Grasshoppers Pickup Number 29

This week's basket contained:

• 1 bunch kale
• 9 small beets
• 1 head leafy lettuce
• Peas in the shell
• 1 head garlic
• 1 head Chinese cabbage
• 5 smallish potatoes
• 1 large white onion
• 1 whole chicken, cut up

I'm making borscht tonight with the beets, potatoes and onion.

The kale will be cooked as a greens meal along with a turnip and served with cornbread. The lettuce will go into a simple salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, and celery. The peas will be a side dish to accompany some wild caught (!) salmon I picked up at the grocery this afternoon. I can use the garlic in any number of dishes.

I'm thinking the cabbage will go into a dish like Chinese-Style Cabbage. It could serve as another side for the salmon (which is enough to make 3 meals for me).

The chicken will stay in the freezer for a while. I am so behind on meat consumption. There are so many ways to use a cut-up chicken. I'm tempted to make fried chicken, although this is something I only make once or twice a year.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 28

This week's basket contained:

• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 head lettuce
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 2 small summer squash
• 2 broccoli tops
• 1 head garlic
• 1 pt. strawberries
• 1 salmon filet

The salmon filet was a surprise. Apparently it was raised in Kentucky. Who knew? I knew we produced prawns and catfish.

So, with the bulk of the produce, I have made salad (with the addition of cherry tomatoes and a cucumber) and salsa (with the addition of crushed tomatoes and jalapenos.

I had steamed the summer squash and one of the broccoli tops as a side to a salmon dinner. I should probably just chop up the other broccoli top and add it to my salad.

This time I put the strawberries into the fridge. I understand that the best flavor is to be had by leaving them out at room temperature. I've tried this, but since I'm not that huge a fan of fruits and berries, I ran into mold problems. I will enjoy these berries either with plain yogurt or sliced with cereal and milk.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 27

This week's basket contained:

• Rainbow chard
• Scapes
• Celery
• Dill weed
• Shell beans
• 2 buffalo steaks
• 1 pt. strawberries

The chard will be a side dish that includes butter, olive oil, garlic, red onion, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese. I've made this before and it is very yummy.

Scapes? I was told by the CSA lady that they're basically garlic greens. I plan on making a pesto with them. Apparently they also serve well in a stir fry.

The celery is loaded with leaves. I think I'll wrap it up in paper towels and preserve it for next weekend. There are all manner of one-pot recipes that could benefit from fresh celery. For the short term, I'm still eating lamb curry leftovers and there will be a few salmon dinners coming up.

Dill weed... yikes! I can put some on salmon since I'm having that regularly of late. I could make a dip with cream cheese but hey... I'm already making scape pesto. I'll just try to keep it fresh for a couple of weeks so it can grace a number of salmon meals.

I assume the shell beans will be a side dish. They look like snow peas but the shells are kinda tough..

Buffalo meat is notoriously lean. Cooks are advised to score steaks slightly at intervals to avoid having the meat curl when cooked.

I will probably eat the strawberries with plain yogurt--great as a snack or dessert.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 26

This week's basket contained:

• 2 heads Romaine lettuce
• 8 small tomatoes
• 1 pint strawberries
• 1 bunch mint
• 1 bunch garlic chives
• 2 cucumbers
• 7 small potatoes
• 2 lamb shanks

The strawberries were eaten with plain yogurt. Very delicious as a dessert or breakfast.

The mint went into Mint Juleps. That was the idea, eh? Still got a few sprigs left.

I used some garlic chives on baked salmon. Maybe the rest will go that route, too.

I steamed the potatoes as a side to a salmon + veggie dinner.

The lamb shanks are calling me to make some kind of curry. Maybe this coming weekend.

Everything else is just screaming SALAD! I only sliced up one of the two cucumbers into the salad mix. I intend to use the second cucumber as follows: sliced cucumber, sugar, vinegar. A very delicious salad I remember from my childhood.

Grasshoppers Pickups Number 25

This week's basket contained:

• 1 pt. strawberries
• 1 bunch Swiss Chard
• 1 head lettuce
• 3 stalks baby green garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro
• Bone-in pork chops

I've been enjoying the strawberries with plain yogurt as a dessert. Nice!

The lettuce... yeah... salad.

I don't know what to do with chard! Maybe it goes into salad or maybe I cook it as a side. Research.

