Cruciferous party

I love the word cruciferous.  Cruciferous is another word for cabbage-family vegetables and they are packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  Today my stars are kale and cabbage

Beer-Braised Kale with Pancetta
- 1 bunch Kale
- 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup pancetta
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 beer
- 1/2 cup stock ( I used vegetable)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper

Start by washing the kale.  Pull it off of the hard stems and break into pieces.  I used my salad spinner to wash and dry it off.  Heat olive oil in a dutch oven and saute onions and pancetta until getting browned.  Add the garlic at the end (I grate it with a microplane).  Add the kale and a bit more oil and coat it with the oil and onion mixture.  Add the beer and stock to cover kale about 2/3 of the way.  Put a lid on and simmer for about 20-25 minutes.  Enjoy :)  We had some leftover meatballs.  I probably should have let it braise 5 more minutes it was still not quite tender, but it was still yummy.

Turkey Stuffed Cabbage 
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1/3 cup uncooked brown rice
-2/3 cup water
- splash Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper
- 8 cabbage leaves
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- splash white wine
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 tsp. tomato paste
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce

- Bring 2/3 cup water to a boil.  Add rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Bring a wide, large saucepan 2/3 way full of water to a boil.  Add cabbage head whole for about 6 minutes.  This helps so that the leaves peel right off and don't tear.  Drain and cool. 

Combine the ground turkey, rice, tomato paste, some juice from the fire-roasted tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, onion, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.  Spoon into the cabbage leaves and place in a dutch oven (I used the same pot I boiled water in for the cabbage).  I placed them with the rolled side down so it stayed together, but you could use a toothpick or string if desired.  Pour sauce, rest of the fire-roasted tomatoes, stock, and wine over top.  Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer for 40 minutes, basting and stirring occasionally.   Serve.

These were absolutely delicious.  I didn't miss the red meat in them.  It made some extra sauce to pour over the top.  Probably one of my favorites on the website so far!  Thanks for reading :)

Hodgepodge

Sorry I have been away for a while.  Things have been very busy and I left my laptop cord at a friend's house so I have had a dead lap top for a week :)

Anyway, this past week's CSA box had:
Kale
Roma Tomatoes
Corn on the Cob
Red bell pepper
Peaches
Green beans

We went to Erin's parents house for dinner on Friday night and we were going to be busy a lot of the weekend, so I tried a dish that used up a lot of our food to take there.  I ended up doing a Quinoa salad with roasted corn, red pepper, and green beans

Quinoa Salad with corn, green beans, and red pepper
- 2 cups quinoa
-4 cups chicken broth
-4 ears of corn, roasted
- 1 red bell pepper, roasted
- 2-3 handfuls green beans, blanched
- salt and pepper
-4-5 tbsp butter

This took a bit of time to make, but I made it as I was doing things on Friday.  Start by roasting the corn and red bell pepper.

To roast corn in the oven, preheat to 400.  Peel the husks back from the corn, but not all the way off.  Remove the corn silks.  Put a small pad of butter inside each cob as you wrap them back up in the corn husks.  I made two packets by wrapping to cobs in foil and placed directly in the oven.  Once they have cooled and are able to be handled, stand up the corn and cut the kernels off.  I put a ramekin bottom-up in the bowl and cut down the cob so the kernels fall into the bowl.

To roast the red pepper, you can do it at the same time as the corn.  If you have a gas stove, which I don't, you can just char it on top of the burner.  Since I don't have one, I used the oven.  Just put the pepper on a small baking pan and put it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 400 turning every ten minutes or so.  When you take it out put it in a brown paper bag or wrap tightly in foil to keep the heat in.  The pepper will shrivel in about 10-15 minutes.  Once it shrivels it is very easy to peel the skin off.  Cut off the top and squeeze out all of the seeds then dice the pepper.

To blanch the green beans, boil a pot of water and salt it.  Cut the ends of the beans off and cut into bite-size pieces.  Drop the beans in the boiling water and after about 3-5 minutes remove and put the beans into ice water to stop the cooking and keep the color.

