Delivery 14

Tomatoes - 3
Green Beans - 1 pound

Edamame - 1 bunch

Carrots - 4

Dill - 1 bunch

Broccoli - 2 heads

Red Onions - 2

Cabbage - 1 head

Potatoes - 2 pounds

Peppers - 2

Habanero Peppers - take them if you dare somehow I forgot to grab these somehow

Feeling a little lost with my recipe selection. The "finding as few simple recipes as possible" method is nice, and I am trying new things, but something's missing. I really enjoyed geeking out the other day, and would like to focus more on whys than hows. Someone pointed me in the direction of Cook's Illustrated, and I've checked this book out from the library...not that I have time to read much before it's due back. Thinking about buying it, though, as just skimming through showed me how wonderful of a resource it could be.

Tomatoes

These were not the best and weren't originally on the list from the farm, so they have to be the last of the season. Will be sad to see them go, and will probably just eat them like handfruit.

Edamade

This is kind of awesome, as I'm so used to edamame only being frozen. I had no idea how they grew. Ideally there would be a recipe that called for fresh beans specifically, but I don't see many when I search. Here they are roasted, and a roundup from the kitchn.

Cabbage

There is definite cabbage fatigue at my CSA- the swap table was like 10 of these...and a bunch of dill. I'm not tired of it...yet, but I'm not terribly excited for it, either. Here are roasted wedges, braised, or in a greek pie (bonus for red onion and dill). Here are a few slaws from Cook's Illustrated.

Peppers

Still a little miffed I forgot to grab those habeneros- I was just braindead and exhausted after work. I could roast these with green beans, or a greek pita. They're in a few other dishes I've linked to here as well.

Broccoli

These are a little limp, but still look good. Fritters, as always, are on my mind. But there's a stir fry with tofu, another with peppers and tofu. Super simple with curry powder and couscous, a salad from Macheesmo, or spanakopita.


[no pic]

Potatoes

I KNEW I forgot to take a picture of something (will fix tonight). Just imagine the last batch, though dryer. I still have those chives, so these fritters are still an option. Knishes look funnn, or I've read you can just make perogi in wonton wrappers. Here's a salad with dill, and another.

Dill

Will do my best to integrate into as many dishes as I can- though I'm tempted to get a cucumber and make another batch of tzatziki.

Green Beans

Dilly Beans (yay canning). Here's a recipe from Cook's Illustrated, and another braised dish from them.

Carrots 

I kind of want to make carrot cake. Here's another recipe. I know, I know, trying to be healthy here. But I still may, especially if I can stuff them with the frosting for easy transport. Roasting with dill is an option again, or here's a soup!

133+: Stuffing Vegetables Geek Out

So I decided to do something...geeky. I'm only calling this one dish even though there are like four, or five, if you count the stuffing which is delicious on its own.

I'd been thinking a little about stuffing veggies, how much the vessel imparts flavor, and what the difference in flavor would be using it as the vessel versus just having it in the stuffing. So I decided to try the same recipe (polenta & spinach- recipe at end) stuffed in a tomato and a pepper. I also made batches of the stuffing cooked with some tomato (innards) or pepper mixed in.

My theory was: using the food as the vessel imparts minimal flavor to the stuffing (ie only to the stuffing directly touching the walls). Roasting it in the oven allows the flavor of the vessel to develop more cleanly than it does cooked with the stuffing. Cooking with the stuffing will spread that flavor all around, but it won't be as sweet/roasted as if it had been the vessel.

I put a little pecorino on top of everything before they went in the oven. This is them about 40 minutes later. I'd say my theory was mostly correct. The veggies cooked faster in the polenta then as the vessel, but the flavor was definitely cleaner when it was the vessel.

What surprised me was how I would rank them.

My definite favorite was the pepper in polenta. The flavors worked the best for me- the savory, slightly bitter green pepper cut through the richness of the polenta. The flavor spread a bit, but it was a note that matched well with the rest of the flavors.