As for the baby garlic, I have a fave recipe for "Leeks In Olive Oil" that could accommodate this baby garlic (which looks like young leeks). That would make a faboo side.

The cilantro may be an excuse to go Mexican. Salsa, enchiladas... you name it.

As for the meat... I am so behind schedule with the meat. Who knows. BBQ pork chops? Protein supplement to a bean dish? It's in the freezer for now.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 24

This week's basket contained:

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 head Bibb lettuce
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 bunch ramps
• 1 bunch thyme
• 1 lb. asparagus
• 2.25 lb. whole chicken, cut up
• 1.75 lb. chicken wings

The asparagus has already gone into making quiche. It's quite delicious and it will make 5 meals for me (including one meal of excess filling as the entree).

The kale, as usual, will be cooked with a couple of (non-CSA) turnips and some pork ribs and be served over cornbread. Can't be bad. The lettuce and tomatoes will be salad.

Ramps are apparently along the lines of wild onions with garlicky overtones. I don't really know since I've never had them before. I'm sure they could go into a stir-fry, but since I also need to find a use for the thyme, maybe I'll simmer a cut of beef with the ramps and thyme.

The cut-up chicken could go into any of a bazillion recipes. Gumbo or curry sounds nice.

The chicken wings would be fun to cook as uber-spicy Buffalo wings.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 23

This week's basket contained:

• 5 tomatoes
• 2 turnips
• 1 bag Red Russian kale
• 1 bag Mizuna lettuce
• 1 bunch garlic chives
• 1 bag spinach
• 1 jar salsa

The salsa was a "customer appreciation" gift to those of us who stuck with Grasshoppers through their first winter of operation. I've had it before and it is most delicious. I add a healthy dose of Tabasco because that's who I am.

I think I'm going to make salads with only CSA veggies (lettuce, spinach, tomatoes) this time. Normally I would buy veggies at Meijer and combine them with my CSA goods.

The kale and turnips will (again) go into a greens-and-cornbread meal. I'm pretty sure I have some pork in the freezer that is a requisite for this dish.

As for the garlic chives, this is a stretch but I'm going to use them in a recipe with salmon. The idea is to create an Asian-type sauce for the sauteed salmon. I'm thinking along the lines of butter, olive oil, fresh ginger, oyster sauce, soy sauce, etc. It depends on what I have on-hand.

And here's a confession. I bought farm-raised salmon at Meijer this afternoon. They didn't have wild-caught salmon or tuna so it's not like I had a convenient alternative. I could have gone without or I could have had wild-caught salmon overnighted to my home at 4x the price per pound. My understanding is that farm-raised salmon is not unhealthful unless you're pregnant. (My last pregnancy test came back as "Male", so I'm good.) The problem is that farming salmon is detrimental to the environment. And, of course, farm-raised salmon is to wild-caught salmon as Tyson chicken is to free-range chicken. On the plus side the health benefits of eating salmon--even farm-raised salmon--trump any concerns about toxins in the fish. Yes, there are toxins, but the concentrations are  negligible... even in farm-raised salmon!

Bottom line, given an easy choice, I will always choose wild-caught salmon over farm-raised salmon. If wild-caught salmon is not available or is out of season I might buy farm-raised salmon. One thing for sure: I'm not going to pay $30 per pound plus shipping to have a whole salmon overnighted to me from Alaska.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 22

This week's basket contained:

• 1 bag of kale
• 1 bag of watercress
• 4 tomatoes
• 3 turnips
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 small head Bibb lettuce
• Corned beef

The kale and turnips are destined for a greens-and-cornbread dinner. Pork will be added.

The tomatoes and lettuce will go into a salad. I consider this a prompt to buy additional salad veggies: Romaine lettuce, radishes, a cucumber, and mushrooms. I already have carrots on hand. The head of Bibb lettuce in my basket is very small indeed--thus the necessity of augmenting it with organic Romaine.

I plan on cooking the corned beef with cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. It would be cool to do this on St. Patrick's Day, but I'm going to on the road at least 9 hours after a CT show in North Carolina that day. For that reason, I'll probably do the corned beef this weekend rather than next.

A baked sweet potato makes a good side dish. Just add a tablespoon of butter and some freshly ground black pepper.

