Inspiration - Week 3/2011

Happiness in a bowl: Fresh strawberries with unsweetened yogurt and brown sugar

In this week's box:  Red leaf lettuce and salad mix, sugar snap peas, garlic scapes, red oakleaf lettuce, STRAWBERRIES!, Fresh herbs (either basil, garlic chives or cilantro - this will vary over the next three weeks)  (If you need some ideas for how to use basil or cilantro - just use the search feature on this blog for some inspiration.)

 You have some lovely fresh lettuce in your box this week -- I recommend you wash and dry and eat the oakleaf lettuce early in the week as it is so tender and perishable.

I hope you are not having trouble using up all the produce in your box.  If it is a struggle, here is a tip.  Try thinking at least one day ahead about meals.  Maybe on your way to work Wednesday morning you can think about what you will make for dinner on Thursday.  That way Wednesday night you can do a little prep work or even pick up a special ingredient you might need.  Lots of people don't think about dinner until half an hour before they want to eat.  Sometimes that works just fine, but it also can lead to unnecessary anxiety and crisis in the kitchen.  Or emergency pizza deliveries.  In these days of instant everything,  thinking ahead is becoming a lost art. When it comes to putting meals on the table, I think it is essential. After a while it will become a habit and mealtime will be less stressful.

I will be at the Featherstone Farm strawberry festival on Saturday from 11-3 and I hope to see you there.  I'll be baking shortcakes that morning for strawberry shortcake and also demonstrating how to make a simple strawberry sorbet.

Here are some ideas so you can think ahead about some possible meals for this week.  If a dish is in italics, a recipe or link appears below.

1.  Cup of bean, lentil or pea soup,  Wilted lettuce salad, crusty bread and butter, fresh strawberries topped with plain yogurt or cream and a little brown sugar
I think the heads of red oakleaf lettuce in the boxes this week are pretty hefty.  Wilted lettuce salad is a great way to use up a lot of lettuce.  Saute some chopped garlic scapes or garlic chives (if you have them) along with the bacon for a little extra zing.  If you don't want to mess around with soup, you could put a handful or two of cooked white or garbanzo beans in the salad for some extra protein.  Not traditional but would be quite tasty and filling.

2.   Sugar snap peas and pork, rice

3.  Green salad with strawberries, corn meal muffins

4.  Garlic pasta, simple green salad, bread, an orange or pear

5.  Try this for breakfast or even lunch - real, from scratch muesli!  A great way to use some of your fresh strawberries.

RECIPES

Wilted lettuce salad
http://cookoutofthebox.blogspot.com/2010/06/inspiration-week-2.html
The wilted lettuce recipe is near the end of this blog post from last year.

Lettuce salad with strawberries
Wash and dry mixed lettuce greens.  Place in a large bowl and toss with a simple dressing made with 4 parts olive or walnut oil to one part fresh orange or lemon juice and a little salt and pepper.  Divide greens on to serving plates.  Place on top of the greens:  Sliced fresh strawberries, crumbled feta, goat or blue cheese, toasted walnuts or almonds and sliced sweet onion.  If you have a little proscuitto or other cured meat around a little of that might be nice on the side.

Sugar snap peas and pork - serves two
Ingredients:  1/4 pound thinly sliced lean pork - marinated in 1 T Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry and 1 T. soy sauce; 1/2 pound sugar snap peas (blanched for one minute in boiling water and drained); 1 T peanut oil; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 t. grated or minced fresh ginger,  1 cup chopped garlic scapes or 4 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces; 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. sugar, 1 t. cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water or stock.  Optional - 1 t. toasted sesame oil

Heat oil until very hot in wok or large frying pan.  Stir fry garlic, ginger and scallions or scapes 1-2 minutes.  Add pork and marinade and stir fry another 2 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients, including snap peas,  and stir fry another minute or two, covering pan the last minute.
Serve hot with rice.

Rice
See last year's blog post all about rice here:  http://cookoutofthebox.blogspot.com/2010/06/tried-and-true-rice.html

Muesli
This cereal is chock full of fiber, nutrition and great flavor.  You will never buy the boxed kind again once you have tried the real thing.  You can easily bring this to work for a great lunch.
You will need the following, per serving:  1/3 cup plain uncooked old fashioned rolled oats, 1/3 cup milk, 1 T. each of raisins or other dried fruit and your favorite nuts, 1 T bran, wheat germ or ground flax seed (optional), 1-2 T. honey, maple syrup or other sweetening,  1-2 t. fresh lemon or orange juice, 1/4 cup grated fresh apple, 1/2 cup fresh berries- whole or sliced.
Soak the oats in milk at least half an hour or as long as overnight.  Mix in remaining ingredients just before serving.  Serve plain or with additional milk or plain yogurt.

