If I Can Do It, So Can You

All winter, going to the grocery store was an exercise in frustration.  I get so used to cooking with fresh herbs, I want them to cook with over the winter, too, but the prices are exorbitant.  Plus, the packages contain more than I need at the time, so I wind up tossing some in the trash when it goes bad.  Ugh!

On top of this, I'm the biggest brown thumb on the planet.  Seriously, I try every year.  I try hard.  But my little 35 square foot garden usually yields about 3 carrots, 2 tomatoes and a handful of jalepeños in a year.  Yes, I'm that bad.

But herbs are different.  Maybe they're more foolproof than veggies.  In any case, about this time I plant a bunch in pots, and I don't have to buy any for months.  One plant, that will yield all season long, costs about the same as 1 or 2 small packages at the grocery store.

Come fall, we'll talk about how to preserve herbs over the winter.

One more note.  Have you tried Trickling Springs's ice cream?  Waaaay good.  Their Strawberry is about the best I've ever had -- and when it comes to ice cream, I'm really addicted.  The seasonal flavor right now is Lemon Chiffon, and it's pretty darned incredible too.  Hurry up and get some, before I eat it all!

On Being a Tomato Groupie

Last time we talked about pizza,  and the time before about family secret recipes, and it got me thinking about what other honors could be given to a tomato.  Red sauce is a coveted secret in the kitchen of every Italian grandmother, right?  And not being Italian, I had to get mine off the TV.  That's okay, it still kicks butt!

Being a "Groupie"
I'm a big fan of Anthony Bourdain.  For those of you who aren't, he's an author-turned-television chef.  If you've never read Kitchen Confidential, get it.  Read it.  You can even find it at the public library.  Fantastic look behind the scenes of fine dining establishments, in quite the irreverent vein.  There's an awesome passage where he describes tasting his first oyster at the age of 9, comparing it to... well, I won't give it away.  But I bring this up because I've learned a lot from both watching his television show and reading his cookbook.  Yes, actually reading his cookbook.  You'll both learn, and laugh your butt off, through the whole thing.  The couple of pages he has on making stock are alone worth the cost of the book.

Why am I bringing it up?  Because watching his show is how I learned to make red sauce.  Granted, I've tweaked it along the way.  It's the go-to recipe that I can make by heart using a grand total of about 4 brain cells.  Here's what I do:

Photo via Travel Channel

Ingredients

• 4 cups diced Roma tomatoes, either fresh (blanched and peeled) or home-canned
• 1/3 cup decent olive oil
• 1 large sprig fresh basil
• 2 large sprigs fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (more or less to taste)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• healthy dash red pepper
• salt & pepper to taste (but don't use much)

Directions

1. Steep the herbs in the olive oil over gentle heat for 10-15 minutes, then strain and discard the herbs.
2. Add the garlic,  and tomatoes to the oil, mash with a wooden spoon, and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the consistency is a thick sauce.  Add the butter and stir until melted.  Ta da!
3. If you're using it with pasta (okay, yes that's a blinding flash of the obvious), let the noodles cook their last minute or two in the sauce along with 1/2 cup of pasta water.  You want to aerate the noodles while they cook in the sauce.

Photo via Epicurious

So, let's take a look at some other types of tomato-based sauces.  Marinara is a classic.  One of my family's favorite recipes is this one for chicken in an herby French sauce made from cherry tomatoes. This Provencal chicken stew has a beautiful tomato sauce as well.  Yes, even the humble Sloppy Joe should have a beautiful, rich tomato sauce.  Of course, the most glorious use for tomatoes (after, of course, deep dish pizza) is my Nirvana:  cioppino.  (Let me know if you ever go to San Francisco, I know the greatest place!)

Photo via The Old Clam House

SO SO Much Basil!

There's a good bunch of basil awaiting us all, and that's a wonderful thing!  Most of my 5-year-old's favorite things involve basil.  First and foremost is, "Noodles with green sauce."  Better known as pesto pasta.  Some homemade pesto is such a versatile thing to have, you should always have some sort of pesto at hand. At its essence, pesto is a sauce comprised of an herb, nuts, cheese, and olive oil.  The classic preparation uses basil, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese.  Here's a basic recipe:

4-5 cups washed basil leaves (no hard stems)

2/3 cup toasted pine nuts

2-3 garlic cloves (optional)

1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan

Extra virgin olive oil (use a good one)

Salt & pepper (be generous)

This is SO simple. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor.  Start with about 1/3 cup olive oil.  Pulse until it is a coarse paste.  With the food processor on low, slowly stream in more oil until it looks emulsified.  Ta da!

