Blueberries: Get 'em while you can

I love fresh Georgia blueberries. Tart and sweet, they're a perfect topping for a granola parfait or for eating out of hand or, for the ambitious, a blueberry pie. Here's a recipe from Chef Ricardo Ullio of Atlanta favorite Sotto Sotto, that teams fresh Georgia blueberries with arugula and almonds. A winning combination, especially for my friends with arugula in their CSA boxes.

 Rucola and Mirtilli Salad, from Sotto Sotto

Serves one

1 cup small-leaf arugula

1/4 cup ripe blueberries

1 tablespoon julienned almonds, toasted

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano

In a small bowl, toss together the arugula, blueberries, almonds, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Combine gently. Serve on a small plate and blanket the salad with the shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

CSA Season Finale

Farmers Fresh Food will continue to deliver boxes for another couple weeks, but today marks my last box for the season. I started in May and for nearly seven months have received fresh local produce each Wednesday.

The fall vegetables have been outstanding, especially the greens. I'm crazy for the lettuces -- I will miss those the most these dark CSA-less months ahead. I've got quite a stash of sweet potatoes and apples to see me through 'til February.

The contents of this week's box:

Broccoli, a big ol' spaghetti squash, collards (yum!), herbs, lettuces and Asian turnips.

Plus, four gorgeous fresh apples. This time of year, I end up with a glut of apples, from friends, grocery store sales and trips to North Georgia apple barns. Homemade applesauce is an easy and kid-friendly recipe.

Homemade Applesauce
1. Peel, core and coarsely chunk six or eight or more apples. A mix of varieties works best. My last batch included Galas and Red Romes. I use apples that are a bit past their prime, including the iffy bruised apples in the bottom of the apple bag.

2. Place apples in large, tall container suitable for the microwave. I use a tall gallon container. Pour apple juice (if you have it, water if you don't) to cover apples by about a third.

3. Place container in microwave and zap at full power for five minutes. Stir and zap for five minutes more. This may require more zapping, just check to make sure the apples are cooked through. Stir in a few tablespoons of butter and sugar, if needed. Let cool and puree in food processor.

4. If you simply must have cinnamon, then spice it up by all means. I like it straight, no sugar added. Warm applesauce makes a first-rate side dish for most kid dinners. It's delish also with a pancake and bacon supper.

Fresh Pinto Beans in CSA Box

The last box in November includes apples, herbs, komatsuna (which I think of as Japanese collards), sweet potatoes, Asian turnips, snow peas and hulless popping corn. The snow peas will go in a stir-fry, probably with some shiitakes I picked up at the grocery store. The shelling beans will be cooked in a pork stock; I'm pretty sure they're pinto beans. May have to go Mexicana there. I remember a recipe for a chicken stew with collards and sweet potatoes; that will use up the komatsuna and potatoes.

Baby Butternuts

This week's box included two of the cutest baby butternut squash ever. I'll probably make butternut squash soup from them, just chunk them and cooked in chicken broth before pureeing.

Also in the box: apples, collards, Italian parsley, lettuce and sorrel, sweet peppers, Asian turnips and radishes. The radishes will go in salads and I'll save the turnips for the Thanksgiving turkey soup. If you asked me why we put turnips in the turkey soup, my only response would be because they're usually in the vegetable drawer.

An Assembly of Greens in the CSA box

This week's box featured apples, arugula, kale, a 1/2 dozen eggs, hot peppers (including two poblanos), lots of sweet potatoes and sprouts.

The potato drawer is now the sweet potato drawer. I have plans to make sweet potato pies (plural on purpose) for Thanksgiving. Maybe sweet potato souffle from CI, always reliable. And maybe that veggie sandwich again.

This afternoon, cooked the greens in the fridge (collards, mustard and kale) in a pork stock and then made cornmeal dumplings, for a bowl full of goodness, kind of pot likker soup. Edna Lewis refers to this kind of dish as an "Assembly of Greens." All the squash taking residence on the counter were peeled, sliced and roasted for an hour at 400. I will make a salad with brown rice and vinaigrette with some of the squash and perhaps puree the remainder for a souffle or maybe to use in a cake recipe.

