Kefta (Lamb meatballs)

 So there's no Guilford College CSA this summer, but we do have a weekly farmer's market (4-6pm every Tuesday at the Guilford College Farm - check it out!).  However, while I don't have a CSA challenge this summer, I do have a another challenge, the whole lamb from Enno Farm that's currently stuffed in my freezer, along with the remains of a 1/4 of a pig from PTB Farm last December.  So this year's challenge is much more meaty, but there will be vegetables included!

I had posted my first recipe with lamb chops a couple of weeks ago, and I'll need to branch out into the different cuts in my freezer.  I commonly make lamb burgers and top the with  tzatziki (I'll post that soon) but I thought it would be fun to branch out a bit with the ground lamb so I decided to try these Kefta and Zuchinni Kabobs from Smitten Kitchen.  I made them pretty much as written, except that I used 2% Greek yogurt to make the sauce, and a lonely hamburger bun I had around for the bread.  The meatballs I threaded onto soaked wooden skewers as suggested, but the zucchini I put on these cool double skewers that are great for grilling because whatever you stick on them doesn't spin around!  However, they were a little too small for these petite scant 1 tbs meatballs.  I found I couldn't turn them over on the grill without the meatballs trying to pull off the skewer so I just kind of eased them over with a spatula.  No in-process pictures, but a nice shot of the final platter before we had dinner:

 

Note: I had tried to post this a few weeks ago, but Blogger was mysteriously not letting photos upload.

Lamb and potatoes

 So it's been a minute...

Lots of stuff has happened since last I posted, but I'll leave that alone for now.  

I was fortunate enough to buy a lamb from my friend Angela King of the Wake Forest University Chemistry Department and Enno Farm in Stokes County NC.  Today I pulled out a random selection of chops and seasoned them up w/ salt, pepper, fresh rosemary and garlic.  

They're in a plastic bag b/c I cooked them sous vide for 2 hours at 127°F before I plopped them on the grill for a couple of minutes on each side. I tried sous vide b/c I was scared to death to overcook these babies and sous vide lets you get it up to temp and then finish on the grill, about 2 minutes per side.  It worked out great.

To accompany I made "Crash Potatoes" which I got from the Pioneer Woman's web site but that I'm sure she didn't invent.  Happy accident here, I put them on at 450°F for the first 20 min on convection, I did realize it but it made them very crispy and delicious.  I used Yukon Gold potatoes from a lovely bag obtained at Harris Teeter.  No paremsan, but a big sprinkle of chopped fresh rosemary was yummy.

Lastly the sauce.  This is a version of chimichurri I got from the "Sauced" column on Serious Eats, one of my favorite places to get recipes (note I put in all the ingredients in order, but the vinegar and oil I just throw the food processor at the end with the rest of the ingredients). I've also made this chimichurri with carrot tops! (added in 2024 - the recipe for chimichurri has changed on Serious Eats, but here's the original on the "Meatwave") All in all, I think it came out pretty great.  There was a cesear salad to go along with it, but it's not pictured. 

Pizza and greens

Pizza with greens is one of they ways I use up the avalanche of greens that hit us in the spring in the CSA.  I make "salad pizza", Kale Pizza and Spinach Pizza pretty regularly in those early weeks of the CSA.  As the greens slow down in the heat of the summer to make way for squash, tomatoes, eggplant, okra and peppers, I don't make it as much, or make pizza with other toppings from the CSA.  But hands down, I really think that pizza is one of the best ways to turn a mountain of greens into something delicious (pasta is a close second).  This week I was surprised w/a bunch of rainbow chard in the box, and while I've got a go-to pasta I make with chard, I wondered if I could give it the pizza treatment. It turned out pretty well! The only downside compared to the recipes linked above is that I had to cook the chard for a bit before it went on the pizza, so, pans to wash.  I might try this with bacon instead of pancetta next time chard appears in my box.  For the dough I use a recipe from Mark Bittmann that comes together fast in the food processor and freezes well.  I've recently adapted it to use a sourdough starter rather than yeast, in light of the fact that I haven't seen yeast at my local Harris Teeter since March!  I'll post that later, but until then both Trader Joes and Harris Teeter will happily sell you a ball of pizza dough, andthose also freeze well.

Chard Pizza (adapted from this recipe for White Pizza with Chard and Caramelized Onions, plus all the other pizza recipes linked above!)

