Kennyz wrote:Yes eggplant renders plenty of liquid, sometimes with an unpleasant bitter aftertate. But I find that to be an issue only with the standard, dark-skinned western eggplant varieties. With the relatively small, young Asian varieties I buy, I never pre-salt, and never have a problem with the result.

Yes, that is true that salting is not necessary with Asian varieties. But, since we're talking ratatouille, a Western (in the political sense) dish, I'd only use those dark-skinned, Western types. When treated properly, those hum-ho Western varieties are great in their own right (especially in eggplant parmagiana), but, yes, usually require a pre-salting.

Squash abounds this time of year. I got some pattypans:

Pattypan squash:


I cut off the stems and tops, then scooped out the insides:

Insides scooped out:


Then I blanched them for a few minutes and shocked 'em in an ice bath

Shocked!


After cooling and drying thoroughly, I brushed them with melted butter, and seasoned with salt and pepper. Inside each cavity went a farm fresh egg, and the tops were replaced before baking at 375 for 15 minutes (I would have preferred 13-14 minutes, I think). I served them with potato, green peper and shallot hash, all ingredients purchased yesterday at the GCM.

Eggs baked in pattypans, with breakfast hash:


Soft, slightly runny yolk:



A fun, tasty, and relatively easy breakfast made entirely from what I imagine are common CSA products these days.

gastro gnome wrote:One of the better things I've had lately is dilly-leek-confit-dressed green beans.

Thanks for posting this--I tried this last night using yellowish green beans (probably not their official name) and added some onions and fennel from my CSA box as well. Quite delicious. Though my favorite green bean recipe remains Fuscia Dunlop's dry fried green beans. Compared to that recipe, this one lacked a little je ne sais pork.

I also made a 'rustic' (read, sloppy, yet delicious if I do say so) tomato and onion tart with encanestratu cheese from Graziano's and Green Fields Saxony cheese from the Green City Market (thanks to eatchicago's rec). I used a $3.50 tomato from the Green City Market as well--while I did raise an eyebrow at that price, this beauty was worth every penny, and I think, made the tart.

thaiobsessed wrote:Compared to that recipe, this one lacked a little je ne sais pork.

Banner quote! And, Thai - I am enjoying all your posts lately - including the lovely desserts not shown in this thread.

I ended up sauteing the dandelion greens with garlic also from my CSA box and parmesan and red pepper flakes. It was good--VERY bitter.

I get the $15 from Newleaf Natural Grocers in Rogers Park. I like it because i just pay weekly and don't pay for weeks I don't want one. It is more than enough food for two adults.

Tonight I think I will steam the broccoli I got and perhaps make the rutabaga. Another vegetable I have never tried!

I also have red onions, raspberries, pluots, golden honeydew, kale, celery, lettuce, zucchini, and bananas.

PlayItGeorge wrote:Tonight I think I will steam the broccoli I got and perhaps make the rutabaga. Another vegetable I have never tried!

Might I suggest some mashed swedes? This was the first thing I tried to do with rutabagas and remains one of the simplest and best.

Incidentally, I could easily see this thread becoming a seasonal cooking guide both with experiments and links (here and elsewhere) for suggested ways to get the most out of today's fresh produce. I'm not sure if that's the original intent, but I think it's a fine idea and would be grateful for (and happy to contribute to) such a resource.

gastro gnome wrote:

PlayItGeorge wrote:Tonight I think I will steam the broccoli I got and perhaps make the rutabaga. Another vegetable I have never tried!

Might I suggest some mashed swedes? This was the first thing I tried to do with rutabagas and remains one of the simplest and best.

Incidentally, I could easily see this thread becoming a seasonal cooking guide both with experiments and links (here and elsewhere) for suggested ways to get the most out of today's fresh produce. I'm not sure if that's the original intent, but I think it's a fine idea and would be grateful for (and happy to contribute to) such a resource.