Garlic pasta
Cook your favorite pasta in well salted boiling water and drain, saving about 1 cup starchy cooking water.
While the pasta is cooking, make this simple sauce.  Saute chopped garlic scapes and garlic chives and even some chopped green garlic if you have some in olive oil and butter (about 2 T. per serving).
Toss cooked pasta with the garlic sauce, adding some cooking water to desired consistency.  Serve with salt, freshly ground pepper, red pepper flakes if desired and plenty of grated Parmesan.

FOCUS: Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa)

Green or red.  Tender or crisp.  Mild or bitter.  Leaf or head.  Smooth or crinkly.  Mix or match.  Lettuce is so much more than iceberg.  Don't get me wrong, iceberg has its place.  It can sometimes save a sandwich.  But iceberg all the time is boring.  I am in favor of imagination and variety, when it comes to lettuce  -- as well as a few other things I can think of.

Lettuce is only one kind of salad green which is eaten raw.  People also like to eat chicories (such as escarole, curly endive or escarole) and greens such as spinach, watercress, arugula or even dandelion greens.  Once you get acquainted with various salad greens and lettuces, it is really fun to combine colors, flavors and textures to make beautiful and nutritious salads.  Lettuce is mostly served in raw salads in the U.S., but in Asia and France lettuce is popular cooked in soups or stir fries.

History
According to The Featherstone Farm cookbook, lettuce seeds have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs and lettuce "was recorded as growing in Babylonian gardens as early as 800 B.C.E."   Other sources say lettuce has been eaten for 4,500 years - starting out as a weed in the Mediterranean Basin.  Christopher Columbus brought lettuce to the new world.  (And the new world gave tomatoes to the Italians.   What a good trade.  Without it the world would never have had the BLT!)

Nutrition
The nutrient content of lettuce varies widely, depending on the type.  A rule of thumb is the darker the lettuce the higher the nutrition.  Romaine and looseleaf lettuce contain five to six times the vitamin C and five to ten times the vitamin A of iceberg.The Featherstone Farm cookbook tells us that a 2 cup serving of romaine "contains 143% of your daily requirement for vitamin K, 60 % of your vitamin A, nearly half of your vitamin C and over a third of your folate.  Lettuce is also a good source of manganese".  Most of us know it is very low in calories - only 10 in a cup of chopped lettuce.  The danger is in the dressing.

 Did you know that Lettuce has been named the Veggie of the Month by The Center for Disease Control?  Read all about it here:
http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/month/lettuce.html

Varieties
Crisphead
The most familiar crisphead lettuce is iceberg.  Most of it is grown in California and Arizona, which have the climate conditions conducive to growing massive amounts of iceberg lettuce.  Iceberg has a very high water content and is very mild in taste.  It is valued more for its crunchy texture than its flavor or nutrition.

Butterhead
Featherstone grows the Carimona variety of red butterhead and the Optima and Adrian varieties of green butterhead.  Very tender and tasty, butterhead makes an elegant salad.  The leaves are also good used for various kinds of lettuce wraps.  It is fun to set out a plate of butterhead leaves with lots of little tidbits that can be wrapped in the leaves and eaten as finger food.  Great meal for kids.

Romaine
Romaine is a hardy head lettuce.  It keeps well and stands up to strong flavors such as anchovies (in Caesar salad dressing), Greek olives or onions.  Featherstone grows three kinds of romaine.

Looseleaf
Featherstone Farm grows three varieties of green leaf lettuce and 2 kinds of red leaf as well as red oak leaf lettuce.  Looseleaf lettuce is versatile and can be used in salads, sandwiches and cooking.  Wilted lettuce salad is a great way to use up large amounts of looseleaf lettuce.

