sour cherries from our little tree

The market this Saturday was a pea extravaganza -- sugar snaps, snow peas, and, my favorite, English shell peas abound.  There were also gorgeous baby zucchini that would be perfect on a pizza with thyme, lemon zest and feta. My basket was filled with all things green, with some golden beets and yellow zucchini brightening the mix. Spicy arugula, crisp green beans and bushy bunches of cilantro rounded out my shopping. With so much of this earthly goodness to cook with, menu inspiration comes easy these days. 

Our backyard has become a source of fruitful inspiration, with our sour cherry tree bursting with tart, red fruit. Our raspberries are just blushing from the sun -- a few more hot, sunny days and we should be eating berries every day for a few weeks. The Klein boys cannot wait, as I catch them eating barely ripened ones when we're playing outside.

Here's what our market basket contained:
arugula
cilantro
English peas
golden beets with greens
green beans
snow peas
sugar snap peas
zucchini -- green and yellow

And here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday: grilled Italian sausages (made by me!), blanched green beans and watermelon
Monday: kiddos: mozzarella en carozza served with prosciutto, melon and arugula/ mom&pop: arugula salad with melon, prosciutto and fresh mozzarella in a lemony vinaigrette
Tuesday: pasta with sauteed shell peas and parmigiano reggiano/hopefully some raspberries and cream for dessert!
Wednesday: stir-fried snow peas and sesame fried eggs with jasmine rice
Thursday: zucchini pancakes with chive sour cream / served with melon
Friday: roasted golden beet tortas with fresh goat cheese and almond-cilantro pesto

Happy eating, -s.

It was a two-basket trip to the market this week. Pickle wanted to be carried half-way through our circuit, so the stroller took over as a cart for all of our goodies. The weather is finally getting warm again and with that a return to more summery cooking. Our menu this week is loaded with vegetables – some more successfully executed than others (more on that in a later post).

We picked up kale from our favorite heirloom tomato vendor who sells other gorgeous produce when her tomatoes are ripening (her red-skinned potatoes are also divine). I asked her when the first tomatoes will be at the market and she promised this coming Saturday! So, some tomato- and, hopefully, corn-heavy menus will be coming soon!

At the Market
Baby zucchini
Baby Yukon golds
Banana peppers
Blueberries
Carrots
Cilantro
English peas, shelled
Gentle Breeze honey
Green-leaf lettuce
Golden beets
Italian flat-leaf parsley
Kale
Raspberries
Sweet cherries

Pickle the picky eater?!
Pickle has decided not to like any of the food he used to scarf down. Anything in sandwich form will pass his lips, but the batch of gorgeous spinach-ricotta ravioli I just cooked up is barely getting a glance; tragic, indeed.

Here are some sandwiches I’ve been experimenting with (all are on toasted six-grain bread):
Scrambled egg, melted cheese, avocado and yogurt-curry sauce (Greek yogurt, Madras curry powder, squeeze of lemon juice, pinch of salt and pepper to taste)
Almond butter, mashed bananas, Organic Valley cream cheese
Fried egg (cooked yolk), green-leaf lettuce and veggie-herb cream cheese spread (softened cream cheese, yellow roasted peppers, parsley, cilantro blitzed in food processor)
Roasted zucchini and purple bell peppers with melted Cedar Grove Cheddar and garlic-herb chevre
Up next: roasted beet and goat cheese

Menu: week of 26 July 2009
Sunday: Grilled sirloin steak sandwiches on toasted sourdough rolls with chimichurri (parsley, cilantro, garlic, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, blitzed in the food processor)
Monday: Holley's garlicky sautéed kale on ricotta bruschetta
Tuesday: Farfalle with green beans in a mint-pea pesto
Wednesday: Roasted zucchini and purple bell peppers with melted Cedar Grove Cheddar and garlic-herb chevre with roasted Yukon golds
Thursday: Chicken burgers with quick pickles and romesco sauce on whole-wheat buns and served with a roasted beet salad
Friday: Pizza with sautéed banana peppers and Fraboni’s sausage

One last item for the ladies: a great little article on the how and why of eating organic (it says you can drink red wine, so I’m buying it!): http://blogs.webmd.com/health-ehome/2009/07/5-organic-foods-every-woman-should-eat.html?ecd=wnl_lbt_072909

Happy 4th of July. Pickle has been sicker than a dog (such a strange expression; what does that mean, exactly?) and this weekend has been all about taking care of him and his poor, afflicted GI track until today: today he is finally feeling better and acting a little bit more like himself. Hurrah! That means he's taking a good nap and I am cooking up a storm. But first, here's what was in our CSA box this time:

In our CSA box:
all-red potatoes – red on the outside and pink on the inside (how cool!)
broccoli
chard
cilantro
flat-leaf parsley
garlic scapes
romaine lettuce
snow peas
strawberries
sugar-snap peas
yellow summer squash
zucchini

Menu: week of 4 July 2009
Saturday: 7-hour roasted pulled pork sandwiches with creamy cole slaw and corn bread
Sunday: burgers on the grill with quick zucchini pickles and roasted all-red potatoes
Monday: shredded pork tacos with avocado and green salsa with a cumin black-bean salad
Tuesday: beef and snow peas with steamed rice
Wednesday: roasted veggie pasta with cilantro-pumpkin seed pesto
Thursday: sesame soba noodles with steamed broccoli
Friday: day of rest

So, here's what I've been cooking this morning (when you're up at 5 a.m. you can get a lot done by 9:30):

Cream crackers with garlic and parsley – I really loathe giving Pickle things chocked full of preservatives, especially when I can make them at home. Store-bought crackers are culprits of the high-fructose corn syrup, calcium propionate, disodium EDTA preservative craze. I know that preservatives keep things fresh and I know that I've eaten my fair share of preservatives, but when you can easily avoid them, why not?

