CSA Day

So much awesomeness.  I couldn’t get it into one picture.

Ham & Bean Soup with Collard Greens

Ahh the collard green.  Some people love them, some absolutely hate them.  I’m on the fence when it comes to collards.  When I added them to my soup recipe they were fantastic.  I think this is how I will incorporate collard greens into my diet from now on.

This soup is perfect for the crisp Fall weather Wisconsin is experiencing right now.  Comfort food at its best.  I made a loaf of Italian bread to go with.  Perfection.  I love how 90% of the ingredients in this soup came from HighCross Farm.

Supplies

• 2 smoked ham hocks
• 2 pices thick cut bacon, diced
• 1 med-lg onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 5 fresh thyme sprigs
• 6 new potatoes, quartered
• 2 cans Great Northern beans
• 2 c. or more Collard Greens, chopped
• 10 c. water
• S & P to taste
• Fresh bread for dipping

In a large dutch oven sautee your bacon until the fat is rendered.  Add the onion and sautee until they sweat.

Add the ham hocks and water and bring to a boil.  Cover and lower heat to medium and simmer for an hour.

Remove the ham hocks and remove the fat.  Chop up the meat and add back to the pan.  Add Thyme, potatoes, carrots and S/P.  Simmer for 20 mins or until potatoes and carrots are tender. 

Add beans and collards.  Let simmer until greens are heated through.  I like to add the greens at the end so the nutrients and flavor aren’t lost in the cooking process. 

Serve in your favorite bowl with a nice chunk of fresh bread and enjoy.

Paprika Cinnamon Seared Salmon w/ Pomegranate Reduction

The wonderful people at POM sent me a case of their Pomegranate juice to play with. How awesome is that?

I reduced the juice with some honey, cinnamon, shallot and pepper and thought it would go nicely over the salmon I had waiting in my refrigerator.  I was not disappointed.  I steamed some of the beans I got in my HighCross Farm CSA box this week to complete a most awesome meal.

Pomegranate Reduction

• 1 8 oz bottle of POM juice
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 shallot sliced
• fresh cracked black pepper

In a small sauce pan add all ingredients and bring to a boil. Whisk until honey and juice are incorporated.  Reduce heat to medium and let it reduce to slightly under half.  Don’t let it reduce down too much; your reduction will turn to caramel and harden on your fish and plate.

Salmon

• 4 oz piece of salmon, washed and dried thoroughly
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• S & P to taste
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil

In a small bowl combine cinnamon, paprika and S/P.  Rub all over front and back of salmon.

Heat oil in pan until very hot.  You want your oil very hot so your fish doesn’t stick to the pan and you get a nice crispy skin.

Place salmon skin side down and cook until crisp, dark brown and releases easily from the pan. This should take 3 to 4 minutes. Do not be tempted to check or move the fish around in the pan during this time.

Carefully flip your salmon over and cook another 2-3 minutes.  Yes, 2-3 mins. Over cooked fish is not good fish, trust me.  You want to err on the side of less cooked rather than over cooked.  You want a piece of fish that flakes when you put a fork to it.  The fish will continue cooking once you go from out of the pan to on the plate.

Spoon the Pomegranate reduction over the fish and garnish with fresh Pomegranate seeds if you wish.

I steamed some of the most delicious beans ever (they did come from HighCross Farm after all)  for my side dish.

Let me tell you, this was out of this world fantastic.  The Pomegranate reduction was incredible. You really do need the honey since the juice is rather tart.  The cinnamon and pepper gave it a nice rounded flavor.

Close up

CSA Thursday

The boxes keep getting better and better!

In the box this week:

• Watermelon
• Tomatoes!!
• Beans
• Onions
• Basil
• Lettuce
• Summer squash (yellow crook neck and zucchini)
• Bell peppers
• Jalapeño pepper
• Carrots
• Cucumbers

Check out those red torpedo onions! Can’t wait to play with those.

Roasted Pear and Watermelon Salad

I received a beautiful watermelon and a head of the most gorgeous lettuce you ever will see in my CSA box this week.

I decided to conjure  up a salad for dinner tonight.  I used some interesting flavor combinations that worked better than I had ever hoped.

Supplies:

• 1 medium pear, cored and sliced
• 1 tablespoon honey
• cinnamon
• lettuce
• 1 handful chopped walnuts
• 1 c. watermelon, diced
• 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
• Vinaigrette of your choice (I used a spicy strawberry-balsamic)

Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.  Place pears in single layer on baking sheet.  Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until pears are soft.  Let pears cool  before adding to salad.

Thats it.

Layer the lettuce on your plate.  Add cooled pears and water melon.  Sprinkled walnuts and cheese on top.  Drizzle vinaigrette over the top.

I loved the sweetness of the fruit coupled with the savory blue cheese.  The vinaigrette I used  added a nice background spice to the salad.

Close up.

