Creative CSA

This week I was determined to make dinner based solely on inspiration from the CSA, using only what was available in the fridge or freezer.  Monday I made a delicious split red lentil, butternut squash, and broccoli curry (15 mins in the pressure cooker) that we ate with roti. Tuesday was meatball sandwiches (I bought rolls) that were absolutely superb.  I even put the curly endive in our smoothies this morning. Tonight, well I'm just not sure what kind of person attempts a creative meal on a Friday night.

Cheese has become somewhat of a problem.  As much as I love cheese, I have not been able to keep up with all the raw milk cheese I've been getting each week...some of it was delicious and some of it was a bit too pungent for my tastes...I ended up with a few unopened cheeses (oldwyck shepherd, tewksbury, goat cheddar, millich kivel, and havilah) in the drawer in addition to the curds I received this week.  I'm no Little Miss Muffet, for sure.

What to do with curds...make poutine, obviously. It made so much sense in my head, especially since I had also received red potatoes. I cut up the potatoes, blanched, fried, and seasoned them, then topped them with the curds and gravy (the curds didn't quite melt as planned). Way too many steps for a Friday night meal, especially since I also made liver and onions...my only saving grace was frozen string beans (the mere thought of making a salad & dressing was overwhelming).

As if that weren't enough I sat around for 30 minutes or so then decided to make a drink out of the cantaloupe and honeydew that remained from the fruit flower basket I received yesterday - very refreshing. Finally I made macaroni and cheese (as a post meal "snack"), it was creamy with an interesting bite.

Normal people just order pizza.

Miss Manners

Not only does formal dining require lots of effort, it also requires lots of dishes.  My daughter attended an etiquette and leadership workshop and was told to practice for the next 21 days.  Of course I was eager to oblige and made a four course meal last night.

It wasn't easy because I only had a sirloin and a porterhouse marinating, and no actual plan for anything else.  Alhamdulilah for my CSA...I was able to do a salad with butterhead lettuce, spring mix, and tomatoes (I made an Italian style vinaigrette) for the first course, we had the grilled steak with purple potatoes tossed with carrots and garlic for the second course, and I pieced together some dessert remnants for the third course.

Tonight I was a bit more ambitious because I wanted to do a four course meal, again I had only planned to rotisserie the tri-tip so I had to turn to the fridge for the rest.  We stepped it up with the addition of a table cloth, napkins, and goblets:

First Course

Chilled Minted Watermelon Soup

Second Course

House Salad

Third Course

Rotisserie Tri-tip, Garlic Blue Potatoes, Balsamic Yellow Beans

Spaghetti Squash Puree, Baby Bella Mushrooms

Fourth Course

Mango Jell-O and Whipped Cream

The dessert was a reach but it was the best I could do.  One thing's for sure...I would not try this method with guests unless I had a kitchen staff plating and running food.  We thoroughly enjoyed our food but the one-hour meal was rather silent as we focused on minding our manners.  

Ode to Quebec

As soon I saw the 3 ears of corn in my share this week, I knew exactly what I was going to make...or attempt to make.  The cream of corn soup that we had in Vieux Montreal.  There was only one problem...I hadn't taken a picture of it.  It was the soup du jour and it was tasty...more like chicken soup with corn and the consistency of a cream soup.

I spent the past two days searching online for a recipe but couldn't find anything remotely similar so I decided to just go for it.  I sauteed onions and celery, then pureed with my stick blender...added stock, corn cobs, and chicken thighs, a bit of seasonings and let that simmer for about an hour.  It was so fabulously creamy and delicious that I decided to forgo adding cream and carrots for fear that it would alter the flavor.

I put a bunch of kale in the pressure cooker, preheated the oven for the baguette and dropped the corn kernels into the soup.  Dinner was fantastic...I only wish I had saved some of the carrot tops for garnish.

While the soup was simmering I made Herbs Salees - well, I'll know if I was successful in about two weeks.  I went basic... using the carrot tops, celery tops, an onion, a carrot, and some thyme that was lurking in the fridge.  I just hope I didn't overdo the salt.

Schoolyear smoothies

This summer we have been able to appreciate the seasonality of the harvest with our CSA because each week an assortment of veggies guides our menu. It also inspired me to drink more water.

One week mint appeared in the share so I decided to make mint water; this became a staple throughout the summer...citrus water, cucumber water, mint water...everything tastes good steeped in water. I even had to increase my water delivery during Ramadan, despite not drinking water for 14 hours each day. Several of my friends have been inspired and have been concocting their own brews at home.

One of my friends is participating in a September smoothie challenge. I gave her a few tips and was inspired to dig out the Magic Bullet I received as a gift 7 years ago (our blender is broken).  Everyone in my house loves kale smoothies...my husband got us hooked last year and then there were the Groothies at school.

As soon as my daughter saw the Magic Bullet she requested a green smoothie for breakfast. I picked up some basic supplies - power greens, pears, frozen fruit, and bananas...and started thinking about variations - celery tops, ginger, nuts, etc.

This morning they were a huge hit and my son wants this to be his daily breakfast.  My next step is to pull out that Jack LaLanne Power Juicer that I also received years ago because I'm totally looking forward to a carrot, beet, ginger combo.

If only I lived closer to Marche Jean-Talon...