Jack's Bacon

Every once in a while, I stop by Jack's Market to get bacon and sausage. They have the best thick - cut bacon. I also had leeks and spinach that I needed to use. I figured that would be a great combination for a quiche.

Bacon Spinach Quiche with Leeks

2 slices thick - cut bacon
1 med leek*
3 cups baby spinach, stems removed
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 eggs**
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper
1 cup Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain. When cool, chop into small pieces. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp bacon grease. Cut white part of leek in half lengthwise and then slice into 1/4 - inch slices. Heat pan and add leeks. Cook about 2 minutes. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Add garlic and cook one more minute. Remove to paper towel to drain excess moisture.

Prepare baking dish with cooking spray. Place vegetables and bacon into bottom of dish. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with salt and pepper. Slowly add milk until well mixed. Pour over vegetables. Sprinkle with swiss cheese.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife, inserted into center, comes out clean. Allow to set 5 minutes before serving.

*farmers market ingredients
**CSA ingredients

Okra

Decided I needed to use up some of the okra I got last weekend at the farmers market.  So, as I was digging through recipes (I only wanted to use a bit of them because I still plan to make okra and tomatoes), I ran across an idea for mini crustless frittatas.  Well, I made them this morning and they were actually quite nice!  Might have to think about changing my quiches into mini quiches for grab-and-go ease.

Mini Okra Frittatas
Adapted from: http://arentedkitchen.com/2012/09/24/mini-okra-frittata-cups/

• 1 cup sliced okra*
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 slices cooked bacon, diced
• 6 large eggs**
• 1/2 cup 1/2% milk
• 1/2 cup panko crumbs
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup Mexican blend cheese

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare 2 mini-muffin pans.  

Heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add okra and saute for about 5 minutes until browned and crispy.  Add minced garlic and continue cooking until fragrant.  Remove from heat. 

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with milk, panko and seasonings until smooth.  Add the okra, bacon and cheese.  Fill muffin cups to top and bake, about 12 minutes, until the frittatas are puffed and cooked through.

*farmers market ingredients
**CSA ingredients

Caramelized Onions

The interesting part of this time of year is the availability of sweet onions at every farmers market, not to mention Vidalia onions at the grocery store. Now, in general, I am not an onion person. I cannot eat raw onions at all. I try, but it just makes me sick. But if you take a sweet onion and cook it long and slow over low heat, it becomes food candy. I adore caramelized onions and am especially fond of balsamic caramelized onions.

Yedterday, I woke up at 4:30 am and couldn't get back to sleep. I needed to make some breakfast for the week so I could get back on track after our vacation. I knew I didn't have a lot in my kitchen to work with, but I did remember I had a large sweet onion. While I didn't have bacon, I did have ham, so I decided to make a modified quiche lorainne.

Ham Quiche with Balsamic Onions

1 large candy onion*
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1-2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 thin slices smoked ham
6 large eggs**
1 1/2 cups milk
2 oz asiago/fontina cheese blend
Salt and pepper, go taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thinly and evenly slice the onion. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions ND cook, stirring until the onions become translucent. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking, stirring occassionally, until onions begin to turn golden brown. Cook, stirring frequently, until desired color.at the last couple minutes, add balsamic vinegar and finish cooking. This step deglazes the pan.

Chop the ham to small pieces (about 1/4 - inch dice). Add ham to the onions an cook until heated. Take this mixture ND place in the prepared baking dish.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until smooth. Continue beating as you slowly add the milk. The result should be a very smooth pale yellow. Season with salt and pepper. Pour eggs mixture over onion mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Note, when using strong cheeses, you need less, otherwise, they will overwhelm the other flavors.

Bake at 350 about 40-45 minutes until top is golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to set 5 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Note: I am in the habit of making crust less quiches. But I always regret not putting quiches like this in a crust. The savory crust is a nice contrast to the sweet onions. Consider using a crust for this recipe.

