Week 7

This afternoon's pick up was nice as there was no rain. It was also a little exciting for Stella, because I let her walk over to the fence for the near-by dog park so we could watch the doggies for ten minutes or so. I will continue to let her think that I am just an awesome mom and love "doggies doggies doggies doggies DOGGIES!!!" as much as she does, and not that I was trying to stay out of the way while the coordinator tried to explain to a few homeless people who wondered into the veggie tent that, no, sorry, you can't take the carrots. Ahhh, #salemma

Anyway. There were no choices this pick-up. The items also had a few pre-measured portions out (so I didn't have to weigh one pound of carrots while keeping an eye on a roaming toddler.) Very handy!

This weeks pick up included all items that require no Googleing on my part:

• One pound of carrots
• One pound of pickling cucumbers
• Two Green Peppers
• One Eggplant
• One head of garlic
• One bunch of Basil

Typing it out, it seems like more, but the bag certainly seemed on the smaller side. I think the lack of a head of greens was a factor in this feeling. 

In putting away tonight's bounty, I found the Kale, which I honestly forgot about. It is not wicked hot, so Kale chip time. I feel with this batch, I went into it a little more confidently.

I made a few modifications after the last batch:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees
• One bunch of Kale - washed, spun & patted dry and broken into bite size pieces
• One tablespoon of olive oil
• In a large bowl, drizzle the olive oil over the Kale, and massage in. (Really? "Massage"? What does that even mean? Do I need to buy the Kale a drink first? I have no clue. But I did massage my Kale, so you should too.)

• Once the Kale is covered in the oil, spread evenly over two trays and place in the oven. Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste

ready to go in

• Check once at 5 minutes to separate any leaves that are getting a little too cozy
• Remove from the oven after an additional 20 minutes.

You are now the owner of some crunchy Kale chips! 

I munched on these while calling the credit card company (always fun!), left some for Paul for when he gets home, and plan on crunching any extras on my lunch salad tomorrow since I used the last of the croutons this evening. Super easy to do, and much better then sauteed Kale (IMO).

Sautéed Kale

There was no pick up last week due to the holiday, so I am totally ready for the pick up tomorrow!
In preparation, I figured I would finish off the kale I had in the fridge. It has been WAY too hot to even think about turning the oven on again for the tasty Kale chips, so I figured I would try them sautéed. Last night I had a very successful meal with sautéed pea tendrils, so I figured I would give it the college try.

Wash and spin...

After washing and spinning, I heated the kale, with some olive oil, sale and pepper on the stove. There was some left over (cooked) turkey bacon in the fridge that I chopped up and added.

Sautéed 

Only took about ten minutes from start to finish, which is awesome. But I'm not sure Kale is my cup of tea. It is a little too much, if that makes any sense. Very tough. I like rare steak.

Finished!

All in all, if I end up with Kale again, I would probably crank the AC and make some more yummy Kale chips!

Chips and Soup

This past weekend was pretty wet and, considering it is late June, also pretty chilly. So, not a horrible time to turn on the oven.

After a trip to the local Russell Orchards,

for some super fresh strawberries (I think I am now an addict),

and a visit with the animals,

Daryl

my Sunday night menu included Kale Chips and a Garlic Leek and Creamy Potato Soup.

Kale Chips

I searched far and wide for various Kale Chip recipes. They all seemed fairly similar (wash & super dry the leaves, break up into pieces, coat in olive oil and salt) the one variation being temp and how long to cook for.
Since I was also making a soup and could easily keep a close eye on the chips, I decided to go with what appeared to be the middle ground of temps - 350.

This is the recipe I followed closest:

Kale Chips

About six servings

Remove the tough stems from the kale and wash and spin dry the kale thoroughly. 

• 6 to 8 cups (140 to 200 g) kale leaves; if large, tear them into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• flaky sea salt or fleur de sel

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC.)

2. Put the kale on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil, then massage it into the leaves.

3. Spread the kale leaves in an even layer on the baking sheet and put in the oven. After about 5 minutes, use a spatula to separate any leaves of kale that are clumping together.

4. Continue cooking the kale for about 20 minutes, until the leaves are crisp. Remove from the oven and sprinkle fairly generously with salt.

on the way into the oven...

I only did about 1/5 of this recipe, maybe six or so Kale leaves. Since I wasn't sure how they would turn out, or if anyone would even like them, I didn't want to "waste" all of the Kale. A shame I didn't, the batch went pretty fast. Paul and Stella really liked them.
Also, since the batch was so small, there was plenty of room on the baking sheet, and no clumping occurred.
Definitely will be making these again - just need to wait for another cool day to turn the oven back on!

yum!

Creamy Garlic Leek, Garlic Scape and Potato Soup

Wanting to use up the Garlic Leeks from week two, as well as the remainder of the garlic scapes, I decided to try a recipe found in the "From Asparagus to Zuccchini" cook book for Leeks. I figured Garlic Leeks couldn't be that far off, right?

First, I removed the "Fido" hair from the Garlic Leeks. The larger one made a nice wig for Stella. 

They were actually really interesting on the inside - they looked almost like a standard garlic clove. Who'd guessed, huh?

Paul would not let me keep it on her head long enough for a picture :(

I made a few variations to the recipe since I only had the three leeks and wanted to use the scapes. What I ended up doing:

Creamy Garlic Leek, Garlic Scapes and Potato Soup

About four servings

• 2 cups Garlic Leeks - thinly sliced (White and Pale Green park only) 
• 1/2 Garlic Scapes, thinly sliced (or would it be diced since they are so thin?)
• 2 pounds of yellow potatoes - peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 tablespoon ground tamarack leaves
• 1/2 - 1 cups light sour cream
• 4 cups chicken broth
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter in a pot at low heat. Add the Garlic Leeks, Garlic Scapes, and Tamarack. Sweat these out for about 20  - 25 mintues, covered at low heat. 

2. Add Potatoes & Chicken Stock. Bring the pot up to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 24 - 30 minutes, or until everything is nice and tender. 

3. Using an emersion blender (I am getting my use our of this puppy!) I pureed everything in the pot. The added the sour cream and mix. 

4. Ready to eat! (Salt and Pepper each serving to taste)

This sat on the stove for an additional 15 mintues or so at low heat as Stella finished her dinner. 

Pauls remark upon entering the kitchen was "Hello, Garlic!". So, if you are not a fan of Garlic, probably not for you. Myself, I love the stuff, so it was perfect. 

I sprinkled a few of the extra cruncy Kale chips on my bowl. I always like a crunch in my soup, so they worked perfectly. 

Only variation I would make would be to 'sweat' the leeks and scapes a little longer in the beginning. 

I would chalk this up as a success. 

No share pick up this week as the Forth of July falls on a Holiday. I am a little bummed about this as I saw a few pictures of the Tuesday pick up - Carrots, Zucchinni and more were included! I can't wait for those!

I am in search of more Kohlrabi at local farm stands. I don't want to heat up my oven to cook just one tiny one. Good think the one I have should last at least a month in the fridge...