Crabby Corn Soup

I picked up my copy of Soups and Sandwiches: Wholesome Ideas for Quick Lunches at the recent library sale, and piled it onto the other cookbooks. Hungry for something to cook, I grabbed the book as I headed to the laundromat to wash the bed linens.

Once the comforters and sheets were slurshing around in the commercial washer I perused the cookbook and found the Crab and Corn Soup on page 31. It looked easy and simple, so I added it to my "Make This Soon" list.

(I have no idea what "slursh" means, but I like the way it sounds. I also do not keep a "Make This Soon List" although  perhaps I should add a list like that to my Remember The Milk account.)

I noticed a few odd things about the cookbook. First, it was hard to understand how the soups were organized. Sure, there is a table of contents, but when you're looking through the book, there's no chapter titles to indicate that you've moved from vegetable & exotic soups to creamy soups. Same thing's true of the sandwiches.

The index is also seriously lacking. It merely lists the titles of the various recipes, not the actual ingredients - which would be more helpful to any reader searching for a recipe to prepare quickly.

Likewise, I found the sandwich area not...lunchable. These seem more like canapes, finger food, little nibbles for parties, rather than something to sustain me through a busy work day. And with a subtitle like "Wholesome Ideas for Quick Lunches," I was surprised to find so many recipes with multiple steps; for example, the Salmon Pinwheels I made involved a rolling pin, rolling bread, and a two hour waiting period. Finally the recipe ingredients are sometimes vague: what "mixed herbs" do the authors mean? I have no idea.

And with two authors who are "home economists" -an outdated term if there ever has been one- I was wary. I shouldn't have been.

The Crab and Corn Soup was easy, tasty, and I imagine wholesome as well. It was definitely a quick soup to prepare, and a nice twist on your typical egg drop soup. I substituted shrimp for the crab with no problem. I was stymied with the "small piece of gingerroot" because what do the authors mean by small? I guessed.

One small chunk of gingerroot.

Ingredients: egg, cornstarch, scallions, shrimp

Finished Soup

Despite the general oddness of the book, I enjoyed this soup. I could have added more gingerroot. I also like that each recipe has a photograph that clearly illustrates what the finished product should look like. As a bonus, many soups have a suggested accompaniment recipe. For example, the Cream of Cauliflower Soup on page 27 also offers a recipe to make Cheese Snippets to flat in the soup, while the Cream of Carrot Soup on the same page has Herb Croutons (with one teaspoon of "dry herbs" as the flavoring.)

Crab and Corn Soup

3 3/4 cup chicken stock
1 small piece gingerroot, peeled
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 15oz can creamed corn
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
4 oz crab (or shrimp) chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2 scallions, minced

In a large saucepan, combine stock and gingerroot. Simmer 15 minutes. Remove gingerroot and stir in soy sauce, sherry, and creamed corn. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, blend cornstarch and water. Stir in stock mixture. Stir in crab (or shrimp) and heat until mixture thickens.

Bring mixture to a slow simmer and slowly pour in beaten eggs in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Do not allow soup to boil. Garnish soup with sliced green onions. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

I Miss It So!

There's a book out about Jacobson's. You say that to anyone from the lower peninsula of Michigan, and they're bound to get misty-eyed. I'm definitely in that crowd.

Jacobson's (affectionately referred to as "Jake's" by clientele) was a retailer of the first order for much of the last 100 years in this state and closed their doors in 2002. At the end of it, there were about thirty stores in the chain spreading throughout Michigan, Ohio, Florida and beyond. For me, though, none of those stores bring on my sad puppy-dog face as much as the Saginaw store.  

Filling an entire block in downtown Saginaw, Jacobson's was the premier department store in the region. If you needed a dress for a special occasion, you could always find it at Jacobson's. Heck, if you needed anything to beautify yourself or your home, they probably had it or could order it.

Sure, there were other department stores in the area. Almost weekly mom and I trekked through Seitner's, Weichman's, and Heavenrich's. But Jacobson's stood out from the crowd. Way, way out in front of the crowd.

And for a birthday or Christmas, nothing was better than seeing a large silver box embossed with a pattern of the letter "J" and tied with a red ribbon. It didn't matter that I usually knew what was in the box, it was the fact that the clothing came from Jacobson's.

• That red terry-cloth robe I can't let go of because it's still in decent shape? Jacobson's. 
• That red wool dress that made me feel great every time I wore it? Jacobson's.
• The 1970s cool plaid bell-bottom pants & matching bomber jacket? Jacobson's.
• Most of my best clothing throughout high school? Totally Jacobson's and the Miss J Shop.

I was on the Miss J Board for a year in high school, and then, following college graduation, worked in the office on the second floor. Several times each day it was my job (and that of my co-worker) to walk through the store and collect tickets from sales. It meant that I knew the store backwards and forwards, and always knew where the best items were on sale. It also meant that a good deal of my paycheck went to those best items.

