Blue Ribbon BBQ Sauce

Many seek out their local farmer's market, farm stand or CSA for seasonal fruits and veggies. And while they may make up the majority of offerings throughout the summer season here in the Northeast, meat is a growing feature at these venues - and for good reasons!

• Consumers want to know that the meat they are buying is free of added hormones and antibiotics and the animals have been fed an appropriate diet (often times they are raised organically)! 
• They also want to know the chicken, beef, pork (bacon!), etc., that they're buying has been raised in a kind and humane manner by people who prioritize the needs of their animals over producing as many animals as possible as quickly as possible.
• The quality is generally MUCH better than you will find at your local grocer!

In addition to our vegetable, egg and flower CSA's, we also belong to a chicken CSA at Square Roots Farm.  I'll be the first to admit that eating farm fresh chicken has turned me into a bit of a chicken snob. We haven't purchased chicken from the grocery store since our chicken CSA kicked off at the beginning of June and I don't miss it one bit!

We generally get two chickens every two weeks (the day after they are processed, I might add). Occasionally, we grille one on our rotisserie, but more often I cut them up into parts - some to use right away and others to freeze for later. And nothing goes to waste - the remaining carcasses are either frozen right away or go straight into a pot for some of the best chicken stock you'll ever taste!

We use a lot of boneless chicken breast to make stir fries, salads or shish kebobs throughout the summer, with whatever fresh vegetables we have on hand. Bone-in drumsticks and things are great roasted (particularly on cold winter's day), but our favorite way to enjoy them is right off the Weber (preferably with some farm fresh corn and perhaps a sun-kissed tomato right off the vine)!

This summer, I've mastered BBQ chicken. While trying to avoid going to the store more than I absolutely have to throughout this pandemic, I've come up with a rub and sauce that is as good better than any you find on a shelf. While I'll admit, this BBQ sauce has not (yet) won a blue ribbon, it IS that good, trust me!

Blue Ribbon BBQ Sauce

1 1/2 cups brown sugar packed

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup of molasses

1 Tablespoon Worcester sauce
2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons dried onion flakes

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons sea salt

dash or two of red pepper flakes

Chicken and Rib Rub
1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sea salt (kosher salt will work too)

1/4 cup paprika

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/4 teaspon cayenne pepper

To make the chicken, I apply rub (hence the name) a generous amount of Chicken and Rib Rub on each piece of meat about a 1/2 hour or so before I put it on the grille.

In the meantime, light your grille, but leave one burner off (we have a three-burner Weber, so I turn on the middle and right-hand burner and leave the left one off). 

When I'm cooking legs (i.e. the drumstick and thigh together), I place them skin-side up over indirect heat (the burner on the left) and cook them for 20-25 minutes then turn them over for an additional 15-20 minutes. At that point, I brush each piece with a generous amount of BBQ sauce then cook for 5-7 minutes turn the chicken over and repeat the process. I do this a couple of times, until I feel like the meat is going to fall off the bone(s) if I turn it over any more. 

This recipe also works really well on baby back ribs!

If you haven't had an opportunity to try pasture-raised, farm fresh meat, I encourage you to do so - it's not only better FOR you and your family, it's better for the land. If you live here in the BRK, both Forthill Farmstand and Square Roots Farm offer pork and beef, the latter also sells poultry (both chickens AND Thanksgiving turkeys). 

'Til next time, happy BBQing.

Buon appetito!

THE Very Best Peanut Sauce

See the picture below? It's a simple photo of five basic ingredients, some (if not all) of which I bet you have in your pantry right now!

Okay, you may argue the red curry paste, but can I just tell you, I tried to find red curry paste at our local grocer for over two weeks and they were completely cleaned out? So there are a lot of people, somewhere in this community, with red curry paste in their pantry/fridge, but I digress.

These five simple simple ingredients are going to change your life. Trust me (unless you have a peanut allergy, in which case all bets are off). 

Photo courtesy of Lynne Cannon O'Connell. 

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while, know that every year or so, I wax poetic about peanut sauce. I love it. And, well, it's time has come!

We've received napa cabbage in a couple of our CSA shares this season and it pairs so incredibly well with the sauce, that I made it my mission to incorporate it into our dinner menu one night last week. 

I simply grilled some boneless, skinless chicken breast (which we bought through our chicken share at Square Roots Farm). Once it was cool enough to handle, I sliced it thinly and placed it on top of a bed of chopped napa cabbage that had been tossed with some shredded carrots and onion greens, also from Square Roots Farm (except for the carrots - it's not quite time for those yet).

Then I drizzled the room temperature peanut sauce on top (generously) and finished the plate off with a sprinkle of peanuts for some added crunch.

The sauce recipe, which came from Alice Currah's Savory Sweet Life cookbook, is really quite quick and easy to make. 

1 13.5 ounce can of coconut milk

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I add closer to a 1/2 cup or more)

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce (or Tamari if you're gluten free)

1 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste

Combine the coconut mile, peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and red curry paste in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. 

NOTE: This sauce keeps well in the fridge for a couple of weeks, if it lasts that long. Use it over grilled meat, vegetables, steamed rice, your favorite pasta or eat it right off a spoon - it's THAT good! 

Buon Appetito!

PS - We drizzled this sauce on some sauteed chicken breast with snap peas served over rice a few nights later. DELICIOUS!

