August 8, 2012 CSA Delivery
Recipe Suggestions from Conne Ward-Cameron

Watermelon and Tomato Salad
Watermelon Rind Relish
Lynne's Gulf Red Snapper with Tomato Concasse
Spaghetti with Pine Nuts, Tomato & Garlic Breadcrumbs
Moroccan Squash and Bell Pepper Salad
Kaye's Okra Fry Bread

What a great surprise – a sweet little bunch of celery and a lovely baby watermelon. Celery is a tough thing to grow in Georgia – so getting organic celery in our boxes is such a gift. Conventionally grown celery is one of the dirty dozen fruits and vegetables – pretty heavily chemical-laden. No matter what they do, a Georgia farmer is never going to grow those gigantic stalks of celery we’ve been accustomed to. This little bunch of celery is just what celery should be – and so flavorful! I hope you’re going to use it right away, but if you’re one of those folks who only uses celery once in a while, then dice up what you don’t eat fresh and store it in the freezer. It won’t ever do in place of fresh, but if you’re cooking up a mirepoix (celery, onions, carrots) or a batch of gumbo and need the Cajun trinity (celery, onions, peppers), you’re all set. Plus you’ve got all those great peppers in the box – and maybe a few onions leftover from boxes past …. make up your own mixture and freeze it in recipe-size portions. Done!

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Watermelon and Tomato Salad

I will probably just eat my waternelon in big chunks, but if you want to do something different, this lovely salad idea from Bill Smith of Crook's Corner restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is a nice combination of sweet, spicy and sour.

1/4 cup champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
3 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 small red onion
1 (4-pound) watermelon
4 ripe beefsteak tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs.), cored
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 loosely packed cup roughly torn basil leaves
1 loosely packed cup roughly torn mint leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk vinegar, sugar, salt, and cayenne together in a small bowl.

Quarter and thinly slice onion and toss it in the vinegar mixture. Set aside to let rest until the onion softens and mellows, about 30 minutes.

Remove the rind from the watermelon (save a half cup of flesh and the rind for the next recipe!), cut into 1" chunks and transfer to a large bowl. Cut tomatoes into 1" chunks. Combine the tomatoes with the watermelon chunks. Pour in the onion–vinegar mixture along with oil and toss gently with your hands. Add basil and mint and toss gently. Season the watermelon and tomato salad with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve salad cold or at room temperature.

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Watermelon Rind Relish

The next time we have a watermelon I’ll give you a recipe for making watermelon rind pickles, but love this idea from Fine Cooking magazine for a watermelon rind relish. No canning required! The recipe calls for 1/2 of a jalapeno, but of course you can vary that by the tolerance for heat in your household. Although I have to say, every jalapeno I’ve cooked with this year has been pretty spicy! This should keep pretty well in your refrigerator – maybe for a month? 1 (4-pound). watermelon
2 oranges
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 medium jalapeño, finely chopped (with ribs and seeds)
Kosher salt

Cut the flesh away from the watermelon rind. Cut enough of the flesh into 1/4-inch dice to yield 1/2 cup (reserve the rest for another use like the recipe above!). Using a vegetable peeler, remove the dark-green skin from the rind and discard. Cut the rind into 1/4-inch dice; you should have about 3 cups.

Slice the ends off one of the oranges. Stand the orange on one cut end and cut off the peel and white pith to expose the flesh. Cut the orange segments from the membrane, cut each segment into 3 pieces, and put them in a small bowl. Squeeze the juice from the membrane into the bowl. Repeat with the remaining orange.

In a 3-quart saucepan, combine 2/3 cup water with the watermelon flesh and rind, orange segments and juice, brown sugar, vinegar, shallot, jalapeño and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rind is translucent and the mixture thickens, about 40 minutes. Season to taste with salt, and let cool to room temperature.

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Lynne's Gulf Red Snapper with Tomato Concasse

From Lynne Rossetto Kasper, the host of NPR’s “Splendid Table.” Perfect for using that fish you brought home from the fish market at the beach!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 medium tomatoes, peeled and seeded (use a soft skin peeler or drop tomatoes in boiling water for 10 seconds until the skins split then peel), then diced
3-4 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 (6-ounce) portions fresh Gulf red snapper
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

In a large skillet, make tomato concasse by heating olive oil and sautéing onions and garlic until soft. Add tomatoes and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes or until tomatoes are just heated through. Remove from heat; add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in basil. Set aside.

For perfectly cooked snapper: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large cast iron skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper and place in hot pan, skin side down. Cook 4 minutes or until skin is crisp. Turn fillet over and place pan in oven for 7 minutes.

Remove from oven, plate and top with tomato concasse.

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Spaghetti with Pine Nuts, Tomato & Garlic Breadcrumbs

From the November 2003 issue of Fine Cooking magazine. I love this idea of using coarse breadcrumbs in place of cheese – and love, love, love the addition of pine nuts and raisins.

12 ounces dried spaghetti
Kosher salt
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced, divided
2-1/2 cups fresh coarse breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups chopped tomatoes

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.

While spaghetti is cooking, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil until hot and add half the garlic. Sauté just until fragrant, less than a minute. Lower heat and add breadcrumbs, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring often until crumbs brown and turn crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in pine nuts; set aside.

In the same skillet, add another 2 tablespoons olive oil and over medium heat, sauté remaining garlic, raisins and red pepper flakes until garlic is fragrant, again less than a minute. Add tomatoes and sauté 5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to lose their shape. Remove from heat and season to taste.

When pasta is done, drain it and put in a large serving bowl. Toss with tomato mixture and half the breadcrumb mixture. Top with remaining breadcrumbs and drizzle with remaining olive oil. Serve immediately.

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Moroccan Squash and Bell Pepper Salad

This is for those of you who still have some zucchini or yellow squash hanging out in the vegetable bin. Or, save the recipe for the next time we get squash in our box. Sorry that I don’t remember where the original recipe came from, but the dressing is delicious. You’ll find lots of ways to use it.

For the dressing:
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1 1/2 medium lemons)
Zest of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 medium garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

For the salad:
1 pound squash, cut into medium dice
1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into medium dice
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint leaves
Kosher salt

For the dressing:
Put lemon juice, lemon zest, cumin, paprika, garlic, salt, cayenne and olive oil in a small screw-top jar. Shake well. Add olive oil and shake again. Taste for seasoning. Set aside. Can be made ahead of time and refrigerated up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before using.

To make your salad, combine squash, bell pepper and mint in a large bowl. Add dressing (you may not need all of the recipe) and toss until evenly coated. Salad can sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soak up the flavors. Taste for seasoning and serve.

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Kaye's Okra Fry Bread

Never thought I’d be sharing a recipe from Paula Deen, but this one is really good and will convert even those “I don’t eat okra” types. The recipe gives directions for cooking these little cakes in a skillet, but if you have a griddle, that’ll be even faster.

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup self-rising flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups water
1 pound okra, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, olive oil or butter

In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour and salt. Whisk in water to make a thin batter. Stir in okra and onions.

Over medium heat, add oil to a cast iron skillet. Use a small ladle to pour batter onto skillet. Pan should be hot enough to make batter sizzle. Cook until underside is browned, about 3 to 4 minutes, then flip and brown on the other side. Repeat with additional batter, adding more butter as necessary.

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Ok , it’s into the kitchen for me. See you next week.

conne

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