First Basket of the Season

Okay...so I noticed that the last post I made on this blog was about a Frittata and this one is too. But we were so excited to have our basket we had to make something quick and easy tonight so we could enjoy them. Here is what we got this week. Salad Turnips Scallions Asparagus Spinach Salad Mix Spicy Salad Mix

  Fritatta

8 eggs 
1/2 cup half and half 
2 strips bacon 
1 bunch spinach 
3 scallions 
1 cup cheddar Jack Cheese 
Salt 
Pepper

 I diced up the bacon and started it in a non-stick pan. Right about the time it started to crisp up I added my chopped scallion. I cooked that a bit until the bacon was crisp and the onion was soft. Next I added my spinach (roughly chopped) and cook that until it had wilted down. In a separate bowl I wisked together the eggs and half and half. I let the spinach,onion, bacon mixture cool a bit and then added in my eggs. I then added salt and pepper.  Over medium heat I stirred it a while until the eggs started to cook and it began to look like scrambled eggs. I stirred in the cheese and then let it sit for a bit to brown and cook through. After it was cooked mostly through I slid the fritatta off onto a plate and then used the plate to flip the frittata over in my pan. Once the second side was browned, I added a bit of cheese on top and served with our salad greens. A fantastic way to use 3 of our basket items.

A super-fast fritatta.....did I spell that right????

    My wife and I don't usually get home from work until almost 6pm.  That is after a stop to pick up our son from daycare.  That really doesn't leave a lot of time for cooking, eating and family-fun-time before the start of Simon's bedtime routine at around 7:30, so I am ALWAYS looking for a quick recipe.  Tonight I found a good one, and with a few changes to speed things up...it was fantastic.

Spinach, Sausage and Potato Fritatta
Small bunch Fresh spinach
1 sweet italian sausage (casing removed)
1 russet potato
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup diced onion
8 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil

     The first thing I did was start my sausage to browning.  Stirring it often to break up the large pieces.  While that was browning, I microwaved my potato for about 5-7 minutes until mostly soft.  I then removed the sausage from the frying pan and sauted my onion in a bit of olive oil.  Once it was translucent, I added my potatos and cooked them until they started to brown.  Next I added the spinach and the sausage back in and tossed until the spinach began to wilt. 
     While that was going on, I whisked my eggs and milk together until well mixed and poured it over the sausage, potato, spinach and onion mix in the saute pan.  I stirred it until I was sure that all the ingredients would not settle to the bottom of the pan.  At this point I stirred in my cheese and salt and pepper.  I then reduced the heat to medium and pulled back the edges of the Fritata to let the runny, top-part move into contact with the pan.  I kept doing this until the there wasn't any runny top part and the bottom was beginning to brown. 
     Here is the tricky part.  I like to slide the fritata off onto a plate and then use the plate to flip the fritata.  It can be tricky and can be avoided by using an oven safe saute pan and moving it to a 400 degree oven right after all the ingredients are added.  I prefer to flip and do it all on the stovetop.  Once the fritata is flipped, add a bit more cheddar cheese to the top and cook through.  Slide off onto a cutting board and cut into wedges.  Serve with a simple tossed salad.  Delicious.

RESULTS:   This was a really great tasting and really fast dinner.  The potatos are really the key as they add a bit more texture to the fritata.  By the way....this makes a HUGE fritata.  Enough for dinner for 3 plus enough leftovers for 3 lunches the next day.  Always a plus in my book! 

CSA season is over....BUT STILL COOKING!

Okay...I never really planned for this blog to be ONLY about our CSA basket and cooking with it.  I wanted it to be about all the adventures my family and I have with out weekly meals.  We are constantly trying to eat meals that are a little more interesting and a little healthier.  Last night, we tried a recipe that Wendi supplied me from her "REAL SIMPLE" magazine.  It was for a pizza-like flatbread.   Very simple, but incredibly delicious.  WE LOVED IT.  Here is the recipe.