Did I say "tickets?"

I sure did.

It took Jacobson's a very, very long time to adapt to using registers and computers in the store. So when I was working in the 80s, the people on the sales floor were hand writing sales slips. And, from each item sold, they removed a ticket that included stock number, size, and price. I returned the tickets and sales slips to the office, where they were batched and totaled by a small, dedicated staff. Just imagine what it was like at Christmas time to collect and process all of that. By hand.

Jacobson's I Miss It So - The Story of a Michigan Fashion Institution by Bruce Allen Kopytek delves into the history and mystery of the stores. He reveals the humble origins of the store and the reign of Nathan Rosenfeld. He also explores many of the individual stores, including Saginaw. Thought there are interviews with some people who worked in Detroit area stores, I was sad to see there weren't any interviews with people who worked in the 207,000 square foot store. The handful of pictures of the store, though, are something special.

Still, this is a food blog, and focuses on cookbooks. So what does a book about ancient department stores in Michigan have to do with food or cookbooks?

As the stores were mostly free-standing, they often had gourmet sweets and restaurants. The new book has many beloved recipes from Jacobson's. And though I can't say I recognize a single recipe, it warms my heart to be cooking some chicken salad that -at one time- was indeed offered in a Jake's store.

Well, it kind of warms my heart. It's salad, so nothing warm. But it's tasty and beautiful. Like Jake's.

Jacobson's Cashew Chicken Salad
(adapted from Jacobson's...I Miss It So.)

4 cups or so chicken, cooked and diced
1/4 cup scallion, chopped
2 tablespoons Craisins (those dried cranberry raisin-like things)
1/4 cup cashew pieces, chopped
2 tablespoons mango jam (with chunks of Mango if you can find it)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon curry powder

The original recipe calls for a little celery and mango chutney, but I wasn't going to buy celery for just 1/4 cup. And there's no way I would buy mango chutney when I have a perfectly good jar of mango jam from World Market in the fridge. Mix it all together, chill for at least two hours, and savor. Preferably while dressed in your finest outfit and sipping wine from a crystal goblet.

P.S. Someone was going to get this book for Christmas, but then I read it, cooked from it, and posted about it here. So much for surprise gifts. Unless that someone might still have a Jacobson's box lurking in a closet?

No Ham About It

I have a  problem with Angry Birds*, really just a minor little thing.

I cannot stop playing.

I played through Angry Birds, then went back and got three stars on most levels. I got Angry Birds Rio before I knew there was a movie. And I have Angry Birds, Seasons, too.

I sometimes forget to stop playing long enough to eat.

Thank goodness game publisher Rovio Mobile has released an Angry Birds cookbook - now I can play Angry Birds and eat Angry Birds, too. Sure to feed your "app-etite," Angry Birds: Bad Piggies' Recipes is set to be released on December 6th.

It has darling and colorful cartoon drawings of the main Angry Birds characters. Except, there's trouble in Angry Birds land as the Bad Piggie is cooking up eggs. Forty egg recipes to be egg-zact. And that only makes the birds angrier.

And, stretching my philosophical wings, that explains the conundrum we're faced as humans:  we have a difficult time seeing, accepting, or respecting a different point of view. Any difference of opinion may be met with a venomous reply...hence quarrels, arguments, and ultimately wars. Some day, these pigs and birds need to sit down at the negotiating table and work out a compromise. The two dissenting sides attempted a "peace treaty" on an Israeli comedy show.  [Warning: The birds drop the f-bomb several times. And I'm not referring to the big white bird that drops bombs or the little black bomb bird, either.]

Needless to say, the treaty failed. Let's hope us humans can do better...and that's enough philosophy because Angry Birds: Bad Piggies' Egg Recipes has nothing to do with world view or politics. It has to do with cooking eggs.

Which is enough to keep the epic battle between Pigs and Birds going for a long, long time.

This is such a cute idea for a gift for any Angry Birds addictee. (I feel a long side note regarding 12-step programs for people who play Angry Birds too much coming on...must stop. Must stop.)

I'm curious to see the book in person, though, as on my computer screen, the colors are toned down - not as brilliant as on my iPod. The illustrations are just adorable - a hot air balloon full of pigs (and grilling eggs) barely escapes a group of birds, while nearby a pig hides in a tree.

The three recipes I was able to see in the preview were simple, and I was disappointed that the preview didn't include more recipes. Looks like there will be forty recipes total "ranging from scrambled eggs and omelets to Eggs Benedict and quiche." A quick peak at the preview on Amazon shows egg salad, aioli sauce, meringue, and more - accompanied by illustrations, of course.

