-1 bunch of baby beets and greens
-2 bunches of collards
-1 bunches of kale
-1 bag of broccoli crowns
-1 head of romaine lettuce
-1 head of red leaf lettuce
-1 1/2 lbs yellow squash and zucchini
-1 greenhouse cucumber
-2 kohlrabi, purple or green
-1 bunch of hakurei turnips
-1 2 inch chive plant
We are at the 6 week mark of our CSA farm share and I have been really enjoying it so far. I feel like because of it, we have been eating a lot healthier and also not going to the grocery store as much (which is great considering I used to feel like I would go shopping 3 times a week). Once I get the box home, I always like to take inventory and do a quick initial trim/prep on the veggies and get them into plastic bags and containers so that way when I'm ready to cook, I've already saved myself a few minutes with my prep work. The veggies also last a lot longer with the initial prep time so by taking a few minutes, I'm extending the freshness of everything. I do have to admit that I feel like a borderline slacker this week because we do have a few things left over but they still look good so I will incorporate them into next week's dinners. All of the lettuces went to salads as usual and I'm going to really miss them since we are coming to the end of the lettuce season and being as salad has become one of my main food groups, I'm going to have to change it up very soon. Monday night, I made a zucchini cornbread from the July issue of Bon Appetit which was good but if you make it I would recommend serving it with a honey butter to give it a little bit more sweetness. It seems like zucchini is on everyone's mind being as all the August magazines came this week (Dutch, the mailman must want to scream some weeks because we do a big part in keeping the magazine world still in business) and they all have these great recipes for zucchini which I can't wait to try out. The beets got a simple foil roast in the oven with just salt, pepper and olive oil and they were so delicious that you could eat them like that but I tossed mine into my salad one day for lunch.
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The thing that I was the most excited for this week was the new addition of the collard greens to the box because I had never cooked with them before but was excited to break out my Lee Brother's Southern cookbook for some helpful hints on cleaning and cooking them. My real inspiration though for them came from my brother's co-worker Zep who told him how to cook them Italian style with garlic, pancetta and white wine (really what could be bad when you add those 3 things to any dish). Here is the quick recipe for the Zep Collards:
-Cut the collard leaves away from the stalky middle part and give them a good rinse. Cut them up pretty finely so they will cook up pretty quickly. I layered a bunch of the leaves together, rolled them up like a cigar and chopped them up that way and it worked great.
-In a large saute pan, heat a few tablespoons of oil, and toss in a quarter of a pound of chopped pancetta and let saute until it releases some fat and begins to get crisp. Throw in a handful of chopped up garlic (I used a good 5-6 cloves) and let cook until it becomes soft. Toss in half of your collard greens and let cook for a few moments until they start to shrink down. Once this happens, toss in the rest of the leaves and pour a good glug of white wine into the pan (a 1/4 cup is good) and let cook until almost all of the liquid is evaporated.
-When the leaves are nice and tender, season with salt and a small pinch of crushed red pepper and finish them off with a drizzle of balsamic.
You can enjoy the collards just like this or you can take it one step further like I happened to do. It just so happened that it was the weekend of the St. Mary's festival and we had some leftover porchetta in the house. I was thinking of ways to re-do my leftovers and the idea to replicate one of my favorite Philadelphia delicacies came to me and I knew this was going to be good. The cheesesteak is symbolic with Philadelphia but it's so much more of a culinary city then that. They have amazing restaurants (which many of them at BYOB!), some of the best gelato you will ever have from Capogiro, and an Italian market which is so much fun to shop at on weekends. Don't get me wrong, the cheesesteaks are good and I've ate my fair share of them going to college in Philly but the real deal sandwich is what you can get at DiNic's at the Redding Terminal Market. DiNic's makes this fabulous roast pork sandwich which they serve on a Philadelphia hoagie roll (for all of the New Englanders out there: we can call it a grinder roll) and then top it with sharp provolone chunks and sauteed broccoli rabe...It is amazing because all the flavors blend into each other and you just sit there at the counter eating and watching all of the activity of the market. Maybe I'm bias but I would put it up against a Geno's or Jim's cheesesteak any day because it's just such a different flavor.
So I might not be in Philadelphia but I knew I could make the "valley version" of this sandwich and it was a pretty good stand in. Here is the sandwich lineup: what else to put it on but a Altimari's Portuguese roll, the porchetta from Saint Mary's church and the "zep collards" which came from Stone Gardens. This might only be a once a year occurrence since you have to wait for when the porchetta is available but who knows, I might be assembling my sandwich next year at the back of the booth.