Make the quinoa as instructed on the package.  I always make mine with chicken broth instead of water.  Combine the veggies with the quinoa and toss.  Add a tbsp. of butter and voila!  People really liked it at Erin's moms.  I totally failed on taking pictures during cooking and of the final product so I only have one of the veggies before adding the quinoa!  Oops!

 

In other news, I actually baked yesterday for our Labor Day party.  I made a skillet pineapple upside down cake from scratch and people seemed to like it.  It's not really related to the post at all but I was just happy I baked something and it turned out.

Bring it on down to Omelette-ville!

Every once in a while I like breakfast for dinner.....especially eggs.  I am not good at flipping omelettes, however.  I thought I could do it in the oven instead, and I was right.  It's similar to a quiche or a strata, but just very thin layer so it as quite omelette-like.  I made a pepper- tomato- carmelized onion omelette for dinner last night.  Here's the recipe!

Green Pepper, Tomato, Carmelized Onion Omelette
- 1 cup diced, roasted green bell pepper (from Dilner's farm)
-1 cup diced, roasted tomatoes (from Dilner's)
- 1 onion, carmelized. (from Dilner's)
- 2 tbsp. butter
-olive oil
-6 eggs (organic if ya got 'em!)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used a tomato basil cheese from Finger Lakes)
- salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Melt the butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cut the bell pepper in half and remove the seeds and do the same with the tomatoes.  Place on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until soft and roasted.  Once done, pull out and let them cool, then dice.  Meanwhile, slice the onion and put in the pan with butter.  Be sure not to exceed medium heat when carmelizing onions.  They will take about 30 minutes to carmelize. 

Beat the 6 eggs in a bowl.  Add in the diced peppers and tomatoes and carmelized onions.  Add the ricotta, cheese, and salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Pour into a 9 x 12 an coated with cooking spray.  Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375 or until cooked through.  For the last 2-3 minutes melt some cheese on top.

I totally forgot to take pictures of my ingredients.  I only have one of the finished product.  This was pretty tasty, although, this is coming from the person who can eat carmelized onions as a meal by themselves sooo....

I also made French toast this weekend with the Amish bread that came in our basket last week.  I again, forgot to take a picture, but it was really good.  I put eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon in my batter....and I don't measure, so I can't help ya there!

This week's CSA box on Thursday will have sweet corn, eggplant, green beans, peaches, cucumber, red bell pepper, and roma tomatoes.  Stay tuned!  I am thinking of some sort of Eggplant Napoleon, a green bean salad of some sort.  Tomorrow I am making scallops with garlic green beans with the beans I got last week!  Have a great night, and thanks for reading!

Sloppy Joe...Slop..Sloppy Joe

I know what you're thinking.  Sloppy Joes on a food blog?  Is she serious?  Well, this ain't no Mamwich :)  I had decided to make homemade sloppy Joes with grass-fed ground meat and the green pepper and hot pepper from my CSA box.  However, my green pepper was not looking so hot, and I sadly had to pitch it :(

Spicy Homemade Sloppy Joes
- 1 lb lean ground beef (I used grass-fed)
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 small hot pepper (I used half of the one in the picture below), finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp. Dion Mustard (No HFCS in Dijon by the way!)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste (used this instead of ketchup since it also does not have HFCS)
- 1 can fire roasted crushed tomatoes (14.5 oz)
- 2 tsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire
- 1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
- whole wheat buns

In a large skillet or a dutch oven, pour about 1 tbsp. olive oil.   Cook the meat, onion, and pepper over medium-high heat until the meat is brown and the onion and pepper are soft.  Season with salt and pepper.

When the meat and onion and pepper are almost cooked, grate the garlic cloves over top.  (If you add them too early, they will burn.)  Drain the meat mixture in a strainer to get rid of any grease.  Return the meat and onion mixture to the skillet or dutch oven.  Add the tomato paste, Dijon, brown sugar, Worcestershire, and the fire roasted tomatoes.  Cover and cook over medium-low heat and let it simmer for about 25 minutes.  Remove from heat and let rest for about 5 minutes to thicken. 

Before serving, add the sour cream and incorporate into the Sloppy Joe mixture.

