CSA Update: 3/26/12

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a CSA update, and there are two main reasons for this:
1. The 4th CSA box we got wasn’t all that exciting and we didn’t make anything extraordinary with it.
2. We skipped a delivery because I went out of town.

So, that’s the bad news. The good news is that we renewed our subscription last week and got a box of farm fresh goodies on Wednesday. Here’s what we got:

Rosemary & Thyme
Navel oranges
Italian flat-leaf parsley
Lemons
Mixed lettuce
Mixed mustard greens
French breakfast radishes
Spinach
Stir-fry mix (kale, collards, chard, and arugula)
Green garlic
Leeks

As you can see, we’re up to our ears in greens, which is the thing we’re the worst at using. TC and I are resolved at getting better at eating them though, and I’m proud to say we’ve already consumed the mustard greens (sautéed with garlic and topped with oyster sauce), spinach (salad with apples, walnuts, and dried cranberries), and the mixed lettuce (another salad with dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and citrus vinaigrette).

I traded in the French breakfast radishes for an extra lemon, which I soon realized was a mistake. We could’ve put the radishes in a salad or a stir fry. What we really should’ve gotten rid of was the parsley, which is cheap and one of TC’s least favorite herbs. Oh well, you live, you learn.

The leeks we had been getting up to this point were teeny tiny, about the diameter of a dollar coin. So I was excited to see that the most recent leeks were “normal” size, or at least big enough to make Rustic Potato and Leek Soup from The New Best Recipes. I had made this soup once before for Stitch n Bitch, but substituted ingredients to make it vegan. I was initially skeptical because of its simplicity and relatively short prep time. All it asks for is leeks, potatoes, butter, 1 bay leaf, and chicken stock. Put those things together and 45 minutes later, voila! A hearty, savory soup perfect for the cool months. I added bacon in this version because, well, bacon makes everything better (just about). This is easily one of the tastiest and simplest soup recipes. Highly recommended!

Rustic potato and leek soup, with a side of Semifreddi's rustic sour batard. Rustic x 2!

The other major thing we made this week was Roasted Garlic with Salmon over Rotini from the Everyday Pasta cookbook. I was looking for something that would use some herbs and a lemon, while also trying to get ready for my half marathon on Sunday with some carbs and lean protein. This seemed to fit the bill in so many ways: salmon in wine and roasted garlic sauce with lemon (zest and juice), rosemary, and capers. Expectations were raised even higher by the price of the meal. Wild caught salmon isn’t cheap, you know. Anyway, we labored away in the kitchen, only to produce a mediocre fish and pasta dish. Whomp whomp. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly good. To top it all off, it wasn’t even pretty, so that’s why there’s no picture here. We had the above mentioned spinach salad in the same meal, so it wasn’t a complete fail.

We’re at a loss at what to do with the green garlic. Anyone out there have some good ideas or tips?

POU Project: A Visual Companion to The New Best Recipes

Remember when I was unsure about my Period of Official Unemployment (POU) project? Well, I’m happy to announce that I’ve come to a decision: I will provide a visual companion to The New Best Recipes cookbook (TNBR, henceforth). The thing is, as great as TNBR is, it doesn’t feature any photos. And since the recipes are already close to perfect, I’m not going to tweak and repost them here. So, I thought, “Why not show the photos of the stuff I’ve made as I go along? Maybe something along the lines of the plum crisp post.”

So, without further ado, here are my cooking adventures from the past few weeks:

1. Pasta with Sautéed Mushrooms and Thyme (p. 264)
This recipe called for campenelli or farfalle pasta, but I only had rotini on hand.  I also omitted the 1/2 cup of cream (due to my lactard status). Despite these alterations, it turned out great. The one cup of Parmesan added at the end added surprising, delicious creaminess, and I feel that the heavy cream would’ve sent this pasta over the edge. At least for my taste, anyway. Super highly recommended!