A word about bagged salad greens
Bagged greens have become VERY popular in the last decade or so, probably because they are convenient.  They are not cheap, however.  If you are willing to wash and prepare your own greens, you will save a lot of money.  You also can enjoy a wider variety of lettuce. 
Nutritionist Marion Nestle published a chart comparing the cost of various kinds of romaine lettuce in her classic book What To Eat (2004).  She includes a detailed explanation of the process she went through to try to compare costs of lettuce.  (Grocery stores do not make this easy.)   Per pound, pre-cut salad was four times more expensive than heads.
Aside from issues of cost or convenience, I prefer fresh leaf or head lettuce because it has a much better flavor than even high end bagged lettuce. 

Storage
I like to wash and dry lettuce as soon as I get it.  Then it is like fast food - ready whenever I need it.  If it is very fresh to start with (like your CSA lettuce) it can often last for up to a week in your refrigerator.   Individual mixed lettuce leaves are more perishable than head lettuce.  Romaine lettuce will store longer than tender Boston or butterhead lettuce.  Remember the fresher the lettuce is when you bring it home, the longer it will last.   I prefer a ventilated plastic bag or one of the new kind made especially for produce storage.  Several companies make these now and they are easy to find.  Keep the lettuce dry - it will be happier.

Preparation
Fill a basin, sink or bowl with cold water.  Pull off any damaged outer leaves and cut out the stem end if there is one.  Gently swish the lettuce leaves in the water with your hands.  Wait for a minute to let gravity work and let dirt and sand sink.  Lift the lettuce out of the water and into a strainer or colander or the basket of your salad spinner.  And don't overcrowd the lettuce.  Do in several batches if you must.  If the lettuce is very dirty wash twice.  I have found that Featherstone lettuce amost never needs more than one washing.  Lettuce washing goes very fast once you get the hang of it.

Spin dry the lettuce in a spinner (small batches are more effective).  I like to spread the dry lettuce on a dry kitchen towel and roll it up and refrigerate until I am ready to use it.
If you want to know more about salad spinners, see this blog post from last year:   http://cookoutofthebox.blogspot.com/2010/04/getting-ready-salad-spinner.html

Salads
The fresher the lettuce, the better the salad.  If you are lucky enough to have fresh greens from your garden, CSA box or the farmers market, all you really need to make it sing is a little olive oil, red wine or sherry vinegar and a touch of garlic.  (some people recommend rubbing the salad bowl with a clove of fresh garlic.)  Start with a ratio of 3 to 4 tablespoons of oil to one tablespoon vinegar.  Ultimately let your palate decide what is best.  A bit of salt and fresh ground pepper is also good.  The dressing should enhance, not overwhelm, the lettuce.  You want to be able to taste it the lettuce.  Save thick, gloppy dressings for the times you have sturdy vegetables or robust greens in a salad.  Fresh garden leaf lettuce cannot really stand up to  Thousand Island or Blue Cheese - even if it is good and homemade.  Chunks of iceberg can peacefully co exist with fairly heavy dressings, which is probably a reason iceberg is popular.

Think about banishing all kinds of commercial bottled dressings from your kitchen and laying in a supply of a few nice oils and vinegars instead.  You will save money and avoid a lot of sodium and other unnecessary chemicals and flavorings.   If you want convenience, you can easily make up a pint or even a quart of basic olive oil vinaigrette every so often and keep it in the refrigerator.

And can someone explain to me why Ranch dressing is now the most popular dressing in America?  I just don't get that.  

Additions
Herbs -- a few leaves of chervil, chives, tarragon or mint - can liven up a salad.  I also like to use sorrel or even lemon balm or lovage leaves.  A little usually goes a long way.  If you are adventurous try nasturtium flowers, which are a little crunchy and peppery and quite good in a green salad.

The Allium family 
Shallots - thinly sliced or chopped - make a very good addition to almost any salad.
Garlic - just a hint -or more - of garlic enhances a lettuce salad.
Onions -  when sweet onions are available I like to add them to a lettuce salad - especially in combination with oranges or strawberries.

Nuts - dried or fresh fruit - cheese
I think most restaurants overdo the nuts and dried fruit and other additions to salad.  (The dried cranberry-blue cheese-walnut thing is really getting to be a cliche.)   I think they do it to justify charging you a lot of money for a salad that really does not use very nice greens.  I would like to see a restaurant brave enough to serve a lettuce only salad with a simple oil and vinegar dressing.  It could work if the lettuce was good enough. Use a light hand when adding fruits, nuts or cheese.  Experiment with various combinations. 

