Stuffed Shiso leaves

Stuffed Shiso Leaves

• 12 or more shiso leaves, blanched in boiling water by dipping them in and out quickly
• Sushi rice, see below

Put a dollap of sushi rice off-center on one leaf. Fold bottom edge up and over rice, fold sides in, and roll up the leaf. Repeat with remaining leaves. Put on plate and enjoy. Next time I make this, I am considering making a dipping sauce, perhaps of shoyu (soy sauce) and garlic.

Sushi Rice -- from World of the East Vegetarian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey

• 4 T. rice wine vinegar
• 4 T. sugar
• ½ t. salt
• 6 cups freshly cooked Plain Japanese Rice*

Mix first three ingredients together and set aside. Once rice is cooked and while it is still warm, put it in a flat dish and slowly pour the vinegar mixture over while ‘stirring’ the rice gently. Continue to ‘stir’ the rice so that it cools.

* Note: I use a variety of rices—depends on what I have in the cupboard or what sounds good that time. What I used at the dinner last month was Sushi rice, a sticky rice.

Gone Fishin?

Hey all,

I recently found out that Lake Milton and Berlin lake have healthy populations of Walleye. I'm not a very experienced angler, but I love Walleye and thought it might be fun to go fishing in either lake sometime. If anyone's interested, give me a holler.

Danielle

Fennelated High Summer Minnestrone

I was inspired by the cool weather and the awesome stuff in my basket to make a hearty, fresh summer soup. I’m looking forward to eating this into the winter, as it made a lot.

Ingredients

Bunch of fennel
2-3 large carrots, or several small
Garlic
Onions (of the kind we get from BB farm)
Bay leaf
Shelly beans
Olive oil
Zucchini or summer squash rough chop
Corn, shucked, uncooked
Tomatoes, rough chop
Escarole, or other greens (Lacinato kale would also be delicious)
Salt and pepper

Add, fennel, carrots, garlic, onion and bay leaf to a large soup pot. Add water to cover, plus salt and pepper. Bring to a very soft boil and keep there for about 20 mins, or until fragrant.

Remove the fennel, leave as many carrots as you like. Add shelly beans and continue to boil at a low boil, till beans are soft.

Put a pan on medium high and add olive oil to film the bottom of the pan. When hot, add rough chopped garlic and onion, add zucchini. Add salt and pepper to taste. When done to your liking, add to soup.

Add the rest of the ingredients and continue at a low boil for a few more minutes, until greens are wilted. Adjust seasoning. Serve with grated parmesan.

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Cucumber Soup Recipe

This is a "nonrecipe" for the cold cucumber soup I made when we got together last weekend. I just threw things into the food processor and kept tasting until I liked it. But here is the rough guide.

Big ole bunch of cucumbers. I think I had the equivalent of 4-5 large.
Rice wine vinegar to taste, start with about a quarter of a cup
Buttermilk. Again, this is to taste. I believe I used about a pint.
Salt, fresh ground pepper, herbs. I used sorrel and chives

Cut cukes into medalions and process a little at a time in the food processor. Put through a fine mesh strainer. Once you have all the cukes processed, add vinegar, buttermilk herbs and salt and pepper and some of the cuke juice to the processor and process until fine. Put through the strainer once more. Mix thoroughly and chill 4-5 hours. Taste and adjust (it may need more or less buttermilk, vinegar etc).

Postscript: I made this again and added about a teaspoon of good curry powder. Wow, it was terrific! I also think adding a bit of sweet onion would be very good, too.

Garlic Bread with Chard (B H & G July 2011)

6-8 cups of coarsely chopped chard (6 to 8 0z.)

2 to 3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 1-lb. ciabatta loaves

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 to 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl toss chard with olive oil.

2. Cut each loaf in 8 to 10 slices, cutting to bottom but not cutting through loaf. In a small bowl combine butter and garlic, lightly spread on bread slices. Spoon in chard mixture, mounding slightly. Wrap each loaf in foil. Place on large baking sheet.

3. Warm 20 minutes or until heated through. Unwrap and remound any chard that falls out as it is served.

Ex-Boyfriend Gratin

In response to the lordly call to eat more chard, I am posting this recipe, one of my favorites and always a pleaser. This isn't a crustless quiche. It's really hearty, freezes well, and makes a great "work lunch."

1 onion
1 lots of swiss chard
6 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
2 Eggs beaten
1 dried chipotle (reconstituted by submerging in hot water)
½ cup brown rice or barley, cooked just until firm
1/2 cup french lentils, cooked just until firm
1 lemon, juiced
6 oz of apenzeller or jarlesberg (any hard swiss-type cheese will do)
2 grated oz parmesan
Salt and pepper

*Hint: A wok is probably the best type and size pan to use for this recipe. You’ll also need about a 9 inch deep dish round pan.

Cook rice and lentils until just tender.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until they begin to caramelize. Set aside in a large mixing bowl with lentils and rice.

Cut the stems away from chard leaves and set aside. Chop the stems into 1 inch pieces set them aside. Cut up the leaves into strips. Heat olive oil until it shimmers and add the leaves a little bit at a time until all the chard is wilted but not slimy. Add to big bowl

Blanch chard stems in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove the stems from the water, rinse briefly, and add to bowl.