Second favorite was stuffed tomato. Liked the contrast of the uber roasted tomato, though roasting the tomato made it rich and sweet, which can get a little cloying.

Cooking the veggies inside the polenta definitely heated them faster (a little more on that on the next pic), so the tomatoes got even more sweet and roasty here. You can see how much more the softer tomato spread (as opposed to the pepper)- the polenta is getting orange in places. I didn't like the mix of those flavors as much. Raw tomatoes I love with polenta (as in this), but this all was a little too heavy for me. I may have liked it more had I removed it from the oven sooner.

And lasty was the stuffed pepper- though that was mostly due to how much longer it takes for a pepper to roast. In the polenta the pepper was perfectly delicious and soft- and with this the part towards the bottom that actually made contact with the pan was lovely- but it needed more time that I didn't have to cook. The more you know!

And if you can't tell, all that baked polenta was undercooked and a little gritty- you can still see that the little pearls of cornmeal haven't popped. I started the polenta by itself, and used about half of it for stuffing, the rest stayed on the stovetop to finish up. I was hoping the time in the oven would finish those off but no dice.

Even the stuff on the stovetop- seen here before putting it in the fridge- is still not quite there. It's 90%, I just ran out of cooking time. Undercooked polenta, like undercooked grits, makes me a little sad. They're still tasty, but when they're done well... it's just, you need to try it.

Onto that stuffing:

Polenta:
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup milk (what I had)
- 3 cups water (plus an additional cup when I noticed it getting a little thick during the cooking process)
- 1 teaspoon of salt (may want a little less, this was a little salty)
- 2 tablespoons of butter

Heat everything but the polenta until it's basically boiling, then rain in the grain while whisking. Keep whisking until it gets thick, then turn down the heat and cook on low until it's no longer gritty.

Spinach Stuffing:
- 1.5 cups polenta
~ 2 cups chopped spinach
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
~ oil

Heat the onions in oil until translucent, add the garlic, mix briefly until fragrant, then add the spinach. Cook until wilted, then mix with polenta.

131: Baignan Bharta V6

Used the recipe in V4- cut in half as my eggplants were much smaller this week. From what I remember this was a little less sweet than the white version, which is good. I think it was a little heavy on the onions, though. 

Overall this batch ended up...chunkier. There was a little accident in the kitchen earlier this week that took out a pot lid, so I couldn't let everything simmer and break down. But I did realize two  important things for the next attempt:

• I've been putting in way too much cumin.

• Cinnamon, with a light touch, is very essential.

Though at this point it's been so long since I've tried the goal version- I'm very much overdue for a trip, but won't have the free days until December. I may take a little break from this dish if I get more eggplant. There are a few other recipes I'd like to try.

128 & 129: Provincal Potatoes

I had just planned on doing this recipe from Martha Stewart (left), but then I realized it was only going to use up like three of the potatoes I got in my share. Thought it'd be nice to try another provincial potatoes recipe, so I turned up this one (right) that was close- a few differences:

Martha's recipe had smaller pieces, more onions/garlic/olives/herbs. It also steamed the ingredients in a parchment pouch, whereas the second recipe called for roasting. There was a small amount of vinegar in the second recipe, as well as different herbs (which I didn't have, so I used rosemary and thyme, the better to compare them with).

The result? I didn't really like either.  Womp womp.

I would say Martha's recipe was more successful. I liked the smaller pieces of potato, more garlic and onions- generally more flavor. Steaming it in the pouch helped with that, the flavors infused more. The end result, though, was as expected: soft, steamed potatoes.

I had high hopes for the baked recipe. I'm a big fan of caramelization and the nice crispness roasted veggies can get when eaten straight out of the oven. I'm still trying to figure this oven out, though. As I've mentioned previously my standard cookie sheets just fit- as in they sit in the grooves for racks. I can't imagine that's good for even heating. So I used a smaller pan, which meant overcrowding and not a lot of browning, either.

