Cooking From Your CSA Box (Or, Seasonal Cooking)

Before we get too deep into summer, I thought I'd start a thread about cooking from your CSA box. Everyone who has subscribed to a CSA in the past knows that at various points, you're inundated with zucchini, kohlrabi, various greens, etc., and I thought it would be fun and helpful if we shared recipes or ideas on what to do with our haul. Hopefully, we'll have one comprehensive thread that we can use as a future reference guide.

Also, as we all get a ton of salad greens, here's a link to thaiobsessed's helpful thread about salad dressing ideas.

Rough Recipe Index of Recipes/Suggestions In This Thread:
[Contributor in brackets]*

Beans
dilly-leek-confit-dressed green beans from archives of 101cookbooks [gastro gnome] [thaiobsessed's rendition.]
Yellow Wax Beans with Crispy Pancetta (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]

Beets
Potato Croquettes with Spicy Beets from Farmer John's Cookbook [aschie30]
Beet Salad with Rosemary, Goat Cheese and Toasted Walnuts (Adapted from Fine Cooking #101) [JenM]

Carrots
Honey& Smoked Paprika Kohlrabi-Carrot Soup (gastro gnome's recipe) [gastro gnome]
Sevillian Marinated Carrots from New Spanish Table [gastro gnome] [See aschie30's rendition with radishes and celery here.]
Pan-Roasted Copper River Salmon with Carrot Top Broth (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]

Carrot Tops
Pan-Roasted Copper River Salmon with Carrot Top Broth (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]

Cauliflower
Roasted Cauliflower (JenM's recipe)[JenM]

Celery
Cream of Celery Soup from Bon Appetit [aschie30]
Red Celery Braised in White Wine (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]
Braised Red Celery with Minnesota Wild Rice, Sunny Side-Up Farm Eggs & Celery Leaf Gremolata (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]

Corn
Farmer's Market Humitas (Kennyz's recipe)[Kennyz] [See more notes regarding humitas here and here.]
Summer Succotash adapted from Abby Dodge's Around the World [JenM]
Corn with Sage & Pancetta (or Bacon) from Zuni Café Cookbook [thaiobsessed] (Also chronicled here.)
Crustless Quiche with Cheese, Sauteed Chard, Onions & Sweet Corn (eatchicago's recipe) [eatchicago]
Cobb Salad inspired by Cook's Illustrated [thaiobsessed]

Cucumbers
Gazpacho with Watermelon from Amy Currie [Lindsay] [See correction re ingredients here.]
Sweet Pickles (JenM's recipe) [JenM]

Dandelion Greens
Kohlrabi & Dandelion Greens from foodiefarmgirl.com [PlayItGeorge]
Cream of Dandelion soup from prodigalgardens [Mhays]
Sauteed Dandelion Greens (PlayItGeorge's recipe) [PlayItGeorge]

Eggplant
Fennel, Squash & Eggplant Gratin, loosely inspired by Joy of Cooking [aschie30]
Slow-Roasted Ratatouille (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]

Fennel
Fennel, Squash & Eggplant Gratin, loosely inspired by Joy of Cooking [aschie30]

Garlic Scapes
Garlic Scape Chimichurri (viaChgo's recipe) [viaChgo]
Buttermilk Garlic Scape dressing from Little Locavores [aschie30]
Garlic Scape & Fava Bean Puree (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]

Kale
Kale, Chickpea & Saffron Soup from Farmer John's Cookbook [aschie30]
Kale & Cabbage Salad with lime/peanut sauce dressing (thaiobsessed's recipe) [thaiobsessed]
Kale with Whole Wheat Pasta & Maybe Sausage (eli's recipe) [eli]
Scapes, Kale & Mushrooms (gastro gnome's recipe) [gastro gnome]
Spicy Sausage, Escarole [or Kale] & White Bean Stew from Fine Cooking [JenM]
Tuscan Kale with shallots & crispy salami from Fine Cooking [Pie-love]

