Roasted beets

I think beets are one of those things that either you love or you hate. I’m in the love category, while hubs and the kids are firmly in the hate camp.

I roasted two weeks worth of CSA beets today, much to the hate camp’s dismay. They find the smell of cooking beets distasteful.

For those of you who are beet fans, have you ever tried roasting them? It’s super simple. Trim off the greens, give them a scrub, spread them on a baking sheet, and pop them in a 400 degree oven until tender. Depending on the size of your beets, it will take an hour or more.

After they cool down, the peels come off really easily.

I peel them all and stick them in the fridge for snacks and salads. One of my favorite ways to eat them is with goat cheese and a drizzle of Orange Olive Oil.

CSA 7/11/12

Little stuff (clockwise from left): Snap peas, okra, tomatoes, Thai basil, blackberries

Bigger stuff: Chard, cucumbers, beets, lettuce, potatoes

I’m not feeling particularly creative in the kitchen this week, so most of this will probably be sauteed, roasted, or eaten raw. But if you need real ideas about what to do with your produce, check out the link party over at In Her Chucks.

 

CSA 6/14/12

I’m completely, totally enamored with produce.

Lillian and red leaf

Logan and green onions

Judy and garlic scapes

Lillian and kale

Logan and spinach

Howard and Bok Choy

So much so that my family was barely surprised when I asked them to pose for a few produce portraits.

Here’s how I’m using my CSA this week:

• Red leaf lettuce – lots of salads with homemade ranch dressing
• Green onions – for adding to salads, especially ranch bacon potato salad
• Garlic scapes – chop them up and use them just like garlic
• Kale – Sauteed as a side, and as kale chips
• Spinach – more salads with more ranch dressing
• Bok choy – Stir fried with hamburger, served over rice, just like my Aunt Susie used to make

 

Salad in a jar

I’m the worst when it comes to packing lunch. This is because I’m way too lazy, and always too rushed (due to sleeping in from laziness, of course). So I’ve finally come to accept that I need an option that is completely grab and go. This is it. 100% stolen from Secret Recipe Club.

Start with dressing. I used 3 T hot pepper olive oil + 1 T cider vinegar + a dash of oregano. Then layer in whatever you like, putting items not likely to wilt on the bottom and ending with the delicate bits. Mine goes carrots, celery, sprouts, mushrooms, spinach. When you’re ready to eat it, shake and dump into a bowl.

I made three of these on Tuesday, then ate one each day Wed, Thurs, and Fri. They held up deliciously.

 

Picture post – NYC (and Food Network studios)

I took another quick trip to NYC for work. It was yummy.

Dishy delights at Fishs Eddy:

Beautiful piles of teas and spices at the Union Square Holiday market:

Food fun at Eataly:

Best part of our trip – tour of Food Network studio:

The jukebox from Unwrapped:

Great quote from Kurt Vonnegut on the wall:

Big (and currently empty) studio, home of Iron Chef America, among others:

Me and the Food Network prep kitchen:

New Year’s (Food) Resolutions

I know it’s too soon, but I have to write these things down before I forget them.

1. Make some kind of infused or spiced liquor. Like this one. Or this one.

2. Take a Columbus Food Adventures tour. I so keep meaning to do this. Who wants to come with?

3. Make petit fours.  I just love the idea of teeny tiny foods.

4. Eat at Fresh Street. This place is all the rage among the food peeps in CBus, and it just got a mention on Serious Eats.

Frozen Dinners – Biscuits

And this is chapter two in making my own frozen junk food for kids.

Hubs often bakes up these prepackaged biscuits for the kids’ breakfast in the AM.

They’re raw dough and you bake them from frozen.

To duplicate this trick, I made up a batch of these biscuits (in this case I used 3 parts AP flour and 1 part whole wheat as well as half shortening and half butter because I ran out of the regular ingredients), then froze them unbaked. When you want to eat them, just preheat the oven to 425. After it’s heated, put as many biscuits as you want on your baking sheet.

Bake for 15 or so minutes, until they are just browned on top.

Look how nice and puffy they bake up!

I like mine swimming in milk gravy.

5 things I want for Christmas

I know it’s too early for a Christmas list, but look at all these shiny things!

1. Cocanu Moonwalk Chocolate

It’s dark chocolate with poprocks in it. Wow.

2. Fancy lollipops from the Groovy Baker

These are cherry cordials, but other fantastic flavors include Prom night punch, Aquarius, Pineapple Caramel Upside Down, Creme Brulee, Lime in the coconut, and Alchemy.

3. Fancy olives and kabanaki peppers from the Olive Orchard

I tried these at a tasting last week and fell in love. Especially with those peppers (you can see how the jar in the above photo is actually empty of peppers, due to my having unrestrainedly eaten them all, unable to save even one for hubs or the green caret, both of whom would have been wildly appreciative of such fare). They are spicy, and creamy (stuffed with feta), and rich from being packed in lovely Greek oil. I fantasize about eating them while sipping an old fashioned cocktail.

4. Babycakes donut maker

There seems to be a huge baked donut fad going on in the blogosphere right now, and I feel I need to get on board. And bake more donuts.

5. Homesick Texan Cookbook

You’re surprised, right?

New cookbook to try

I can’t wait to try some recipes from this cookbook I picked up at the library. It’s the Homesick Texan, by the author of the blog by the same name.

I’ve already made a big list of things to try first, including queso cookies, chipotle ketchup, and chorizo empanadas. Top of my list is this Chipotle Pimento cheese. I’m pretty positive I’m going to stuff some jalapenos with it and bake them. I will give you an update when this happens.

I haven’t been this excited about a cookbook since I discovered How to Cook Everything last year.

 

Market Day

This time of the year, when everything at the market is so glorious and ripe, I really miss my CSA. This morning I bought a few things to get through the pain.

This is (clockwise from top left) tomatillos, heirloom tomatoes, ground cherries, and cherry tomatoes. I can’t remember the name of those peppers in the middle, but the sign said they were “smoky like poblanos” and I am a real sucker for a charred poblano. Not pictured are some peaches, a flatiron steak, and some beef short ribs.

Here are my plans for this goodness:

• Tomatillos – roasted tomatillo salsa
• Heirloom tomatoes – regular salsa
• Ground cherries – plain for snacking
• Cherry tomatoes – plain for snacking
• Peppers – added to my salsas, above
• Peaches – I have dreams of some sort of peach cobbler or crumble

I have no idea what to do with this meat, but I’m sure I’ll find something. I’ll give you an update when I do.