by jphilo | Jul 31, 2013 | Recipes
New recipes pop up in the most unexpected places. This one comes from Book Pages, a monthly book review publication our local library distributes for free. One of the cookbooks reviewed in the June 2013 Book Pages was Bacon Nation. The recipe was included in the review and caught my eye for two reasons:
- I’m an Iowa girl who loves her bacon.
- The recipe uses vegetables included in our CSA share.
So I tore out the recipe and kept it handy until the veggies were ripe and gave it a go. The soup was delicious. Even the Man of Steel liked it. So much that he took the leftovers to work, something he rarely does with soup. With that ringing endorsement, here’s the latest recipe to receive the coveted Hiram seal of approval.
Summer Vegetable and Bacon Soup
5 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 medium-sized onion, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I added a little ham broth to the mix)
1 medium-sized baking potato, peeled and diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 small zucchini, trimmed and diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 large ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
Cook bacon in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5–8 minutes, stirring often. Use slotted spoon to transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper toweling. Leave bacon fat in the pan.
Place the pan over medium heat, add onion and cook about 4–5 minutes, until the onion has softened and is lightly browned.
Stir in the carrots and half the garlic. Cook about 1 minute. Add the chicken/vegetable stock and 2 cups of water. Cover the pan and bring to a boil. Then let the stock mixture simmer, uncovered, until the carrots soften, about 5 minutes.
Add the potato, zucchini, half the chopped tomatoes and half the bacon. Cover pan and bring to a boil. Then let soup simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are cooked, about 20 minutes. Skim off fat or foam if needed.
While the soup cooks, place remaining garlic, tomatoes, basil and olive oil in a blender or small food processor. Process until smooth. Set aside.
When the soup is done, remove it from heat and swirl the tomato–basil mixture into the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with remaining pieces of bacon.
by jphilo | Jul 24, 2013 | Recipes
Today’s post isn’t so much a recipe as an ode to kohlrabi, the latest, most fashionable darling of the healthy eating movement. But it’s been a garden staple on Mom’s side of the family since the 1930s. Since our CSA share for the week included this most delightful of brassica vegetables today’s post is dedicated to the proper eating of it.
Our family has always served kohlrabi raw, though it can be cooked, too. In my opinion, cooking it is a waste of not only the cook’s time and energy, but also the vegetable’s crispy, sweet flavor. That said, here’s a picture tutorial about how to prepare raw kohlrabi for snacking or as the prima donna on a relish tray.
First, cut off the root and leaves. (FYI, most kohlrabi are the size of a medium to large apple.)
Second, peel off the outer skin, which is tough and a little thicker than an apple peel, to reveal the lighter, tender flesh below. Sprinkle it with a little salt and eat as is, like an apple or raw potato,
or sliced into 1/4–1/2 inch rounds,
or cut into sticks.
However you serve it up, if you plan to eat kohlrabi around me and my cousins, be prepared to fight for your fair share. We consider unclaimed slices or sticks fair game!
by jphilo | Jul 17, 2013 | Recipes
Vegetable season is here, and I’m constantly looking for recipes that can be easily adapted to use whatever produce is in our weekly CSA share. When sugar snap peas, my favorite stir fry veggie of all time, I pulled out a recipe for Noodle Stir Fry that was in the Hy-Vee Season’s Magazine and gave it a try.
The original recipe is gluten-free, as it calls for soba noodles, made with buckwheat. Since that’s not an issue at our house, I used thin spaghetti noodles and vegetables on hand. The original recipe made 8 1 1/4 cup servings, but this one makes about half as much. We liked it, especially the heat provided by the crushed, red pepper flakes.
Noodle Stir Fry
6 ounces thin spaghetti noodles
4 tablespoons almond butter
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, divided
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 pint sugar snap peas, strings removed
1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, cut into bite-sized cubes
2 cups cabbage or bok choy, trimmed and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Drain again. Set aside.
For sauce, put almond butter, water, vinegar, soy sauce and red pepper flakes in a gravy shaker. Shake well and set to the side.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil in very large skillet or wok. Add broccoli; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add peppers, peas, and cabbage; stir-fry 4 to 5 minutes or until crisp tender. Pour vegetables onto a large platter.
