CSAs...

[Faboo]

Last Thursday’s delivery:

And what I picked.

This is my favorite way to eat fresh tomatoes, with hummus and toasted pita. Ate a lot of these this past weekend

I decided to try to make the roasted squash dip that Kim O’Donnell has been touting on her weekly chats. I roasted the squash, zucchini, onion & garlic at 375 for an hour. The garlic was burnt into little charcoal briquettes.

I peeled the squash

and pureed w/basil, lemon juice and olive oil.

It was just so-so. There’s still a lot of it left.

I had really high hopes for the spaghetti squash. I did my research and bought some pesto to toss w/it. I roasted it for 40 minutes:

After it cooled, it wouldn’t shred into spaghetti like strands. I became concerned. A taste revealed that it was not spaghetti squash but a melon. We had hot melon soup for dinner on Tuesday. I was pretty tasty.

Last night I made the recipe from the NYTimes for Roasted Cherry Tomatoes w/Herbed Ricotta:

Turned out great. Highly recommend. Looking forward to tonite’s delivery.

[redglass]

I can't believe you roasted a melon! That's great! From the photo, it looked like spaghetti squash to me too! The produce from GCF looks great- esp. those little yellow tomatoes and the blackberries.

Last Tuesday's delivery from PVF: cherry tomatoes, an eggplant, spaghetti squash, bell pepper, garlic, and edamame, still on the vine.

I've never seen edamame in their natural state before- I just threw the pods in salted boiling water for about 5 minutes and added them to a pasta dish I was making. They were great- it was hard not to just eat them as I shelled them from the pod.

last night was "eat all the veggies before we get more on Tuesday" night. I improvised a n Italian casserole-type dish: roasted the spaghetti squash, then tossed the strands with ricotta and parmesan cheese; layered some tomato sauce I had made over top, then eggplant slices, more sauce, and some more cheese. It was a very homey dish that accomplished its goal, especially with the pound of cheese I added!

[Faboo]

I hope I get to pick some edamame this weekend. This week was dull but delicious. The eggplant went to my mother and the zucchini was bad inside so it went to the compost pile. The tomatoes, squash and cabbage all went in a big pot of soup. We didn’t pick anything cuz of the rainy weather, figured it would be all muddy.

I used up last week’s jalapenos in a batch of ole eggs (eggs scrambled w/onion, Monterey Jack cheese and jalapenos).

And last night I made a variation of Epicurious’ Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes. The tomatoes were delicious but the overall meal was just so-so.

The highlight of the week was the red cabbage. Another veggie I’d never bought or prepared before that was awe inspiring to unfurl and it went on to turn our soup purple!

[redglass]

Faboo, those tomatoes look gorgeous!! I've been away due to a hard drive replacement on my computer and my new job that doesn't leave me much time to just surf the web, thinking about food

It's starting to turn back to crops that we got early in the season: this week we got some chard again after a long break, and no zucchini or squash.

The bounty this week: fennel (x2- someone left it in the share basket- their trash, my treasure!), onions, garlic, cherry and regular tomatoes (didn't look as nice as Faboo's- in fact, one was split and the other badly bruised), and some green beans. The fennel had fronds that were almost a yard long- they looked so pretty!

Tonight, I roasted the fennel bulbs, onions, and some cherry tomatoes with just salt, pepper, and olive oil to go with Sauteed Cod with Lentils from Epicurious- which was very good, btw.

I've only two more weeks left in the summer share- I've attempted to contact PVF about getting the fall share, but we haven't connected yet.

Faboo, how much longer do you have to go?

[Malawry]

I read and very much enjoy this thread, folks. Don't feel like you're just talking to yourselves--many people are following along at home like me.

About that melon/squash issue: For your reference, spaghetti squash has a more regular oval shape than a teardrop shape. It has a light yellow skin. You don't scoop out the innards before cooking it, either; it's not blessed with soft scoopable insides like some melons are. Just so's you can identify it better next time. Spaghetti squash is wonderful, I manage to buzz through a couple every fall all by myself.

