BACK HOME & BACK IN THE KITCHEN

POST #846
I’m home at last! The hurricane was coming in, my family valiantly worked to get me out of the Outer Banks, into Virginia Beach, onto a bus to Newport News, VA, and then I had a 10 hr. train odyssey back to New York City (Luckily, I had an arsenal of books and magazines, and…the train had electrical outlets and wi-fi, so I didn’t get a wink of sleep on the all-day train!)

After a long night’s recuperative sleep, I woke up bright and early this morning, did some work around the house, ran around the neighborhood scoring batteries and flashlights and some kale (I figure 2 lbs of kale will make enough kale chips that I can live through any power outage). Everyone’s hurricane-crazed here (insane lines with people in stores talking to total strangers (me) while standing in interminable lines that kept seeming to get longer or else not moving at all, or else both.

This evening, I opened the last jar of kohlrabi/garlic/jalapeno pickles and the last jar of cabbage/jalapeno sauerkraut.

I’d been unhappy about the first jar of kohlrabi, but, after a week, the second jar turned out fine (we ate them up at the beach last week!), and I had left the third jar to see what would happen if they went 3 or 4 weeks. Opening the jar today, I was faced with some busy fizzing, and, when I tried the pickles, I was glad to know that longer works very well. These pickles are even better.

The sauerkraut was a very happy experience! The first jar did nothing for me, but this jar (at 3-4 weeks) turned out very tasty. Yumm!

Right now, I have a jar of lentil sprouts working, and jar of sunflower seed sprouts. Tomorrow morning, after I make up the kale chips and stow them in the dehydrator, I think I will make some sunflower seed crackers from a recipe in Rose Calabro’s book, Living in the Raw … haven’t had those for a while (hopefully, we won’t lose power, and I’ll be able to get them dehydrated for 12 hrs).

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ANOTHER GRAND OPENING – the Fermented Carrots & Kohlrabi

POST #835
I’ve opened the jar of cultured dill/garlic/jalapeno/ginger carrots and one of the jars of dill/garlic/jalapeno kohlrabi.  Both unexpected tastes, but both good.  I took them both back to work with me this evening and shared them around – got good reviews on both of them!  Yea!

I’m leaving the other two jars of kohlrabi for a little longer to see what will happen.

Meanwhile, I’ll be working my way through these delicious cultured vegetables for a few days. Yumm!

6/28/12 CSA SHARE DISTRIBUTION #5

 POST #758

Here is what we got and what I came home with:

Zucchini – 4 pcs
Cipollini Onions – 1 bun
Fennel -OR- Kohlrabi – 1 bun…We got broccoli instead, I traded for more kale
Baby Spinach – 1 bag
Radicchio – 1 hd
Swiss Chard – 1 bun………………I traded for more kale
Toscano Kale – 1 bun
Red Boston Lettuce – 1 hd…..…We got a HUGE bunch of escarole instead

I traded the broccoli because it was mostly yellow, and I don’t care for broccoli that much anyway.

I kept the radicchio because I have never eaten radicchio, and I can’t know if I don’t like it until I try it.  Wish me luck.

I was going to trade the onions for something, but they are so nice and big – I have some store-bought onions, which will last for a while, but these nice fat onions will be good in salads for the next week, I think.

I just made it through last week’s escarole (gasp!), and now I’m saddled with more.  Oh well. Wraps worked last week, I can deal with a salad or two, and then, of course, there are (yuck) green smoothies.  (I was just checking my skin today to see if I have turned green from all the green smoothies occasioned by the farms insidious desire for me to consume green leaves.)

I will be up by Fairway market tomorrow afternoon, so I will stop in there and pick up some cabbage (I’m out of sauerkraut), tomatoes, mushrooms (I want to make a cashew/jalapeno/mushroom cheeze filling for kohlrabi ravioli with the kohlrabi I still have left), and some more lentils to sprout (I really do love lentil sprouts)

BTW, last week, I bought this bag of sprouting grass for the cats from the supermarket, and it turned out to be wheat mixed with vermiculite.  I opened the bag wrong, so I ended up putting a paper towel in my old Kitchen Garden sprouter.  I have never seen wheat sprout that fast!  It grew to be short grass (standing up and everything) in 2 days.  I watered it twice a day for about 5 days, then set it out for the cats, who would have nothing to do with it – oh well, I guess they are not into healthy food.  Meanwhile, I saw it was so easy, I am thinking about growing wheat grass for me (mind you, I am still in the thinking stage. I could probably put a window box inside the kitchen window – our only window that gets sun).