Eggplant and Frittatas

I happened to catch The Chew last week when Michael Symon made his ratatouille frittata.  This morning, I was thinking that something like that sounded good because I had made ratatouille last week, so I just typed "ratatouille frittata" into the search bar and lo, and behold, up popped the actual recipe.  While his version sounds really yummy (with the addition of okra), I adjusted it to what I had available in my refrigerator.  That is the nice thing about quiches and frittatas.  They are today's pot luck.  They are both great ways to use up things in your fridge.  In my case, I had ratatouille, asiago bread and feta cheese.

Ratatouille Feta Frittata
Adapted from: http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Ratatouille-Feta-Frittata-Michael-Symon

• 3 cups ratatouille** (see recipe: http://csafoodie.blogspot.com/2012/07/ratatouille.html)
• 4 slices day-old bread (I used asiago bread)
• 8 eggs*
• 1/4 cup milk
• 4 oz crumbled feta cheese
• salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat broiler to low.  Place 12 inch skillet (I used cast iron) over medium heat.  Spoon ratatouille into skillet and warm.  Cut bread into 1-inch cubes.  Add to the ratatouille and mix well.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs with milk until smooth.  Season as desired with salt & pepper.  Pour over fillings and sprinkle with feta cheese.  Cook until eggs begin to set up.  Once the eggs are 75% set, place the skillet under the broiler and broil about 8-9 minutes or until the top begins to brown.  Remove from oven and allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*CSA ingredients
**Farmers market ingredients

Dutch Baby!

I bought some MI blueberries this week.  I wait for this every year because for 20 years, I couldn't get MI blueberries when I lived in VA.  There is no comparison for flavor, so I celebrate them every year!  I also have been craving a Dutch baby pancake.  So much so, I tried to talk John into going to The Pantry this weekend.  The problem with that place is that if you don't get there before church lets out, there's a 30-60 minute wait to get in.  So we settled for The Breakfast Club (which is just as good, but they don't make Dutch Babies).  So, today, I decided to make my own!  Blueberries are great for any type of pancake, so here's the recipe.

Blueberry Dutch Baby

• 4 eggs*
• 1 cup milk
• 1 scant tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 Tbsp butter
• Powder sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place a large cast iron skillet in the oven to warm while the oven is preheating.

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs.  Add the zest and vanilla and mix well.  Add the sugar and flour and continue whisking until well combined. Allow batter to rest while the oven preheats.

Carefully remove the skillet from the oven.  Add the 2 Tbsps of butter and swirl until the butter is melted and coats the pan.  Pour in the batter.  Then sprinkle with the blueberries.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until the pancake is puffed and the edges are brown.  Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.  Cut into slices and serve immediately.

*CSA ingredients

New house, new appliances!

It's been a while since I have done any real cooking and that's partially because I just got tired of being so cramped in my tiny little kitchen.  Well, my big news here is that I have purchased a new house with a bigger kitchen AND replaced all the appliances with bright, shiny new appliances.  Including a beautiful, new GE gas range with convection oven.  I have not done a lot of cooking yet because I am living between two places until the end of the month.  But this morning, I decided it was time to "break in" my range. 

I had a beautiful head of broccoli from the farmers market.  So I decided that a broccoli quiche was in order.  It's amazing how much of a difference a farm-fresh head of broccoli makes.  So much tastier than anything you can get from the grocery store.  And of course, I had farm-fresh eggs as well, which everyone knows makes all the difference in the world!

Broccoli Bacon Quiche

• 1 head broccoli*
• 6 thin slices bacon
• 1 cup sharp cheddar
• 5 farm-fresh eggs*
• 1 1/4 cups 2% milk
• salt, pepper, garlic powder, to taste

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cut broccoli into small florets.  Place in a microwave safe bowl with 2 Tbsp water.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes on HIGH.  Drain and place in prepared baking dish.  Cook the bacon and crumble.  Sprinkle bacon and cheese over broccoli.

Beat eggs with milk and seasonings.  Pour carefully over fillings.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*Farmers market ingredients.