Ingredients

• 1 ball pizza dough (12-16 oz Note: My recipe makes 2 12-oz balls, what you buy at the store is usually 1 lb)
• 4 oz pancetta, chopped
• 1 bunch rainbow or swiss chard, stems cut off and discard and leaves roughly chopped ( usually roll up a few and cut them crosswise into strips about 1" wide)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 onion, cut in half through the root and thinly sliced crosswise
• 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thin
• 1-2 tbs olive oil 
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 3 oz shredded gruyere 
• 2 oz shredded mozzarella (you could sub all mozzarella if you don't have gruyere)  

Directions 

• Preheat oven to 500°F (preferably with pizza stone, if you don't have one you could use a baking sheet, adjust cooking time as necessary)
• Heat a 10-12" skillet over medium heat, add chopped pancetta and 1/2 cup water.  As the water heats it will help render some of the fat out of the pancetta, and then as the water evaporates the pancetta can continue to crisp up in the rendered fat. Once the pancetta is lightly browned, remove it from the pan and drain on a paper towel, leaving the fat in the skillet.
• Drain all but 1-2 tsp fat from the pan (reserve the rest), add chard and minced garlic and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until wilted, remove from pan.
• Add 1-2 tsp reserved fat (or olive oil) to the pan, add sliced onions, reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 20-25 minutes until onions are tender and caramelized (Note: if all the moisture evaporates and the onions start to stick or burn, you can add a little water).
• Place sliced garlic in a small microwave safe bowl, add 2 tbs of olive oil and microwave for 30 seconds.
• Roll out pizza dough into a circle, place on parchment paper on top of pizza peel.
• Brush pizza dough with garlic oil (you don't need to use all of it!), fish out pieces of garlic from the oil and sprinkle them over the dough.  Sprinkle the red pepper flakes over the dough.
• Spread cheeses evenly over dough
• Spread 1/2 crisped pancetta over dough (you could use all of it, this was just all I wanted)
• Spread cooked chard over dough, then onions.
• Slide pizza w/ parchment onto pizza stone.  Bake 5 minutes.
• Remove parchment paper (pizza will now be sitting directly on stone).  Bake another 5-7 minutes until crust is lightly browned.
• Slice and eat!

Some pics!
The chard:

So, ok, I'm terrible at taking photos while cooking, but at least I remembered the final product:

Cool as a cucumber

So it's hotter (and humider) than heck outside, so here's a nice cool recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen, Takeout-Style Sesame Noodles with Cucumber.  Cold noodles are heaven when it's a furnace outside. I added some cold poached chicken for some extra protein, and the recipe made enough for dinner for two and at least two lunches for me.  I made it pretty much as written, but made a few mods:

1. I did not have Chinese sesame paste so used regular tahini
2. I did not have Chinese rice vinegar so I used regular rice wine vinegar (unseasoned).  I want to find the Chinese rice vinegar as I've read it has a stronger taste - Super G here I come!
3. I added Thai basil to the mint and cilantro suggested for the chopped fresh herbs garnish.  I could have added even more.  
4. As I mentioned above, I added about 3 oz of cold poached chicken, sliced to each serving.  You could also use shredded leftover rotisserie chicken.  I bet some cold boiled/poached shrimp would be good too.

I used the same "rice sticks" Deb describes in her post (like what you might use for pad thai) which I've always struggled with cooking - they're either underdone or overdone and stuck together in a gluey ball.  I think I found a method that works well for me:  Place the rice sticks in a large bowl.  Bring enough water to boil to cover the rice sticks, and pour over.  Let the rice sticks soak 8-10 minutes, testing starting at 7 minutes or so for doneness.  Once they're done, drain the water and rinse w/ cold water to cool.  I even threw a couple of ice cubes in there to help cool down the noodles faster. Perfect and  I didn't even need to add the extra sesame oil to keep them from sticking.

I bet this would be good with soba noodles too!

Penne with Prosciutto, Tomatoes and Zucchini

This week the tomatoes continued, but we are now starting to see some summer squash as well.  This weeks' CSA bag had:

• 1 bunch carrots
• 1 lb cucumber
• 3 small peppers
• 2 lbs beets <--- this is a project I need to work on!
• 1 lb zuchinni (I got two small green and one medium yellow)
• 2 jalapeños
• 1/2 lb tiny tomatillos
• 1 bunch cilantro (check out the last post)
• 1 basil plant
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes

I wanted to make dinner last night using items in the bag and in the house, I settled on combining and modifying slightly two different recipes, one called "Penne with Prosciutto, Tomatoes and Zucchini" from a blog called "Jo Cooks" and the other called "Cherry Tomato Pasta With Proscuitto and Asiago" from Cooking Light.  Here's what I used:

Ingredients (serves 2 generously)