Chris was craving a donut this morning (I made him get some yesterday when he ran out for coffee filters; I know, bad), but instead of running out for more, I opted to make some buttermilk biscuits with fresh ricotta and a quick strawberry "jam." How good does that sound? Better than a donut!

The buttermilk biscuits are from Marc Bittman's How to Cook Everything, the ricotta is Grande Ricotta Del Pastaio (Wisconsin-made) and the jam is something I made up.

The jam utilizes some gnarly strawberries that we got in our CSA box last week. While they taste good, they weren't so pretty so I blitzed them in the mini food processor and cooked them down until they were thick and shiny.

Quick Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
1 cup stemmed and halved strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
a pinch of salt

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, place berries and sugar. Pulse until nice and chunky (about 5, 1-second pulses). Scrape contents into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until reduced and thick and glossy.

Cool slightly. Spoon onto biscuits, ice cream, pound cake, yogurt ... yum.

Our CSA just started up and we are really looking forward to a change in our Saturday morning routine. Every other weekend we’ll be hitting the Mermaid Café for breakfast and our veggie pickup instead of hitting the market. This year we joined Driftless Organics' CSA and so far it’s been a good pick. The boxes are overflowing and the produce is gorgeous.

Our first breakfast/pickup with Pickle went well; I had a proud-mom-moment when Pickle chose to eat my curried egg and avocado sandwich over my husband’s maple-syrup drenched whole-grain waffle! My little culinary adventurer in the making!

In our CSA box:
Basil
Broccoli
Cilantro
Fennel
Green butter lettuce (2 heads)
Green onions
Green garlic
Radishes
Spinach
Strawberries
Sugar-snap peas

Menu: week of 28 June 2009
Sunday: Grilled tri-tip steak – Santa Maria Valley-style – with baby romaine salad and baked beans.
Monday: Leftover steak thinly sliced and served with an Asian slaw of cabbage, broccoli and carrot in a curried-peanut dressing (see posted recipe)
Tuesday: Turkey meatloaf sandwiches with tomato jam, butter lettuce salad with edamame and chopped broccoli in an herbed buttermilk dressing
Wednesday: Grilled fish with a cilantro-lime yogurt sauce and sautéed veggies
Thursday: Whole-wheat pasta with sautéed spinach, Fraboni’s Italian sausage and red onion
Friday: Pizza and a movie (even a foodie needs a night off!)

Pickle’s Menu:
Lunches: squash ravioli, fregole (toasted pearl-shaped pasta) in Mario Batali's red sauce, berries, ricotta frittata, shredded cheese
Dinner: gnocchi in Mario's red sauce; sautéed spinach, spinach cacik (aka tzatziki) with whole-wheat naan, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday menus above.

It was raining again during Saturday's farmers' market – bummer. Pickle and I were flying solo as Chris was out of town, parking was a beast and I spilled coffee all over myself trying to maneuver the stroller out of Café Soleil, so all in all, not the best start to our Saturday ritual.

But, boy oh boy, did the farmers make it all the worthwhile! The stands were burgeoning with fresh goodies. Every shade of green was featured with pops of red from the glorious, finally in-season strawberries. There is nothing better than a homegrown strawberry – red all the way through and sweet as sugar. Yum! Pickle had a meltdown midway through the market, but one of those berries made it all better. Oh, the power of food.

At the Market:
Arugula
Baby beets
Breakfast radishes from Harmony Valley Farm
Escarole from Jones Valley Farms – it was enormous!
Oyster mushrooms
Pencil-thin asparagus – so happy to have one last bunch before the season ends
Red butter lettuce – absolutely gorgeous and so unusual looking!
Spinach from Harmony Valley Farm
Spring onions
Strawberries
Sugar-snap peas

Menu: week of 14 June 2009
Sunday: Grilled flank steak and escarole with toasted pine nuts, golden raisins in a warm, garlic-lemon vinaigrette (recipe coming soon!)
Monday: Grilled, Korean-style Key West Shrimp with scallion pancakes and sautéed sesame sugar-snap peas
Tuesday: Oven-baked meatballs with herbed Greek yogurt and roasted asparagus
Wednesday: Puffed pastry tart with sautéed greens, oyster mushrooms and a roasted-beet and goat cheese salad
Thursday: Pasta with sautéed escarole, Fraboni’s Italian sausage and red onion
Friday: For cocktails on the patio: Breakfast radishes on crostini with softened butter and fleur de sel and a glass of Rosé – summer is finally here!