mustard green beans

Spring CSAs mean lots and lots of mustard greens. Lots and lots. And now I've come up with a recipe I'd be happy to eat every week they show up. This recipe is based on the idea of red beans and rice crossed with green gumbo, and hits all the right notes: a little sweet, a little spicy, and lots of umami.

1 half package smoky bacon (I like North Country)
1 can of white cannellini beans
2-3 types of greens (mustard, radish, etc.)
5 green garlic stems (if unavailable use an onion)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Crystal cayenne pepper sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and chop the greens. Chop the green garlic or onion into half inch pieces. Cut raw bacon into half inch pieces. Fry bacon and garlic/onion in a deep cast iron pot. When bacon and garlic/onion have begun to brown add greens and stir until they wilt. Then add the can of beans with their liquid and stir. Add remaining ingredients, stir and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

making greens meaty

A spring CSA means loads of greens. So far this season we've had mustard greens, turnip greens, beet greens, tokyo bekana (a mild mustard green), arugula, swiss chard, kohlrabi greens and so much lettuce. We've tried a number of different preparations and have actually gotten through just about everything, but a favorite so far has been a quick stir fry.

We had both tokyo bekana and chard and a little bit of cottage bacon. We fried up the cottage bacon pieces in a cast iron pan until browned, added the greens with the stems removed from the chard. When the greens were just about done we added a splash of 18-year balsamic vinegar and then cooked everything for another minute or two. A bit of salt and pepper to taste and you're done.

favorite steak salad

This is our favorite steak salad - we eat it nearly once a week.

1 skirt steak
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 teaspoon (packed) dark brown sugar
4 cups (lightly packed) arugula
goat cheese
dried cranberries

Sprinkle steak generously with salt and pepper or steak seasoning. Heat oil in cast iron skillet over high heat. Add steak; cook to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to plate. Add vinegar, shallots, and sugar to skillet; boil until reduced to glaze, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Divide arugula, goat cheese and cranberries between 2 plates. Slice steak; place atop arugula. Drizzle lightly with glaze.

Adapted from Epicurious.com

fruit salad portk chops

We had to adapt this recipe to fit what we actually had in the house, but it turned out better than if we had all the right ingredients in the first place. The seasoning is one of the best matches for pork chops I've found.

For the fruit sauce:
1 teaspoon olive oil
French sea salt
1-2 cups peaches, raspberries and dried cranberries
1/3 cup ruby port
1 teaspoon pomegranate balsamic vinegar

For the pork chops:
3 (1-inch-thick) bone-in pork loin chops
1 1/4 teaspoons french sea salt
1 teaspoon coriander
3/4 teaspoon mustard seeds, lightly crushed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees to pre-heat cast iron pans. Crush coriander, mustard seeds, salt and pepper in a mortar and pestle. Rub all of the spice mixture and olive oil all over the pork chops.

Add the chops to the cast iron pan and cook, undisturbed, until golden brown, about 3 and 1/2 minutes on each side. Place the pan in the oven. Bake for 2 and 1/2 minutes.

Let them rest 5 to 7 minutes.

In the cast iron pan used for the pork chops, stir in the peaches, raspberries and dried cranberries, port, and vinegar and cook until the fruit begins to soften and the port has reduced by half, about 7-10 minutes. When the sauce is finished, remove it from the heat and set it aside.

Spoon the reserved sauce over top of the pork chops and serve.

The above picture also includes a latke-style vegetable pancake made with multi-colored carrots and topped with beet yogurt.

Adapted from Chow.com

crocked pulled pork

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ cup honey
¼ cup black cherry balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
3 to 3 ½ pounds pork shoulder

Mix together the first six ingredients (all of the spices) with a fork. Pour in the honey, vinegar, and olive oil and stir to form a paste.

Place the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top it with the pork and then pour the honey paste over all sides of the pork pieces.

Turn the slow cooker on to low and cook for 7 to 8 (or 10) hours or until the meat is tender enough to be easily shredded with a fork.

Serve with collard greens and Bell seasoned mashed potatoes.

Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

mi csa su csa: week 1

We're doing both a meat CSA and a veggie CSA this year, both for the first time. The meat CSA is year round and we're on month 2, but the veggies just started. Since we're getting vegetables we don't usually eat, I thought I'd keep a record of what we've created with them.

Week 1:
scapes
broccoli
zucchini
turnips
arugula
red leaf lettuce
peas

First up: broccoli, a couple scapes and mushrooms pan fried with leftover chicken and homemade chicken broth.

I ate most of the lettuce simply dressed with a tangerine dressing—though I didn't get through all of it.

The zucchini made up the meat of a delicious Persian Kuku Kadoo recipe from Saveur, which we served with roasted turnips, scapes and carrots we seasoned with fresh dill from our herb garden.

The arugula didn't make it, but the peas look like they'll still be good enough to eat in week 2.

warm eggplant salad

This is the kind of recipe that would never occur to me to create. But now that I've tried it I can't wait to try as many warm vegetable and vinaigrette salads as I can think of. Brussel sprouts? Okra?

Eggplant Salad

1 eggplant
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (18 year if available)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 minced garlic clove
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Halve eggplant and then quarter each half so that you have eight slices. Place on plate and cover with another plate. Microwave slices for 6 minutes. Remove carefully. When cool enough to handle cut into bite sized chunks.

Whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper. Add eggplant to vinaigrette and toss to coat.

this isn't your momma's home-cooking

Over the course of a week I had three amazing home-cooked meals, all with new ingredients or new cooking methods. I'm very lucky to have friends who love to cook and are really good at it. I just hope I can recreate these in the future.

Lamb Chorizo with Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients:
2 links of lamb chorizo
1 store-bought package of sweet potato gnocchi
1 sweet potato
2 roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cups of frozen okra
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup chicken broth

To roast the tomatoes: turn oven to the lowest setting, cut smallish tomatoes in half, place in baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in oven for at least 3 hours. The longer they roast the more intense the flavor will become.

Heat the sweet potato in the microwave to soften, about 5 minutes. Peel the sweet potato and cut into 1 inch pieces. Place these on a cookie sheet and broil first for 6 minutes, then flip over and broil for another 5 minutes.

Begin boiling water for gnocchi. When water boils, add gnocchi and cook for 5 minutes or until they float.

Brown the chorizo in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and fry for about a minute before adding the frozen okra, tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add the  gnocchi and sweet potatoes. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Ladle into a bowl and top with parmesan cheese if desired.


White Fish with Red Chilis and Lime

Ingredients:
1/2 pound white fish
cornstarch to coat
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 limes
zest of 1 lime
2 red chilis
peanut oil


Pork with Roasted Vegetables and Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:
2 pork chops
roasted vegetables: peppers, red onions, eggplant, portobellas
grape tomatoes
1/2 cup balsamic fig vinegar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (or 1 cup if you don't also have balsamic fig)
1/4 cup brown sugar
ricotta


Sweet Hot Apricot Chicken (SHAC)

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 pounds of chicken thighs
1 10 oz bottle of apricot fruit spread
6 teaspoons of Frank's Red Hot
2 teaspoons wildflower honey
salt and pepper
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons bacon fat

Heat bacon fat in frying pan. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken. Brown both sides of chicken in the bacon fat. Meanwhile, combine apricot fruit spread, Frank's Red Hot and honey. When chicken is brown, pour apricot sauce over chicken in pan and simmer until chicken is cooked through and slightly orange outside. Raise heat on stovetop and continue boiling sauce until it reduces. After 10 minutes of reducing add butter and stir in. Cook for another 3 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken and devour.