• 6 oz penne pasta
• 3 oz proscuitto, roughly chopped (6 slices)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• one onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 medium zucchinni, quartered lengthwise and sliced (I used the two tiny green ones I got)
• 12 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
• kosher salt to taste (about 1/4 tsp)
• ground pepper to taste
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 oz parmesan cheese, grated
• handful fresh basil, chopped

 Instructions:

•  Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and reserve
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. 
• Add prosciutto; cook 3 minutes or until crisp. Remove prosciutto from pan, reserving fat. Place crisped proscuitto on a paper towel lined plate to absorb fat.  If there is not at least 2 tsp of fat left in the pan, add 2 tsp olive oil.
• Add onion, sauté 4 minutes until softened
• Add zucchini, garlic, and pepper, cook 1 minute. 
• Add tomatoes and salt; cook 3 minutes.
• Stir in pasta and vinegar; cook 30 seconds. 
• Remove pan from heat; stir in chopped basil
• Divide pasta mixture among 2 bowls; top with prosciutto and sprinkle the parmesan over the two bowls. 
• Sprinkle with additional chopped basil 

This was pretty good, but next time I make it I might replace the proscuitto with sweet Italian sausage.

Some pics!
Line up your ingredients:

Saute those veggies:

Forgot to take pics of adding the tomatoes, but here it is plated up:

Cilantro - do you hate it?

How do you feel about cilantro?  The first time I had it I thought I was licking a bar of soap.  The the next time, I was all "this is yummy!".  Don't know what happened there.  I had exactly the opposite reaction with a Japanese herb called shiso. Liked it then hated it. So while I'm happy to see a bundle of cilantro show up in the CSA the last two weeks, I'm hoping Nick doesn't start growing shiso on the farm!

A few things with cilantro I've made before:

• Thai Basil Pesto
• Esquites (just made these last night!)
• Blackeyed Pea Posole with Collards (good, but good Lord it's way too hot for this right now)
• Tomato, Corn and Avocado Salad
• Enchiladas Verdes
• Salsa Verde
• Zesty Avocado Cilantro Dressing

And here are a couple of new things, one with pics and one without, cuz I was hungry.

Guacamole
Note: this is a starting point, adjust ingredients to your taste
1 large ripe avocado (like the ones in the bag at Costco) or 2 small (like the ones in the tiny bag at HT)
1 handful chopped ripe tomato
1 handful chopped onion
1 handful cilantro. chopped
juice from 1/2 lime
1 serrano or 1/2 jalepeño (if it's one of those monster ones!), finely chopped, or a few dashes of hot sauce such as Tapatio
salt and pepper to taste

 Mash avocado in bowl w/ fork or potato masher.  Add the rest of the ingrdients, stir, taste and adjust salt, pepper and hot sauce to your liking.  Serve w/ tortilla chips on tacos or quesadillas, or, just go at it with a spoon.

Some pics!
Avocado ready to be smashed:

Getting to smashing with my tiny potato masher:

Add the rest of the ingredients:

Mix it up:

Needs moar Tapatío:

Orange you glad I didn't say...carrot?

Knock, knock!
Who's there?
Carrot.
Carrot who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Carrot.
Carrot who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn't say carrot?
 I might have a problem:

Yes, I've been letting the carrots accumulate.  Here's a few things I've made:
On repeat-
Chicken Soba Salad- nice, cool, low cook dinner for those 90° days.
Also-
Pickled Carrots -these are great to give a little kick to anything, but especially nice on avocado toast.

New recipe!  From my food blogging boyfriend David Lebovitz (not to be confused with my basketball boyfriend or my curriculum boyfriend - both are long stories) - salade de carottes râpées, or grated carrot salad, which is apparently a thing in France, and  that I look forward to trying in situ should I ever be allowed to travel to the EU again. Or travel.  Sigh.  This is very nice on its own, or with a bit of diced chicken for lunch.  Apparently you can also add some shredded beets, which is good news (eyes the piles of CSA beets in the crisper).

Grated Carrot Salad 
1 pound (450g) carrots, peeled 
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more, to taste 
1/2 teaspoon kosher 
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 
1/4 teaspoon honey or sugar 
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, tarragon, chives,or chervil (yum, tarragon!) 

Procedure  
1. Grate the carrots on a box grater or you can use a spiralizer (this is fun, like sharpening a lot of carrot pencils).

2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt, mustard, and honey or sugar. Add the carrots and chopped herbs and toss thoroughly with the dressing.

3. Taste, and season with additional lemon juice, salt, or other ingredients.

 Some pics! Nothing to exciting, just giving you a sense of the size of the shred with the box grater. The spiralizer  makes a larger carrot strip.