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Fresh Fork Market Winter CSA–week 4

Dec 062012

Today, we had our 4th winter pick up of our Fresh Fork Market CSA.

Here’s what we received in our bag this week:

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

Winter Week 4:

1 smoked ham hock
2 lbs. black turtle beans
1 lb. kale
2 acorn squash
3 lbs. sweet potatoes
Aprrox. 1 lb. onion
1 head broccoli (or 1 bag broccoli shoots…which are just smaller heads)
1 package chorizo or Italian sausage
1 bunch beets with tops
1 bag mixed salad or braising greens
1 stalk Brussels sprouts
1 quarter peck empire apples

I haven’t given much thought to how this week’s items would be used. I’ll probabaly cut the sausage into pieces and bake it in the oven. Although, a crock pot batch of Italian sausage with peppers and onions might be a great meal for a busy swim lesson night next week. I’ll probably make soup with the ham hock. I don’t feel the need to be extra creative in the kitchen since holiday time. We haven’t even put our tree up yet.

Last time we got beans, I cooked them in the crock pot and then froze them in 1-2 cup portions. That worked quite well and I haven’t had to buy canned black beans in ages. We were out of apples, so these will go into oatmeal as early as tomorrow.

The sweet potatoes weren’t in the best shape, I’ll probably just make mashed potatoes with them. Beets will go into Harvard beets. It will be a smaller batch, but enough for one or two of us to have them for a side.

I haven’t stuffed acorn squash yet this winter. I like to make a stuffing with squash, sausage, cheese and rice. Yum! The onions will get used in general cooking.

I can not get enough of the sprouts this year. Love them! This kale is some of the prettiest that I have seen all year. I will probably make a quiche with it.

I never know what to do with these mixed greens. They are bitter and tend to have lots of stems. The broccoli on the other hand is always fabulous and will probably get cooked tomorrow.

It was nice to stock up on milk and yogurt at the truck. Too bad I didn’t think to buy eggs. There’s always next time!

Fresh Fork Market Winter CSA–week 2

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Nov 152012

Today was our second pick up. Again, we picked up in the dark. It’s definitely not my favorite time of year once the time changes. I took a couple of days off of blogging this week and it felt good to have a break. Life has been crazy busy and I love it like that.

Here’s what we received in our bag this week:

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

Winter Week 2:

1 bone in pork shoulder roast, approx. 4 lbs.
1 half lb. bag hard neck garlic
1 bunch carrots with tops
3 lbs. sweet potatoes
1 head cabbage
1 bag broccoli shoots
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch mustard greens

I’m going to bake the sweet potatoes and add them to my stash for Thanksgiving. We’ll get 4 pounds in our package, but I need more than that for our crowd. I’m adding cabbage to our stuffing, so some of this red head will be used for that. I’m probably going to braise the rest.

This is a ton of garlic. I still have plenty of garlic frozen. I’ll need to get more creative and/or remember to use it more often. The pork roast is a bit on the small side. I am planning on making pulled pork with it. I need an easy crock pot meal tomorrow. My in-laws are coming to visit and we aren’t sure of their arrival time, so I need something that will be ready and waiting.

I’ve been using the collards in fajitas or taco filling. It’s a good gluten free item, so I’ll be making that while my brother in law is in town this weekend. Carrots don’t last long in our house. The kids will probably eat these at lunch one day this week.

We’ll cook the broccoli as a side soon as well. The mustard greens worked well in quiche the last time we received them, so I’ll be doing that with them again.

This is my first time receiving broccoli shoots. We don’t get many new items since I’ve been doing CSAs for 4 years. I’m wondering if they are suppose to have some “mini” broccoli crowns. They look a lot like collards, but the photos that I’ve been looking at on line leave me thinking these are broccoli greens. I’ll probably chop them up with the collards since the greens cook down so much.

I seriously need to spend a few hours in the kitchen tomorrow. I need room to put the turkey away on Tuesday or Wednesday. I don’t even know what day I’m picking mine up yet. I don’t hate green weeks anymore, but they are bulky.

