store, so haven't posted), so those were eaten up before I got them back to my place for pics.

Peppers

Ok, so the leftover pepper from 2 weeks ago was just a snack. I still have a few serranos from last week and a bell. Promise promise I'll try to make the jam this week. The vinegar certainly has had enough time by now to infuse.

Chard

Yay for some leafy. I guess I'm on a smitten recipe kick: white bean stew (bonus for shallots and thyme). Or that gratin all the kids are talking about. Or a different one.

Thyme  

Useful with tomato, and a few other dishes I have linked here. A little miffed as I'd actually bought thyme last week and still have some in my fridge. Womp womp.

Cabbage

It's been a bit, cabbage. Should I retry that curry? Or hey, there's an onion marmalade, pepper tart, or onion tart.

Collards

While the standard southern collard is tempting, as I've never made it, I know from experience I don't like it. Here's a veggie one, and one with farro. I think I'd like to try the first, as well as something that cooks it less, to get that flavor variation.

Celery

These are skinny, leafy celery. Pan cooked with tomatoes, risotto, braised with tomato and pancetta, chunky soup (and pesto!), simple braise, crunchy topped braise (bonus for thyme, shallot).
 
 

Shallots

Left these at work, whoops! Most likely will just integrate into other dishes (like the celery and tomato above). Not enough to do something super special. Or! scrambled eggs. Of course.