You don't have to do this, but that pepper was HOT so it served a few purposes.  The sour cream cooled it down some, made it a little creamier, and helped thicken the Sloppy Joes.  Put on a toasted bun and top with a slice of cheese, if desired. 

Tom ate two and he hardly ever eats seconds :)  The best part is we have left overs for tomorrow!  Thanks for reading :)  Let me know how they turn out!  I will definitely be making these again sometime.

Family Reunion Day

Today is our family reunion with my mom's family, the LeGrands.  Everyone brings a side dish.  I decided to make cucumber salad from the farm and a peach, plum, and raspberry crisp.  Delicious!

Cucumber Salad
- 4 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup sour cream
-1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp. snipped chives
-salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 2 tsp. distilled white vinegar
- 1/4 to 1/2 diced onion (I used red because that's what I had, but you can use whatever, or none at all)

Combine the sour cream, Greek yogurt, salt, pepper, chives, sugar, and vinegar together until smooth.  Pour over sliced cucumbers and onions.  Mix well until cucumbers are coated.  Chill for at least 1 hour.  I am not crazy about the taste of raw onion so I didn't put a whole lot in there and used more chives since they have a mild onion flavor.  Hope people like it!  If not, I'm glad to bring home leftovers :)

 

Peach-Plum-Raspberry Crisp 

- 3 large peaches, peeled and thinly sliced

- 3 small plums, thinly sliced

- 1/2 cup fresh raspberried

- 1 tbsp cornstarch

-2 tbsp sugar

-2 tsp. cinnamon (divided)

- juice of one orange

-2 tbsp Gran Marnier (optional)

-zest of one orange

- 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

-3/4 cup brown sugar

-3/4 cup whole wheat flour

- 1/4 cup butter, cut into pea-sized cubes

 

For the filling

 

For the crumble

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine the sliced peaches, plums, raspberries in a medium-sized glass baking dish.  Combine the orange juice, Gran Marnier, corn starch, sugar, and cinnamon.  Pour over the fruit and gently combine.  In a separate bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and orange zest (P.S.  Don't forget to zest the orange before you juice it into the fruit mixture!).  Combine the crumble mixture (I just use a clean hand to do it) so that you have pea-sized crumbles.  I suppose you could use a food processor too and pulse it, but I didn't have time to get it out.  Spoon the mixture over the fruit and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until top is golden brown and fruit is bubbling.  Let cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.  This would be amazing with some vanilla bean up on top.  We'll see how everyone likes it!

Mama Mia!

Good evening all.  Tonight's star from my CSA box is the tomato.  I made a tomato-basil panzanella (bread salad). 

I don't know about anyone else, but I see baguettes in the grocery store and think they look sooo tasty and then I forget there are only two of us at home and before you know it, it's stale.  Well, this recipe is perfect for that good, stale bread!  It's also a good vegetarian meal--AND it's quick!  Tom worked down in the basement all day and I wanted to make him a good Italian meal.  He loves Italian and I especially wanted to carb load him after a day of work. 

Ingredients:
- 1 baguette, any kind, I used sourdough, cubed
-3-4 tbsp. olive oil
-1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp. seasoning for the bread. (I used this garlic parm dipping oil seasoning I have)

-about 1 cup variety of tomatoes (I used the two in my CSA box and then a few grape tomatoes I had in the fridge, roughly diced and seeded
- 8-10 leaves of basil
- 5-6 fresh mozzarella bocconcini, diced in half or thirds
- salt and pepper
- pasta on the side, if desired

Preheat the oven to 375.  Cube the stale bread and set aside on a baking sheet.  This was tough!  Stale bread is not easy to cut, even with a serrated knife...got a little workout in for the upcoming carbs I was about to consume.  Cut the large tomatoes in half. GENTLY squeeze some of the extra juice from the tomatoes down over the bread cubes.  Roughly chop the tomatoes and put aside on a different baking sheet.  Stack about 6 leaves of basil on top of one another and roll into a cigar.  Keeping the tight roll, chop the basil and you get little ribbons of basil to put over your tomatoes.  Add about 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes and basil and season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle about 2 tbsp. olive oil over the bread and sprinkle your bread seasoning (garlic powder, parm cheese, etc.)  Put both baking sheets in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Keep an eye on the bread so that it doesn't burn.