[Faboo]

Thanks for the squash ID tips. I assumed it was spaghetti squash cuz I’d never seen a melon like that and cuz that’s what Redglass had received in her order. To assume…

This was my order two weeks ago…

And what I picked…

Here’s last week’s order….

And what I picked….

Besides the soup, this was the only “recipe” I’ve made the past two weeks:

Everything was delicious. My last order comes the week of October 25th, and still no beets! I don’t know how I’ll go on without it. Redglass, you should go w/GCF next year -- no fennel, but no renewing for the fall either. Now, take some pics why dont ya? I want to see those lentils!

[redglass]

This week's loot

This week, roughly from left to right: basil, celery, peppers, eggplant, the CUTEST little grape tomatoes, and some "regular" tomatoes. I put the okra in the trade basket, and we ate the green beans we received with tonight's dinner. And...I just realized that we got butternut squash too, but I forgot to include it in the photo!

Plans- eat the tomatoes like candy, roast and puree the squash to serve as a side with pork tenderloin tomorrow. I'm thinking about some sort of celery soup to take advantage of their greens, but I'm not quite there yet. Faboo, in your soup making experience, anything that utilizes celery tops?

I renewed for the fall- PVF told me their fall mini shares aren't as "voluptuous" as their summer shares, but that they hope I'll be pleased nonetheless. So I've got until almost Thanksgiving until I actually have to *sniff* buy vegetables again!

[Faboo]

From my extensive experience, you can definitely put celery tops in soup.

The trade basket sounds absolutely brilliant. I’m stuck w/some acorn squash I can’t bring myself to deal with. I cut one in half to put in the weekly soup and saw that wasn’t gonna be an option so I wrapped it in foil and put it in the fridge.

Two weeks ago we got two acorn squash:

And picked some goodies:

Along w/some sunflowers:

Last week more acorn squash came. I need a trade basket!

I was too lazy to go pick anything this weekend but they now have pumpkins and Indian corn till the end of October.

[redglass]

FAboo, I have to ask: how many people are you feeding? GCF looks like they provide so much food!

This recipe from the Post a few years ago (August 15, 2001) is awesome. I've used good parm in place of the pecorino to good effect as well:

Frank Ruta's Roasted Acorn Squash With Sage, Egg and Shaved Pecorino Cheese

(4 light main-course servings)

Frank Ruta, chef at Palena in Cleveland Park, has always had a vegetable garden. When he developed this recipe for his family, he also had 4 Araucana hens in his backyard. "We didn't go shopping," he says. "We had these chickens, we were harvesting eggs, and we already had sage and the hot peppers, the olive oil and an aged Pecorino cheese."

Chef's tip: Choose the right size squash. A 2-pound one is too large -- 1 1/2-pounds or a little less is better. It's also helpful to break the egg over a cup first and then pour it into the squash hole rather than trying to break it over the hot squash. Ruta likes the yolk "runnier than most. . . . When it mixes with the oil, butter, cheese and seasonings, it makes a great sauce for the squash," he says.

2 medium acorn squash

Extra-virgin olive oil to taste, plus additional for the pan

Salt to taste

About 1 tablespoon butter

16 small sage leaves, shredded if desired

1 Thai or serrano chili pepper, very thinly sliced

4 large or extra-large eggs

About 2 ounces aged Pecorino cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a roasting pan.

Cut each squash in half lengthwise; scoop out and discard the seeds. There should be enough space in the cavity to accommodate an egg; if necessary, using a spoon, scoop out a little of the squash to enlarge the cavity. Turn the squash halves over and, using a sharp knife, cut a thin slice from the rounded "bottom" of each squash half so each half will rest on a flat surface. Turn the squash halves over again and brush the squash cavity generously with oil and season with salt to taste. Place the squash, cut side down, in the prepared pan. and place in the oven. Bake the squash until tender and slightly caramelized around the edges, about 40 minutes.