2. Pasta and Quick Tomato Sauce (p. 245)
What can I say? I was on a pasta kick. And a mushroom one too, apparently; I thought I’d add some substance to this recipe to make it more of a meal. (Ingredients: tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil, sugar, salt, pasta.) While it was easy and quick, I’d only give this recipe a 7/10 because it doesn’t reheat well…which, given how much leftovers I eat, is a major minus. But when freshly prepared, it’s very good. My recommendation: this would be great as a no-fuss carb portion for a dinner party.

3. Hummus and Homemade Pita Chips (pp. 13, 16)
I had never made hummus before, and after this recipe, I will never buy hummus again. It’s so easy! Great for parties too: I made this twice in one week. I feel that this recipe is a little heavy on the tahini; I might cut back a little next time. Also, I’d like to experiment with adding some roasted red peppers, spice, or pine nuts. Anyone out there have a good recipe? I’m still on the fence about the homemade pita chips. They are pretty good, but also a bit of a hassle. You only save a couple of dollars, max, but I suppose they are healthier for you than store-bought chips. Also, you get to tell everyone, “These are homemade pita chips, I made them myself.” And that, my friend, is worth a lot more than a couple of bucks in my book.

4. Black Bean Soup and Cornbread with Jalapenos (p.63, p. 693)
This represents my favorite and least favorite out of everything I’ve made from TNBR. The black bean soup, while time-consuming, was Awesome. (Yes, that’s Awesome with a capital “A.”) Despite ZB’s (aka “The Prince of Beans”) strong recommendation of using ham hock to cook black beans, I had always omitted it, mostly out of laziness or frugality. Well, for this recipe, I finally went to the butcher and asked for a ham hock (about $4.50 for a decent sized piece). It was SO worth it. The ham hock added a smokey richness to this soup that was magnificent. I was also delightfully surprised at the raw, diced red onion garnish. It wasn’t pungent at all, but added a fresh crunch that nicely complimented the soup.

On the other hand, the cornbread was a disaster. I don’t know what happened. It could’ve been that the cornmeal I bought was poor quality, or maybe I over-mixed it. Also, the recipe said to omit the sugar if adding peppers, which I thought was odd. As it turned out, it probably would’ve been better with some sugar in it. I love cornbread too, so this was particularly disappointing.

5. Quick Tomato Sauce for Pizza (p. 669)
Sorry, no picture. This sauce was very quick, easy, and tasty. Highly recommended.

Bonus: a completely unnecessary photo of a nearly empty brownie pan, just because.
This was a pan of brownies that were eagerly consumed following a chili cook-off. I followed a recipe called “Katherine Hepburn’s Brownies” from The Gourmet Cookbook. It’s very simple: chocolate baking squares, butter, egg, flour, salt, vanilla. The resulting brownies are thick, a little dry (in a good way), and rich.

Recipe Lab: Hot and Sour Soup

Welcome to Recipe Lab! Hopefully, this will be the first in a series on the trials and tribulations (and subsequent elation and enjoyment) of the process of perfecting a recipe. Let’s get started, shall we?

Last year, LGS requested my recipe for hot and sour soup shortly after I featured it on the blog. Unfortunately, that recipe (version 1) was derived from a very random recipe that my sister got from a Chinese cookbook. (I think.) As with most random recipes, I usually alter them without actually making notes. Before this blog, that seemed to be OK, as I was the only one who had to deal with my poor documentation. But! As I wanted to give LGS a repeatable recipe, I decided to make the soup again and this time, actually document it.

Hot and sour soup, version 1

So, fast forward to two weeks ago. It was a cold, overcast day that screamed for soup. I had pho for lunch (of course) and decided to FINALLY make that hot and sour soup. I nixed the chicken blood, which I never used in the first place, and upped the amounts of ground white pepper (the hot) and black vinegar (the sour). It was good, but not great. I had a feeling I messed up the ratios of broth to water; it simply wasn’t rich enough. The pork was overcooked. Despite all of those shortcomings, I thought it was OK and was about to post the recipe when TC stepped in and said (in a most gentle, straightforward manner), “This soup isn’t blog worthy.”

