CSA Mixology 101

Photo via Green Thumb White Apron

I spend a lot of time working in the kitchen.  A lot.  Don't get me wrong, I love doing so, but eventually you reach the point of, "Enough!"  So, fellow fledgling chefs, let's kick back for some cocktails!

I've made two of the cucumber salads mentioned in our last post, but I've still got one more cucumber left.  Cukes just seem to say, "Refreshing."  There are a couple of cocktail recipes I've found that leverage that.  Adding in a little basil to reinforce the summer-iness and lime for even more refreshment, you can make an awesome gimlet.  Or, for something a bit more refined, how about a cognac cocktail?

Photo via Food.com

This week, we will have more blueberries and another awesome cantaloupe.  Obviously these two can pair up to make a colorful, delicious fruit salad, but how about another cocktail or two?  Fresh berries are an incredible bar ingredient.  Something refreshing with blueberries and mint, maybe?  Or, for the more serious mixologist, something with absinthe?

As for the cantaloupe, its gorgeous color can be brought to full bloom in a Fiery Torch.  Or how about a glowing orange cantaloupe martini?

In any case, hand off your keys, get the blender or the shaker, and let's have a few!

Photo via Rachel Ray Magazine

Savory Berries

We're getting our first peeks of summer fruits, and eating them is like a long drink after a drought.  I can't seem to keep them in the house.  My six-year-old has eaten three pints of apricots (his favorite) since Friday.  I don't know where he puts them all.

Photo via Epicurious

Any blueberries left from your box?  I booby-trapped the fruit drawer in the bottom of the fridge, so I actually have some left.  I wanted to use them creatively, preferably not for dessert.  So here are some savory berry ideas:

• It sounds unusual, but blueberry pan sauce works with salmon.
• Blueberries make pork tenderloin awesome. And, it gives a lot of character to pulled pork, too.
• Lamb fillet and lamb shanks really mean osso bucco to me, but this recipe has me intrigued.
• While not exactly savory, blueberries make a beautiful syrup for pancakes and French toast.

Photo via Cookstr

Technicolor Cropshare

Photo via Simply Recipes

Beets and carrots, carrots and beets!  Yahoo!  Many, such as Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN, say that you should eat five different colors every day to make sure you get a broad array of vitamins in your diet.  This week's box sure helps with that approach: orange carrots, purple beets, blue blueberries, red strawberries, green chard and cabbage... There you go!

Let's see how we can mix and match colors.

Photo via Healthy Happy Life

• If you're looking for a straight-up color explosion, try this side dish, which uses almost everything in the box.  If you like pickled veggies (oh, me me me!), then this mix is a great one to try.
• Beets and carrots make a great basis for a salad, or use the chard and/or cabbage for this salad.
• If you like the Moroccan spice palate, then try this sauté for the chard and beet leaves.  This salad uses grated carrots and beets, and is delicious!
• Last year we had a discussion on cole slaw, and my favorite pickled cole slaw is quite colorful.  So is this one with beets.
• Don't forget dessert!

Photo via Epicurious

I'm Not Ready to Have Fall Yet!

There are apples in the store now.  And not just a few.  Nooooo!

Yes, I do like apples.  As a matter of fact, I had a Honeycrisp at the store this afternoon.  And it was delicious.  The problem is, when the first apples start coming in, it's a harbinger of the end of summer fruits.  Soon the berries will end.  And the peaches.  And plums.  And my favorite, nectarines.  Waaaaah!!!

Well, I'm just not ready yet.  As I've said before, I'm not a baker but I'm trying to learn.  And I've got a long checklist of things to make before the fruit is gone.  Let me give you a peek at my list.

Photo via Epicurious

Cobblers
This is something I've been comfortable baking since, well, Cooking Merit Badge from eons ago.  Cobbler is essentially pie filling with biscuits on top.  There are options as to what kinds of biscuits, though.  This one most closely resembles what we used to do at Scout Camp back in the day.  This one has a sweeter biscuit that's really divine.  Of course, any cobbler is much better when made in a cast iron Dutch oven with decades of seasoning on it, and baked in the embers of your campfire.