It’s really hot here, but, I’m happy to say that my last living fan (2 died over the winter) is cooling my room off nicely.  Yea!

6/28/12 CSA SHARE: What they say we will get

POST #757

This is what they say we will get:

Zucchini – several pcs
Cipollini Onions – 1 bun
Fennel -OR- Kohlrabi – 1 bun
Baby Spinach – 1 bag
Radicchio – 1 hd
Swiss Chard – 1 bun
Toscano Kale – 1 bun
Red Boston Lettuce – 1 hd

I’m looking forward to some zucchini pasta and kale chips.

LAST SHARE OF THE SEASON! What they said, what I got, what I took home, and what I’m going to do with it

Here is the reality of our last share, and how I made out

WHAT THEY SAID	WHAT I GOT/WHAT I TRADED FOR
Potatoes – 2 lbs	Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes– 5 lbs	Sweet Potatoes
Carrots – 3 lbs	Carrots
Red Kale – 1 bun	Kale
Rutabaga – 1-2 pcs	Rutabaga
Watermelon Radish – 1-3 pcs	Red Radishes/Watermelon Radishes
Cilantro – 1/8 lb	NONE!!! A nice member gave me hers
Kohlrabi – 1 pc	Kohlrabi
Butternut Squash – 1 pc	Bok Choi/ Cilantro
Broccoli – 1-2 pc	Broccoli/ Sweet Potatoes

I was slow!  Some guy went into the share box and took out about 8 rutabagas! How is that possible? Did he trade his entire box for rutabagas?
(or is it that they only watch when I pick things out of the box, to make
sure that I put a share portion in for the share portion I take out)   Oh well! Maybe he knows somebody.

I was hoping to score some extra kale, but it was not to
be.  I’ll have money for food in 2 weeks, and I’ll get some then, if they have it in the cheap market (actually, it is probably better – I’ve found that kale is not very good for me right now – I hope that will change, because I do love my kale).   This kind of kale is not very good for kale chips – it is not very “solid”… how can I say… the leaves are fingery.  It will chop well, but it is not large enough to make kale chips.

My kohlrabi is a nice size – I will make ravioli with it.  Come to think of it, those watermelon radishes might make nice ravioli, as well.

I did keep the potatoes because Mrs. Murphy, next door, seems to enjoy them (I tried to give her a mess of sweet potatoes, but she would have none of it, yet, when I offer her potatoes, she waxes ecstatic – she’s 83 – she can blow me off is she wants to – I drop by and offer her parts of my share, and she tells me what she’ll take.  Too bad we did not have a lot of potatoes this year.  She doesn’t much care for greens, which is what we mostly get).

I am really excited about the more sweet potatoes, since my
Thanksgiving sweet potato recipe turned out so well, and, yet, gave me a couple
of new ideas to try (and, fortunately, I have most of the ingredients in-house,
so I won’t have to spend much to do the new ideas)  I am also going to experiment with
some “few ingredient” recipes with them, since I have so many.

9/23/10 CSA SHARE: What they said, what I got and what I took away

Today’s share was pretty nice, if you like lettuce-y kinds of vegetables.  I paid a few visits to the “Share Box”, which is where people put the things they don’t want, and take things they do want.  (In my experience, going early is good if you think you need to play with the share box, but going late can be just as useful, because more people may have tossed things you want.  “Playing” the share box is basically a crapshoot, but you get a wonderful zing when you do hit a good trade.

Today, I ended up trading my unwanted lettuce-y things for other people’s unwanted tomatoes.  I am still in dehydrate mode (see a tomato, dehydrate it!), but now I am sort of back to where I can eat fresh tomatoes sparingly (I had a wonderful tomato, onion, cucumber sandwich with fresh garlic oil last night)

WHAT WE GOT                   WHAT I TOOK
Lettuce mix……………………….4 tomatoes
Arugula………………………..4 tomatoes
Crinkled Crumpled Cress
Romaine Lettuce……………….1 bun. Collards
Kohlrabi 2 pcs…………………….I only got one
Plum
Collards, 1 bun.

