June 6, 2012 CSA Delivery
Recipe Suggestions from Conne Ward-Cameron

Click here to see photos of this week's box!

Savannah Peanut Collard Greens
Summer Squash Salad
Kale and Peach Salad
Beets and Greens Gratin

This week’s box is one of those crossover boxes – the last of the winter vegetables, the first of the summer vegetables. What fun to find zephyr squash, and so many of them! A lovely hybrid of a yellow crookneck with a squash that is a cross between the Delicata and yellow acorn squashes, it’s a vegetable that we’ll see periodically throughout the summer. It seems to do particularly well in our climate.

And hakurei turnips! Also called Japanese, White Doll and Snowball, these sweet little turnips look a lot like ping-pong balls. Please, please don’t do anything fancy to them. Eat them raw in a salad or as a snack, or steam or lightly sauté them making sure to leave them a little crunch. If you cook them, cook the greens first so they’re tender and then add the turnips at the end to just heat through.

Onions, collards, kale and the first of the cilantro. Cilantro is one of those funny herbs, not terribly heat tolerant, so enjoy it while it’s available. It makes a lovely pesto – just use the same recipe you would for basil, maybe with almonds or peanuts instead of the pine nuts? Last year I wrote about the use of the roots – very valued in Southeast Asian cooking and one of the traditional elements of a curry paste.

Remember that you can always go back to the recipe archive at www.grassfedcow.com for lots of ideas from past years.

As a matter of fact, I did that this weekend. I had cooked up all the greens from the box, but no one in my house was in the mood for straight greens ….. I remembered I had suggested a macaroni and cheese recipe that called for braised greens, went online, found the recipe and made up a big pan. Cooked macaroni, cooked greens combined with a white sauce that I flavored with lots and lots of cayenne, then all layered with cheese, topped with panko and baked. There’s no question the greens will be eaten now.

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Savannah Peanut Collard Greens

This idea for collard greens comes from “From The Food, Folklore, and Art of Lowcountry Cooking” by Joseph E. Dabney (Cumberland House). The book includes this note:

“Brimming bowls of collard greens infused with peanut butter are one of the most popular side dishes served at Andrew and Eileen Trice's Angel's Barbecue located on West Oglethorpe Lane in Savannah's historic district. Andrew picked up the idea from a friend who had visited West Africa and witnessed firsthand how it was done there. On occasion, Andrew adds hot chili peppers, following another West African practice.

“On the raining late October day that I visited their small restaurant tucked in a lane behind the Independent Presbyterian Church, Andrew and Eileen had sold out of the unusual dish. So unfortunately I did not get to try it firsthand. But they still shared the recipe with me!”

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup diced sweet onion
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced celery
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound collard greens, chopped
3 cups chicken stock (ideally from leftover smoked chicken bones)
Sea salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste
1 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth

Melt the butter in a 4-quart saucepan set over medium heat, and sauté the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic until translucent. Add the collards and chicken stock, and season lightly with salt. Add the Worcestershire and soy sauces.

Cook until the greens are tender and lose their bright emerald-green color, about an hour. Taste pot likker and adjust for salt. Season to taste with black pepper and Tabasco sauce. Remove from the heat and add peanut butter. Serve with pork or chicken dishes.

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Have you had a chance to attend any of the chef demos at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market? Seth Freedman cooks at 6pm each Thursday, demonstrating really lovely, simple recipes. Here are two I thought you might enjoy.

Summer Squash Salad
Yield: 4-6 servings

4 ounces feta
3 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs – your choice, maybe cilantro?
1 1/2 pounds summer squash
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Crumble feta into a mixing bowl and stir in the herbs. Using a mandolin or a sharp vegetable peeler, shave the squash lengthwise into ribbons. For older/large squash, shave around the seeds, and discard the core.

Add the cider vinegar and season to taste.

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Also from Seth.

Kale and Peach Salad
Yield: 6 servings

2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bunch kale, stems removed, thinly sliced
2 ripe peaches, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

In a large bowl, mix cider vinegar with the honey and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle in the 1 olive oil while whisking. Pour dressing into another bowl or container.

Add the kale and a small sprinkle of salt to the large bowl and massage with the dressing that was coating the bowl.

Pour the dressing over the kale, and add the peach. Adjust seasoning, toss and serve. * * * Sadly, I do not know where this recipe came from, but as the beet harvest is winding down, thought you might enjoy one more way to use those beets. It provides very detailed directions for dealing with your beets. For those of you who are not fans of goat cheese, substitute any soft cheese, even cream cheese. This recipe is a bit of trouble, but would make a great entrée or side dish for entertaining. You can prepare everything ahead of time and refrigerate, then bake just before you need it for dinner.

Beets and Greens Gratin

3 pounds red beets (about 6 medium beets), with greens attached
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ounces goat cheese, finely crumbled
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup dry bread crumbs
Zest of 1 lemon
4 sprigs fresh thyme (leaves only)

Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease the baking dish with olive oil.

Put on disposable kitchen gloves and chop the stalks and green tops off the beets. Cut off the root and stem ends of each beet root so that each end is flat. Lightly rinse the beet roots in the sink and peel them with a vegetable peeler. Slice the peeled beets very thin with a mandoline—the slices should be about 1/8 inch thick. (This entire operation is best done in the sink, to avoid beet-juice splatters.) Line the prepared baking dish with half of the beet slices, overlapping them as necessary to form a thick layer. Sprinkle the slices lightly with salt and pepper.

Separate the green leaves from the lower, thicker stalks. Cut the stalks into 1/2-inch segments and rinse them well. Drain and set aside in a small bowl.

Cut each beet leaf in half, then into thin ribbons. Wash very well and drain thoroughly.

Set a deep 10-inch sauté pan over medium heat and add a generous drizzle of olive oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the minced garlic and cook for a moment, then add the chopped beet stalks. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add the ribbons of beet greens and stir them in. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for another 5 minutes, or until the greens are slightly wilted. Turn off the heat.

Use a slotted spoon to lift out the beet stalks and greens, leaving any extra liquid behind in the pan. Spread the greens and stalks evenly over the sliced beets in the baking dish. Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese evenly over the greens. Top with the remaining beet slices, again overlapping them as needed to form a thick layer. Sprinkle them lightly with salt and pepper. Pour the milk evenly over the beets.

Mix the bread crumbs, lemon zest, and thyme leaves in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Mix until the bread crumbs have the texture of wet sand, and then spread them evenly over the top layer of beets. Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 1 hour, or until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork and the bread crumbs are golden. Remove the dish from the oven and let it stand for 15 minutes before serving.

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See you over next week’s box.
conne

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