Next time I'd probably use the recipe of the first with the method of the second. Smaller pieces mean a better surface area/size ratio, faster browning, and a happier Kelly.

125: Shakshuka

Now and then I come across a dish that I would eat every day for the rest of my life. Usually it involves tomatoes and eggs with yolks. Shakshuka is one of those dishes, and probably the essence of that dish as it's got a bit of heat.

Essentially it's eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce. Somehow I haven't made it before with this blog, but I did do something similar with purslane and tomatoes way way back in June.

I followed the recipe from smitten kitchen more or less. I didn't use as much oil (though it would've helped when adding the garlic and spices), and I subbed out 1 tsp of the paprika for smoked paprika because, well, it's amazing. Just did two hot peppers from my share, a jalapeno and a serrano, and it was plenty spicy.

The tomatoes were fresh, about 28 oz from this week's share that didn't look like they could make it til Friday (which is my next big cooking day), which I diced then heated a bit and lightly buzzed with my immersion blender. I chopped up 6-7 spinach leaves and tossed those in before the tomatoes- if I did it again I might have waited until towards the end.

Oh and I subbed out cilantro for parsley as that's what I had. So I followed the recipe less. Let's say I was inspired by it.

I realized while cooking these eggs the sauce could've used more reducing, but it was still delicious. I reduced the leftovers down a bit and have enough for about two more meals. I have a feeling there will be some late night snacking this week, especially if I can get my hands on some good crusty bread.

At the end of this project I'm going to tally how many eggs I've eaten. It will probably worry a lot of people...and chickens. It'll definitely worry chickens.

Delivery 13

So it's come to this, then: I had a dream the other night about picking up my CSA share. The crates the veggies come in were stacked high on tables, so you had to climb up to reach anything. I couldn't find any good tomatoes. I think we were also getting kabocha squash and maybe corn. No zombies...yet.

Tomatoes - 8
Summer Spinach - 1 bunch

Peppers - 4

Eggplant - 2 orient

Cilantro - 1 bunch 

Broccoli - 3 heads

Tomatillos - 10

Garlic Chives - 1 bunch

Cabbage - 1 head

New Red Potatoes - 2 pounds

Hot Peppers - a couple

This week is going to be the death of me. Half of these things just beg for roasting, so it's gonna be soo hot in my kitchen.

Eggplant

These are small ones but: Baignan Bharta! I was worried I'd reached the last of the eggplants but I've got at least one more go. I'm probably going back to redo V4 as that was closest to what I'm looking for, flavor wise.

 
Tomato

My dream was fairly accurate about tomato quality. It was tough finding eight that were good (though I'm picky with produce). Beyond using some for Indian I want to do more remakes or varations. Salsa? More stuffing? Or shakshuka, which I've made for myself but not for ages.

Peppers

I'm giving up on that pepper jelly- if I haven't made it thus far I doubt it's happening. I have a blacklog of hot peppers from the past few weeks, may try making pickles. Not that I eat dips a ton but this Muhammara looks tempting (there are a few other cool dips on that page, too). Or I could stuff them and do a little test on how much flavor it imparts to the final product.

Tomatillos

Flooded with recipes for green salsas, mostly roasted. Some enchiladas if I get tired of dipping chips in it. Haven't used these at all before so I'm going simple.

Broccoli

I will probably just end up roasting this, with or without the accoutrements in that link (not that I really need a recipe to roast). There are a few other options though: stir fry, fritters, or slaw! 

New Potatoes

I'm psychic for share ingredients- in that I buy them a week or two before they come in the deliveries- first the beets now potatoes. Don't think I'll remake that gratin, though it was delicious. I found about a million recipes to roast. This one's a little more interesting (and uses a few things I have leftover from other recipes). Or, you know, fritters.