One Bowl Salad - a Neat Trick
Put the following into a large bowl: 2 T. olive oil, 1/2 t. finely chopped garlic, 1/2 t. Dijon-type mustard, 1 t. red wine or sherry vinegar.  Stir together.  Add about 1/2 pound leafy salad greens - washed, dried and chilled -- 2-3 ounces at a time.  Toss each time you add lettuce.  Add a little salt and pepper to taste.  Optional additions: sliced radishes, shredded carrots, cucumber, nuts, bits of feta cheese, etc.  Serve.

Inspiration - Week #3

One thing I like about cooking out of the CSA box is that it simplifies my life.   Some of you may be thinking, "What is she talking about?  This CSA thing is complicating my life.  Just look at the huge pile of lettuce and braising greens I need to deal with this week!"

Let me explain.  I don't go to large supermarkets too often - because the nearest one is about 40 miles away and because between our garden and the CSA box and our local farmers (milk, cream, meat, eggs) I just don't need lots of things from a big grocery store.   (I also like to shop at area co-ops for things like beans, grains and spices).  Anyway - I was in a large supermarket this past weekend and it was wonderful and terrible at the same time.  The wonderful part was all the choices -- quite an amazing array of items.  You could buy the components of just about any kind of exciting or ordinary meal you could imagine - especially if money was no object.

But the terrible part was the same as the wonderful part -- all the choices.  I am an experienced and pretty disciplined grocery shopper, so I can handle the sheer magnitude of it all pretty well.  I just stroll right by the fancy bakery section (most of that stuff looks better than it tastes anyway).  I don't slow down for the steaks.  Not even a passing glance at Chef Boyardee and Hamburger Helper.   I did have to hunt to find the house brand of shredded wheat hiding amongst the circus of cereals.

This all made me wonder how normal, busy people (especially inexperienced cooks) manage to get in and out of these places with their sanity and budget intact.  I mean it.  I guess that is why brand names and advertising are so effective.  They give people some way to navigate through the flood of food.  Some way to get help with all those meal decisions.  I also think it is why most people pretty much eat the same thing over and over -- it is just too hard to make all those choices. Or why they eat out a lot.  Sure you have to choose something on the menu but someone else will take responsibility for implementation.

So that is one reason I like my CSA box.  Fewer choices.  Simpler life.   A molehill, not a mountain, to climb.   So let's talk about some meal ideas for this week.

Recipes with an asterisk printed below.  Check blog archives for recipes and posts on poached eggs and wilted lettuce.   After the recipes, see my step by step pictures : washing and drying red oak lettuce.   How very exciting.

Tomorrow: Dig In -- Compost

Pasta with beet greens and diced roasted beets*; Bread; Fresh pear 

Filled Butter lettuce cups with Asian style dressing*; Ice cream (if you eat such a healthy supper you can eat a nice serving of ice cream and feel really good about it.  You could even have a cookie too.)

Braised greens*,  Rice (make extra rice for fried rice another day),  Grilled, baked or broiled meat, fish or chicken or tofu

Red oak lettuce salad with pancetta or bacon and a warm oil and vinegar dressing (basically wilted lettuce) and a poached egg on top;  Toast or cornbread

Fried Rice* ; Seasonal Fresh fruit

Hamburgers or meat loaf,  oven roasted or mashed potatoes,  Raw or lightly steamed veggies (green beans, snap peas and kohlrabi?)  and dip, side salad with simple oil and vinegar dressing.  Garnish the salad with roasted beets if you have extra beets.  A sprinkling of sunflower seeds would be good, too.

Pasta with Beet Greens and Diced Roasted Beets 
1. Roast beets
(Note:  roasting the beets takes some time - you can do this ahead and refrigerate the beets until you need them.) Scrub beets, cut off tops to 1/2 inch.  Put in a covered dish with 1/2 water or wrap in foil and bake in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until tender. larger beets take longer.   When beets are cool enough to handle, skins should rub off with your hands.  Use a peeler if the skin is stubborn.
2. Steam beet greens
Wash and then steam beet greens 5-8 minutes.  Drain greens,  cool and coarsely chop or cut into strips, set aside.  (add cooking water to pasta cooking water for extra nutrition.  Or save for soup stock)
3. Cook and drain pasta.  Keep warm.  (Warm the serving plates too - a nice touch.)
To assemble :
Saute the chopped beet greens in some olive oil with a handful of chopped garlic scapes or some chopped onion or garlic.  Add diced beets in desired amount, along with a handful of golden raisins or even dried cherries or diced prunes.  Stir in pasta, along with some cheese.  (blue cheese, ricotta, or some kind of soft goat cheese would all be good).  Serve topped with toasted pine nuts, walnuts or hazelnuts.