Remove the squash from the oven and flip it over. Using the tip of a sharp knife, make several shallow slashes in the cavity of each. Cut the butter into 4 portions; rub 1 portion over the cavity of each squash half, leaving any unmelted butter in the cavity. Place 2 sage leaves and 1 slice chili pepper in each cavity, drizzle with oil and season with salt to taste. Return to the oven and bake until the butter melts and the oil begins to sizzle. Remove the squash from the oven and break 1 egg into each cavity. Drizzle each with a little oil, sprinkle with 2 sage leaves and chili pepper and season with salt to taste. Return to the oven and bake until the egg is the desired consistency, about 10 minutes for a still runny yolk.

Remove from the oven. Transfer the squash to individual plates and garnish each with a generous shaving of cheese. Serve immediately.

Per serving: 249 calories, 10 gm protein, 25 gm carbohydrates, 13 gm fat, 228 mg cholesterol, 5 gm saturated fat, 234 mg sodium, 4 gm dietary fiber

[Faboo]

Thank you so much for that recipe! It was awesome. Those squashes might’ve wound up in the compost pile if not for you.

Before cooking:

After:

We really are getting a surplus of food lately. It is just the two of us, and even though we are big eaters, and I’ve given some stuff to my mother, it is a lot to plow through. Plus we haven’t even been picking all the veggies we could have like okra, tomatillos, wax beans etc. Joining a CSA is a great value for people that think it’s too expensive. If it’s too much food for me, that means it is A LOT of food.

AND THANK YOU AGAIN!

[redglass]

after this week, it's just me...scary! I'll try to post more photos to pick up the slack. So glad that recipe worked for you- I'll have to put that recipe back in my rotation .

This week (photo coming, I promise) was:

hurakei turnips

garlic

eggplant

hot peppers

tomatoes (beautiful cherries and juicy, flavorful "normal" ones)

arugula

basil

and a mystery green- perhaps chard, but I don't know.

[redglass]

This week's cache:

mustard greens

a BIG bunch of arugula

more tomatoes (! can you believe it's October!)- cherry and beautiful reds and yellow larger ones.

tatsoi

garlic

buttercup squash

basil

We were bad "shareholders" last week and ended up eating out a lot, so I'm dealing with cooking two weeks worth of veggies.

Last night we had steak and mashed sweet potatoes/turnips from last week's share.

In the works: tomato sauce, TBM sandwiches, arugula salads, perhaps some buttercup squash risotto...I'm still working on finding a way to prepare the greens that don't make it seem like "homework" to eat.

[redglass]

This is last week's goodness: clockwise, from bottom left: arugula, tomatoes, mustard greens, basil, then tomatoes with the garlic atop them, and the buttercup squash, with the tatsoi above that.

I've stayed pretty true to plan- made some fun "orange" tomato sauce using the cherry tomatoes, and used the arugula to go with some chicken schnitzel that the SO made. Still to go (I feel such a sense of accomplishment having eaten all of the share!) mustard greens, tatsoi, and the squash. On the menu tonight: pork tenderloin wih the squash and the greens.

[Faboo]

Hey, Redglass! Was that your question to Kim O’Donnell on the veggie chat about the turnips? How did her advice work out for you? I’m really behind in my orders as well. Been very under the weather and so not up to cooking or picking, just eating a lot of Chinese take-out. Fortunately, the squashes have been very patient. Still have two acorn, two delicata and two pumpkins to cook up.

Anyways, here is what we got two weeks ago:

We tried popping a kernel of the corn to see if it was popcorn, but I guess it was just Indian corn.

Last Week’s order. The apples were so crispy! Best I’ve ever had.

We were wondering why they gave us such holey looking collard greens, but then found a little baby purple cauliflower hiding inside!