Kohlrabi
Honey& Smoked Paprika Kohlrabi-Carrot Soup (gastro gnome's recipe) [gastro gnome]
Kohlrabi & Dandelion Greens from foodiefarmgirl.com [PlayItGeorge]

Lettuce/Salad Greens
"Junk" Salad (aschie30's recipe) [aschie30]
Simple Salad with Radishes & Lime-Cumin Vinaigrette from Deborah Madison [aschie30]
Cobb Salad inspired by Cook's Illustrated [thaiobsessed]

Mushrooms
Roasted Portabello Mushrooms with Slow-Roasted Sweet 100 Tomatoes, Garlic, Mint & Mock Crème Fraîche inspired by Zuni Café Cookbook[thaiobssessed]

Onions
Cream of Sweet Onion Soup (BR's recipe) [BR]

Rutabaga
Mashed Root Vegetables with Goat Cheese (PlayItGeorge's recipe) [PlayItGeorge]
Mashed Swedes (Antonius' recipe) [gastro gnome]

Peas
Risi e Bisi (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]

Peppers
Roasted Italian Sweet Peppers (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]
Pasta with Roasted Italian Sweet Pepper Sauce (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]
White Bean Chili with Green Peppers & Jalapeño Bulghur from Real Simple [Lindsay]
Fried Shishito Peppers with Olive Oil & Sea Salt (Inspired by Mado) [aschie30]

Potatoes
Potato Croquettes with Spicy Beets from Farmer John's Cookbook [aschie30]

Radishes
French breakfast radishes, chive butter, ciabatta (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]

Spinach
Spinach & pinenuts (JenM's recipe) [JenM]
Spicy Spinach with garlic & crispy sopressata from Fine Cooking [Pie-love]

Strawberries
Strawberry Shortcake from Alice Water's Art of Simple Food [thaiobsessed]
Smoky, Spicy Pectin-Free Strawberry Jam (YourPalWill's recipe) [YourPalWill]

Summer Squash
Charred Zucchini & Summer Squash with Pecorino Romano from Stop 50 [Santander]
Fennel, Squash & Eggplant Gratin, loosely inspired by Joy of Cooking [aschie30]
Eggs Baked In Patty Pan Squash (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]
Summer Squash Gratin (JenM's recipe)[JenM]
Summer Squash Gratin from 101 Cookbooks [aschie30]

Sweet Potatoes
Japanese-style Bakes Sweet Potato Balls Mashed with Black Sesame Seeds (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]

Swiss Chard
Swiss chard tacos from Rick Bayless [Jen M] [See aschie30's rendition here.]
Swiss chard tart from Gourmet[aschie30]
Pasta with Swiss Chard, Tomatoes & Chickpeas from Real Simple [Lindsay]
Crustless Quiche with Cheese, Sauteed Chard, Onions & Sweet Corn (eatchicago's recipe) [eatchicago]

Tomatoes
Fusilli with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, Anchovies, Red Pepper, Basil & Parmesan (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]
Slow-Roasted Tomatoes (also for Freezing) (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]
Slow-Roasted Sweet 100 Tomatoes adapted from Charlie Trotter Cooks At Home [thaiobsessed]
Pasta with Swiss Chard, Tomatoes & Chickpeas from Real Simple [Lindsay]
Favorite BLT with Kellogg's Breakfast Tomatoes (tyrus' recipe) [tyrus]
Heirloom Tomato, Gruyère, Carmelized Onion & Niçoise Olive Tart from Gourmet [aschie30]
Cobb Salad inspired by Cook's Illustrated [thaiobsessed]
Fried Green Tomato Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette(BR's recipe) [BR]
Summer Vegetable Gratin (Cook's Illustrated) [gastro gnome]

Turnips
Roasted Turnips and Sweet Onions with Garam Masala and Olive Oil (Santander's recipe) [Santander]