Watercress? I have no experience with. Perhaps it can be added to my salad. I don't know.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 21

This week's basket contained:

• 2 hydroponic tomatoes
• 1 small head Bibb lettuce
• 3 sweet potatoes
• 1 bunch sage
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 jar pumpkin butter

The tomatoes and lettuce will go into a salad mix I'll make this weekend. The sweet potatoes--I'm not sure. Probably baked or cooked as oven fries, but I think I'll use the largest one to make a sweet potato pie.

The fresh sage could be problematic. Most recipes I've seen that call for fresh sage use only 1 or 2 tablespoons. I did find a recipe for a spread that included cream cheese and lots of fresh sage. It also called for frozen lemonade (yuck!), so I'll have to modify it a bit. With the remaining sage, I might try a recipe for sage mashed potatoes that also calls for onion and plain yogurt.

I'll cook the kale with pork and a diced turnip. I have to make cornbread to go with!

I'm not a big fan of things like pumpkin butter. Having said that, I'll take it to work along with a package of English muffins (we have a toaster). I get pretty hungry in the late afternoon so this will make a very welcome snack.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 20

This week's basket contained:

• 5 hydroponic tomatoes
• 1 small head red-leaf lettuce
• 1 large bunch basil
• 1 small bag baby carrots
• 1 jar mild salsa
• 3 rib eye steaks

The produce content of this week's basket was a little skinny compared to previous baskets. That's okay. This is the first year that Grasshopper's is doing winter produce. And getting 5 nice tomatoes pretty much makes up for any volume shortcomings.

The tomatoes, lettuce, and carrots will go into a salad. I'll be adding Romaine lettuce, radishes, a cucumber, and fresh mushrooms.

I'll use the basil in a spinach-and-basil pesto.

Having a jar of locally-made salsa puts me in the mind of making some Mexican food. Next weekend perhaps.

The rib eye steaks go into the freezer. I seriously have to make an effort to make meals that use more meat. In that spirit I plan on using a CSA chicken to make a curry this Saturday. I'm also planning on using some CSA bratwurst for a few simple dinners.

FOOD: It's what's for dinner.

Wheat Berry-Brown Rice Pilaf

This is an experimental dish that I plan on making tonight as an accompaniment to roast brisket. The wheat berries are from my CSA, Grasshopper Distributions.

Ingredients

• 5 c. water or chicken broth
• 1 c.wheat berries
• 1 c. brown rice
• 3 t. butter
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/8 t. salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 t. thyme
• 2 t. dried parsley
• 8 oz. can mushroom stems and pieces

Procedure

1. Bring water to a boil in a medium sauce pan.
   
2. Add wheat berries, reduce heat to a slow simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour.
   
3. Add brown rice and cook for 30 minutes.
   
4. During this time, melt butter in a skillet. Saute vegetables until translucent.
   
5. Add vegetables, herbs, spices, and mushrooms to rice and wheat berries. Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes or until grains are tender.
   

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 19

This week's basket contained:

• 4 chicken wings
• 4 bratwurst
• 2 turnips
• 5 hydroponic tomatoes
• 1 bag of baby carrots
• Salad greens
• 3/4 lb. wheat berries

Chicken wings give me the chance to make a really fun dish. I'm thinking hot Indian spices and chips on the side. We'll see. The bratwurst will go in buns... duh.

These are real baby carrots--not massive carrots carved up to look like skinless baby carrots. I'm considering cooking diced turnips and baby carrots with butter and a little sugar as a side dish. (I have a variety of meats in my freezer that I need to use.)

The tomatoes would be good sliced and augmented with a little mayonnaise and freshly cracked black pepper.

The salad greens will be mixed in with store-bought veggies to make a bag of salad.

But, um, wheat berries? I thought this was brown rice until I read the Grasshoppers newsletter that declared it to be wheat berries. Nothing to say but "research is required".

Valentine's Day Locavore

I just have to share these Valentine's Day specials from my CSA, Grasshopper Distributions. This is like so fucking cool.

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 Grasshoppers now has Locavore Meals designed for a Romantic Evening for Two.