That's pretty much what I was going to do. Throwing different root vegetables in mashed potatoes pretty much always ends up well

gastro gnome wrote:Incidentally, I could easily see this thread becoming a seasonal cooking guide both with experiments and links (here and elsewhere) for suggested ways to get the most out of today's fresh produce. I'm not sure if that's the original intent, but I think it's a fine idea and would be grateful for (and happy to contribute to) such a resource.

I think that's a great idea. Although the original intent was to trade ideas on how to creatively cook from your CSA box, as the content of CSA boxes is seasonal produce, the subconcious motivation was to create a seasonal cooking guide. (I'll augment the thread title accordingly.)

As far as linking things, I think that's a great idea and why I originally linked to thaiobsessed salad dressing thread, as I thought it would be helpful for those who have a lot of lettuce to salad with.

Anyhow, thus far, this thread has provided a ton of inspiration for cooking seasonally.

aschie30 wrote:
Anyhow, thus far, this thread has provided a ton of inspiration for cooking seasonally.

Indeed, starting with that ridiculously good looking tart in your first post, which has me salivating every time I return to the thread. I'm gonna make that real soon, or bribe you to make another and save me a piece.

For dinner tonight I boiled broccoli and rutabaga, drained, mashed, and mixed with chicken stock, a splash of cream, about a teaspoon butter, salt and pepper, and a bit of goat cheese. I love mashed root vegetables. Believe it or not I got the idea to throw the broccoli in from Rachael Ray, who was on TV this evening when I came home from work

PlayItGeorge wrote:I got the idea to throw the broccoli in from Rachael Ray, who was on TV this evening when I came home from work

That's funny - I threw the broccoli AT Rachael Ray. Some serious floret scarring to the screen, sadly.

Ah. But seasonal cooking. I've been doing Stop 50's charred zucchini and summer squash frequently - cut into wedges, toss briefly in olive oil, cracked pepper, sea salt, and oregano, incinerate on the hottest part of the grill, shave some pecorino right before serving. I'd been treating asparagus the same for years (drizzled with saba or Bari fig vinegar, preferably), and don't even really like squash, but was convinced on a Michiana trip that hot fire and squash were meant to be together.

With basil and some small, sweet peppers from the garden (smoked or roasted) we've also been alternating between romesco and traditional pesto (or a combination) on fresh pasta. This is also fantastic cold soup season (with whatever's fresh each Saturday).

My latest forays into seasonal cooking from my CSA box include a Fennel-Squash-Chinese Eggplant Gratin and an incredibly complex Kale, Chickpea and Saffron soup.

The gratin was loosely inspired by the old chestnut, The Joy Of Cooking (newer version). Except that recipe was, frankly, wacky, and required sauteeing of vegetables in 2 different skillets -- bah.

So, this is what I did for the Fennel, Squash and Eggplant Gratin:

I carmelized one small CSA fennel and 1/2 large onion in about 2 T. olive oil. I then added halved and sliced eggplant, summer squash and 2 cloves of garlic. After letting it sauté for about 5 minutes on medium-low heat, I added about 14.5 oz. whole canned tomatoes with juice and let it simmer another 10 minutes or so until the liquid from the tomatoes was almost evaporated. Then I dumped everything into a casserole, topped it with finely grated parmesan and baked it at 350° for 20 minutes. I topped it with minced thyme and the ending result was a very Provencale-style summer vegetable dish. I'd make it again.