Hmmm…. I’m going to ask the guys at Fresh Fork about the last green. I’m now thinking the broccoli might be the shoots from doing more reading. More to come!

Fresh Fork Market Winter CSA–week 1

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Nov 082012

Today was the first pick up for the winter program with our Fresh Fork CSA. It was also our first pick up in the dark. Since we are on to the winter program, Mayfield is no longer a pick up site, so we pick up in Beachwood. Thursdays, Nick and Sally have swim lessons, so we pick up on the late side around 5:30PM. Stephen is a great help and set up the lights for me so I could take decent photos.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

Winter Week 1:

1 whole pasture raised chicken, approx. 5 lbs.
2 spaghetti squash (unless we have a few enormous ones)
1 half gallon apple cider
1 quarter peck Winesap apples
1 handful sweet peppers (all of them are sweet, even though some look hot)
1 bunch turnip greens
1 bunch kale
1 head cauliflower
1 dozen eggs
1 bunch beets with tops
1 stalk Brussels sprouts
1/2 lb. bag stir fry mix

And, it’s exactly what we received.

I was excited to see the Brussels sprouts. I’ve been eyeing this recipe from my pal Katie. I’m thawing my bacon for it now. I have all of the other ingredients on hand. We were out of eggs, so I was glad to get them in my bag this week. I’ve made the butternut squash custard drink a couple of times now and don’t want to be out of eggs just in case I want to make it again.

These are the turnip greens. We don’t get them too often. My go to recipe for greens that I don’t know what to do with is quiche. So, I’ll probably make one of them this week. It will include some leftover chicken and turnip greens. And, it’s another reason that I’m glad we got eggs this week (although I also have some eggs frozen that I could use). I like cooking the whole chickens. We had them a lot growing up, so they never intimidated me. I like making stock and using all of the pieces.

The different colors of cauliflower have been fun. I’ll make this as a side dish and maybe serve them mashed. The stir fry mix will go into a stir fry. Wasn’t that an original idea. I may combine it with some spaghetti squash and serve it Asian style.

My family isn’t a big fan of the spaghetti squash with tomato squash. I need to investigate some additional recipes for it. The peppers will go into chili that I am making tomorrow.

I’ll probably just sauté the kale. I don’t have anything specific in mind. I’ll make Harvard beets and use the greens in some eggs this week.

Apples almost always go in oatmeal and for snacks. These will be no exception. I don’t like apple cider. I may decide to try it again some day, but it always has given me a headache. That being said, Stephen, Nick and Sally all like it so they will enjoy it this week.

So, our winter season is off and running. Three weeks in a row and then we go to every other week until May. I love the CSAs, but I am also looking forward to a break in the action so we can use some of our preserved food. I also need to start cooking some of the lamb soon.

Thanksgiving Dinner

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Nov 052012

Tonight, I attended the Fresh Fork Market first Thanksgiving Dinner and cooking class. I had a great time. I got to spend time with friends of Fresh Fork that I don’t see often.

This was mainly a dinner event, with occasional demos and commentary from Chefs Adam and Parker. It was served family style with about 70 people in attendance. The dishes just kept coming. We had turkey, cabbage, corn, sweet potato hash, mashed potatoes, cauliflower, 2 types of stuffing, gravy, greens, 4 different desserts including fresh whipped cream. Whew! I don’t even know if I remembered everything.

The lighting wasn’t very good for photos, but I managed to snap a few. Here’s Trevor (head of Fresh Fork) and Parker (Fresh Fork’s chef in residence).

I didn’t get a photo of Chef Adam, but we enjoyed his discussion about turkey and his bacon panna cotta. It was an outstanding dessert! No Fresh Fork Thanksgiving would be complete without pie from Humble Pie Bakery. Diane talked to us about pies for a few minutes. One of the best parts of the night was that the chefs were available for questions.

If you haven’t had fresh whipped cream, you are missing out. It was a great compliment to the apple, pumpkin, and confetti pie or on its own.

I surely won’t be hungry at breakfast. Everything was great and I hope they repeat the event next year. For the first time, I am going to be making Thanksgiving dinner with my mom. I can’t wait to introduce our family to a couple of new recipes.

