This is what I'll be doing if we get more Rhubarb

http://wednesdaychef.typepad.com/the_wednesday_chef/2007/06/rose_grays_and_.html

Asparagus Galore

Since we are getting into asparagus full swing now, you might want to check out Mollie Katzen's website where she features asparagus as the food of the month and has four great recipes. Mollie was one of the early chefs at the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY and is the author of the original Moosewood Cookbook as well as many other wonderful cookbooks. Her website is full of great recipes and information.

A Daughters Favourite straigth from: Tide Head, New Brunswick - the unofficial fiddle head capital of the world. I'm a big fan!

Here is a recipe for fiddlehead soup. You can adjust the amounts depending on how many fiddleheads you get.

4 cups fiddleheads
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped - about 1 cup
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon flour
3 or 4 cups chicken broth
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 cup light cream or milk (I usually just use chicken broth and no milk)

Cook fiddleheads in boiling salted water until just tender, then drain and reserve

Melt the butter in the pot you are making the soup in
Saute the onions until softened
Sprinkle flour in pan, mix in and cook for 1 minute
Gradually stir in the chicken stock and bring to a boil
Add diced potato, reduce heat and cook covered for 5 minutes or till softened
Add the fiddleheads and continue to simmer until the vegetables are soft.

Working in batches in a blender, pure the mixture
Return to pot and add milk if desired.

Note: To add a decorative touch, save a few whole fiddleheads for a garnish. Put a little swirl of cream or plain yogurt on top of the individual bowl of soup and place a fiddlehead on top of the swirl.

Enjoy!

In popular demand: Cream of Nettle Soup

Delicious Cream of Nettle Soup
1 pound of nettle leaves
2 Tbsps oil or butter
1 minced onion
4 tsps chopped chives
3 Tbsps flour
2 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup water
2 tsps salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 cup cream

Heat oil or melt butter in soup pot. Sauté onion until soft. Add chives and flour and stir until blended. Slowly stir in stock, beating with wooden spoon until smooth. Add remaining ingredients, except cream, and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add cream and heat to just boiling. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. Rub soup through a sieve into heated tureen. Sprinkle with nutmeg, if desired.

Nettle Cheese Muffins

I just added 1 cup of cooked netted to a basic cheese muffin recipe. They turned out great!

Parsnip Muffins

In an effort to use my parsnips in ways my family would accept, I found two muffin recipes. My children maintain that they don't approve of parsnip muffins, but later decided maybe the problem was the crystallized ginger. They liked the second recipe better. I like both, but then I like parsnips.

In general, when I make muffins I always use whole wheat pastry flour and I substitute 1/4 to 1/3 of that with soy protein powder. In both of these recipes, I chopped the raisins finely and grated the parsnip on the fine side of my grater. As soon as muffins are cool, I stick them in a zippie bag in the freezer. My older daughter takes one every day in her lunch box. It defrosts by lunch time. The rest of us pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and they're always fresh!

Ginger Parsnip (or Rutabaga - what you call Turnip) Muffins
Adapted from Healthy Living
Makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1/2 c. raisins
1 egg
1 c. grated peeled parsnip
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease or spray muffin cups with nonstick vegetable cooking spray.

In large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir in raisins and ginger.

In medium bowl, lightly beat egg, add milk, honey, oil, and parsnip and combine thoroughly.

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a few deft strokes. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool 5 minutes in the pan before removing to cooling rack.


Parsnip Muffins
Adapted from Whole Foods Market
Makes 12 muffins

2/3 c. pecans, toasted and chopped
1 1/3 c. finely grated parsnip
1 medium apple, grated
1 1/3 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. golden raisins
1 egg
1/3 c. canola oil
1/2 c. buttermilk or milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or spray muffn cups with nonstick vegetable cooking spray.

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir in pecans and raisins.

In medium bowl, whilsk together eggs, oil, and buttermilk. Fold the wet ingredients, along with the grated parsnip and apple, into the flour mixture, stirring until moistened. Spoon batter into cups. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

There's more to a radish

My father, the most gourmet cook in our family, is pretty keen to get cooking with radish greens. Hey, the nettles were good, so we might as well keep expanding our repertoire of unlikely green things to put on the dinner plate. He came across a recipe for radish leaf pesto, so from one blog to another, here it is:

- 2 large handfuls of good-looking radish leaves, stems removed
- 30 grams (1 ounce) hard cheese, such as pecorino or parmesan, grated or shaved using a vegetable peeler
- 30 grams (1 ounce) nuts, such as pistachios, almonds, or pinenuts (avoid walnuts, which make the end result too bitter in my opinion)
- 1 clove garlic, germ removed, cut in four- a short ribbon of lemon zest cut thinly from an organic lemon with a vegetable peeler (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to get the consistency you like- salt, pepper, ground chili pepper

Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender, and process in short pulses until smooth. You will likely have to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. This produces a thick pesto; add more oil and pulse again to get the consistency you prefer. (This can also be done with a mortar and pestle; it's great for your karma and your triceps.)
Taste, adjust the seasoning, and pack into an airtight container (I use a recycled glass jar). Use within a few days (it will keep longer if you pour a thin layer of oil on the surface) or freeze.

from http://www.chocolateandzucchini.com/
for a lot more great reading about radish tops, click on http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2009/05/radish_leaf_pesto.php#more

Bread

Hi Folks,

For those of you who collect your share at the Grainery, we now receive bread deliveries from Julien's Bakery on Tuesday am. If there is a particular kind of bread you'd like me to order please let me know.

cheers,
Lorrie

Beans, Beans the musical fruit...

