Tapas

I had lunch today at one of my very favorite places, a tapas restaurant.  For those of you not familiar with the genre, tapas originated in Spain.  Sangria is a wine with fruit and brandy in it, served frequently there.  Unfortunately, it attracts flies.  Spanish taverns began covering glasses of sangria with a small plate to keep them out.  Not wanting to serve their customers an empty plate, they came up with small appetizers to put on the plates.  So tapas are small Spanish dishes that are meant to be shared.  They have a beautiful profile of sherry, olive oil, and garlic.

So I thought, what tapas dishes can we make from items we've recently had in our boxes, or things in season now?  Well, here goes!

Photo via Steamy Kitchen

Artichokes

A number of wonderful tapas dishes involve a strongly garlic-flavored olive oil.  It's great on artichokes too.  Another preparation uses lemon along with the wonderful garlic oil.

Apples 

Manchego cheese is a sheep milk cheese commonly used in Spanish cuisine.  It pairs well with apples.  Slice the apples thinly, soak them in rum or brandy for a couple of hours, and serve with the cheese.  Another option is to make an apple paste.  A creamy salad of apples and walnuts is another classic tapas dish.

Photo via Food.com

Oranges

Valencia is a city on the Medeterranean (east) coast of Spain, and they grow oranges in that region.  So yes, there are many tapas dishes that have oranges, such as this orange and onion salad.  There's plenty of beautiful, young asparagus in the store, so don't use canned asparagus when you make orange and lemon sauce to serve it with.

Spinach

One of my very favorite tapas dishes is this one, spinach with currants and pine nuts.  I add a teaspoon or two of good sherry vinegar just before serving.  This chickpea and spinach stew from Seville is another delicious option. 

Photo via about.com

 

Not From Your Local Chinese Restaurant

This time of year involves a lot of citrus.  And that's a good thing.  But, toward late winder/early spring, after marmalade and cakes and lots of tangerines in lunch boxes, I start looking for other ideas.  Hmmm... what do I like to eat that has orange flavor...

I love orange chicken from our local Chinese restaurant.  It's spicy and sweet, which is one of my favorite combinations, it's crispy, and oh-so-bad-for-you.  Not to mention I haven't found a good recipe for it that I can make at home.  (If you have one, please-oh-please post it in the comments!)  What I have found is a couple of other chicken recipes with some good orange (or tangerine) flavors.

Photo via Epicurious

• Sticking with a bit of an asian theme, these chicken thighs are broiled instead of fried and have wonderful flavor.
• Spain combines citrus into lots of their dishes, and with a beautiful paprika it's awesome.  Nigella Lawson hits it out of the park with this recipe.  It's really easy, too.
• Need a recipe for Sunday dinner?  Orange and rosemary is a great flavor combination.
• I've flagged my first recipe for next year's Superbowl.  Spicy orange chicken wings!  Instead of frozen orange juice, I took the juice of about half a dozen tangerines and oranges and reduced it by half.  The flavor was really fresh and amazing.

Photo via Epicurious

Suddenly, I'm hoping we keep seeing oranges in our boxes for a few more weeks.

Past posts

As it now stands, this is the 448th article for Nall's Kitchen.  There are lots and lots and lots of goodies in our archive.  Let's take a look back at what the top 3 posts are for each of the items in this week's box.  Maybe we'll find some goodies!

Broccoli

3. Pattypan Pasta has quite a bit of broccoli, too.

2. Beef With Broccoli

1. Broccoli Blitz was a listing of top broccoli recipes.  The Spicy Chicken With Broccoli looks very promising!

Oranges

3. This year's New Years post has that wonderful Brandy Orange Cake!

2. Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp uses this week's strawberries too!

1. Pomegranate and Citrus Salad (mmm... pomegranates!)

Baking Potatoes

3. Potato Skins -- because, after all, the Superbowl will be here shortly!

2. Curried Chickpeas, Potatoes & Collards

1. Veggie & Chicken Stuffed Potatoes

Strawberries

3. Strawberry Baby Cakes would be really good about now, wouldn't they?

2. Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle sounds quite amazing too.

1.  Fresh Strawberry Cake is one of the most popular posts of all time!

Parsley

3. Baked Spaghetti Squash With Garlic & Butter in case you haven't used your spaghetti squash yet.

2. Bacheofe is a classic Alsatian dish.  Alsatian cuisine is a perfect blend of French and southern German influences.  If you've never tried Alsatian cooking, Lyon Hall in Arlington is a wonderful place to start!

1. Mushrooms Sautéed With Sherry Vinegar  The Store has some wonderful mushrooms right now!

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot...

