Tomato Bacon Salad

We had a BBQ to go to and of course about about a week before the party I started to worry about what to bring.  It said to bring  a "side" on the invitation.  Well, I normally bring desserts to any function I go to because I love to bake and people know I bake and enjoy my baked goods.  So seeing side meant to me bringing something to go with the main entree which was grilled venison. Add in we were going to be out of town up til the morning of the party so I needed something I could just easily pick up the ingredients that morning on our way back in town or have on hand at home.  It needed to be something that didn't require a lot of prep work or cook time as I just wouldn't have the time. 

I was flipping through an old Food & Wine magazine and came across a recipe that I adapted because it wasn't exactly what sounded good to me - as I don't like blue cheese and I didn't like the sound of dijon vinaigrette at that moment - but I am sure it would be good with it too.  This is what I ended up making...

Tomato Bacon Salad
3 lbs tomatoes at least 3 different kinds chopped- I did 4 kinds
1/2 lb cooked bacon - crumbled
1 small container feta cheese
balsamic vinaigrette (homemade or bottled) - to taste - start with 1/2 cup and keep moving up - I think I used about 1 cup.

Toss all ingredients to mix. Refrigerate until serving. The flavors will soak in and marinate the tomatoes.  

Refrigerate any leftovers - if there are any.  We came home with less than 1/2 cup.

Community Shared Agriculture - Week 5

It's hard for me to believe that not only is it June, but that we are already into the 5th week of this seasons CSA share.  I feel like time is flying by and while that means we are entering into the best part of the CSA season (summer time in NJ) it also means that we say goodbye to some of the springtime favorites like asparagus, strawberries, and once the weather turns warmer many of those spring time greens.

My family enjoyed the asparagus while it was here and we will be sorry to see it go, but we are looking forward to the summer squash varieties and fresh tomatoes from the vine, and all the delicious summer fruits, and most definitely summer corn.

That to me is one of the best parts of the CSA box, is learning to truly enjoy the moment and what is in season and at the peak of freshness during that season.  Sure we miss some of our favorites and could easily pick them up from imported sources at the local grocery store.  Yet it wouldn't be the same as when we get them picked fresh from the farm.

So this week because it was raining so much my children didn't get to spend time at the farm and we only went to pick up our box.  In our box, however, were some delicious items.  We were once again presented with an abundance of strawberries (the pick your own season for strawberries will be coming to a close in about 3 weeks in NJ), several varieties of lettuce, some onions, radishes, broccoli, leeks, tomatoes, kale, turnips, kohlrabi, and a cilantro plant.  I learned this week while at the farm that the variety of cilantro plant that we received is considered to be chinese parsley.  who knew!  not me that's for sure.

I am going to be challenged a bit this week to find uses for my turnips, kohlrabi, and radishes.  Last year I gave most of those to my neighbor and didn't really try them out on my family.  This year I plan to source up some recipes (I'll share those with you next week) and use my root veggies to their finest extent.  (and of course pray that my family eats them!)  If any of you have some good cooking tips for these or a recipe to share, please do.  I would appreciate any input.

My oldest daughter informed me that we have far too many strawberries and before they go bad she wanted to make a pie.  So we did.  Below is the recipe for strawberry pie that we used.  It turned out really well and was simply to make.  We will also be making some jam from our strawberries this week.

I took the recipe from strawberry pie from Cooking Light Magazine.

Ingredients

• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shell
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 (3 ounce) package strawberry gelatin (sugar free)
• 4 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• fresh mint

Directions

1. Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450 degrees F for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack.
2. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in gelatin until dissolved. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes or until slightly cooled.
3. Meanwhile, arrange strawberries in the crust. Pour gelatin mixture over berries. Refrigerate until set. Garnish with mint if desired.

**note**  I did not choose to use my own pastry shell this time around as I had a pre made one already in the house, but you certainly could use your own pastry shell recipe if you have the time and desire.  Because I was baking with littles, it was easier to use the pre made pastry shell.  I use pillsbury brand.

**Note**  you could also use regular gelatin if you didn't want to use sugar free jello, but the strawberries were already so sweet on their own there was no reason to use the regular jello in our pie.  