We are at the 6 week mark of our CSA farm share and I have been really enjoying it so far. I feel like because of it, we have been eating a lot healthier and also not going to the grocery store as much (which is great considering I used to feel like I would go shopping 3 times a week). Once I get the box home, I always like to take inventory and do a quick initial trim/prep on the veggies and get them into plastic bags and containers so that way when I'm ready to cook, I've already saved myself a few minutes with my prep work. The veggies also last a lot longer with the initial prep time so by taking a few minutes, I'm extending the freshness of everything. I do have to admit that I feel like a borderline slacker this week because we do have a few things left over but they still look good so I will incorporate them into next week's dinners. All of the lettuces went to salads as usual and I'm going to really miss them since we are coming to the end of the lettuce season and being as salad has become one of my main food groups, I'm going to have to change it up very soon. Monday night, I made a zucchini cornbread from the July issue of Bon Appetit which was good but if you make it I would recommend serving it with a honey butter to give it a little bit more sweetness. It seems like zucchini is on everyone's mind being as all the August magazines came this week (Dutch, the mailman must want to scream some weeks because we do a big part in keeping the magazine world still in business) and they all have these great recipes for zucchini which I can't wait to try out. The beets got a simple foil roast in the oven with just salt, pepper and olive oil and they were so delicious that you could eat them like that but I tossed mine into my salad one day for lunch.
The thing that I was the most excited for this week was the new addition of the collard greens to the box because I had never cooked with them before but was excited to break out my Lee Brother's Southern cookbook for some helpful hints on cleaning and cooking them. My real inspiration though for them came from my brother's co-worker Zep who told him how to cook them Italian style with garlic, pancetta and white wine (really what could be bad when you add those 3 things to any dish). Here is the quick recipe for the Zep Collards:
-Cut the collard leaves away from the stalky middle part and give them a good rinse. Cut them up pretty finely so they will cook up pretty quickly. I layered a bunch of the leaves together, rolled them up like a cigar and chopped them up that way and it worked great.
-In a large saute pan, heat a few tablespoons of oil, and toss in a quarter of a pound of chopped pancetta and let saute until it releases some fat and begins to get crisp. Throw in a handful of chopped up garlic (I used a good 5-6 cloves) and let cook until it becomes soft. Toss in half of your collard greens and let cook for a few moments until they start to shrink down. Once this happens, toss in the rest of the leaves and pour a good glug of white wine into the pan (a 1/4 cup is good) and let cook until almost all of the liquid is evaporated.
-When the leaves are nice and tender, season with salt and a small pinch of crushed red pepper and finish them off with a drizzle of balsamic.
 |
| somewhat intimidating when they are are coming at you like this straight from the box |
You can enjoy the collards just like this or you can take it one step further like I happened to do. It just so happened that it was the weekend of the St. Mary's festival and we had some leftover porchetta in the house. I was thinking of ways to re-do my leftovers and the idea to replicate one of my favorite Philadelphia delicacies came to me and I knew this was going to be good. The cheesesteak is symbolic with Philadelphia but it's so much more of a culinary city then that. They have amazing restaurants (which many of them at BYOB!), some of the best gelato you will ever have from Capogiro, and an Italian market which is so much fun to shop at on weekends. Don't get me wrong, the cheesesteaks are good and I've ate my fair share of them going to college in Philly but the real deal sandwich is what you can get at DiNic's at the Redding Terminal Market. DiNic's makes this fabulous roast pork sandwich which they serve on a Philadelphia hoagie roll (for all of the New Englanders out there: we can call it a grinder roll) and then top it with sharp provolone chunks and sauteed broccoli rabe...It is amazing because all the flavors blend into each other and you just sit there at the counter eating and watching all of the activity of the market. Maybe I'm bias but I would put it up against a Geno's or Jim's cheesesteak any day because it's just such a different flavor.
 |
| DiNic's roast pork sandwich valley style |
So I might not be in Philadelphia but I knew I could make the "valley version" of this sandwich and it was a pretty good stand in. Here is the sandwich lineup: what else to put it on but a Altimari's Portuguese roll, the porchetta from Saint Mary's church and the "zep collards" which came from Stone Gardens. This might only be a once a year occurrence since you have to wait for when the porchetta is available but who knows, I might be assembling my sandwich next year at the back of the booth.
Catie - that sandwich looks killer and you are a genius for putting together the valley version of it! Wow, so so delicious! I would love to try to make this and think maybe I could get AnthoNy to even enjoy collard greens. :)
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