Farm Fresh Fried Rice

What is this and what do I do with it? That's a question nearly every CSA member asks at one point in time or another. One of the great benefits of joining a CSA is the abundance of (often times) organically raised fruits and vegetables you receive each week. Some are easily recognizable - lettuce, onions, snap peas, cucumbers, zucchini, while others may not be quite so familiar - kohlrabi, bok choi and hakurei turnips. 

NOTE: I didn't stage this photo well, there's a bundle of beets hidden in there. More on those in a future post.

I've learned a couple of things over the years. 

1. Nearly any vegetable can be tossed in EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and sea salt, then roasted. Don't pressure yourself to find a new recipe for every item in your share each week. We're all busy, and roasted veggies are GOOD (they're also good FOR you)!
2. Nearly any vegetable works in fried rice (or a frittata more to come on that too).

I had to remind myself of #2 when I received a rather large bundle of salad (aka hakurei) turnips recently and didn't have the time, nor energy, to figure out what to do with them. I immediately began chopping and the process looked something like this...

I sliced up the turnips, then halved or quartered each slice, depending on the size. I also chopped up the greens (they're loaded with vitamins A and C)! I sliced up the spring onion that was in our share, including some of the ends. I also sliced up a couple of a carrots I had left over from a package I purchased at Guido's. Once I was done doing that, I quickly fried up a couple of fresh eggs from Square Roots Farm, then I put them aside. I poured a couple Tablespoons of EVOO in a non-stick pan and added a generous Tablespoon of butter, tossed in the onions (including the green ends) and sauteed them until they were limp. Then I added the turnips and carrots, which I cooked 'til they were tender at which point I tossed in the greens and pre-cooked rice (either white or brown works here, you could even try other grains like quinoa). I added a bit more butter, a couple Tablespoons of Tamari (I used Tamari, but you can use soy sauce if that's what you have in the pantry, we're mostly gluten free here, so that's what I had on hand) and a Tablespoon or so of sesame oil and let it all heat through so the flavors meld. Last, but not least, I added the egg back in at the end.

This is one of those dishes that's just as good (if not better) reheated in the microwave the next day, so I cook a LOT when I make it and pack it for lunch!

As I said up above, this recipe works with nearly any vegetable. Personally, I always add an onion to it, cuz that's the way I roll, but it's entirely up to you! Let me know how you end up making this recipe 'your own.'

Buon appetito!

Bueller...Bueller...Bueller...

Yes, we've been absent. For quite a while...nearly 7 years (gasp!) to be exact.  It turns out when there's a global pandemic (aka COVID-19) and things basically shut down (except for your job, if you're a healthcare worker like me), you have a bit of time on your hands.

And since Square Roots Farm offered vegetable CSA shares this year (to which I immediately said, "yes, please!") and it seems that everyone and his brother has caught on to the abundance of farm fresh food available in our proverbial back yards, I figured it was time to dust off ye old blog and share some of the goodness that's been going on.

After a particularly cold spring here in the BRK, warm weather arrived and everything in the fields began growing in leaps and bounds. As a result almost everything Square Roots Farm had planted for their first week of CSA was ready to be harvested and eaten a week early. Consequently, we received a 'bonus week' and our first pick-up took place in a very responsible, social distance fashion, on June 10th.

I was in awe of the gorgeous greens we received and immediately made 'greens and beans' for dinner. I followed this recipe and the results were outstanding, if I do say so myself!

This dish took me back to conversations in the kitchen with my Italian friend's mother, Isabel. It's definitely something she would have made (sans an actual recipe) and served to her family for dinner with a loaf of crusty bread.

I served it up with some fresh grated Parmesan on top and the leftovers were just as good (if not better) the next day!

I'll be making this again before the season's through and invite you to try it too!  Greens are plentiful this time of year - just check your local farm or farm stand - there are some links to local farms/stands here in the Berkshires just to the right on this page.

Buon appetito!

Mom's Split Pea Soup

Don't have a picture...I'm posting this for my friend over at The Greening of Westford.  It's a really delicious split pea soup, perfect for those long lazy weekend days.  Total cooking time is 4 hours, but total working time is about 15 minutes, so it's really an easy soup to make when you're going to be around to stir every once in a while.

Very few ingredients and most available locally this time of year--dried split peas, onions, carrots, and maybe even ham are all relatively easy to find locally in the fall.  So eat up!

Ingredients:

• 1 ham hock (or any ham is fine, though the bone in the ham hock really adds flavor)
• 16 oz package of split peas
• 8 cups chicken stock (low sodium if you're not using homemade)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup carrots, finely chopped
• garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pick over split peas then add to a large pot.  Add 8 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups of water, finely chopped onions, garlic powder, pepper, and ham hock.  Simmer for one and a half hours over low to medium low heat.

Remove ham hock and take meat off the bone, returning the meat to the pot.  Discard the bone and continue simmering the soup for another hour and a half.

Add carrots and simmer for an additional hour, stirring often.  Add extra water if the soup starts to look too thick, in 1/2 cup increments.  It will be a really thick soup, but shouldn't be porridge-y.

Wicked Awesome Thai Peanut Sauce

Hey, take a look at this!

