We have tried more new fruits, vegetables, and cuts of meats this year than we have in, oh, a decade or so. A partial list:
- baby back ribs (never cooked at home before)
- Hubbard squash
- butternut squash
- chard
- beets
- radishes
- rutabaga
- ground cherries (which we actually got from the farmers' market, but they're weird enough I'll include them anyway)
- fresh grape juice
- red cabbage
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Recipe - Sausage and Fennel Soup with Pasta
I got this recipe from one of the stalls at the farmers' market last weekend. It was a great excuse to use up the fennel that I didn't snarf down raw over the weekend :)
Sausage and Fennel Soup with Pasta
1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage (bulk)
1 fennel bulb
3/4 cup diced onion
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
3 T olive oil
14.5 oz. canned diced tomatoes
14.5 oz. canned crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup orzo
2 cups fresh spinach
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Saute sausage, breaking it up into small pieces, until well browned. Drain sausage and set aside. Cut the top off the fennel, wash and dice the white part of the bulb. Saute the fennel, onion, and garlic in olive oil until onion is soft and transparent. Add tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes. Add sausage and orzo and cook until orzo is just done. Add spinach, tearing it into small pieces, and cook 3 minutes. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Garnish with Asiago cheese.
Sausage and Fennel Soup with Pasta
1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage (bulk)
1 fennel bulb
3/4 cup diced onion
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
3 T olive oil
14.5 oz. canned diced tomatoes
14.5 oz. canned crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup orzo
2 cups fresh spinach
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Saute sausage, breaking it up into small pieces, until well browned. Drain sausage and set aside. Cut the top off the fennel, wash and dice the white part of the bulb. Saute the fennel, onion, and garlic in olive oil until onion is soft and transparent. Add tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes. Add sausage and orzo and cook until orzo is just done. Add spinach, tearing it into small pieces, and cook 3 minutes. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Garnish with Asiago cheese.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Recipe - Braised Red Cabbage
This recipe is a mash-up of about four different recipes from several different cookbooks. Guess that makes it mine, huh? This is particularly good when served with bratwurst and Stadium Mustard. Mmmmm, artery-clogging autumnal goodness ....
Braised Red Cabbage
4 bacon slices, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
3-4 lbs red cabbage, quartered, cored and thinly sliced crosswise
1 apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Cook bacon in a large heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring until crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon and reserve it for use later. Add butter to bacon fat, then increase heat to moderate and cook onions until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Stir in cabbage, apples, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper, and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender (about 1 1/4 hours). Add bacon and serve warm.
Braised Red Cabbage
4 bacon slices, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
3-4 lbs red cabbage, quartered, cored and thinly sliced crosswise
1 apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Cook bacon in a large heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring until crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon and reserve it for use later. Add butter to bacon fat, then increase heat to moderate and cook onions until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Stir in cabbage, apples, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper, and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender (about 1 1/4 hours). Add bacon and serve warm.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Hurray for the winter CSA!
The CSA I used this summer has started a winter version that will focus on storage crops, value-added products (like local cheese and pasta), and meat/eggs/milk. My first basket comes today, and is supposed to include:
If anyone in the Cleveland area is interested, you can find out more about the CSA here. There's still time to sign up, even if you will miss out on the first delivery.
In the meantime, I've got to go roast a bunch of sweet potatoes (and a giant butternut squash, not to mention the Turnip that Ate Toledo) before they go bad. Oh, and figure out how to store 3 pounds of brussels sprouts to use later this winter.
- 1 head Jumbo White Stem Bok Choy
- 1 head cheddar cauliflower
- 2 Hubba Hubba squash (miniature, orange hubbard squash)
- 1 buttercup squash
- Quarter-peck Empire apples
- 1 dozen pasture raised chicken eggs
- 1 head red cabbage
- 1 half gallon grass-grazed milk from Snowville
- 1 mini sweet potato cheesecake (1/6th of a large cake)
- Approx 3.5 lbs of “pork combo,” your choice of one of the following
o Boston Butt (pork shoulder), approximately 3.5 to 4 lbs each
o 3 packs center-cut bone-out porkchops (6 chops) and 1 lb Italian Sausage
o 2 racks baby-back ribs (approx 3 lbs) and 1 lb Italian Sausage
o 1 rack spare ribs (approx 3 lbs) and 1 lb Italian Sausage
o 2 tenderloins (approx 3 lbs)
o 4 pork hocks, 1 lb Italian Sausage, 1 lb bacon
If anyone in the Cleveland area is interested, you can find out more about the CSA here. There's still time to sign up, even if you will miss out on the first delivery.