Cutting up the butternut squash for Epicurious’ Butternut Squash Soup with Cumin was a PITA! Glad I’d had a simple recipe to make instead of the lasagna I’d hoped to make. Before pureeing…

And after. The recipe says it serves six but we ate it all in one night. Highly recommend.

Last night I finally made a spaghetti squash. It didn’t seem much like spaghetti, but hubby confirmed it was indeed a spaghetti squash and we tossed the innards w/pesto. Served that alongside some roasted acorn squash and cauliflower:

I am a roasting fool these days. Still no beets!

[redglass]

Yes, that was me on Kim's chat...I ended up wimping out, basically. I roasted them with some EVOO, salt and pepper, but then ended up combining them with a sweet potato and serving them all together as "mashed sweet potatoes". I did taste one on its own before combining with the sweet potato- tasted like a really earthy potato. Next time I'll try something more adventurous.

That soup looks great- I think I've made this one before too- I remember struggling with the uncooked squash!

Looking forward to another pick up tonight....

[redglass]

A beautiful catch this week, although I have no idea what to do with much of it:

Sorrel

Mizuna

Celeraic

Mei Qing Choi

Peppers

A HUGE head of Garlic

tons of great little sweet potatoes

I'm looking forward to the challenge, though. There is a great carrot/sorrel soup on reicpe gullet that I may try again...

(photos coming soon!)

[redglass]

This is this Tuesday's share: you can definetely tell that the season is finally changing; with lots of greens and sweet potatoes and no tomatoes (sigh...)

From left to right: mizuna, arugula, the chinese cabbage below the bowl, then the sweet potatoes, garlic, peppers, celaraic and sorrel. I went on a research mission at the Arlington County Library and am currently going through Chez Panisse Vegetables, Deborah Madison's new Vegetarian suppers, and her older Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. These books are so inspiring! One of the great things about CSA is that it challenges your ideas of what you like (I can't believe I'm actually CRAVING beets) and how you cook. What am I going to do when I will actually have to go to the store for produce? (I'm not a morning person- as much as I love this stuff, getting up early on a weekend to go to the farmer's market just ain't gonna happen).

And- the share from last week.

[Faboo]

Craving beets?! Redglass, I have some you can have. They came on the 13th and hubby says no matter how I cook them he won’t even take a little taste.

I am so behind in my winter squash, I finally got through the two pumpkins. The first one in a soup that was too spicy….

…and the second one in a soup that was too baby-foodish…

The order from the 20th had some really sorry looking collard greens. Don’t know how they made it past the QA dept…

I made Epicurious’ Delicata Squash w/Cider, Sage & Rosemary. It involved making a reduction, which I’d never done before and was sure wouldn’t work. Before:

And voila! After! It worked. I thought it was delish, but hubby wasn’t impressed.

What are you going to do w/the Mizuna and Mei Qing Choi?! I’ve never heard of those before.

I still have enough squash to last me through November, so I’m not as concerned about my last order being this Thursday. I wont be cut off completely cold turkey. You're right about challenging my ideas of what I like. I'd never have bought any of these winter squashes and now I'm planning to make the delicata squash dish again and eat it all myself!

I just looked at my pic from two weeks ago and realize that maybe those weren't pumpkins I had, but Ambercup squash? That could explain why both soups weren't very good

Edited October 24, 2005 by Faboo (log)

[Faboo]

So I got my last order on Thursday…

The sweet peppers brightened up some store bought pizza…

I finally used up the leeks w/the potatoes in a potato leek soup before…

…and after…

And my food wastage phobia resulted in Epicurious’ Roasted Beets w/Horseradish Cream…

The greens were delicious, but the beets, while not horrible… well let’s just say I don’t think I’ll be craving them…ever…

Still have about 10 different winter squashes left along w/the lettuce, yams and apples, so don’t be mourning the end of this thread just yet….