Community Shared Agriculture - Week 3

It's been so wonderful so far and we are only in week 3.  The weather has been fantastic for growing all sorts of delicious greens, tomatoes, sweet onions, herbs, and berries.  We've had just enough rain in NJ that everything is growing nice and easy and early.  It's making for fantastic boxes for this year's CSA.  We were blessed with another jar of honey from the farm this week, along with more berries, asparagus, onions, tomatoes, red and yellow beets, lots of greens (bib, leaf, spinach, escarole, collards, and argugala), along with carrots, and a basil plant.

With all of last week's delicious produce, my family ate some wonderful healthy foods.  I will share some of those yummy recipes with you at the end of this post.  One of the things I enjoy about the CSA is all the helpful tips for saving produce for future use that the farmer shares with the members of the CSA.  This week is no exception.  This week I learned that one of the best ways, besides pickling, to put up beets for future eating is to scrub, steam, or roast the beets.  Peel them, and cut them into uniform pieces, and then freeze them.  I use my foodsaver to freeze my produce as it lasts longer in the freezer that way, but if you don't own a food saver appliance, just be sure to get out as much air from the freezer bag as possible prior to freezing.  Saving your beets this way allows them to be used in later recipes or salads without them going bad or to waste for not using them timely.  It also helps lock in the nutrients of these delicious vegetables.

I hope you are enjoying all of the produce of the current season.  Remember to eat local as often as possible to help lower your carbon footprint.  

Asparagus and Mushroom Salad

• 1 pound asparagus
• 1/2 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley and chives 1 cup arugula
• 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (to taste)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 small garlic clove, minced or pureed
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ounce slivered Parmesan

Steam the asparagus for three to five minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. It should be tender but still have some bite. Rinse with cold water, and drain for a minute on a kitchen towel. Cut into 1-inch lengths. Place in a salad bowl, and toss with the mushrooms, herbs and arugula.
Whisk together the lemon juice, salt and pepper, garlic and olive oil. Toss with the asparagus mixture and the slivered Parmesan, and serve. 

Tuscan Bean and Wilted Arugula Salad (see side note)

• 3/4 cup dried white kidney beans
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 5 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 6 cups trimmed baby arugula 3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

Sort and wash beans; place in a large bowl. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; cover and let stand 8 hours or overnight. Drain beans. Place beans in a large saucepan. Cover with water to 3 inches above beans; add bay leaf. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tender. Drain beans; discard bay leaf. Place beans in a large bowl; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Let stand 5 minutes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil; toss gently to coat.

Heat 4 teaspoons of oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; sauté 45 seconds or just until garlic begins to gently brown. Remove from heat; stir in juice. Place arugula in a large bowl; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add warm bean mixture, garlic

mixture, and onion; toss gently to combine. 

**note**  my family did not enjoy this recipe.  My children were not fans of argula or the white beans.  I think that if you enjoy this type of green and beans you will definitely enjoy this recipe, but for us this is not a keeper.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

Macerated Strawberries in Honey, Vanilla and Orange Liqueur

• 1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced 2- 3 T local honey
• 2 T. orange liqueur
• 1⁄2 t. vanilla extract

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, until a syrup forms. 

**note**  I served this one over freshly baked angel food cake, but it would be equally delicious over frozen ice cream or yogurt, or pound cake.  You also don't need to bake your own, store bought works equally wonderful with this.  You can also serve with some fresh whipped cream for added decadence.

Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette

The guest post yesterday for Vegetable Cheese Quiche was made for a lunch when visited. I asked if I could bring something and my friend requested a salad.  I thought with quiche a salad of spring mixed greens with thinly sliced/chopped onions, feta cheese and seedless grapes would be good. I would have added a nut such as walnut or pine nuts but Master doesn't like nuts.  And the salad was fine without them.  Served a dijon mustard vinaigrette on top. I based it off of a recipe on Epicurious.  

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove, halved

pinch of black pepper

pinch of sugar

I put all ingredients in a bottle and shake until well mixed.  But you can also put in a blender or food processor to mix.  It can be made 3 days ahead. Just mix well before adding to the salad.  