Ramps Quiche

Now that I’ve made a batch of Ramp Pesto, it’s time to make this year’s ramp quiche.  I bought baby spinach for the pesto, so I decided to cut up the ramp leaves and quickly sauté those with the spinach.   I also had an extra pie crust, so decided to make this quiche with a crust.  Add some chicken apple breakfast sausage and whole milk mozzarella, and you have this spring’s ramp quiche.  This quiche highlights how much I rely on other purchases to make them complete.  The pie crusts were purchased to make rhubarb custard pie.  The sausages are just something that I really like and had purchased for general use.  The mozzarella was leftover from making a homemade magherita pizza.  That is the glory of making quiche.  It’s a basic egg custard recipe that you pour over whatever vegetables/meats/cheeses you prefer.  Quick, easy, tasty!

Ramp & Sausage Quiche

• ·         1 bunch ramps* (leaves and stems only)
• ·         ½ bag baby spinach
• ·         4 chicken apple breakfast sausages
• ·         4 oz whole millk mozzarella, shredded
• ·         1 frozen deep dish pie crust
• ·         4 large eggs*
• ·         1 cup 1/2% milk
• ·         Salt & pepper, to taste

Wash and pat dry the ramp leaves and spinach.  Cut into bite-sized pieces.  Sauté over medium heat until just wilted. Place ½ in bottom of pie crust.  Slice the sausages and sprinkle over vegetables and then layer remaining vegetables.  Sprinkle with mozzarella.  In a small bowl, beat eggs with salt & pepper.  Slowly pour in milk while continuing to beat eggs.  Once completely smooth, pour egg mixture over the fillings.  Bake at 350F for 40 minutes or until knife, inserted into center, comes out clean.  Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*Farmers market ingredients

Tomato strata

The interesting thing about strata is that to do it right, you have to have 2 days.  Unfortunately, when I thought I had two days to make this one, I really had to take 3 days.  I forgot when I started making this strata that I had a morning appointment and then ended up having a very busy day.  So, this morning, I got up early to finally get around to baking the strata.  We got all kinds of wonderful vegetables this week from the CSA: squash (summer and winter), tomatoes, eggplant, onions, peppers (green, anaheim, and poblano!), corn, etc.  Following picking up our vegetables, we then stopped at Jack's and I ended up with bacon and a pork shoulder.  So, obviously, this is going to be a cooking weekend!  The tomato was a bit on the ripe side, so I decided to use it right away.  I combined it with the bacon and a loaf of cheddar onion bread to make a wonderful strata.  This loaf of bread, as well as the asiago bread that I get from Family Faire are addicting!  I have never had loaves of cheese bread that have such a great cheesy flavor and I was sure it was perfect for this use.

Bacon Tomato Strata

• 3 slices thick-cut bacon
• 4 cups cubed cheddar onion bread
• 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1 large tomato*, diced
• 5 farm-fresh eggs*
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Butter a 9 x 13 pan and set aside.
2. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan, let cool and chop. Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon grease to saute the onion and garlic until tender. Toss onion and garlic with chopped bacon and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk and seasonings and whisk to combine.
4. Place 4 cups of the bread cubes in the 9 x 13 pan and pour half of the egg mixture over top. Top with 1 cup cheese, ½ of the onion mixture and half of the tomatoes. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and chill overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
6. Remove foil and bake for 1 hour. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top and return to oven until the cheese melts and the center is set. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

- See more at: http://www.garnishwithlemon.com/cheese-bacon-and-tomato-strata/#sthash.VgJ3QFcy.dpuf

Instructions

1. Butter a 9 x 13 pan and set aside.
2. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan, let cool and chop. Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon grease to saute the onion and garlic until tender. Toss onion and garlic with chopped bacon and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk and seasonings and whisk to combine.
4. Place 4 cups of the bread cubes in the 9 x 13 pan and pour half of the egg mixture over top. Top with 1 cup cheese, ½ of the onion mixture and half of the tomatoes. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and chill overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
6. Remove foil and bake for 1 hour. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top and return to oven until the cheese melts and the center is set. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

- See more at: http://www.garnishwithlemon.com/cheese-bacon-and-tomato-strata/#sthash.VgJ3QFcy.dpuf