It's maple syrup from the incomparable Ben's Sugar Shack!  I won a contest on their facebook page to share an interesting recipe idea using their maple syrup.  Of course I entered Wicked Awesome Thai Peanut Sauce.  This is a recipe I originally developed a few years back when I was writing a local cooking column for the Westford Patch.  But I've continued tweaking the recipe, so figured it was worth an update.

You can serve this sauce with just about anything.  It's great just over rice noodles.  Or with stir fried veggies.  Over when I posted it on the Patch, I served it with a combo of shrimp, scallops, and squid.  This time I just used what was in the fridge:  some tofu, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, green onions, and kale.  Use your imagination, or use this recipe to clean out the crisper drawer.

Ingredients:


1/2 cup peanut butter (I use crunch peanut butter for a weird reason:  my son is allergic to tree nuts.  While it's easy to find peanut butter that is free of tree nuts, it's almost impossible to buy whole peanuts that are free from cross contamination.  If you're not dealing with allergies, I'd probably go with smooth peanut butter, then add some crushed peanuts on top.  But crunchy peanut butter is a good short cut if you have to!)
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 Tablespoon maple syrup
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons veggie oil
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger root (or 1 teaspoon ginger powder)
2 cloves garlic, minced, or 1 teaspoon garlic paste, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili oil
1 teaspoon spicy crushed red pepper flakes (you can use anything spicy is this recipe, as much or as little as you want.  It is a sweet recipe, so I like some spiciness to offset it--I usually use chili oil and red pepper flakes, but you can also use some spicy curry powder or paste, or finely diced spicy peppers, or anything else with a little kick).

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined.  It takes a bit of stirring, and looks kind of gross.  But, it tastes great. 

You don't really need to cook this sauce--I sample it as I'm making it to adjust the spicy/sweetness of it.  However, the flavors blend a little better if it's been cooked for a few minutes.  I usually just pour it over the skillet of whatever I'm making and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
_______________

Thanks again to Ben's Sugar Shack for the maple syrup.  If anyone is up in New Hampshire, check them out.  Or, I think they'll be back at the Westford Farmers Market this year--I guess I'll find out tomorrow at the first market of the season! And I know I've seen their products over at Springdell Farm in Littleton.  Seriously, maple syrup, maple sugar candy, maple cotton candy, maple everything.  Delish!

And if you're looking for a different take on a peanut sauce, Jules shared a delicious coconut curry peanut sauce recipe last summer.  I think it's safe to say we're fans of peanut sauce here at How Does Your Garden Grow!

Asparagus and Cream Cheese Pastry

Asparagus season!  Asparagus season!  Spring time in New England=new posts on How Does Your Garden Grow!

I've been avidly buying as much asparagus as my wallet can handle from Springdell Farm in Littleton.  Yum.  Wait, I need to say that again.  Yum!

I've been roasting it with Parmesan (from my days as a Patch food writer).  I've added it to grilled goat cheese and veggie pitas (from my sister-in-law's super fun Battle: Yum site).  I've made lemony quinoa and asparagus shrimp scampi (a favorite recipe I pulled out of the Boston Globe years ago and love to make every spring with fresh local asparagus).  Finally decided to go through my recipes and try something new.

What I ended up deciding to make was a contest winner from a Philadelphia cream cheese contest.  Can I be a little all-foodie-er-than-thou for a moment?  I kind of hate recipes that are "sponsored" by a specific brand.  I'm usually disappointed.  But this one:  it's asparagus and cream cheese on puff pastry.  Um, delish much?  Yes please!  And I just happened to have a single sheet of puff pastry hanging out in my freezer, just looking for a new recipe.  Cooking destiny!

I had pulled this recipe out of a Taste of Home magazine, but just found it on Allrecipes when I was looking for a link.  I made just a few changes, so feel free to go back to the award winning original if you'd like.  It truly is a spectacular recipe!

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed according to package directions
1 bunch of asparagus (not too fat, not too skinny...you want them to cook at the same speed as your pastry!  I cherry picked stalks from two different bunches to try to get similar sized perfect stalks)
8 oz package of cream cheese, softened (I won't force a brand on you, though I must admit I did use Philadelphia!)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used real grated, not that green can)
1 teaspoon dried basil (oh  my, the recipe calls for fresh, which sounds awesome to me, but it's still too cold out for basil plants so I only had dried.  Use fresh if you've got it--recipe calls for 5 leaves--I'd double that to 10!)
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or knock yourself out and use fresh minced garlic--I didn't have any on hand)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Olive oil to drizzle
More Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix together softened cream cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, dried basil, garlic powder, and lemon juice.

Unfold the thawed pastry and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.  Cut into thirds along the "fold" lines, then cut each third in half to make rectangles.  Move the piece slightly away from one another.

Spread each pastry rectangle with the cream cheese mixture, leaving a little edge of pastry uncovered.

Trim asparagus to the length of your pastry rectangles.  Place a few asparagus spears on each pastry rectangle.  Original recipe called for 4 spears per rectangle, but I only used three and it was fine. (Note:  I saved the extra stem part that was too long and I had to cut off and used it in a batch of the lemony quinoa and asparagus recipe I linked above.  Don't waste that asparagus!)

Drizzle lightly with olive oil.

Bake for 20 or so minutes, until pastry is golden brown and puffed.  Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle a little extra Parmesan on top. 

Fresh Eggs are Egg-cellent!

