Four Allium Risotto

If you've ever received garlic scapes in your CSA share, or bought any at the farmer's market, you know that they can be made into a lovely pesto. A risotto is a delicious way to use your pesto, but I thought it would be even more fun to use some of the other members of the same genus, Allium.

Four Allium Risotto:
1 small-medium sweet onion, about 1 cup, medium chop
2 shallots, diced
3 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 c. Arborio rice
4-5 cups chicken stock
1/3 c garlic scape pesto*
1 12 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 tablespoon chives, chopped fine
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt butter, add onions and shallot, cook until browning begins. Add rice and cook until translucent. Adding 1 cup stock at a time, reduce to a simmer and stir constantly, until rice is nearly cooked, add tomatoes and scape pesto. The rice will be somewhat translucent with a milky white part in the middle, but not crunchy, when properly cooked. Add Parmesan and season. Stir in heavy cream, allow to cook on low 5-10 minutes. Adjust seasonings if needed and add chives.

*Recipe coming soon, I promise!

Chive Butter

Chives are amazing. They can be used many ways but compound butter for steak is definitely one of my favorites. The steak doesn't need to be fancy, just well seasoned with salt and pepper, the butter does the rest of the work.

Chive Butter:
2 sticks butter, softened
2-3 tbsp fresh chives, sliced thin
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
juice of half a lemon
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced

Mix everything up and chill. Use on bread, radishes, steak, or whatever suits you. Also, yes, the chive flower is edible but you can use it to make your butter look fancy when you serve it. They are pretty, delicious, and have a concentrated chive flavor.

Sausage and Spinach Dip

We had just come home from an evening of errands, popcorn, and ice cream. We needed something hot for a light dinner and I was thinking snack foods. I took my favorite spinach dip recipe and went from there. We ate it with peppers and some dipping chips and went to bed happy. This is a one-pot meal.

Sausage and Spinach Dip:
6 links Italian sausage, casings removed or 1 lb of loose Italian sausage
1 generous cup cooked, chopped spinach
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
crushed red pepper
3 cups shredded cheese
3 packages of cream cheese
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped

In a large oven-proof skillet, cook sausage with shallot. Drain excess oil. Chop briefly in food processor if it doesn't break apart. Before adding sausage, wilt spinach in pan. Pre-heat oven to 400. Add garlic, sausage and crushed red pepper (to taste), with spinach allow to cook 1-2 minutes. Add cream cheese a little at a time and stir. Add chives and shredded cheese. Allow cheeses to melt and combine well. Place in oven for 10 minutes on 400, serve with crudites or crackers. This makes a ton, so you might even reheat it for lunch the next day and it can most certainly be made ahead. Enjoy.

Spring CSA Week 11

 

What a week! I was really surprised to find tomatoes and chives with flowers in my share. My son had to carry one bag of spinach because I should have brought two bags this week. We ended up with three bags of spinach, kale, tatsoi, nasturtiums, lettuce mix, carrots and a lovely bunch of oregano. No swaps this week for me, but I really had a hard time deciding between cherry tomatoes and a big, ripe whole tomato.

I've mostly been making things that I've made before as I tend to do when I am busy. I made a whopping bowl of spinach dip last week and will probably make another this week. I like spinach almost every way so it isn't hard to use up three bags. It looks like salad with the lettuce this week and I might have all the ingredients for a nice dressing. The tatsoi will be for an Asian dish one night and I am thinking about making a kale and feta pie. I feel like the carrots don't get attention but I can't make enough of them when we have a roast, so they are always great to have on hand. The oregano is enough for some herb butter, and then some, probably two batches for the freezer. The tomatoes and the chives might be components of a salad dressing or just part of a salad with edible flowers. If we're grilling, I might even throw the tomatoes on the grill.

Spring CSA Week 10

This was a great week for spinach. I traded my bok choy for an extra bag, making a total of three bags of spinach, a bag of mixed lettuce, carrots, chives, dill, kale, a cucumber, and a few nasturtiums.

My plan for the week: dill dip for potatoes, salad, a green smoothie with kale, preserve the chives, spinach dip, and a main dish or soup with spinach. If we don't use all the cucumber for salad, I slice them thin with a mandoline and use them in place of chips or crackers.

