We just signed up for one of those "we'll deliver $20 worth of mostly local and organic produce and other stuff like bread to your door for $23" things. Contrary to what I've seen from similar services, this one lets you choose what you'll get each week, within the limits of what they have available. From what I'm seeing on their site, the prices are extremely competitive with non-local, non-organic, non-delivered-to-my-front-door produce from the grocery store. I'm looking forward to tatsoi.
What's a good term to google for this sort of service? I don't know if we have one.Originally Posted by tiohn
H.
It sounds like a CSA (community supported agriculture), although most CSAs don't let you pick what you get. I'm jealous!
That would be it, thanks!
H.
p.s. Also, pizzadilla FTW, great ultra-quick lazy meal.
Yeah, we have a pick-what-you-want CSA-type-thing in Pittsburgh:
http://www.isidorefoods.com/
I subscribe to a different CSA on a weekly plan, but it's nice to be able to order their One-Time Boxes if I want something extra that my CSA doesn't provide.
Plus, their Amish roll butter is really really good.
I am currently boiling 4 pounds of peanuts. God help me.
I recently caved in and bought the same Weber BBQ that everybody else in this country owns.
Made my very first Beer Chicken and it was lovely.
Drank half a can of beer while roasting my spices: fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black peppercorn, cardamon pods.
This I crushed with garlic and salt and rubbed on my dried chicken. The leftovers were poured into the can which I then inserted in the birds rectum. Placed on the BBQ with the coals to the side for 1 1/4 hour.
Dead easy and fucking lovely...
This we ate with baked potato squares (with garlic and rosemary) and a lovely cous cous sald with fresh wild aspargus.
I just got back from Spain and ate at a restaurant called "El Buey" (The Ox). They brought out 2 pounds of the most tender thinly sliced ox meat seasoned with kosher salt on a platter, then a thick sizzling stone plate, where I then proceeded to cook my ox meat to my personal specifications. It was fun and very good!
That's what I've cooked lately!
Here's a dish I made for a pot luck BBQ last weekend, almost everyone had more than one bowl and in the case of one guy 3 bowls and 1 take home bowl.
Cauliflower and Potato Soup
-1L broth
-5-6 potatoes
-flour
-1 head of cauliflower
-pepper/salt
-2-3 cups Milk
-large amounts of basil, oregano
-Start boiling the potatoes
-Cut up half the head of cauliflower into small florets, blend the other half
-add the potatoes to the broth and mash them until you reach your desired consistency
-add the cauliflower
-add the milk, pepper, and salt.
-Stir
-Add flour until you reach your desired consistency
You, sir, are are a man after my own heart. Godspeed.
They turned out pretty well, considering that I didn't really know what I was doing. I boiled them with about a cup of pickled jalapenos and 3/4 cup of some fancy seasoning salt for about four hours and then left them to soak for about 24 more hours. They tend towards al dente and have a nice flavor from the peppers and spices.
We got our first box of produce on the porch this morning and are very impressed. The strawberries and blueberries are delicious and we are looking forward to roasted kale for dinner.
If anyone else is interested:
Roasted Kale
Preheat the oven to 375. Trim and de-stem the kale (fold leaves in half lenghwise and pull the stem off). Toss in olive oil, spread in a single layer on baking sheet. Place in oven for ten minutes, turn the kale, and then continue turning every ten minutes until the kale is crispy and but not burnt. Sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!
Are there any two things that go together better than fresh tomatoes and salt?
Yes, fresh potatoes and salt.
Raw?5
I'm on a diet now, so I'm getting pretty good at salads, dressings, fried vegetables and all kinds of variations. Fried baby aspargus is a nice thing to throw in a salad and I've perfected my deskinning peppers technique.
While that does sound tasty, I don't understand the use of the grill in dishes like that. If the whole thing is wrapped in foil, isn't the grill just acting as a heat source?Made a great salmon dish...essentially just a bunch of garlic and dill with some lemon wedges on the salmon....wrap it up in foil....barbe on 450 for 20 minutes...insanely juicy and tasty.