 Spray a 9" X 13" pan with cooking spray.  Cube the bread and layer it in the pan.  Cook the bacon in the microwave between paper towels for 3 minutes on HIGH or until bacon is crisp.  Cool bacon until it can be handled, then cut into bite-sized pieces.  Dice tomato and mix with bacon.  Top the bread with the tomato mixture.  Sprinkle with cheddar.  Beat eggs, milk and seasonings until very smooth.  Carefully pour over fillings.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.  In the morning, remove the strata from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature (about 40 minutes).  In the meantime, preheat oven to 325F.  Remove foil and bake strata for 1 hour.  Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*CSA ingredients

Instructions

1. Butter a 9 x 13 pan and set aside.
2. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan, let cool and chop. Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon grease to saute the onion and garlic until tender. Toss onion and garlic with chopped bacon and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk and seasonings and whisk to combine.
4. Place 4 cups of the bread cubes in the 9 x 13 pan and pour half of the egg mixture over top. Top with 1 cup cheese, ½ of the onion mixture and half of the tomatoes. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and chill overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
6. Remove foil and bake for 1 hour. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top and return to oven until the cheese melts and the center is set. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

- See more at: http://www.garnishwithlemon.com/cheese-bacon-and-tomato-strata/#sthash.VgJ3QFcy.dpuf

Avocado Breakfast

When we lived in Chicago, I discovered that I actually like avocados for breakfast.  We were doing a fitness challenge through he Discovery Channel and one of the breakfast ideas was an omelet with shrimp and avocado.  It was one of our favorites and I adjusted it to also use bay scallops instead of the shrimp.  I haven't thought of that recipe in a very long time, but this morning had an avocado that I needed to use before it got too ripe.  Last week, in my weekly pins from Pinterest, I got a pin that looked quite yummy.  It was a spicy tomato avocado egg bake from Kalyn's Kitchen (http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2014/07/baked-eggs-skillet-with-avocado-tomatoes.html). It was so pretty, I thought I would give it a try.  Of course, I had to add cheese to it because I need the extra protein, but it looked pretty simple and I have just recently come into a cast iron skillet, which is what she recommends to use.  Oh, and if you haven't spent any time perusing this website (www.kalynskitchen.com), you should.  She's got a lot of really yummy looking, healthy recipes on her site!

So, here is my version of the recipe:

Baked Eggs Skillet with Spicy Tomatoes and Avocado

• 1 can (10 oz.) Ro-Tel tomatoes 
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced lengthwise into 10 slices
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 eggs*
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar, shredded  
  

 
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Break eggs into individual ramekins and let the eggs come to room temperature while you proceed with the recipe.  (This might seem a bit fussy, but if you start with cold eggs the yolks will get too done by the time the whites are cooked.)

Spray a medium-sized ovenproof frying pan with non-stick spray or brush with oil, add the tomatoes, and start to simmer over medium heat.  (I used a 10.25 inch Cast Iron Skillet, and I highly recommend using cast iron for this if you have it.)

While the tomatoes simmer, peel the avocado, cut in half, and then cut each half into 5 thin slices. When all the liquid has evaporated from the tomatoes (about 4-5 minutes), turn the heat to low and arrange the avocado slices like spokes of a wheel in the pan.  Gently put each egg between two avocado slices, spacing them evenly apart.  Season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

Put the skillet into the pre-heated oven and bake until whites are completely set and the yolks are done to your liking, about 6-8 minutes for runny yolks.  Add the cheese and return to oven for a minute to melt the cheese.  Serving size (for me) is one egg plus 1/2 vegetables.  

*CSA ingredients

Potatoes & Sausage

My husband brought a yam with him when he came to visit this weekend.  I had cooked them for him last weekend and he thought they would make good carbs for his 5K race this morning.  Because the yam was so big, I decided to take some of that, along with potato and sausage and make a quick hash.

