Grasshoppers: Pickup Number 8

In this week's basket:

• A Boston Butt pork roast
• A bunch of basil
• An eggplant
• 2 tomatoes
• 7 sweet red peppers
• 10 small potatoes
• 1 apple
• 2 pears

So, I'm like, "Yikes!" Okay, for the basil, I know I can make a delicious pesto and maybe use it on salmon when broiling. Um, seven sweet red peppers? For starters, I'm using one of the red peppers along with 3 of the potatoes to make a roast veggie side to a cheeburger tonight. That still leaves me with six sweet red peppers to use in the next, say, week and a half. Holy Capsicum, Batman! How are we gonna get out of this? Tune in next week... same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.

The eggplant, why not... more Eggplant Parmesan. Tomatoes... probably in a salad. The apple and pear will be consumed as snacks at work.

Truth to tell, meat is accumulating in my freezer. I guess I didn't realize how little meat I ate on a regular basis. A pork roast kinda screams for a potato and a green vegetable side. But I still have a huge amount of ham and some hamburger in the freezer.

I love that my CSA keeps me on my toes with regards to cooking. Settling into a dreary routine simply is not feasible.

Corn Boats

Hey, this looks fun! Thanks to Grasshoppers Distributions for the recipe.

Ingredients  

• 4 ears corn with husks
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 small red onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 medium red or green bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 small potato, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
• 2 T chopped cilantro or parsley

Procedure

1. Remove tough outer leaves of husks and discard. Pull remaining husks back over the stem end, remove silk and cut corn cob off, leaving husks and stem end attached. Reserve 2-3 husks for later use.
2. Cut corn off cobs
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, or heat grill to medium high heat. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, red pepper and sweet potato; cook until just tender, about 8 minutes.
4. Stir in corn, chili powder, salt and hot pepper sauce. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in cilantro; remove from heat. Let cool slightly.
5. Spoon about 1 cup vegetable mixture into each husk.
6. Using a strip of the reserved husk or kitchen twine, tie the husks to enclose the filling. Trim excess husk 1/2 to 3/4 inch from ties.
7. Place boats on a cookie sheet and bake until heated through and husks are beginning to brown, about 12-15 minutes. If grilling, place on grill over direct heat and turn 1/4 turn every few minutes to prevent burning. Remove when all sides are lightly browned.

Jack Fry's Tuna

 

This is the recipe that was printed in our "local" newspaper (if you can call a Gannett-owned newspaper "local") back when people read "newspapers".

Ingredients

Lentils

• 2 cups French green lentils
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup diced green pepper
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar 

 Sauce

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup beef or veal stock
• 2 cups port wine

 Tuna

• About 1/2 cup cracked (not ground) black pepper
• 1/4 cup sea salt
• 2 6-ounce yellow fin tuna steaks
• 1 tablespoons olive oil 

Preparation
 
Lentils

1. Cook lentils according to package directions until they are soft and only slightly chewy. Set aside.
2. In a separate pan, heat olive oil over medium temperature until it shimmers. \
3. Add carrots, onion, green pepper and celery. Cook until vegetables are softened and have browned edges (about 8 minutes).
4. Stir in sherry vinegar and cooked lentils.
5. Continue to cook until warmed through (about 12 minutes). Set aside.

Sauce

1. Melt butter in a sauté pan over medium heat.
2. Add carrots, onions and celery; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very soft.
3. Remove cover, increase heat to medium-high and add stock.
4. Bring stock to a boil, then stir in port.
5. Allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half.
6. Remove from heat and set aside.

 Tuna

1. Mix pepper and salt in a rimmed plate.
2. Press tuna steaks into mixture, coating all sides. Discard remaining salt and pepper
3. In a sauté pan, heat oil until it shimmers.
4. Add tuna and sear about 2 minutes on one side; 1 minute on the other.
5. Remove from heat and serve at once over lentils, topped with port wine sauce.

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Needless to say, I tweaked the recipe a bit to conform to my preferences. For example, I used a lot more olive oil than was called for, and I used a lot less salt. I also used Sangiovese wine rather than port because, doh!, I didn't pay enough attention to what I was doing.

Shrimp and Grits

By popular demand, here is my recipe for Shrimp and Grits. It's a lot of work, folks, but the finished product is delectable. And it's an excellent dish to bring to a potluck if you want to knock the socks off some folk.

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Ingredients

Grits

• 1 cup uncooked grits (not instant grits)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 cloves roasted garlic
• salt and pepper, to taste

Shrimp & Gravy

• 1 T butter
• 4 slices smoked bacon
• 1 lb medium shrimp, uncooked, shelled
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup + 1/4 cup chicken stock, cooled
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 2 cloves roasted garlic
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• dash Tabasco
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Grits

1. In a 3-quart saucepan combine the grits, garlic, stock and whipping cream.
2. Over medium heat, bring to a low boil.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer stirring frequently, until grits are creamy - about 10 minute.
4. Whisk in the Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to lowest setting (or remove from fire if preparing for potluck).