Zucchini
Carpaccio from Smitten Kitchen [Mhays]
Charred Zucchini & Summer Squash with Pecorino Romano from Stop 50 [Santander]
Chocolate & Zucchini Cake from elise.com [eli]
Slow-Roasted Ratatouille (Kennyz's recipe) [Kennyz]
Summer Succotash adapted from Abby Dodge's Around the World [JenM]
Sweet Zucchini Pickles (eli's recipe) [eli]
Zucchini Bread from Smitten Kitchen [JenM]
Zucchini-Potato Latke from Food Network [wendy]
Summer Vegetable Gratin (Cook's Illustrated) [gastro gnome]


* * *
I'll kick things off. Lately, I made a Swiss chard, toasted almond and golden raisin tart, inspired by this recipe from Gourmet. (The recipe calls for pine nuts; I used almonds as that's what I had on hand.)

I used about 1 1/2 lb. of greens to fill an 11" tart pan. I had only a 1/2 lb. or so of swiss chard, so I made up the difference with curly kale and Red Russian kale. I also added about 1/3 c. of chopped kalamata olives.

Even though this is technically a savory tart, the resulting filling was actually quite sweet. I can't imagine it without the olives, which provide a briny counterpoint to the sweetness of the greens. Anyway, it's a great way to integrate a lot of greens into a dish.

Here are some pics:


Tart filled with greens prior to baking


Tart, prior to baking (I then egg-washed the top)


Tart, out of the oven


Inside shot of tart

Great idea for a thread! Your tart looks great-- I make a similar prep, but not in a tart. I hadn't thought to add olives, sounds great.

Holy cats, we have a lot of veg. The family I shared with last year wimped out on us this year, so we get 3/4 bushel from Angelic Organics every week. I am freezing as much as I can, and will start pickling when the cucumbers come in. Also, last year my parents helped me with a batch of sauerkraut-- it came out great and I can't wait to try again this year.

As for the current bounty:
I am very into the Smitten Kitchen zucchini bread, which I bake off as muffins. I substitute 1/2c yoghurt for half of the oil, so the resultant bread is not so greasy. I also sub in some whole wheat flour. Since the kid is NOT going to eat anything with little green bits, I also add walnuts and raisins-- just for me.
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/07/summer-of-the-bats/

Today we had roasted cauliflower (toss in olive oil and salt, roast in cast iron 375 or so, until brown and crispy) and summer squash gratin (slice thin, toss with salt and olive oil, plus 3 huge cloves garlic. Spread in gratin dish, top with parmesan, bake at 350 for maybe 45 minutes). Once the tomatoes come in, the zucchini and summer squash gratin from Fine Cooking is delicious.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/zucc ... ratin.aspx
(You need to be a member to read the recipe....)

Another favorite is Rick Bayless's Swiss chard tacos:
http://thefoodprojects.com/recipes/?p=28
These are good with some boiled potatoes. Would be a good vegetarian dish, but I cook them in lard.

I found out that my kid will eat raw, sliced kohlrabi (who knew???) and loves to eat the carrots out of hand. The beet greens are just for me.

I look forward to hearing about your veggie inspirations.

Cheers, Jen

I have to admit that sometimes when I open my CSA box, I feel like a little kid who's being goaded into eating her vegetables. This is especially true when I see things like cabbage and kale. But, I've been trying to put everything in the box to good use (so I can have dessert ). Last week I made a raw kale and cabbage salad with fresh peas, roasted corn, bell peppers and julienned kohlrabi. I dressed the salad with lime/peanut sauce (rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime zest, lime juice and brown sugar) to serve with pizza. I have to say, not too bad (for kale). The pizza featured caciocavallo cheese, marinara sauce, basil with sauteed scapes and spring onions from the CSA box.

JenM wrote:Also, last year my parents helped me with a batch of sauerkraut-- it came out great and I can't wait to try again this year.

Yes, I remember that. Your and Cathy2's experiences with lacto-fermented sauerkraut inspired me to make my own last fall. Got rid of a lot of cabbage, and it was later used as the centerpiece of my choucroute party, which I detailed here.