Two Potato Sausage Hash

• 1/3 cup cooked yam, diced*
• 1 small redskin potato, finely diced*
• 2 oz pork sausage*
• 1 large egg*
• salt & pepper to taste

 Spray a medium skillet with cooking spray and heat over med-high heat.  Add potato, yam and sausage.  Cook until sausage is no longer pink.  Break egg over top of mixture; cover and cook, about 5 minutes, until egg is cooked but yolk is still runny. Makes 1 serving.

  *CSA ingredients

Quinoa and eggs

We woke up late this morning and were both very hungry.  So what can you do that is quick and hearty?  I had a serving left of the Beet Green Quinoa salad (http://csafoodie.blogspot.com/2011/06/greens.html) I made earlier in the week.  I wondered if that would make good scrambled eggs:

Beet Green Quinoa Scrambled Eggs

• 1 cup Beet Green Quinoa Salad*
• 2 lg eggs*
• 4 lg egg whites*
• 1/4 cup feta cheese

Beat eggs and egg whites with salt and pepper to taste.  Heat quinoa salad over medium heat.  Pour eggs over quinoa and sprinkle with feta.  Cook until bottom eggs are cooked, then using a spatula, slowly scramble eggs until they are just wet.  Makes 2 servings.

Note: I am not lucky enough to have oven-safe pans.  If I did, I would have finished this as a frittata instead.  To do this, you would begin cooking the eggs as above, however, once they are cooked about 2/3 through, you place them under the broiler until the top is browned.  As a frittata, this recipe could serve 4 along with a green salad or other vegetable side.

*CSA ingredients

Broccoli & Asparagus Breakfast

This morning I decided to make eggs with vegetables:

Eggs with Broccoli & Asparagus

• 2 large eggs*
• 4 large egg whites*
• garlic powder
• cayenne
• 3 broccoli crowns
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Wash broccoli and asparagus.  Chop broccoli.  Remove woody stems from asparagus (hold either end and bend the stalk.  The woody part will break off).  Cut into 1-inch pieces.  Place both broccoli and asparagus in microwave steamer with 1/2 cup water in the bottom.  Cover and microwave for 6 minutes.

In the meantime, beat eggs, egg whites and spices in a small bowl.  Coat a 12-inch frypan with cooking spray.  Heat over medium heat.  Place cooked vegetables in pan, pour eggs over vegetables and sprinkle with feta.  Allow bottom of eggs to cook, then continue cooking stirring with a silicon spatula until eggs are barely wet.  Allow to set 1 minute before serving.

The item on the side is a potato cheese pub pie we purchased at the Shaker Heights Farmers Market.  They were made by a company called Gray House Pies, located at 22560 Lorain Rd, Fairview Park, OH 44126.  We bought those along with BBQ chicken and Daal pub pies and brownies as well.  For more information, you can follow them on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gray-House-Pies/128120697377?sk=wall.

To finish breakfast, I made smoothies:

Mixed Berry Smoothies

• 1 1/2 cups Fresh Yogurt*
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup fresh blackberries
• 1/2 cup fresh strawberries

Place all ingredients into mug from Bullet Blender.  Attach cross blades and blend 10 seconds.  Shake to mix further and blen another 10 seconds or until smooth.

*CSA ingredients

Radish Greens

We got the first of what promises to be many batches of radishes with this share.  I cannot eat raw radishes due to my hay fever, however, they had a beautiful batch of greens.  I was thinking they might be good to eat but wasn't sure if they were edible or how to best prepare them.  So, here's a little background on radishes:

Radishes are a member of the Brassicaceae family as well.  There are many varieties and sizes and it looks as though we received a mix of round and icicle-like.  Interestingly, their name comes from the Greek name Raphanus, meaning "quickly appearing".  That probably explains why we get them so early in the season.  Judging by last years lists, we are bound to get them for several weeks, so I will eventually experiment with pickling and cooking them to see if I can eat them at all.  But for now, since this is a small batch, my husband will take them to have with his lunches.

I took a look at the few recipes I was able to find for the greens and found that as with the radishes, most people eat them raw in salads.  Since I cannot eat the vegetable without an allergic reaction, I decided that I probably cannot eat the greens raw either.  So I came up with the following recipe.  The greens, even though they were wilted had an interesting texture, kind of crisp.  The flavor was similar to spinach.