So you make a big batch, how do you store it?  The best way I've found is to pour it in an ice tray, freeze overnight, then put the cubes in a zippered freezer bag.  The cubes are great for portioning, too.  Use 1 cube for each serving of pasta.  Make enough to carry you through the winter!

Pesto is fun to play with, too.  Parsley, walnuts, and Romano makes for a great sauce, too.  Dill, pistachio, and feta is fantastic, believe it or not.

Buy some extra basil and some grape tomatoes, and you can have a quick summery side:  halve the tomatoes, put in a little handful of basil sliced in thin strips (called chiffonade), salt, pepper, and some good olive oil and balsamic.  Stir well and let stand at room temperature for a little while.  Ta da! My son makes this on his own (well, he still needs a little help slicing the basil).  Cooking is a great way to spend quality time.

What else do you like to make with basil?

Presto Pesto: Collard Greens In My Pesto!

Are you tired of me making pesto out of every green thing yet?  Hope not, because this past week, as I was wading through the sea of collards we got in the Crop Share, (Early Spring registration just opened so swing by Nalls on a weekend to snag a new registration form!) I decided to give a go at that Collard Greens Pesto recipe from Southern Living that I'd previously posted.  But I didn't want to have to run back to the store to get pecans and I really didn't even want to blanch those collards because I don't cook the basil before it goes in my pesto, and then it's just another pot to clean.  So I just did my usual base recipe for pesto but threw in a whole bundle of collards in place of the basil, and crossed my fingers for luck.  Oh...my...gosh!  Soooo good!  It may actually be my favorite pesto and the Mister even thought it was incredible.  So if you're still trying to use up all the collards from last week, MAKE THIS PESTO!  I also did not have pasta, so I mixed ours in with a 1 lb of mushrooms that were sauteed in white wine, butter & olive oil, some shredded thigh and leg meat from a rotisserie chicken, and 2 cups of cooked white rice, added another splash or two of white wine and a pad of butter and just let it all simmer down till nearly all the liquid was absorbed.  You can see the final product below, but I'm not including a recipe for the full dish as it was one of those throw in a bit of this bit of that and nothing got timed or measured.

Collard Greens Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
2-3 cups collard greens, removed from stem and ripped into smaller pieces
1/2 cup basil leaves, removed from stems
1 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp lemon juice
Kosher salt to taste


In a blender or food processor add all ingredients and blend until fully combined and smooth.  If serving over pasta, you'll want to have a little extra olive oil on hand to toss with the pasta.  Or serve this as I did mixed with sauteed mushrooms, shredded chicken and rice in a white wine sauce.  Would also be great over seafood, chicken, or as a sandwich or appetizer spread.

Zucchini Boats Stuffed with Pesto Chicken

I'm currently OBSESSED with pesto.  Earlier in the week I had to make our new favorite, Cilantro Pistachio Pesto, and it just wasn't enough, I needed more.  Luckily, I've begun to cook in my dreams again, and the other morning I awoke after having whipped up some delectable roasted zucchini boats stuffed with basil & almond pesto, tomatoes and shredded chicken.  They say if you can dream it, you can do it, so I made a massive batch of basil & almond pesto (for the base pesto recipe, see our Broccoli Pesto recipe, and either omit the broccoli, or use up the last of this week's broccoli for a double dose of crop share veggies), turned two zucchini into battleships of deliciousness, snagged an extra tomato and rotisserie chicken, and prepared to make my dream come true.  I only used up two of the three zucchini this week, so it allowed for two halves for the Mister & I, and man do I wish I would have just attacked that 3rd zucchini.  But I'm lovingly saving that one to pair with the broccoli, and the rest of the rotisserie chicken in a creamy, dairy & gluten free mac & cheese.  That magic is happening tonight, so stay tuned!  Oh and if you make the full pesto recipe linked above, it makes A LOT.  You only need a cup for this recipe, so save the rest to toss with pasta, pour over some baked chicken or fish, use as a chip or veggie dip, or hollow out a couple tomatoes and cook up a cup of quinoa, and get ready to roast up some stuffed tomatoes with pesto quinoa.  Which if you want a vegetarian or vegan version of these zucchini boats, just leave out the chicken and sub in quinoa, chickpeas, or another protein-packed animal-friendly foodstuff.