Filled Butter Lettuce Cups with Asian dressing
Wash and dry individual leaves of butter lettuce - place on a large serving plate.
Chop the following (I suggest 1/2 inch dice or even smaller)  Proportions can vary according to your taste and the amount of items you have on hand: garlic scapes, sugar snap peas (raw or very lightly steamed), peeled kohlrabi, carrots, onion, radish, cucumber, cilantro, roasted peanuts.  You can also add tofu, hard boiled egg, mushrooms or cooked chicken or other meat or fish to the filling or on the side.  Some cooked brown or white rice, at room temperature,  would also be a nice addition to the filling.  If desired, serve the various filling ingredients separately instead of mixing all together.    Children might enjoy choosing their own filling ingredients.
Dressing: 
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sunflower or vegetable oil
1 T. toasted sesame oil
2 t. soy sauce
2 t. sugar
a little salt, red pepper flakes to taste
optional - add a T. of toasted sesame seeds

Serve the lettuce leaves, filling and dressing separately.  Each person can serve themselves - making lettuce rolls to eat out of hand or filling "cups" of lettuce to eat with a knife and fork. 

Braised Greens
Wash greens in a sink or larage pan of water.  (I cut off about 3 inches of stems before washing.)
Lift out and drain - greens don't need to be perfectly dry.  The small amount of water clinging to the leaves will help cook the greens.  Finely chop one bulb of green garlic or 3-4 cloves regular garlic.  (More or less garlic depending on amount of greens to be cooked and your tastes)
Heat 2-4 T. olive oil in a large pan (again - amount depends on how many greens to be cooked and your tastes)  Saute garlic for a few minutes.  Add a little hot pepper flakes if desired.  Add greens (whole or sliced)  and cook, covered, about 5 more minutes.
Braised greens are good served with a sprinkle of either soy sauce or balsamic vinegar or your favorite hot sauce. 

Fried Rice
Fried rice is a great way to use up all kinds of meat and vegetables.  You can have it your way.  There are a few basic principles I suggest you follow.
First, you should have about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of cooked, cool or cold rice per serving set aside and ready to add once the vegetables are cooked.
Second, it really makes a difference if you add some finely chopped fresh ginger and garlic ( or garlic scapes) to this dish.  It is a good idea to always have fresh ginger and fresh garlic around the house.
Third, you need some type of Asian seasoning.  If you don't have soy sauce you can use oyster sauce, black bean with garlic sauce or other favorite seasoning.  Sometimes I like to add a spoon or two of Hoisin sauce because I like that little hit of sweet barbecue flavor.   I also like to add a splash of rice wine or Chinese cooking wine or even sherry to help get the sticky bits off the bottom of the pan at the end.  Another really nice touch is toasted sesame oil.  A little - like a teaspoon - goes a long way.

Heat some cooking oil in a heavy pan or wok.  Stir in some minced ginger and garlic.  Then add vegetables of your choice.  You can use cut up sugar snap peas, green beans, broccoli, carrot, asparagus, garlic scapes - whatever you have on hand.  A little celery or onion or mushroom is always nice.  I even add chopped radishes at the end for extra crunch.  Stir fry the vegetables for awhile until they are just crisp-tender.  Then stir in the rice and soy sauce or other favorite seasoning.  If the rice is lumpy just break up the lumps with your cooking spoon.  If you have some bits of scrambled egg or omelet or cooked meat or other protein this is a good time to add them.  Bean sprouts and chopped fresh cilantro are good too.  A few big handfuls of fresh lettuce, cut into thin strips, is also a great addition to fried rice right at the end of cooking. It will cook down to nothing.  So if you get tired of lettuce salads - you can always add lettuce to fried rice.
If you make it a practice to have cooked rice on hand, fried rice is a great fast meal and a great way to use up all kinds of vegetables.  Experiment with flavors until you come up with your own special version.