Mini Breads in CSA Box

No pictures today, although the mini breads are certainly picture-worthy. Cute Ezekiel and pumpkin-cranberry breads. We sliced the fruit bread and spread each slice with cream cheese. Very nice snack. The Ezekiel bread is made with grains from Ezekiel 4:9: "Take also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt..." It's very healthy tasting.

Also in the box: lettuce, sweet peppers and oyster mushrooms. The mushrooms are slated for a stir fry with shrimp and edamame.

A New Herb in the CSA Box

This week's box includes apples, collards, braising greens, garlic, sweet peppers and sweet potatoes. The herbs are onion chives, English thyme and lovage. Lovage is new to me and one of those tastes that once I taste it, I want more. I use it wherever I would use parsley, although in my mind, it's a stronger taste. It's excellent in fish dishes and would probably be good with chicken. I used the herbs in the briami, just cut them up right over the top of the oil-kissed vegetables (of course, I stripped the leaves from the thyme). Delicious.

Meet My Pet Cabbage

This week's CSA box was the heaviest ever. Inside: a half dozen apples, a zucchini the size of a cricket bat, a spaghetti squash, braising greens, okra, basil and this 14-pound bowling ball disguised as a cabbage. We put it in our extra refrigerator, next to the apple cider and Mountain Dew stash. We're calling it Audrey II.

The apples will disappear quickly in this house. I plan to make my annual apple pie this weekend, so I hope they last until then. I now have a collection of winter squashes - the spaghetti squash, an acorn squash and a butternut. Maybe I can go "Top Chef" and serve a trio of winter squashes? The braising greens are heavenly. I love sauteed greens, just chopped up a bit and sauteed with olive oil and toasted whole garlic cloves. Taste of autumn for this girl.

Sweet Potatoes This Week

Lots of sweet potatoes and apples in this week's CSA box. I love to get foods that store for long periods of time, like the onions and white potatoes that occasionally appear. I think it's a bad year for the CSA potatoes, none so far in the box. Let's hope for a better year in 2010.

Sweet potatoes make lovely pies and quick breads. I once made a veggie sandwich that began with shredded raw sweet potato that was frozen. The slightly thawed sweet potato patty was put on multi-grain bread with some onion and Monterey Jack or Muenster (not sure) cheese and grilled. It was yummy, unusual and really simple, just requiring the advance prep on the sweet potato.

In other CSA box news: braising greens that Susan identifies as Komatsuma. It's like spinach, but not as tender. Mineral tasting, good raw, but definitely chewy.

A nice rope of lemon grass and a couple sprigs of fennel. The herb will go in a braised chicken dish (bacon, carrots, onions, chicken legs). Lemon grass will be a challenge. Maybe some Asian soup?

Hydroponic lettuce. I crave this lettuce in the wintertime. It is tender and flavorful.

A slew of sweet peppers. I will gather all the peppers in the veg drawer and roast, clean and freeze them. I use peppers prepared this way in the winter in soups, chili and braises.

Okra. I can't believe the okra season is soooo long. I may get to try Dori Sanders' recipe for Summer Cabbage with Sweet Potatoes and Okra. Just waiting on a cabbage to appear in the box.

Muskydimes in this week's box

Life is kind of overwhelming this week. Rain clouds hovered over our county last weekend, dumping two feet of rain in 24 hours. The resulting floodwaters washed out bridges and roads, ruined houses and took seven lives. It's been a sad and strange week, with children out of school, all of us looking for activities and trying to get through the usual routine. (I'm fortunate that there was little damage in my neighborhood, just washed out landscaping and the like.)

My CSA drop off point was flooded, so my friend and neighbor Susan offered to make the pickup, which was about 45 minutes away from us. I was grateful not to spend an hour and half in the car negotiating the road closings.

In the box, muscadines, which my friend Courtney craved and called "muskydimes." My kids will eat them, but to be honest, the taste is too funky for me. Also, green beans, eggplant, basil, lettuce, okra, sweet potatoes and the prettiest bunch of French breakfast radishes ever - fuchsia roots and icy white tops. Too bad I couldn't get a picture, because they are very special. I like the French method of radish consumption: sliced and spread on buttered baguette slices with a smidge of sea salt sprinkled over.

Apple of My Eye

In this week's CSA box:

A pair of ripe, fragrant, homely (so you know they're good) pears.