Did you know that the eggs you buy from your local grocer are probably one to two months old when you purchase them?  In addition, compared to conventional store eggs, pastured, free range eggs contain*:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• Two times more omega-3 fatty acids
• Three times more vitamin E
• Seven times more beta carotene – converts to vitamin A
• most recently noted, 4-6 times more vitamin D

 *simplebites.net

Not only that but they taste much better too!  And that means everything you make with them will taste better - whether it's hollandaise sauce, a frittata or your favorite batch of chocolate chip cookies. Trust me.   From the moment you see that deep-yellow-almost-orange-colored yolk, you will be smitten!

Actually, don't trust me.  Try them for yourself and let your taste buds be the judge.  If you live in my beloved Berkshires, here's a short list of local farms from which you can purchase fresh eggs from pastured, free range chickens.  There are many, many more options - feel free to share them in the comments section, these are just a few of the farms from whom I have personally purchased eggs.

• Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown
• Holiday Brook Farm in Dalton
• North Plain Farm in Great Barrington
• Square Roots Farm in Lanesboro

You're also likely to find pastured, free range eggs at your local farmer's market.  Local author, Jennifer Trainer Thompson, just published an entire cookbook dedicated to fresh eggs.  It's called, what else, but The Fresh Egg Cookbook!  Available through Storey Publishing, you can also find copies at the Cricket Creek farmstore.  It contains a fabulous variety of recipes.  In the meantime, here are a couple of my favorite concoctions.

Soft-boiled Eggs on Toasted Challah
Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Gently lower one or two eggs into the water (I use a ladle to do this) and lower the temperature to simmer.  Set a timer for 5 minutes (no longer, no less).  Prepare a bowl of iced water (and when I say iced water, I mean place several cubes of ice in the water).  In the meantime, toast one or two slices of Challah bread.  As soon as your egg timer goes off, remove the egg(s) (again, I used a ladle) and place them in the bowl of iced water for 30 seconds.  If all goes according to plan, your bread will be done toasting and you can lightly butter it, while you wait for the eggs to cool in the iced water.  Once 30 seconds has elapsed, you should be able to crack the shell at the tip of each egg and peel it!  I like to break mine open right on top of the Challah toast.  Season with salt and pepper as desired - YUM!

Fried Egg on a Bed of Spinach
Saute a VERY large handful of spinach (or whatever type of green(s) you prefer - Chard works well too) in a small amount of butter.  After a minute or so the greens will wilt down.  Make a 'well' in the middle to crack and egg into and dot the spinach/greens with feta cheese.  This particular cheese is from Cricket Creek Farm and is made with cow's milk vs. goat.  Put a lid or cover on the pan and turn the heat off, allowing the egg to cook and the cheese to soften.  Season with salt and pepper as desired and serve with freshly toasted bread.


Here's to the incredible, edible egg!  Bon Appetit!

Easy Peasy Peach Croissants

I'm almost embarrassed to post this recipe it's so easy.  Almost.  But it's SO good and the end results are SO pretty to look at I can't resist!  

This is another recipe from the Savory Sweet Life cookbook, which I would have glossed right over for the time being had Alice not featured it in her weekly cookbook club.  And just in case that wasn't incentive enough, the timing of her feature coincided with the debut of local peaches here in western Massachusetts.  Enough said.  Off to the store I went to purchase a package of frozen puff pastry.  

You begin by thawing one sheet of frozen puff pastry.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Cut the peaches in half (my peaches were on the small side so I used three peaches) remove the pit and cut the peaches into slices.
Roll the puff pastry sheet out on a lightly floured surface and cut into four equal square pieces by cutting the sheet in half vertically and horizontally.  Take one square of puff pastry and rotate it so it looks like a diamond.  Place peach slices across the center of the diamond from left to right.   

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, then grab the top and bottom corner and bring them to the center, pinching them together to seal them.  Repeat this process with each of the remaining squares and peach slices.

Place the croissants on the baking sheet.  Brush the puff pastry with an egg wash.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until the croissants are golden brown.  I topped mine with coarse sugar (because coarse sugar on top of nearly any baked good makes it better). 

I imagine these would be good with any sort of fruit filling.  I know I'll be making them with apples in a few weeks and would also like to try them filled with chocolate!

This is a great recipe to have on hand when you have overnight guests.  It's quick, simple and yields impressive results!

 Bon Appetit!

Orzo with Zucchini

So my dilemma this morning is figuring out whether I should make double chocolate zucchini bread OR lemon poppy-seed zucchini bread.  Perhaps a loaf of both?

Meanwhile, I've been meaning to share this recipe for orzo with zucchini (and CHEESE) with you!  Since we're in the height of zucchini season here in the northeast, I figured there's no better time than the present, so here you go!  

This recipe came from my friend, Kathryn, a few years ago and has become a 'regular' in our household.  You can use any type of cheese.  I've made it with good (imported) parmesan, goat cheese or most recently with Misery Mountain cheese from Cricket Creek Farm.   It's simple, hearty and delicious!

Orzo with Zucchini

1/2 lb. orzo

3 T. or so olive oil

a lot of zucchini: five or six small ones, two or three large ones, or even more

1 yellow or white onion, finely diced

1 c. or so grated/shredded cheese of your choice (the original recipe calls for parmesan, but I've used goat cheese, parmesan, or local farmstead cheese),salt and pepper to taste (I like to use Borsari and fresh-grated pepper.  Borsari is produced by one of my childhood neighbors, you can read more about that here.)

