Thursday, August 16, 2012

Sweet and Sour Red cabbage


Carol’s Sweet and Sour Red  Cabbage

Ingredients:
1 head of red cabbage, shredded
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:
In a large pot, put in shredded red cabbage and remaining ingredients; stir to mix.  Turn on a low heat, just enough to simmer and cook for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally and taste for tartness. Add either vinegar or brown sugar if needed, depending on how sweet/sour a taste  you want. Sweet/sour taste will develop after cabbage has cooked down somewhat.

Pork With Noodles


Pork & Noodles

Carol’s Spicy Pork with pasta

Ingredients:
(to serve two people)
1/2 pound of unseasoned ground pork shoulder or pork tenderloin 
1 teaspoon of peanut oil or sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger root, minced
2 teaspoons of Chinese chili and garlic paste( easily found in the Oriental part of the super market)
2 tablespoon of Hoisin sauce( also in super market)
2 tablespoon of dry sherry
2 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 cup of chicken broth
1 bunch of green onions, sliced thinly, including a little of the green part of the onion as well
1/2 pound of broccoli, cut into small pieces, cooked but still crisp.
Pasta for two people

Method:
In a wok, heat the oil a little, add the ground pork, and cook until all pinkness is gone from the meat.  Make a hole in the middle of the meat, add the garlic and ginger, and stir to mix; then mix into the meat mixture. Add the remainder of the ingredients and stir to combine.  Meanwhile, bring to boil water to cook the pasta.  When cooked, drain and add to the meat mixture and mix until blended. Simmer for about ½ an hour or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.  Add the sliced green onions and mix. Serve, putting the broccoli pieces around the edges of each dish.

Sour Meat


Sour Meat

Grandma Schmidt's family recipe for Sour Meat
Ingredients:
1 pound of thinly sliced top round steak
2 large onions, sliced
1 pint container of sour cream
1/2 pound of butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 sour cream container of water
Method:
Melt half the butter in a fry pan and add slices of the round steak to fit in the fry pan; brown well without burning; adjust flame as necessary. Remove browned pieces to a dish and continue with remainder of the meat slices until all has been browned. Add additional butter if needed for the browning. Add remaining butter if needed and put in the onions, stirring frequently. Cook until a medium brown color without burning the onions.
This may take about 1/2 hour or so.  This browning of the onions is the most important part of the cooking process to achieve the brown gravy and the taste.  When the onions are sufficiently browned; turn the heat lower and empty half the container of sour cream into the onion mixture and stir to mix.  To the remaining sour cream, add the cornstarch to mix until it is smooth. Add the remaining sour cream and stir to mix. 
Fill the sour cream container with water and stir to mix in any remaining sour cream and slowly add to the onion mixture until smooth and slightly thickened.  Return the meat with any collected juices to the fry pan and mix together.  Add salt and pepper to taste and stir again.  It is better to have the mixture at a low heat for at least another half hour to develop the flavor before serving.  Making it early in the day and keeping warm is best for flavor. Serve with sweet and sour red cabbage, noodles, and corn.  Rye bread may be served as well.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Additions

We have added a number of recipes supplied by Sheila Greene. Thank you Sheila. This addition causes me to rethink how this blog will be organized. Normally, blogs are simply organized chronologically. But we have labels as an added potential organizing device. Since people may look for recipes by type of food, I now plan to add recipes by category. Thus Sheila's veggie recipes may be supplemented by veggie recipes supplied by another farmer. I accept any suggestions that might make this foodie blog more user friendly.

Fried Peppers

Ingredients:
1 large onion, diced
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
2 TBL olive oil
1 LB frying peppers, seeded and sliced into thin strips
1 small hot pepper (cherry bombs are great) seeded and diced (wear gloves)

Directions
Heat olive oil in heavy frying pan. Add garlic and stir 1 minute. Add onions and peppers and cook over medium heat until softened, about five minutes. Cover pan and turn heat to low and cook 30 minutes, so that peppers get silky soft and absorb maximum onion-garlic flavor. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Makes two cups. 

Rosemary & Garlic-Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:
Cooking Spray
2 TBL olive oil
2 TBL finely minced garlic
2 TBL freshly minced rosemary
Salt & Pepper
1 to 1 ½ lbs of Irish potatoes, scrubbed and cut into relatively uniform chunks

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F
Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place the olive oil, garlic rosemary and salt and pepper, to taste, in a large resealable plastic bag. Add the potatoes, seal and toss to coat evenly. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Roast the potatoes for about 330-40 minutes until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

Mixed Vegetable Stir Fry

Ingredients
2 ½ TBL vegetable oil
10 – 12 large mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced into rings
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
½ TSP freshly salt (optional)
¼ TSP freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet or mwok. Add other ingredients, siry-fry overe high heat about five minutes, or until zucchini is crip-tender.
Serves two