It's amazing the traditions surrounding food on New Years.  It seems that cultures across the globe unpack all of their superstitions and place them right on the table.  Here are some interesting ones I've read about lately.

In China (lunar new year, but lumping it in for simplicity's sake), the word for "orange" and "gold" are phonetically similar, so tangerines and oranges are both eaten and prominently displayed.  Long noodles signify long life, and (I love this one) lots of desserts bring a sweet year.

Persians eat pomegranates to signify fertility and abundance.  They're a "superfood," so pick one up on Friday at the store.  There's a great trick to separating the kernels from the pulp:  Break the kernels apart with your hands submerged in a bowl of water.  The kernels sink, the pulp floats.

In many places, from Russia to Ireland, it's simply about quantity.  Want to signify abundance?  Big platters, big portions.  Love it.

Photo via MyRecipes

How about here in the South?  Like in Germany, eat leafy greens, which are the same color as money.  In Germany, it's cabbage, specifically sauerkraut.  In the US, the tradition is collards (which will be in this week's box).  Add some Hoppin' John and cornbread -- symbolizing gold -- and that's the traditional meal.  Just don't make chicken, since that symbolizes your fortune flying away.

Happy New Year to you all, and don't forget to make a sweet cake to bring a sweet 2015.

Photo via I'm At Home Baking

Citrus Is More Than Dessert & Juice

Before we begin, a bit of administrative news.  The Deep Winter Crop Share signups are open.  For the form, click here.  Online signups should also be available within a week.  I'll keep you posted.  The Deep Winter round is always the most diverse, as we open it up to all domestic producers.  Look for lots of yummy things, in spite of it being cold here.

I'm so glad to see beautiful fresh grapefruit in the boxes lately.  There's no better morning pick-me-up than squeezing grapefruit juice pretty much straight into your mouth.  It got me to thinking, though, that there are so many more uses for the lovely citrus we're getting.  Besides, of course, peeling it and eating it.  (Getting to the tangelos before my 5-year-old does, though, I'll admit is a daunting challenge.)  So here are some categories of uses for citrus:

Salads & Veggies

Photo via The Daily Meal

Of course, citrus vinaigrette is a long-time standby.  Slices of citrus of all kinds can really dress up your salad, too.  It won't be long before asparagus starts to reappear, and it's fantastic with an orange sauce.  In addition to asparagus, citrus works very well with fennel.  You'll also find lots of citrus flavors in Spanish tapas, including these olives that make for a fantastic holiday appetizer.

Seafood

Photo via Food & Wine

Citrus is such a perfect fit with seafood.  Even some of the most simple preparations involve squeezing lemon over fish.  You absolutely can do things a bit more fancy, of course.  I love scallops, and they pair amazingly well with citrus salad.  Mixed seafood salad benefits from the acidity in citrus, too.  My go-to salmon recipe is pan seared in a citrus sauce, too.  I'm a huge fan of Alton Brown's "Good Eats," (best cooking show out there), and that's where I learned to make fish en papillote.  Which is the most amazing way to cook fish.  If you'd like to push your skills, try a beurre blanc with grapefruit and halibut.

Poultry

Poultry benefits from the acid in citrus, as well.  Last year at Thanksgiving, I made a turkey in citrus marinade.  And it's fantastic.  Latin American recipes use lime and orange frequently, and Cuban garilc-lime sauce is a classic example.  It goes great with chicken.  Moving over to Spain, orange zest brightens this chicken & chorizo dish.  Middle Eastern recipes also pair poultry and citrus, as in this one.

Photo via Food & Wine

The Holidays Cometh

Walking around the store today, I noticed a lot has changed over the last days.  Things like brussels sprouts and cauliflower have given way to more winter-y produce.  Most prominently, I noticed that the citrus is starting to come in and be beautiful.  For me, the citrus we have all winter sustains me until April when I can really eat vegetables again.  What can we do with, say, oranges?  (Okay, I'm lumping the tangerines in with the oranges).

Photo via The Naptime Chef

The most obvious thing that comes to mind is sweets.  And, yesterday, I started scratching my head about what sorts of cookies I'm making over the holidays.  What do I have that includes oranges?  As it turns out, quite a bit.  The acid from the citrus helps to balance the sugar and fat in desserts, so it's actually a pretty necessary component.  Here's what I found, and I put all of these on my short list.  So, who wants a cookie?