Mixing orzo, zucchini and cheese

1. Cook orzo according to package directions.

2. Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Squeeze out excess water.

3. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Saute grated zucchini and onion over medium heat until well-cooked and beginning to brown (be patient, this will take a while)

4. Combine cooked orzo with cooked zucchini and onions. Stir in cheese.

Serving it up!

Bon Appetit!

Cabbage and Beet Borscht

I know I've posted before about how I don't like cucumbers, and now I have to rag on another vegetable:  beets.  They taste like dirt.  There, I said it.  Their sweetness just makes the dirt-flavor more pronounced.  They're what I imagine a mud pie would taste like.  Yuck.

But, a lot of people like beets.  They're beautiful.  We get them quite frequently in our CSA share.  And I'm not one to give up--there has to be a way to prepare these that will be better than palatable.  Something I'll think is good.

And I may have found that recipe.  Cabbage and beet borscht.  My mother-in-law likes borscht, and she was coming over for dinner so I figured I'd use up my dreaded beets on a meal I knew at least one person would enjoy.  I scanned around the internet looking for a recipe, and ultimately settled on this one since I also had a head of red cabbage sitting in the fridge from the CSA.

I followed the linked recipe from Allrecipes pretty closely (except I omitted the optional caraway seeds, and vegetable quantities were approximate based on how much I had on hand).  It appears to be a near-clone of the Borscht recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook, a cookbook that is sadly lacking from my bookshelf.  Perhaps this will be the impetus I need to finally add The Moosewood Cookbook to my collection!

End result was a soup where the beet flavor was tamed from "dirty" to "earthy".  I can live with earthy.  I mean, I wouldn't want to eat this borscht every day, but for the times when we get beets in our CSA share, well, this isn't such a bad way to use them up!

Zucchini Bread Bake-off

I had the fun task of being one of the "blogger's choice" judges at Fat Moon Farm's zucchini bread bake-off.  The other two judges were Kathi from The Full Fridge and Andy from My Untangled Life.  It was fun to meet other bloggers who are passionate about food and cooking!

I made a loaf of the double chocolate zucchini bread Jules posted the other day.

It was good--certainly didn't disappoint.  I didn't have espresso powder so I subbed a teaspoon of cinnamon--I'd probably use more in the future as you couldn't taste the cinnamon.  Also, like Jules, I sprinkled some coarse sugar on top, because, well, I thought that was a FINE idea!

But, my favorites of the day were a lemon poppy zucchini bread and a banana zucchini bread--I hope they end up sharing the recipe as anything I think is better than chocolate, you KNOW it has to be good!  Those were the two breads us three bloggers chose for the "bloggers' choice" awards.

**EDIT TO ADD--Here's a link to the Fat Moon site about the event, with links to recipes!

And here are the real winners--all of us who got to try all the delicious zucchini bread!  Thanks, Elizabeth at Fat Moon, for planning this fun event!

And check out the lovely flowers they gave me!  Aren't they beautiful?? 

A lovely afternoon, and one of the many reasons why I enjoy eating locally and getting to know local farmers and producers!

100 ways to serve Peanut Coconut Sauce

Our posts have been a wee bit scarce the past couple of weeks, but that doesn't mean we haven't been cooking!  I've got a few recipes I can't wait to share with you.  

Several weeks ago I posted this recipe for noodles with peanut sauce. Since then, this peanut sauce, which keeps well for a couple of weeks in the fridge, has joined the ketchup, mustard and mayo in the condiment shelf, so I thought I'd share some of the many ways we've been serving it up.

You've heard me wax poetic about Alice Currah's Savory Sweet Life Cookbook (which is the source of the aforementioned peanut sauce recipe).  She also has an AMAZING recipe for Thai Marinated Grilled Chicken Skewers (which sounded a lot like Chicken Satay to my undiscriminating palette).  One night I found myself with a pork shoulder steak on hand from Holiday Brook Farm.  SO, I whipped up a batch of Alice's marinade and poured it over the pork steak so it could 'do its thing' overnight.  We grilled the pork over indirect heat (lighting alternate burners on our gas grille and placing the meat over the unlit burner).  I served it with sauteed snow peas (also from Holiday Brook Farm) and Alice's Coconut Rice, which is out of this world (and also good with Peanut Coconut Sauce drizzled on top). 

Here's the recipe for the marinade, which I followed to a T.

1/4 cup soy (Okay, I told a little white lie above - I actually used Tamari to make this gluten free.) 
3 Tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 Tablespoons oil
1 Tablespoon curry powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger 
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.  Pour over meat, covering it well.  Place in fridge (covered) to marinate for at least 1 hour or as long as overnight.

For the rice cook enough rice (I prefer jasmine rice here) to yield 4 cups.  As the rice is cooking, set a large, nonstick frying pan over medium heat.  Add 1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut and stir frequently until most of the flakes are aromatic, toasted and browned (3 to 4 minutes).  Immediately transfer the rice to a large bowl.  Add the warm rice to the bowl, and mix the rice and coconute continuously with a wooden spoon for 2 to 3 minutes, until the rice has change dcolor from white to light brown.