OK. So I get a bag of beans in my CSA basket this week. I'm thinking, "H'oh boy. Here's a challenge" because a) I'm not a huge fan and b)the couple of times I have tried to make them they were, um, icky. Well.

Since my pal Tim and I are sharing a 1/2 share, I offer to cook them up and bring him half but I make no promises. For this he is grateful because he said otherwise the beans would have sat in his cupboard for eternity. I thought, "Hmmm. The recipe on the back of the package looks pretty idiot proof...I'll give that a try."

Well. I am amazed at how well they turned out! I did make a few adjustments....used maple syrup instead of brown sugar, Meadowbrook Farms bean bacon instead of salt pork and Boate's Apple Cider Vinegar as opposed to regular. The sauce was a little thin for my liking so I added a little corn starch and it was be-you-tif-ful. I did use the slow cooker.

All in all, I'd have to say the experiment was a success. Which is more than I can say about my last use of the slowcooker with half of a cabbage and sausages a couple of weeks ago!

Sweet Yellow Daal

Here is a link to Sweet Yellow Daal. I plan to make a modified version of this for dinner tonight. I will leave out the onions & add extra garlic. Looks like a great way to use turnip (swede) & other root veg.

http://jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/05/sweet-yellow-daal-dhal-recipe.html

Stinging Nettles

They can be steamed the same as spinach or beet greens or swiss chard.

Josh really loves adding a bit of vinegar to his. He does this with most greens and with fiddleheads too. A bit of butter and vinegar. The amount of vinegar he adds depends on how much he likes the flavour of the greens.

I love them all without the vinegar.

Enjoy!

Mayonnaise

I have to warn you that this mayo contains RAW EGGS. You should use it within 3 days. That said, we have eaten this in my house for about 10 years & have never become ill from it, and we use it well past the recommended 3 days. Just use eggs from a source you trust. This is delicious on homemade french fries.

You need:
a hand held blender & tall narrow container
an egg (it works best if the egg is at room temp)
a lemon or lime (I once used a clementine with tasty results)
salt, pepper, herbs & spices (garlic is good, but eat immediately, it gets stronger)
vegetable oil (I like grape seed oil, canola is also good. Olive oil makes a strong flavored mayo but it can be nice to use in combination) The amount of oil varies, depending on ... I don't really know, the egg, the lemon, atmospheric conditions. Have at least 500 ml on hand, if not more. It can take a lot.

Instructions:
Crack the egg into the container, squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lemon or a whole lime & a pinch of salt & pepper, herbs & spices. Take the lid off the oil & holding the blender in the egg mix with one hand, very slowly add oil while blending. This can be tricky so you may need an assistant to provide an extra set of hands. The oil should pour in the thinnest stream possible. As the egg & oil are blended they will thicken. Keep going until you have a very creamy mayo. This takes up to 5 minutes.

Warning: for some reason the mayo does not gel when there is a thunderstorm coming.

Cole Slaw

Cole Slaw is an obvious choice when you have cabbage on hand. I tend to make it a lot in the spring when there is still plenty of cabbage available but we are feeling more salad-y.

Grate cabbage & add one or two of the following -
grated carrots, apple, beets, broccoli ...

To this add a slosh of vinegar right away & allow the veggies absorb, any yummy vinegar will do, but dark vinegars like balsamic may make strange coloured slaw. You could also use citrus juice or a combination or the leftover juice from a jar of pickles. The veggies should not be swimming in vinegar, just dampened.

Next dressing. We use homemade mayo, but it's fine to use mayo from the store. (Home made mayo recipe in next post). In a prep bowl mix mayo, a big tsp or more of mustard &/or horseradish & a bit more of your vinegar. Also add salt & pepper to taste. Mix this together & add to cabbage mix. Once this is mixed you may adjust the texture of the slaw by adding a bit more mayo or vinegar. My son likes cole slaw creamy while my daughter prefers it super vinegar-y, so this is a tricky balance at my house. You could also skip the mayo altogether & use an oil & vinegar dressing. This is very nice with sesame oil.

Finally, add a garnish. I like toasted sunflower seeds or walnuts. Chopped dill pickles are also nice or simply some finely chopped herbs.

Here's a favourite recipe for cabbage and potatoes from Anne.

Adapted from: Mollie Katzen, Moosewood Cookbook, New Revised Edition, (Ten Speed Press, 1992).

Solyanka

4 medium potatoes (about 2 lbs.)
1½ cups cottage cheese (lowfat OK)
1 cup firm yogurt (or use some sour cream)
1 Tbsp. butter
2 cups chopped onion
¾ to 1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1 small head green cabbage, shredded (about 6 cups)
2 medium carrots, shredded
4-5 medium cloves garlic minced (optional)
1 Tbsp. dill (3 Tbsp. if using fresh)
Lots of black pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp. cider vinegar
½ cup sunflower seeds
Paprika

(1)Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly grease a 2-quart casserole or its equivalent.
(2)Scrub the potatoes, cut them into small pieces, and boil until mashable. (You can do steps 4 and 5 while the potatoes boil.) Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
(3)Mash the potatoes while still hot, adding cottage cheese and yogurt.
(4)Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet. Add onions and salt, and sauté about 5 minutes. Add caraway and cabbage, and sauté about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally and covering in between.
(5)When the cabbage is tender, add carrots, optional garlic, and dill. Cook about 5 more minutes, and remove from heat.
(6)Add the sautéed vegetables and all remaining ingredients, except sunflower seeds and paprika, to the mashed potatoes. Mix well and spread into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the sunflower seeds and paprika on top.
(7)Bake uncovered 35-45 minutes, or until heated through and lightly browned on top. Serve hot.