Zucchini Boats Stuffed with Pesto Chicken

Ingredients:
2 large zucchini, stem end trimmed, halved and seed section scooped out to make enough room to stuff
1/2 tomato, seeded and diced
1 breast and 1 thigh from a rotisserie chicken
1 cup pesto (for homemade, see our Broccoli Pesto recipe.  I left out the broccoli, but added in 1/2 cup of the zucchini innards, for extra veggie power)
Pinch of kosher salt
Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly rub olive oil onto zucchini boats and place on a baking sheet or in a large enough baking dish.

In a medium sized bowl, shred the cooked chicken breast & thigh meat, and then stir in 1 cup of prepared pesto and the diced tomato.  Add a pinch of kosher salt, and stir to fully combine.  Evenly distribute filling among zucchini boats, and then lightly drizzle tops with a bit of olive oil.

Bake in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes or until zucchini is just soft, but not mushy, and top of stuffing is golden.

Broccoli Pesto

I've got a fever, and the only cure is...MORE PESTO!  I've gotta have pesto, baby!  Ever since my Cilantro Pesto escapades, I've been obsessed with making it in just about any form I can.  We're talking, "I can't live if living is without you!!!!" levels of pesto obsession.  So last night, this past week's broccoli made its way into a new batch of pesto with delicious results.  You can't taste the broccoli in it, so this is an excellent way to sneak more veggies into your family's food without them having to actually eat the happy little trees.  This recipe makes a lot, and by a lot I mean after tossing about a cup of pesto with my pasta, I still have a full pint jar full of pesto.  Oh the possibilities!  Or maybe just hand me a spoon...

Broccoli Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
2-3 cups basil leaves
1 cup olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
6-8 cloves garlic (depending on how much garlic punch you like)
4 Tbsp lemon juice
1 head of broccoli, florets trimmed and blanched
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
Pasta of your choice

In a pot bring water to boil and add broccoli florets.  Allow to blanch for 3 minutes or until broccoli is not longer bright green and has stopped floating on top.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place directly into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.  Rinse out pot, and refill with water (or use same water if you don't mind an extra broccoli flavor to the pasta), bring to boil and add pasta to cook to package directions.

In a food processor, add your almonds, basil, olive oil, garlic and lemon. Blend until smooth.  Strain your broccoli out of the ice water and add to food processor.  Add salt and blend until fully smooth, taste and adjust any lemon juice, garlic or salt, as needed.

This makes A LOT of pesto, so half the recipe if you don't want the leftovers.  As you really only use about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of pesto to toss with your pasta.  Add a few more glugs of olive oil when tossing with pasta to keep everything from sticking, and adjust with a pinch or two of salt.

With the remaining pesto, keep in an air tight container and use instead of mayo on some BLT's, toss with some roasted potatoes and olive oil for a fragrant side dish, or use as an appetizer spread on crostini with cheese and meats.

BLT Bonanza (plus a bonus recipe for Brussels Sprout Chips!)

I get the whole bacon craze, I just am not that insane over bacon (though it was a dark chocolate & bacon bar that caused me to fall off the vegetarian wagon).  That being said, if you slap that bacon on a carb and add tomato & lettuce, you better get out of my way because I'm going to go all Shark Week on it!  So a few months ago, I had a mad scientist moment in the kitchen and concocted this sinfully good BLT Pasta.  Yes, there is lettuce in the pasta, because hey, it's a green, it will saute up like spinach.  So, with the cherry tomatoes and Boston lettuce this week, just grab yourself a slab of bacon and your favorite pasta and you're on your way to pastavana (pasta nirvana, but somehow it just sounds like a yoga pose, a yoga pose that I really hope exists and includes eating pasta).

Bacon Lettuce Tomato Pasta

But wait, there's more!  With last week's green leaf lettuce and the tomatoes in store, I whipped up some Triple Decker BLT's.  Now a traditonal BLT needs no recipe because duh it's toasted bread with lettuce, a slice of tomato and crispy bacon.  Easy enough.  But most folks slather mayo on them, and since the Mister has an egg allergy, and I forgot to pickup Veganaise at the store, I decided to pull out some leftover homemade basil & almond pesto and slather that on instead.  I never want to see mayo near my BLT ever again!  Pesto is king!!!  For the pesto, use this Cilantro & Pistachio Pesto recipe as a base and sub in the basil and almonds for the cilantro and pistachio.  OR...I just came across a recipe for Broccoli Pesto that I'm dying to try, so why not weave another Crop Share veggie from this week into your BLT and use some of the broccoli for a pesto!  I know I'll be leaving out the cheese and adding more garlic to my version, because if you don't have dragon breath after eating pesto, then you didn't do it right.  The Boston lettuce will work great for your "L" but I suggest grabbing some larger tomatoes in store for your "T" as the cherry tomatoes will just fall the heck out of your sandwich.  BUT!  As an added bonus I made Brussels Sprouts Chips, as a healthy side to my leaning towers of bacon.  Let me just say, move over Kale Chips, there is a new green chip in town and it is the muscles from Brussels!  So I'll provide the recipe for those after the photo.