A week or so later, we were experiencing a wicked heat spell here in the northeast.  I couldn't bring myself to cook indoors and decided to put the leftover Peanut Coconut Sauce and Nappa Cabbage from our CSA share at Holiday Brook Farm to good use.  I chopped the cabbage and shredded a few carrots on top for a splash of color.  I grilled a couple of boneless chicken breasts and cut them into chunks, then tossed them into the cabbage/carrot mixture.  Added a few toasted, sliced almonds and some fried mung bean threads.  Poured some Peanut Coconut Sauce on top and voila - dinner was served!  Even my other half, who would normally balk at the idea of having salad for supper really enjoyed this! 

And finally, the recipe for which this sauce is intended.  Thai Marinated Grilled Chicken Skewers.

I again used the  marinade recipe above, but only had time to let the chicken 'soak' for an hour.  Then I grilled the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes turning the skewers over half-way through.  Serve with Coconut Rice and a salad - YUM!

I know I *promised* 100 ways to serve Peanut Coconut Sauce and I've only shared three, but honestly, there have probably been 97 additional servings right off the spoon.  This sauce is THAT good.  So do yourself a favor and try it soon!

Bon Appetit!

double chocolate zucchini bread

This blog post is dedicated to my friend, Adrienne.

Wednesday night Holiday Brook Farm held their first CSA member potluck.  It was a wonderful night filled with great friends and fantastic food - not only do farmers know how to grow food, they also know how to transform it into a gastric delight!  I'm still trying to figure out why my grilled eggplant doesn't taste *that* good ('that good' referring to the eggplant I consumed prior to the arrival of fresh goat cheese on the scene, when I promptly plopped a dollop on top of a slice of grilled eggplant, rolled it up and proceeded to eat it with my bare hands).  

Within a day or two of finding out about the potluck dinner, I received an email from my friends at King Arthur Flour sharing this recipe for double chocolate zucchini bread. Fast forward a couple of days and I'm at the farm picking up our weekly vegetable (CSA) share and lo and behold zucchini was amongst the offerings.  My fate was sealed.

I followed the aforementioned recipe exactly, save for a sprinkling of coarse sugar on top (because let's face it, coarse sugar on top makes most any baked good better).

The bread was a hit and honestly, you would never know there was zucchini tucked inside!  It simply adds moisture to this delectable dessert.  I'll be making this again in the days ahead so I can share it with the gals at work.  I may also have to put a slice aside for my friend, Adrienne, who took her zucchini bread 'to go' Wednesday night, only to have a certain member of her household, who shall go unnamed (but who happens to be her marital partner), eat every last bite!

Tip:  It took nearly 80 minutes for my bread to finish baking and next time, I'll line my pan with parchment so I can remove it from the pan with ease.   

I'm already looking forward to the next potluck.  Farm life is soothing to my soul and eating amidst the crops and livestock are particularly so.  As we drove down the driveway that evening, my son asked, 'are we going to do this again'?  And for a moment in time, all was well in the world.

Bon Appetit! 
 

Blueberry Mint Lemonade Slush

It's not big news to say it's been a hot summer here in New England.  It's hot.  Oppressive, even.  I'm not particularly keen on hot days--I'm more of a spring or autumn gal.  But, as much as I'd like to, I can't just huddle inside buildings with air conditioning.  I feel compelled to bring the kids out from time to time.  Which is why you'll find me at zoos or amusement parks or blueberry patches on 95 degree days, when I'd much prefer to be hiding in a cave (note:  I took the kids on a cave tour two weeks ago.  Half of which required walking around outside on a 90+ degree day.  The inside part of the tour, though, was a nice place to recover.  I hated to leave!)

When it gets too hot, I like to make a cold drink.  While blended coffee drinks have long been my go-to favorite, they're not exactly kid-friendly.  So I decided to make a lemonade slush the kids and I could all enjoy.

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently took the kids blueberry picking (yes, when it was over 90 degrees out!), so this recipe continues with my trend of throwing some of the 6 and a half pounds of blueberries we picked into nearly everything I make.  But no worries, blueberries go great with lemonade, so it's a good match.

And let me explain why I'm throwing mint in everything.  I have a lot of mint in my garden.  Well, that was a shorter explanation than I thought I'd need.  Oh yeah, and I really like mint.  That's the other reason.  But if you aren't faced with an overabundance of mint and/or you aren't particularly a mint fan, feel free to leave it out.

I like my slushy drink thick enough to eat with a spoon.  You could make yours more of a drink by adding more water/using less ice.  Or do what I do:  start out with a thick slush and bring it outside.  Before you know it, it'll be largely melted!

Ingredients:

• Lots of ice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (or more to taste)
• 1/4 cup sugar (or more to taste)
• 1 cup water (or more or less to taste)
• 1 cup frozen blueberries (it's okay to use fresh if that's all you have.  As soon as I pick blueberries, I throw a ton in the freezer as we mostly use them for smoothies so we always have plenty of frozen blueberries)
• Couple of mint leaves (maybe 10 or so)

Directions:

Fill your blender about 3/4 full with ice.  Add all the other ingredients.  Blend until slushy.  You'll probably have to stir it a few times between blending.  If it's too thick and the ingredients just aren't getting pulled into the blade, add some more water, 1/4 cup at a time.

Taste and adjust lemon or sugar quantities to make it more tart or sweet, if necessary.