The Locavore Italian (Ravioli) Meal for $45.00 comes complete with:

1 Blue Dog Baguette

1 10oz. JD Country Butter

1 bottle Rattlesnake Farms Garlic Salt

1 head Bibb Lettuce

1 lb. Tomatoes

1 bottle Basilicata Salad Dressing

1 4oz. log Plain Capriole Goat Cheese

1 pk. Lotsa Pasta Butternut Squash Ravioli

Plus, 1 Solid Chocolate Love Puzzle from Stellar Sweets

The Locavore Italian (Pesto) Meal for $47.50 comes complete with:

1 Blue Dog Baguette

1 10oz. JD Country Butter

1 bottle Rattlesnake Farms Garlic Salt

1 head Bibb Lettuce

1 lb. Tomatoes

1 bottle Basilicata Salad Dressing

1 4oz. log Plain Capriole Goat Cheese

1 pk. Lotsa Pasta Ziti

1 pt. Basil Pesto

Plus, 1 Solid Chocolate Love Puzzle from Stellar Sweets

Winter Vegetable Stew

I had tons of vegetables from my CSA. This is my way of using a lot of them in one recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 Daikon radish, peeled and sliced
• 3 parsnips, peeled and diced
• 2 turnips, peeled and cubed
• 1 rutabaga, peeled and cubed
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 2 t. garlic powder
• 2 t. salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• 2 T. dried parsley
• Water
• 1 can diced tomatoes (28 oz.)
  
• 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
  

Procedure

1. Combine all ingredients except mushrooms and tomatoes in an 8-quart stock pot and add water to cover.
2. Set burner at medium-low and simmer for about 3 hours.
3. About 20 minutes before serving, add the tomatoes and mushrooms.

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For the ultimate in enjoyment,. serve with cornbread and have a bottle of Worcestershire sauce on hand.

Note: The objective is to nearly fill an 8-quart stock pot with chopped/diced veggies. Use whatever vegetables are available!

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 18

This week my basket contained:

• Beef brisket
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 butternut squash
• 7+ parsnips
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 small bunch red leaf lettuce
• 2 turnips

I don't think I've ever cooked a beef brisket. I will probably marinade it in the fridge in something good and then cook it very slowly in the oven. The ground beef will most likely be used for hamburgers... unless I have the opportunity to make a batch of enchiladas.

The parsnips are wild. Some of them are very tiny indeed. I believe I'll want to make a stir fry with the smaller parsnips along with one of the Daikon radishes (that I still have in the fridge from the previous pickup).

The squash, sweet potatoes, and turnips should go into a root vegetable stew. I recently roasted some winter vegetables. They were quite good that way, but with the weather turning cold, a nice, hot stew with a piece of homemade bread just sounds wonderful.

The lettuce will be added to the salad I already have in my fridge.

I'm not sure about the tomatoes. They might go into my veggie stew.

Just between you and me, I'm kind of glad I didn't get an acorn squash. Those things are a pain to peel! And the "meat" is pretty thin. Butternut squash rule!

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 17

This week's basket contained:

• 1 chicken
• 2-1/2 large Daikon radishes
• 2 butternut squash
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 savoy cabbage
• 1 bunch arugula
• 1 bunch thyme

The chicken will give me another opportunity to practice my "cut up a whole chicken" technique. I'm not sure what I'll use it in, but I have dozens of awesome chicken recipes.

The Daikon radishes are a curve ball--I have no experience with these. I'm thinking I need to make a root vegetable stew, possibly with Indian spices. I still have 2 turnips and one acorn squash from previous pickups. I don't know if Daikon radishes would work well in such a recipe. Research is required.

The sweet potatoes could go into the root vegetable stew or I could make another sweet potato pie. Or I could bake one as a side dish in a meat-and-two dinner. I like sweet potatoes!

The cabbage really wants to be cooked with pork and served with cornbread. So much food... so little time.

The arugula should go into a salad. Therefore I add salad veggies to my grocery list. Maybe the one-half Daikon radish could go into the salad.

The thyme would ideally go into a chicken recipe, but I don't see myself using the chicken in the very near future. I'm not sure how long fresh thyme keeps. Second best is that it goes into my root vegetable stew, although it's likely to be overpowered by spices.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 16

This week's pickup consisted of:

• 1 small bunch parsley
• 1 large head Napa cabbage
• 1 small head Bibb lettuce
• 2 smallish winter squash
• 2 large and 1 tiny sweet potatoes
• Ginger root
• 1 head garlic
• 2 lamb ribs
• 1 lb. ground lamb

I also ordered a few add-on items for Christmas time:

• 1 free-range chicken
• 1 lb. bacon
• 2 lbs. coarse grits
• 1 dozen eggs

The parsley, garlic, chicken, and part of the bacon are destined for my Christmas Dinner entree: Coq au Vin. I've not yet decided on a full menu for the dinner.