ROASTED RED PEPPER AND FETA FLATBREADS

dough
approx. 1 1/2 cup warm water
1 packet yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 TB olive oil

Topping
1/2 lb. ground turkey
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 clove garlic
1 cup roasted red peppers
1 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
Salt  and Pepper

    Much like my earlier pizza recipe you make the dough by dissolving the sugar in the warm water and then stirring in the yeast.  While that begins to foam.  Mix together the salt, flour and olive oil.  Once yeast appears active add slowly while mixing into the flour until a dough ball forms.  ONce it all comes together, continue to mix (knead) for about 5 minutes until smooth.  Place in a bowl with a bit of olive oil and cover.  Let rise in a warm place for about an hour. 
    If you have fresh peppers, roast them in your broiler or on a grill until charred all around.  Then place them in a zip top bag or bowl with a lid and seal.  Let cool.  This makes removing the skin and seeds a LOT easier.  I then cut the red pepers into about 1" x 1/4" strips. 
   In a saute pan, brown the ground turkey.  Season it with salt and pepper and cook it until no longer pink.  Add the oregano and set aside to cool. 
   Now add to the top of the dough the peppers, ground turkey mixture and feta cheese.  I made a mistake and bought feta with mediterranean herbs, but it was a "happy accident" as it turned out to be perfect.  Either type of feta will work fine.  Bake in a 425 degree oven until brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkly on the chopped parsley.  Cut and enjoy!
   Once dough has risen.  Oil a sheet pan flatten dough on it.  Press it thin to cover all the sheet tray.  I like to add a bit more oil to the top of the dough and let it rise again for about 15 minutes. 

     I am usually not much of a person for following a recipe, but this was really delicious.  Light, but extremely flavorful.  We thought about how it might be with some black olives, or capers, but I think they would have been overkill.  They just wouldn't be needed.  I guess sometimes simpler really is better.  We will definitely be having this one again!

First attempt at Apple Butter

My family has a long history of making apple butter.  We used to do it in my grannies backyard in a copper cauldron, over an open fire.  That is one of the best memories I have from my childhood.  Last year we broke out the same cauldron and made applebutter.  This year I had to do it at home in my crockpot.  I had never tried this before, but I really wanted to give it a shot. 

Apple Butter
12lbs apples (sweet...not too crisp)
sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg
That's it.

    9:00pm. First peel an slice all those apples.  It took me about an hour.  Then add all the apple slices to a stockpot and add about 1/4 cup of water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until apples begin to break down and volumn decreases enough to fit them into your crockpot.
   Next I added the apples to the crockpot, turned it on low, covered it and let it go until about 9:00am the next day.  Here is what it looked like at that point.  After I gave it a couple good stirs.

   I put the lid back on and let it go until 2:00pm that afternoon.  Stirring occasionally.  At this point I added my sugar and spices to taste.   I think I used about 3 cups sugar and only a little of the spices.  I like my apple butter to taste like apples....NOT Cinnamon, nutmeg or nasty, nasty cloves.  At this point I removed the lid and set the crockpot on HIGH.  I gave the mix a stir every 20 minutes or so until about 7:00pm. 
Here is what we had. ( I am talking on the telephone to my mother asking her for advice!) Thanks mom!

   I thougth the mix was thick enough so I stopped there and filled my jars with the apple butter. 

   It tasted amazing, but was a bit too thin.  I think I should have let it go a few more hours on high.  Mine is really about half way between thick apple sauce and thin apple butter, but at least I know how to do it now and can improve upon my technique next year!

Busy, Busy. Busy.

   I have been so busy lately that there hasn't been much time for creative cooking.  However, last night I had no choice.  My wife was working late so Simon and I were on our own for dinner.  I was hoping for a simple trip to a restaurant, but Simon said he wanted to go home and have dinner.  Most of the stuff we had planned for the week was too big of a meal to fix for just the two of us so we had to make something up.  The only thing you can EVER count on Simon eating much of is pasta, so that and a little from our basket and we were off to cooking.

Pasta with Sausage and Arugula

2 Sweet Italian sausage links (casing removed)
1/2 medium onion
1/2 red bell pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
5 medium tomatoes (diced)
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup chopped arugula
1/2 tsp Berbere spice (Ethiopian hot pepper spice)
1/4 tsp Mekelesha (I will talk about this below)
1/4 cup red wine
1 tsp red wine vinegar (only if your wine is a bit sweet as mine was!)