Blueberry Salad Dressing

The kids and I went and picked 6 and a half pounds of blueberries yesterday.  It didn't even take long, the picking was that good. 

Oh, I'll make blueberry pie, and blueberry muffins, and blueberry pancakes, and blueberry smoothies.  Not to worry!  But we'd just picked up our CSA share and had a huge head of lettuce, not to mention other salad fixin's.  So salads it is for the next few days.

I've been trying to make more of my own salad dressings. I've found a couple of really great HFCS-free, artificial color- and flavor-free options for salad dressing at the grocery store.  But, it's just so easy to make salad dressing.  And I can jazz it up how *I* like it.  And only make enough for a day or two, instead of having bottles sit in the fridge for months.

It's quick, easy, and delicious.  The hardest part is cleaning the food processor after dinner!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup blueberries
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon (remember to zest the lemon BEFORE cutting and juicing!)
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon agave nectar
• ~4 or so mint leaves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt to taste (optional)

Directions:

Add the blueberries, lemon zest and juice, apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, and mint leaves to a food processor.  Blend it all up.

Drizzle in the olive oil while continuing to food process.  Stop when it's salad dressing-y.

Serve over the salad fixin's of your choice (I had lettuce, arugula, cherry tomatoes, and radishes from our CSA, plus some avocado and sunflower seeds.  Then I threw in a handful of extra blueberries--believe me, with 6 and a half pounds in the house, I'm putting blueberries with every meal!)

Turn the ordinary into the extraordinary!

As my friend, Sally, said - 'When you have quality ingredients, even a simple meal tastes like a masterpiece'.  Such was the case when I found myself with a fresh loaf of oatmeal bread from Cricket Creek Farm, plus a head of fresh-picked leaf lettuce and pastured pork bacon from Holiday Brook Farm on hand. It was clear to me that my lunchtime mission was to prepare a BLT;  once I accepted this mission, I set off to pick up a lovely heirloom tomato from Berkshire Organics.

 
Now the realization that I had these ingredients on hand coincided with my desire to try the Baked Brown Sugar Bacon recipe in the Savory Sweet Life cookbook. I've been a big fan of baking bacon for quite some time.  It's the no-mess, set-it-and-forget-it method!  Normally, I would line my jelly roll pan with foil, lay the bacon in the pan and bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 375 degrees until the bacon is nice and crispy. 

For this recipe, you preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place a wire rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet (I used my standard jelly roll pan).  Toss one pound of bacon slices with 1/4 cup of brown sugar in a medium bowl.  then lay the bacon slices on the wire rack and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until crisp.
Note:  If desired, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne powder to the brown sugar for some added heat.

While the bacon was baking, I toasted two hardy slices of farm-fresh oatmeal bread.  Once everything was done, I assembled my masterpiece.  I slathered one slice of toasted bread with mayonnaise (which I'm going to try making myself with farm-fresh eggs one day soon)!  I topped this with with several leaves of lettuce, two generous slices of heirloom tomato, four slices of brown sugar bacon, followed by another piece of toasted bread.

PERFECTION!  The perfect combination of sweet and savory and oh, so satisfying goodness.  Fresh, local ingredients really DO make a difference.  In so many ways.

Bon Appetit!

Tomato, Basil and Cheddar Egg on a Bagel

Sometimes I get home from the Westford Farmer's Market with so much delicious food, I don't really need a recipe.  I just eat things raw, or lightly steamed or sauteed.

Today was one of those days.  I just threw a few things together in a couple of minutes, and it was perfection.  Everything was fresh and flavorful and I didn't need to fuss.  An everything bagel from Bagel Alley, cherry tomatoes, eggs, and basil from Dragonfly Farms, and farmhouse cheddar from West River Creamery.  When you have quality ingredients, even a simple meal tastes like a masterpiece!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of an everything bagel (or bagel flavor of your choice)
• Couple of cherry tomatoes, sliced into 3 or 4 pieces (or a slice of a regular tomato)
• 4 or 5 basil leaves
• 1 egg
• butter
• salt and pepper
• A few thin slices of cheddar (or other cheese of your choice)

Directions:

Toast bagel.  Top with sliced tomato and basil.

Meanwhile, melt a little butter in a small skillet over medium heat.  Crack one egg into the pan.  Fry until done to your liking (over medium for me).  Season with salt and pepper.

Place fried egg on top of the tomato and basil.  Put the cheddar slices on top of the egg--the heat of the egg will melt the cheese slightly.

My favorite smoothie recipes

Smoothies are my 'go to' meal in the morning.  They're quick, easy and delicious!  Oh, and they're portable too!  I take mine with me in the morning as I run out the door after getting everyone else off to daycare, school or work.

The key to a good smoothie (aside from using fresh ingredients) is a great blender.  I have a commercial grade Waring bar blender, which I love.  It has served me well for many, many years.  You want a blender that's able to crush that ice into a smooth, delectable treat or else your smoothie won't be a smoothie.*

Most of the time, I don't have a 'recipe', per say for my morning smoothie.  I just toss in whatever fruit I happen to have on hand, add a little yogurt, raw honey, ice and blend.  Some of the results have been more pleasing to the palate than others, 'though honestly, I've never met a smoothie I didn't like.

Here are a few of my favorites!