Baked Brussels Sprouts Chips

Ingredients:

1 quart fresh Brussels Sprouts, ends trimmed, exterior leaves discarded

1 - 2 Tbsp olive oil

Coarse ground salt & pepper to taste (or instead throw on some Dizzy Pig's Cow Lick Seasoning -- in store -- that's what I did!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pull apart leaves of Brussels Sprouts and spread evenly on a baking sheet.  You may need to core them a bit more to get all of the leaves off.  Then drizzle with olive oil and toss in your seasoning of choice.  Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until the chips have started to brown and caramelize.  Proceed to eat them all before you walk away from the oven.

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

Baked Spaghetti Squash with Garlic & Butter

Let's just say spaghetti squash and I have an unfortunate history.  You see, my senior year in college I was taking this ghastly Flight class taught by a former NASA physicist (I was a political science kid, and as we can all plainly see from current events, those who focus on politics decidedly do NOT excel in maths and sciences), and on my lab days my roommate knew to have a cocktail ready for me when I walked into the apartment.  Yes, the class was really that bad, especially when you never actually took a physics class in your life.  So on this one occasion she greeted me with a rather interesting "cocktail" of Crystal Lite and vodka, and not just any vodka, but that Vladimir vodka that comes in the giant plastic jugs and is probably just straight kerosene or distilled windshield washer fluid. *shudder*  Then to top it all off, she'd made dinner, and it was spaghetti squash with marinara.  Oooo, I'd never had spaghetti squash before but as a vegetarian at the time I was excited for this new veggie to enter my life.  Well, I'm not rightly sure what she did to the squash, because I saw a baking sheet and yet I also saw a pot of water on the stove that looked like it had recently boiled up something.  But what was hiding under the marinara was a gelatinous glob of goo, so methinks it got boiled like pasta.  Eek!  Two sips of the cocktail and maybe 3 bites of the squash travesty and it was coming back up to greet me.  So needless to say, dinner was over and I avoided spaghetti squash for years.

But fear not, when done right, it is amazing!  One of the most common and tastiest preparations is to slice the squash in half lengthwise, and then pour olive oil or melted butter on each half and season with a generous amount of brown sugar and cinnamon, before baking till golden brown.  But if you're looking for something a little less sweet and a little more savory, or even something that can serve as the base for an entree, then doing a simple garlic and butter preparation is the way to go.  This would be great tossed with some sauteed chicken to turn it into a full meal, or simply use it as an alternative to a pasta side dish.

Baked Spaghetti Squash with Garlic & Butter

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash
2 Tbsp butter (or Earth Balance margarine for dairy-free)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley or basil, minced
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Dash of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded (or Go Veggie! vegan parm for dairy-free)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Pierce the squash a few times to allow for ventilation, and then place whole on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until a paring knife can easily be inserted.  Set aside and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.

Once squash is cooled, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seed portion.  Then using a fork, scrape out the flesh so you have stringy "noodles".  If it's hard to scrape, place back into the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes or more until the squash will easily shred with a fork.  Set shredded squash aside and discard skin.

In a skillet, heat butter over medium high heat.  Add in garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.  Toss in shredded squash, parsley and seasonings, and toss to evenly coat.  After about a minute, add in your parm and toss to fully incorporate.  Cook for an additional minute and then remove from heat to serve.

Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers

With the Autumn chill in the air over the weekend, there was just one thing, but one thing to do with those Cubanelle peppers from last week's share...stuff them.  My Mama's stuffed peppers are one of my all-time favorite comfort foods, which is odd because until  I was in high school I hated the taste of the cooked pepper, so she always made some sans pepper so I could have a meatball and sauce.  Which means today I'm completely incapable of making a small batch of stuffed peppers without having also enough meatballs to feed about 3-4 other people.  Come to my apartment, I'll be like the old lady from the Wedding Singer just doling out meatballs into your hands!  And since Cubanelle's are much smaller than bell peppers, that means less filling and thus...more meatballs.  So if you follow this recipe to the letter, you will have PLENTY of meatballs and sauce left over for spaghetti and meatballs or for some great game day meatball subs.  And with the way the Skins have been playing...all you fans are going to need some hearty comfort food.  Oh snap!  ;)

Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers

Ingredients:
7 Cubanelle peppers, washed, tops and seeds removed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup red wine (I used a Malbec & Cabernet red blend)

For stuffing/meatballs:
1 lb hot turkey sausage
1 lb ground turkey
1 cup dry bread crumbs (for gluten-free I used Glutino breadcrumbs which are also dairy-free!)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp parsley (if you still have fresh or frozen herbs, I recommend using those for the herbs in this recipe)
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp basil
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup applesauce (I used the last of my Homemade Applesauce)

For sauce:
60 oz tomato sauce (I use Nature's Promise Organic from Giant)
12 oz tomato paste (also Nature's Promise Organic)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp parsley
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp basil
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a sauce pot, mix all ingredients for sauce until fully blended, and bring to a simmer.  Depending on the tomato sauce and paste base that you use, you may wish to use more or less sugar depending on how acidic and bitter it tastes.  Cover pot to prevent sauce spurting everywhere, and simmer on low heat.

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients for the meatball mixture until all ingredients are completely combined.  The applesauce in this recipe is used in place of an egg for binding, so if you don't have applesauce on hand you can always use 1 egg.

Stuff each Cubanelle with meat mixture until coming out the end and a bit mounded.  Place into a baking dish and repeat with all peppers, making sure to form a single layer of stuffed peppers.  Pour some of the sauce over top until all the peppers are covered, and then place dish into the oven to bake at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, turn the rest of the meat mixture into meatballs that are no bigger than the palm of your hand.  I was able to get 8 additional meatballs out of my reserve mixture.

In a skillet, heat olive oil over high heat.  One oil is hot, begin to add meatballs to skillet, making sure not to overcrowd  your pan.  Brown all meatballs on all sides to form a bit of a crust, and then transfer them to the sauce pot to finish cooking in the remaining sauce.  Stir in red wine to sauce and simmer meatballs in sauce for at least 30 minutes on medium-low heat, until meatballs are fully cooked.

To reserve for future use, I like to freeze the meatballs right in the sauce in a freezer-safe container, that way they are ready to thaw and heat to spoon over spaghetti or to use for meatball subs.  Even just the meatballs and sauce make a great dinner.  Serve with a big salad to help offset the heaviness.

Celebrating 101 Years of Julia Child with Tomates a la Provencale

August 15th may be one of my most favorite days on the calendar, because 101 years ago, on this very day, a little girl was born who was destined to change the face of food as we knew it.  Not just food in America, but perceptions of food across the globe.  That little girl who was never actually all that little, was none other than Julia Child.

Whether you're a Julia nerd like me, we all share in a piece of what she was all about by participating in the Crop Share program, and as Julia herself said, "You learn to cook so that you don't have to be a slave to recipes.  You get what's in season and you know what to do with it."  And that's why we're all here, eating, cooking and learning about all this wonderful seasonal produce so that we're not slaves to recipes or supermarket shelves, we can create our own magic with the bounty that the earth gives up each season.  So as we all raise our rolling pins and save the chicken liver in honor of what would have been Miss Julia's 101st birthday, here is her classic recipe for Tomates a la Provencale and then my quick gluten and dairy-free riff on it.  Bon Appetit!

Julia Child's Tomates a la Provencale

Ingredients:
6 firm, ripe, red tomatoes about 3 inches in diameter
Salt and pepper
1 to 2 cloves mashed garlic
3 Tbsp minced shallots or green onions
4 Tbsp minced fresh basil and parsley, or parsley only
1/8 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp salt
Big pinch of pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fine, white, dry bread crumbs
A shallow, oiled roasting pan just large enough to hold the tomatoes easily in one layer

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the stems, and cut the tomatoes in half crosswise.  Gently press out the juice and seeds.  Sprinkle the halves lightly with salt and pepper.

Blend all remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Correct seasoning.  Fill each tomato half with a spoon full or two of the mixture.  Sprinkle a few drops of olive oil.  Arrange the tomatoes in the roasting pan; do not crowd them.

Place in upper third of oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender but hold their shape, and the bread crumb filling has browned lightly.

Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients:
2-4 large, red tomatoes, tops sliced off and diced, insides scooped out and seeded
8 oz Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese (or real dairy cream cheese)
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh tarragon, minced
1 Tbsp fresh basil, minced
1 cup quinoa, cooked to package directions
Salt & pepper
Olive oil







Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese through quinoa.  Mix well to incorporate.  Stir in diced tops of tomatoes, and then season mixture to taste with salt and pepper and hit it with a quick splash of olive oil.  Stuff each tomato till full with the quinoa mixture and place into a baking dish.  Drizzle tops with a smidge of olive oil and then bake in oven at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until tops are slightly browned and skin on the tomatoes has blistered a bit.