The book keeps the humor going through "Be a pig for a day, no worries in the world, no Angry Birds trying to knock you down. The kitchen is your pigpen and life's good."  I can only imagine what the Angry Birds will cook up next.

Oink Oink!

*For those who have no idea what this post is about, Angry Birds is one of the most successful  games in the world. With more than twelve million downloads from iTunes, you are missing out on a worldwide phenomenon of time wasting & pig chasing. Go help the birds get their eggs back!

Bar Cookie Discrimination - And Soup With Salad

I'll confess that I'm not a person who gets excited about the holidays.

You know the type of person I'm talking about? I'm picturing an over-the-top co-worker who decorates their oatmeal cubicle for every holiday and also dresses for the holiday right down to a a sparkly sweater, holiday-themed turtleneck,  matching socks, and -especially for Christmas- a Santa hat with jingle bell.

I'm equally not celebrating the fact that one of the local radio stations decided to begin broadcasting Christmas music 24/7 - in early November. Please! Halloween had just ended.

Christmas cookies, on the other hand, I can relate to. So on a recent business trip I picked up a copy of  The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman. But, uh, I have two small cookie-related issues with the book:  

1. I like bar cookies. In fact, I like bar cookies so much that I started a tumblr feed for them. 
2. Individual cookies are too much work - too much standing, too much stirring. I know this because I have made large quantities of them on my own many years ago, and have refused to make them ever since then.  

So perhaps you can understand why I was rather appalled that the hard-working bar cookie was written off immediately in the opening salvo of The Christmas Cookie Club: "No bars. They stick to each other and crumble."

No bar cookies allowed? Bah humbug.

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the book. It was a light-hearted, gossipy, chick-flicky romp through an annual Christmas cookie club event, accompanied by cookie recipes and ingredient history lessons. I don't really know what the history lessons were doing in the book, but they were informative and brief.

The characters are stereotypical, but lovable: there's Marnie, the party hostess (aka, head cookie bitch,) who's widowed with children and learning to love again; then there's Vera, the former cocaine addicted stripper who turned her life around, and there's Sissy representing for all women of color replete with sassy attitude and talented (yet troubled) children.

The premise of the novel is equally simple: there this Christmas Cookie party every year. There are rules you must follow. If you don't follow the rules, you're out of the club. One of the club rules is that you have to share the story of why you chose these cookies this year - which becomes a metaphor for everything that's happened to you in the last twelve months because apparently the characters rarely see each other except on this mandatory first Monday in December. Still, as a Christmas Cookie Club participant, you get some eating, some drinking, some dancing, and twelve dozen cookies out of the event, plus all of the recipes.

In fact, there are more than twenty recipes in the book - and not only for cookies. Being a bar cookie snob, I snubbed the hand-rolled, fastidiously decorated cookies throughout the book. I am not going to take the time to hand-write fortunes, then hand-turn the little fortune cookies even though I have all of the time in the world to do so. And truth be told, not all of the cookies are that fussy.

I went for the Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup on page 327 and the Mandarin Orange Salad on page 328, and wasn't disappointed one iota. I chopped and combined the carrot, parsnip, onion, and brown sugar.

Chopped Vegetables with Brown Sugar

I poured in chicken stock, covered with aluminum foil, and placed into the oven for a couple of hours. Once removed from the oven, I carefully spooned all into a large stock pot, and added additional chicken stock. Then I let it boil for awhile, and finally pureed.

Making the salad was even more of a breeze. That involved macerating mandarin oranges in a combination of honey and cinnamon, and mixing with olive oil, salt, and pepper. That was added to fresh spinach and topped with toasted walnuts.

Mandarin Oranges, Honey, Cinnamon

The result? One fabulous late autumn lunch for me and more soup in the freezer for later. Delightful - just like The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman (even without bar cookies.)

Soup and Salad

Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup
1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 pound parsnips, peeled and quartered lengthwise
1 large onion, sliced
3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
8 cups rich chicken broth, more if needed
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup creme fraiche for garnish
Snipped fresh chives for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the carrots, parsnip, onion, and ginger in a shallow roasting pan. Dot with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Pour two cups of the broth into the pan. Cover well and bake until the vegetables are very tender, about 2 hours. Transfer the vegetables and broth to a large soup pot. Add the remaining six cups of broth. Season with salt and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer partially covered for 10 minutes. (I completely forgot the butter, cayenne, creme fraiche, or chives. Still delicious!)

Mandarin Orange Salad
11-ounce can mandarin orange segments, drained
1 tablespoon honey
cinnamon
Handful of walnuts (broken into large pieces)
Lettuce (romaine, red or green leaf or mixed)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place the mandarin oranges in a small bowl. Add honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Set aside for several hours (or longer). Toast walnuts at 350 for 3 minutes, and let them cool. Wash and tear lettuce into bite-size pieces. Add oranges. Add enough olive oil to wet greens and toss well. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and sprinkle with walnuts. Note: If taking to a potluck, wait to toss with olive oil and keep walnuts in a small bag until ready to serve. (I used spinach instead of lettuce and toasted my walnuts in a dry pan on the stove top until nearly smoking and slightly burnt.)