West Side Market 100 Gala

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Nov 042012

Saturday was a crazy busy day for me. I headed to a class at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, followed by my weekly docent class there. I had volunteered to work at the coat check later in the day for the West Side Market Centennial 100 Gala. My shift was set to be 8:30PM – 11:30PM. So after my classes, I headed to the West Side Market for a few photos.

It was a cold, dreary day. But, the set up and preparations were fun to see. There were several tents up.

I took note of the West Side Market Café since that was where volunteers were going to meet.

Several food trucks were on site.

The valet service was well staffed and ready for the VIP attendees to start arriving.

The black box in the middle with the big hose is the heater!

One of the pipes went straight into the coat check tent.

After taking a photos, I stopped at the Market Garden Brewery for a quick dinner. Soon enough, I headed to the WSM and checked in. Aseela gave me my badge. I told her that I knew I was early, but I was just going to hang out and if she needed anything to let me know.

5 minutes later, I was holding a radio – just in case someone showed up to volunteer and we needed her. She wasn’t gone long, but I was glad to be available to help. After that quick stint, I took a few minutes to walk around the venue. The VIP attendees had started to arrive.

Symon’s stand was one of the most popular.

I hung out in the café most of the early evening. Around 8:15PM, I headed to the coat check. It was super nice to have the heaters. Everything in the coat room was smooth.

It was crazy during the night to listen to the radio traffic. I’ve always enjoyed the behind the scenes look at events. From a lobster allergy to get a trash can changed, it was not dull. When people started to claim their coats, we were totally entertained. Many guests had too much to drink. So, hilarity ensued when they would try to find their claim ticket. Our table was used for cleaning out many purses and pocketbooks. We had more than one person tell us that their coat was the black one. (Over 80% of coats are black.) By the end of our shift, it seemed that everyone had received their coat back, so that was successful. We were asked not to take tips since we were volunteers. We had suggested a tip jar marked – all proceeds go to the market, but it was shot down. That was really dumb. We spent 3 hours trying to explain to people no tips, we are volunteers, keep your money, etc..

Also, we were in the middle of the “goodie bag” drama. Each attendee was supposed to get a goodie bag that included the special “Butchers Brew” from the Great Lakes Brewing Company. But, 900 people and 800 bags was not going to work. They decided that each couple would get a bag. The staff quickly figured out that wasn’t going to work. They set too many bags out at once, which gave the appearance of “plenty of bags”. People were taking at least one per person, in some cases 2 or 3. We weren’t in a position to be the bag police, but we watched it from the coat room. At the end of the night, they were short bags. I would be ticked if I spent $250 or more on an event and didn’t get the beer and I don’t even like beer.

I had fun watching the event. I’m glad that the attendees all seemed to have a good time. The event raised a lot of money for the market and that was the idea.

I should note that as volunteers, we were not permitted to partake in the food or beverages for the guests. We were supposed to have dinner and water provided. It was mediocre at best and I was glad to have eaten before I arrived.

Fresh Fork Market 2012–Summer CSA–week 22

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Nov 012012

Because of Sandy, our Trick or Treat was moved to tomorrow, so we decided to pick up our share today. I didn’t want to be in a rush to put it away, have dinner and have the kids ready. This is our last pick up for the summer season and also the coldest/wettest pick up. I planned a nice butternut squash soup for dinner from the freezer today. It’s a great day for soup.

Here’s a group shot of today’s pickup:

Here’s what we were expecting to receive this week:

1 bunch carrots with tops
1 head jumbo white stem bok choy
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
1 head broccoli
1 butternut squash
2# turnips
1 bag salad mix, lettuce
2# bag of sauerkraut
1 quarter peck Empire apples
2 frozen pizza dough balls
1 package goat feta cheese
Baby Peppers (came in last week’s package)

The carrots will make a nice simple side dish. Everyone likes them in our house, so these won’t last long. The pork and beef is intended for meatloaf. Maybe Stephen will make his famous meatloaf this weekend. That would be delicious.

I’ve started looking at lamb recipes and found a Lamb and Feta Stuffed Cabbage recipe. I think the feta will go into that recipe soon.

