lemon-glazed butter cake!

Go visit Dessert of the Month Club to read about this cake!

Greensgrow Inspired Breakfast

Since our pick-up this week included a bunch of breakfast staples (bacon, eggs and bagels) we had some bagel sandwiches for breakfast this morning (as you know by now, breakfast sandwiches are my fave!)    The egg-jalapeno-habanero cheddar omelet turned into a messy scramble, but the flavors were still there!  I even used some amish butter (from a previous pick-up) for the bagels.  Crispy bacon added a nice crunch.  In R’s own words: “Breakfast was SO good!”

Spinach Pesto in a Pinch

Saturday night I had little motivation and really had to talk myself (and R) down from ordering out.  I’m so glad I did.  I had a bunch of spinach sitting in my fridge (roots attached, which I’m sure helped its longevity) and decided to make a pesto with it using the spring garlic I picked up earlier in the share, along with some of the parsley too.  The super GREEN color instantly energized me and dinner was saved and homemade! yay!  I added a handful of olives for a bit of a vinegary bite, mmm.

Welcome Spring!

Spinach Pesto

• 4 cups spinach leaves (stems removed)
• 2 tbsp chopped spring garlic or 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp chopped parsely
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 grated parm
• salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor combine the garlic and nuts first until coarsely ground.  Add spinach and parsley in handfuls.  Pour in olive oil and scrape down sides to get it all in there.  Add cheese and puree.  Adjust ingredients to taste.  Enjoy on anything!

Pick-up: March 28th

In the Share

• Butterball Potatoes – Elm Tree Organics, Lancaster, PA
• Mushrooms – Bo-Ka Specialties, Kennett Square, PA
• Spring Garlic – Tuscarora Organic Growers, PA
• Italian Parsley – Spring Thyme Herb Farm, Hockessin, DE
• Coffee – Blue Water Coffee, Philadelphia, PA
• Maple Syrup – Patterson Farms, Sabinsville, PA
• Bagels – Di Bruno Bros., South Philadelphia, PA
• Muenster Cheese – Hometown Provisions, Philadelphia, PA
• Dozen Eggs – Hometown Provisions, Lancaster County, PA
• Pequea Valley Yogurts – Pequea Valley Farm, Ronks, PA
• Bacon – Country Time Farm, Hamburg, PA

The theme was breakfast if you can’t tell and we are very happy for it since we love Country Time Farm Bacon!  Yay!

Roasted Soy-Ginger Poussin with Carrots and Bulgur

We picked up this butterflied poussin (young chicken) in last week’s share and when I opened up the April issue of Everyday Food and saw the recipe for “orange-glazed chicken with carrots and bulgur” I knew what to prepare for dinner this week.  The chicken was packed in a soy-ginger marinade and did not need anything further from me than to throw it in the oven to roast.  The marinade was quite delicious, with orange juice, ginger, soy sauce, honey, garlic, scallions, sesame oil and seeds.  Perfect.  The carrots and bulgur (one of my most favorite grains!!!) were also rather nice, except my carrots never browned and next time I think I will throw in some shallots to give it a more buttery flavor.  But at least I found a way to use a load of the carrots from last week’s share pick-up!    This meal was so quick n easy throw it into the rotation!

*Don’t you just love the packaging for the Bulgur?!

Alton Brown’s Meatloaf

Last week I decided I wanted to make meatloaf.  I’ve never made it before and to be honest I don’t think I have ever tried it!  I know, bizarre! Meatloaf is definitely one of those All-American recipes that never caught my Greek parents’ fancy.  And I’m sure if they were to make it the recipe would be modified into using lots of oregano and lemon juice vs. ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. I found it to be quite a great variation on meatballs/hamburgers and the best part??? LEFTOVERS!  I almost can’t wait for dinner tomorrow!  I think the thought of not having to prepare anything tomorrow (except maybe fresh mashed potatoes) is really the best part!  The recipe is Alton Brown’s from The Food Network and the reviews were abundant and stellar, so I had to try it.  I made some adjustments: used my own breadcrumbs that I mixed with some garlic salt, also combined a half pound of ground pork in with the ground beef.  The sauce was great too!  AND I discovered “Hot & Spicy” Heinz Ketchup which covered the ketchup and Tabasco elements perfectly!  I paired the meatloaf with some mashed potatoes and a red cabbage-orange salad.

*I like how my cutting board is all purple from the cabbage!  I might have to try to dye some eggs this year for Greek Easter using red cabbage or beets? hmmm.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!!!

I am so stoked to see this!

It reminds me of this song, haha!

Homemade Orecchiette with Sausage, Roasted Peppers and Savoy Spinach

I’m so proud of myself this week.  I planned out all our dinners for this week which means I can get some prep work done the night before and make my life that much easier. 

Last night I made Gourmet’s Fresh Semolina Orecchiette (I know, not a proper way to spend St. Patty’s Day).  I put half of it in the fridge and the other half in the freezer.  So all I had to do tonight when I got home was roast the peppers and cook everything up.  Easy.  I used one cup whole wheat flour in place of all purpose and I’m not sure if that was a good idea.  The orecchiette tasted a lil too cardboardish, but overall went really nicely with the sausage and peppers.

Orecchiette with Sausage and Roasted Peppers

from Martha!

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 2 medium red bell peppers, four flat sides sliced off core, ribs and seeds discarded
• 2 medium yellow bell peppers, four flat sides sliced off core, ribs and seeds discarded
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 pound orecchiette or other short pasta
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings (I used chorizo, it was all I had)
• 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Heat broiler. Place peppers, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 4 inches from heat until charred, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; steam 2 to 3 minutes. Using a paper towel, rub off pepper skins, reserving any juices in bowl. Thinly slice peppers crosswise into 1/4-inch strips; return to bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Add roasted peppers (I threw in some savoy spinach from the share too); cook until heated through.
4. Transfer sausage mixture to bowl; add pasta, butter, reserved pasta water, and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

Steamed Hake

I walked into Whole Foods on Monday thinking I was just going to pick up some tilapia, but they only had farm raised so I decided to go with the wild caught hake.  I’m so glad I did, it was so much more flavorful and buttery than sad/bland tilapia.  I love this bamboo steamer, healthy and quick.

Here in Philadelphia we have Otolith, our sustainable seafood resource, but it woud be nice to join a community-supported fishery don’t you think?

My New BFF Sandwich…

…as long as the tomato marmalade lasts!

Toasted Rosemary Ciabatta (from last weekend’s pick-up), havarti, peppered turkey and bibb lettuce and a spread made of mayo and tomato marmalade mixed together.

I discovered tomato marmalade our first night in El Calafate, Argentina where for dessert at La Cocina restaurant we ordered some sort of sweet potato (?) ice cream with a laced caramel veil (?) and the heavenly jam on top.  It sounds weird I know, but it was perfect: not too sweet, not too savory…it was unexpected!  I spent a good part of the rest of the trip scouring grocery store shelves for tomato marmalade, since for some reason it was not as popular as I imagined it would be (why not??).  Also, I wanted to find one that had actual bits of tomato in the marmalade like in the dessert that first night.  It’s going to be my mission this summer to make my own tomato marmalade, anyone have any good recipes?