A half-dozen crisp and sweet apples, the best of which was snagged by Little Miss (above).

So much for the eating-out-of-hand produce. The real meat-and-potatoes, so to speak, are:

Two zephyr squash, with their distinctive half-green/half-yellow coloring. Possible stir-fry candidate, or maybe I'll give in and make a squash casserole. I love the smell of squash and onions frying in butter. One of the Proustian smells of my childhood, and a top-5 favorite, right up there with standing downwind of the Krispy Kreme store.

Pac choi, aka bok choy. Screams stir-fry to me.

Basil for pesto. I love the CSA basil. It's very dark and unbelievably spicy and fragrant.

Green beans for braising. I've made the green bean soup for the summer, and this bunch has a date with a smoked turkey leg and onion, cozied up in the Dutch oven for an afternoon at 300.

Acorn squash. Just table decor until October when I will roast it with other squash. I hope a butternut is in my future.

Okra. The slightly clogged arteries of my Southern heart go pitter-patter when I see okra. Dori Sanders has a parmigiana technique for okra that is interesting and flavorful, but more time-draining than I need, so I will make a quasi-gumbo beginning with bacon, then canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, seasoning and simmering. Served with sauteed shelled shrimp and steamed rice, it's much less work than gumbo, and the simple flavors are appealing to my kids. Besides, when I need a real Louisiana fix, I head to the excellent Cajun restaurant near my home, Gumbeaux's. (you know it's authentic if they mess up on the French plural and possessive.)

This Week's CSA

In the box this week, 5 beautiful Gala apples, okra, a pretty Globe eggplant, a half dozen Chinese eggplants, fresh dill, a pint of Sun Gold cherry tomatoes, and an AWOL winter squash. Farmer's Fresh promises a squash in next week's box.

Brought to You in Technicolor

(Above) Ratatouille raw: heirloom tomatoes, sweet peppers, Japanese eggplants, handfuls of basil, onions, groovy duotone Zephyr squash.

Four hours and more than a few dirty pots later, this technicolor display of vegetables became ratatouille, the foundation of a somewhat French meal for my Francophile friend who insisted that couscous is the proper accompaniment to a pot of this vegetable stew.

Menu a la Francaise

(forgive the pidgin French. If you were in my high school
French class, you would understand.)

Salade Au Vinaigrette

Ratatouille avec Couscous

Baguette avec Garlic Butter

Thin Crust Apple Tart

Vanilla Coffee with Vanilla Sugar

(Above) Plus more from the week's CSA box. Tomatoes, squash, peppers, okra and apples.

I completely forgot to take a picture of the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. They are charming and yummy. Little Miss gobbled them up with Ranch dressing. She likes to put a tomato in each cheek and pretend she is a squirrel.

CSA: What do I do with Purple Cabbage?

When I pick up the CSA box each week, I know when there's a melon or cabbage, because I grunt when I lift it. This week's box featured a personal watermelon and a beautiful purple cabbage that's approximately the size of a bowling ball.

A quick Google reveals that the hollowed-out shell can be used as a decorative vegetal container, perhaps for dips. I'm not putting together a buffet this week, so I'll just have to file that away for future reference. The outer leaves can be used as containers for salads, so I could go that route. I have used purple cabbage previously in my recipe for Chicken Slaw, and that is a dish that my husband really likes, so that's it, a done deal. The chicken slaw is an early post from last year, just cooked, shredded chicken, mixed with shredded cabbage and carrots and onions and cheddar cheese, tossed with a mustard vinaigrette. It's a great summertime meal.

I like sauteed cabbage with bacon or sausage, your usual porkular suspects. Throw some potatoes, leeks and mustard in there, and you have a perfect late summer, taste of autumn, man-pleasing supper.

Also in the box: green beans, due for a braising with tomatoes and onions.

Field peas. Redemption in field peas. Last week's peas were a disaster. In contrast, this week's were clean and dry and fresh. A joy to shell, and an even greater joy to eat. While Lindsey Lou and I shelled the peas, I put a pot of water on to boil, threw in a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, some pepper, a diced onion, two diced Roma tomatoes and one banana pepper, (all from the CSA, so this was something of a hat trick.). When the peas were shelled, I tossed them in the water and let boil for about 45 minutes. Delicious, and probably the best field peas ever.