Washing, Drying and Storing Lettuce 

It is for sure a little more work to prepare a fresh head of leaf lettuce compared to buying a ready to eat bag of salad shipped in from California or wherever -- but there is simply no comparison as to quality and flavor.  With this lettuce, you can make a salad you can be proud of.  Sometimes I like to roll the dried lettuce in a clean kitchen towel before I bag it just to make sure it is extra dry.  I think it keeps a little better that way.

Inspiration - Week #2

This week's CSA box contains: leaf lettuce, mixed salad greens, green garlic, garlic scapes, spinach, asparagus, green beans and maybe rhubarb or strawberries depending on what day you pick up your box.  And dill.  Beautiful fresh dill, which happens to have an affinity for spinach, green beans, fish, eggs and potatoes.  And lemon.

We have been enjoying lots of salads at our house lately.  You too, I hope.  A few days ago I started a discussion group going on the Featherstone Farm Facebook page -- about salads.  I'd love to see some pictures of your salads or read your ideas.   I bet others would too.   Some people may be suffering from lettuce overload.  Lettuce help them.   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rushford-Village-MN/Featherstone-Fruits-Vegetables/80513594952?v=app_2373072738#!/topic.php?uid=80513594952&topic=16329

Last week I made some suggestions for Dealing with the Box when you first get it home.  Same for this week.  If you can, spend some time washing and drying the various greens and bagging them up.  Cut a half inch off the bottom of the bundle of asparagus and stand up in a jar with a little water and put a plastic bag over the top.  On the other hand, you can also get away with the no frills system used by some friends of mine.  Their way of managing the box is to put the whole thing in the refrigerator and deal with it later, one thing at a time.  That will work too.  Just don't wait too long to wash and dry the head lettuce.

What to do with that generous bunch of fresh dill?  If you decide to try all the meal ideas below you will have a dilly of a time.   The dill should keep at least 7-10 days, bagged and refrigerated.  Keep it dry if you can.   If you are feeling ambitious and are ready for a special culinary adventure, you could make gravlax.   This is a classic Scandinavian salmon dish that requires quite a bit of fresh dill.  Raw fish is cold cured in a mixture of salt, sugar and dill for a few days - then sliced thinly and served.  It can be served as an appetizer or a main dish and is accompanied by a mustard sauce.   This online article is detailed and has good pictures. You don't have to use such a big piece of fish if you don't want to.  I suggest using kosher salt, by the way.  The article does not specify a kind of salt.  Ordinary table salt would not do this justice.   http://scandinavianfood.about.com/od/cookingtechniques/ss/gravlaxhowto.htm

Meal ideas: (Recipes follow for bold items marked with an asterisk*) 

1.  Roast chicken*.   boiled or steamed potatoes with dill sauce*  Boiled or steamed asparagus spears (also good with dill sauce)  Mixed green salad
 (Note - cook all the asparagus - remember not to overcook.  Save about 1/3 of it for pasta salad.   Also save some of the chicken breast for the salad, too.)

2.  Wilted lettuce salad *   Bread  Fruit (maybe fresh strawberries or some rhubarb sauce?) You can snip a little dill over this salad.

3.   Broiled or baked fish (or maybe gravlax?)  Rice  Steamed green beans (make a double recipe of rice if you want to make spinach casserole* later) 
If you don't serve the gravlax, you can use dill butter on the rice, fish and green beans.   Cook all the beans - don't overcook - and save about 1/3 for pasta salad.

4.   Pasta and Chicken Salad with Asparagus, Green Beans and Dill mayonnaise dressing*, served on top of mixed greens

5.  Egg salad sandwich with dill mayonnaise and lettuce on rye.  Serve with soup or salad or just a glass of milk.

6.  Spinach Casserole*  Tomato soup  Pita bread

Tomorrow's Dig In post: Vinegar

Week Two Recipes
Roast Chicken (and chicken broth)
There are many recipes for roast chicken out there.  This one comes from Laurie Colwin, who wrote two of my favorite collections of food essays: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking.
She was ahead of her time.  She said - in 1993 - "The best chickens are free-range, organic birds.  If you can find them, get them.  They cost more and they taste better."  I agree.

