Adventures in a CSA: Sunchokes

Not only had I never had a sunchoke before, I had never even heard of them. Here is what I know about them now: they are also known as Jerusalem artichokes, they are a root, they are good for diabetics, they are yummy. You can read more about sunchokes here, here, or here.

Pictured are the raw sunchokes from my CSA.

I prepared them two different ways.

First I sliced and pan fried a few in some olive oil with salt and pepper. Then drizzled with a little lemon juice. Of the two ways I prepared them, we liked this way the best.

Next I tried roasting them some some olive oil, potatoes, onion, and rosemary. I think they would have been better had I sliced into them more, instead I left them in whole chucks and not much of the flesh was exposed. They also seemed to take longer to cook than the other vegetables I had them with, maybe again from the lack of cutting.

I would suggest giving these a try if you happen to see them.

Adventures in a CSA: Turnips

Turnips may not be that out there for some of you, but they were completely foreign to me. I don't know if I'd ever had them before.

I cooked these two beautiful turnips in veggie stock then served with butter, salt, and pepper. It was probably not the best way to make them, but it was a first try. My cooked photos didn't really turn out well, so you'll have to use your imagination, sorry.

Spaghetti Sauce

We've had an excess of yummy homegrown tomatoes so I've tried out a few different ways to make spaghetti sauce. With not a drop of Italian blood in me this did not come naturally. First I made a fresh sauce with ripe tomatoes, the sauce was good but a little thin for our taste. For my second attempt I used my Muir Glen canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste, fresh garlic, fresh local mushrooms, fresh local zucchini, and a green pepper I grew. I cooked this all for a few hours in a crock pot. This was a thicker meatier sauce, so I felt I was getting closer. Finally tonight I think I got it. In fact I followed a recipe from a baby and toddler cook book, The Petit Appetit. First I broiled the fresh tomatoes for 15 minutes. Then sauteed the onion, peppers, garlic. Added the tomatoes (ran threw the food processor), a little vegetable stock, spices, and a little canned tomato paste. Simmered for 30 minutes. Then added a tsp of honey and finished off another 10 minutes. Nice, thick, yummy sauce. I could have added mushrooms to give it some meatiness, but we didn't get any this week and it was very good without. Most recipes I looked at called for a bay leaf, I've left it out every time just because it is something I don't keep on hand. The best part about making this now is to make enough to freeze for use when the ingredients are no longer in season.

Hope you are enjoying tomato season as much as we are.

Adventures in a CSA: Tomatillos

Last week I received a bag of tomatillos from my CSA. I wasn’t sure what to do with these never have bought or even held one before. I also received 2 jalapenos and had a red onion left from a previous week. I wanted to make something I didn’t have to go out and buy extra ingredients for, I like it when I can cook with what I have. So (and to your experienced cooks this is no surprise)……my first time to make…..SALSA! Yum! I first roasted the tomatillos in the broiler on a piece of Pampered Chef stoneware (p.s. I sell Pampered Chef…..love it!) for 5 minutes on each side. Let them cool. Then threw them in the blender with the jalapenos which I had seeded and diced and garlic. Added some diced red onion, a little water, a little sugar, a little salt…..Voila! I wanted the flavors to have time to fuse so I made it a night before we used it for dinner. So what did we eat this on? For my husband (the carnivore) I cooked some ground bison (also from my CSA) with finely chopped onion and fresh ground cumin in my iron skillet. For myself I did the same with beans and added a little garlic. We put our filling in a tortilla (aslo from our CSA), topped with cheese and the salsa, rolled, and YUM! My toddler ate the beans and meet with cheese and even a little of the salsa, it wasn’t too hot.

Salsa recipe was adapted from the Joy of Cooking, a must have for any cook.

Info about my CSA can be found at http://www.fairshares.org/