JenM wrote:Another favorite is Rick Bayless's Swiss chard tacos:
http://thefoodprojects.com/recipes/?p=28
These are good with some boiled potatoes. Would be a good vegetarian dish, but I cook them in lard.

Love swiss chard, and I just got two bunches. I will definitely give this recipe a run for it. Thanks!

thaiobsessed wrote:Last week I made a raw kale and cabbage salad with fresh peas, roasted corn, bell peppers and julienned kohlrabi. I dressed the salad with lime/peanut sauce (rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime zest, lime juice and brown sugar) to serve with pizza. I have to say, not too bad (for kale).

thaiobsessed-

Thanks for sharing. IMHO, it takes some guts to eat kale raw. Good for you. I will have to try your dressing because I can see how it would complement a bitter green like kale.

* * *

One zucchini recipe that I've made a couple of times lately is this one from Smitten Kitchen. It is called Zucchini Strand Spaghetti. I think you really need a mandoline to julienne the zucchini in strands that resemble thin pasta, but it is quick to throw together. I also like the whole wheat pasta as an earthy, textural counterpoint to the sweeter zucchini. Anyway, another good way I've found to get rid of zucchini.

I love this idea for a topic. I don't have a CSA box this year, but I tend to go the farmers market and just get whatever fits my whim, so I end up in somewhat the same situation.

I've made a dish that's basically the filling to your tart (minus the eggs and cream) tossed with whole wheat pasta. (With flavors that bold, the whole wheat pasta really stands up better.) Sometimes I add chunks of Italian sausage as well. It's a great tasty, simple weeknight dinner.

I've also made a chocolate and zucchini cake (very similar to this one) that's really good. It's a really great light, moist, chocolatey cake. I'm suggesting this not as a "healthy alternative" or a way to sneak veggies into something, but as a good cake in its own right. (Although it is both of those things also.) No one who's tasted it without knowing (including some culinary school classmates) has guessed there's zucchini in it.

Okay, so I am experimenting with adding photos. Here is a one of my favorite spinach preparations, Spinach with raisins and pine nuts. It's like aschie's tart. It also works great with escarole, and probably with other greens.



Cheers, Jen

Edited to get the photo to display and to say that next time I am totally adding olives, as inspired by aschie30!

I made this tonight with my kohlrabi from Newleaf Natural Food's weekly $15 box: http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2007 ... puree.html I added dandelion greens too and goat cheese.

What else is there to make with dandelion greens? I'm at a loss what to do with them.

Otherwise I got lettuce, broccoli, oranges, apples, bananas, and blueberries.

You can use them like any other bitter green - there's a recipe here for a cream of dandelion soup that sounds good to me. I used to love the dandelion greens at what was then Gateway; lightly sauteed and dressed with good olive oil and lemon juice.

Mhays wrote:You can use them like any other bitter green - there's a recipe here for a cream of dandelion soup that sounds good to me. I used to love the dandelion greens at what was then Gateway; lightly sauteed and dressed with good olive oil and lemon juice.

Thank you, sounds interesting. They are quite bitter. This is the first time I've ever had them.

This week I had a lot of cucumbers in the box, so it was time for sweet pickles:



I use a traditional recipe, with a brine having equal amounts of cider vinegar and sugar. The original recipe calls for mustard seeds and celery seeds for the spices, but I really like the "Pickling Spice" mix from the Spice House. This batch I made one experimental jar with hot pepper flakes (right) and one jar with garlic slivers (not shown).

Because we have a full share for just 3 people (including one kid), I am trying to preserve as much as I can-- anyone have tips and suggestions on that?

Cheers, Jen

JenM wrote:This week I had a lot of cucumbers in the box, so it was time for sweet pickles:

Last year I made some sweet zucchini pickles. Just follow a standard cucumber sweet pickle recipe, but use zucchini instead. They're a bit softer/less crisp than cucumber pickles, but I really liked them. Definitely a good way to use up extra zucchini.

eli wrote:Last year I made some sweet zucchini pickles. Just follow a standard cucumber sweet pickle recipe, but use zucchini instead. They're a bit softer/less crisp than cucumber pickles, but I really liked them. Definitely a good way to use up extra zucchini.