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Apple Butter

4lbs of apples (sour ones, preferably)
1 cup apple cider (alcohol between 2.25% and 4.5%)
1 lemon (juice and zest)
2 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs all spice (whole)
1 tbs cloves (whole)
~ 4 cups of sugar
A knife edge of salt.

(You need one big pot, a mesh sieve, a mortar and pestle, a ladle and measuring cups, six to eight 8oz jars)

Cut the apples in quarters, and dump in a pot, kernels and peels and all. Add the apple cider. Heat to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes until soft. Put clean and dry jars in the oven and heat it to 200F, boil the lids in water with a heavy boil for 10 minutes.

Mean while, grind the cloves and all spice with the mortar, to a fine powder.

Peek at the apples. If they're soft, put a bowl beneath the sieve, and pour the apples into the sieve. Grind them with the pestle, until all that's left in the sieve is peels and kernels and the apples are att the bottom. Scrape the bottom of the sieve.

Measure the apple pulp you now have. Add about ½ a cup of sugar per cup of apple pulp. Put the puple and sugar back on the stove, then stirr till the sugar has disolved. Add the spices, the salt, the lemon juice and zest.

Simmer for 10 minutes, then taste with a clean spoon (after using the spoon, put it in the dishwasher/sink and use a clean one again next time). Add more spices if you like.

Simmer while stirring until it's thick, which may take 30-40 minutes. Sieve again if you like, if the zest is in large pieces. Take out your jars. Then pour into *warm* sterilized jars and screw the lids on. Turn the jars upside down and cool them on the counter over the night. Mark the jars with content and today's date. Refridgerate. It should keep for at least 12 weeks in the fridge, and around 5-7 days after opening a jar as long as there's no fingers or used utensils poked into it. You can freeze it too, but use plastic containers for that.


Bio: I'm Daphne, and I'm a service-oriented submissive. I'm from Sweden, which is not to be confused with Switzerland - we don't make clocks or chocolate, nor do we wear leatherhosen. I've been in service for the past four years, to my Owner Mephisto. I love cooking, cleaning and organizing. My passion lies in making my Owner's life as pleasant and smooth as possible. I'm also a strong advocate for organic food without additives and cooking from scratch. I recycle, buy used and don't own a car, to minimize my carbon footprint. I'm studying for a Bachelor's in Culinary Arts and Meal Science

Fruits and Vegetables

With produce being out of season and prices skyrocketing, it's important that I buy it right the first time- and store it properly.

I still consider myself a kitchen "n00b", and it's not unusual to find myself standing in the midst of the produce section at the grocery store, utterly confused by the bins and bins of similiar items.

There's nothing worse than having spent hours preparing a meal only to find that that particular type of potato was too mealy for that casserole. Or that apple was too tart for applesauce, and you've had to add more sugar than apples.

The Cook's Thesaurus is my savior. Especially the sections on apples and potatoes.

This website is packed with a variety of produce information.

This site gives terrific hints on how to tell if produce is fresh. Here's another with fresh produce buying and storing tips.

This site has a table, about mid-page, on what not to store together, and what will spoil the fastest.

20 frugal tips for buying produce.

Now that we have all those fruits and vegetables, what do we do with them?

This recipe has become a family favorite. I double it to fill my 6 quart slow cooker and I rarely have leftovers. Plus, it's so good on a chilly winter evening. It definitely fits the bill for "comfort food".

I got this one from Mandy, a contributer here. :)

Hamburger Heaven

16-oz. Ground beef.
2 cups diced raw potatoes
1 ½ cups sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped onion
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
1 10-oz can tomato soup
½ cup water
1 tsp parsley

Brown meat and onions. In a slow cooker sprayed with Pam, combine meat mixture, potatoes, carrots, celery, peas and corn. Stir in tomato soup and water and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours. I add in a generous sprinkle of garlic powder, and serve it with cheddar-garlic biscuits.

(If you use lean meat and Healthy Request tomato soup, this recipe is 1 point per serving for Weight Watchers.)