Canary Melon & Basil Popsicles via Whole Living

Have you ever had a canary melon? If not, get ready for a delicious treat.  Very similar in taste to a honeydew, but sweeter.  So while you can always enjoy some refreshing slices of melon as an afternoon treat or after dinner palate cleanser, or even wrap them with prosciutto for an easy yet elegant appetizer, you may also want to take the challenge and make some melon & basil popsicles.  If your basil is growing as out of control as mine is, you'll be needing an excuse to use it up.  Go give a go at this delicious looking recipe from Whole Living.  While the recipe itself calls for honeydew, you'll be easily able to substitute canary melon.

Canary Melon & Basil Popsicles

Click through to view recipe on Whole Living...

Eggplant & Pepper Curry (Plus Tips on Freezing Basil)

Who doesn't love a good curry?  Okay well I'm sure there are folks who don't enjoy curry, but I question whether or not they despise all that is good and wonderful in the world.  Be it a traditional Indian or Thai curry, German currywurst, or a thick, pub style curry in the UK, if it has curry in it, I want to eat it.  So the other night having a fridge full of basil, eggplant and bell peppers I decided it was curry time.  You'll be getting a whole bundle of basil this week, so this quick and easy curry will be a great way to use up a good portion of it, and then freeze the rest to preserve it.  Just snip the leaves from the stem, rinse and allow leaves to dry on the counter for about 30 minutes.  Then loosely layer leaves in a freezer bag and place in freezer for future use.  When you want to use them, just remove the bag and allow to gradually thaw.

But enough of that...now onto the curry!

Eggplant & Pepper Curry

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
3 baby neon eggplants, cubed
3 bell peppers (1 green, 1 white and 1 purple), seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp Dizzy Pig Bombay Curry-ish seasoning (now in store!)
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (or Tofutti Sour Supreme for dairy-free/vegan)
2 cups water
3 Tbsp basil, chopped
Jasmine rice for serving

In a saute pan, heat olive oil and cook onions over medium high heat until they begin to caramelize.  Add in eggplant and bell peppers and cook for 3-5 minutes or until eggplant begins to brown.  Stir in Curry-ish seasoning and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.  Mix in Greek yogurt and then add in water.  You may not need the full two cups or you may wish to add more, whatever your sauce thickness preference is.  Simmer for an additional 3-4 minutes, and stir in chopped basil.  Serve over jasmine rice.

Black & Blue Gin Fizz

When Crop Share hands you blackberries...you add gin.  Okay, well at least I do.  You know, after I also add butter.  I'm a big fan of gin and I'm also a sucker for cool packaging.  So when hunting in the ABC Store for a reasonably priced gin to go into these blackberry gin fizzes, I was completely transfixed by the Bombay Sapphire East.  Notes of Vietnamese black peppercorn and Thai lemongrass?  Yes please!  So what started out as just a blackberry gin fizz, quickly became...the Black & Blue Gin Fizz.  Think of these as juice for adults.  If you put yours in a sippy cup, I won't judge.

Black & Blue Gin Fizz

Ingredients:
1/4 cup blackberries, heaping
2 Tbsp sugar
3 shots Bombay Sapphire Gin, plus a splash for good measure (use East or regular label)
2 limes, juiced
6 ice cubes, divided
20 oz club soda, divided
2 sprigs basil, sweet or Thai, for garnish
2 blackberries, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker, add blackberries, sugar and gin.  Muddle blackberries until they are well mashed (alternatively you can blend them up with the sugar and then strain to remove the seeds, but I like bits of blackberry floating in my cocktail).  Stir in lime juice and blend well.  Add strainer cap to the shaker and strain equal amounts of liquid into two tall glasses filled with 3 ice cubes each.  If like me you want more blackberry yumminess, spoon some of the muddled blackberries (discarding pits) into each glass.  Top both with equal amounts of club soda until glasses are nearly full (won't use all 20 oz, maybe about 15-16 oz).  Slice into two blackberries, taking care not to cut all the way through.  Garnish each glass with 1 sprig of basil and 1 blackberry.

Makes 2 tall glasses.

Sip away!


