Julia – Page 14 – Grow. Cook. Eat.

July 21, 2010

The Mystery Continues (Recipe: Sicilian Crumbs)

As I sussed out the ingredients in Matthew’s CSA box, one thing briefly stymied me. A leafy green that had red streaks like a red leaf lettuce but a more compact head. Was this an heirloom variety of lettuce I had not seen before? I nibbled on a small piece and spit it out. Sure enough, it was radicchio, and it was incredibly bitter to my taste.

Most lettuce gets bitter from hot, summer sun. If you don’t like bitter greens, as I don’t, you can tame their flavor by cooking them on the grill. Radicchio (and romaine) has a sturdy texture that stands up to the intense cooking.

To grill lettuce: Cut the head of lettuce in half through the root. The root will hold the leaves together as you cook it. After you cut it in half, cut each half into 3rds – again, take care to leave the leaves attached to the root.

Toss the leaves with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. They cook quickly on a hot grill, so turn them often. When they are cooked, drizzle balsamic vinegar on top.

I served the radicchio with grilled swordfish, and topped the whole thing with “Sicilian Crumbs”: toasted bread crumbs mixed with pine nuts, currants and lemon zest. The sweetness of the currants and the richness of the pine nuts further calmed the bitterness of the radicchio.

Sicilian Crumbs

2 tbs. butter
1 tsp. chopped garlic
2 tbs. pine nuts
2 tbs. currants or raisins
1 cup bread crumbs (preferably home-made)
1 lemon – zest and juice
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and let cook for two mintues until it begins to soft. Add the currants and toss to coat in the butter. They should plump up quickly.

When the currants are plump, add the pine nuts and breadcrumbs. Continue cooking, stirring regularly, until the crumbs are lightly toasted.

Add the lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Radicchio Photo Credit: SpiceTart

July 19, 2010

Mystery Basket (Recipe: Roasted Pepper and Tomato Salad)

As I opened up the grocery bag of full of vegetables, I had flashbacks to culinary school – visions of my first practical exam. We were given a medley of ingredients and told to create an entrée in one hour. This was not unlike the show “Chopped” on the Food Network (though the ingredients were more user-friendly)

Matthew’s roommate was out of town and he was left alone to contend with the weekly CSA box of produce. He called me in a panic, “Can you do something with this?”

“Of course,” I calmly replied. “What do you have?”

“A bunch of green stuff, spring onions, summer squash and what not.”

What not? Could he be less specific? Now, I was in a panic.

Nonetheless, I agreed to cook dinner for him and his partner. I picked up a piece of swordfish, armed myself with "Even Star Farm CSA Cookbook” and prayed that the ingredients he brought would somehow come together into a cohesive meal.

I unpacked the bag to discover the “green stuff”: kale, basil, cilantro, lettuce and radicchio. There were plenty of spring onions – the bulbous, young onions as well as the more traditional-looking scallions. And the “what-not”: A kousa and yellow squash, 2 tomatoes, a tiny fennel bulb, a bunch of carrots, cucumber and a yellow bell pepper.

As an additional challenge, I didn’t want to supplement with anything beyond the fish and what I had on hand. I also didn’t want to use any vegetables that weren’t in the CSA box or in my garden.

This is what I came up with:

Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup
From the CSA Box: carrots, kale, onions. From my garden: garlic, celery, thyme

Summer Squash Sautéed with Garlic Scapes
From the CSA Box: squash and basil. From the garden: scapes

Roasted Pepper and Tomato Salad
From the CSA Box: pepper, tomato and basil

Carrot and Fennel Slaw
From the CSA Box: carrot and fennel

Salad with the lettuce, cucumber and carrot
all from the CSA box, though I could have added cucumbers and lettuce from my garden

Quinoa with Kale and Tomato, seasoned with Soy and Lemon
Kale and Tomato from the CSA Box

Alas, I couldn’t figure out how to work cilantro into this, otherwise, European meal. That will get used later in the week.

Roasted Pepper and Tomato Salad
I only had one pepper and one tomato to use, but for a more generous serving, I'd recommend using at least 2 peppers (and maybe even two tomatoes)

2 bell peppers — red or yellow
2 ripe tomatoes
1 tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs. fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Blacken the skin of the pepper over a gas burner (or under a broiler) until blackened on all sides. Put in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stem for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, dice the tomatoes.