Scrambled Eggs with Radish Greens and Bacon

• 2 lg eggs*
• 4 lg egg whites*
• 1 Tsp olive oil
• 1 bunch radish greens*
• 2 slices uncured bacon*
• garlic, to taste
• 2 oz cheese curds with dill*

Wash radish greens, dry well.  Cut into 1/2 slices including stems.  Cook bacon in microwave between paper towel sheets for 2 minutes on HIGH.  Chop cooked bacon.  Slice cheese curds to 1/8 inch slices.  Beat eggs and egg whites in a medium bowl.

In a large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat.  Add greens and garlic and reduce heat to medium.  Cook and stir until greens are wilted, about 4 minutes.   Add bacon and cheese curds.  Pour egg mixture over all and allow bottom to cook.  Continue cooking and stirring over medium heat until eggs are barely wet.  Makes 2 servings.  Serve with wheat toast* and jelly.

*CSA ingredients

04/19/11 Breakfast

Eggs w/ spinach, feta, bacon and roasted garlic

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 eggs*
• 5 egg whites*
• 1 cup spinach, stems removed*
• 4 cloves garlic, roasted and sliced
• 3 slices bacon*
• 1/4 cup feta cheese

Place bacon between 2 sheets paper towels on a microwave-safe plate.  Cook on HIGH for 3 minutes.  Cool; crumble

Wash spinach and remove stems; set aside.  In a small bowl, scramble eggs and egg whites; set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Add crumbled bacon, sliced garlic and spinach.  Saute until spinach starts to wilt.  Pour eggs over spinach; sprinkle with feta.  Allow eggs to cook on bottom, then cook and stir until eggs are just barely wet.

Makes 2 servings.

*CSA ingredients

Breakfast and a plug

Good morning, I'll start with the plug.  I have really enjoyed this winter CSA and all the good local products and produce it provides.  Fresh Fork Market is now taking spot holders for the summer CSA program.  The program runs from May - Oct and you will get packages on a weekly basis.  There are three levels: small, large and full shares.  The small share is $25/wk ($550 for the season).  This is a "traditional" CSA program with all the groceries picked by Fresh Fork and includes $30 worth of groceries per week.  The large share is $40/week or $880 up front.  This package includes the small package plus and you will get $50 worth of food every week.  Again, all the groceries are chosen by Fresh Fork. The full plan (which I am sharing with a collegue) is $50/week or $1100 up front.  This package is the most flexible plan as far as what you get.  You get the small package and then you choose what you get with it!  You get $60 worth of food every week.  We are excited to have the opportunity to customize our orders!

Take it from me, when they say you will get a certain $ amount of food, that is probably the minimum.  When we have gotten meat during the winter CSA, it has been worth far more than the stated value!  There have been weeks that we have gotten ground meats plus roasts plus cheese plus fresh pasta....and that doesn't include the produce, granola, eggs, etc that we've gotten.  So, this program is well worth the price.  One last note; you have the option of choosing omnivore, vegetarian or vegan packages as well.  This program can accomodate everyone!

If you are interested, go to http://www.myfreshfork.com/ to sign up.  Or contact Trevor Clatterbuck at Trevor@freshforkmarket.com.  Trevor's a great guy and will answer any questions you might have.

Now, onto breakfast:

Bacon Basil Eggs
Serves 2

• 2 large eggs*
• 2 egg whites*
• 4 slices thick-sliced bacon*
• 1/4 large tomato diced
• 4 large baby bellas, sliced
• 6 large leaves basil, chiffonade
• 3 thin slices Swiss cheese

Cook bacon; set aside.  Dice tomatoes, slice mushrooms, break up bacon and chiffonade basil.  In a small bowl, scramble the eggs and egg whites.  Drain bacon fat from pan, leaving about 1 tsp fat.  Add mushrooms to pan and saute.  Add tomatoes, bacon and basil to the pan; heat through.  Pour eggs over mixture, break up swiss over top.  Cook until eggs are just barely wet.  Serve with English muffin or other toast.