Another pot of ratatouille is in my future, because I now have a bucketload of the cutest Japanese eggplants, yellow squash and basil. The pepper selection includes banana peppers, jalapenos and a poblano. The only use I know of for poblanos is chiles rellenos. I need to find a use for a single pepper.

How About Them Apples?

The season's first apples are in this week's CSA box. A half-dozen fragrant and perfectly formed Ginger Gold apples. I used to be a Gala girl, then had a fling with Fujis, but now I'm mad for Ginger Golds. I made the world's best apple pie with these beauties last year, (words are insufficient to describe the celestial taste and perfume of that pie), so I'll probably have to hide these to get a sufficient stash for a pie.

Also in the box: green beans, destined for green bean soup, which sounds gross, but is actually bliss.

Okra. I've wanted to make Dori Sanders' Okra Parmigiana since re-reading her "Country Cooking" book over the winter. Fresh pods are a must for this dish and this bag of okra is especially lovely and unblemished.

Field Peas. As pristine as the okra pods are, not so the field peas. I love field peas and actually look forward to some quality shelling time. I am sad to report that the field peas were mildewy and already smelly, probably picked to early and packed too wet. I've reported this to the CSA; they're always good about issuing credit for the occasional bad produce.

A couple of storage onions; I always need onions. Seems like every recipe worth making requires an onion to start with.

And four tomatoes. The tomatoes aren't as big this year; but they are very flavorful. I love the thin skin and pinkish hue of the heirlooms; heirlooms are to store-bought tomatoes as Ginger Golds are to Granny Smiths as Wyeth is to Kinkade.

Watermelon in this Week's Box

In this week's CSA box:

1. Green beans. I'm running out of green bean ideas, so these will go in a pot with a smoked turkey leg and be cooked until just nearly mushy. It will be a nice side dish with the Chicken and Rice dish from Gift of Southern Cooking.

2. Summer squash. These are very fresh and will have to keep for a few days until I can make a squash casserole, which is best done as a two-day affair: sauteed squash and onions one day, the next day, fold in sour cream, an egg, salt and pepper, and bake in a greased casserole in a moderate oven for at least a half hour. Top with toasted, buttery bread crumbs and bake for another five minutes or so.

3. Lettuces and sorrel. Because you can never have too many salads.

4. A personal watermelon. I'd like to know the variety of this melon; it has a very thin rind. It's sweet and has a crunchy texture.

5. Two onions, which will be used in the squash casserole.

6. Tomatoes. Mom's helping me in a project at home, I think I'll pay her in homegrown tomatoes.

7. More corn! This will be taken off the cob and sauteed, for an easy, tasty side dish. I've always wanted to make a version of my grandfather's fried corn, which was thickened with flour, but not this week. The lightness of a quick saute calls to me.

Fresh: This Week's CSA Box

This week's box was heavy with pecans, unshelled. I guess now that I have 10 pounds of unshelled pecans, it's time to have a shelling party. I'd much rather shell field peas or snap beans, but I can't put off the pecans too much longer. I'm not sure how long unshelled pecans can sit before deterioration sets in.

Other items in this week's box: green beans, a cucumber, a cute pattypan squash, a bunch of arugula, a cantaloupe, two onions and an assortment of tomatoes -- one large heirloom type, a yellow, and a dozen or so pear tomatoes. I bought additional tomatoes at the store and I find myself listening to the voice in my head, chanting, "tomato gravy and biscuits, tomato gravy and biscuits." This weekend, I will obey the voices in my head.

The green beans were featured in tonight's menu:

Roast Chicken
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Green Beans with Country Ham
Brownies with Cream Cheese Swirls

The brownies are from Everyday Food and are delicious. They may soon be my default brownies, except for the fact that the recipe dirties up four bowls (which is probably my fault, I wasn't in a streamlining mood.)

Brownies with Cream Cheese Swirls

10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup plus two tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 ounces low-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch square pan and line with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk flour, coca, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

2. Assemble a double boiler with a pan of simmering water and a heat-proof bowl inserted so that the bottom just touches the water. Place the stick of butter in the bowl, along with the chopped chocolate. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove bowl from pan. Add 1 1/4 cups sugar; mix to combine. Add 3 eggs and stir. Add flour mixture and stir just enough to combine.