3. When peppers are cool, peel away blackened skin. Cut in half; remove and discard the stem and seeds.

4. Cut the peppers into 1/2" wide strips. Mix with the tomatoes. Coarsely chop the basil and add to the peppers. Add the balsamic and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

July 16, 2010

Garden Salad

Buried in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator are packets and baggies of seeds – mostly opened and half used. Most are labeled with their contents, but one bag has a generic label “Mixed Lettuces.” The handwriting is decidedly of my friend Brett. And the seeds surely came from his farm.

Every spring when I plant lettuce, I use these seeds as well as a stash of mizuna, tat soi and arugula that I purchased from FedCo several years ago (I bought a 4 oz. bag which has managed to last me several years and the seeds don’t seem to suffer from the long-term refrigerator storage). The mixed lettuces never seem to yield anything of substance for me. But this year, when all the arugula, mizuna and tat soi bolted from the heat, the tender green leaves of the “mixed lettuce” just perked right up with no signs of withering. Even after 2 weeks of scorching (for New England) heat, the leaves are tender, not too bitter, and make a lovely salad. I wish I knew what variety they are – because I will plant them again with the idea of having a mid-summer salad.

I still have a few more beets to harvest and the first cucumber came in this morning. For lunch, I made a “garden” salad; a fry cry from the generic mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, carrot shreds and red onion rings that too often tries to pass itself off as such.

These greens are still quite tender and need to be dressed gingerly. The beets requested red wine vinegar and goat cheese. I first tossed the lettuce in olive oil to coat and protect them before adding the vinegar which tends to wilt things quickly. I then add the salt and pepper. The sweetness of the beets, the crunch of the cucumber and the softness of the greens provide the perfect explosion of flavor – no additional seasoning is necessary. (I did have some leftover chopped pistachios which seemed to pair beautifully… I couldn't resist)

July 14, 2010

Business Trends: Hyper-Local Foods

From April to November, farmers drive into Boston from the rural fields of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, flooding the farmers’ markets and restaurants with fresh local produce. Given that most food travels an average of 1,500 miles from the farm to the plate, this is a welcome improvement; reducing this number to less than 100 miles.

For some locavores, this isn’t good enough. They want their food sourced even closer. Chefs like Chris Coombs at dbar are building rooftop gardens. Urban planners like Glynn Lloyd at City Growers are converting vacant lots into urban farms.

Roof top gardens offer several advantages beyond fresh, hyper-local produce. These green spaces can reduce a building’s energy cost by insulating the roof. And they are perfectly situated to take advantage of natural resources: rain and sun. With the additional installation of a greenhouse, urban gardeners can grow year-round.

As easy as it may seem to build a rooftop garden by installing several raised beds and planters, you must considered the engineering impact on the building – that is, can the roof support not only the extra weight of the soil, but also the rain water the soil absorbs.

Urban, land-farms are easier to implement than roof-top gardens, but also have a few challenges: mainly in the soil health. City soil can be filled with lead and other toxins. Before starting an urban farm, be sure to test your soil. Chances are good you will need to amend the soil for safe gardening.

Several entrepreneurs are making urban farming even easier for the uber-locavore:

For roof-top gardens, Top Sprouts and Sky Vegetables

For urban, land gardens:Green City Growers

For further assistance in developing your urban garden, send us an email. We can help you create a business plan to support this venture.

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July 14, 2010

To Broccoli or Not to Broccoli, That is the Question

I planted broccoli once before this year, and the yield-per-square-foot ratio was not favorable. Unlike tomatoes, cucumbers or eggplants which produce multiple fruits per plant, this gave me one small head per plant. I don’t recall the flavor one way or the other, so I imagine it was no better than the supermarket.

Nonetheless, I decided to try again. People reminded me that after I harvest the main head, there are secondary sprouts that are worth eating. And I read somewhere that fresh broccoli is a whole different beast.

Yesterday, I cut off the first two spears. I usually eat only the florets (I know, terrible in the food waste department), but given the low yield, I decided I couldn’t afford to waste an ounce. I also didn’t bother to peel the stalk, even though some say they are tough and fibrous. Given how fresh and tender they were, I chanced that the stalks didn’t need a peeling. I tasted them raw and their sweet crunch had a slightly bitter aftertaste. I knew this would melt away when cooked. The stalks, as predicted, were perfectly tender.

Back in college, one of my staples was broccoli steamed with soy sauce, butter and lemon over brown rice (the other was eggs scrambled with tom yum paste). Not wanting to fuss too much with the flavor of the broccoli, I opted for this old favorite. This time, I used quinoa instead of brown rice – it worked perfectly, and more importantly, cooked quicker, making this a perfect Monday night dinner! It was so good, in fact, that I made the same thing for lunch the next day using kale instead of broccoli.

