Potatoes: Times are hard.

Even though we all hope that President Obama will save us, times are getting harder and harder.  In our effort to eat local all we have are potatoes this winter.  It explains why Storkbite and I have busied ourselves with other things — it’s hard for me to get excited by the 20 lbs. of potatoes festering in my cupboards.   The next several posts will convey my journey through the ups and downs of potato eating.  Even more exciting for the readers will be how to get Toddler Storkbite to also be a potato lover.

Potato and Rosemary Pizza

There is a lot to love about the combination of sea salted potatoes and rosemary.  Then add more goodness, i.e. all the cheese in my dairy drawer.  Yum.  Delicious potato pizza.

Take one pizza dough from your local pizzeria and spread it out on a half sheet pan.  Add some sauce.  Add some cheeses like romano, mozzarella, parmesan.   Add some thin slices of par-boiled potatoes.  Sprinkle with salt, rosemary and parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 450 and bake, reduce heat to 350 half way through and let it go until the crust is golden brown and the center is still when the pan is wiggled.

If you need exact proportions try this:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

• 1 pizza dough from the pizzeria
• 5 small potatoes sliced very thin then par-boiled
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• sea salt and pepper
• 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 c. shredded parmesan
• 1/4 c. shredded romano
• 1 c. bechamel sauce (2 tbs. butter + 2 tbs. flour + 1 c. milk + salt and pepper to taste)

Spread the dough, cover it with a light layer of bechamel, sprinkle with mozzarella and romano cheeses.  Lay down a single layer of potato slices, sprinkle with rosemary, sea salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with parmesan.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Salads, Pizza, Zucchini, Oh My!

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.