Some of my tips for this week based on my CSA share. Enjoy!
Kale, Collard Greens or Chard
Rated 1,2 and 4 on
the top 10 list of the healthiest greens!
At our house, we don’t
eat much in the way of prepared food unless it’s prepared by us.
Our Friday ritual has
become veggie pizza in various guises. Sometimes it’s crust and sauce topped
with thinly sliced kale or chard, slivered sun dried tomatoes, super thinly
sliced red pepper, garlic and red onion. We top the whole thing with a bit of
either smoked or fresh mozzarella. If you use special cheese you don’t need to
add so much. (Why do I keep saying 'we'?)
When I have collards
instead, I par boil them whole and roll the pizza ingredients inside of the
leaves. I place them seam side down in an oven proof baking dish and top with
sauce and cheese and bake, covered at 350 for about 30 minutes.
Mei Qing Choi
A delicious and tender dwarf baby pak choi. Store in the same way you’d store pak choi or bok choy. Refrigerate in a perforated plastic bag. Wash and chop just before serving.
Mei
qing choi is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good
source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Magnesium and
Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin
B6, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Potassium and Manganese.
It's great raw in a salad and we love it in a stir-fry but what about in a soup? Try this one:
It's great raw in a salad and we love it in a stir-fry but what about in a soup? Try this one:
Mei Qing Noodle Soup
Serves 2-3 (May be doubled)
1 qt
unsalted chicken or veggie
stock
2 Tbsp soy
sauce
1 Tbsp
sherry
6 dried
wood ear or shitake mushrooms
1 Tbsp
minced fresh
ginger
2 cloves
garlic,
minced
½ cup
onion, thinly sliced
Salt and
freshly ground black
pepper
1/3-1/2 lb
Chinese egg noodles
2 tsp dark
sesame
oil
1 cup
cooked chicken
1 Mei Qing
Choi,
chopped
1 sweet
red pepper, julienned
Cinderella / Fairy Pumpkin Slices
This week we are
sharing wonderfully tasty slices of really BIG pumpkins. They are hard to prep
because of their size and would be hard to eat it all once opened so we are
offering slices. If you need a mother-in-law cottage, artist studio or just a
place to store your extra children we may be able to part with a whole one.
Pumpkin
is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in
Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha
Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and
Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C,
Riboflavin, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.
Since
the pumpkin is already sliced it would benefit from cooking in the next couple of
days. Store in your refrigerator.
The
rain is due back Thursday. Perfect soup weather.
French Heirloom Pumpkin Soup
Adapted from The ex (Expatriate’s Kitchen) blog
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
For soup:1 5-6 pound pumpkin (Galeux D’Eyesines, Rouge Vif D’Etampes, or Musquee de Provence)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, sliced (white and light green parts)
1 yellow onion, diced
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
3 sprigs thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped sage
1/2 bunch Italian parsley, chopped (* I used about 1/4 bunch of Italian parsley, chopped)
8 cups chicken broth (* I used homemade chicken stock)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup half and half
1 tablespoon sugar, optional (I did not use sugar)
Grated fresh nutmeg, to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
For cheese toasts:
Slices of French baguette
Softened unsalted butter
Finely chopped Thyme
Finely grated Gruyère cheese
Directions:
Dice the flesh into 1-inch cubes. Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot, medium heat. Add the leeks, onion and herbs and sweat the aromatics until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the pumpkin cubes and the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and let simmer until the pumpkin is tender, about 20-30 minutes.Puree using an immersion blender (you can also use a food processor or blender, if you puree in batches). Swirl in the butter and the half and half. Add the nutmeg, then taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Use the sugar if you like a slight sweetness to your soups. * My soup was better the next day and even better the following day.
For cheese toasts:
Prior to serving, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the baguette slices lightly with butter. Toast on one slide until lightly brown, just a few minutes. Turn over and toast for another minute or two. Remove slices from oven and top with a little sprinkle each of chopped fresh Thyme and grated cheese. Put back in oven and toast another few minutes until cheese has melted.
Top warm bowls of soup with toasted baguette slices.
