Monday, February 28, 2011

Lamb with Mustard Greens...

So, on this rainy morning, I thought I'd make lamb with mustard greens for dinner... and with this post, you get pictures!

I started with a teaspoon (approximately) of cumin seed, and half a teaspoon of ground mustard.  (I would have used mustard seeds, but alas, was out).  




I then added a more-or-less diced onion, and three smushed, chopped garlic cloves. (And a glug of olive oil)


Added a pound of 'lamb stew meat' from Beaver Brook Farms, and some shallot salt left over from roasting a chicken...browned that up a bit...


Added a ton of chopped mustard greens...which wilted down to nothing...


And a jar of homemade canned tomatoes....


And let it cook....

I'm going to serve it over either quinoa or brown rice, not sure which, yet....   any thoughts?  Anything you'd add?

Friday, February 25, 2011

A Chorus of Cs

So, two of the ingredients in my CSA were Celeriac and Celery.   Now, I'm not a huge fan of celery on its own, or stuff that tastes too 'celerilicious', so I was a little concerned... then a friend suggested I create a caponata.  (Love caponata).

So here is what I did:

Chopped an onion, smushed two cloves of garlic, diced them and added.   Three ribs of celery! [chopped]
One diced eggplant, two ripe peppers [used red and yellow], and a dollop of capers, followed by a bunch of olives.  All cooked together with a jar of tomatoes.  

YUM.

Now, the celeriac was an adventure.   I started to peel it, which always looks easy from pictures.  But it is a slippery knob, basically.   Hack, gouge, fountains of blood (kidding!), it was peeled.   Then came time to cut it up.   Got halfway through and...it flew!  Soared off and actually impaled itself on the rim of a pot on the floor.   Washed it off, started again.  Hack, curse, hack, swear, and actually got it cut into chunks.

Chopped up a leek and an onion, and a couple garlic cloves... (what?  I like my garlic!) tossed into a pot with a little olive oil, browned up, softened down.  Threw in the celeriac, with a ton of water, and cooked.

And cooked.

And cooked.

Finally got tender.   Added a sliced potato to cook, to add a little body.  And salt.  

Mushed it up with a potato masher, and added a little milk and a smidge of half and half.  (seriously, it was a smidge, less than lots of people use in coffee).

I finished it off with a couple chunks of pear...  for a sweet note to counteract some of the vegetal feel...

My only problem was that the celeriac got a little brown while cooking...and maybe a little lemon would have helped with that.

Very yummy.   Not great in the looks department, but you could always run it through a blender or food mill...

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Last Night's Dinner

So, I used some of the CSA produce to make a lovely dinner...

I chopped up half a leek, some garlic, sauteed in a little olive oil.... added chopped up lettuce and some 'soup greens' which looked like dandelion and collards, sliced thinly...    added a little bit of diced ham, and some frozen peas.  I cooked some gluten-free pasta (little shells) and tossed it with the veggies.....

You could add more leek, if you wanted.

And this afternoon, I shall make soup.   Celeriac and carrot, I think.  

Friday, February 18, 2011

CSA share for this week....

Urban Oaks' Organic grown ARUGULA
Urban Oaks' Organic grown Soup Mix (Kales, Collards, Chard, Mustards)
Orgainc Celery
Orgainc Celeriac (this tastes great in mashed potatoes or grated raw in
slaw)
Orgainc Leeks
Orgainc Green Leaf Lettuce
Orgainc Lacinata Kale
Orgainc Green D'anjou Pears  
Orgainc Nugget Tangerines
Orgainc Acorn Squash



hmmm.....    Arugula is easy, salads, sandwiches...    The soup mix I usually separate out and use the different components in stuff.....   The celery and celeriac?   Maybe a braised celery....  and there was a recipe for a polenta with celeriac that sounded tasty...   


Leeks can be in anything.    I wish they'd quit with the lettuce.   Salads are not a winter thing.   


Kale!  Pears! Tangerines!   Squash!  (I do wish they'd give us the more interesting squashes, though...   the Kabocha)


   





Saturday, February 5, 2011

Ginger-carrot soup

I made a wonderful soup yesterday, for dinner...  low-fat, healthy, hit the spot...

I sliced onions, and sauteed them in olive oil, with a little garlic...  then chunked up some carrots, added them, along with some microplaned ginger and tumeric.   Added a ton of water, cooked until the carrots were soft.  Added a splash of orange juice, a dash of milk, some salt, and a little freshly microplaned ginger.

Ladled into a bowl and topped with some cubed avocado....

YUM.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Cee Ess Aayyy.

So, here's what I'm going to do over the next couple of weeks, to make the blog more interesting.  I've signed up for a winter CSA, and I will blog some gluten-free ideas for tasty CSA food.  (I'm a little bit grumpy, because I thought it was going to be more greens, and less lettuce, but that's a story for another time:

The bag I pick up today is supposed to have:

The second share will include
Urban Oaks' Asian stir-fry mix, Thai hot peppers and Lemongrass, as well as
organic Avocados, Tangerines, Daikon Radishes, Garlic, Ginger, Scallions,
Cilantro, Yams, and Green Leaf Lettuce. 


I'm giving the cilantro and most of the peppers to a friend who likes hot and spicy.    I'll probably make some kind of soup with the lemongrass and some of the 'soup greens' we got in the first batch..


(the first batch was carrots, celery, carrots, beets, carrots, potatoes [which had unfortunately sprouted] onions, parsley, sage, soup greens, and lettuce)  Also oranges (one of which had gone bad) and pears.   
And I don't know why the font decided to change mid-post.


I'm a little grumpy today.   


Anyway, I roasted a chicken with some of the onion, potatoes and carrots.   And made a carrot soup with some ginger and tumeric...   I'll probably roast some beets tomorrow..  maybe with the daikon and a couple of yams...


I have no idea what to do with the lettuce.   I don't want salad in winter...salad is a summer thing.