P.S. CBS picked up rights to the book, so don't be surprised if The Christmas Cookie Club becomes another one of those oft-repeated holiday specials.

Sweet & Sour Turkey: A Family Tradition

I have waxed poetic about this recipe more than once because, frankly, it's one of those never-fail, long-lasting recipes that I don't know if I could live without. 


Mom got the recipe from a friend of hers, and made it for us sometime back in the 1970s. It passed the "will kids it it" test, and has been a staple in the family ever since. I dare you to not like this. 


It's called Sweet and Sour Turkey, but I usually make it with chicken. In fact, I went out and bought a supermarket rotisserie chicken just for this, although I've also made it with leftover Sunday roast chicken, too. Not recently mind, you, but it has happened in the past.


This is what it looks like:

Sauce ingredients

Stir-frying in progress

Sauce cooked and thickened

Sweet & Sour Turkey Over Rice

And this is how you make 7-8 servings:


FOR THE SAUCE
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup turkey stock
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegard
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup catsup
Combine these and cook and stir until thick and clear. Set aside.


FOR THE STIR-FRY
2 T vegetable oil
3/4 cup pineapple chunks, drained
3/4 cup carrots, sliced diagonally
3/4 cup green pepper, chopped
4 cups turkey, cooked, cubed
Stir fry carrots in oil for 1 minute. Add pepper, fruit, turkey, and cook until heated through. Add sauce. Stir and heat for a few minutes. Serve over hot rice. 


Here are some notes from Mom over the years:

• Make with chicken instead of turkey (use chicken stock, too.)
• Use mandarin oranges, apples, sweet baby gherkin pickles.
• Use the microwave to make the sauce.
• Use 2 cups meat, which makes enough for two dinner servings and a little left over for lunch.
• Use whatever you want for carrots and pineapple, about a cup each.
• Substitute chili sauce (mom makes her own) for the catsup.

I substituted red pepper for green, and added sliced zucchini plus chopped baby corn...and some celery, too: I prefer more vegetables than meat in stir-fry meals. The recipe freezes well, though you'll be lucky if there are any leftovers to freeze. 


Now go get the ingredients and prepare it very soon. You will love it, and you will thank me for it over and over and over. Thoroughly enjoy!

Green Hairball & Egg, No Ham

I'm exploring a few recipes from The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones.

Looking for something simple a cozy dinner in tonight? Try the Baked Eggs recipe on page 98-99. Don't be daunted by the fact that the recipe stretches between two pages. This is a 6"x8" book, and the recipe is short.

Plus, this is cooking for one person, so the list of ingredients is very small: one zucchini, a little butter, 3 mushrooms, one scallion, a tablespoon or so of heavy cream, and an egg. Salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese are optional.

First, I grated the zucchini, mixed in a little salt, and let it set over a bowl to drain.

I'd forgotten to get scallions, so opted for chopped onion. The mushrooms followed next and seriously - it was perhaps 1/4 cup onion and a small (by comparison) mountain of mushrooms.

When you're cooking for one person, the hardest thing to get used to has to be the smaller amounts. Cooking for four - no problem. Many recipes are writen for four or more people. But cooking for one? Humph and bah humbug..unless you're a leftover lover.

Can't think of anyone who'd like to eat the same thing for six days straight. Not by choice anyway.

The onion and mushroom were sauteed with butter and then I added the zucchini hairball.

Seriously.

The drained and squeezed zucchini shreddings looked suspiciously like a cat's hairball - except green. I stirred the mixture around, but was still quite concerned. Green hairballs with chunks, so NOT appetizing. I was worried.

The recipe suggests using heavy cream; I had none and used just a wee bit of chicken broth to add flavor. I mushed the green hairball mixture into into a small gratin dish,and made a dent...

then added a sprinkling of that parmesan cheese from a green bottle. I cracked an egg into the center and placed the dish into a 350 oven.

I checked back in 15 minutes and the egg had not settled, so let it go just a bit longer and removed. I sprinkled on some salt and pepper, then added a couple strips of Grand Pandama cheese.

Sous Chef (err, Meow Chef?) Ivan volunteered to look glamorous while I snapped a picture.

And then I ate the green hairballs and egg.

And you know what? I liked it. I more than liked it: it was yummy. Adding the heavy cream would make this scintillating, a private decadance.

Here's the thing: if you nuked this in your microwave, it would be ready in minutes. Fast, sexy, satisfying. What could be wrong with that?

Oh.

Perhaps the image of green hairballs?