Cabbage

I'd like to remake the marmalade, even though I still have leftovers. It's delicious, no doubt I'll finish it, and I really want to go for that buttery texture and golden color. For the rest: salad with tuna, here's a roundup from Bittman (though it's mostly napa), pancakes, or hey a simple slaw.

Spinach

The bunches weren't looking so great this week, but I'm always happy to see spinach. Bulgur is a grain I've really wanted to try, so there's that. Here's some saag paneer (looking for an excuse to go back to Kalustyan's), and another roundup from Bittman.

Cilantro 

Between salsa and Baignan Bharta- this is a tiny tiny bunch that I have a feeling will be used up very quickly.

Garlic Chives

I was very close to just trading this in at the swap table- there were tons of cabbage and even a spinach bunch that would've been more useful to me. But I'm already unsure I'll have enough time to cook what I did get, so here we are. I'll most likely just try to incorporate it into dishes, but here's something simple with eggs from Serious Eats.

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.

113: Baignan Bharta V5

This weeks baignan was all about whole spices. I liked how the last batch turned out so I decided to attempt with the coriander as I had with the cumin- putting the whole seeds in the beginning to fry a bit. I also (on a whim) added a "lipstick" pepper I'd had considered adding to my salsa. It was already charred, it needed to be put to use.

The end result, tasted good, just, again, not what I'm looking for in my Baignan Bharta. A little dissappointing after how close I was with V4. Overly salty and too... smoky? The cumin appears to have broken apart and dispersed, flavor-wise, but I'm not getting that bright coriander flavor.

Honestly I'd been so busy the last few days I'm happy I got around to using the eggplant at all. It was white, which again worried me that this would be too sweet, but I think the things I mention as being issues above actually took care of the sweetness well. Once I have a grain at home to mix I'll see how it is when a little less intense. It also seems to improve in the fridge after a day or two.

I'm not against trying the whole spices thing again, but it may be a dry toast/grind/then use situation as opposed to keeping them whole. Good to try though, just so I know it doesn't work.

112: Curry Chicken Sandwiches

This is the last of the party food I'm going to post about. There was a tart, but I wasn't in love with it and I didn't actually use share ingredients for it. This one is tenuous as best (tomatoes and hot peppers), but it was soooo good I just have to share.

Do I have a recipe? No. Should you still try and make it, of course!

Originally the plan was to fire up the grill on the roof and make burgers or something. The grill grate was disgusting, and I was too lazy to clean, so I decided to make Indian. 

Actually no. The second string idea was to make some kind of pulled pork/chicken in my crock pot, that could hang out on warm for whenever people were hungry. But BBQ-flavoring required a ton of extra ingredients, so I said eff that and just did Indian. The best choice over all. 

I followed my standard Baignan Bharta seasoning profile, though I added some actual curry powder to make my life a little easier. The powder is apparently Jamaican style curry, so this may be more of a roti filling than straight up Indian, but it's delicious nonetheless.

I started this off with the chicken in my dutch oven. Eight thighs total, done in two batches to get a good sear and render off some fat. I didn't brown them a ton, but I did get a lot of grease out of them. Removed the chicken, placed in a bowl to cool for a bit and removed the skins before adding them to my crock pot.

Back to the dutch oven! Added a decent amount of hing to the rendered fat, then my spices (curry powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, a little smoked paprika). Let those fry up then added my onions and some of the hot peppers. Once the onions got soft, added garlic and ginger, then the tomatoes. Added some lime. Adjusted the spices some more, then added everything to the crock pot.

I was worried the chicken would dry out/not be completely covered, so I added some turkey stock. It wasn't exactly necessary, not sure I'd do it again if/when I make this again.

Set the crock pot to low, went on a bike ride and did some shopping.

After a few hours came back, removed the chicken (which was falling off the bone, yay!), removed those bones, and put the (very thin) sauce back into my super wide dutch oven. Set it to a simmer and continued my party prep while it reduced to a significant degree. Added a little additional diced hot pepper, as the heat had mellowed considerably. Shredded my chicken, put that and the sauce back in the crock pot.

