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Recipe Blog
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Written by Carolyn Goodwin
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Thursday, 28 August 2008 17:52 |
There’s nothing like the smell of basil to bring a little bit of summer into a cold midwinter day. And now is the time to nake sure you have enough basil to get that summer fix all winter long.
If you don’t have your own basil patch, head for the Farmers’ Market this Saturday and grab all you can. Last week Farmhouse Organics, Leapfrog Farm, Persephone, Tani Creek and Butler Green Farms all had ample supplies. Once you’ve got your basil stash, plan to go into preservation mode the same day. Fresh basil doesn’t like to sit around, and it definitely doesn’t like the refrigerator. If you stick it in the butter part of the fridge it will last a little longer. Or you can put it in a glass of water like a basil bouquet for a day. But the sooner you process it the more precious basil flavor and color will be saved.
Basil Preservation Tactic #1: Pesto. This glorious green goop does a marvelous job of keeping that basil flavor alive for months in the freezer. There are many recipes a nd methods. The traditional mortar and pestle method is great for small batches, but for large scale pesto preservation the food processor is the answer. Don’t skimp on the ingredients; fresh basil deserves good extra virgin olive oil, quality imported cheese, fresh pine nuts (from the bulk section at T&C), and Betsey Wittick’s garlic (Laughing Crow Farm, at the Farmers Market). Betsey offers several different varieties or garlic that range from spicy to mellow; allowing you to customize your pesto to your taste.
Using Pecorino cheese and more garlic will yield a more potent, sharply flavored pesto. Some recipes suggest toasting the pine nuts. Using walnuts yields a richer, earthy flavor. The amount of olive oil can be adjusted depending on the desired final consistency (thicker or thinner). The type of olive oil makes a difference as well – some are very peppery, some are fruity.
As soon as you’ve gathered all the ingredients, rev up your processor and begin. If I’m planning to freeze it (keep reading), I don’t add the cheese until after I’ve thawed it for use. Read on for the classic pesto recipe, and more basil preservation tactics.
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Almost Too Good to be True Raw Kale Salad |
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Written by Julie
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Tuesday, 29 July 2008 22:10 |
Kale salad. I know what you're thinking. Uncooked kale?
A little under a year ago I read an article about kale salad by Melissa Clark in the New York Times. I'd filed it away in my head until I could get an abundance of kale. My favorite kind of kale is the so-called "dinosaur kale" or lacinato kale--its thick, dark, blue-green leaves have an almost blistered quality in terms of their texture. But there are loads of different kinds of kale, even if one tends to find just one or two in area supermarkets. Farmhouse Organics, the CSA I subscribe to, offers four different kinds of kale this summer. I'll admit I've been tempted by the "Ripbor" kale, just for the name alone. It sounds like the kind of kale you have to be Teutonic enough to handle.
So I found myself with two bunches of dino kale the other night, and no urge for stirfried greens. Suddenly, the memory of kale salad came back to me. But when I started to search for Melissa Clark's recipe, I came across another recipe for kale salad on www.epicurious.com, and I opted to try that one instead. (I've included links to both recipes below for your consideration)
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Re:Almost Too Good to be True Raw Kale Salad
Aug 14 2008 20:49:16
Thanks for posting this! My first batch of kale for fall harvest is doing really well and needs thinned ... was just wondering what to do with some tender young leaves.
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Re:Almost Too Good to be True Raw Kale Salad
Aug 15 2008 12:35:09
Yumm, this sounds wonderful. Think I'll try it with dinner tonight.
Another fun thing to do with kale to turn them into kale chips for a nutritious snack. This is an easy treat for kids to make themselves. Simply massage a bit of olive oil into the leaves--slathering it on makes it too oily--and then bake the leaves on a cookie sheet in a 325 oven just until they are barely stiff. You can sprinkle a bit of salt or parmesan cheese on top of the oiled leaves before baking. Don't overbake or they will crumble all over your shirt and the floor when you take a bite.
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#54 |
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Market Fresh Salad with Potato Croutons |
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Written by Anne Wilhoit
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Sunday, 20 July 2008 21:56 |
I have trouble eating just a salad for dinner. After a long day, I look forward to a warm meal. By topping this salad with roasted potatoes, it becomes a hearty, comfortable meal.
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Written by Julie
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Monday, 30 June 2008 21:55 |
For the most ardent of jam lovers, this is the month of strawberry freezer jam.