Someone recently asked "What do you do to use your share up before it goes bad?" For many people a CSA share can be overwhelming in quantity and variety. When I bring my bounty home, I usually photograph it and take inventory.

Root vegetables last the longest and go into the fridge or storage right away. I put the vegetables stored at room temperature away next. Lastly, anything that has to be wrapped or stored for maximum freshness, such as herbs or leafy greens gets packaged and put in the fridge. I make note of what needs to be eaten first and cannot be preserved, usually lettuce and pea tendrils. Normally, I make a salad in the first few days after a pick-up, using the other vegetables.

On a big week, in the summer or fall, I make a menu up based on what needs to be eaten first. I write out a plan for snacks, sides, lunches, and main meals. I also decide what I want to preserve in the freezer, by canning, or other means. I will normally preserve the food the same say or 1-2 days after a pickup at the latest.

As for veggies like eggplant, squash, root vegetables, I usually plan to use them over the weekend or when pick-up day is closer. I pick up my share on Tuesdays, the vegetables that last longest are perfect for weekend meals that require longer cooking times.

Lastly, I think the first year or two of a CSA can be an adjustment period for some people. Learning new recipes and becoming familiar with new food takes time. When a food becomes familiar to the cook, preparation time decreases, as well as waste. My advice is to be patient, try to avoid waste but realize you are still learning and that sometimes things will go bad, it gets easier after the first year. If you are determined to make it work, the benefits are fantastic. You will become more prepared, self-reliant, frugal, and you will have a full freezer and pantry--not to mention a kitchen full of fresh delicious vegetables--so don't let waste discourage you!

Purple Loaded Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Grill

When I picked up my CSA share a few weeks ago, I did notice the potatoes looked dark, but I just thought they were a little wet. It rained heavily on our pick up day and I set them in a colander on the counter to dry. They were put in a bag for another day. So when I was planning a meal for a dinner guest, I decided that potatoes would make a nice side but it wasn't until the actual meal prep that I noticed: The potatoes were purple! I have had fingerling purple potatoes but I couldn't remember if they retained their color when boiled. I told our guest I had a surprise for him when he arrived. They were beautiful to look at and tasted great, really no different from a white potato at all. Had I been paying closer attention I would have thought more about it, but I love little unexpected changes from the usual.

The meal includes marinaded steak tips, chicken and Italian sausage with Cilantro-Parsley Pesto (also used for the chicken marinade) and Loaded Mashed Potatoes. It included cilantro, potatoes, peppers, and chives from my share.

Loaded Mashed Potatoes:
10-12 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 sticks butter
1 bunch chives, chopped
1 cup bacon, chopped
2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, or a favorite blend)
1/2 c sour cream
salt
pepper

Boil potatoes until they are easily pierced by fork. Drain. Add butter, and partially mash. Add rest of ingredients, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to mash to desired consistency. Allow to stand about 3-5 minutes, to melt cheese and butter completely. Stir to finish mixing and serve.

Cilantro Parsley Pesto:
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
1 bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch green onions
3-4 cherry peppers, seeded
1/2 cup olive oil
juice from 1 lime
salt
pepper

In a food processor, process parsley, cilantro, garlic and peppers. I had to do the parsley alone, first to make room. Add green onions, and pulse to a fine grind, adding olive oil and lime juice slowly through the pouring hole in the lid. Season with salt and pepper to taste and blend again.

Can be used as a condiment or a marinade for chicken. We really liked it on the chicken.

Steak Marinade #3:
3 tbsp honey
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 c olive oil
salt
pepper

Mix all ingredients together well and marinate steak overnight. Tamari can be salty, I added a little more salt in proportion to the amount of meat, so salt carefully.

Spring CSA Week 7

 Herbs are never a bad thing. I was so happy when I opened my box this week to find cilantro, chives, and basil. I even traded my joi choi for more cilantro. We go through cilantro pretty fast these days. Tonight, we're having taco salad again and I was thinking about making more chimichurri sauce for a mixed grill dinner that we're having on Wednesday. It makes a great marinade, too. I'm hoping to use the basil in a sauce, possibly for eggplant on Thursday. It looks like I have plenty of carrots and greens for salads and braising. The cucumber always goes great in salad but it isn't bad for dressings and appetizers, either. I'll probably end up freezing the chives for another day and I'm not sure if the what the greens are in the share, they look like arugula, but they might be from a root vegetable or a mustard green.