   I am not going to tell you how to boil pasta, but do that while you do the sauce.  I started by sauteing my sausage in a little olive oil.  I then removed it from the pan and sauted my onion, and peppers in the leftover fat until soft and then added in my garlic, tomatoes and wine.  I cooked this a little and then added my basil, berbere and Mekelesha.  Mekelesha is an Ethiopian spice blend that is a bit tough to find.  It is however, Delicious in red pasta sauces.  Check out this website to buy Ethiopian spices: http://www.ethiopianspices.com/index.asp  I know it has some cinnamon, nutmeg, and maybe some cumin in it, but I wouldn't guarantee anything.  Season with some salt and pepper and puree with a stick blender. Add back in your sausage after blending.  Right before you add the pasta (after cooking it) toss in the arugula and a bit of parmesan cheese.  It is delicious.  As you can see by the photo above.....Simon loved it!

Butternut squash Gnocci

Well, we got our first Butternut Squash of the season on Wednesday.  We usually love to make a soup with them, but I wanted to try something different.  I decided to try making Butternut Squash Gnocci.  Since squash vary in size etc. there are no amounts for this recipe.

Butternut Squash Gnocci
1 Butternut Squash
AP Flour
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Olive Oil

The firs thing I did was split my squash in half, longways and scoop out the seeds.  I then rubbed the cut side with some olive oil and seasoned with Salt and Pepper.  I placed them on a baking sheet (cut side down) and roasted them in a 400 degree oven until soft.  Let them cool and scoop out the flesh into a bowl and mash with a potato masher. 
Next I seasoned the puree with a bit of salt and pepper and some nutmeg.  I don't really like a lot of nutmeg so I only put a dash.  Feel free to adjust to your tastes.  I then transferred the mixture to my stand mixer and began slowly adding flour.  It takes a LOT.  I added it until the mixture began to pull away from the sides and form a dough.  I then turned it out onto a floured surface and kneaded it a few times.  I then pinched off parts of the dough and rolled them out into 3/4 inch ropes.  I cut them into 1/2" pieces and rolled them across the back of a fork and placed them on a floured baking sheet.  I then put the sheetpan in the freezer and froze until solid.  I packaged up the gnocci and put them back in my freezer for a later date.  Now how should I sauce my Gnocci?  Brown butter and sage?  Bolognese?  Not sure just yet. 
I hope these taste good as they are quite a lot of work.  I am afraid they might be a bit too doughy, but without a LOT of flour the dough was just WAY TOO STICKY.  I guess we'll find out when I cook them!

Holy cow....Spaghetti Squash Gratin. Amazingly delicious.

Okay, maybe one of my best "made up" recipes ever.  First of all, I should point out that I really do NOT like spaghetti squash.  Everyone says "Just use it like spaghetti", so I tried that and hated it.  I have always thought there was potential for something better and tonight I finally found out what it was.  We got a small (9" or so) spaghetti squash in our basket and somehow the idea of a gratin got into my head.  I had never even heard of using spaghetti squash that way so I looked it up online.  As it turns out there are a LOT of recipes online and all very different.  I read about 5 or 6 and then made up my own.  Here is how it went.

Spaghetti Squash Gratin
1 sm-medium spaghetti squash
1 shallot minced
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesian cheese
2 TBS Sour cream
2 TBS half and half
1 egg
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
2 TBS sharp cheddar cheese (finely shredded)
Topping:
Bread crumbs ( i used the large kind like you would use for stuffing)
butter

   First halve and de-seed your spaghetti squash.  I like to place mine (cut side down) on a microwave safe plate with a little water in it and microwave for about 10 minutes or until soft.  Set aside to cool. 
   In a small saute pan add some butter and saute your shallot until soft.  Set this aside also to cool. 
   In a large mixing bowl, add your ricotta, sour cream, half and half, and egg and mix together.  I then added my Thyme and parmesian cheese.  To this add your cooled shallot and spaghetti squash and mix until thoroughly combined.  Here is where I added a little shredded sharp Cheddar cheese and mix it in. 
   Butter a small to medium baking dish and fill with squash mixture. 
  Melt about two TBS of butter in a bowl and mix in your bread crumbs.  When thoroughly mixed add on top of your squash mixture and bake at 375 degrees for about 40-45 minutes. 
   I have to say that this was delicious.  Not only did it taste great, but it looked really pretty too.  Too bad we still do not have a camera at home.  This would be great with some goat cheese, and I thought a little sweet corn mixed in would have been nice too.  It was very light and airy and not as heavy as you would think a gratin to be.  I HIGHLY recommed this as an alternative use for spaghetti squash.