At the end of the recipe, Jones suggests trying other items to create a cushion for the egg: cooked greens, broccoli, or mashed root vegetables. I'll have to try at least one of those some day.

Herb Drying For Dummies - and You, Too

As the seasons change, the summer of my first CSA membership is slowing down. The farmer has been bringing bountiful harvest each and every week. This week, I received a huge bouquet of feathery fresh dill.

Fresh Dill Bouquet

I was stumped with what to do with all that dill. I couldn't possibly use it all fresh in less than a week. Imagine - dill pancakes, dill potatoes, dill coffee, dill ice cream, dill cookies.

I did use a little chopped dill on eggs one morning, and had used some on an entree as well. I could have frozen the dill, but I'd already frozen quite a bit earlier in the summer. I decided to dry the dill.

A quick search of Google revealed several recommended methods for drying fresh herbs - all quite easy. If you were in a crunch for time, for example, you might try microwaving the dill until dry. Seriously – a little dill between two sheets of paper towels, nuke away in short bursts, and you've got dried dill in under five minutes.

The oven-drying method is equally simple but takes longer. Heat the oven to about 180 and leave the door cracked open. Spread the herb on cooking sheets, and pop into the oven. Then forget about it for a half hour.

Three pans of dill drying in the oven

Come back, shake it around. Stir if you're so motivated. Leave it alone for another half hour. Or longer. My dill was probably depressed because I ignored it for so long.

Regardless, I occasionally stopped by, fussed with the drying dill and went on with other things.

Eventually the dill started to crumble to the touch.

Also, when dill is dried, you can lift it up easily - like lifting a cloud or somewhat felted wool. It all lifts up together...like this.

A "cloud" of dried dill

From there, I simply crumbled the dill to release it from the stems. I discarded the stems, and had a small mountain of dried dill. You can follow the same procedure for many herbs.

Mountain of Dried Dill

Which I have no idea what to do with. Freeze? Share?

I compared the freshly dried dill to "ancient" dill from my cupboard – stuff that I have no idea where it came from...or when. You probably have something like this in your cupboard, too. If it's in plastic, it's absorbed the smell of the plastic, and of other spices and herbs that stored nearby. Mine was kind of brown-green, and smelled like dried weeds.

"Ancient" dill from my cupboard

That's a lesson learned for me - herbs purchased at a grocery store do not retain freshness for long. It's important to replace them periodically.  Give them six months, then start smelling; depending on the herb, they can last up to two years. I have no idea how long I've had the weed-smelly dill.

This is what freshly dried dill looks like. 

Fresh dill (and that other stuff, too.)

It smells like dill. It is thoroughly green, and that speaks to how recently it was in the ground and growing on an organic farm. That other stuff in the cupboard? Get it out of your house - compost it, throw it out, I don't care. But promise me you won't use it again. 

Captivated by Cappelini Caprese

Caprese salads are typically composed of fresh tomato, buffalo mozzarella, julienned basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper. This recipe adds pasta into the mix, and is great for the lazy, hazy days of summer that we're in now.

This recipe comes from a magazine. I have no idea what magazine, though I'm sure I found the recipe sometime in the mid-90s, and have been preparing it every summer since then. It's so simple, and so celebrates the season that you'll add it to your summer repetoire in a heartbeat, too.

The pictures show a recent version of this salad that uses the last bits of cooked and cooled macaroni, red onion, and leftover chicken breast. The recipe is easily adapted in that way. Don't have parsley? Don't worry about it. I'm sure the salad will be delicious anyway you make it today. And - if there are any leftovers - it will be even better tomorrow.

Cappelini With Tomato

CAPPELINI WITH TOMATO
Serves four or more

12 oz cappelini, cooked, tossed with 2 T olive oil, and cooled to room temperature

4 large tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup scallion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz mozzarella, shredded - be sure to use FRESH mozzarella.
Salt and Pepper to taste
Walnuts (optional) for garnish

Combine the tomatoes, scallion, basil, galric, mozzarella, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and let stand, at room temperature, for at least thirty minutes. Toss with pasta and walnuts and serve.

This recipe is great for potlucks and picnics. On top of my worn out recipe card I wrote "A summer classic" - indeed.

Kohlrabi, Potatoes, Bok Choy

I gotta say, cooking from a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) share is a challenge for me. I feel like I've been thrown completely off my cookbook rhythm and still haven't found the beat yet. It's out there, somewhere...

Earlier this year I picked up a copy of Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables (subtitled: Seasonal Stories and Recipes from a Community Supported Farm - by Farmer John Peterson and Angelic Organics.) How's that for a mouthful?