In the meantime, I've got to go roast a bunch of sweet potatoes (and a giant butternut squash, not to mention the Turnip that Ate Toledo) before they go bad. Oh, and figure out how to store 3 pounds of brussels sprouts to use later this winter.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Weekly menu
Friday - Tacos, corn and chickpea salad, double chocolate zucchini cake
Saturday - leftover pizza from last week
Sunday - leftover pizza from last week
Monday - grilled chicken breasts, pasta salad
Tuesday - leftover pasta salad, leftover tacos
Wednesday - homemade barbecue chicken pizza
Thursday - pork stirfry
Saturday - leftover pizza from last week
Sunday - leftover pizza from last week
Monday - grilled chicken breasts, pasta salad
Tuesday - leftover pasta salad, leftover tacos
Wednesday - homemade barbecue chicken pizza
Thursday - pork stirfry
Random shopping lists
Okay, I'm getting really slack about saving my shopping lists. I have an excuse, though - it's September, so my sustainable "summer" is over :) Anyway, here's what I found on my desk and in the kitchen:
CSA Contents (approximate value $25):
1 lb organic grassfed ground beef
6 ears sweet corn
2 slicing cucumbers
1 pint mixed cherry and grape tomatoes
3 lb Yukon or red norland potatoes (a good third of which was one ginormous potato)
1 candy onion
1 red slicing tomato
1 bunch cilantro
1 medium seedless watermelon
Havarti cheese
Giant Eagle (total - $50.29):
Toilet paper - 8.59
Kleenex - 5.79
Dixie cup refills - 2.00
White vinegar - 3.29
peanut oil - 5.39
organic round crackers - 2.79
organic dark chocolate - 3.49
grassfed local baby swiss cheese - 5.03
local shredded mozzarella cheese - 3.99
organic milk - 3.79x2
Giant Eagle (total - $32.92):
Local beer - 8.99
Lemon juice - 1.29x3
Lime juice - 1.29
Organic dried beans - 1.00
Organic mushrooms - 2.49
Taco shells - 2.00
Annie's fruit snacks - 4.99
Local shredded cheese - 5.00
Organic tortilla chips - 2.50
Plus a whole bunch of stuff at the farmers' market and Fitch's, including about a half-peck of hot peppers and a bushel of tomatoes that I canned and froze and made into salsa.
CSA Contents (approximate value $25):
1 lb organic grassfed ground beef
6 ears sweet corn
2 slicing cucumbers
1 pint mixed cherry and grape tomatoes
3 lb Yukon or red norland potatoes (a good third of which was one ginormous potato)
1 candy onion
1 red slicing tomato
1 bunch cilantro
1 medium seedless watermelon
Havarti cheese
Giant Eagle (total - $50.29):
Toilet paper - 8.59
Kleenex - 5.79
Dixie cup refills - 2.00
White vinegar - 3.29
peanut oil - 5.39
organic round crackers - 2.79
organic dark chocolate - 3.49
grassfed local baby swiss cheese - 5.03
local shredded mozzarella cheese - 3.99
organic milk - 3.79x2
Giant Eagle (total - $32.92):
Local beer - 8.99
Lemon juice - 1.29x3
Lime juice - 1.29
Organic dried beans - 1.00
Organic mushrooms - 2.49
Taco shells - 2.00
Annie's fruit snacks - 4.99
Local shredded cheese - 5.00
Organic tortilla chips - 2.50
Plus a whole bunch of stuff at the farmers' market and Fitch's, including about a half-peck of hot peppers and a bushel of tomatoes that I canned and froze and made into salsa.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Last week's dinner menus
Friday - went to the carnival, ate "food" that tasted really good and had no nutritional value whatsoever.
Saturday - Tortilla pizzas made with leftover homemade pizza sauce from last week, heirloom tomato and pepper salad, sweet corn
Sunday - Chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup
Monday - Ohio City Pasta ravioli with homemade tomato sauce, German potato salad
Tuesday - Leftover roasted tomato soup, sweet corn, homemade bread with homemade jam
Wednesday - pizza from a local (non-chain) restaurant
Thursday - BLT's with homegrown tomato, CSA lettuce, organic mayo, homemade bread, local grass-fed organic bacon, local grass-fed organic cheese
Saturday - Tortilla pizzas made with leftover homemade pizza sauce from last week, heirloom tomato and pepper salad, sweet corn
Sunday - Chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup
Monday - Ohio City Pasta ravioli with homemade tomato sauce, German potato salad
Tuesday - Leftover roasted tomato soup, sweet corn, homemade bread with homemade jam
Wednesday - pizza from a local (non-chain) restaurant
Thursday - BLT's with homegrown tomato, CSA lettuce, organic mayo, homemade bread, local grass-fed organic bacon, local grass-fed organic cheese
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