Week Two (Summer 2009)

Week two has arrived (placeholder text).

Week One, Part Two...

With the rest of week one's selection, I went with mostly salads, given the massive amount of salad greens. I actually made a nice salad of mixed greens with a truffle vinagrette for serving with slices of pate (from The Italian Store - highly recommend), but for some reason, the pictures did not capture. In retrospect, the dressing came out a bit more acidic than I would have liked, but in a way, that, combined with the bitterness of the chicory endive, was actually pretty good up against the richness of the pate.

The other thing I did with the produce was to slowly cook - almost steep - the garlic scapes in olive oil over low heat until the roughly-sliced scapes were tender (almost the consistency of a well-cooked green bean). I cooled them and stored them in the oil, which I thought might be useful when flavored of garlic.

My sister and her partner were in for the weekend, so I ultimately wound up using them as part of the filling for more refrigerator pie - a great fallback recipe courtesy of Alton Brown. Super-fast, super-easy quiche is basically what we're talking. In this case, the filling is the scapes, a package of baby portabella mushrooms, shredded cheese (goat and ultra-aged Gouda), and some more of the chives. I roasted the mushrooms in the oil with the scapes, so the filling picked up a really nice flavor of garlic without being too overbearing.

The rest of the weekend, while not CSA-related, was fun in that I got to cook up some goodies for a Saturday night Wolf Trap concert out on the lawn. It wound up being a really good show (David Byrne of Talking Heads fame and DeVotchka) and a beautiful night.

I basically made two bean-based dips. One was fava beans (two cups when cooked from dried beans), olive oil, and ricotta salata, with a touch of garlic, lemon, and mint. The second was a dip made from black-eyed peas, whipped together much like hummus, with lime juice, hot chili and sesame oil, a touch of the garlic scape oil, salt, and white pepper.

I think they turned out pretty well, but the food highlight of the day was probably our stop at the Wine Kitchen in Leesburg. I'd been before, but this time I got to take Meghann and Chad, and I think all of us were pretty impressed by both the wine and the food (let's not forget the desert). They emphasize serving the wines in organized flights of three - each wine comes with a notecard containing a detailed description at a reasonable price for one or all three...

Needless to say, I got the special. Which was fabulous. And I got the macaroni and cheese - which was solid if not just a bit light on the salt. Other items included a portabella panini, polenta with mushrooms, frisee and a poached egg, and the desert - two small ultra rich and moist chocolate and mint cakes with mint cream and, to top it off, a mint-perfumed salt...

I also had the pleasure of talking with the manager Michael Mercer, who was incredibly kind and corteous. After learning we were headed to Wolf Trap for the evening, he recommended a bottle of 2007 Domaine Felines Jourdan Picpoul De Pinet that we might like.

Needless to say, we left with two bottles. One for the show, and one for DE consumption. A great thing about the wine selection at the Wine Kitchen is you get $10 off the list price if you get wine to go. The rest of the evening was great - a beautiful night (just about the only one that week), wonderful sound, great set-lists, and even easy traffic in and out of Wolf Trap and back onto 267 for the return ride back to Arlington.

It's Back!!!

Today, the first week's share of the 2009 Summer CSA from Potomac Vegetable Farms arrived...

In case anybody is new here - the primary purpose of this blog, when I first started, was to detail the weekly shipments of vegetables I'm getting from Potomac Vegetable Farms, and what they become... It's not entirely that anymore, but it's a pretty big part.

That said - the first week of the 2009 Summer CSA includes: garlic scapes (4), a head of chicory endive, a head of green lettuce, mixed salad lettuce, a healthy amount of green chard (rear part of the picture), a small head of cabbage (a variety named "arrowhead") and chives...

I think it's going to be a lot of salads for this first week - the only thing I'm locked into is a saute of the chard with some shitake mushrooms over some brown rice - something that could be eaten at room temperature.

Brown Rice Salad w/ Green Chard and Shitake Mushrooms

I sauteed half a large white onion (thinly sliced) in olive oil with some crushed red pepper flakes. After a few minutes, I added 2 cloves of thinly sliced garlic, followed by a 3.5 oz package of sliced shitake mushrooms.

After the mushrooms had softened and the onions browned slightly, I added a handful of raisins, pine nuts, and finally, the chard (washed, drained, and roughly chopped).

After the chard had cooked down and wilted thoroughly, I added half the juice of a lemon (and some of the zest), tossed in a splash of balsamic vinegar, seasoned with salt and pepper, and then combined with cooked browned rice (roughly two cups), and heated through.

The last thing I did was to add in some diced chives (along with the chard, the two contributions from the farm share)...

April/May Eats...

I know, I've been pretty terrible about posting up, so here's a bit of a spurt. With the weather getting better and the market selection picking up, I've actually been braving the horrendous parking around the DuPont market, and have found some really nice vegetables coming in (ramps, asparagus). Not to mention some great cheeses - Everona Dairy and Firefly Farms come to mind right away...

Anyways - first up was something I threw together after picking up some really nice green beans, some baby red potatoes, and some mid-sized tomatoes. I'd picked up some Spanish chorizo from the Italian Market in Philly, so I diced that up with some slab bacon, sweated them out, and did a slow stew of some onions, the parboiled potatoes, the green beans, and finally the tomatoes.