We were almost out of apples again. Those will go into oatmeal. I can’t get enough winter squash. I’ll be roasting this along with pie pumpkins that I picked up today. Uses are endless.

For the first time, we received fresh sauerkraut. I’m excited to try it, but I am also glad that it will keep a while in the fridge, so there’s no hurry. This broccoli looks outstanding.

We’ll have it as a side along with pizza for dinner tomorrow. With Trick or Treat, we’ll need an easy to clean up meal. The lettuce will go into salads tomorrow or Saturday.

I’m not sure about the bok choy, but I am thinking a stir fry like we made with the Napa cabbage last week.

I don’t have any current plans for the turnips, but I am glad they will last a while. Maybe we’ll make soup later in the week.

I’ve enjoyed trying out the large package this year. I’d never go back to the small. I love the bag size for us. It worked really well. I’m not interested in the full access package. I like getting the variety in the large and then supplementing with extras as needed.

Green Tomato Muffins

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Oct 292012

Last week, it was time to clean up our plot at the community garden. Stephen and the kids came home with a bowl full of green tomatoes. At first, I had no idea what to do with them. Someone at church mentioned making green tomato jam. I started looking at recipes and ended up looking at green tomato bread recipes. The more I looked at them, the more they looked familiar. Then, it hit me. These recipes are zucchini bread with tomatoes instead of zucchini.

I immediately went to 100 Days of Real Food and printed the recipe for zucchini bread. I just subbed the green tomatoes for zucchini and didn’t use any nuts. The muffins turned out great, although they aren’t very photogenic. I love being able to use local wheat flour, eggs, honey and tomatoes in the recipe. I’ll definitely make them again. I had chopped the tomatoes and then put them through the food processor. I had enough for 2 batches, so I froze one.

The wind from hurricane Sandy is really blowing. Off to charge my phone, just in case.

Hot Butternut Squash Custard Drink

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Oct 282012

It’s a chilly, rainy night here. According to the forecasters, we are in for a wet week since hurricane Sandy is 500 miles across and north east Ohio is in that zone. Stephen went out to run an errand, and I thought it was the perfect time to try this recipe.

I adapted it from Heavenly Homemakers.

Hot Butternut Squash Custard Drink

3 cups Snowville Creamery whole milk
4 egg yolks, preferably from local eggs
1/3 cup real maple syrup, local
1 cup pureed roasted butternut squash
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
generous 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon double strength vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, combine milk, egg yolks, maple syrup, squash, arrowroot powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture begins to thicken.

Remove from heat and add vanilla. Whisk until combined. Pour into mugs and serve warm. Serves 4.

We have turned into milk snobs. We love Snowville Creamery milk. It’s just good. I’m sure you could make this with any milk you’d like. You’ll want whole milk (or a mix of other milk and cream). I planned ahead and made pancakes with egg whites yesterday. I saved the yolks for this recipe. That was a good plan. Alternatively, I would use the egg whites left over in French toast or a yolkless omelet the next day. I buy a gallon of local maple syrup each season. I supplement with more if needed depending on our usage that year.

A week or two ago, I roasted 9 butternut squash in the oven and froze the puree in 2 cup portions. I used 1 cup in the pancakes yesterday and saved the rest for this recipe. We did have a few spots in the finished drink where the squash wasn’t 100% smooth. I’d probably figure out a way to double check it next time. I’m thinking that I could blend it in the Vitamix or food processor a little longer to ensure smoothness. I’m sure the pumpkin version is tasty as well, but we happen to have lots of butternut squash on hand.

I bought arrowroot powder at Penzeys a while back, so I had it on hand. Cornstarch should work as well, but I didn’t try it with that.

We grate our nutmeg as needed, so I always approximate the measurement on the high side. We generally like the dishes that we make with extra cinnamon, vanilla (hence the double strength) and generous nutmeg.

I liked that it wasn’t heavy and was sweet without being “sickening sweet”. It was a nice treat. I wouldn’t make it everyday, mostly because of the “whisking constantly” step, which took a while. Stephen and I enjoyed a couch date this evening as we enjoyed the drinks.. We resisted the second serving and put some in the fridge. I’ll be anxious to see how it reheats tomorrow.