John Peterson is an iconoclast, grounded -literally- in the history of farming in the Midwest. He was raised in farming, nearly lost his farm, and then raised the farm up to be a shining beacon in the CSA community. Currently, the Angelic Organics farm supplies more than 1200 shareholders in the Chicago area. This video gives you a sneak preview of the full documentary regarding John and his farm:

The cookbook is indispensable for any CSA member. It's chocked full of vegetables, herbs, recipes, stories, and more. This year I've received more kohlrabi than I have ever seen...in fact, I'd never tried kohlrabi before this summer. It's in the cabbage family, so think of that taste. First, start by nibbling the kohlrabi raw. Move on to Koleslaw.

I peeled then chunked the kohlrabi and placed in my food processor. I added in a few carrots for color. Then I pulsed the food processor a few times until I had a lovely slawy mix. I added a classic coleslaw dressing of mayonnaise, cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper, then stirred and tasted. Yummy!

Kohlrabi Koleslaw

Once you've mastered raw kohlrabi, head straight for mashed kohlrabi. Combine with potatoes for a fabulous alternative to mashed potatoes. Keep 2 to 1 ratio of kohlrabi to potatoes, and you'll do just fine. Be sure to boil separately, the combine with butter, milk, salt, and pepper. There's a delightful recipe on page 203 of Uncle John's Cookbook.

Mashed Kohlrabi and Potatoes

Bok Choy is one of those vegetables that stymies many. It's also a member of the cabbage family, and can be used like both like celery (the white stalks) and like leafy greens (the dark green part.) Uncle John's suggested sauteeing the choy with butter, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. I wasn't disappointed with the recipe on page 80.

Gingered Bok Choy

This is a cookbook for vegetable lovers everywhere. I find that I'm referring to it over and over again to figure out what to do with that vegetable I just learned about. I'll often try the vegetable raw, then experiment with cooking and see what transpires.

CSA cooking? It's an adventure!

KOHLRABI KOLESLAW with Klassic Kreamy Koleslaw Dressing

1 kohlrabi, roughly chopped (or more – you decide)

Whir the kohlrabi chunks in your food processor until it resembles your favorite Koleslaw size…sliced, shredded, or little bitty bites.

Klassic Creamy Koleslaw Dressing
(from Joy of Cooking)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup cider or rice vinegar
1-2 tablespoons sugar
Stir until well blended. Makes about 1 cup, which slathers the one kohlrabi; store for use on other unsuspecting kohlrabi’s. Pour over shredded Kohlrabi and mix it up.

Suggested Additions:
carrot, pineapple, fresh herbs, bacon, bell pepper, onion – the sky’s the limit!

Favorite Summer Salad

Everyone could use a no-stress, no mess summer salad. Mine is a variation of the ubiquitous three-bean salad that leaves ample room for spontaneous ingredient meandering based on what's on hand.

The base ingredient is three cans of beans. In this mixture I used kidney, black, and pinto beans but honestly, virtually any mixture of three beans would do the trick. If you're feeling daring - only use two, or throw all caution to the wind and try one kind of bean. Three different colored beans, however, have a little magic cooking moxie.

Magic Moxie Bean Mix

Next up is an assortment of farm fresh vegetables, and this is where your creativity and local availability really take shape. If you're at the farmer's market, pick up red and orange peppers, sweet corn, red onions, tomatoes, and broccoli. Here I used much of what was in this week's Swier Family Farm CSA box.

Another addition is the freshly chopped herb (or herbs) of your choice. In this salad, I used dill exclusively; the salad works equally well with only cilantro.

The finally, add some of your favorite dressing. I used the final drops from a bottled dressing, and it was just enough to coat the salad, but not enough to overpower the dill. I also added some freshly cracked black pepper, and stirred to combine. I plan to let it sit in the fridge overnight and share at a potluck tomorrow. By then the flavors will have had time to marinate and become all kinds of crazy yumminess.

Favorite Summer Salad

My favorite summer salad is healthy, easy, crowd-pleasing and incredibly forgiving to the cook. What's your favorite summer salad?

Favorite Summer Salad
3 cans cooked beans - black, pinto, kidney
1 cup green, red, yellow, or orange bell pepper
2 ears fresh corn, shucked
1 cup (?) chopped red onion (I didn't write down how much I used)
1 pint grape tomatoes, at least halved, chopped if you're up to it
2 tablespoons or more fresh dill, chopped
1/4 to 1/3 cup bottled dressing of your choice (or mix your own)
Salt and pepper to taste

Place everything into a large bowl and mix well. Feel free to experiment with all of the ingredients: in the photographed version, I used a little broccoli, too. I've also made this salad adding in a cup or so of cooked, cooled brown rice or quinoa.

