Blueberry Pie

I've been waiting to write this post from the day I joined the CSA program. I knew that come July the blueberries would start showing up and all would be right with the world. Blueberries are by far my favorite berry, and in our house we eat at least a pint a week, even when it means spending $5 for a half pint of berries that came from Chile. Yes, I admit with some shame that my desire for these little blue jewels trumps even my goal of eating locally grown seasonal food. Summer in New Jersey is when I can eat as many as I want with no guilt and no (or at least less) pain on my wallet.

The majority of the blueberries that enter our house end up sprinkled over yogurt, ice cream or in a salad, or just eaten by themselves. However, my favorite way of eating them is in a pie, and I know you all are with me here, I mean what fan of blueberries doesn't appreciate a good pie?  For me, pie is more than something I merely appreciate, its closer to an obsession.  Just ask my wife, pies are pretty much the only thing she bakes that I won't let leave the house.  I get very selfish and will happily work my way through a whole pie by myself over the course of a week, for pies are (in my opinion) one of the only pastries that will improve as it ages.

The recipe she uses is great because it has minimal sugar, which allows the blueberry flavor to shine through.  It's the berries, be they sweet or tart that will dictate the final flavor of the pie. She also skips the lattice top (and the headache that comes with building it) and simply cuts shapes from a piece of pie dough and scatters them on the top.  Stars for this one in the spirit of Independence Day.

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Blueberries

Pie Crust
2.5 cups flour
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup of ice water

Place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and mix to combine.  Add the butter and process until the mixture forms into a coarse crumb texture. With the machine running, slowly pour 1/4 cup of water into the feed tube until the dough just holds together when you pinch it between your fingers. Add more water if necessary to achieve this.  Try to minimize the processing time to no more than 30 seconds if possible. Dump the dough out onto your counter and divide in half.  Form each pile into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour before using to ensure that the butter is cold. Once properly chilled, take one disk out of the fridge and place it on a floured work surface.  Gently roll out the disk to a 12 inch circle.  Transfer the dough to a 9 inch pie plate and form to the shape of the plate, trimming or crimping the outer edges as desired to remove any overhang.  Place the pie plate back in the refrigerator to keep cold until you are ready to fill it. Meanwhile, take the second disk of dough and roll out as instructed above.  Using a star shaped (or whatever shape you'd like to use) cookie cutter and cut out as many stars as you can.  Place the start on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place back in the refrigerator to chill.

Pie Filling
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup sugar

2 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tbs lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest.  Thoroughly wash the blueberries and pick through them to remove any stems or leaves. Drain well and then place in the bowl with the sugar mixture and gently mix until all the berries are coated.  Remove the chilled pie dough in the pie place from the refrigerator and pour the berries and any accumulated liquid into the shell. Brush the edges of the crust with egg wash (made from 1 egg mixed with 1 tbs of cream) and then do the same to the stars.  Arrange the stars on the top of the pie filling and then place the pie in the heated oven (if the pie filling is right near the top edge, you may want to place the pie place on a sheet pan to catch any filling that bubbles out while baking) and bake for 20 minutes. reduce the oven temperature to 350 and continue baking for 35-45 minuted more until the crust is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Allow the pie to cool for at least 2 hours before serving so the filling has time to set up.

Serve by itself, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.  Any leftovers can be stored covered at room temperature for a day or two.  Longer and you should put it in the refrigerator, or better yet give me a call and I'll take care of them for you!  Happy Independence Day!

Orecchitte with Chicory, Beans and Sausage

Last month I made a pasta dish using arugula that was a big hit with the family.  With yet another bunch of bitter greens (the chicory) needing a good home, my thoughts turned again to pasta.  This time though, I wanted to develop my own recipe based on what I had learned from past experience. I kept the sausage in the dish and added white beans for another textural element.  I also wanted to have more of a sauce this time, so mascarpone cheese combined with some of the pasta cooking water was called into service. The result was excellent, the chicory maintained a decent bitterness after cooking that didn't overpower the dish, but still could not be missed.  

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All the Chicory

Ingredients

1/2 lb orecchitte pasta

1 tbs olive oil

1/3 lb Italian turkey sausage (casings removed)

1/3 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup canned white beans, drained and rinsed

4-6 cups chicory (or other bitter greens)

1 tsp dry oregano

1/3 cup mascarpone cheese

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the orecchitte per package instructions.  Drain, reserving a cup or two of the cooking water and set aside.  Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add the oil sausage and onion and cook, breaking up the sausage until nicely browned (5-7 minutes). Add the oregano and beans and cook for another minute.  Take a quarter cup of the water out of the pasta pot and add it to the skillet, then bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and add the chicory.  Cover the skillet and let cook until the chicory has just started to wilt, 2-3 minutes.  Uncover and mix in the mascarpone and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and stir to coat, adding small amounts of the reserved cooking water if the sauce seems dry.

Week 9 Share

Blueberries, 2 pints ($3.98)
Radish, 1 bunch ($1.29)
Fresh oregano plant ($2.99)
Beets, 1 bunch ($2.50)
Parsley, 1 bunch ($0.99)
Tomatoes, 1.5 lb ($4.50)
Green Leaf Lettuce, 1 lb 5 oz ($1.95)
Cauliflower, 1 lb ($2.99)
Romanesque Broccoli, 1.5 lb ($3.50)
Sugar Snap Peas, 11 oz ($3.43)
Summer Squash, 13 oz ($1.21)

Total Share Value = $29.33




This is what I love about buying produce right off the farm.  When was the last time you saw squash that looked like this in the supermarket? These are a hybrid of zucchini often called eight-ball squash. Fantastic!