The cabbage was a g-dsend. I may have mentioned that I've been accumulating my CSA meat in the freezer. I had decided that I would make an Irish Boiled Dinner this weekend with a rather large beef roast. I was going to buy a head of cabbage at Meijer this Saturday, but now I have a fresh, local head of Napa cabbage that will work out perfectly.

The lettuce will be added to a bag of salad that I made earlier this week.

I'm feeling pressured by winter squash! I have 4 small winter squash now and no firm plans for putting them to use. This is going to require some research. Roasted squash is good but I'm not a huge fan of sweet-tasting side dishes. It's like, if you add mass quantities of butter and brown sugar to a dish, it does not belong on the dinner plate. I could roast it, halved, as a dessert, but I rarely have room for dessert. And besides, I also got sweet potatoes!

I happen to have a spare pie shell in my fridge, so at least one of the sweet potatoes will be going into a pie. I'm cool with a roast sweet potato as a side dish with butter and pepper.

The ginger root would be great in a curry or a stir fry. With all the other cooking I'll be doing I don't know that I'll have room for another main dish. I'll have to research side dishes that use lots of ginger.

The lamb ribs have to be oven barbecued. I'm not sure what to do with a pound of ground lamb. I would definitely want to choose a dish that allows the lamb's own flavor to be prominent. So... more research.

The grits and eggs and part of the bacon will be used in some delicious Big Brunches over my Christmas vacation. I also have 8 or 9 eggs bought at Meijer that I need to use. Baking? Pound cake? I'm not sure.

Thoughts on Christmas Dinner

In recent years, I've made Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners designed to be served and eaten as maybe a half dozen dishes and side-dishes crowded onto one platter. This Christmas, I'm going to take a different approach. I intend for the meal to be a leisurely stroll through a number of courses, each of which will consist of a fairly small portion.

I've not decided on a menu, but I have decided that the entree will be Coq au Vin. I've ordered a free-range chicken and some locally produced bacon from my CSA.

As for the other courses, I'm thinking along the lines of salad, appetizer, soup, lagnappe, and desert. If everything works out, this will be much more enjoyable that the "one-plate" holiday meals I've known from tradition.

Grasshoppers Pickup Number 13

This week's bounty consisted of:

• Pork sausage
• 4 links Cajun sausage
• Prawns
• 1 large bunch greens (Turnip?)
• Fresh dill weed
• 1 head Bibb lettuce
• 1 butternut squash
• 4 sweet potatoes
• 3 apples
• 1 bunch radishes

The pork sausage was an item that I should have received with the previous pickup. Communication difficulties, I believe.

The Cajun sausages will be eaten as "hot dogs". I'll save the prawns for Thanksgiving.

I was confused as to the identity of the greens. I could have sworn that the person handing out boxes said they were "kale greens", but they did not have the characteristic ruffled edges. I'm guessing they were turnip greens. At any rate, I cooked them up last night in broth from a ham hock and they were delicious. I made cornbread and to serve I placed a square of cornbread in a large bowl and just spooned greens and pot likker over it. Absolutely heavenly.

The lettuce and the radishes went into a tossed salad. I used a couple of the sweet potatoes to make oven fries and will probably do the same with the other two. The butternut squash--I'm not sure. Could be oven fries, could go into fake mashed potatoes, or maybe just baked with some butter and herbs and served as a side.

I think I'll use the dill weed in a spread of some sort with cream cheese and other flavorings.

The apples, as always, will be snacks at work.

Onion Stuffing (Winging It)

Just using up perishable foodstuffs here, folks. Based on the ingredients, this should be edible--probably even palatable.

Ingredients

• 4 medium/large sweet onions, chopped coarsely
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 5 small sweet peppers, chopped well
• 6 oz. package of stuffing mix
• 1 c. water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a 4-quart Dutch oven.
2. Add onions and peppers and cook over medium heat for 2 hours.
3. Add salt, pepper, water, and stuffing. Reduce heat to low and heat for 15 minutes.

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This is more of an inspiration than a recipe. Obviously, you could cook the onions and peppers for less than 2 hours and produce a result of equal delectability. I'm just documenting my procedure here.

In my case, this dish will be combined with baby limas and beef stew to make a full meal.