Farm Direct Coop Recipesor. . . what you can do with your share!

Week 10 – wow! I’m sure you can see, but I feel compelled to spell out what we got: corn, cantaloupe, yellow tomatoes, beets, blackberries, tomatillos, apples, new potatoes, green beans and french bread.

Melon and Mint Salad

I’ll open by saying something about my Mom: she has always said cantaloupe is really good for your skin. If you want to glow, have some melon. In addition to making your skin glow, I added some avocado, which is a good source of fat, and also good for your hair. Consider this beauty food. You’re welcome!

1 small cantaloupe, cubed

1/2 English cucmber, diced

1 avocado, cubed

good handful of mint leaves, chopped

ricotta cheese (I dropped small spoonfuls onto the salad and mixed. It blended right in. Note: you need just a small amount.)

Salt, pepper, touch of olive oil

Add all vegetables to a bowl. Plunk the mint on top, as well as the ricotta, salt and pepper. Toss. Drizzle with olive oil. You can serve as is, or over greens. (I saved some for lunch the next day, and ate mine over baby spinach, with a hard boiled egg on the side for protein.)

Cornbread Scones

I adapted these from The Milkman’s Wife‘s recipe. I really love her blog, so send her some love! I took a few liberties, and being without apricots, I did not make the glaze. Instead, I used honey. Turned out to be a win!

2 cups flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, cold and cut in 1/4 inch slices

1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary

3/4 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from about two ears)

1 egg

3/4 cups milk (I used 1%)

Egg wash

Preheat oven to 400. In a mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients. Add butter pieces, and using a pastry blender (or potato masher, haha) mix until butter is about pea sized and dispersed throughout flour. Add a beaten egg, milk, rosemary and corn. Mix to combine. Roll out onto floured surface, and cut into triangles. Arrange on baking sheet, and brush surface with egg wash. Bake 15-20 minutes. Drizzle with honey.

Swiss Chard Wedding Soup

Using Italian Wedding soup as a jumping point, I decided to make a healthier version. There is nothing quite like the escarole and mini-meatball soup, but I wanted turkey meatballs, swiss chard and kidney beans instead. So, maybe it’s not quite the same thing.

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped evenly

3/4 cup cooked red kidney beans (if using canned, rinse well before adding)

1/2 head of chard, sliced into ribbons

1/2 pound ground turkey breast

1 egg

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

salt, pepper, dash of garlic powder

parmesan cheese

3-4 cups chicken stock (I like low sodium)

1 bunch parsley, chopped

In a little olive oil, sautee onion and celery. When softened (5 mins) add the chard. You might need to cook this down in batches. Add broth, salt, pepper and bring to a simmer.

In another bowl, mix the turkey with egg, panko, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Shape into small meatballs and add to simmering soup. Partially cover and cook throughout. This takes about 15 minutes.

Add cooked beans to warm through, and parsley. Top with parmesan cheese.

Panzanella Salad (aka My Lunch)

We had this beautiful smoked mozzarella from CSA and I couldn’t bear to let it sit in the fridge even a moment more. And that french bread? And those tomatoes. One answer: panzanella. It means bread salad. I highly recommend it. It was a heavy running morning, and on those days, I don’t mind a little white carbs at lunch.

No real measurements for this, but this is pretty close. I ate this with 2 hard boiled eggs - my go to staple for protein. Also – this wins big comfort points with me, too. I think it’s the smell of basil.

French bread, cut into even pieces

2 yellow tomatoes, chopped

bit of smoked mozzarella, chopped

fistful of basil, sliced

pepper, salt, balsamic vinegar, olive oil

Once you’ve assembled your salad, top with pepper, salt and drizzle that really spendy balsamic and olive oil over it. I promise it’s amazing.

Roasted Potatoes with Dill

Another comfort dish. I always feel like roasted potatoes taste so truly decadent. And dill and I…we have a thing. I love it in everything. Even salad.

Potatoes

salt

pepper

olive oil

dill

Preheat oven to 375. I prefer the skins on roasted potatoes, but take them off if you dislike. Slice potatoes and drizzle (I say drizzle a lot, but I don’t know what else to call it) with olive oil, salt, pepper, and dill. Toss to coat. Cook about 45 minutes or until fork tender.