Fish En Papillote

I love cooking fish in parchment paper. The fish steams in its own juices giving it such wonderful flavor.  I had gotten some gorgeous wax beans and tomatoes in my CSA box tonight and decided they would compliment my fish nicely. 

You can use any fish you want.  I used Alaskan Pollock ( heads up to my Wisconsin readers.  Pick ‘n Save has Pollock, Salmon and Bay Scallops on sale 10/$10..go stock up). 

I kept the seasoning simple.  I didn’t want to over power the flavor of the fish.  This is such an easy, awesome way to make fish.  Once you try it, you may never go back.

Supplies

• 4 oz fish of your choice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 handful of wax beans
• 4-5 cherry tomatoes, sliced
• 3 springs fresh thyme
• 2 thin slices of lemon or lime
• 2 drizzles of olive oil
• S & P to taste
• Parchment paper, large enough to cover the fish and veggies with room to fold.

Place your fish in the center of your parchment paper.

Add garlic, beans, tomatoes and thyme.  Drizzle with olive oil then salt and pepper to taste.  Top with lime slices.

Fold your parchment paper so fish and veg are sealed well. Here is a link that will show you how to fold your parchment paper.

Place pouch on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 30 mins. 

NOTE:  Be very careful when you open your papillote.  There will be a lot of steam that is very hot.  Let sit out for 5-10 mins before cutting open.  If you can’t wait that long because it smells so good, open slowly and cautiously.

Here is what you get…

Not as pretty as the before picture, but the flavor…ohhhh the flavor.  The fish and vegetables are cooked perfectly.  The garlic and thyme add a nice background flavor without taking anything away from the natural flavor of the fish. 

I encourage you to try this.  You will not be disappointed.

CSA

In the box this week

• Lettuce, 2 varieties
• Green Pepper
• Tomatoes!
• Salsa Pepper
• Savoy Cabbage
• Watermelon!!
• Raspberries
• Wax Beans
• Lots of summer squash
• Swiss Chard
• Cucumbers
• Basil
• Red Onions

I love it! I love HighCross Farm!  I love Farmer Steve and Kath!

Individual Parsley Scalloped Potatoes

My CSA boxes have been packed with so much awesome-ness.  I took the new potatoes and flat leaf Italian parsley that were in this week’s box and made some individual scalloped potatoes.

I used the parsley to make a parsley bechamel sauce, and it was fantastic!  I also nuked the potatoes whole in the microwave for a little bit before cooking them in the oven.  It really made a difference in cooking time.

I also made this dish as low-fat as I possibly could.

Supplies:

• 1 tablespoon blue bonnet spread
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 c. skim milk
• S & P to taste
• 5-6 new potatoes
• a good handful of Italian flat leaf parsely, chopped
• Shredded cheese of your choice (I had some sharp white cheddar in the fridge)
• Ham, diced (I used small ham rounds since 2 sliced were only 50 calories)

In a sauce pan melt the margarine over medium heat.  Add flour and whisk.  Let it cook for a bout a minute to get out the floury taste.  Add milk and whisk until thick.  Add chopped parsley, salt and pepper and let sit (whisking occasionally).

Prick your potatoes with a fork and place on a microwaveable dish.  Cover with a damn paper towel and nuke for about 7 minutes.  You don’t want your potatoes cooked to the point of mush.  You still want a firmness to them so you can slice them.  They will finish cooking in the oven.  Slice into rounds and set aside.

Spray your muffin tin with cooking spray and start layering your scalloped potatoes.

• Potatoes
• ham
• cheese
• bechamel sauce

Repeat until you come to the top of the muffin tin.  It took about three potato rounds to come up to the top of my muffin tin.  I topped mine with a parsley leaf for aesthetic purposes only.

Before putting them into the oven…

Pop into a 400 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes (or until nice and golden brown on top).

After…

These are perfect! Perfect portion, perfect flavor, perfect everything.  I will make these again for sure. 

Note:  I did not salt my bechamel sauce since there is ham and cheese in the recipe.  It came out perfectly salted.  If you like salt, then by all means salt away.  I was pepper heavy, but that is just my taste.  Play with the recipe.

CSA Day!

Melons!! Tons of herbs, onions, kale, broccoli, cukes, summer squash, lettuce, peppers and potatoes.

HighCross Farm never disappoints.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Looking for something different to do with zucchini?  Look no further. I found a recipe here, and I was not disappointed.  This bread is wonderfully dense and oh so choclaty. 

What you need:

• 1 1/2 c. shredded, raw zucchini
• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/2 c. canola oil
• 1/2 c. granulated white sugar
• 1/2 c. light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the center of the oven.  Grease, or spray with nonstick vegetable spray, a 9×5×3″ loaf pan.  Set aside.

Grate the zucchini using a medium sized grater.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice.  Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the oil, sugars, eggs, and vanilla extract until well blended – about 2 minutes.  Fold in the grated zucchini. 

Add the flour mixture, beating just until combined.  Then fold in the chocolate chips. 

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55-65 minutes.