 Shrimp & Gravy

1. In a large skillet, melt 1 T butter.
2. Sauté bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove from pan, leaving grease.
3. Sauté shrimp about 2 minutes per side. Remove from pan.
4. Add onions, celery, and green pepper. Sauté until tender.
5. Combine cornstarch with 1/4 cup chicken stock (cool or room temperature). Mix well and set aside.
6. Increase heat to high. Add white wine and cook until evaporated.
7. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining chicken stock, tomatoes, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Simmer 3 minutes.
8. Add salt, pepper, and Tabasco. Stir.
9. Add cornstarch/stock mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
10. If serving immediately, return shrimp to gravy and simmer 2 minutes. Spoon gravy over warm grits.

Sangria

All righty, then. Here's what I'm going with as a sangria recipe tonight:

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. water
• 750 ml. red Italian wine
• 1/2 c. brandy
• 1/2 c. triple sec
• 1/4 c. lemon juice
• 1/4 c. lime juice
• 1/3 c. orange juice
• 2 lemon rinds
• 2 lime rinds
• Lemon-lime soda, or soda water

Preparation

1. Combine sugar and water in a Pyrex container. Heat at high in a microwave for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Combine all remaining ingredients except the soda in a sealable pitcher. Place in refrigerator.
3. When sugar water has cooled, add it to the pitcher. Refrigerate wine mixture overnight.
4. To serve, pour 1 part soda to about 4 parts wine in a large glass. Add ice.

I'm winging it here, folks, but I think the results will be at least drinkable. Also, kudos to this recipe on AllRecipes.com upon which this experimental recipe was based. Dudes and dudettes... 1/4 cup triple sec? Gutsiest move I ever saw, man. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Grasshoppers: Pickup Number 7

 In this week's basket:

• 1 bunch basil
• 4 Ancho peppers
• 3 nectarines
• 5 peaches
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 eggplant
• 1 watermelon
• 3.89 lbs. smoke-cured ham

Yikes! More sage! After a week, I still had no clue what to due with my previous batch of sage. The leaves were starting to darken, so I stripped them off the stalks and saved them divided into 5 ziploc bags, which I placed in a larger ziploc bag, and then put it all in the freezer. I had a vague notion that I would simmer some basil with tomatoes to make pasta sauce. But then a friend suggested pesto! Shoot, yeah! So that's definitely what I'm going to do with this current bunch of basil.

The Ancho peppers are destined to become Chiles Rellenos. I learned the hard way that it's easier to char the skin off the peppers by broiling them in the oven than it is by searing them in a skillet on top of the stove. If I only had a gas stove, I'd just have to turn the peppers directly over the flame. I feel lame and inadequate because I don't have a gas stove. Yeah... don't get me started. In any case, I know the Chiles Rellenos are going to be muy sabroso.

As for the nectarines and peaches, I learned (again, the hard way) that if you put such fruit in the refrigerator you interrupt the ripening process. With that in mind, I put the fruit in a large glass bowl in the open air. I intend to monitor them closely to avoid rot and snap them up at the peak of ripeness. I recall hearing Paula Poundstone complain about buying a melon at the grocery. She said she had to wake her kids up in the middle of the night because "the melon was ripe". And yeah, sometimes it seems about that bad. If they all ripen at once, I think I can pop them in the refrigerator so I don't have to consume them all within a few hour window. You can tell I'm not an expert fruit-haver.

The tomatoes are probably going to go into a salad. As for the eggplant, I'm thinking Eggplant Parmigiana. The very thought makes my mouth water. Eggplant is notorious for sucking up all available oil, so it can be a challenge to sauté. When it turns out right, it is well worth the effort. I'll serve it perhaps with some angel hair pasta. Oh! And toasted bread with some of my homemade basil pesto! Yum!

The watermelon is so cute. It's the size and shape of a small, toy football. If it were closer to Comic-Con, I'd poke a hole in it and pour in a pint or so of vodka. Always a good party treat. As it is, I'll probably cut it into fourths for light desserts or afternoon treats.

The ham... wow. It's all frozen in one large package. I'm thinking I could use part of it in a sinfully delicious casserole of cheddar cheese, sour cream, and potatoes or macaroni, with maybe a small amount of green pepper as a counterpoint. If I unthaw it, I unthaw it all. This means that, at some point, I'm going to be eating a lot of ham. (And why does "unthaw" mean the same as "thaw"?)

Again... so much food... so little time.

Grasshoppers: Pickup Number 6

In this week's basket:

• 2 beets
• 1 head lettuce (Butterhead?)
• 2 red onions
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 bunch small carrots
• 1 large bunch basil
• 1 head garlic
• 2 pieces short ribs
• 3 steaks

For starters, the lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots went into a salad along with some supplementary lettuce, radishes, mushrooms, and a cucumber. The tomatoes are indeed very tasty--nothing like the styrofoam "fresh" tomatoes available at the grocery.

I'll use the beets in a recipe for Beets in Orange Sauce. The steaks will make me a couple of dinners along with sides. Garlic will always be used, as will the red onion.

The basil is giving me pause. I could buy some quality canned tomatoes and use some basil to make a nice spaghetti sauce. We're talking about a lot of basil here, though! Worst case, I'll freeze some in usable portions. Damn, this is a lot of basil!

Short ribs: They'll be oven-barbecued.