Ricotta cheesecake with Blackberry Compote

What’s more comforting that cheesecake? It’s got really good mouth feel. It can be eaten with a spoon. I think we went over my love of spoons before. It’s my preferred utensil. I adapted this recipe from Technicolor Kitchen. Additionally, the blackberries? So bitter. Anne (we have much love for her) suggested a compote, as sugar or honey would help. I went with honey and coconut, and as usual, good call.

I used these 2 sweet dishes to make 2 giant servings. Giant to me. Michael will argue it was definitely not “wife-sized”.

3/4 cup Annie’s Bunny Grahams

1/3 cup coconut

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

juice and zest of a lemon

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 pint blackberries

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp coconut

Preheat oven to 300. You’ll need a food processor for this. To make the crust, combine first 3 ingredients and press into dishes. If you’re using muffin tins instead, press into those.

Combine all remaining ingredients in food processor. Pour over crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on size. Mine took longer due to the larger dish.

In a pot, combine blackberries, honey and coconut. Simmer until the blackberries break up. Top the cheesecakes with compote, and a little sprinkle of coconut, if desired.

from fdc newsletter 8-16.  Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello, Food Network

• 1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
• 2 medium cantaloupes (about 4 pounds
• each) peeled and seeded, cut into 1-inch
• wedges
• Pinch gray salt

1. Combine the sugar and water over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Add the mint.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.
4. Puree the fruit in a food processor until liquefied.
5. Pour the fruit into a medium bowl and add the salt.
6. Remove the mint leaves from the syrup. Add the syrup to the pureed fruit and mix well.
7. Pour the cantaloupe mixture into a pre-chilled 7 by 12-inch glass baking dish.
8. Place it uncovered into the freezer. Stir with a fork every 1/2 hour until almost completely frozen but still grainy 

,

From Martha Stewart Living (FDC Newsletter August 2, 2010)

Ed. note: Thursday members got their first taste of the summer’s cantaloupes last week.  Melrose member Joan Lounsbury said: “That was by far te BEST cantaloupe I have EVER eaten!  There’s a Seinfeld episode about that I think!”  Here’s a little something to do with your tasty melon this week.

Serves 6.

For the Soup

• 1 large ripe cantaloupe (about 4 pounds), seeds and rind removed, cut into chunks, plus thin wedges for garnish
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 Tbl honey, or to taste
• 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
• Pinch of coarse salt

For the Syrup

• Pinch of coarse salt
• 4 sprigs tarragon, plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1. Make the soup: Working in 2 batches, puree cantaloupe, sour cream, honey, lemon juice, and salt in a blender until smooth.  Press through a fine sieve into a bowl.  Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
2. Make the syrup: Bring sugar and 3/4 cup water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved.  Boil until syrup has reduced to 2/3 cup, about 7 minutes.  Remove from heat; add tarragon.  Transfer to a bowl; refrigerate until cold, 1 hour.
3. Puree syrup, tarragon, and lemon juice in a blender until smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to use; stir just before serving.
4. Divide soup among bowls.  Drizzle with tarragon syrup; garnish with cantaloupe wedges and tarragon sprigs.

When I went to store this week’s bounty of fruit, I discovered that I’d failed to use up all of last week’s peaches. Since my son is a slushie fan, I searched the web for some recipes. They all seem to follow the same principle: puree lightly sweetened fruit, and freeze.

You don’t have to limit yourself to peaches and cantaloupe – most any fruit will do, singly or in combination.  (Remember to remove the seeds from watermelon!). You can play around with flavor additions, too – add a bit of freshly chopped mint or basil, or other herbs. Very ripe (or even overripe) fruit gives the best flavor. Frozen slush will keep for several weeks - a great way to extend fruit’s ”shelf life.”

• 2 large peaches (or 3 medium ones), peeled and sliced
• 1 small cantaloupe,(cut into wedges and remove seeds and rind, then cut into chunks
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons honey, sugar, or maple syrup (note: do not use honey if making this for children younger than 1 year old)

1.  Place fruit, 1 tablespoon honey or sugar, and lemon juice in a food processor and puree until smooth. Taste and add additional sweetener, if desired (it should taste a little sweeter than you want the final product to be).

2.  Pour into a 9″x9″ glass dish and place in the freezer. Let freeze until mostly solid, about 2 hours. Use a fork to break up the slushie, scraping around the edges of the dish and mix well to break up big lumps.

3.  Cover the dish with plastic wrap and return to freezer. Let freeze until solid or overnight. Transfer to a covered plastic container and store in the freezer. Scrape again with a fork before serving.