Photo via Oprah.com

Simple Tarts
I think what makes me shy from baking is the detailed decorating involved.  And when some intricate design is required on a couple of dozen cupcakes or something, well, I guess I don't have the patience for it.  But one level more difficult than cobbler would be rustic tarts, no fancy-pants decorating involved.  Here's a simple fruit tart.  It's just a simple pastry dough, formed into a rough circle-ish shape, with fruit piled on and the edges rolled up.  Right up my alley.  Here's another one with a slightly different crust.

Photo via Smitten Kitchen

It's All in the Bundt
Now we have to go up to the level of a real cake.  Uh-oh.  I think bundt cakes are probably the easiest, as there's little to no decorating, or lining up layers straight.  It's the one-pot stew of the cake world.  Just remember to let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes or so prior to trying to invert it onto the plate.  This one I've made before and it's really amazing.  The buttermilk gives it such a rich flavor.  This one is way yummy too.  I know, you normally don't think of strawberries and carrots in the same, well, in the same anything.  But trust me, you won't be able to argue with the results.

For-Real Cakes
Before we get super-serious, this pound cake sorta straddles the line between a bundt cake and a real layer cake.  The lemon really highlights the blueberries, and the ricotta makes it SO rich.  Speaking of ricotta, have you looked in the dairy case lately?  You'll find local ricotta there now!

And lastly, that brings us to a layer cake.  I haven't worked up the courage to try yet, but I've sworn to myself I'm going to try before the blueberries are gone.  I'm thinking that the lemon-blueberry combo should be fantastic once again.

Photo via Sally's Baking Addiction

So, what are you planning to bake before the berries are gone?

Violet! You're Turning Violet, Violet!

One of my earliest memories is that of picking blueberries with my grandma and grandpa.  I was always especially close with my grandfather, and they took me blueberry picking one drizzly morning.  I remember thinking how huge the bushes looked, and wanting to fill my little white plastic bucket.  At the age of 3ish, though, it was just so difficult to put the berries in the bucket instead of into my mouth.

Blueberries are one of nature's true "super-foods."  They are extremely high in antioxidants.  So you can feel less guilty about eating them by the little white plastic bucket full.

Of course, for the few that survive the ride home after purchase, blueberries make us think of baking.  As previously indicated, I'm not the best baker.  My latest blueberry infatuation, though, is with this lemon blueberry poundcake made with ricotta cheese.  That recipe would only use half of the container of blueberries that were in your share.  I was so anxious to show this cake to you, but of course mine fell while it was cooling.  Ugh.  Another baking option that is a frequent go-to for me is cobbler.  Cobbler is my son's favorite dessert.  He'll eat absolutely any fruit cobbler you can think of.  This one uses cornmeal in the topping, which I thought was quite an interesting twist.  Yes, Nalls has peaches for that recipe too!

Did you try your hand at making jam?  Blueberry jam is pretty straightforward as well.  If you've read at all about reaching a set point for jam, let me clarify that a bit for you.  Reaching the set point indicates that the sugar has gotten hot enough to transform into gelatin.  This happens at 220˚F.  Boil the fruit, sugar, and pectin until it reaches that temperature.  Easier than using a plate or a spoon, use an instant-read or a candy thermometer.  Lemon and blueberry are a classic combination, so last year I had a little bit of a flash of inspiration.  I put my blueberry jam into half-pint jars, and then to each I added half a teaspoon of limoncello (an Italian lemon-flavored liqueur).  A little stir and some time on the shelf and wooooow...

I wanted to include some non-baking, non-dessert item that uses blueberries.  I came across this one for a glaze for ribs.  Hmmm...  I think I found my next project on the barbecue grill!

Go ahead, eat the blueberries.  Getting them all over your face, it's okay.  It just shows how much you enjoyed them!

Blueberry Pineapple Smoothie

It took all the willpower we had, but the Mister and I some how held off on devouring the blueberries in this week's share long enough for me to make something with them.  When the Nalls' daughter, Valerie, told me that these New Jersey blueberries would going to be about the best I would ever taste, she was NOT exaggerating.  And...a little factoid for your Sunday evening...when blueberries look like they've been frosted with that slight white hue, that's when they are at their prime.  So basically, we are all ruined for blueberries from any other place for the rest of our lives.  New Jersey...keep cranking those beauties out!