Great idea and I do have some leftover brine, plus a big old zuke! I can only eat so many zucchini muffins. I might do them as a refrigerator/quick pickle-- maybe that would help with the softness.

Jen

I highly recommend this recipe for zucchini carpaccio.

Inspired by JenM's post here and eatchicago's post in The Local Beet here, I was inspired to give Rick Bayless' Swiss chard tacos a try. I really liked them; they were an exercise in building flavor, from the slightly sweet/slightly bitter chard, to the smoky chipotle and refreshing queso fresco, which balanced the heat from the 1 T. (!) of crushed red pepper in the chard:



The only changes I made to the recipe were to use a previously smoked onion, and to saute small-diced young turnip with the onion/chard mixture, which I thought would add some texture as well as earthy undertones. (The strategy was to double up on CSA veggies as much as possible.) I even picked up a jar of Bayless' chipotle salsa at Chicago Farmstand during lunch.

I served it with a simple salad with thinly sliced radishes, tossed with Deborah Madison's lime-cumin vinaigrette, which was a refreshing, light dressing and complemented the tacos -- any taco, really - nicely. The recipe is as follows:

1 garlic clove (I used an uncured, smoked garlic clove)
Salt
Grated or minced zest of 2 limes
2-3 T. fresh lime or lemon juice, to taste
2 T. chopped scallion or finely diced shallot
1/2 jalapeño chile, seeded and minced
1/2 t. cumin seeds
1/2 t. coriander seeds
1/4 t. dry mustard
1/3 c. olive oil
2 T. chopped cilantro

Make a paste with the garlic clove and salt. Put into bowl with lime zest, juice, scallion (or shallot), and chile. Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a small dry skillet until fragrant (I skipped this step), then cool. Grind to a powder in a spice mill (or with a mortar and pestle), then add them to the bowl with the juice mixture. Whisk in the dry mustard and oil. Taste and adjust balance if needed; let dressing stand 15 minutes. Add cilantro just before using.

Both dishes below were augmented by further purchases, but mostly CSA ingredients. These were both kind of ad-hoc recipes based on flavor profiles and textures. Both dishes could be improved on but were worth trying again:

Lemon Sauteed Scapes, Kale and Mushrooms

I sauteed 1 pint mushrooms with thyme, s & p and set aside.

I then sliced 2 scapes thinly, sauteed a few minutes in olive oil and added 1 bunch of de-stemmed red kale. I sauteed a few minutes, white wine, salt, covered and braised about 5 minutes more until tender. I uncovered re-added the mushrooms, hit it with the juice of 1/3 lemon and all of the zest and finally a fresh glug of oilve oil.

This was a good start but it was too lemony by half and it needed more scape whose flavor really got lost amidst the others.

--------------

Honey & Smoked Paprika Kohlrabi-Carrot Soup

I had one large kohlrabi which looked like it would be too tough for matchsticks and cayenne which I will be doing with 3 smaller bulbs, so soup seemed like a good choice. It was 1 lb before trimming. I peeled and roughly chopped into more or less 1 inch pieces.

I had previously used a pot to simmer carrots to make Sevillian marinated carrots from The New Spanish Table (great summer dish, by the way), so I threw the kohlrabi along with an additional 1 lb chopped carrots and more salt to the very same cooking liquid. I also threw in some parsley stems.

I simmered until all the pieces were more or less tender. I drained the veggies but retained the liquid separately. I mashed with a potato masher until corasely pasty and slowly ladeled back the cooking liquid until it reached the desired soupy consistency. It wasn't quite pureed enough for my tastes so I briefly took a stick blender to the thing. I then added some honey (these carrots were not very sweet and needed a little augmenting) and smoked paprika until I got the right smokey-hot-sweet-earthy balance. Topped with chopped parsley.

