Summer on a Plate

I love this part of the year.  It seems as though gardens are just at their peak and producing all the lovely vegetables.  So now what to do with them?  I pretty much cleaned up my veggie share in one dish, Ratatioulle!  I know what you are thinking because I thought the same for the longest time, "Isn't there eggplant in that?", "Isn't that a vegetarian dish?",  "Is that going to fill me up?".  I have not been a big eggplant fan but it has grown on me and this is one of the recipes that has helped it's cause in my eyes.  Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup olive oil (I always have a bottle of the good stuff)
1 small onion cut into 1/2" dice
8 large cloves garlic cut into thin slices
1 medium eggplant cut into 1/2" dice
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 different colored peppers stemmed and seeded and cut into 1/2" dice
1 lb dried ziti (I use whole wheat)
1 zucchini and 1 summer squash cut into 1/2" dice
6 large ripe tomatoes peeled seeded and coarsely chopped or 2  28 oz. cans diced tomatoes
3/4 cup fresh coarsely chopped parsley
1/2 cup fresh coarsely chopped basil
2 oz. parmesan cheese (not shaker cheese!)

1.  Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet  over med-low heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently until soft, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes longer.  Transfer the onion mixture to a large bowl, being careful to remove all the garlic.

2.  Add 4 tablespoons of the olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium heat.  When hot add the eggplant.  Season it with salt and pepper.  Cook the eggplant until just soft, about 10 minutes.

3.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggplant to the bowl with the onion/garlic.  Add 1 more tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and, when hot, add the peppers.  Season them with salt.  Cook the bell peppers, stirring frequently, until they are soft, about 8 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peppers to the bowl with onion and eggplant.  

4.  Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the ziti and cook according to the directions.

5.  Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet and, when hot add the zucchini and summer squash.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook the zucchini and summer squash until crisp tender, 5-7 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the zucchini and summer squash
to the bowl with the other vegetables.

6.  Add the tomatoes, parsley, basil and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to the skillet.  Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until hot, about 4 minutes.

7.  Add the vegetables and any liquid in the bowl to the tomato mixture and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes.  There should be quite a bit of liquid in the skillet with the ratatouille.

8.  Drain the ziti in the colander, setting aside 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.

9.  Transfer the ziti to the large bowl and add the ratatouille.  Stir gently to combine.  If the pasta seems to dry, add some of the pasta cooking water.

10.  Transfer the ratatouille and past mixture to a serving platter or pasta bowls.  Using a vegetable peeler, shave curls of parmesan cheese over the pasta and serve immediately.

Broth

Chicken Broth

I get 10 broilers through my CSA with Brookford Farm.  Once in a while I will get a stew hen or some beef stock bones too but the broilers are consistent.  I would say they are about four pounds give or take.  I use every single part of the chicken wasting nothing, like I said before, this animal gave it's life for this purpose so make it worth it.  I have a 7 1/4 quart  Le Cruset.  Place the rinsed chicken in the pot and fill with clean water.  I through some salt and tamari sauce in with the water and bring it to a soft boil.  A foam is created.  Skim the foam off the top and lower the heat to a simmer and cover.  Let the chicken simmer for about an hour and a half to two hours.  You should see the skin pulling away from the bone.  Pull the chicken out of the water and let cool enough to handle.  While you are waiting for the chicken to cool, throw in the savories.  This is where you can get creative.  My usual items are onions, carrots and celery with peppercorns and bay leaves.  Remember that herb garden I told you to plant?  Well this is where it comes in handy.  Go cut some sage, parsley, winter savory, tarragon, and thyme.  That is my usual but it differs depending on the season.  I sometimes add garlic scapes or ramps, dill flowers, cilantro flowers, celery seeds are good too.  It you happen to get some fresh garden celery, throw in the leaves.  I just cut the vegetables up into very large chunks.  The idea is to layer the flavors to give depth to the broth.   Well the chicken is probably cooled off by now.  Time to get dirty and pull the chicken apart and pick out the meat.  I put the plate with the chicken right next to the pot with the broth.  Once all the meat is removed, I usual get about 3 to four cups of meat.  Throw all the skin, bones and cartilage into the broth and just let it simmer.  I can honestly say that the amount of time I let it simmer purely depends on if I have time to pour it through the sieve.  I can say it is not under 8 hours.  I know this sounds weird but you can smell when it is ready.   If you are not going to use the broth right away for soup or risotto, I freeze mine.  How do you get the broth out of the pot with chicken carcass and mushy vegetables and wilted herbs, you ask?  Quite easily actually.  Place a large sieve over a large bowl and line the sieve with a single layer of paper towel and start ladling in the broth.  Pour the filtered broth into a freezer safe containers and freeze.  There you have your own homemade chicken broth without preservatives and you have control over the amount of sodium.  I know this looks like a fairly long description but it is really spread out and very worth it.  Enjoy

Back when I didn't get kale every week from my CSA I would make Portuguese Kale Soup.  It was sort of my goto when I happened to get kale from someone with a garden.  I get my chorizo from Kellie Brook farm in Greenland.  It is pretty tasty.  You can call this the recipe that started all of my kale recipes.

Olive Oil
1 large onion diced
1 medium carrot
4 cloves garlic
6 cups blond chicken stock (so easy to make your own)
2 cups diced potato
1 teaspoon herb de Provence
1 bunch kale
1 28oz can diced tomatoes with their juice
1 14oz can white beans such as cannellini, drained
1/2 lb smoked pork sausage like chorizo or kielbasa
course salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-low heat.  Add the onion and carrots and cook until the vegetables soften, 5 to 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the stock, potatoes, and hermes de Provence to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to low and let simmer gently until the potatoes are partially cooked, about 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, rinse the kale and remove and discard the tough stems.  If the kale leaves are flat, cut them crosswise into 1-inch-wide ribbons.  If the leaves are curly, tear them into bite-size pieces.

4. Add the kale, tomatoes, beans and sausage, if using, to the soup and cook until the potatoes and kale are tender, 5 to 10 minutes.

5. If the soup is too think, thin it with more stock or some water.  Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot. Any leftover soup can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 5 days.

I decided to start this blog because I have been getting a CSA year round for almost three years now and thought I would share things I have learned about eating locally.  I would like  to share my recipes and ways of using the weekly produce share most efficiently.  There are some things you have to come terms with and little informative anecdotes before committing to a CSA.

1.  Learn to like all vegetables (or find a way of cooking them so as to disguise what it is you don't like).

2.  Drinking raw milk is not scary.

3.  Schedule your week so that you have time to clean and store your vegetables right after you get them home.

4.  Start your meal planning after your pickup.  

5.  Yes, things will spoil.  Don't beat yourself up about it.  Have a compost bin.

6.  Take your frozen meat out in the morning.

7.  Have a deep freeze.

8.  Meat is an animal that gave its life so you could consume it.  Respect that and use every part you can.

9.  Try and have your own little herb garden. 

10. I almost always use half whole wheat flour half all purpose flour in every baked good I make.

That is it for now.  Today is Thursday-my CSA pickup day, so I might have some recipes to share later.