In favor of future broccoli plantings: The broccoli was deliciously sweet and earthy. I planted it in April and harvested in Mid-July – freeing up the soil for fall plantings of beans and lettuce. On the downside, the yield was low, though I have yet to see what sort of shoots I get. For about $2 in seedlings, I got about $2 worth of broccoli. Overall, this year’s experiment was wholly successful, though
I’m still on the fence as to whether I’ll plant again next year.

July 11, 2010

Fighting Vampires and Other Evil Spirits

I harvested the first patch of garlic last week. The leaves had begun to whither (from the drought or just part of the life cycle, I’m not sure). And I recall hearing that when this happens they are ready. A gentle tug at the neck yielded nothing, so I grabbed a trowel and began to lift them out from the perimeter – making sure not accidentally spear the bulb.

I know there’s a process for properly curing the bulbs so they store well through the winter. In my excitement, though, of the first 5 bulbs, I didn’t bother to read up on it. I washed the bulbs of residual dirt and trimmed the necks to a 1 inch nub. Even the necks oozed a wonderful garlic aroma.

And then I went to my computer to research how to cure the bulbs. The first thing they tell you is to not trim them until after they’ve cured. Oops. And don’t wash them, either. The idea is to dry the bulbs sufficiently so they don’t sprout too quickly or get moldy. They need to hang in a dry, dark place (away from sunlight and humidity) with good air circulation for 2 – 3 weeks. Thankfully, I have central air-conditioning. With the intense weather we’ve been having lately, I might have otherwise been in trouble. When the stalks have dried out, they’re ready for long term storage.

This was my first attempt at garlic, and all in all, it was wholly successful! At the end of the day, I will have about 20 bulbs and about a pound of scapes. Not a great return on my $26 investment, but if I save the largest bulbs from this year’s harvest, I will have seed for next year, with no further investment.

And a bit of curiosity – I had thought that the hard neck garlic would yield scapes and the soft neck would not. I planted some of each, and either the soft neck did not produce any garlic at all or they looked just like the hard neck with scapes shooting out the center.

As for the “incurable” bulbs, I’m not too worried. I can use those quickly. For the rest, I started braiding them and have them hanging in my kitchen. No doubt they will ward off evil spirits. Along with San Pasqual, the patron saint of the kitchen, I should be all set.

July 8, 2010

Taming of the Aphids

Barbara Kingsolver's book Prodigal Summer was my first introduction into the nature of food chains and ecosystems. Critters that may seem like pests play a beneficial role in maintaining a balance in nature. The spider spinning webs around my basement are also eating the ants that seem to inhabit my house in the spring. Or in the example used in the book, the pesky coyotes with desirable fur for coats are eating beetles. If you kill the coyotes, then the beetle population thrives putting a stress on their food sources. And rabbits, which rely on the same sources as the beetles would get pushed out. By killing the coyotes, then you also threaten the rabbits. It’s a tangled food-web.

In my garden, the aphids are attacking the brassicas: the kale, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and broccoli. These miniscule mites attack the leaves, first creating unassuming holes and then causing the leaves to shrivel. I’m not sure their purpose, but I think about this food-web as I think about protecting my vegetables.

Lady Bugs feast on aphids. Introducing them into the garden will help control the problem. But the spiders that I’m letting live in the basement to take care of my ant problem are also eating the lady bugs.

As much as I want to be one with nature and minimize my impact, I also really want to eat vegetables this summer. So, I am taking more drastic measures. I bought a bottle of “Horticultural Spray Oil.” As the label says, it kills insects by smothering.

The woman at the store cautioned me against using it before 5pm. The oil that coats the aphids will also coat bee wings and kill them, so I must wait until the bees are done buzzing for the day. I remarked, that would be fine since I’m allergic to bees. But she reminded me that we need bees to pollinate plants and flowers. So I will follow her instructions and keep the epi-pen handy.

And perhaps, if I kill all the aphids, I will have a bumper crop of kale. I see no harm in the eco-system of that.

July 6, 2010

Drought-Like (Recipe: Horseradish Crusted Salmon with Beet Lyonnaise)

We haven’t had rain in New England in about 2 weeks, and there is none in the forecast for the next one. Temperatures are predicted to hit 90F every day this week. Technically, though, this is not a drought. Perhaps, the water tables are still high from the flooding we had in March.