Community Eats Green Eggs, Some Ham

This summer I'm taking a tour of the wild side of cooking. That's the place in cooking where you don't necessarily have a recipe or cookbook or, for that matter, much of a plan. For me that constitutes wild cooking because so much of what I prepare is strictly from a book. Sure, I throw in a personal flourish every now and then, but I rarely venture into recipe-creating territory. Why this sudden change?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has forced me to change my cooking tune totally - at least for the next three or four months. Every week I'll get a bunch of vegetables, and I'll have to do something with them or they'll all rot in the bottom of my fridge; and I wouldn't want to do that to lovely, organic vegetables - ever.

Here's how a CSA works:
1. There's a farmer. He or she is ready and willing to work hard to produce vegetables for your table.
2. You buy a "share" or "half share" which allows the farmer to plant and nourture vegetables.
3. You get vegetables every week for however many weeks. Here in mid-Michigan, it's 18 weeks of organics from the Swier Family Farm.

I'll admit I balked at the hefty (for me) $200 price tag to split a share with a friend. I had all sorts of doubts and we'll see if any of them come to fruition through the summer. I wonder if I'll be so enthusiastic at the end of the summer? So often when I start a new venture, I'm enraptured; by the end of it, I'm ready to move on. As I trudged to the designated pickup location, I had big doubts.

Heavens, my initial fears and doubts turned to total veggie induced elation when I picked up my first share:

• mixed salad greens (about a half pound)
• arugula
• spinach
• swiss chard
• garlic scapes
• fresh oregano
• 13 or 14 radishes of different sorts
• three farm fresh eggs

Eggs and Radishes

All items are washed thoroughly at the farm and bagged, so all you really need to do is start chopping and cooking. I headed straight into the kitchen and made a fabulous frittata. And even using three-four cups of spinach, swiss chard, and arugula, I still have more than I typically eat in a week. Clearly, this CSA thing is worth it.

Garlic Scapes and Salad Mix

I got out my calculator and checked out the cost...something I'm not inclined to do very often. I paid $220 for 18 weeks of deliveries which works out to around $11 per week. I can safely say that I spend that much in vegetables and other foodstuffs every week. It's my hope that this CSA summer will reduce purchases from the local mega-store, and that I'll stop lugging heavy plastic bags into the house, and cease having newly purchased vegetables rotting practically overnight (due to being shipped across the country or around the globe) off of my list. These veggies come from just across the county line, and I can go visit the farm almost anytime. After all, it's my money that helps keep the farm afloat. Or a-planting...

Exactly what lucious vegetables I'll receive depends on the weather and the farmer's winter calculations. Given that farmer's are significantly knowledgeable about these things, I've got my fingers crossed for carrots, beets, sugar snap peas, zucchini, cucumbers, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, winter squash and who knows what else. Here's what I did with those eggs:

Swier Frittata Number One

Swier Frittata Number One

2 cups assorted greens, chopped. I used arugula, swiss chard, spinach
1/4 cup oregano, chopped
ground cumin, a teaspoon or more
1 huge radish, diced
8 eggs, beaten
Milk (or water if you don't have milk)
Butter
Olive oil
Asiago Cheese

Oh, the frittata, so initially intimidating - actually nothing more than a fancy scrambled omelet. Be sure your pan is well-seasoned and use plenty of oil or butter: your goal is to deftly slide the frittata onto a serving platter.

Place the butter and olive oil in the pan; I like a mixture of both, going heavier on the olive oil, lighter on the butter. Saute the greens and radish until wilted. Throw in the spices, eggs and cheese. Stir it around until well combined and let sit on the burner until the sides are firm.

At this point, you have a choice. You can put the whole thing (pan included) into the oven and finish it off with a little browning from the broiler. You can leave it on the stove top until the center is firm. Either way is OK by me, and I doubt your tummy will notice a difference.

When firm -egg firm- slide onto the serving platter and devour. If you have leftovers, they're OK to serve cold. I'd also suggest a dippy or saucey accompanyment. Whimp-ola me likes catsup (or ketchup,) while fresh salsa could also be delightful.

The other great thing about frittata's is the flexibility: saute an onion, throw in more or less cheese or a different kind of cheese. Nummy!

Neither A Meatloaf Song, Nor Meat Loaf Himself

This week I'm exploring recipes from Kitchen Life: Real Food for Real Families - Even Yours!Kitchen Life: Real Food For Real Families -- Even Yours! by Art Smith. The Roasted Asparagus and Roasted Beets with Walnuts really impressed me, so I looked forward to trying other recipes.

The Salmon on Cabbage and Dill on page 208 is a keeper for me.  It went from fridge to table in about 30 minutes and was really easy to prepare - so easy, in fact, that I didn't take pictures of the preparation or cooking. You simply saute a small package of coleslaw mix and 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped dill in a little butter until wilted. Season with salt and pepper, and remove to a platter and cover. Add chicken broth to the same pan, boil, add salmon and more dill; cover and cook 7-8 minutes or until the salmon is cooked through then transfer to the platter with the cabbage. Whisk some sour cream and cornstarch into the remaining broth and heat until thickened; pour over the salmon and cabbage and serve. I particularly liked the fresh dill that really shined in this recipe.