*CSA ingredients

March 13: Breakfast

I have gotten so much pork over the last few weeks and needed to find a way to use some ground pork.  In the Taste of Home: New Comfort Food Diet Cookbook, there is recipes for turkey sausage.  I decided that would be a good use for the ground pork:

Fresh Pork Breakfast Sausage

Adapted from Taste of Home: New Comfort Food Diet cookbook

• 1 lb ground pork*
• 1 tsp rubbed sage
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder w/ herbs
• 1/8 tsp dried marjoram
• dash allspice
• dash ground corriander
• dash cayenne

Combine all ingredients until well mixed.  Seperate into 8 balls.  Flatten balls and cook in a heated large frypan until no long pink in the center.

I then took a Thomas Hearty Grains Whole Wheat bagel and toasted it.  Fried an egg, cut one of my sausage patties in half horizontally and sliced an ounce of pepper havarti*.  Once I assembled the sandwich, I broiled it until the cheese was melted and bubbly.

*CSA ingredients

Saturday 2/12/11

When we woke up this morning, we were flipping through the few channels I get with my antennae and ran into Rick Bayless's cooking show.  He was making fresh cheese and then made quesadillas with fresh corn tortillas, serreno ham and squash blossoms (and the fresh cheese) that looked so good.  It got me thinking about the cheeses that I have in the refrigerator from my CSA packages and decided that with those, the eggs and the bread that we got last package, I could make a really yummy savory bread pudding.  I did some research to get an idea of proportions and came up with the following recipe:

Savory Breakfast Bread Pudding

Makes 4 servings

·         3 cups day-old bread, cubed*

·         2 eggs*

·         4 egg whites*

·         1 cup half and half

·         ½ cup 1% milk

·         4 oz feta, crumbled*

·         3 slices turkey bacon, diced

·         2 cups mixed greens, chopped*

·         ¼ cup feta or grated parmesan (optional)

1.       Toast bread cubes in 350 oven, about 10 minutes, stirring halfway through the time.  Leave oven at 350. 

2.       In a bowl, mix together eggs, egg whites, half and half and milk until thoroughly blended.

3.       In a 9X9 baking pan, toss together bread cubes, bacon, mixed greens and feta.   

4.   Add bread cubes to greens and bacon.

 5.       Pour egg mixture over bread cubes.

5.       If desired, garnish with additional feta (or parmesan) for brown crust.

6.       Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until thermometer inserted in to center reads above 145 degrees.

Makes 4 servings.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus value: 8

*CSA package items

While I was putting all of this together, I looked at how long it would take to bake and decided we needed something to tide us over, so I cut two thin slices of the bread (which is very yummy, by the way) and toasted it.  Then I spread the toast with the fresh cream cheese from the last package and some homemade low-sugar raspberry jam.

This reminds me of the biscuits and clotted cream from high tea.  So yummy!

I made the bread pudding lower fat by using egg whites and half and half instead of whole eggs and cream.  I was a little afraid of the texture, but it came out nice and creamy in the end.  To quote one of my favorite movie lines "I know you aren't supposed to say this about your own food, but YUM!" (Julie & Julia). 

While the bread pudding was baking, I threw together another version of the cabbage soup I made last week.  I don't have regular tomatoes, so I had to use Rotel tomatoes with chiles.  Here's today's recipe:

Southwestern Cabbage Soup

• 5 cups cabbage, coarsly chopped*
• 8 oz kielbasa*
• 3 (14.5-oz) cans Rotel tomatoes w/ chiles
• 2 (16-oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 can water

Mix all ingredients in crock of slow cooker.  Mix well and cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours.  Switch cooker to LOW and cook another 4-6 hours.  Makes 8 servings.

Half of this will be going home with John this weekend.  I hope I have freezer space for the rest since I leave for Hawaii on Wednesday.  The next package will come when I am in Hawaii.  I will let you know what I am expecting when I get the email from Trevor.