Drought or no drought, my garden is parched as can be. On the bright side, it makes weeding much easier. The soil is so dry that the weeds, roots and all, pluck out easily.

If I were to employ proper watering technique, I would need to water only every 3 days. That means saturating the soil 6 – 8 inches deep. While the moisture from the top layer is susceptible to evaporation, this gives a buffer and the roots can still pull the moisture up. When I water, I only manage to get about 1 inch deep. I think it’s just a matter of patience, or lack thereof. I water for about 15 minutes and then I get bored… I really need a sprinkler system to spray for at least one hour.

The other factor to consider when watering is the timing: water either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The foliage needs a chance to dry before the sun hits them. Otherwise the leaves will burn. Also, this gives the water a chance to seep deep into the soil before evaporating from the heat of the sun.

Despite my less than stellar watering habits, I was still able to harvest several beets. And they were as sweet as can be.

Pistachio and Horseradish Crusted Salmon with Beet Lyonnaise

This recipe is adapted from Daniele Baliani. We worked together under Lydia Shire, and again when I had my business Interactive Cuisine. Today, you can find him heading up the kitchen at Il Casale.

Beet Lyonnaise

1medium onion, julienned
4 medium sized beets, peeled and sliced
2 oz. double smoked bacon

Salmon

2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
4 salmon filets
2 tbs. prepared horseradish
1/2 cup crushed pistachios
Salt and pepper to taste

1. For the beets: place the bacon in a heavy bottom skillet over medium heat. Add the smoked bacon., and cook until it begins to release its fat. Add the julienned onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add the sliced beets. Continue cooking over medium high heat until the beets are tender (Note: as the beets cook they will release a bit of water. If the heat is too low, the beets will release too much water and boil and you will end up with beet soup! If the heat is too high, they will stick to the pan and burn! Be careful and watch this step closely) Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. For the salmon: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the salmon on both sides with salt and pepper. In a medium skillet, add 2 tbs. of olive oil. Brown salmon on both sides and transfer filets to a cookie sheet. Rub each filet with the prepared horseradish. Sprinkle pistachios on top of the filets. And bake for 7 – 10 minutes until a crust has formed.

You can serve the salmon with a watercress salad, I opted for a bed of wilted kale from the garden.

From the garden: beets, garlic, kale

July 5, 2010

Harvesting Basil

A reader recently inquired as to the best way to harvest basil. Do you pick the biggest leaves from the bottom of the plant or pinch sprigs from the top?

I recommend the latter. As you can see in this photo, about 1 inch below where I pinched off a sprig, two more stalks shot out from either side. By harvesting in this method, you will have a full, bushy plant and increase your yields.

So what am I making with all this basil?

Herb Butter

Scape Basil Pesto

Pasta with Young Garlic, Tomatoes and Basil

Savory Greens and Potatoes

And as the summer progresses, I will be adding it to all sorts of tomato dishes, and freezing some to take me through the winter.

July 2, 2010

Peach Sangria

Don't forget about the Equal Exchange Chocolate Give-Away. Leave a comment on this post to enter.

I met my best girlfriend exactly 25 years ago. I remember the day precisely…. It was the fourth of July, and our picnic blankets were right next to each other on the downtown Mall of Washington DC. We were both there with friends to enjoy The Beach Boys’ annual concert and watch the fireworks display at dusk. As we tell the story, we were the only ones dancing among our friends.

We weren’t sophisticated eaters or drinkers back then… our coolers were filled with Popeyes Fried Chicken and Rolling Rock Beer.

I haven’t lost my taste for Popeyes, but my beverage choices have gone decidedly up-market.

On hot summer days, I now prefer Peach Sangria. It’s light and refreshing. And because it’s diluted with juice and soda, it makes for easy quaffing with minimal impairment (especially important when drinking in the sun).

Wishing you a refreshing and festive holiday weekend!

And to Michelle, Happy Anniversary!

Peach Sangria

1 ½ lb. peaches, peeled (opt.) and sliced
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups apple juice
1 bottle dry white wine
3 tbs. curacao or other orange flavored liquor
2 cups soda water (opt.)

1. Combine fruit, sugar and apple juice in a pitcher. Stir to dissolve sugar and let sit for 1 hour.

2. Add wine and liqueur. Refrigerate.

3. Add soda water just before serving. Serve over ice.

Peach Sangria Photo Credit: Ellen Callaway.