Hot and sour soup, v.2. OK, but not blog worthy. I used enoki mushrooms in this version.

Woah. What?!

He explained that he’s loved every recipe that I’ve posted on this blog, but he just doesn’t love this soup. OK, that made me feel better, but I also felt challenged. I already knew it wasn’t great, so why not try again and make it better? So, in true scientific fashion, I got back on the (soup) horse, did a little recipe troubleshooting, and made another batch of soup on Sunday.

Last night, I sat by anxiously as I awaited TC’s verdict. “It’s better, but there’s something missing. It’s still not blog worthy.”

This time, I wanted a third opinion, because in my mind, this new batch was really good. So, I packed some up in a tupperware and brought it to lab. JL agreed to be the guinea pig. Her verdict? “The soup was great! TC is crazy.”

So, here it is! The recipe for hot and sour soup that 2 out of 3 people deemed blog worthy! I’ve made it mostly vegetarian, and it’s a cinch to make it vegan (see notes). As you can see, it’s a very easy soup to make. The most difficult thing will be to find the ingredients at your local Asian grocer, but it really shouldn’t be too hard. Enjoy!

Finally! Hot and sour soup, v.3 is a recipe that I can be proud of.

(2/3) Blog Worthy Hot and Sour Soup

Ingredients:
Tofu, 1 container, firm or extra firm
Mushrooms: 1 cup wood ear, chopped finely; 1 cup cremini, sliced (these are just suggestions; use any mushrooms you like!)
Bamboo shoots, 1 cup (recommended: small can, already in thin strips)
Eggs (2)
Chicken or vegetable broth (4 cups)
Salt (1 tsp)
Soy sauce (3 Tbsp)
Corn starch ( 5 Tbsp)
Ground white pepper (1.5 tsp)
Black vinegar (4 Tbsp)
Sesame oil (1/2 Tbsp)
Water (4 cup)
cilantro (to garnish)
Optional: chili garlic hot sauce (2 tsp)

Directions:
1. Bring water and broth to boil in a large pot. Reduce heat to medium.
2. Add chopped tofu, mushrooms, and bamboo. Scramble the eggs and set aside.
3. Put in all the ingredients except eggs and the condiments.  Add salt, soy sauce.
4. After it comes to a boil, add in diluted corn starch* until the broth thickens.  Turn down the heat and slowly stir in the egg.** Make sure you stir the soup continuously in one direction, while slowly dropping a thin stream of the egg into the soup.
5. In a separate bowl, combine white pepper, sesame oil, (hot sauce, if using), and vinegar. Pour mixture into the soup.
6. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
7. Serve with white pepper and black vinegar on the table, so that people can adjust the soup to their own liking.

Serves 6-8 as an appetizer.

Notes:
* To dilute corn starch: measure out corn starch into a clean bowl. Add equal amounts of soup liquid to corn starch to reconstitute. (It may require more than an equal amount, and some vigorous stirring is required.) For thicker soup, add more cornstarch.
** Soup must be near boiling when putting the egg in, or else it won’t make pretty “egg droplets.” Instead, you’ll get a cappucino-colored soup, with tiny bits of egg, much like the photo above.
- For vegan version: Use vegetable broth, omit egg and use 2 more tablespoons of corn starch (or to desired thickness).
- Add noodles or rice for a more filling meal.

UPDATE (9/9/11): I just looked over the recipe in my Gourmet Today cookbook. It suggests straight up broth (only 4 cups though, WTF?), so those looking for a richer soup might want to tweek the broth/water ratio. It also suggested using dried wood ear mushrooms, which I would also recommend because the fresh ones are very mushy. All you have to do is reconstitute them with boiling hot water (covered). Finally, if you do want to add meat (pork is the traditional meat in this recipe), marinate the sliced pork in soy sauce and stir fry before putting it in the soup to avoid dry, overcooked pork, as in version 2.