It was so good. Letting everything cook for a while liquified the tomatoes and onions. It was like pulled pork. Part of me was hoping the flavors would be a little brighter- next time I could probably add the ginger and lime to the pan during that final reduction, but it's not entirely necessary. I did what I could with the sandwich toppings: some tomato and cilantro.

I ate like three of these during the party, the perfect sloppy drunk food. And then this morning I did the best thing ever, cooked two eggs over easy and made myself an epic birthday breakfast sandwich. I would like all my meals to be this, please :).

111: Roasted Salsa

Yet another dip, yet another recipe from Martha. This one I followed pretty much as written, though I only used two jalapenos as mine were especially spicy.

There was a little confusion in my brain about whether to keep or discard the skins for the tomatoes and jalapenos, which can come off easily after roasting. I ended taking off the tomatoes' (especially easy to remove) and leaving on the jalapenos as I was lazy.

This was devoured fairly quickly. Next time I'll probably roast the ingredients a little longer, just to get a bit more char on 'em.

It was also the inaugural use of my food processor, which I got for my birthday. It's HUGE, like way too big for my NYC kitchen. Thankfully it comes with a mini-bowl, which was perfect for this amount of salsa. Also it's pink, which is not anywhere near my favorite color, but apparently that was the only one available on amazon. I won't be picky. It's going to get used a ton regardless.

107: Caprese Sandwich and Salad

Technically the only thing on here from my share is the basil. The tomato was kindly given to me by a coworker from her garden, so that's just about as good, right? Picked up some mozz at the grocery store, as well as a little balsamic (which went on the sandwich later). I had a little left over, which I tossed with some spelt. Both super delicious.

I finally used up/spilled the last of the spelt- not that it wasn't great, the recipe I had somehow yielded a lot. No real notes for improvement, other than to eat all the tomatoes ever, please.

Delivery 11

My birthday is Sunday, some people are coming over this weekend to hang out and see my new place. I don't usually do anything too special for my birthday, so I'm freaking out a little. While I should probably make meals for myself with these veggies, I'm keeping an eye out for party food.

Green Beans - 1 pound

Red Onions - 2

Peppers: 1 Bell, 1 Lipstick

Bright Lights Swiss Chard - 1 bunch

Eggplant - 1

Basil - 1 bunch

Tomatoes - 2 slicers and 4 plum tomatoes

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 basket

Serrano Hot Peppers - 4 if you like

My favorite part of this is the "if you like" for the hot peppers. There is a swap table, people.

Chard 

I'm feeling something warm and savory. Here are few gratins that look tasty. Though here are some dips that use chard: healthy and not so much. I could probably use chard in spinach dips as well.

Eggplant

Do you need to ask? Baignan Bharta! I wish these had been purple, the white ones are so sweet.

Tomatoes

I said I'd make more candied tomatoes for a party and I probably will, though I'll most likely need to buy more to get a reasonable amount for people. Bruchetta topping would work well again as finger foods...or maybe I can make a salsa? Here are some a few sources: Alton Brown, Martha, Macheesmo, The Kitchn (cooked), The Kitchn (pico).

Green Beans

I've never made a green bean caserole, is it bad that I really want to? Beyond that the trend seems to be to roast them: honey mustard glaze, balsamic glaze, lebanese, with parmesan, with onions and nuts, oh hey- a slaw!

My habit is to eat them raw, maybe with a little hummus. It's tempting to just use them in a crudite platter.




Red Onions

A few recipes I have so far use red onions. I'm generally not a fan, as they have such a strong flavor, but I think cooking the hell out of them helps. We'll see.

Peppers 

I still have a pepper left from last week- gonna make that jam, I promise. Also still haven't used up those hot peppers from last week, so anything not put in a salsa will most likely be sprinkled throughout recipes for heat.

Basil

I say this every week, but pesto. Promise. I'm storing it better, so hopefully it'll last longer, too.