Mascarpone Saffron Risotto with Mushrooms and Ragout of Chicken Thighs

I made this entirely of ingredients I had on hand without any planning. The chicken can be made ahead of time, even 2-3 days. My friend got me a good deal on Saffron and this is the result of experimentation. My portions usually include enough to feed all of us, plus leftovers for lunches, if they seem huge.
 
Chicken:
12 bone in chicken thighs, skin on
2 onions, halved and sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, sliced
salt
pepper
chicken stock

You can really do this two ways, the best way is to cook the onions in a pan for 3-5 minutes, set aside and then brown the chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper. Working in batches it takes about 4 minutes per side, and then they can be transferred into  a roasting pan with a lid or a crock pot. You should also de-glaze the pan with a bit of chicken stock or white wine and add it to the pot but if you are low on time, there is a second method: Throw everything into the crock pot and cook on high for 7 hours. The first way tastes better, but the second was is great if you are short on time. When the chicken is in the pot or pan, add tomatoes, garlic and enough reserved broth to fill it up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. You can braise it in the oven on 325 until it is tender or cook it in the crock pot on low or high until it shreds easily. Allow it to cool once it is tender, strain tomatoes and onions, set aside liquid. Shred chicken, adding tomatoes and onion and a small amount of reserved liquid if necessary. You can freeze any remaining liquid and use it for another sauce or stock.

Risotto:
10-12 mushrooms, sliced, cooked in 2 tbsp butter and set aside
1 cup arborio rice
2 tbsp butter
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp mascarpone cheese
1/4 c heavy cream
1/2 tsp saffron powder (optional)
 2 tbsp chives, chopped
salt
pepper

Cook onions in butter, 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Add rice, and cook until translucent. Adding 1 cup of stock at a time, cook and stir rice frequently to proper texture. Add cheeses, cream, and saffron powder, when rice is nearly done, adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Add mushrooms and chives. Serve with chicken thigh ragout.

Bacon Potato Bites

Let me just say, don't use colored toothpicks. I don't know what I was thinking. Otherwise, these are easy to make and great for a party.

Bacon Potato Bites:
thick-sliced bacon
potatoes, quartered (cut into roughly the same size)
olive oil
salt
pepper
non-colorful toothpicks
sour cream
fresh chives, chopped

Pre-heat oven to 400. Spread potatoes out on 1 or 2 rimmed baking sheets and drizzle with olive oil. Liberally apply salt and pepper. Roast potatoes until they are about half done, tender enough to pierce with a toothpick but still firm. Remove from oven, allow to cool. Wrap bacon around all the way around and cut of the excess, securing with a toothpick. 1 slice of bacon can cover 2-3 potatoes. Return to oven and bake until bacon is cooked and potatoes are soft. Serve with sour cream mixed with fresh, chopped chives.

Shrimp, Mushroom, Spinach and Tomato Risotto

Risotto is my go-to last minute, use-up-vegetables, not-pasta dinner. The best thing about it is that you don't really have to plan ahead as long as you keep your pantry stocked.

Ingredients:
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups water
1/4 cup onion, diced, or a 1/2 small onion
1 cloves garlic, sliced
6 tbsp. butter
handful of baby spinach
sliced mushrooms
12-15 shrimp
1 cup grated Parmesan
2 tbsp chives
6-8 grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
lemon sliced in half
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper

Slice and brown mushrooms in 2 tbsp butter on medium heat, set aside. In a large skillet, cook rice until translucent with onion in 2 tbsp butter. Add 1 cup of water at a time, stirring often. Add garlic after adding water. When rice is nearly done and water is almost all absorbed, start shrimp in separate pan with 2 tbsp butter, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and lemon juice to taste, I just squeeze about 1 tbsp out of the lemon and save the rest for something else. At the same time add spinach, mushrooms, cheese, chives and cream to risotto. Cook shrimp until just pink. Season risotto with salt and a little crushed red pepper to taste. Add cooked shrimp and liquid from pan to risotto, mix and remove from heat. I like mine on the spicy side so I add a little more red pepper at the table. Sadly, this was the end of the chives from last year's CSA season that I saved in my freezer.