I kept the seasonings mostly Spanish-style: paprika, garlic, some sherry vinegar, and finished it off with some parsley and toasted pine nuts... It's lunch this week with some brown rice or by itself.

Next up was a bit of an old stand-by, but when I stopped off at GrandMart after volunteering with Max, the Belgian Malinois Mix with Lost Dog over in Seven Corners on Saturday, I picked up some supplies to make a "salsa verde" with roasted tomatillos, onions, peppers, and cilantro. The recipe was in an earlier post, but it's quick, versatile, and is great for packing and storing away hen you're not quite sure what you're going to cook up.

And finally - another idea inspired by GrandMart... They sell pork picnic roasts (shoulders) for a pretty good price, but frankly, it's a lot of food for one person, and it's just not something I can justify if there's not a cookout or get-together involved.

However, they have started carrying half and quarter roasts, cut down the length of the shoulder - which are much more reasonable and manageable when cooking for one... Or two even.

They still come with the skin and fat attached, so I tried seasoning the roast by first scoring the skin, cutting a pocket between the layer of fat and the meat, and then seasoning it very aggressively with three different types of peppers: green peppercorns, black peppercorns (both crushed), and Alleppo pepper.

I mixed these with some salt, sugar, and some garlic powder, and then went to town on the pork roast, covering all sides liberally. I started roasting the pork at 350 degrees, but backed it down to 250 or so after the pork started browning and some of the fat rendered out.

Towards the end of the cooking time, I basted the roast with a mixture of mirin and black Chinese vinegar - then sliced it after pulling it from the oven and giving it some time to rest. You can see the pork in the bottom three pictures - a decent amount for sandwiches or even stir-fry...

I had actually gotten some udon noodles and some nice looking enoki mushrooms from GrandMart, so I was planning on using the pork in some sort of noodle soup for a dinner this week. Will update if it turns out okay.

Immolation by Canoe and Toxic Cheese...

There are times when I really do love the unique and kind of random things that transpire in and around Washington DC... For example - a flaming canoe, and toxic cheeses. Let me explain.

On Wednesday, a canoe blew up by the Key Bridge on the Potomac. Nothing sinister, and honestly, a bit of a letdown after all of the build-up and hype, but seriously - how often do you see a canoe/kayak on fire?

The explosion was part of the filming for an upcoming CBS television pilot, "Washington Field," about the Washington Field Office of the FBI. We'd actually received advance warning through my work because our floor-to-ceiling window view directly overlooks the Key Bridge and the Georgetown waterfront. They made it sound like a 20 to 30-foot fireball of apocalyptic proportions, so needless to say, we were pretty jacked.

It wasn't really all that, but was still pretty cool to see. I've posted a few more pics on my Flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/southbound_07/sets/72157615984922709/), but here are a few of the close-ups (I didn't get the moment of detonation, but it had been delayed quite a bit so I couldn't really sit there, camera in hand, for the entire afternoon - much as I might have liked).

And then - on Thursday, the Koshland Science Museum held an event titled: "Say Cheese! Understanding the Living Foods We Eat" - where we listened to Dr. Catherine Donnelley, Co-director of the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheeses, as she described the microbial world of cheese. Dr. Donnelly's presentation was paired with a tasting of six artisan cheeses.

All in all, a very interesting and informative lecture, although I do have to say, it was a bit surreal (not to mention slightly disconcerting) learning about the role that mold and bacteria play in the formation and production of cheese - then following that with a discussion of cheese-borne illness and the ways in which it could kill you - and then being invited to tuck into a plate of cheese samples, no matter how delicious...

And I must say, my blue cheese definitely had the "nose of ammonia" that was mentioned. Although I am not sure I picked up the "animal" flavors that the Comte apparently is known for (seriously people, "stable"?)...

In Praise of the Tomatillo...

One of the really easy "tricks" I fall back on quite a bit, especially in the summer, is to roast up and process some onion, tomatillos, and jalapeno and/or serrano peppers.

Tomatillos can sometime be a bit difficult with their papery husks and the sticky residue underneath, but GrandMart out near 7 Corners sells them husked and shrink-wrapped in foam trays - all you pretty much have to do is give them a rinse and rough chop them in thirds or fourths.

To about a pound of tomatillos, add a rough chop of a medium-to-large white onion, and jalapenos, seeded and cored to taste. Toss them with some olive or vegetable oil to coat, salt and pepper, and broil on a cookie sheet until charred and dark. Cool and dump into a food processor along with a chopped clove of garlic (I wouldn't recommend broiling the garlic with the other vegetables, as it is so easy to burn and leave really bitter), the juice of a lime, and a handful (call it a 1/2 bunch) of cilantro.

Puree until smooth, add a touch of cumin, and you have a really tangy and tart salsa verde. It will thicken up on standing in the fridge, so you may have to add some more lime juice/tequila. This sauce also makes a great base (along with some stock) for chili (I'll add some pictures of a pork chili verde I made a little bit ago for a chili cook-off), pozole (same), rice, or even a pasta salad.

LII...

Yes, those are Whole Foods reusable grocery bags...

Yes, there are 52 of them...

No, I'm not responsible...

My ex-roommate, apparently unaware of the theory behind these items, bought 2-3 anew every time he walked up to Whole Foods for groceries. Every time. I knew he was sticking them in the closet, but I assumed he was re-using them each time he went.

Silly me. I think my current roommate was a little frightened... And I can't say I blame him.