So while okay, the entire pint of blueberries didn't survive till today (quality control my friends, had to make sure they were indeed as amazing as I'd been promised), I still had just enough of them left to cool us down on this hot, humid Sunday with these quick and easy Blueberry Pineapple Smoothies.  Did I mention they're 100 % vegan, as well?!  We've got the pineapples and bananas you'll need to round out this recipe in our store, plus tomorrow is another Fresh Start Monday so all day long you'll receive 10% off of all produce (runs every Monday through the end of August)!

Blueberry Pineapple Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 pint fresh blueberries

1/2 pineapple, skinned and cut into chunks

2 1/2 bananas

1/2 cup vanilla soy milk (or milk of your choosing)

15 ice cubes

Throw all ingredients into your blender or Vitamix and blend away until nice and smooth.  You can also toss in some spinach or kale for an added iron boost.  Will make about four 8oz servings.

Two Blueberry Recipes Even Violet Beauregarde Could Still Love!

Oompa loompa doopity do, I've got two blueberry recipes for you!  Fresh blueberries are fantastic, but I think we can all agree that we would not care to become one like poor, boisterous, gum-smacking Violet from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.  

But I'm fairly certain that these two recipes could win over even Miss Violet.  After all, being juiced has to work up a serious appetite.

Blueberry-Swirl Pound Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 1/3 cups blueberries
1 1/4 cups, plus 2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

Preheat your oven to 350.  Lightly grease a 5x9 loaf pan and line with parchment paper, with about 2 inch overhang on all sides.  Also lightly butter the parchment.

In a food processor or blender, puree blueberries with 2 Tbsp sugar.  In a medium sized bowl, mix together your flour, salt and baking powder.  Then in a larger bowl, cream butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar using an electric mixer.  Add in eggs and vanilla, and continue to beat until fully combined.  Gradually add in flour mixture, and between additions of flour, also begin to add in your sour cream, alternating between both and ending with one last bit of the flour mixture.

Pour half of the batter into the pan and dot with 1/2 cup of the blueberry puree.  Add remaining batter and dot with the rest of the puree.  With a thin-bladed knife or skewer, swirl the batter and puree together.  Bake at 350 for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then lift out of pan by parchment.  Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups gluten-free all purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
2 large eggs (or 2 egg equivalent of Ener-G Egg Replacer for egg-free/vegan)
1 cup light vanilla soy milk (or vanilla almond milk)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract (I make my own by steeping vanilla beans in brandy for several months)
1/2 cup blueberries

In one bowl, combine your dry ingredients and then in a separate bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients, and then slowly mix into the dry mixture until well combined.  Mix in blueberries.  Add coconut oil to your skillet and once melted, begin to spoon your batter into the heated skillet.  Once the edged begin to brown, flip your pancakes and cook until both sides are golden.

We served ours topped with Earth Balance margarine and agave nectar, since I'd made this recipe on a complete whim and didn't have any maple syrup around.  This really is a no-fail gluten free (and vegan if you make the egg substitute) pancake recipe.  I'd never made pancakes before in my life, and on our one snow day this past year, I decided it was time to not just make pancakes for the first time, but now they have to also be gluten, egg & dairy free.  This recipe was cobbled together from several that I looked up, and the results were fantastic.  The only problem was there just weren't enough!

Homemade Blueberry Sauce

Excuse me while I wipe my purple fingers off. This super easy blueberry sauce could top just about anything! Seriously, put it on your steak and it'll be delicious. Just kidding, but if you do try it, please let us know how it is. I am making this as an ice cream topping and jarring the rest up to share. Not saying you have to share, but I'm sure your friends and neighbors would love a jar of this stuff!
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Ingredients:
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved into 3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

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To view the rest of this recipe, please visit: http://pinchofyum.com/easy-homemade-blueberry-sauce