Pinot & Pineapple

The people who know me very well, know that I have a fixation on all things Iowa.  Everything from caucuses to cheese.  I’m just joking about the caucuses, but I am serious about the cheese.  My favorite American blue cheese comes from Maytag Dairy Farms in Newton, Iowa.

I first learned about Maytag blue cheese when I was in college (in Iowa) and I was watching Emeril Lagasse on the Food Network cooking with Maytag blue cheese.  I heard him say “…Iowa…” and I was shocked that Iowa made a cheese that I had not yet heard of.  So, the next time I went home for a holiday, my mom and I hunted down this cheese and made ourselves every recipe we could find that called for blue cheese.  I’ve been hooked ever since.  It is the only cheese I use in my traditional blue cheese dressing and Buffalo wing dip.  I also love to make Maytag blue cheese butter to dress up steaks.

You can find Maytag blue cheese in most specialty cheese departments but if you can’t, you can mail order it directly from Maytag Dairy Farms.  Now that football season is here, why don’t you make some homemade blue cheese dip to go with your Buffalo chicken wings?  But be careful, once people taste the Maytag, they’ll want to come to your house every time to watch the game!  That being said, Go Iowa Hawkeyes!

Good Morning! Our box this morning reminds me of Christmas, with all the shades of red and green. This morning was a bit chilly too, which really puts me in the spirit!

Today we received red Swiss chard, a bag of baby arugula, carrots, 2 red bell peppers, 3 red onions, and 3 red tomatoes (2 of which have been abused, as you can clearly see in the bottom photo).

Poor tomatoes. They didn’t stand a chance at the bottom of the box. I guess I have to accept my fate of receiving abused tomatoes. That doesn’t mean I have to like it, though. These careless box packers are standing between me and my Lycopene!

Well, this week’s farm share ended better than it started. As you may recall, my red tomatoes were smooshed beyond use and had to be sacrificed to the compost gods. Very sad. It took me a couple of days to get over the loss. But, I moved on to give the surviving vegetables the attention they deserved…

The yellow plum tomatoes were used to make yellow gazpacho. Of course, I had to go to the market to get a yellow bell pepper, a cucumber, cilantro and literally everything else necessary to make gazpacho, but the soup was really delicious. The mixed baby greens became a really yummy salad with sliced apples, walnuts, red onion and homemade honey-mustard dressing. The beets were thinly sliced and deep-fried to make chips and were served with a goat cheese/chive dip. Oh my, I am still dreaming about that dip. The Swiss chard was used in an impromptu dinner of shrimp and orzo all cooked separately then tossed together in a large saute pan with garlic butter. I don’t know what to call it, but it was super tasty. Last, but not least, the carrots and green bell peppers were used to make my Great-Grandma Hollingsworth’s carrot relish. Grandma used to always make this relish for big family meals and I always looked forward to it. It has a sweet and tangy dressing and is a great way to get kids to eat their vegetables. Here is the recipe (as well as a photo). I hope you’ll give it a try.

Carrot Relish

2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped

Boil the carrots in salted water until they are tender-crisp. Drain and cool.

In a medium saucepan, combine the tomato soup, oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and keep hot.

In a large bowl, combine carrots, peppers and onions. Pour hot sauce all over, cover and marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Serve cold.

This relish will keep for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

It’s lucky Week 13! Unfortunately, some of the tomatoes were not so lucky as they were placed at the bottom of the box and were a bit smooshy by time I received them. It’s a real shame, actually. I would hope that the individuals packing these boxes would have more respect for food than the recent packing jobs I’ve seen would indicate.

Sorry for the negativity. I try to always be positive, but smashed produce offends my foodie sensibilities.

Today we received Swiss chard (mostly yellow with some white), carrots, yellow plum tomatoes, bell peppers, red tomatoes (the smooshy kind), red beets and mixed baby greens.

Those are some gorgeous yellow plum tomatoes, huh?!? I’m going to spend the rest of the day fantasizing about what I’m going to do with them

As we only received 5 items in this week’s farm share, it was super easy to get it all eaten in time for tomorrow’s delivery.

When my husband cut into the watermelon, we discovered it was canary yellow inside! What a happy surprise! One of my friends kept suggesting that I make margaritas with it, but I am not one to succumb to peer pressure. My husband and I simply ate the whole thing, by the slice, with our bare hands. It was so incredibly juicy, the sweet liquid poured out with every bite, rolling down our hands and all the way down our arms. YUM!!! Here are some photos:

The tomatoes and green bell peppers were used to make chicken cacciatore which was a perfect Sunday family (my husband and I, with our cat looking on) meal. One of the carrots was thinly sliced with a mandoline and topped a salad of mixed baby greens with a ginger-soy vinaigrette. The rest of the carrots were cut into sticks and were happily packed in my lunch throughout the week.

That’s all folks. Not a lot of cooking, but that was fine by me. It’s nice to be able to enjoy vegetables (and fruits) in the raw. Now, let’s see what we receive tomorrow…

My husband and I have just returned from enjoying this month’s Foreign Food Night at A La Turka on the Upper East Side.  This month was my husband’s turn to choose which cuisine we would explore and he chose Turkish.  We used to live in the same neighborhood as A La Turka and we always said we’d like to try it sometime but never got around to it.  It was nice to get back to the old neighborhood and after the meal we just had, I think we’ll be doing it more often…

We arrived in a deluge of rain thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Hanna.  We almost thought of postponing Foreign Food Night until tomorrow night but we were feeling particularly adventuresome and set out to enjoy our evening.  As soon as we entered the restaurant, we could smell the heavenly aroma of grilled meats.  My mouth started watering and my stomach started growling.  We were sat at the front window, per our request, and perused the menu, taking note of the soulful music in the background.  As soon as we ordered, we were brought a basket of soft, warm flatbread with 3 dipping sauces (chili sauce, yogurt sauce with cucumber and dill, and flavored olive oil).