Adapted from Smitten Kitchen: (http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/07/blackberry-gin-fizz/)

Julia Child's Eggplant Pizzas

Before she started blogging, Natasha from Tash's Noshes and Crop Share member, was dishing out the healthy noshes left and right and Instagramming the whole delicious journey.  Sometimes I got to be on the receiving end, as was the case with a memorable asparagus risotto (dairy-free even!).  But one that's had me drooling just from the photos has been her rendition of Julia Child's Eggplant Pizzas.  I love eggplant and I love pizza, put the two together and I'm all over that!  So next time you're feeling a family pizza night, make a toppings bar and slap them on some eggplant slices for a healthy, yet delicious meal.

Julia Child's Eggplant Pizzas - Tash's Style

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups tomatoes, finely chopped and seeded
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp Italian seasoning
10 basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/4-1/3 cup shredded, low-fat mozzarella

Slice off ends of eggplant and then slice into 3/4" thick rounds.  Place on paper towels and sprinkle well with salt -- this is to help draw the moisture out of the eggplant so they don't get too soggy during baking.  Allow to rest for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375.  After the salted eggplant has rested for 30 minutes, wipe off excess liquid and salt then brush both sides with olive oil.  Season with ground black pepper and place on a baking sheet to bake for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside.

While the eggplant rounds are baking, heat a Tbsp of olive oil in a pan on medium high heat.  Add in minced garlic and saute for about 2 minutes.  Pour in diced tomatoes, oregano and Italian seasoning, stirring to fully combine.  Once bubbling, reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken.  Add water if sauce appears to become too thick.

Preheat broiler to high.  Evenly distribute tomato sauce onto eggplant rounds.  Sprinkle with thin strips of basil, and top with shredded mozzarella.  Place under broiler until cheese has melted and begins to bubble.

Serve it as Natasha did with a refreshing side salad of rocket greens/arugula with a grapefruit vinaigrette.

Fresh Tomato Salad & Panzanella Longings

For years, panzanella has been my signature summer salad.  It's a classic Italian dish that was a way to use up stale bread as the croutons.  If I must say, my homemade croutons were AH-MAZING.  But then life has a funny way of throwing you curveballs, and mine arrived in the form of a gluten allergy.  So while I gladly trade all those delightful carbs for the ability to feel human every day, panzanella is one dish I do miss, as I've yet to find a gluten-free bread that will really fit the French bread bill needed to make the croutons.  But that hasn't stopped me from regularly turning tomatoes into a wonderful, fresh, and fragrant summer salad.  Served as a side or topped with grilled chicken, these bright flavors are the essence of summer, and for those of you growing fresh herbs, it's a great way to use up any basil that's growing like crazy.  And so no one else has to miss out on the tastebud joy that is panzanella, I'll include the extra steps and ingredients for that at the end.

Fresh Tomato Salad (with Panzanella adaptation below)

Ingredients:

1.5 - 2 lbs tomatoes, seeded and diced (I'll often mix red and yellow tomatoes)

1/2 sweet onion, minced

2 tsp garlic, minced

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 Tbsp fresh tarragon leaves, chopped

1 tsp Kosher salt

black pepper to taste

2 cups arugula

In a large bowl, mix together tomato, onion and garlic.  Pour olive oil and lemon juice over top and toss to fully coat.  Add in chopped basil and tarragon, and season with salt and pepper, tossing to evenly blend all ingredients.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.  Toss with arugula and serve.

Panzanella Croutons

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter (use Earth Balance margarine or coconut oil for dairy free)

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

6 cups cubed French Bread

Kosher salt & pepper, to taste (I've also added some herbs de provence, as well)

6 Tbsp grated Parmesan (can substitute vegan parmesan for dairy free)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add breadcrumbs and toss to evenly coat.  Season with salt and pepper and pour bread out onto a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan, tossing to coat, and bake for 8 or 9 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.  Allow to cool before tossing with the rest of the salad.

Guest Post from Across the Pond: Pattesons Glass' Pork Rillettes

Apparently my foodie vibes must have been reaching across the miles, because as I spent my weekend musing over this blog becoming a collection of voices, I returned to work on Monday to find an e-mail from Pattesons Glass Ltd, a glass bottle and jar company in Grimsby, England.  They've enjoyed reading our blog, and wanted to offer up one of their recipes to share with our members.  While their Pork Rillettes recipe isn't exactly Spring produce heavy, it's the perfect way to put your garden herbs to good use in a bouquet garni as the base for this dish.  Still have lots of parsley leftover from last week or have you been drying your Crop Share herbs?  Then now is their time to shine.  Just whatever you do, don't tell Penny Pig we've got a pork recipe up on the blog, she might start to wonder why I feed her so many strawberries!