Finish with a fruit salad like this one for dessert, and we've had a healthy meal and used up lots of produce.

Over the Rainbow Fresh Fruit Salad

3 cups mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
2 cups seedless grapes (red or green)
2 crisp sweet apples
3 peaches, nectarines or 6 apricots
2 bananas, sliced thin
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3 Valencia oranges)
Nutmeg (optional)


Chop fruit and mix gently in large bowl. Pour fresh orange juice over fruit, stir and refrigerate. Serve with dash of nutmeg.

Peach Coffee Cake

I can up a lot of peaches each summer. We just love opening a jar of homecanned peaches in the middle of blizzard in January, there's just something so comforting and summer-like about it. I did the summer peach canning session last week and saved a few for us to eat fresh. Yesterday, I had 3 that were starting to get a little soft and decided to use them up and figured I'd better share this yummy recipe.

Peach Coffee Cake

• 3 peaches, peeled & sliced
• 1 C whole wheat flour
• 1 C all purpose flour
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 1/3 C honey
• 1/4 C maple syrup
• 3 TBSP veggie oil
• 2 TBSP butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 C milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9" square baking pan.


Sift the flours and baking powder together, set aside.


Cream the butter, oil, maple syrup, and honey on a high speed until light. Beat in the egg and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Alternate adding the milk and flour mixture until everything is well mixed.


Pour half of the cake batter into the bottom of your pan, spreading it out with a spatula. Top the batter with half of your sliced peaches:

Pour the remaining batter on top of those peaches and then top that batter with remaining peach slices. Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, a toothpick should come out clean. Allow to cool a bit before slicing. Enjoy with a dollop of whipped cream or plain.

Friday Favorites

Cool Down with Homemade Pops - Oh yum! So many of them I would love to try. They are all from Cooking Light it looks like too so hopefully not to high in the sugar and calories!

Paper bow making - Recycling magazines, old books and scrapbooking paper would be a great way to repuprose/recycle but also add a touch of fun to a gift.

There is also a great article on gift wrapping in Simply Service Holiday 2008 issue by marg_it that I know I will reference again around the holidays too but goes well with the above link too.

A Service Book of Days by Service Savoir Faire - a new blog by namaste that is a useful tool for those of us in service. I think the Service Book of Days would be a great way to keep track and focus on service.

Bandanna Tablecloth - I think for the summer time this is just such a great way to "dress" the table casually. Also as listed in the comments - a good place to get bandannas is Orientaltrading.com.

Outdoor Cooking

If you're anything like me, when warm weather arrives, the last thing you want to do is stand over a stove. Solution? Fire up the grill!

While my husband is indeed The Grill Master (lest he read this and have to go outside and pound his chest because I'm challenging his manhood *grin*), I have a terrific chicken marinade recipe to share.

This makes about 4 cups of marinade:

1 1/2 cups vegetable or olive oil
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (cider vinegar works as a substitute)
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons finely minced fresh parsley

Mix all ingredients together, and let your meat soak. The longer the better but I've had as little as 30 minutes and still had terrific results.



Tips for grilling boneless chicken breasts:

Trim or pound chicken to equal thickness (if you trim it, you can save the pieces to make chicken stock)

Lightly score the chicken before marinading.

Heat your grill to medium-high. We have a gas grill so if you have charcoal, you're on your own. I'm clueless about charcoal.

Put your chicken on and sear it for 2 or 3 minutes per side. Lower heat or move chicken away from high heat and cook until done (Total cooking time depends on the thickness of the meat.)

Don't poke it while it cooks. That lets the juices out. I know it's done by how it feels when I touch it. It's springy but not soft. Firm but not hard. Or, use a meat thermometer to 165F.

Remove from grill and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting. This lets the juices redistribute.

That same marinade is awesome for steak, too.

Can you grill a complete meal? Why yes! Yes you can!

Vegetables:

To grill corn on the cob- Carefully pull back, but don't remove, the corn husks and pick off the silk. Roll the husks back up and secure with twine. Soak in water for an hour or two. Toss on the grill, turning every 5 minutes. (If desired, after soaking, peel back husks again and flavor the corn with butter and seasonings, replace husks, tie and grill.) Grilled corn on the cob always gets rave reviews.