Salmon on Cabbage and Dill

Another night I tried out the Quick Vegetable Chili Tostada on page 244 and was truly disappointed. It almost worked...until the sour cream was added to the sauteed vegetables. And I did have my hopes up that the freshly squeezed lime juice would rescue the whole endeavor, but alas, my wishing was in vain. The tostada part was not crunchy (undercooked?) and the chili part was missing (not enough spices or heat? Me? Never!) Regardless, this recipe didn't work for me and I sure won't be making it again.

Quick Vegetable Chili Tostada

I have a thing for bar cookies so the Butterscotch Blondies on page 301 piqued my curiousity. I was particularly wondering how the butterscotch bits sprinkled on top, melted, and spread over the bar would taste. I mixed the ingredients up in no time on a very hot Saturday morning and threw them into the oven.

The buzzer sounded, I removed the Blondies from the oven and sprinkled the butterscotch bits around. Then I walked away for, maybe 15 minutes? Anyone who's ever melted chocolate knows that is far too long. The chips refused to spread and were completely beyond their ability to spread. Not a problem for me. I got some vanilla ice cream, a little dab or ten of Smucker's Butterscotch sauce, and dug in for a delicious Butterscotch Blondie Sundae!

There you have it, three recipes with three different results. Two out of three ain't bad, so I believe I may dip into this cookbook again sometime. I'm sure Meat Loaf would agree.

Roastin' Outside? Roast Veggies!

I picked up a paperback copy of Kitchen Life: Real Food for Real Families - Even Yours! by Art Smith on a bargain table for $7.97. A bright yellow sticker on the cover proclaimed "Fast & Easy Meals Everyone Will Love!" I had no idea who Art Smith was at the time, and really didn't know much more until I opened the cookbook recently.

Smith is a James Beard Award winner and was Oprah's personal chef for 10 years; he still works closely with O magazine and has several restaurants scattered across the country.

The book starts with a quiz designed to determine your cooking style. Before taking the quiz I would have roughly summed up my cooking style by saying "I need something to eat now; I think I have a recipe; and whatever it is, it had better be very good." I don't have a problem throwing out stuff that tastes horrible. Well, I do have a problem with wasting the dollars, but that's another issue altogether.

This "what's your cooking style" quiz isn't numbered. Fortunately, there are only five questions:

• What kind of a shopper are you?
• What are your time challenges?
• What kind of cook are you?
• Are you eating right?
• What are your taste preferences?

The problem is that each of these questions is broken down into three or four additional sections. The question "What are your time challenges" breaks into four sections of four potential answers: A, B, C, D - one answer per section. A numbering system could have been very helpful.

Based on your answers, Smith explains what kind of a cook you are and what recipes you should try. The quiz results said I was a seasonal and confident cook, but didn't catch the "What should I make for dinner tonight" part of my repetoire where I call Little Caesar's and walk the block to pick up a small pizza. With the quiz results, Smith also recommends recipes in the cookbook to suit your cooking style.

Here's where I fell off of the cooking style wagon, and plunged into personal preference territory. I tracked through the cookbook and compile a list of things I was interested in trying. A couple of the recipes required that vegetables be roasted - one of my favorite way to prepare veggies. And especially when it's hot outside, there's nothing like having some roasted veggies waiting to be turned into a delicious antipasto-style meal.

So one night not long ago, I roasted asparagus, beets, eggplant, zucchini, and red bell pepper. They were used to create three different recipes, but the preparation method was the same. You might even try these on the grill.

Half of the asparagus was tossed with lemon juice and zest. The beets were diced and coated olive oil, then combined with toasted walnuts and balsamic vinegar. Both were spectacular served cold. The remaining vegetables went into a grilled vegetable salad along with the remaining half of asparagus.

Beets and Asparagus Roasting

Cold Dinner for a Hot Night

 ROASTING VEGETABLES

1. Chop various vegetables into small, yet chunky pieces. 
2. Coat with olive oil, salt, pepper.
3. Add some other flavors: fresh herbs, bottled dressing from the fridge. Marinate for a bit if you'd like.
4. Turn into a large pan. Try to keep the veggies in one layer.
5. Heat oven to 400.
6. Set pan in the oven.
7. Stir occasionally.
8. Remove when veggies look roasted.

Roasting time varies greatly. Asparagus takes no time and all, and the tips become slightly blackened. That's a good thing. Beets and potatoes take longer  (perhaps 30-45 minutes) and can begin to caramelize during the cooking process; that's a really good thing.

Roasted vegetables are fabulous in an impromptu salad, and can't be beat for little nibbles during the day.