Peach AlmondEnergy Smoothie from wholeliving.com courtesy of Cate. Sweet and savory at the same time, this almond-butter and peach energy smoothie is a good choice for breakfast, dinner, or both. These ingredients make two servings; share with a friend, refrigerate half for later (but not longer than 24 hours), or halve the recipe.

1/4 cup almond butter
2 cardamom pods or 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 cups pure water
1 cup frozen peaches (I always use fresh)
1 to 2 teaspoons agave syrup (I more often than not use raw honey)
1/2 cup ice

Blend everything except ice until smooth.  Add ice and blend again.

Chocolate-Almond Smoothie chocolate for breakfast, does it get any better than this?  Seriously, this smoothie is SO satisfying.

1 ripe banana
1 cup milk (I use raw milk, but use whatever you normally drink)
1/4 cup almond butter (sometimes I'll substitute peanut butter in place of the almond butter)
1 tablespoon honey (I use raw, local honey)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup ice

Combine all ingredients, except ice in a blender, and blend until smooth.  Add ice and blend again.
 

   

Ginger Berry and Oat Smoothie -*this is an 'un-smooth smoothie' courtesy of Real Simple magazine.  Oats really add 'substance' to a smoothie on those days when you need a little something more.  

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats (I've been known to use steel cut oats, which work fine, but create a more 'textured' smoothie.)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (If you don't have frozen blueberries on hand, don't sweat it, fresh will do just fine.)

1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fresh, grated ginger
1/2 cup ice

Place oats and 1/2 cup water in a blender, let soak until oats have softened (about 15 minutes).  Add blueberries, yogurt, sugar and ginger; blend until smooth.  Add ice and blend again. 

My original intent was to stop here, but one of my recent smoothie experiments was SO tasty, I just have to share it too!  It all started with some cherries that were a bit past their prime.  I pitted them and tossed them in the freezer with the intent of using them in a smoothie at some point in time.  (I do this quite often with fruit that gets buried in the rotter my crisper.)  Here's the step by step of what happened the next day.

Cherry-Banana Smoothie
3/4 cup of frozen, pitted cherries
1/2 cup of milk (I used raw milk; use whatever you normally drink)
1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
1 banana (if they're frozen, all the better) 

Combine all ingredients, except ice in a blender, and blend until smooth.  Add ice and blend again.

There are SO many fresh, local fruits available in our region right now.  The possibilities are endless?  What are some of your favorite smoothie recipes?

Bon Appetit! 

Yummy Yogurt

A little over a year ago, I began drinking raw milk.  I had been on the fence about this for quite some time (there are a lot of fear mongerers out there when it comes to raw milk and well, I'm a worrywart by nature).  The tipping point came when I found out that I actually grew up on raw milk, which came to us in glass bottles from a neighbor's cows. 

Now I should confess, I'm not much of a milk drinker.  At least I wasn't.  I didn't really like milk. At least I didn't think so...until I tasted my first glass of nice, cold, raw milk.  DELICIOUS!  I was hooked and never turned back.  The laws on selling raw milk vary from state to state.  In MA, dairy farmers can obtain a license to sell raw milk to consumers on farm.  You will find a list of farms that sell raw milk here (along with a list of the benefits of raw milk).

While I may not have been drinking a lot of milk a year ago, I was consuming it in yogurt form.  I would pack a container of Greek yogurt in my lunch on a daily basis and add a healthy amount of yogurt (or Kefir) to my morning smoothie.   The cost was adding up, as was my guilt over tossing all of those individual yogurt containers into our landfill (they aren't recyclable here).

SO....I began to Google homemade yogurt recipes.  It's a simple process, really.  But it did take me some time to get the incubation part down.  I tried using my crockpot (there are many people in the blogosphere who've had great success with this method, but my end result was repeatedly more of a smoothie consistency vs. the sour cream consistency I was aiming for).  

I finally invested in a Yogotherm, which I purchased at the Cricket Creek Farm store.  After trying several different starter yogurts, I also purchased this starter from the New England Cheesemaking Company.  It yields a slightly sweeter (and I use that term loosely), nice, thick yogurt.

With the proper tools, I've been consistently making homemade yogurt on a weekly basis.  Here are the steps I follow.

Heat 1/2 gallon of milk to 185ºF, hold for 5-10 minutes then cool to 112 - 115ºF (you do not want to exceed 120ºF here or you will kill off your culture). I used a enamel-coated cast iron dutch oven to heat my milk. It heats evenly and I've found if I place a few ice cubes in the pan to 'chill' the bottom before I begin making yogurt, it prevents the milk from sticking.  I use a quick-read thermometer to monitor my temperature.  It's what I have and it works!  At 185ºF, the milk will begin to froth like this.

 
Pour into Yogotherm. Add 1 packet starter culture, let rehydrate 2 minutes then stir.  Cover and let set on the counter for approximately 6 hours or until thickened to desired consistency (the longer you let it go, the more tart it will be). 

Place yogurt in fridge to chill before eating.  Once you begin scooping it out, the whey will be released from your yogurt.  You can strain the yogurt through butter muslin for a couple of hours in your fridge, you can gently pour the whey off OR stir it right into your yogurt.  If you strain or pour it off, don't dump it down the drain!  Here are 16 ways you can use that whey.  

Once it's chilled add fruit, vanilla, maple syrup, honey or whatever your heart desires to your yogurt and enjoy!

 Bon Appetit!