[redglass]

I'm sorry you didn't like the beets!! My favorite way to eat them is roasted, served atop a salad with blue cheese dressing (or just gorgonzola crumbles) and toasted walnuts..

In my bag this week, I happily pulled out two palish looking beets....until I realized they were radishes. HUGE radishes. This is one veggie I've tried to like, but I just can't. I've read recipes that call for using them like potatoes- maybe I'll make a "horseradish mashed potatoes" with them, but I"m not optimistic....

This week's share is the most challenging yet:

mustard greens

collard greens

the aforementioned radishes

sweet potatoes (the highlight)

lettuce mix

Que Ming Choi (looks just like baby bok choy, and I intend to treat it as such )

My SO looks scared at the sight of all those greens!

I'm going to try to make a panade from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook to see if we can make these greens more palatable. Their recipe calls for chard, but I think I can sneak in these other greens.

Wish me luck.

[Faboo]

Good luck and come baaaaaaack!!! I miss you!!!

I’m still plowing through my winter squash. Finally made a pumpkin pie using a recipe from the NYDaily News…

Roasted the pumpkin…

Mixed it in w/cream, brown sugar, eggs & spices…

Finished product was unlike any pumpkin pie I’ve ever had. And not necessarily in a good way. More like custard w/pumpkin flavoring. I’ll try another recipe next time now that I know if was so easy to make.

Used up my sweet potatoes as fries alongside roasted butternut squash and leftovers the other night…

Just have two butternut squash and two acorn and I’m outta here for the winter!

[redglass]

whew...I gotta admit, these autumn vegetables are tough!!

I did end up making the panade. I was so excited about it...and I hated it. The recipe calls for carmelizing onions, then creating a sort of "lasagna" of bread, greens, fontina cheese and onions. You add broth to the dish, then bake at a low temp for a few hours.

Unfortunately, the onions became so sweet during cooking that is was just too much. I spent all that money on good fontina too, only to not be able to taste it at all.

My mother ended up receiving the radishes and "bok choy" and mustard greens as a gift from me. I wish I had taken a picture of the radishes sliced- they were a beautiful white with a pink starburst in the middle! And much milder than the tiny radishes you usually find.

Luckily, this week we got some more user-friendly stuff: butternut squash (YUM), some more greens (kale, mizuna and a green called "autumn poem") that I made a galette with (everything tastes better when surrounded by flaky pastry), turnips and celeraic.

What didn't you like about the pie- not sweet enough? I've never made a fresh pumpkin pie, but I have some sugar babies left over from halloween...

[Faboo]

The panade sounds really interesting, similar to a recipe for 'Zucchini & Country Bread Lasagna' I plan to make next year from Lidia's Family Table, however, your experience is why I usually make simple recipes w/few ingrediants. When Kim O'Donnell says toss in some of this and some of that and have fun! I'm like, well, if it sucks then I'm out the cost of ingrediants and have to find something else for dinner. Then it wont be so fun. I think I'm going to try to make a panade now though. My Yahoo! search turned up a nice recipe w/Butternut Squash & Chanterelles from Alice Waters.

What type of puff pastry do you use for your galette? I plan to make one of those too.

I had a piece of the pumpkin pie last night to try and determine what was not right about it so that I could answer your question. Well, it tasted good! The pie got better with age! So yeah, definitely give one a go with those sugar babies.

Celeriac is great for a pureed soup.

Thanks for the post, I learned about panade!

[Faboo]

I STILL have ONE Acorn Squash left to cook but here is the last of the Delicata Squash which was just roasted in a covered pot w/some olive oil, onions & thyme. Served alongside Rachael Ray's Veggie Scrambles. Weird combo, but it's my kitchen so I can serve what I want:

and here's the last Butternut Squash in the form of Mario Batali's Palpattone of Butternut Squash alongside some roasted cauliflower...

Redglass, did you get your last order?