So from some fellow foodies across the pond, I give you their recipe for traditional French rillettes (if you need help with the metric conversions, hop on over to http://www.metric-conversions.org/ to compute it quickly and easily)...

Pork Rillettes

Like all charcuterie, rillettes (pronounced ree-yettes) were originally a way of preserving the cornucopia of fatty goodness yielded by the slaughter of a pig. Stored in earthenware crocks or in glass jars and sealed with a lid of pork fat, they would keep for months. This recipe is much lower in fat and consequently has a little less staying power, but the rillettes will keep well in the fridge for at least a week, and will benefit from a few days’ maturation before you break open the jar.

1.25kg pork belly or shoulder, skin removed but bones left in, cut into chunks

4 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed

1 bouquet garni

3 bay leaves

6 cloves

50ml vermouth

500ml water

1tsp ground mace

Salt and pepper

Place the pork, garlic, bouquet garni, bay leaves, vermouth and water in an ovenproof, lidded dish. Cook at about 100°C for four hours, turning the meat a few times so it doesn’t become too brown, until it falls away from the bones. Remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly. Discard the bay leaves, cloves, bouquet garni, bones and any obvious pieces of cartilage. Drain the pork and place the liquid in a small bowl over ice or in the fridge to chill.

Using two forks, gently shred the meat, allowing it to retain its natural grain. Remove the reserved liquid from the fridge and carefully lift off the solidified fat. Mix the jellied stock that remains with the pork, season to taste with mace, salt and pepper and place in a sterilised 580ml clip-top jar.

Melt the reserved pork fat and pour over the rillettes before sealing the jar and refrigerating until needed.

Rillettes are delicious served cold or at room temperature as a starter, the centrepiece of a light lunch or for a picnic. All that’s needed to accompany the rillettes are some slices of warm baguette, a few cherry tomatoes and some cornichons or pickled onions.

View the original recipe on Pattesons Glass' recipe blog at http://www.jarsandbottles-store.co.uk/blog/recipes/pork-rillettes/ and be sure to check out some of their other great recipes, like their divine looking Salsa Verde!

Thanks very much to Pattesons Glass to reaching out to us with their recipe, it's great to have you at our communal table!

Keep That Corn Husky!

All my life I thought the only way to prepare corn-on-the-cob was to shuck it first.  I have fond memories of sitting on the back porch with my Mama and Grammy, trash cans or buckets between our feet, as we shucked away for summer cookouts.  And then last month the Mister and I went to Captain White's and beheld corn boiled and steamed IN the husk.  It was pure magic, and despite what I thought would be a mess of silk to pick through, it all effortlessly peeled off.  Since then, we keep keep that corn husky!

So whether you're planning to boil up the bi-color corn this weekend or throw it on the grill, here's our two favorite ways to prepare corn-on-the-cob in the husk.

Boiled Corn In The Husk

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add in your corn with husks on, and boil for about 6 minutes.  Remove from water and allow to drain on a plate.  The silk will pull back with the husk when you peel into the corn.

Perfectly Grilled Corn On The Cob

Ingredients:

4 ears of corn

Kosher salt

Herb butter, recipe follows

Herb Butter (combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth):

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1/8 cup fresh herbs (basil, chives or tarragon)

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

To view the rest of the recipe, please visit: Perfectly Grilled Corn On The Cob

Summer Produce Freezing

All this great produce it at its peak right now and it will be gone before we know it. Now is the time to preserve all those great flavors so that you can enjoy them later in the year. 

Freezer Tomato Sauce 

Ingredients:

12 to 15 medium to large ripe tomatoes
1/2 cup diced basil leaves
8 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons powdered ascorbic acid preserver, such as Fruit Fresh
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

(Source: http://www.heraldextra.com/momclick/recipes/no-canner-no-problem-freezer-tomato-sauce-to-the-rescue/article_bc6d5344-d586-11e0-932b-001cc4c03286.html)

Basil Cubes

Ingredients:
Basil
Olive Oil

(Source: http://www.fatandhappyblog.com/2011/10/basil-cubes-how-to-freeze-fresh-basil.html)

Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed With Mozzarella & Basil

These cute little appetizers are just what you need for unexpected guests. Serve these up with a pitcher of iced tea and you'll be a very gracious host. They're easy to make and with it being late summer, you should always have these ingredients on hand. 

Ingredients:
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into tiny dice (to yield about 1-1/4 cup)
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest (from about a quarter of a lemon)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pint (about 18) cherry tomatoes, rinsed

To view the rest of this recipe, please visit: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/cherry-tomatoes-stuffed-mozzarella-basil.aspx