The flavor was pretty good. It might need a finishing vinegar and glug of olive oil. I could also see a mashed up roasted garlic clove going well with this.

aschie30 wrote:Inspired by JenM's post here and eatchicago's post in The Local Beet here, I was inspired to give Rick Bayless' Swiss chard tacos a try. I really liked them; they were an exercise in building flavor, from the slightly sweet/slightly bitter chard, to the smoky chipotle and refreshing queso fresco, which balanced the heat from the 1 T. (!) of crushed red pepper in the chard:

Now I have a dilemma, was going to make fish tacos tonight, but after looking at your Swiss Chard tacos am conflicted. Both or put fish tacos on hold, that is the question.

Enjoy,
Gary

A Very Green Dinner

Tonight, I used an entire large bunch of celery to make cream of celery soup. I am not crazy about CSA celery - its small stalks are just too tough to eat raw, in my opinion. So either into soup or stock it goes.

I used this recipe from Bon Appetit. Instead of using the full 1 c. heavy cream called for by the recipe, I used about 2 T. heavy cream and 2/3 c. milk. I also added baby turnips and toscano kale to the stock to simmer until tender. The extra greens meant that it needed a good pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. It is a thicker soup, but it is very clean and light tasting.



I served it with a "junk" salad, which is my riff on Dags' Italian salad, probably the unhealthiest salad ever and the only one you'll ever crave after a night of drinking. I used CSA box leafy greens & romaine, some kalamatas from Graziano's, a little drained jarred giardiniera from Fiore's to stand in for the pepperoncinis, sliced genoa salami and shredded mozzarella, which you are charged .95 for on Dags' menu. For the dressing, I used Ina Garten's caesar salad dressing, probably the only caesar-ish salad dressing I really like, if only because I don't find it too bland.

D'Agostinos (River West)
752 N. Ogden Ave.
Chicago, IL
(312) 850-3247

J.P. Graziano's
901 W. Randolph Street
Chicago IL
(312) 666-4587

Fiore's
2258 W Erie St
Chicago, IL 60612-1322
(312) 942-9419

Looks delish - I have an abundance of lettuce right now (bought some for insurance at the Farmer's Market and found mine is finally coming in nicely) so I might try that salad...

Mhays wrote:Looks delish - I have an abundance of lettuce right now (bought some for insurance at the Farmer's Market and found mine is finally coming in nicely) so I might try that salad...

Mhays -

The key to the junk salad is to eschew fancy-schmancy parmiggiano-reggiano. Instead, buy the pre-grated, sandy-textured Belgioso "Parmesan" at Dominick's and liberally dust the lettuce leaves with it when you dress the salad. The junk salad is my loose homage to the pizza parlor salads on the East Coast, where you dined-in for pizza and all the salads were kind of like this one. My favorite version of this salad is at The Berkshire, in Torrington CT, although they use a creamier (but just as cheesy) dressing:

Kristin on virtualtourist wrote:Order the salad at any time. Its composition has been the same for as long as I can remember: iceberg lettuce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, ham, pepperoni and olives. The Berkshire serves a creamy house dressing that is my all-time favorite salad dressing. I couldn't begin to tell you what it tastes like, though. It is well worth it.

The D'Ags version is close.

I do this most years:

dump a load of roughly cut up zucchini, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, onion, and garlic (all from what I imagine is in the latest CSA boxes, though I just go to the farmers market) into a baking dish, and toss with oil, salt and pepper:


Cook it at 275 for about 2.5 hours, until it looks like this:


Then I freeze it in single-serving plastic bags, for maximum flexibility (it will freeze as one big tough to separate block otherwise).

First I eat some, this time over leftover Chinese delivery brown rice, with basil and grated reggiano cheese.


This is the kind of simple peasant food that's only good if you use best of season ingredients. When all of the stuff is at its peak, I really love it. I use this all year as pasta sauce, side dish for fish or meat, stuffing for crepes, crostini topping, and addition to soups.