Finely chop the chipotle and garlic and add to bowl. Add eggs, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Grate 5 oz of Jarlesberg and 1 oz parmesan into the bowl and mix well. Pour mixture into greased quiche pan. Grate remaining cheese on top.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Turn pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 400, or until top of gratin is crusty and a little browned.

Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles from Cooking Light

Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles From Cooking Light

YIELD: 16 servings (serving size: about 1/4 cup drained pickles)

Ingredients

5 1/2 cups thinly sliced pickling cucumbers (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 cup thinly sliced onion

1 cup sugar

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

Preparation

1. Combine cucumbers and salt in a large bowl; cover and chill 1 1/2 hours. Drain; rinse cucumbers under cold water. Drain; return cucumbers to bowl. Add onion to bowl.

2. Combine sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Some garden photos

The hoop house beginning to sprout.

Gotta love those carrots.

Okay these are Phil and Mindy's but rumor has it that Blackberry Farm tomatoes aren't far behind them.

Another beautiful day in the garden.

A great day in the garden

Smokey Beet n' Greens Tacos

I think the original recipe for this might have come from Vegetarian Times years and years ago, but I honestly forget. It is one of my favorites, a standby for spring-summer.

1 Large bunch of beets with greens
1 Medium onion, sliced
1 Clove garlic
2 TBS good olive oil
4-5 Small corn tortillas
Goat cheese crumbles, to taste. Other fresh cheeses are good too!
Smoked paprika* to taste
Salt and pepper

*You have to use smoked paprika for this to taste right. You can find this at most good gourmet stores--I get mine from Urban Herbs, the spice store inside of the Westside Market in Cleveland, but you can also order it online http://www.urbanherbsonline.com/. Once you use it, you will see that it is indispensable in the kitchen. Buy a little at a time--a little bit goes a long way, and after a few months it loses its magic.

Cut beets and greens from stems. If you like the taste of the stems you can add them, otherwise discard.

Add about 1 Tbs olive oil to large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, season and cook slowly until caramelized. When done, put the caramelized onion and garlic in a container.

Turn heat to medium-high and add 1 TBS of olive oil. Add greens to pan and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook until wilted and tender (about 3-4 minutes). At this point, I usually drain the greens a bit, or just lift them out of the liquid--they can get watery. Place beet greens in container--you can mix with mix with onions and garlic if you like.

If beets are small, you can add directly to the pan with a little salt and a cup of water and cooked on medium heat until tender. If they are larger, you can roast them in the oven at 400 degrees with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, or make it easy on yourself and boil them. When done to fork tender, add to beet and onion mixture. Toss.

While beets are finishing, add a small amount of olive oil to a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add corn tortillas one at a time and fry until lightly crisp on one side, or do a bunch in the oven by brushing them with oil and sprinkling with a little salt.

When everything is done, I usually reheat the greens in the skillet, then fill tacos with greens and top with onions, goat cheese, and smoked paprika to taste.

Garlic Scape Stew

Made this "stew" yesterday and it's really yummy!

Big Ole fistful of garlic scapes, stems cut 1/4 inch, flowers cut chiffonade
1/3 c olive oil
1/3 c dry white wine
8-10 C Veggie or Chicken broth
1 C of white beans, soaked overnight
1 C barley
Salt and pepper to taste

Put a heavy bottom soup pot on medium high heat. Add olive oil. When shimmering, add scape stems, salt and pepper and allow to slowly fry without burning for 5 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Add wine and continue cooking until reduced. Add veggie broth and bring to a low boil. Add beans and barley and continue cooking on medium heat (should be a very low boil). In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add in garlic flower chiffonade!

Tasty. Would be great with some kale or other greens added in, too.

Rosemary's Rhubarb Cherry Chutney

Rhubarb Cherry Chutney

1 tblsp. vegetable oil

1 1/2 c. diced red onion

1 tblsp. grated ginger root

pinch of salt

1/4 c. cider vinegar

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. dried cherries

1 1/2 c. cherry or apple juice (I used black cherry juice, because it's what I could find.)

4 c. sliced rhubarb (1" pieces)

Warm the oil in a nonreactive saucepan and add onions, ginger, and salt.  Cover and saute on medium heat, stirring often, until onions are softened and clear, about 10 minutes.

Add vinegar, sugar, spices, cherries, and juice and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add rhubarb and simmer (covered) for an additional 10 minutes until the rhubarb is tender and the chutney somewhat thickened.  Store in sealed container in the refrigerator.  (Keeps at least 2 weeks; or freeze for longer storage.)

Good with Indian curries, fish, or an English ploughman's lunch!

Welcome to the Serf Zone!

...Okay guys, the blog is all set up! Post your recipes and/or news and requests. Just make sure to label your entries, especially if they are recipes, so that they will be easily searchable. Labeling should be easy, just type the word "recipe" or "news" or whatever in the "labels" box below. Blogger is pretty intuitive, but if you need help doing something in Blogger, just use the help icon or google, which is linked with Blogger.

Enjoy!
Danielle