The Kale, Chickpea and Saffron Soup was, again, another means to use up that pesky kale that comes in the CSA box. This recipe came from Farmer John's Cookbook, a freebie that was compiled by the folks at Angelic Organics. Overall, the recipes in this book are quite good and perfectly tailored toward CSA box vegetables, even though, at times, the recipes seem a little crazy on their face. One such recipe is this soup, which in typical CSA box fashion, has so many different types of vegetables in it that it makes your head spin. So, I omitted the parsnip, potato and oregano that the recipe called for, and started by sautéeing a classic mirepoix, which I could do as I received carrots, celery and onion in last week's box. The original recipe calls for white beans; I didn't have those, so I used chickpeas. Otherwise, the recipe calls for tomatoes (I used canned), chopped kale, which simmers in the broth, and two crucial ingredients: 1/2 c. sundried tomatoes and a pinch of saffron. The sundried tomatoes provide a rich-tasting base and the saffron, a floral elegance. Here is a picture of it simmering on the stove:



I'll post back later with the full recipe.

gastro gnome wrote:I had previously used a pot to simmer carrots to make Sevillian marinated carrots from The New Spanish Table (great summer dish, by the way),

Funny, I had blown by that recipe for Sevillian marinated carrots during several reads of The New Spanish Table, but your post made me rethink that (especially considering that I had carrots in the fridge I needed to "do something" with).

I didn't have 1 lb. of carrots that the recipe called for, so I also blanched radishes and celery until crisp-tender and added those to the marinade. I made these as a pre-dinner snack before a dinner party, and people were popping them like candy, oohing and aahing.


New Spanish Table's Sevillian Marinated Carrots (and Radishes and Celery)

The key to this recipe is this delicious, aromatic paste, which includes garlic, oregano, cumin and crushed red pepper:



Thanks, gastro gnome, for the recommendation.

Sevillian Marinated Carrots
Adapted from The New Spanish Table

1 lb. carrots, trimmed & scraped
3-4 lg. garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 - 2 t. cumin seeds
2 t. dried oregano (I use Mexican)
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 T. chopped parsley
1 t. coarse salt
1/2 c. + 1 t. good olive oil
1/2 c. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 T. good-quality red wine vinegar

1. Blanch the carrots in boiling water until crisp-tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain. When just cool enough to handle, cut in 1/4" slices.

2. Place garlic, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, 1 T. parsley, salt and 1 t. oilive oil in mortar, and mash them into a medium-fine paste. Whisk lemon juice into the paste.

3. Place carrots in bowl while still warm and pour garlic-lemon mixture over them. Ad the vinegar and remaining 1/2 c. olive oil; toss to mix. Cover and let marinate 6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. The carrots can be refrigerated at least a week. Let come to room temperature before serving.

I added a rough recipe index in the OP. I'm sure some links are bad, it needs alphabetizing and more cross-referencing. It's a work in progress, but hopefully, it will serve some useful purpose in the meantime.

aschie, thanks so much for this thread and the time you put into organizing the index. I imagine this will be a very handy seasonal guide if we keep adding to it.

I like the look of you soup and you made some inspired additions to the marinated carrot recipe. As I made this most recent batch, I commented to myself that just about any veggie would taste good with this marinade: beans, brassicas (cauliflower comes to mind), kohlrabi, cukes, etc. Thanks for some more inspiration.

aschie30 wrote:My latest forays into seasonal cooking from my CSA box include a Fennel-Squash-Chinese Eggplant Gratin ...

Thank you for the inspiration-- I totally copied your gratin today, except I used fennel, carrots, and zucchini. I added a little chicken broth, so it started more like a braise, then topped it with panko and parmesan and let it brown. Outstanding-- even my zucchini-averse husband declared it delicious. Sorry, no photo-- we snarfed it way too fast. I love braised fennel.

Cheers, Jen

I roasted portobello mushrooms from my CSA and slow-roasted cherry tomatoes (sweet 100's from my garden supplemented with a variety from the Lincoln Square farmer's market) and tossed them with garlic, mint, and 'mock creme fraiche' (homemade creme fraiche-like substance made with cream and buttermilk--Zuni cafe cookbook recipe), olive oil, S&P and tossed the whole mess with penne. The pasta was inspired by a recipe in Zuni for a raw, julienned portobello mushroom salad with the creme fraiche, mint, garlic, olive oil. I just couldn't quite bring myself to eat the mushrooms raw. It seemed strange, somehow. I also made Pappa al pomodoro with good farmer's market tomatoes and a stale baguette.

