CSA Week 16

From Shana:

Roasted Red (or Yellow) Pepper Pasta

One of my favorite things to do with ripe bell peppers is to roast them. If you’re sick of eating roasted peppers, an easy dish is to roast them and then purée them in a food processor with olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and anything else that you think would be good!  Mix with any type of cooked pasta and garnish with fresh basil and tomatoes on the top. Enjoy!

From Bob:

It seems that the “extras” box tends to go under utilized because there are always a ton of hot peppers left when I get there.  I understand they are tough to use in recipes, especially for those with young children, so I thought I would share my favorite non-food use of hot peppers: home infused chili pepper vodka.  I recommend starting with a bottle of good quality vodka – don’t use anything too cheap or too expensive for this.  I use Tito’s since a lot of people like it and it’s not too expensive.  Pour about 3-4 ounces of vodka into a clean and empty glass bottle to make room for the peppers in the bottle (you can use the extra to top off the bottle after you use some).  Wearing gloves, cut the stems off 2-3 peppers and cut in half lengthwise.  Scrape out the seeds (we don’t want them floating in our drink) but leave the ribs because that’s where the heat is.  Slice into long, thin strips that will fit through the bottle opening.  Let the vodka infuse at least overnight but it will keep weeks, if not longer, and improve in flavor.  Make sure the peppers stay covered by the vodka, use some of the extra you poured off to keep them submerged.  It makes a fantastic base for a bloody mary and is a must try for a homemade vodka sauce.  If you’ll be entertaining, use a mixture of red and green peppers as it will look great in the bottle.

Griggstown Farm Chicken

From Bob:

I’ve been loving the Griggstown Farms chicken every two weeks.  I get the cut-up chicken which is perfect for weeknight dinners – no butchering needed and the smaller pieces cook faster than a whole bird.  I’ve done the chicken on the grill, in the slow cooker and just plain roasted too.  I was looking for something a little different this week and looked to my Cook it in Cast Iron cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen.  The recipe I used was for Indoor Barbecue Chicken which used the hot cast iron pan to make a quick homemade barbecue sauce after the chicken was done.  The sauce was great (used as a dipping sauce for grilled cheese the next night – fantastic) but it made the chicken a little soggy after I had worked so had on a flavorful crust.  Next time I will follow the recipe but stop when the chicken comes out of the oven and just serve it with a squeeze of lemon.  Here’s my adapted version of the Test Kitchen recipe:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 6 tsp of spice mixture (at least 1 tsp each brown sugar and salt, other spices to taste, see note at bottom)
• 1 cut-up chicken

1. Turn oven to 500 degrees.  Place cast iron pan in oven while it preheats.
2. Pat chicken dry, rub with oil and spice mixture to coat.
3. When oven reaches 500 degrees, turn it down to 450.  Take out the pan and add the chicken, skin side down.
4. Let chicken cook in oven for 15 minutes then flip.  Cook for another 10-12 minutes, or until cooked through.  Be sure to check both white and dark meat for doneness – you may need to pull smaller pieces sooner than larger pieces to avoid any getting overdone.
5. Let chicken cool for at least 5 min before serving.

Note: mix up your spice mixture depending on the flavor profile you’re looking for.  Start with 1 tsp each of brown sugar and salt.  I used chili powder, cumin, onion powder and garlic powder.  For an Asian twist, use some five spice and ginger powders instead of the cumin and garlic powder.  Or go with some ground coriander and garam masala for a curried flavor.  Just be careful if you’re using a pre-made spice blend as those typically have salt, in that case omit the starting teaspoon.  The possibilities are endless and it’s a perfect way to use up random CSA veggies – simply roast in the hot oven with the chicken, tossed with a little oil and matching spices and you’re good to go.

From Shana:

CSA Week 13

From Shana:

From Bob:

When the CSA started, I began keeping a bag in my freezer for trimmings and leftover items that were about to go bad.  My plan was to use the bag as the base for a homemade vegetable stock.  I finally felt I had enough so I made my stock this Saturday.  Ultimately, I ended up with some fennel stalks and fronds, two celery stalks, a few random halves and thirds of onion, leftover matchstick cut carrots and two whole bell peppers.  I supplemented the stockpile (get it?) with some fresh items I had on hand but knew I wouldn’t need right away – another onion and some fresh parsley – added water to cover and let it cook away.  I let it go for about two hours, after which it had reduced slightly and had some flavor.  Many of the recipes I looked at called for 30-60 minutes which I did not feel was enough, it still tasted too watery.  I salted it well, maybe about 2 tablespoons, but it didn’t end up being enough when I used the stock for a soup but it’s definitely better to salt to taste later than have an over salty stock.  Straining the stock was made easier by a long handled spider and a fine mesh strainer.  I poured the stock through the strainer and into a 2 gallon pitcher for easy fridge storage.  I used some stock to make a simple dinner the next night.  I brought it to a boil, added some frozen peas and corn, a package of udon noodles, some soy sauce and some chili garlic sauce.  It was simple but tasty and a good way to use up CSA scraps that would have gone to waste otherwise.

CSA Week 12

From Shana:

• 3 to 4 cups chopped leeks (make sure you clean them well as they have sand in them)
• 3 to 4 cups chopped potatoes (you want a little more potato than leek–i dont’ peel the skins but Julia would probably be horrified! I like the texture and added fiber and minerals)
• 2 quarts of water (or a little more if it doesn’t look like enough)

CSA Week 11

From Shana:

Homemade Croutons

• preheat oven to 350
• take an older baguette or load of bread and cut into 1″ square chunks
• toss very liberally in olive oil, salt, pepper and any dried herbs from previous CSA weeks.
• bake for 5-10 minutes depending on how brown you like them. Let cool and add to salad!

From Bob:

Google “fingerling potato recipes” and you get about 1,000 variations of herb roasted fingerling potatoes.  Boring.  I was looking for something different and am happy to share a few recipes that caught my eye.  The first, a different take on the typical roast, are these braised fingerlings with garlic, herbs and shallots.  If you pick up kale and eggs in today’s share you could also try this popular Blue Apron recipe for a Kale and Potato Hash.  If neither of those is grabbing your interest, check out Six Burner Sue’s rundown of easy fingerling recipe ideas.