10-minute soup

I spontaneously found a way to use up several of our odder ingredients at once last night, in a way that pleasantly accentuates their flavors.  The shungiku and amaranth greens really shine through in something this simple.  This was partly dependent on ingredients I keep in my cupboard, namely Udon noodles (a thick Japanese noodle, but you could sub egg noodles) and Tsuyu soup base (a starter broth for Japanese noodle soups, called hontsuyu or mentsuyu - basically soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar -- you could sub any chicken, fish, or vegetable stock with comparable results).  And I realize this is a warm dish in our warm weather, but it was perfect yesterday when I came in from cutting grass and was sitting near the swamp cooler.

10-minute soup
about 5 cups water or stock
3-4 tablespoons soup base
two shallot scapes, chopped
one handful shungiku greens, chopped
one handful amaranth greens, chopped
two bundles udon noodles
white (or black) pepper to garnish

Start the water to boil and add your stock flavoring.  As it heats, throw in the scapes and greens.  About the time it comes to a boil, add the noodles.  Udon cook quickly (<5 minutes) so you won't have to wait long.  Turn off heat, serve, and sprinkle with white pepper.

Shallot Scapes, Garlic Scapes and Fennel Fronds

ABOVE: The Deliberate Agrarian had this great picture of garlic scapes.

After looking at the produce we were given this week the scapes and fennel are the items I was least familiar with. Therefore, I have included some ways to use them this week as well as a couple ways to preserve the items.

Shallot and Garlic Scapes

A Cooking Life and Big Oven are both blogs that have great examples of how to prepare the scapes while they are fresh.  A Cooking Life details how to grill the garlic scapes much as you would grill asparagus. Big Oven gives a recipe for a frittata with scapes. The links will guide you directly to the recipes.

Now, how to preserve all of the extra.

ABOVE: The Deliberate Agrarian gives a great account of how they pickled their garlic scapes.

Pickling Scapes: The following excerpt is from The Deliberate Agrarian.

The recipe we use for making pickled scapes is the Dilly Beans recipe found in the Ball Blue Book. Marlene’s copy of this book is missing the cover, the pages are food-stained, and she has written notes all through. That gives you an idea of how much she uses the book.

Here is the Dilly Beans recipe:

2 pounds green beans

1/4 cup canning salt

2-1/2 cups vinegar

2-1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided

4 cloves garlic, divided

4 heads dill, divided

Trim ends off green beans. Combine salt, vinegar and water in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil. Pack beans lengthwise into hot jars, leaving 1/4” headspace. Add 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 clove garlic, and 1 head dill to each pint. Ladle hot liquid over beans, leaving ¼” headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints and quarts 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: about four pints.

We modified the recipe a bit. For example, we left out the garlic cloves. And since our dill is not yet ready to use, we put a tsp of dill seed in each pint jar.

ABOVE:  Garlic Scape Pesto from the blog In The Kitchen And On The Road With Dorie. 

GARLIC SCAPE AND ALMOND PESTO
In The Kitchen And On The Road With Dorie


Makes about 1 cup

10 garlic scapes, finely chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)
1/3 cup slivered almonds (you could toast them lightly, if you'd like)
About 1/2 cup olive oil
Sea salt
Put the scapes, 1/3 cup of the cheese, almonds and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor (or use a blender or a mortar and pestle). Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil and, if you want, more cheese. If you like the texture, stop; if you'd like it a little thinner, add some more oil. Season with salt.

If you're not going to use the pesto immediately, press a piece of plastic against the surface to keep it from oxidizing. The pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days or packed airtight and frozen for a couple of months, by which time tomatoes should be at their juciest.

Fennel

ABOVE: Penne with Fennel Pesto from the blog Recipe Interrupted

Penne with Fennel Pesto
Recipe Interrupted

Makes 4 servings, plus leftover pesto

Preparation time: 30 minutes

1/3 cup pistachios, toasted
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 ounce (about ½ cup) freshly grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups fennel fronds (usually from 2 fennel bulbs)
optional: 4-5 mint leaves, torn
about ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
1 pound penne pasta
1 cup frozen peas


1.Put the pistachios, garlic, cheese, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse a few times to grind slightly.

2.Add fennel and mint, if using, to the food processor. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the mixture is reduced to a paste and has a spreadable, but not greasy consistency. Taste and add salt if necessary. Squeeze in a little bit of lemon juice to taste.

3.Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water generously and cook the pasta until al dente.

4.While the pasta is cooking, set up a colander in the sink and put the frozen peas in it. (If you have fresh peas, by all means use them. You can add them to the boiling water in the last few minutes of cooking the pasta.)

5.When the pasta is done, drain the pasta in the colander. Return the pasta, along with the peas, into the pot. Stir in the pesto until pasta is lightly coated and flavorful. Squeeze in a little lemon juice, to taste.

6.Serve hot or at room temperature.


Fennel Infused OilFrom the blog Chowhound

To make the oil, faintly warm olive oil with fennel fronds, a cut up lemon, a pinch of chili flakes, and crushed whole garlic cloves. Let it meld together for an hour or so, then strain. Season with salt and pepper, use as a drizzle on the cooked fish as well as on the onion/fennel bed you roast the fish on. Keep the rest in the fridge to use again.