This thread is so inspirational, I love it-- the pizza and salad, the cream of veg soup, the oven roasted mixed veggies, yum!

We get our box on Saturdays, so Friday is often use-it-up day. We had another Fine Cooking recipe, "Spicy Sausage, Escarole, and White Bean Stew". I used black kale instead of the escarole, and threw in some wilted celery, and the last two carrots. I told my daughter what was for dinner and she said "This is farm box stew, isn't it Mom?" Served with french bread and good butter, it was excellent. Next time I would like a higher veg to sausage ratio-- this would be a perfect stew for those little turnips. I also fried up some thin-sliced zucchini "coins" in olive oil and dusted them with grated parmesan-- very kid-friendly.

The only thing left over this week were a few beets-- they will keep! Next week looks like a good set of veggies-- some of the fruiting crops are starting to come in, finally! Plus we are getting a cabbage-- I love juicy fresh CSA cabbages.

Jen

One of the better things I've had lately is dilly-leek-confit-dressed green beans.

I agree that the word confit is over and mis-used, but to me, it means slowly cooked in fat until the aromas and flavors make you salivate (even without the meat).

I subbed some spring onions for most of the leeks and added more dill than called for. They combined and topped the blanched green beans perfectly.

And echoing KennyZ's post above, we are just about in ratatouille season. With trixiep's great suggestion of cooking all the ingredients separately to desired doneness (eliminates a too-watery dish), I've made it before with great success. Round 1 went up last weekend and I even got over making it look pretty. I'm gonna keep cooking it as long as the seasonal ingredients keep begging me too.

gastro gnome wrote:And echoing KennyZ's post above, we are just about in ratatouille season. With trixiep's great suggestion of cooking all the ingredients separately to desired doneness (eliminates a too-watery dish), ...

prettier that way, I'm sure. But I didn't end up with anything I'd remotely call watery, and rather enjoy the one-pot ease of dumping everything in a dish and leaving it alone for a couple of hours. I also suspect that the garlic infuses everything just a bit, which isn't a bad thing in my book.

I made gazpacho during the mini-heat wave earlier this week, using cucumbers and onions and....watermelon! That last ingredient hasn't come in my csa yet this year, but I really hope it reappears. I have fond memories of the yellow one from last year.

But this recipe comes from a lovely home cook with an inspired ingredient. The watermelon adds smoothness and sweetness to the mix.

Gazpacho (by Amy Currie, author of Memoirs of a Home Cook)
2 cups tomato juice
2 tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 seedless cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, cored and chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 cup seedless watermelon, cubed
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Pulse tomato juice, tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, and watermelon in a food processor. Add vinegar and oil. Season to taste w/salt and pepper. Serves 6-8.

Kennyz wrote:[I] didn't end up with anything I'd remotely call watery, and rather enjoy the one-pot ease of dumping everything in a dish and leaving it alone for a couple of hours. I also suspect that the garlic infuses everything just a bit, which isn't a bad thing in my book.

I'm with you KZ. I love the separate-but-equal ratatouille, but the next round will be a chop, dump, bake operation.

Lindsay, that gazpacho recipe definitely looks interesting and I still have some watermelon to burn. The ratio of 1/2 C red wine vinegar to 2 T olive oil stood out to me. Was this an especially tart gazpacho? Or does the watermelon offset the vinegar? Was the consistency watery or creamy? I'm curious how it all came together with that amount of OO.

Gastro - Thanks for pointing out the red wine vinegar/oil ratio. I double checked the recipe and it calls for 1/4 cup, not 1/2 cup. In my batch, the watermelon and vinegar offset each other. I tasted hints of both, but neither overwhelmed. You can see a not-that-great photo on my blog (url below). It turned out a little watery, although I think I over pulsed the ingredients.

gastro gnome wrote:And echoing KennyZ's post above, we are just about in ratatouille season. With trixiep's great suggestion of cooking all the ingredients separately to desired doneness (eliminates a too-watery dish), I've made it before with great success. Round 1 went up last weekend and I even got over making it look pretty. I'm gonna keep cooking it as long as the seasonal ingredients keep begging me too.