I also got 3 huge peaches and 3 small apples

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH ALL OF THIS?
Tomatoes: I am going to dehdyrate most of them, but, since my mom says I should, I am going to food process some and freeze them for sauces. (Mom doesn’t realize, perhaps, that this might affect her Christmas present of a big jar full of “sundried tomatoes” — ha ha! Of course, it won’t! She’s my mom!)

Kohlrabi: I really love making ravioli with kohlrabi. I have this 4-inch wide slicer that slices kohlrabi very thin, and I can make nice ravioli with nut cheezes and/or other fillings.

Collards!: I will, of course, make some massaged, marinated greens, but I think I may try to make some collard wraps. (These are a challenge to me because I do not like to bite hard things, and I do not like to chew much, so I must figure out a way to make collards soft before I wrap things in them. I’m still working on it, so that will only be about 5 collard leaves worth of experiment. I know I like the massaged greens, anyway, and I haven’t made them in a couple of months)

Peaches: I will probably make some smoothies with whatever other fruit I have the freezer (I’m almost out of blueberries).

Apples: I will probably dehydrate the ones I don’t include in smoothies.  The dehydrated apples make nice snacks.

WHAT TO DO WITH KOHLRABI LEAVES

WHAT TO DO WITH KOHLRABI LEAVES

STOP!!!!
You’ve been trying the kohlrabi recipes, but what have you done with the leaves from the kohlrabi???  You haven’t thrown them out, have you?

MIXED GREENS

• Chiffonade the the kohlrabi leaves (roll them to a cigar shape, then chop cross-wise to get thin.  ribbons, then, if you like, chop once agan cross-wise to the first chop, to make shorter pieces) Place in a large mixing bowl.
• Add other chiffonade (kale, collards, chard, spinach – whatever you have handy)
• Add finely chopped onion, chopped kalamata olives, seasonings (chili powder, or curry powder are good)
• Add 1 T olive oil and 1 T apple cider vinegar
• Massage the mixture with your hand to thoroughly combine and draw the liquid from the leaves.
• OPTIONAL: Add chopped tomatoes, and/or chopped avocado, and toss.
• Allow to marinate for 30 mins. to 8 hrs. (or more)

Will keep in the refrigerator for 5 days.

KOHLRABI/APPLE SLAW

KOHLRABI & APPLE SLAW

1 C mayonnaise (your recipe, or my recipe, below)
1 lb kohlrabi, trimmed,  peeled, and chopped
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

Process kohlrabi and apple in the food processor to a slaw texture (you could use the grater attachment, but I just use the S blade)
Place kohlrabi/apple mixture in a mixing bowl, add mayonnaise, and toss until thoroughly combined.
Serve immediately.

CASHEW MAYONNAISE

1 C cashews, soaked 1-2 hrs., drained
1/2 t paprika
2 cloves garlic
1 t onion powder
3 T lemon juice
1/4 C olive oil
2 T parsley, chopped
2 T water, or as needed

Combine all ingredients save parsley in a blender or food processor and process to a creamy consistency.

Store in refrigerator for up to a week.

NOTE: I usually make this mayonnaise without the parsley

KOHLRABI/BEET/CARROT SALAD

RAW KOHLRABI/BEET/CARROT SALAD

1 lb total beets, carrots, kohlrabi, trimmed and peeled
1 T olive oil
1T agave syrup, or honey (optional)
1 lemon: zest and juice
1 sprig fresh dill, chopped (or to taste)
Tabasco to taste

Process the beets in the food processor until medium fine. Place in a large mixing bowl.
Process the carrots in the food processor until medium fine.  Add to mixing bowl.
Process the kohlrabi in the food processor until medium fine.  Add to mixing bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and toss until well combined.

NOTE: you can process beets, carrots, and kohlrabi together, but everything will turn red.  If that is not a problem, save some time.

RAW KOHLRABI PICKLES

QUICK  & EASY RAW KOHLRABI PICKLES

2-4 small kohlrabi bulbs, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 T Extra virgin olive oil (optional)
2 T Apple Cider Vinegar (or rice vinegar, not sweetened)
Sea Salt, to taste
Fresh Black Pepper, to taste

• Put kohlrabi in an airtight container (with a good tight lid)
• Add olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper.
• Put the lid on the container and shake well.
• Taste and, if necessary, adjust seasoning.
• Refrigerate for 4-6 hours.  Shake occasionally.

These pickles can be kept refrigerated for one week.  The flavor will become more intense the longer they are kept.