She suggests slow roasting until the meat falls off the bone and the skin is very crisp.
Her recipe is very simple: Place a whole chicken into an open roasting or baking pan.  Put a few cloves garlic and half a lemon inside the chicken. (You could smash a bulb of green garlic and use that.)  Sprinkle some salt, pepper and paprika on the skin.  Roast at 300 to 325 degrees "until the leg bone wiggles and the skin is the color of teak".  Two to three hours depending on the size of the chicken.
(Note:  I tried this recipe one day after I first posted this piece.  I have changed the roasting temperature because as much as I love Laurie Colwin, her recipe just was not working for me.  She said 250-300 degrees.  I say 300-325 degrees.  And plan on three hours.)

This is how the roast chicken turned out.  As you can see my Dad really enjoyed the meal.  We ate the chicken (raised by a local grower) with steamed green beans from our Featherstone CSA box and some creme fraiche with fresh dill - also from the CSA box.   Our potatoes were from our garden - the first of the year.  French fingerlings.  Fresh strawberries with just a little whipped cream for dessert.  What luxury.  I guarantee you no potentate or king ate as well as we did tonight. 

DON'T THROW AWAY THE CARCASS.  PLEASE.  After you have taken the meat off the bones, just scrape the carcass and the pan juices into a pot.  You can also throw in the tops of the green garlic and a little onion, carrot or parsley if you wish.  Or one or two whole cloves.  Add water about three quarters of the way up and simmer for three hours.  Strain broth.  Cool and then refrigerate.  Now you can dispose of the carcass.  Fat will rise to the top of the broth and harden.  Then it is easy to remove.  Chicken fat is also called schmaltz.  I like to save some in the freezer.  Sometimes a little schmaltz is just what you need.  Ask a Jewish mother.   If you are not going to use this broth within a few days,  you can freeze it. 

Dill Sauce for potatoes and vegetables
Melt 1/4 stick (4T.) butter.  (You can substitute part olive oil.)  Add 1 T. chopped fresh dill and 1 t. fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Wilted Lettuce Salad (You can use up a lot of leaf lettuce this way)
4 servings
About one pound leaf lettuce, washed and dried (if you don't have a salad spinner you can use kitchen towels).  You can also add some spinach, beet greens or other tender green.
4-6 strips bacon, diced (you can also use pancetta - that is my favorite)
4 green onions (or one bulb green garlic, minced fine, and some chopped garlic scapes)
4 T. Cider vinegar (or red or white wine vinegar)
2 t. sugar
While bacon is cooking, shred or tear salad greens and place in a large bowl.  After bacon is cooked, add vinegar, sugar and onions or garlic to pan drippings and heat gently.  Pour warm dressing and bacon pieces over the greens and quickly toss.  Serve on warmed plates.   Salt and pepper to taste.  Excellent garnished with chopped or quartered hard boiled eggs and sliced radishes.

Pasta Chicken Salad
Cook pasta of your choice - such as rotini, fusilli, penne or elbow macaroni.  Plan on about one to 1 1/2 cups cooked pasta per serving.  Drain and set aside.  Chop cooked green beans and asparagus into one or two inch pieces.  Add to pasta.  You may also add some chopped onions, garlic scapes or chives to taste.  Fresh spinach leaves cut into 1/2 inch strips would also be a good addition.  Then add pieces of cooked chicken.  You could also use turkey, salmon or tuna or even some cured or smoked sausage.  If I had some toasted pecans around I would thrown those in too.
Dressing:  Mix equal parts mayonnaise and plain yogurt.  Thin with a little milk if desired.  Add a few tablespoons of fresh chopped dill and a teaspoon or two of Dijon mustard.  Salt and pepper to taste.  If you want to spark the taste a bit, add a dash of vinegar and pinch of sugar.  Serve on a bed of salad greens.  (Note:  Thursday's Hands On post will be about how to make mayonnaise at home.)

Spinach Casserole - 4 servings
One bunch or bag of spinach (1/2 to 1 pound)
1/2 cup chopped onion or 4 chopped scallions (green onions)
One T finely minced fresh green garlic
2 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup fresh parsley (optional)
4 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (You could substitute grated swiss cheese)
1/2 t. salt, black pepper to taste
Cook spinach in a small amount of water for about 5 minutes.  Cool, squeeze dry and chop.  Saute about 1/2 cup of onions and the garlic until soft.  Beat 4 eggs.  Mix spinach in a bowl with rice, onions, eggs and seasonings.  Bake at 350 degrees until firm and lightly browned - about 30 minutes.