 I know it doesn't look like a lot, but remember its just the to of us :)

While the food is in the oven, cube the mozzarella balls.  Fresh mozzarella can be a bit expensive, so I usually get it from the antipasto bar.  It ends up being a good bit cheaper and just as fresh!

Remove the bread and tomato basil mix from the oven and toss together in a bowl with the mozzarella.  I chopped about 3 more leaves of basil to put over the top and drizzled a bit more olive oil.  For some reason, I didn't think this would be enough to eat on its own so I made some pasta to have on the side.  It was definitely enough food without the pasta and the bread was so nice and crispy.  However, it DOES need a nice glass of red wine :)

Oh Deer

I think I have mentioned before that my Uncle Don is a hunter (and a very good one at that!)  He loaded us up on venison last time we saw him.  I will never say no to lean, organic, local meat!  Tom and I have been on vacation this week working on the basement....(maybe he will start a blog on that), which means I have been cooking more meals than usual.  Tuesday night I made venison steaks on the grill with a grilled zucchini and spinach gnocchi.  I finally used up my last zucchini!

Not much to this "recipe." 

Venison steaks with spinach gnocchi and grilled zucchini
- 2 venison boneless steaks
- salt and pepper
-half box of spinach gnocchi that I had in the pantry
- zucchini
- spice rub
-olive oil

Pretty easy!
I preheated the grill and boiled water on the stove for the gnocchi.  Sliced the zucchini lengthwise and seasoned with a tsp. or so of dry spice rub and olive oil.  Put the steaks(seasoned with salt and pepper) and zucchini on the grill and the gnocchi in the water.  The steaks took about 4-5 minutes per side and the zucchini about 3-4.  It was great because everything was done at the same time.  Don't you love it when that happens!?

 

In other news my CSA box arrived today!  They give you so much food!  And I have the small box, too.  We got a cantaloupe, peaches, nectarines, plums, corn, green pepper, tomatoes, and a cucumber.  We also stopped at Reilly's to go raspberry picking, as you see on the side.  The CSA pick up site has a "swap box" so we swapped one of our ears of corn (they had given us 3) for a hot pepper.  I hope we can eat all of this!

Since it was so nice out tonight, we decided to grill out again.  On our trip to Finger Lakes this past weekend we got some great cheeses!  One of them was roasted garlic cheese.  I decided to make Venison (surprise, surprise) burgers with a roasted garlic cheese center with grilled sweet corn on the cob.

Ingredients

- about 1 lb. ground venison (or whatever meat you'd like)
- 4 one-inch cubes of your favorite cheese, I used roasted garlic)
- dash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 clove of garlic, grated
- 1/4 onion (optional), grated
- salt and pepper
- toppings, as you'd like
-2 ears of corn, in their husks

Begin by soaking the corn (in the husk) in a pot of water for about 15-20 minutes.  Preheat the grill to medium heat.  Cut 4 cubes of the cheese and set aside.  To make the burgers, in a bowl put the ground venison and grate the onion and garlic overtop with a microplane grater (this gives the burger some moisture, especially the onion since venison can be dry.)  Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper.  Mix gently, but do not overmix.  Score the meat into 4 even sections to make the burger patties.  Form each burger around a cube of the cheese.  Be sure they are well-formed so they do not fall apart on the grill.  Set the prepared burgers aside.  Remove the corn from the water.  Pull back (but do not remove) the husks and remove the silks.  Wrap the husks back up the corn.  Put the corn on a medium-heat grill, turning every 2-3 minutes for 2-3 turns, then put to the top rack of the grill.  Put the burgers on the grill.  They take about 5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness.  For the last 2 minutes, feel free to put more cheese on top!  I had some extra Mango BBQ sauce from my BBQ chicken last week, so I put some on top of the burger along with some Romaine lettuce my neighbor gave us from her garden.

This one was a winner!  That cheese is amazing!  Tomorrow: A caprese bread salad with fresh tomatoes!  Thanks for reading, everyone :)