3. Prepare cream cheese mixture: whisk cream cheese with 2 tablespoons butter. Whisk in 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg and 2 tablespoons flour.

4. Spread half of the brownie batter into bottom of prepared pan and smooth with an offset spatula. Dollop cream cheese in 3 or 4 spoonfuls onto base. Pour remaining brownie batter in between cream cheese blobs. With the tip of a knife or the offset spatula, make several figure eights to swirl the cream cheese into the brownie batter. Don't overdo the artistry here, Rembrandt. Just 3 or 4 passes will make a lovely marble effect.

5. Bake in a 350 oven for at least 50 minutes. I used convection and it took almost an hour. Test with a toothpick -- just a crumb or two is acceptable. Fingertip test: the batter should spring back slightly when touched in the center. Cool in pan about 30 minutes, then pull out by parchment paper sling. Everyday Food says you can keep these at room temp in an airtight container for 2 days. Serve with vanilla ice cream -- you won't regret it.

I Made a Pie, Now Where's My Blue Ribbon?

Yes, Ma'am, I made this pie! It's the Black & Blueberry Pie with Lemon-Cornmeal Crust from Fine Cooking's June/July 2008 issue. Thanks to Haven Farms that supplies blueberries to the CSA -- it was a brief but magnificent season, and the last of the berries went into this bee-yoo-ti-ful pie. It was my first lattice-crust pie, which is a very simple technique when you follow the directions, which is one of the many reasons I love Fine Cooking magazine. My favorite instruction is near the end of the recipe, where the author advises to watch the bubbles in the pie - if the bubbles are not in the middle, then the pie will not set. I would have pulled the pie out a half-hour early if I didn't read that! The recipe is on Fine Cooking's website, probably under the subscription-only part, but if you're serious about cooking, a subscription is well worth the investment.

We're eating pie today, so if you're in the neighborhood, call before you come and I'll put on a pot of coffee and serve you up a slice of blue-ribbon-worthy Black and Blueberry Pie.

Buttermilk Makes It Better

Rose had me at "buttermilk!" This cake, the Buttermilk Country Cake from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible, is the best-textured yellow cake I have ever eaten. It is tender, just slightly crumbly, not dense like a pound cake, but buttery and sweet. I served it with orchard-fresh freestone peaches from the CSA box and a bit of sweetened whipped cream. The peaches were juicy and surprisingly tart, which is ok in my book, given the context of cake and cream.

I just happened to have a quart of Marburger whole-milk buttermilk on hand, one of my secret weapons for tender cakes and quick breads. Not every store carries it, but I find it at Publix and sometimes the Super Wal-Mart stores, and always snag a quart when I do. It is thick and creamy and has freckles in it -- tiny orange flakes that turn golden brown when used in biscuits.

If you don't have The Cake Bible, by all means, go out and get yourself a copy. There is no need to ever purchase a boxed cake mix again. The buttermilk country cake recipe alone will make your reputation as a baker.

Redneck Ratatouille

(Above: Tomatoes and Basil, Ready for Ratatouille.)

I discovered ratatouille last summer, not in some quaint out-of-the way Provencal restaurant, but in the pages of a half-dozen cookbooks in my own kitchen. It's a recipe somewhat like the alchemy of stock-making, where you need to accumulate enough stuff, in this case, summer's ripest produce, and turn it into gold.

Between the farmer's market and CSA box, I had enough eggplants, peppers, squash, tomatoes (heirloom and cherry), onions, and basil for a big pot of ratatouille. With the recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook as my guide (see last summer's post), salting and draining the eggplant, rather than roasting it, the dish turned out just fine. To cut down on the oil, I cooked the onion and squash in a small amount of water before adding them to the simmering tomato and pepper mixture. (A warning to mommies: it took for-bloody-ever to assemble and prepare all the produce, about two hours, because I was dealing with young children who were not in the proper ratatouille frame of mind.)

What makes mine Redneck Ratatouille is not that I add venison (sorry, a rather lame personal joke), but that I serve it with my version of polenta, using Dixie Mills yellow grits, cooked up with chicken broth and a tablespoon or two of butter. If I had Parmesan on hand, I would have stirred some in, too. The result? C'est magnifique! (even the cranky kids agreed!)