I brought home an abundance of corn today, and started using it by making humitas.


Farmers Market Humitas

Process raw corn in the food processor:



Sweat some shallots, garlic, and 2 types of pepper (bell and hot), then dump in the corn and cook for 45 minutes, stirring constantly:



When the batter has thickened, remove to a bowl and add some chopped basil:



Steam some reserved corn husks to make them more pliable, then place 2 on a work surface, overlapping, with the pointy ends facing away from you. Drop a hefty spoonful in the center, a little closer to where you're standing:



Fold the left side over the filling, then fold the pointy end down toward you, then fold the righ side over. Tie the packet with a strip of corn husk:



Place some cobs in a steamer basket, then add the packets so that they stand up with the opening toward the sky. Steam for an hour and fifteen minutes or so, until they have firmed up quite a bit.



Serve with a fresh salsa made from tomatoes, roasted corn, serranos, shallots, mint and a squeeze of lime:

Love this thread! I returned from vacation and had a bunch of veggies that needed attention ASAP. My guy, who vowed he would amp up his veggie intake with the box deliveries, hasn't. On one hand. that means a boatload of veggies for one; on the other hand, I get to try whatever recipes appeal to me.

Last week, I made Rainbow Chard Catalan (and added the nicoise olives because that really did add the right note) , Zucchini Carpaccio, Green Beans with Leeks, and Mashed Kohlrabi.

I also made a zucchini soup but that recipe is not worth sharing. The only redeeming point is that while doctoring the soup, I had an excuse to try quark from Vermont Butter. So, not a complete loss.

Again, thanks for the recipes and inspiration.

Kenny - Fantastic humitas recipe! And, our first corn recipe of the season, I think.

Sufferin' Succotash! My almost 5-year-old daughter has been picking recipes from Abby Dodge's Around the World Cookbook and her latest choice was "Summer Succotash". We got our first corn this week from Angelic, plus just one zucchini and some basil, so it was perfect for this recipe. I threw in the second Brandywine from our Earthbox.

To adjust for the kiddie palate, I used chickpeas instead of limas (natch) and to use up some leftovers, I added a bunch of ham. This recipe was delicious, although not very authentically succotash, what the hey-- everyone liked it, the kid, and even my zucchini-and-tomato-averse husband.

Lots of ham in this portion:


The kiddie plate:



Jen

P.S. Kenny, those humitas look amazing.

Thanks, guys, for the kudos on the humitas. They came out better than I expected, having never made them before. I think the key was cooking the ground corn long enough before filling. It was pretty wet - too wet I think - until at least 45 minutes in.

Today was all about sungold tomatoes, which are in their prime right now. I simply can't get enough sungolds this time of year, and will be slow roasting big batches at least once a week until they're gone. I'll end up with about a gallon in the freezer to last me through the winter.

The beauty of the way I prep sungolds* is that the simple prep yields 3 distinct final products, each of which can serve as a major building block in any number of dishes. Here's what I do: cut the sungolds in half, and place in a roasting pan with a about 30 peeled garlic cloves, some olive oil and whole thyme sprigs. Let it go at 300 degrees for about 2.5 hours, stopping every 30-40 minutes to (A)stir and (B) pour off some of the amazingly flavorful tomato water which will have accumulated in the roasting pan, to be reserved for future use.

3 final products of roasting sungolds:


I'll use some of the garlic to make garlic-butter, some of the tomato water in a risotto, and I'll make some tarts out of the sweet sungolds. Today I recombined them all for serving with some pasta:

The 3 component reheating with mashed anchovies and red pepper flakes:


Tossed with fusilli, basil and parmesan:



*adapted from Tom Colicchio's tomato roasting process, described in his book, Think Like a Chef

I have more apricots and nectarines than I know what to do with this week, I am thinking apricot chicken of some sort, and a chutney with the nectarines.

