Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week11

This week's basket included a wider variety then the greens of early summer - squash, potatoes, and tomatoes are coming into season and expanding the menu!

The harvest:

• Potato
  
• Onion
  
• Tomato
  
• Beats (large and small)
  
• Hot peppers
  
• Yellow wax beans
  
• Yellow squash (perhaps patty pan)
  
• Cucumber
  
• Red leaf lettuce
  
• Carrots
  
• Italian zucchini
  

The potatoes, onions, and squashes made a wonderful roast vegetable dish - slice each and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flake, oregano and garlic powder. Roast at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until all vegetables are cooked through.

The tomatoes were deep red and full flavored - so unlike any tomato that you'd buy at the store! Serve with cucumber, onion and feta cheese for a delicious Mediterranean salad.

Unfortunately, I'll be out of town for Week 12 and have donated the basket to some friends! Perhaps I can get them to blog on my behalf!

Perfect rice with a Zojirushi?

I recently purchased an induction Zojirushi rice cooker - over the course of the last month I've been experimenting with a couple of different rices and recipes. So far one of my favorite creations was a dried cherry, vanilla, sugar and white rice porridge. This was an incredible hot breakfast alternative to oatmeal. Overall the Zojirushi does a good job with rice and certainly takes a lot of the hassle out of it. One of the things i like the most is the ability to set the timer to finish the rice at a certain time - for instance, in the morning add the rice and water and set to be ready for dinner. I usually make brown rice and so far my experience has been that the rice is overcooked - I get better results when I use less water then the instructions direct. While its more convenient then stove top, I'm not sure that its worth the price (almost $300).

Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week10

The horror ... The horror ... Week 10 went dramatically wrong when i forgot to pickup the weekly basket. Sorry for you regulars expecting an update but no new news this week. Week 11 shows up tomorrow so expect a full report this coming weekend! Yours truly - a very hungry Critic.

Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week9

Week 8 was an abundant amount of produce and we had to work to get through it all - still had beets, green beans and kale left when Week 9 arrived.

The picture includes a little bit of each item, but not all the produce. Week 9's basket included:

• Spinach
  
• English Peas
  
• Green Pepper
  
• Corn
  
• Squash
  
• Tomato
  
• Zucchini
  
• Cabbage
  
• Baby Greens
  
• Eggplant
  
• Collard Greens

I experimented a bit with the produce and one created a couple of great dishes. First was a vegetable succotash with green pepper, squash, corn, peas, basil, bacon, feta and garlic. Cut the bacon into small pieces and cook until crisp and grease has been rendered. Drain the grease and wipe the pan out with a paper towel. Add a bit of olive oil and saute the garlic. Then add the green peppers and squash. After a few minutes, add the peas, and then the corn. Remove from heat and add the reserved bacon bits, the basil and the feta cheese. Taste for salt and pepper and serve!

I've never been a huge fan of cabbage, but I created a quick, fresh slaw that changed my mind. Use about half the cabbage and slice it very thinly. As you slice, transfer to a bowl and salt each layer as you go. Let the cabbage sit - the salt will draw the water out helping to keep it crunchy. Using a mortar and pestle, grind several garlic cloves with some kosher salt and olive oil into a smooth paste. Transfer the paste to a bowl and whisk in some spicy sriracha sauce, fresh lemon juice, mayonnaise, and olive oil. After about 30 minutes, place the cabbage in some cheese cloth (or paper towels in a pinch), and squeeze out the water. Return the cabbage to the bowl, add dressing and toss to mix.

I'm your Prisoner

On a recent visit to Costco I picked up two wines by Orin Swift Cellars. The first I opened was the 2007 "The Prisoner" Napa Valley Red Wine. At first taste this wine was tightly wound; a juggernaut of flavor, tannin and alcohol. The alcohol hits you first - at 15.2% this wine is hefty. After decanting for over an hour, the alcohol was nicely balanced by layers of fruit and spice. After an hour more, the flavors kept unraveling - vanilla, clove, plum, black cherry ... this wine big and bold wine was simply amazing. At $30, this bottle is outside my typical price range for wine but definitely worth it for a splurge. Thank you random Cameron Hughes rep. for the great tip.

A fantastic IPA - Racer 5 by Bear Republic

While dining at Denver's Potager (see review on DenverRestaurantReview), I tried a IPA by Bear Republic called Racer 5. This beer was one of the best IPAs I've ever had. Thick creamy head, unfiltered golden hue, with a wonderfully bitter hoppy flavor. There are aromas of sweet fruit, an initial smoothness on the palate, followed by astringent drying, and a wheaty finish. This beer has a high alcohol content @ 7% but it is well balanced with IBUs at 69. Enjoy!!

Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week8

Week 8 marks the first week when I did not make use of all the previous weeks produce! After bringing home week 8 from the local pickup point, I had to make room and tossed out the wilted chard and kale from the previous week. After weeks of greens, we're finally starting to move into the heart of summer - and that means tomatoes. Red, plump, juicy and flavorful tomatoes came in this week's basket. I used them sliced over cumin, cilantro turkey burgers with cheddar cheese wrapped in a leaf of lettuce. I used wedges in a salad with radish and red leaf lettuce.

This week's haul includes:

• Kohlrabi
  
• Curly Kale
  
• Red Leaf Lettuce
  
• Radishes
  
• Beets
  
• Zucchini
  
• Yellow Summer Squash
  
• Tomatoes
  
• Green Beans
  
• Artichokes
  
• Swiss Chard
  
• Cilantro
  

As for the other vegetables, I substituted thinly sliced zucchini and summer squash for nori in a smoked salmon roll. Salt and lightly oil the vegetables, then back for about 5 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Then arrange the slices on on plastic wrap, lightly pat out rice (in this case i used a purple sticky rice), then add ingredients and roll!

Another hit was a kohlrabi slaw dressed in a chipotle lime dressing. Peel the kohlrabi and shred using a box grater. Next, shred onion and apple. Salt the ingredients and let sit for several minutes. Prepare the dressing - in a blender combine the juice of one lime, honey, salt, mayonnaise, and a chipotle pepper. Blend to combine and add canola oil to achieve a thicker consistency. Squeeze the excess moisture from the vegetables then dress and enjoy!

Finally, take thinly sliced swiss chard and cook over high heat with lots of garlic and olive oil. Finish with a bit of lemon juice for a hint of freshness!

Omnivore's Dilemma

I just finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (website). This book is an exploration of the food industry that feeds America - from industrial corn farming, to the fully commercialized organic movement, to rediscovered hunter / gather techniques. Rather then prescribe a plan of action or a specific diet to follow, Pollan details each food chain and leaves it up to the reader to make their own decisions. Pollan does an excellent job of making you question where your food is coming from and how it got from the farm to your table.
Society places a high value on convenience, prices and speed, however this is often to the detriment of flavor, sustainability, and nutrition. Unfortunately, for most of "middle America" it would be near impossible to move away from the cheap, subsidized food that we have grown so accustomed to. To do so would require a complete shift in what we value - the mentality would have to change from "all food is created equally" to a value system that takes into consideration all of the factors in the food's creation. Factors including environmental impact, nutrition, sustainability, long term health impact, balance of trade, biological diversity and flavor, should all be included in this new value system. After considering these, the $.99 ground chuck would no longer be the best value. However, to most people such talk is heresy - better to live in ignorance then to face the reality of our current industrialized food chain.

Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week7

Wow, week 7 really snuck up on me - after eating out several times this week for the Denver Restaurant Review, I barely had time to cook anything and now I'm down to 2 days before week eight's basket arrives. Week 7's basket includes:

• Kale
  
• Swiss Chard
  
• Butter Lettuce
  
• Spring Greens
  
• Cilantro
  
• Zucchini
  
• Broccholi
  
• English Peas
  
• and mystery vegetable (see picture below).

If you recognize the mystery vegetable let me know - my best guess is immature cauliflower. The head was surrounded by the very similar greens. It didn't have the same sweetness as cauliflower but was delicious nonetheless. Cut into wedges, toss in olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flake - then roast in a hot oven until tender and slightly toasted. Finish with a drizzle of nut oil (hazelnut or walnut).

Bones reviewed at Denver Restaurant Review ...

I've just finished my review of Frank Bonanno's new restaurant Bones - this modern Japanese noodle bar offers many great dishes and some that weren't ready for show-time. Check out the review for more details!

The Denver Restaurant Review @ http://www.denverrestaurantreview.com.

Weekly Blog on Grant Family Farms CSA - Week6

Week 6 and I'm a bit behind on my eating - however, the trick is to find ways to combine the veggies together into one dish!

This week's basket includes:

• Kale
  
• Spring Onions
  
• Snap Peas
  
• Peas
  
• Beats
  
• Cauliflower
  
• Hearts of Romaine
  
• Dill
  
• Broccoli
  
• Zucchini
  
• Italian Parsley
  
• Swiss Chard
  

Try a grilled vegetable brown rice - grill quartered spring onions, sliced zucchini and mix with brown rice, peas, diced tomato and parsley. Season with salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice and a good olive oil. This was fresh, healthy and a great side dish to a grilled teriyaki beef.