• My mom loves to make her own biscotti.  So I'm sending her this recipe.
• Sweets from North Africa all the way across Asia to India pair oranges with cardamom, and it's heavenly.  Especially in sugar cookies.
• Citrus zest is an important component of good shortbread.
• Santa used to occasionally leave a chocolate orange in my stocking.  You know, orange flavored chocolate shaped like orange wedges.  (Do they still make those...?  Gotta check.)  So I've always loved that flavor combinations.  So these madeleines have to be heavenly.
• These simple orange cookies look soooo good.

Photo via How Sweet It Is

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

Wait till you see the amount of potatoes you're getting in the Crop Share this week!  Squee!  Can you tell I'm Irish by descent?  So, after you're done whipping up this Leek & Potato Soup, you're still going to have potatoes left over!  While I suggest using up some in this Potato Salad with Cucumber, Rocket Greens & Smoked Salmon (this is not your Grandma's potato salad, no mayo in sight, it is an actual salad), I've also got another "fishy" recipe below that is one of my all-time favorite preparations for salmon.  The potatoes become this wonderful crispy base, and then you'll be able to throw on some of the tangelos or any leftover citrus from last week, and snag a Meyer lemon or two while you're in the store.  Then, as I mentioned in the "spoiler" e-mail earlier today, hands down one of my favorite salads of all time is this Herbed Shrimp & White Bean salad I'll link to below.  When you see how beefy the green leaf lettuce is this week, you'll have to work to use that up too, and this entree salad will be just the ticket.  We got in fresh cherry tomatoes today, so you'll be able to snag a pint of them along with some local honey to help round out the salad ingredients.

So without further ado, I give you two of my favorite recipes that are sure to help you use up this week's bounty (titles are hyper-linked to original recipes)...

Salmon & Potato Casserole With a Citrus Herb Vinaigrette via Country Living

Herbed Shrimp & White Bean Salad via Cooking Light

Citrus & Pomegranate Salad

We just got some gorgeous looking pomegranates in this week, so as I was musing over that citrus salad from the Crop Share Spoiler, I thought no, pumpkin no, this need to be a Citrus & Pomegranate Salad.  I'm sure you've seen the pom-everything drinks in stores and heard all about the amazing benefits of pomegranate, but frankly I just think it's gorgeous.  They're like little jewels on your plate.  So snag a pomegranate when you're in this weekend, and really make this fruit salad pop!  And for a great tutorial on how to cut and remove the seeds from this tricky little bugger, check out this great and adorable tutorial.

Citrus & Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients:
2 oranges, peeled, pith removed and segmented
4 tangerines, peeled, pith removed and segmented
(still have grapefruit from last week, throw segments from one of those too!)
Seed of 1 pomegranate (click here to see two easy methods for removing the seeds)
2 tsp fresh mint, rough chopped
2-3 Tbsp local honey
Splash or two of vanilla extract









Arrange citrus on a serving plate and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds and chopped mint.

In a bowl, whisk together honey and vanilla.  If the dressing seems to thick, cut it with a bit of water.  Then dipping a spoon into the dressing, drizzle it evenly over the entire salad.

For a warm citrus salad, arrange everything on an oven-safe platter and broil on high for a minute or two.

Barefoot Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Break out the "good olive oil" and don your custom made shirt because I'm bringing you a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten.  While I often feel like Ina is silently judging me with her commentary, I have a friend who's obsession with the Barefoot has often bordered on the unhealthy.  Take for instance the time she was frantically calling, texting, e-mailing and Facebooking me during the work day about how we just had to run up to NYC for a Barefoot book signing.  Did I mention this was like a week or two before her wedding and she was up to her bridal ears in final preparations?  Like I said, it can sometimes border on the unhealthy.  But I can't argue with her assertion that there really is no better way to slip into a coma of relaxation than putting on Barefoot Contessa and allowing Ina's voice to lull you into a foodie stupor.  Plus, Ina's ability to make the most daunting recipes seem simple and accessible is right up my alley.  She really is a next-generation Julia Child (just not as cool, because no one, no one, is as cool as Julia).  So when I stumbled upon her recipe for a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, I knew this was just the ticket to put the strawberries and rhubarb in this week's share to perfect Memorial Day picnic use!  As Ina would say..."How easy is that?"

Barefoot Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients: 

2 cups fresh rhubarb, diced to 1 inch

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

1 1/8 cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 tsp grated orange zest

1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal

6 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

I halved the original recipe to work with the amount of strawberries & rhubarb we're all receiving, so be sure to snag 2 more stalks of rhubarb and another quart of strawberries if you want to make the full 6 serving recipe.

Click through to view the rest of Ina's recipe on the Food Network...