Add remaining oil to pan. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Add vegetables, noodles, and sauce to skillet. Cook and toss gently 2 to 3 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Serve immediately.
by jphilo | Jul 10, 2013 | Recipes
I love really good (translation: expensive) coffee shop coffee. But on our budget, it’s a once-in-awhile indulgence rather than a regular treat. So I’m always experimenting with the French press at home trying to imitate the coffee from my favorite shop, Burgies.
Usually my efforts fall short.
But one hot June day, I tried my hand at iced coffee. And it turned out better than expected. Much better than expected because the coffee was strong enough, even after the ice cubes had melted.
My dad would have called it strong-enough-to-put-hair-on-your-chest coffee.
So far, it hasn’t had that effect on me. But it was good enough to make again. Maybe even a little weaker than the first batch. Because it really was strong. Almost too strong. But it was also delicious. So give it a try and see what you think.
It’ll Grow Hair on Your Chest Iced Coffee
1/3 cup freshly ground coffee
1 cup almost boiling water
8 large ice cubes
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons agave syrup
1/2 cup almond milk (can use whole milk or soy milk instead)
Put coffee into French press. Add 1 cup almost boiling water. Let brew for 4 minutes and then push down the plunger.
Pour coffee into a large glass. Add almond extract, agave syrup and almond milk. Stir well. Add ice cubes 1 by one. Stir again. Enjoy!
by jphilo | Jul 3, 2013 | Recipes
Garden lettuce season is here, and we’re eating our way through a 2 gallon bag of the stuff given to us by friends. Our favorite recipe is Grandma Fern’s Wilted Lettuce. But a recipe for Strawberry-Kiwi Spinach Salad in the summer issue of the Hy-Vee (a regional grocery store chain headquartered in Iowa) Season’s Magazine caught my eye.
I used garden lettuce instead of spinach, fresh strawberries instead of frozen, added some onions and fiddled with a few of the dressing ingredients to come up with this recipe. Be sure to toast the sesame seeds as instructed. They gave the salad a rich, distinctive flavor that made the dish. We loved it, and it’ll make more appearances on our table in the future.
Strawberry-Kiwi Garden Lettuce Salad
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted*
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
4 cups fresh garden lettuce
1 cup fresh, hulled strawberries, washed and slicec
1–2 kiwis, washed, peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons onion, chopped fine
In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, vinegar, and soy sauce. Stir in poppy seeds and toasted sesame seeds.
In a large bowl, toss salad greens, strawberries, kiwis, and onions. Add dressing and toss to coat.
*Preheat oven to 350°. Place sesame seeds in single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.
by jphilo | Jun 26, 2013 | Recipes
This year’s rain and cool conditions were perfect weather for a bumper crop of garden lettuce. At least that’s what my friend said when she called and asked if I’d like to harvest her’s while she was out of town for a few days.
My answer was a greedy-as-hobbits-offered-mushrooms, “Yes!” I skedaddled to her house on Monday and picked a huge bowlful, smacking my lips the entire time in anticipation of the best taste treat of early summer: wilted lettuce.
The recipe comes from Grandma Fern, my father’s mother. Since Dad was an only child, G’ma Fern passed the recipe on to my mom, who passed it on to me and my sibs. There’s something about fresh lettuce and early onions mingling with the vinegary, salty tang of the dressing that makes my heart go pitter pat. Maybe that’s why I repost the recipe every June.
Grandma Fern’s Wilted Lettuce
10-12 cups garden lettuce (you can mix in fresh spinach, too)
4-6 slices of chopped bacon
1 bunch chopped green onions
1/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup water
1 T sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Wash lettuce thoroughly and drain it in colander. Put lettuce in a large salad bowl. Add chopped green onions and toss. Fry bacon in skillet until crisp. Drain bacon on a paper towel. Pour off the bacon grease and then return 2 tablespoons of melted grease to the skillet. Mix water, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper together and pour into skillet with the grease. Heat mixture until boiling and pour hot mixture over salad greens until the lettuce wilts. For a more wilted salad, drain the liquid off and reheat it. Pour it over the greens again. Toss the greens until coated with liquid. Garnish salad with bacon. Serve immediately.