One of my favorite parts of summer is ratatouille season, but it is like catching lightning in a bottle. Zucchini, eggplant, peppers, onions and tomatoes all have to be ripe at the same time. For me, the definitive recipe is Julia Child's, which is not the easiest to pull off. As you and trixie-pea have noted, the bane of ratatouille is water; in Julia's recipe, you layer the ingredients, but need to adjust the heat perfectly so that it simmers off the excess water but doesn't scorch the vegetables. The water that doesn't get evaporated mixes with the olive oil used to saute the vegetables and, when cooked down, creates a thick, flavorful liqueur that is used to occasionally baste the vegetables. It's a time consuming, fussy dish, but when executed perfectly, is the essence of summer.

Leftover ratatouille tastes great on a baguette, and if you're feeling fancy, you can put a slice of sharp provolone over it and put under the broiler a minute.

aschie30 wrote:

gastro gnome wrote:And echoing KennyZ's post above, we are just about in ratatouille season. With trixiep's great suggestion of cooking all the ingredients separately to desired doneness (eliminates a too-watery dish), I've made it before with great success. Round 1 went up last weekend and I even got over making it look pretty. I'm gonna keep cooking it as long as the seasonal ingredients keep begging me too.

As you and trixie-pea have noted, the bane of ratatouille is water; in Julia's recipe, you layer the ingredients, but need to adjust the heat perfectly so that it simmers off the excess water but doesn't scorch the vegetables. The water that doesn't get evaporated mixes with the olive oil used to saute the vegetables and, when cooked down, creates a thick, flavorful liqueur that is used to occasionally baste the vegetables. It's a time consuming, fussy dish, but when executed perfectly, is the essence of summer.

I must be missing something. Ratatouille is - to me - the exact opposite of fussy. Maybe it's because I use the tiny little cherry tomatoes which have less liquid, but there is no excess water and no scorching. Low oven temperature, long cooking, leave it alone for 2-3 hours but for a stir or two. What's the fuss? The result is sweet, the vegetables maintain a bit of integrity, and there is indeed a little sweet, syruppy liquor that mixed with the oil to create something quite luscious and thick.

Kennyz wrote:I must be missing something. Ratatouille is - to me - the exact opposite of fussy. Maybe it's because I use the tiny little cherry tomatoes which have less liquid, but there is no excess water and no scorching. Low oven temperature, long cooking, leave it alone for 2-3 hours but for a stir or two. What's the fuss? The result is sweet, the vegetables maintain a bit of integrity, and there is indeed a little sweet, syruppy liquor that mixed with the oil to create something quite luscious and thick.

Kenny - As you know, any cooking of eggplant will render a ton of water. So, you have to salt the eggplant first, and let it sit. Also, Julia's recipe (found here) is done on the stovetop in a casserole, not in the oven. I also blanch and peel the tomatoes (because I don't want rolled up tomato skins in the finished dish). Also, you saute certain ingredients in stages, then layer them into the casserole for the long haul. Like I said, it's fussy, but to me, it creates the perfect ratatouille.

Also, I hate to get all food purist on you, but some would argue that ratatouille is a stew, and must be slow simmered on a stove. Some others may argue that the vegetables should be separately sauteed before layering into the casserole. See here and here. But, of course, this is all up for debate.

aschie30 wrote:
Kenny - As you know, any cooking of eggplant will render a ton of water. So, you have to salt the eggplant first, and let it sit.

"Have to" is, of course, a matter of perspective. Yes eggplant renders plenty of liquid, sometimes with an unpleasant bitter aftertate. But I find that to be an issue only with the standard, dark-skinned western eggplant varieties. With the relatively small, young Asian varieties I buy, I never pre-salt, and never have a problem with the result.