Coffee
Our favorite local café,
Chromatic Coffee http://www.chromaticcoffee.com/ has generously donated coffee for us to
include in our weekly share. Talk about generous! We are so thankful!
There are as many
tips for brewing coffee as there are types of coffee. I personally like a
strong and dark coffee brewed in a French press. Some of my friends go directly
to the IV method but that pesky IV stand gets in my way. For those of us coffee aficionados out there
this wonderful coffee will be a morning treat.
If you are not a
coffee drinker, try this Coffee
facial mask made from ground coffee beans and applied directly on the skin. It
is said to provide a temporary anti-aging fix for puffy eyes.
Caffeine from the
coffee beans is said to be easily absorbed into the skin and can tighten the
dilated blood vessels under the skin. Try your own coffee mask. Here’s one that’s
easily made and applied.Quick-Fix Coffee Mask
Ingredients
4
tablespoons of ground coffee (organic and not of the “instant coffee” variety)
About ¼
cup of whole milk
1
tablespoon of honey (Olive oil or lemon juice as alternatives)
Preparation
Mix the
ingredients together. Add more milk or coffee to achieve a paste consistency.
Application
Smear the
paste on your face with a gentle circular massage to help with absorption and
improve skin circulation. Cover everything even the under eyes, but avoid the
lips. You may also smear a layer on your neck. Leave it on for about 20 minutes
before washing off. Gently pat dry the skin.
The dark color may
make you look scary at first, but at least you have that sweet aroma to keep
you company! Immediately after washing you’ll feel an instant tightness to your
skin, and notice a clean glow about you. Do this once a week for a regular
facial boost.
Citrus-
Lemons, Oranges & Grapefruit
Every
year at Christmas, my Nana would make candied citrus peel. If you have never
tried them you should. You can use any citrus fruit. They are an impressive
sight in their jewel-like beauty, easy to make and so, so tasty. They make a
lovely edible decoration on cake or ice cream. Serve candied lemon peel with
coffee. Preferably Chromatic Coffee of course.
Candied
Citrus Peel
Adapted from a recipe from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
8 oranges, 10 lemons,
or 6 grapefruits*
6 cups sugar, plus more for rolling
6 cups sugar, plus more for rolling
Preparation
Cut ends off fruit,
and halve fruit lengthwise. Insert the tip of a small paring knife carefully
between fruit and pith about 1/2 inch deep and cut, following the shape of the
fruit and keeping skin in one piece. Turn fruit on other end and repeat. Use
your fingers to gently pull the peel away. Reserve fruit for another use.
Place citrus peel in
a 6-quart pot; fill with enough cold water to cover (about 3 quarts). Bring to
a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Drain. Soak peel in
cold water until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes.
Using a melon baller,
scrape the soft white pith from the peel, being careful not to tear or cut the
skin. Slice each piece of peel lengthwise into thin strips 1/4 to 1/2 inch
wide.
Stir together sugar
and 3 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat,
stirring until sugar has dissolved, about 8 minutes. Add strips and reduce heat
to medium-low. Using a pastry brush dipped in cold water, wash down any sugar
crystals that form on the sides of the pan. Simmer until strips are translucent
and syrup thickens, about 40 minutes.
Let the strips cool completely in syrup
for 3 hours (or overnight). Strips can be refrigerated in syrup in an airtight
container up to 3 weeks.
For sugared peel,
remove strips with a slotted spoon. Using fingers, wipe off as much excess
syrup as possible, and roll strips in sugar. Let dry.
Makes 1 1/2 cups.
Note: *If using grapefruit, adapt the recipe since
the fruit has more pith, which is bitter and must be completely removed. If
making candied grapefruit, after scraping the pith from the peel (in Step 4),
simmer peel for 20 minutes more, and repeat to remove remaining pith.
One of my very favorite food blogs, The Bitten Word, has this wonderful
Rosemary Chicken sounding recipe
I’m a vegetarian but used to love chicken so make it and eat it in my name. ;-)
Once you look at this blog you too will fall in love with Clay and
Zach. They have resolved to actually cook from their food magazines as opposed
to using them as food porn and just drooling on the photographs.
Lemon and Rosemary
Chicken
Saveur
Magazine, March 2010
Make something amazing for dinner!
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