Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Some More Kitchen Experiments

So, it turns out that I actually do like turnips! I can't be 100% certain that I love them, but roasted with basically every other root veggie known to man they are pretty good. Based on my first experience with them I have taken them off my "Do Not Send" list for Boston Organics. Now if they would just send me parsnips - those I know I love!
And speaking about Boston Organics, I was digging through some old newsletters they sent me. (To be greener they no longer send paper newsletters and everything is archived online). These old newsletters had recipes in them and I found one for Lebanese Green Bean Stew. I had frozen green beans and tomatoes from last summer's garden so I thought - what the heck - I'll give it a try. Pretty simple and I made it simplier by using diced tomatoes along with my frozend ones. The recipe is as folows:
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 pound potatoes, peeled and chopped in small pieces
1/2 pound green beans
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp veggie oil
3 teaspoons cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Now, that was the given measurements. I totally didn't measure the cumin or cayenne - just shook the bottles vigorously over the pan....

Heat oil in large saucepan over med/hi heat, add onions and cook several minutes, stirring frequently, Add potatoes and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Add green beans and then seasoning. Mix well. Add in tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes till tomatoes 'sauce' thickens.

Presto - you are done! And all of that is off the top of my head - I don't have the recipe in front of me.

Like I mentioned I used frozen green beans and in addition to the can of diced tomatoes I threw in a good handful of frozen Sungold tomatoes. They were whole and then burst with the heat. All in all pretty yummy.

Tomorrow will be my attempt at making fried parsnip ribbons, radish chips and finally ordering my seeds for the garden!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Pear and Gorgonzola Pasta

Yeah, not so much. I keep getting pears from my organic delivery and although I like them, I don't like them that much. Sometimes I make an apple/pear crisp, sometimes slice them on top of some toast and peanut butter for breakfast and I have even roasted them with sweet potatoes. It was time for something different. I really like pear and gorgonzola pizza (which I have also made), but I had no pizza crust or even a tortilla so I thought why not pasta?
It wasn't so hot. I used two pears, a good amount of gorgonzola and some Parmasean cheese and even added in some whole milk (I had that left over from making some mac n cheese and cornbread) to make it creamier and some crushed toasted walnuts. Something was totally missing. I am thinking SPICES! Maybe some roasted garlic would have helped. Or maybe even some sauted greens like chard, kale or collards. Well, nevertheless I ate it : )
On anther not so great kitchen note I also made apple/kiwi bread. Although it tastes delicious it didn't come out of the pan so hot. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for it to cool or maybe that extra kiwi I added made it too moist. I used one apple (kind unknown) and three very ripe kiwis. I started with only two but then thought - hmm two is good, three would be better. Right, not so much. I can't even slice the bread it is so moist it just falls apart. I ended up eating it with a fork, kind of like apple/kiwi crumble. But again, I ate it : )
I haven't yet made it out to the compost bins. I have tons to throw out there. I am (as I type) making roasted vegetables - turnips, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions and garlic. All that peeling amounted to a great deal for the bin. I am now waiting till I have a 'boat load' to add because we just had another storm here and the snow is now almost impassable. But like I said, I am determined to get out there. I refuse to throw it in the trash and my worms can only consume so much!