I also like to make a vegetable packet out of aluminoil foil, toss in whatever veggies I have on hand (squash, zuchinni, peppers, asparagus work great), add a little olive oil, some seasoning and let the packet steam away while the meat cooks.

Dessert:

Grilled Pineapple Sundae-

1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1 inch slices
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
vanilla ice cream

Mix together brown sugar, butter, lemon juice and cinnamon. Brush over pineapple slices. Grill slices over high heat for one minute per side. Put on a plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and eat warm.



Noms.

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

I'm seeing the signs of spring and summer all around me these days, most notably in the arrival of fresh berries. Recently, I found a bunch of strawberries at a very good price and bought a bunch to make jam. Traditional jam uses lots and lots of sugar and while that can be good now and then, I do prefer the low sugar varieties that allow the flavor of the berries to come through.

To make a low sugar strawberry jam you will need:

• 4 Pounds of fresh strawberries, washed & hulled
• 1 Cup of unsweetend apple juice
• 1 Box of Powdered Low/No sugar Pectin (very important that it be for low/no sugar)

Using a potato masher, crush the berries one layer at a time in a saucepan, add your apple juice and pectin, stirring well. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute. Ladle the jam into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4" headspace and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes for those at elevations up to 1,000 feet (add 5 minutes for every 2,000 feet). Remove the jars from the canner and allow to seal. Store in a cool place and enjoy!

If you don't want to process the jars in a canner, you could immediately refrigerate the jars, instead.

This recipe will make between 5 and 7 half pint jars full of jam. The same measurements could be used with other berries as well.

Salsas.... mmmmm caliente!

Summertime = fresh garden veggies and luscious fruits. Add them all together and it’s time for homemade salsa fresca!

Pico de Gallo
3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 small red onion (or 1-2 stalks of green onion), finely chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (leave the seeds if you want to kick up the heat)
cilantro springs, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 1 lime
salt, pepper to taste

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients together. Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving, but I like to let it sit for 3-5 hours before I dive in. The salt draws out the tomato juices nicely, and lets them mingle with the oniony-garlicky-limey-cilantro flavors.

(NOTE: this is so good I usually eat it on it's own, but you can use it on eggs, chips, salad, seafood, etc)


Mango Salsa
2 cups diced peeled mango
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (choose from mint, cilantro, or basil)
2/3 cup chopped green onions
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 teaspoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
optional: one chopped jalapeño

Combine all ingredients together, season with salt and pepper as desired. For an additional kick, add one jalapeño- the sweetness of the fruit complements the heat of the peppers nicely. Cover, and keep in the refrigerator. This salsa can be made a few hours ahead, and will last in the refrigerator for 2 days. Great on fish or grilled chicken.


NOTE: Anytime you chop jalapeños and other peppers, remove the oils from your fingers with a paste of salt and water afterwards. Otherwise, you can burn your eyes or other sensitive areas from the oil that lingers. With peppers, gloves can be a good thing - unless you like the burn :)

Toss back a few margaritas and you're set.

Peach Crush

I am going through magazines (I have a thing for magazines) to cut out articles, recipes, crafts and such to save. I am going to try to pull a recipe a month from the file to try.

But anyway here is one I want to try this summer as we live in peach country. We even have a Peach Festival.


2 cups diced peaces, fresh or frozen, please added slices for garnish
2 cups crushed ice
2 to 3 teaspoons of sugar (depending on the sweetness of peaches)
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, plus some for garnish
1 bottle sparkling white wine or sparkling apple cider, chilled

Place peaches, ice, sugar (use less or none if using cider), and basil leaves in the blender; puree until smooth. Pour pureed peaches into chilled glasses until half full. Add sparkling wine/cider. Serve garnished with basil sprig and a slice of peach.

The recipe is from the magazine Organicstyle.com (they don't have a paper version of the magazine anymore - it was a really good magazine - I just signed up for their free online magazine so will see how if that is just as good.)

**Great peach photo taken by Master here locally at a Peach Grove