And how about this odd-looking one? Romanesque broccoli, is actually a type of cauliflower.  The broccoli name is more commonly used because of its green color. What's really interesting about this vegetable, is that it is a naturally occurring example of a approximate fractal. Wait! Don't go anywhere, you haven't accidentally ended up reading a math blog, just bear with me for a minute. In short, fractals are geometric patterns that are the same whether looked at from a distance or close up. If you look at the head from afar (pic on the right), you see its comprised of spiral shaped buds. If you zoom in on those buds (below) you can see that they are made up of smaller buds of the same spiral pattern.  The reason its considered an approximate fractal is because the pattern will eventually stop when it gets small enough. True fractals (based on mathematical theory) continue the pattern smaller and smaller infinitely. If you are interested in learning more about what a fractal is, here's a link to a more in-depth explanation.  Who'd have thought food could be educational as well as delicious?

Chicken with Spiced Yogurt Sauce and Roasted Cauliflower

Where would all us cooks, amateur and professional alike be without spices? Can you imagine a world without them? Cinnamon, cumin, pepper, turmeric, coriander, mustard, the list goes on and on.  If they all disappeared our culinary world would certainly be a sad, bland place and many cuisines would be unrecognizable.

Indian food would arguably suffer the most in such an alternate reality. The way spices are mixed, rubbed, sprinkled and infused into every corner of an Indian dish is truly an art form in itself when done well.  To duplicate (or at least approximate) at home the flavors found at good Indian restaurants is not all that difficult.  A well stocked spice drawer is all you need, well, that and the willingness for your house to smell like an Indian restaurant for a several hours after dinner is over, which in my opinion is not such a bad thing.  The recipes below make use of many of the most common spices found in Indian food and little else, so you really get a good example of how powerful these colorful powders can be.

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Cauliflower

Roasted Cauliflower (adapted from Bon Appetit)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 large head cauliflower
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled ginger

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
Chopped parsley for garnish

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Core the cauliflower and then break apart the florets into bite sized pieces. In a large bowl, combine the olive oil and all the spices, then add the cauliflower, season with salt and pepper and toss to give the florets an even coating of spice mixture. Line a large sheet pan with foil (for easier cleanup) and arrange the cauliflower in a single layer, then roast for around 15 minutes or until the edges have started to brown. Transfer to a large plate or serving bowl and sprinkle with the parsley, lime zest and ginger before serving.

Chicken With Spiced Yogurt Sauce (adapted from Mark Bittman)
2 tbs olive oil
2 pounds chicken legs, skin on (drumsticks and/or thighs)
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 tbs chopped garlic
1/2 tbs grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper
1 cup plain yogurt

Preparation
Put the oil in a large saute pan with a lid  and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning the pieces as necessary to brown all sides.  You may want to use a splatter screen for this step, or at least wear an apron.  When done, remove the chicken to a plate and add the onions to the pan.  Cook for around 5 minutes until the onions have started to soften and then add all the spices, the garlic and ginger.  Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring for another minute.  Stir in the yogurt and then put the chicken back into the pan. Cover and reduce the heat to low simmer and cook, turning the chicken occasionally until cooked through, around 15 minutes.  Serve over rice with the roasted cauliflower on the side.

Roasted Beets with Kale and Feta

I don't often cook with beets because my wife and I tend to find their earthy taste too strong after a few bites.  The thing is, we really enjoy those first few bites, so my challenge for the beets (which have been sitting patiently for over a week) was to find a way to serve them where we would not be overpowered by their flavor.  I had seen recipes that combined beets with feta, and that seemed like a good start; by using other ingredients with strong flavors, the beets would have more to compete with.  Wanting to use another item from the CSA share, I settled on the kale, thinking that their slightly bitter flavor would stack nicely with the beats (earthy and sweet) and feta (salty). Since kale will lose some of its bitterness when cooked, I used cider vinegar to ensure that it retained a unique flavor that would stand on its own.  I probably would have left the recipe at that, except as I was pulling the feta out of the fridge, my eye landed on a pack of bacon that had used its siren song to lure me into buying it last time I was at the supermarket.  Everything is better with bacon, right?  Darn right it is!  The olive oil can have a rest, for tonight we cook with bacon drippings!

The final dish was a great success. The combination of the beets with the kale, feta and bacon complimented each other wonderfully.  We still could taste that sweet and earthy beet flavor, but it never overpowered the dish.  Needless to say, we cleaned our plates!

One side note that you may want to know (and can probably tell from the picture) is that the beets immediately stained the feta red when I tossed everything together. Certainly didn't effect the flavor, but if you are worried about presentation, I suggest sprinkling the feta on top after tossing the rest together.

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Beets (from week 7)

Kale

Ingredients
4 medium sized beets

Salt and pepper
4  thick-cut bacon slices, diced
1/2 lb kale, washed, stemmed and torn into bite sized pieces
3 tbs water
3 tbs apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese

Preparation

Heat your oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry the beets then cut them in half and place cut side down on a sheet pan covered with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and roast until the beets can be easily pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes. When done, set aside to cool.

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp, then remove to a bowl and set aside.  Add the kale to the bacon drippings remaining in the pan and stir to coat all the kale with the drippings.  Add the water and vinegar, bring to a simmer and then cover the pan and cook until the kale is wilted, about 5 minutes.  Uncover and continue cooking until the majority of the liquid has evaporated.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

When the beets have cooled enough to handle, peel them and cut in to half-inch cubes.  Toss the beets, kale and bacon together in a bowl.  Adjust the seasoning to taste and then sprinkle the crumbled feta on top.