My garden is not going gangbusters but I am enjoying a new CSA we are trying this summer, Growing Washington. Having so many colors and options to play with makes the peak of summer a great time to prepare food. Mixed in you might also find ways to integrate food from the larder to make way for future bounty, meat from a local farmer or, of course, a shopping trip to local Costco or grocery store (probably delivered, because I would rather be playing, or you know #life). I am not going to put on airs, just know that I vote with my dollar, taste buds and I like to snap pictures of my food. And eat out too. Ok, I like to eat good food.
This week I did a version of the Green Bean and Tomato Salad from last week. This time the ingredients featured.
- Green/Purple and Yellow string beans (CSA)
- Chopped heirloom tomatoes (CSA)
- Striped Garlic (CSA)
- Patty Pan Squash (CSA, baby version)
- Olive oil (Instacart)
- Basil (pot on deck)
- Salt and Pepper
Elephant Mushroom with Charcuterie Remnants Pizza
The big ‘win’ with this was cleaning out the fridge. At this house we like to make pizza at home as a way to use up left overs and other food. This particular Pizza Night featured:
- Crushed and drained heirloom tomatoes (CSA) with garlic (neighbor)
- Roughly chopped elephant mushrooms (CSA)
- Basil (pot on deck)
- Two slices soft Mozzarella
- Charcuterie and pickled raisin leftovers from our date night at Bateau!
- A few cherry tomatoes
- Pre-made frozen pizza dough from Essential Bakery
- Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
Chopped drain one tomato and add some minced garlic to make the base sauce. Decide on what needs to go onto pizza and then chop or slice the ingredients. We have made some pretty tasty combos (Peking Duck or Potato Ham) – be bold. The dough if frozen, should be defrosted and rested so I let it do just that on the counter this afternoon. Heat the oven to 500. Spread/pull the dough out to the size of the stone or sheet, put it on parchment then onto stone. Bake just the crust for two minutes. Pull out and add the sauce and spread out the other ingredients evenly. Drizzle some oil olive over the top, in particular the mushrooms and add some salt and pepper. Bake for 5-10 minutes depending. Watch it. You want it to brown up but times might vary. Then finish under the broiler to get some nice char.
Fennel Frond Fresh Egg Noodle Pasta
This made short work of some frozen tomato sauce from last summer (thank you Marcella Hazen for best most versatile recipe ever), meatballs, mushrooms and some tops from CSA fennel.
Egg Noodles are easy to make and have a nice texture to them. You can freeze them if there are any left. I use approximate two eggs per cup of flour and a drizzle of olive oil. Beat eggs, add herbs (as much or little as you like)). Add to flour, mix/knead a little to combine. It will feel crumbly but i promise will come together. I gather about a 1/4 cup size ball of dough and then start running it through my paster maker attachment. If not using a pasta roller, keep kneading and then eventually you can start rolling out with rolling pin until it is smooth, not sticky and eventually the thickness you desire. I cut some with pizza roller and other with fettuccini attachment. I like the wider hand cut noodle. They cook in just a minute or two in boiling water.
- Flour
- Eggs (back yard)
- Fennel Frond (CSA)
- Olive Oil
Other recipes:
Lastly – Zucchini Treats!
I had some zucchini left from the CSA and also was gifted two from my neighborhood Buy Nothing Group, so I made another batch of toddler friendly muffins using roughly (but doubled) the basic muffin recipe from Joy of Cooking. The modifications included more eggs (because mine are smaller from my urban flock), 1/2 cup pure maple syrup instead of sugar, 1/2 cup apple sauce, 1 grated apple, 2 grated carrots, 3 cups grated zucchini, some grated ginger, cinnamon/nutmeg, no oil). They are nice and moist, not sweet and have been consumed eagerly, with poor table manners. I recommend using the mini-muffin pan.
I also tossed about a cup of zucchini in a batch of chocolate no-bake cookies. Not too shabby! These tasty treats are practically a health food with cacao powder, almond butter, oatmeal and now zucchini. I did use sugar in them, but less then a usual recipe (1 cup) and added more almond butter to use of the jar.
Because Zucchini. Here are some other links:
Odds & Hens : Ramblings. Creations. 