We shared a couple of hot appetizers - Sigara Boregi: pan-fried phyllo scrolls stuffed with feat cheese and dill; and Spicy Cigars: pan-fried phyllo scrolls stuffed with ground lamb with a garlicky yogurt sauce.  Both appetizers were out-of-this-world good!

With appetizers as good as these, our appetites were properly whetted and ready for our entrees.  My husband had the Beyti Kebab: hand chopped ground lamb seasoned with garlic, red pepper and parsley.  He L-O-V-E-D it!  I had the Fresh Turkish Okra with Lamb: baby okra cooked with tomatoes and onions served with rice.  Oh my… the lamb was so incredibly tender, I was in rapture.

For dessert, my husband had Baklava.  He can not see Baklava on a menu and not order it.  I ordered the rice pudding, which is my new comfort food dessert of choice.  It was so rich and creamy I would love to have some of it while sitting in front of a fireplace in my pajamas.  But, I digress.  Needless to say, we both enjoyed our desserts very much.  I do apologize, we did not take photos of our desserts as I, acting like a deranged woman who must have her dessert NOW, dug into my rice pudding before my husband could grab the camera.  So sorry.

As far as service is concerned, we were delighted by the wait staff that served us.  Everyone was exceedingly friendly and knowledgeable.

I must point out that we had to use our point-and-shoot camera this evening as our new digital SLR is simply too large to discreetly take photos in a restaurant.  Still, I think the photos turned out nicely.

My rating (out of a possible 5):

Yes, you read correctly, I have awarded this restaurant 5 TC’s.  The first 5 I have given since starting this blog!  That is high praise indeed.  I implore you to try this restaurant soon.  We were so thrilled with our meal and I want you to experience it for yourself!

This week’s Farm Share delivery had a huge surprise in it… a watermelon! See the photo below:

The watermelon pulverized one of our 4 tomatoes and made a humongous mess in the box so we had to clean off all of the vegetables and discard the box immediately (hence, no box shots). In addition to the watermelon and tomatoes, we also received carrots, green bell peppers and a bag of mixed baby greens.

I can not begin to tell you how excited we are to have received a watermelon. Especially my husband as he is more of a fruit eater than a vegetable eater. We can not wait to enjoy this unexpected treat!

As I told you last Wednesday, the tomatoes we received were on their last leg and had to be used ASAP.  So, that night, after work, I went to the market and got 1 pound each of ground beef and ground pork, 1 can each of black beans and kidney beans and a bottle of vegetable juice and set about making a big pot of chili.  For this dish, I used all the tomatoes, the tomatillos, the bell peppers and the onions.  The chili was fantastic and there was left overs for Thursday night’s dinner too.

So that only left me the patty pan squash, beets and mixed baby greens to work with.  The patty pans were sliced and added to a stir-fried chicken teriyaki dish on Friday night.  The beets were roasted and used in a salad with the mixed baby greens, pecorino romano and balsamic vinaigrette.  See the photos below…

Be sure to stop by tomorrow to see what we receive!

Happy Labor Day!  As today is the unofficial end of summer, tomorrow is (unofficially) the beginning of Fall!  Fall makes me think of apples and apples make me think of applesauce and applesauce makes me think of my Great-Grandma Hollingsworth who used to make homemade applesauce for me and my brother when we were little.  My brother liked his applesauce to be red, so Grandma would add some red food coloring to it.

I never got Grandma’s applesauce recipe before she passed away so I spent last Fall tinkering in the kitchen, trying to replicate her applesauce so that I can, one day, make it for my children and grandchildren.  Luckily, I came up with a more natural way to make my applesauce red.  I love the texture, flavor, aroma and color of this applesauce and hope you will enjoy it too.

Homemade Applesauce

6 pounds apples (use a mix of sweet varieties such as Gala, Fuji and Empire)
Good quality cranberry juice (no sugar added)
Ground cinnamon, to taste
Turbinado sugar (optional)

Wash, peel, core and dice apples; place in large saucepot.  Add just enough cranberry juice to keep apples from sticking (start with 1/2 cup).  Add cinnamon to taste (1 teaspoon is a good place to start).  Add sugar to taste, if you are using it.  Stir to combine, cover and slowly cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.  Cook until apples are soft and cranberry juice is completely absorbed.  If the cranberry juice is completely absorbed before the apples are fully soft, add a little more juice and continue cooking until apples are soft.  Run cooked apples through a food mill or potato ricer (I use a potato ricer).  Chill before serving.

Enjoy!

Well folks, we are at the half way mark for our farm shares. The time is really flying by and I am having a lot of fun working with the awesome variety of vegetables that we receive each week. If you are not yet a member of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), I encourage you to do so. My Links page has several links that can help you find CSA’s in your area.

Today, we received red beets, bell peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, mixed baby greens, onions and patty pan squash. The tomatoes are a source of concern for me as they are a bit soft already which puts pressure on me to use them quickly. Like tonight. Or now. I may have to stop by the market and get some ground beef and beans and make some chili. This dish will also help me use the bell peppers, onions and tomatillos. Actually, I could even put the patty pan squash in the chili. Wow, that doesn’t leave me much vegetables to work with for the rest of the week…

Here are the photos. We bought a new digital SLR camera last weekend and these are the first photos we’ve shot with it. We (and by “we”, I mean my husband) are still learning how to use the camera with all of its settings and lenses and whatnot. Can you see a difference between today’s pics and the pics from previous weeks? Personally, I see the difference in the bottom photo in that the patty pans are nice and clear and you can even see the wrinkles in the skin of the tomato to the right of the patty pans.