Please let me know what you think of these recipes. Don't forget that you can freeze the pesto for meals in later months. I think I will try the fennel pesto with penne since I'll be able to use up the rest of the mint from last week's share.

Here is to a satisfying meal on a cold, blustery night.

Jessica

CSA Member Recipes

Good Afternoon All,

As promised I am posting recipes that members have sent in. Thank you An, Harini and Cherie for sharing. If anyone has a chance to try these please let us know what you think.

Above: This picture comes from a blog called Eat Clean. Live Well.

It has a fantastic selection of simple seasonal recipes.

Onion Scapes

Here is a recipe that I tried and loved, I found the scapes to be much less intense than if you used an onion and they gave a delicious crunch-An

Lemon Grass Chicken with caramelized Onion Scapes

2 chicken breasts (bones and skin removed), cut into one inch cubes

2 tbs vegetable oil (any neutral oil will do)

2 tbs granulated sugar (I prefer raw cane sugar or brown sugar)

5 tbs fish sauce (the more the better! 3 Crab Fish Sauce is an excellent milder brand if you can find it)

2 large Onion Scapes, chopped into 1/4 inch rings.

1 stalk of lemongrass, cut chopped finely (discard tough woody top half of the stalk)

3 Thai chile peppers or 1 jalapeño to taste

1 tbs turmeric or Vietnamese curry powder

3 tbs of crushed black peppercorns

1 scallion or garnish

Preparation:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the chicken with the fish sauce, black pepper, and 1 tbs of the sugar.

In small pot over medium-low heat, add 2 tbs of vegetable oil and the remaining 1 tbs of sugar. Once the mixture has become dark and thick about 1 minute, add the onion scapes and stir for about 20 seconds to caramelize the scapes. Remove and set aside.

Heat a wok (or skillet) over medium-high heat and add the chicken. Now, add the mixture from the small pot (caramelized onion scapes) and stir fry.

After stir frying for about 4 minutes add the lemon grass, chile peppers, and turmeric. Stir fry until the chicken is fully cooked (chicken should be browned yet tender and juicy on the inside).

Garnish with chopped scallion and serve with steamed rice.

I just created this really awesome recipe with the onion scapes I received! First, you chop the onion scapes into small chunks. In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, melt a dab of butter over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion scapes. Sprinkle some white sugar and brown sugar (a few tablespoons - enough to help caramelize the onion scapes). Saute for a few minutes until the onion scapes shrink and get tender. Add a spoon of extra hot chili powder (this can be found at any Indian grocery store or you could just grind crushed red pepper flakes or even just use crushed red pepper flakes) or as much heat as you can handle. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Fold everything together into the onion scapes and continue to saute for a few minutes. Then add 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan. Saute for a few more minutes until the scapes are mostly tender.

I hope you try it! It is a sweet and spicy way to enjoy this vegetable!-Harini

Spearmint

Spearmint Dressing

 I used the spearmint to make this great dressing to go with oven-roasted asparagus.-Harini

1 garlic clove

1 large spring of mint (or about 10-15 mint leaves)

1 tbsp of lemon juice

1/2 tsp of lemon zest

1 tbsp of olive oil

salt

pepper

Preparation:

Mix everything together and spoon over grilled or roasted asparagus. The freshness of the mint and brightness of the lemon work really well with the nuttiness of asparagus.

Cherie blogs every week about how she prepares the produce she receives in her share. Please take a look at her blog for a great variety of recipes.

Thank you again, and if anyone has a recipe to share please comment on the post or email me at produce@zoegarden.com.

Recipes: Onion Scape

This photo found on the blog: My Urban Homestead: Producing Food on a City Lot.  From an article called The Greens of Spring: Scapes. Very interesting blog.  There are some great, simple recipes there too.

Recipes: Onion Scape

This one is from member: Alisa.  Thanks Alisa.
"I found this recipe using onion scapes and will give it try:"
8 chicken thighs, preferaby organic. (You can use 4 leg quarters and divide them into thighs and drumsticks.)
4 cloves garlic.
2 preserved lemons
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup good extra virgin olive oil
15-20 scapes, depending on size.

Use garlic, onion, or a mixture. Clean and cut into 1″ lengths.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Chop the garlic cloves. remove the pulp from the preserved lemons, rinse the rind, and chop it into pieces about the size of matchheads. Make a paste of the garlic, salt, and preserved lemon rind and rub it into the chicken.

In a 9X13″ roasting pan, toss the scapes with the olive oil, and set the seasoning-rubbed chicken thighs on top in a single layer and ad half a cup of water to the pan. Roast at 400 degrees until the thighs are cooked and beautifully bronzed on top, usually about 40 minutes. Test the chicken for doneness.

Serve with plain cooked bulgur, putting a thigh or two and a spoonful of scapes and juices on top of each serving of bulgur. Very easy and delicious, and healthy too. You can use rice, but a nutty grain (such as bulgar) tastes better with the preserved lemons.

Recipes: Onion Scape

David says: Sautee or stir fry (eat like a vegetable).
Members, please post your comments and recipes as you discover how to use the items in your share.