Fresh Fork Market 2012–Summer CSA–week 21

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Oct 262012

Today we had a cold and rainy pickup. We gifted our greeter with a hot Starbucks beverage. Starbucks makes everything better. The kids enjoyed their special chocolate milk and it was a nice treat. We arrived at the pick up just about 4PM when it opened and were in and out quickly. We didn’t stay and hang out due to the weather. There’s only so much room under the tent.

I’m starting to recognize the weather based on our bags. It’s October and getting cooler. We’re seeing more greens again and the start of more winterish crops like potatoes, rutabagas and cabbage.

Here’s what we were expecting to receive this week:

1 head either savoy green cabbage or red cabbage (smaller heads)
1 bunch kale
1 to 2 rutabagas with tops, depending on size (some are rather large)
3# bag red Norland potatoes
Approx. 1# onion
1 head cauliflower
1 8 oz. piece goat gouda
1 lb. Spelt Flour and Rosemary Linguini
2# Roma tomatoes
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 package sirloin pork chops, approx. 1.5#
1 carving pumpkin or bag of corn chips

It’s definitely the end of tomato season. These are the “good” side of these Romas. I have a couple that aren’t going to be usable. We’ll be making mashed rutabaga/potatoes or creamy soup with those ingredients.

We ate the cauliflower for dinner with the pasta. It was tasty. It had one bad spot so I wanted to wash, cook and eat it quickly.

I’m a little behind on cooking our cabbage. This will be a 2 head consumption week!

I’ll chop and add the onion to the “unstuffed cabbage recipe I hope to put in the crockpot tomorrow. The small sweet peppers were a nice surprise. I might stuff them with the red pepper Havarti from last week and roast them in the oven.

We had a choice between pumpkins and chips. We took the chips since we already have a pumpkin. If I could find some mild black bean and corn salsa from Blaze, we’d be all set. The pork will probably get baked for a meal this weekend.

I’m not sure what to use the Gouda for. It’s probably going to be enjoyed in its own so we can taste the flavors. I don’t think I’ve ever had goat Gouda before. We also have more greens this week. Swiss chard and kale. I’m pretty sure the Swiss chard will go into the Andouille sausage/sweet potato dish similar to what we made last week.

I haven’t decided on a use for the kale yet. We may have another quiche in the cue for this week. That’s one of my go to dishes when I don’t know what to do with a green.

It’s hard to believe that next week is the last week for summer. I’m glad there no break before the winter CSA starts! I’m also starting to think about getting a turkey. We don’t host Thanksgiving at our house, but last year I bought a package anyway since we like many of the ingredients. It was just a bit too much food at our house all at once. If I buy a turkey, I’d cut it up and freezer the parts and probably also make some turkey sausage. I need to decide soon. Turkey deliveries are three and a half weeks away.

Stir Fry with Napa Cabbage

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Oct 232012

Continuing with greens week. One of the items that we received this week was Napa cabbage. It looks more like romaine lettuce than cabbage. One of my friends had suggested using it in stir fry.

My husband likes Asian flavors, including sesame oil. I do not care for many Asian spices (especially sesame oil). So, this dish was going to be for him and probably Nick.

I cleaned and chopped the Napa cabbage and put it aside in a bowl.

I put some sesame oil in a pan and heated it for a bit with a chopped garlic clove. I added 1/2 cup water and some broccoli crowns. I cooked it for a few minutes and then I added the cabbage along with some chopped mushrooms and leftover (cooked chicken) that we had in the fridge.

As the dish was cooking, I thought about spices and added some powdered orange peel. I thought it would go well with the garlic and sesame oil.

I also realized that I had a package of Ramen noodles in the cupboard. I discarded the flavor packet, crushed the dry noodles and stirred them in.

In just a few minutes, the dish was done. Unfortunately, I didn’t snap a photo. The reviews from Stephen and Nick were great.

Greens day two is complete. Napa cabbage works well in improvised stir fry.

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