I've also got about 4-5 small russets, and an ear of corn. Also a head of red leaf lettuce that doesn't look like it's going to last long, unfortunately, among other smaller portions of vegetables.

I order the smallest box, for two people, and I'm almost reaching the breaking point where I feel like I might need a week off to catch up on all this stuff!

Kennyz wrote:Thanks, guys, for the kudos on the humitas. They came out better than I expected, having never made them before. I think the key was cooking the ground corn long enough before filling. It was pretty wet - too wet I think - until at least 45 minutes in.

Great roasted tomato pictures-- and very timely too. With the recent hot weather, my garden and farm box are both yielding lots of tomatoes.

As for the humitas, did you use super-sweet corn? I wonder whether our modern, high-sugar varieties work differently in this recipe than traditional, more starchy varieties. I'm not sure we can even get old-fashioned corn without growing it ourselves, something my father has considered for his garden in Massachusetts.

Cheers, Jen

JenM wrote:As for the humitas, did you use super-sweet corn? I wonder whether our modern, high-sugar varieties work differently in this recipe than traditional, more starchy varieties. I'm not sure we can even get old-fashioned corn without growing it ourselves, something my father has considered for his garden in Massachusetts.

Good question. Though I did not use any of her recipes, I got humita-making ideas from Maria Baez Kijac's excellent book, The South American Table. In it, she writes, "...the corn in the United States is not suitable for this dish because of its high water content. I have found a way to reproduce humitas in the States by adding cornmeal to the batter..."

Though I respect Baez-Kijak, I wasn't buying this idea because (A) I have seen them make fabulous humitas at Rapa Nui without using any cornmeal; (B) it is local corn season, and I wanted to highlight the fresh corn; and (C) I had just seen Rick Bayless use fresh corn to make tamales on Top Chef Masters. With that last factor in mind, I bought my corn from Three Sisters' Farm, the farm that supplies Bayless and is run by one of his former cooks.

Great minds...
I just roasted some of my sweet 100's last night with the intention of using them in a pasta tonight. I make a recipe loosely modeled after a gnocchi recipe in the Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home cookbook. I roast the tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with S&P and with rosemary and thyme strewn over them. These took about 2.5 hours at 225. I'm planning to toss them with cippolini (Trotter calls for pearl onions but they are a pain to peel) onions braised in red wine and balsamic, penne, goat cheese and a light balsamic vinaigrette.



By the way, I've got to chime in about how amazing those humitas look.
Why the corn cobs?

thaiobsessed wrote:By the way, I've got to chime in about how amazing those humitas look.
Why the corn cobs?

extra sweet corn perfume filling the house while the humitas steam, and - more importantly - to help the humitas stay upright in the steamer.

Kennyz,

Where are you getting your sungold tomatoes from? we got them once in our CSA last year and I LOVED them - they're like candy! We only just got our first CSA tomatoes this week (alas, not sungolds), so I would love to go "outside the box" and pick up a bunch (or bushel) of them.

Kennyz wrote:I'll use some of the garlic to make garlic-butter, some of the tomato water in a risotto, and I'll make some tarts out of the sweet sungolds.

If you see eight eyes glinting in from the darkness when you're taking the tarts out of the oven, that'll be my family (pup included) waiting to spring.

mtyf wrote:Kennyz,

Where are you getting your sungold tomatoes from? we got them once in our CSA last year and I LOVED them - they're like candy! We only just got our first CSA tomatoes this week (alas, not sungolds), so I would love to go "outside the box" and pick up a bunch (or bushel) of them.

I don't actually remember. This is one of the reasons I do not do a CSA. Last weekend I went to the Green City Market and tasted everyone's tomatoes. I must have tasted from at least 7 different vendors, and chose the ones I thought tasted best. Can't remember which vendor that was.