Squash Skillet

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings
½ cup chopped bell pepper, any variety
2 TBL butter of margarine, melted
1 TBL sugar
1 TSP all-purpose flour
½ TSP salt
¼ TSP freshly ground pepper
1/8 TSP garlic powder
2 medium squash, any variety
3 medium tomatoes, quartered

Directions:
Sauté onion and bell peppers in butter in a large skillet until tender. Stir in sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add squash; cook over medium heat 4 minutes; add tomatoes, and cook until squash is crisp-tender.
Serves 6

Grilled Squash

Wash squash and wipe dry. Halve lengthwise or slice crosswise 1 inch and skewer, leaving 1/8-inch between pieces. Lay slices or skewered squash on grill grate. Baste squash with herbed olive oil. Grill for 8-10 minutes. To make the herbed olive oil, combine ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 TSP fresh parsley, and ½ TSP fresh dried thyme.  Apply to squash with basting brush.

Another approach:
Cut squash or zucchini  lengthwise twice. Place cut squash in aluminum foil and drizzle zesty Italian dressing over the squash, and seal foil. Cook on grill 10-20 minutes.

Okra  & Tomato Stew

Okra and tomatoes are an ideal combination, as the tomato acidity offsets the texture of the okra.
Ingredients:
1 lb okra
1 lb tomatoes
1 clove garlic
A small hot red pepper (optional)
2 TBL butter
1 TBL vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped celery (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Clean and trim okra; cut into ½-inch pieces. Peel, seed and chop tomatoes. Finely mince garlic and chili pepper. Heat butter and oil in a sauté pan. SAtir in the okra, onions and celery; sauté until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add gfarlic, tomatoes, and chili pepper; sauté 3-4 minutes longer. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until okra is tender. Season to taste and serve.
Serves 4-6

Alternate:
Cook bacon in fat instead of butter, top dish with crumbled bacon;
As a main course, add ½ inch cubes of sautéed cooked ham. Serve with rice;
Use other vegetables, such as thin rounds of carrots, corn, lima beans, or small green peas.





Swiss Chard

Wash the Chard, cut it up, dice an onion, sauté’ the Chard and onion in a pan until the green part is dark green and the stem is tender. Salt to taste. Suggest using olive oil or canola oil.

Capponata & Herbed Tomatoes


Capponata Salad

Ingredients:
1 egg plant, diced small
½ red pepper, diced small
½ yellow pepper, diced small
½ green pepper, diced small
1 onion, diced small
2 tomatoes concasse
2 TBL tomato paste
1 TBL chopped garlic
4 TBL olive oil
1 TBL sugar
3 TBL balsamic vinegar
4 TBL chopped fresh basil

Directions:
Sautee first 9 ingredients
Add remaining three ingredients
Season with salt and pepper
Serve hot or cold.

Herbed Tomatoes
Ingredients:
4 medium tomatoes, sliced
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ TBL lemon juice
½ TSP salt
½ TSP dried whole oregano
1/8 TSP black pepper
1 small garlic clove, minced
Directions:
Place tomatoes in a shallow dish. Combine remaining ingredients; stir well, and pour over tomatoes. Cover and chill several hours, stirring once or twice.
Serves 6

Sunflower Seed Pesto


Sunflower Seed Basil Pesto

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
3 cloves garlic minced
½ cup sunflower seeds (roasted & shelled)
½ Tsp salt or to taste
½ to 1 tsp lemon juice or to taste (to prevent browning of the pesto)
¼ cup olive oil

Directions:
Add all ingredients, except olive oil to a food processor. Pulse food processor while adding a steady stream of olive oil. Scrape sides and pulse until well-blended.
Taste and modify seasonings to taste. Use immediately, or store in a covered dish in refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
Makes about one cup.
The pesto can be used on pasta, pizza, or on a warm, crusty baguette with fresh mozzarella and sliced heirloom tomatoes.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Tomato Veggie Salad

This salad recipe comes to us from Lisa Wacheldorf, the manager of the Piedmont Farmers' Market. Lisa suggests "eyeballing" measurements, since she rarely employs precise ingredient measurements.
 
Slice cucumbers and coarsely chop heirloom tomatoes.
Sprinkle with sea salt in a lidded bowl.
Shake hard and put bowl in refrigerator to sweat-1/2 hour if you’re hungry but an hour is better.

Next:
Add chopped onions (preferably green) and peppers.
This salad is intended to be flexible, so add a few other veggies as the supply and the spirit moves you--squash, celery, green beans, corn, even canned kidney beans.
Cut up some fresh basil of course.
Add red wine vinegar and a little tomato juice or water if your tomatoes weren’t juicy enough.
 
Put the completed salad mix back into the refrigerator for 1/2 hour to an hour, so they can mix and mingle.
 
Serve with dinner as a side dish.
 
Alternatively, this "salad" can be used as a main addition to a pasta dish by straining the veggies from the remaining liquid and then tossing the veggies in with cooked pasta.
The remaining juice can be used as a marinade.