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Sometimes we can’t get enough of a good thing, or our CSA keeps sending us the same stuff. When that happens we do a lot of repeats with slight variations. This time I added leeks to the basic potato soup and transformed it into what Storkbite’s Papa refers to as “Baked Potato Soup”. In effort to be as thrify and possible and handcraft my own stork food, these pureed soups are becoming a real hit. Just before adding the cream, I skim off a good portion and Storkbite eats it for her lunches and dinners. So far the potato soup, butternut squash soup and now potato and leek soup have been a huge hit with the babe.
Potato and Leek Soup, a.k.a. Baked Potato Soup
For this soup I sauteed one small onion, three cloves garlic, and two chopped leeks (remember to soak in cold water to remove the sand!) in some olive oil and 1 tbs. butter. Once everything was glassy and smelled good I added about two pounds of skinned and diced fingerling potatoes. After turning it with a large wooded spoon so it was nicely mixed I added 1 box of chicken stock, refilling the same box with water and adding it. Then some salt and pepper to taste. When the potatoes have cooked down I used the handy stick blender and turned it into a puree. I then skimmed Storkbite’s portion and added at least 1/2 c. heavy cream to the pot an stirred it in.
To build the baked potato style presentation, simply add croutons*, grated cheddar cheese and coarse chopped cooked bacon. It really makes it a meal and is greatly satisfying on a fall night.
*Croutons - another thrifty tip. Don’t throw away your stale bread, instead cube it and put it in a freezer bag. When you need a handful of croutons for soup or salad, simply pull out your frozen cubes and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put them in the toaster oven or under the broiler for a few minutes and you will have perfect homemade croutons. They are so delicious that you won’t know then were previously frozen.
This week’s cooking conundrum that arrived in our CSA box was called purslane. It looks like a weed, kind of tastes like a weed and well according to Wikipedia - is a weed. The other obstacle of the week arrived on Friday - my cousins - from a landlocked place called Colorado. I was determined to show them a little something about seafood that was just plucked from the Atlantic. They were most appreciative.
Sausage and Puslane
Our local Irish butcher started carrying their own fresh made sausage and it’s excellent. It comes in a coil or links and the make it in a few flavors. This variety was cheese and parsley. The caraway and garlic flavors shined through. I had no idea what to do with the purslane, so after cooking up the sausage in our frying pan, we just added some red wine to the pork fat and reduced it. Once it was nice and saucy, we added the purslane and cooked in down for about a minute. The lemon flavors of the purslane really came through and it was a very delicious and simple dish.
Salmon and Potato Coins
From left to right: rainbow chard and garlic, yellow potatoes, salmon. Everything came from the CSA box except the salmon. This was the first time I tried grilling potatoes and I’m not sure that I recommend it. I par boiled them before grilling, but it wasn’t long enough to make them tender. They did photograph well. The chard was delicious and it’s our new favorite vegetable. I cut the leaves off the stems, then diced the stems and rough chopped the leaves. I sautéed the diced stems in olive oil and garlic, then threw in the leaves. I sautéed it all together for at least 10 minutes or so until it was tender. The salmon got tossed on the grill last after a quick hit of S&P.
Scallops and Fluke
My cousins from Colorado were talking about fish sticks and so I decided treats from the Atlantic were in order. The fisher at our local Saturday market had scallops (these are becoming our Saturday tradition) and fluke. First I counted my scallops and then counted half that amount of bacon strips. I cut the bacon strips in half and laid them on a baking sheet which I put under the oven broiler for a few minutes. I removed the bacon from the oven when it was about half cooked. I let it cool and then wrapped each scallop with a strip and pinned it with a toothpick. I lightly salted and peppered the pile. The fluke just got prepped with a little salt and pepper. In a very hot cast iron skillet I added a tablespoon of butter to a big puddle of olive oil. Once the butter melted and bubbled, I added the scallops one by one. They just take a second and then turn them over. Cooking them too long turns them into wads of gum. Once those were all finished and put on the platter, I added more butter and olive oil to my skillet, a handful on minced garlic and then the fluke. It only takes about two minutes on each side. I snipped fresh chives over the top and served it to the land lubbers. They enjoyed every single tender morsel and we had a very empty platter at the end of our delicious meal. The sides which I failed to mention were sautéed Napa cabbage and roasted red potatoes.
Breakfast
This is just a lovely little breakfast of eggs, salmon and cream cheese on brown toast and fresh strawberries. PG Tips is served here each and every morning.
This week has been a total blur since our whole family had the flu last weekend. I didn’t even realize that it was already Thursday until about 11 AM this morning! It’s even more of a challenge to use our CSA box on a week when our spirits have been quite low and lettuce is the last thing we want to eat. I’m going to post three menu items that have been on this weeks roster.
Summer Borscht
I had several beets that needed to be processed and it’s been so hot here so a cold soup fit the bill. Nearly all the ingredients were in our farm box. This soup is as simple as steaming diced beets until tender and letting them cool. Then in a bowl add approx. 2 cups of stock (I used vegetable), 1 cup of the beet juice from the steaming pot, 1 cup of yogurt, 8 oz of sour cream, juice from one lemon, 2 tsp of champagne or white wine vinegar, 1/4 c. sugar, fresh dill and a diced cucumber. Mix it all up and add the cooled beets. It’s really a treat on a cool night and you can’t beat the beautiful color combination of the beets and dill.
Bacon & Egg Salad
The only thing that we were able to stomach over lettuce was bacon and eggs this week. After taking care of Storkbite and her increased fussiness due to the emergence of her first tooth, I have been cutting corners in the kitchen. The abundance of lettuce is really overwhelming on top of everything else so I just made another big salad with bacon, eggs, avocado, paramesan wedges, lettuce, homemade croûtons and a mustard vinagrette. It’s so quick and easy that after a long day this is all I have the patience for. However, it’s not from a box and has no preservatives so it’s just great whole food.
Zucchini Pizza
Our CSA box had an abundance of zucchini for the past three weeks so I’ve gotten creative. I made a delicious zuccarrot cake but my presentation was terrible because it was a humid day. I made lots of puree zucchini baby food for Storkbite and she actually liked it! The last thing I could think of with my harried mind was pizza. This particular pizza was built on pizza dough that I got on my way home at our local pizzeria, then I layered on crumbled feta cheese, zucchini, yellow squash, drizzle of olive oil, onion, salt & pepper, and a sprinkle of parmesan over the top. I baked it at 450 for about 20 minutes until the crust was brown and then arranged fresh basil leaves on the top. It was delicious! The ingredients where as fresh as possible, probably picked yesterday. The best part about this pizza was that it took me ten minutes to put it together and get it in the oven, then I went and put Storkbite to bed and once she was fast asleep the pizza was ready to be enjoyed - in peace and quiet.
Sometimes I get really lazy and find it hard to be clever in the kitchen night after night. Sometimes I run out of time and have a really busy day wrangling Storkbite. On all the days when I can’t take it anymore, I serve BLTs and sometimes BLTEs. That would be the classic bacon, lettuce, tomato and the bacon, lettuce, tomato, egg respectively. I try to sex them up a bit with some olive oil or lime mayo, colorful tomatoes, Texas sweet bacon or whatever. This time the only thing sexy about these BLTEs was that I used red and orange tomatoes and leftover hamburger buns from the weekend. The only secret to a good BLT is to toast the bread!
In last night’s dinner, you will see a reprise of the ingredients from the classic spinach salad. I used some of my hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes and bacon. It’s a great quick meal and can be done in a variety of ways. There is no shame in eating a good old BLT.
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