Yes, the same recipes could probably be done under a broiler or in the oven proper. The classic potatoes and veggies in foil grill recipe is one I like to do in the oven.
However, I would imagine having them as grill recipes is nice for grilling situations where you want to cook multiple dishes all on the grill. It's annoying as a cook to be running back and forth between kitchen and grill. Much better to just focus on the grilling and accompanying beer drinking.
It's a good start, but you're missing the lettuce, bacon, bread, and mayo.
In the summer it's also nice because it puts the big hot thing outside rather than inside your house.
Anyway, foil never makes a perfect seal, so if you're doing it right you'll still get a bit of smoky grill flavor from something foil-wrapped. Especially if you poke a couple holes in the top.
Note that a gas grill never counts as "doing it right" for this kind of thing.
Alright, picked up some fava beans at the local farmer's market on a whim.
Chianti jokes aside, what the hell do I do with them now?
Well first you get them all out of the pods. That's the tedious part. After that it's pretty easy. Blanch the beans, then cook up some chopped bacon. Drain most of the grease, then lower the heat and add some chopped onion and saute it a bit. Add the fava beans and some chopped garlic, saute a few more minutes. It's quite tasty and could easily be served at this point but I like to add a contrasting flavor right at the end to highlight the dish. So perhaps some lime juice, or craisins, and a few more minutes of sauteeing.
Assuming I can find some pink curing salt locally, I'm planning on curing my own pancetta this weekend. Well, starting it, at least.
The annoyance of hunting down stuff like this is what keeps me from fiddling with more charcuterie stuff.
Just finding enough good-quality lard to make pork tenderloin confit was a huge pain in the ass -- I kept having conversations with butchers where they'd just be incredulous that I actually wanted a couple pounds of lard.
Good luck finding the salt, though.
What recipe are you using?
I'm using this one, more or less. I actually got the idea reading an article in Men's Health (my wife has subscribed longer than I've known her. I have no idea why), where they give an extremely similar recipe. The article is actually pretty interesting, because the author buys a whole pig (there's a picture of him climbing into a cab with it) and takes different parts to various well-known chefs and asks them to do something with it. The WD-50 guy was extremely non-plussed to have been given the loin.
Making chili - nothing special (beans from the slow cooker, ground beef, corn, tomatoes, onions) but it's the first time I'm trying Chili 9000. It's really bright and fresh tasting - sometimes chili powder is so stale and musty (and not because it's old). Just realized I need to add salt.
If you're ever in the market for dried spices, Penzeys is amaaaaaaaaazing. I drove an hour and a half to a retail location and it was like visiting Mecca.
I like to add a little smoked paprika and freshly-grated ginger to my chili.
If you're interested in that kind of cooking, you really need Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie book. It's basically awesome and has recipes and techniques for all sorts of stuff like pancetta.
Once our kitchen remodel is done I plan to take our old fridge, bleach it out, and use it as a humidity-controlled locker for curing sausage.
I've lusted after a copy of that book for years now, but I think owning it would just be cruel torture as I don't really have the space or means for much more than pancetta. Actually, the main problem I'm running into with this pancetta project is that I don't have enough space in my fridge for half of a pork belly for an entire week. That and convincing the wife to let me hang raw pork in the bathroom for a month.
The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating is the other cookbook that's very high on my list. I made the roasted marrow recipe a few months ago and it was just heavenly.
Yeah, that's been the problem I've had. Especially with a dog in the house, there aren't too many places where it's fine to just hang up meat and leave it there.
I'm hoping a nice clean refrigerator in the basement will do nicely.
As far as the Charcuterie book itself goes, though, I originally got it for the confit and pâté recipes, which are delicious and don't take up a ton of space (though you do end up wanting a good meat grinder for the pâté).
I've been meaning to pick that up for a while, and I really ought to just give in and buy it. My wife loves marrow, so that sounds especially nice.
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