If you've been buying jars of commercially produced jam over the years and have never tasted actual strawberry freezer jam, prepare to be amazed. Once you're hooked on the genuine article, you will become manic come strawberry season, and spend more hours than you care to count feverishly hulling and stirring crushed strawberries into frighteningly large quantities of sugar in order to put up your own little (or, not-so-little) stash of freezer jam to tide you over until next June.
I've been making strawberry freezer jam since I was a kid. Back then, not only would I make the jam, but I'd also pick the berries. These days, I depend on the incredible Shuksan and Rainier strawberries available at the Day Road strawberry stand. (Get 'em while you can!) I picked up my first flat (6 qts) of berries last Wednesday, and paid $35. This might sound like a lot for berries, but when you figure that you can make about 30 half-pint-size jars of jam out of that, and you consider the astonishing difference between the luscious, sweet, deep garnet-colored, local berries and the tennis-ball texture of the spongy pinkish berries available year-round in supermarkets, it all seems like an incredible deal! Plus these berries are at the perfect stage of ripeness for jam-making, having just been picked that morning.
Karen Selvar grows her strawberries using organic methods in the Manzanita Bay area of Bainbridge, and trucks her berries over to the Day Road stand each morning before 9AM, when they're in season. You can still get them this season, even into early July, thanks to the slow start to summer weather, but prepare to arrive right when the stand opens. I showed up at 2:30PM the first day the stand was open, and it was already shut and completely sold out. I arrived at 8:45AM on the second day of the stand's being open, thinking I might snag some boxes of berries before the crowds showed, only to discover that at least ten other people had the same idea, and the gates were still closed. The following day, I returned to buy a half-flat, or 3 quarts ($18), and I found the stand swarmed with other jam-makers, who were practically running back to their cars with their loot, avoiding the covetous looks of those of us still waiting in line.
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Re:Strawberry Freezer Jam
Jul 10 2008 14:12:36
Making strawberry freezer jam has always been a major priority in my New Jersey kitchen in June. Since Julie moved to Bainbridge Island, I found that making strawberry freezer jam alone was not as much fun. My neighbor, who also loves making wonderful food from fresh produce quickly joined me in this yearly endeavor. We each have our specific duties as described in Julie's article and the time goes by quickly as we wash, hull, smash berries, mix with sugar, lemon juice and pectin and fill jars. It is truly one of the most satisfying and enjoyable experiences of the year for me. Friends and family members await each year's gift of fresh freezer jam - a perfect gift for Christmas or a special thank you for something someone has done for you. I love it on warm English muffins,scones, or even vanilla ice-cream. I encourage you to try making it but be sure to use only freshly picked berries from your local berry farm - it makes all the difference! Thank you, Julie for keeping up the tradition and spreading the word.
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Cookbooks for Farmers' Market eating |
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Written by Drew Hansen
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 16:51 |
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If you’re committed to local, seasonal eating from Kitsap County farmers’ markets, then you’re committing yourself to a lot of vegetarian food. That leads to an obvious question: Which vegetarian cookbook should you use?
There are hundreds of options, from sentimental favorites (The Enchanted Broccoli Forest) to modern classics (Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, a James Beard Foundation award winner), to cookbooks that aren’t exclusively vegetarian but from cuisines with excellent vegetarian dishes (Julie Sahni’s Classic Indian Cooking).
If I had to buy just one cookbook for seasonal eating from farmers’ markets, it would be Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters.
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Cookbooks for Farmers\' Market eating
Jun 19 2008 22:43:41
I haven't seen that book, but I've been recommending her book The Art of Simple Eating to a lot of people looking to start out cooking from seasonal, simple ingredients. What I like about it is that although she gives a lot of recipes, she also talks about each ingredient, so you become fluent in ways to use it intuitively. It's great for new cooks looking to be less dependent on recipes.
http://food.gofrolic.org
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Re:Cookbooks for Farmers\' Market eating
Jun 23 2008 23:43:37
I think Alice Water's vegetable book is really the best. It gives just enough information, in some cases, to make you feel confident enough to improvise! I've also been using Deborah Madison's and the cookbook.
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Re:Cookbooks for Farmers\' Market eating
Jun 26 2008 02:51:50
Seattledebs, that's a great recommendation - I don't have that cookbook (yet) but it sounds wonderful. Definitely check out the great, informative review on Seattledebs' site (linked in her post)!
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