SuperBowl Sunday

Ok, so lets start with the morning.  I started cooking as soon as I got up because I knew it would take all day to cook the soup.  But I was hungry, so here's what I had for breakfast:

Spinach Feta Kielbasa Scrambled Eggs

Makes 1 serving

• 1 lg egg*
• 2 egg whites*
• 2 oz kielbasa, sliced and quartered*
• 1/2 cup baby spinach
• 1/4 cup feta, crumbled*
• garlic powder (to taste)

In a small saucepan, add kielbasa and spinach.  Cook until spinach begins to wilt.  In the meantime, beat egg and egg whites in small bowl with garlic powder.  Pour over spinach, sprinkle with feta cheese and cook, stirring, until eggs are just barely wet.

*CSA items

Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 10pts

Now,  for dinner/SuperBowl, I made queso dip (Velveeta and Rotel) and the following soup.  I will admit I am a sucker for the cabbage soup at Big Boy.  So, taking a cue from Lindsay Allen, I attempted to recreate it.  I have to admit, it turned out pretty darn good.  I did add to it by adding kielbasa, which changes the flavor a bit, but it turned out quite good.

Cabbage Soup

Makes 8 servings

• 5 cups cabbage, coarsely chopped*
• 1 med onion, diced
• 1 med green pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 oz kielbasa, sliced and quartered*
• 1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes, hand crushed
• 2 cups low-sodium tomato juice
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free chicken broth
• 1/2 stick butter*

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onions and saute about 1 minute.  Add green peppers and garlic and continue sauteeing until onions just become transleuscent.  All all ingredients to crockpot, cover and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours, or until cabbage is cooked.  Makes about 8 1-cup servings.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value (per 1 cup serving): 5 points

Beginning of cooking

Finished

It's always nice to have time to cook for the week.  Just wish I could actually be watching the game. Time to find a good movie to put on!

Sunday morning breakfast

Okay, I know this is not a CSA recipe because I haven't gotten eggs since the first package, but it could be.  This morning's breakfast was so tasty, I have to post the recipe.  I would post a picture, but I have been told that sometimes the pictures don't do the recipe justice and looking at my plate right now, I think this is probably another that wouldn't.  So, here's the recipe, and you can judge the taste yourself!

Greek Scrambled Eggs

Makes 2 servings

• 2 whole eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 8 artichoke hearts, quartered
• 10 olives, quartered (I used black, but would be so good with kalamata!)
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried sweet basil

Prepare the artichokes and olives.  In a medium bowl, scramble together eggs, egg whites, garlic and spices.  Heat medium saute pan prepared with cooking spray over medium heat.  Add artichokes and olives to pan and mix well.  Pour egg mixture over artichoke mix and sprinkle with feta cheese.  Heat until eggs are cooked on bottom.  Slowly mix eggs until just barely wet (do not overcook).  Makes 2 servings

Weight Waters PointsPlus value: 7



So, this was a recipe using up things that I have in my refrigerator, but I could see changing it up to use fresh ingredients.  I would have added spinach if I had some and using fresh herbs would make it taste fresher.  Although I have to admit, this was the first time I ever made scrambled eggs with oregano and that flavor was wonderful!  We are headed to BJ's and Costco today, so I will pick up some spinach, etc.  Will be nice to have some groceries.  I have been very lax lately.

New Years Eve breakfast

Happy New Years Eve!  We are in Troy at the moment trying to recuperate a bit before going back and finishing these moves.  How is it possible to collect so much junk in just a year and a half?  But we are in the home stretch.  We have completely moved 3 rooms, cleaned 2.  The main challenge left is the kitchen.  I just hope I can find room to store everything in my apt with no storage.

This morning for breakfast, I decided I needed to use the brussels sprouts.  I cooked them in the microwave until just cooked.  Then quartered them.  Cut up some leftover cheesesticks (yeah, I know).  Then took 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites and scrambled them with Mrs. Dash and some seasoned salt.  Combined it all and cooked over a medium heat.  I didn't take a picture because it wasn't very pretty looking, but it tasted good. 

A couple more days and I will be able to get back to my life again, including cooking and researching CSA programs for friends.