CSA - Black Radishes

One of the things that I was looking forward to after moving to Pennsylvania was joining a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture.  If you go to LocalHarvest's web page you can find CSAs in your area.  Basically, you join up, pay some money and get something back from the farm.  What you get back depends on the farm or group that you join.  It is kind of a through good times and in bad relationship, drought or flood, you are supporting the farmers.  There are a couple in the Pittsburgh area, we joined Penn's Corner Farm Alliance for 32 weeks.  One of the things that appealed to us about Penn's Corner was that they are an alliance of more than 30 farms.  I would love to have been able to join two different ones or see what some one else gets in their weekly box. 

I had my concerns about my first box.  It was snowing here last week, nothing was green.  I assumed that the farmers would be relying on the greenhouses.  The box contained a variety of lettuce, an onion, a dozen eggs, a handful of rosemary, a bag of puffed corn, a quart of apple cider and some black radishes. 

 The black radish was a new one for us.  Used by the French and some Asian countries, it's flavor is a little more pronounced than your normal radish.  

 I cleaned them, sauteed them in olive oil for a little browning and then put them in a salad with grapefruit and celery and a citrus dressing.  We really enjoyed them.  I read a French recipe where they are grated and put in creme fraiche.  We may try that as well, sounds  a little rich. 

 We already used some of the eggs in spaghetti carbonara.   We are struggling with the honey puffed corn.  My husband tried it for breakfast, not his favorite.  I ground some up and put it in cookies, the kids liked them but there is more.

The little bag of rosemary made me sad.  I miss my Texas backyard.  I miss my bay tree, my rosemary, sage, parsley, oregano, chives that grew year round.  I don't miss the extreme drought.  But rosemary was practically a weed in Texas.  The little bag was a frank reminder of how different things are.

We are going to start some four squares in our small urban backyard.  Once we start gardening, this new backyard will start to feel like we own it.  I bet that it will be easier than gardening in Texas.  It actually rains here.  And one of my neighbors has had some luck keeping rosemary outside in a protected area. 

Here is a picture of my husband and one of my son's looking at the backyard on our last day in Texas.  The brown spot is where the summer drought death starts.  The rosemary wrapped around the beds.  It took us a couple years to get us to this point, let's see how our new backyard is next year.

I am going to put a link on In her Chucks What's in the Box? page.   It is a gathering of posts about what people found in their CSA boxes.  You can see that everyone has different growing seasons. 

We got a reminder email from our CSA telling us that our growing season is behind.  I think that I had figured that one out on my own.  Every time I walk out the door, I am pleasantly surprised not to see snow.

Financiers - FFwD

This week's French Friday's with Dorie was a delicious simple treat.  Designed originally in a small gold bar like pan to appeal to the Frenchman on the go in the financial district.  It was an easy batter made with browned butter and sugar, almond flour and all purpose flour and a lot of egg whites.  As instructed, I chilled it over night and then had difficulty filling the pans, the batter was so thick.  I really enjoyed these simple treats.

This is Murphy, looking especially large in her winter coat.  She is my son's Portuguese Water Dog.  She spent the first months of her life on a farm, eating fresh eggs.  When I begin to bake, she comes running when she hears the egg carton open, ever hopeful for the extra egg white or egg yolk.  She thinks that we should make financiers more often. 

Olive Sables

I have been married a long time, 27 years.   Over those years I really have tried not to lie to my husband.  Now sometimes I might omit some details, some trivial points.  But I do not lie. 

As I was baking these cookies, I tasted the batter and I began to think about how I could even get him to try these.

Actually I was worried before the cookie even began.  When I went to choose the olives.  I wanted to make sure that I was getting the olive oil cured olives.  I asked the man behind the counter.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was putting these olives in a recipe with a cup of confectioners sugar.    "Excuse me sir could you tell me which of these olives you would pair with sugar"  never came out of my mouth.

When I went home, I cut the recipe in half.  We like savory, we tolerate some sweet.  But both, in the same mouthful.  Maybe in nuts. 

I got out the ingredients.

I made the cookies.  I didn't like the batter but I thought maybe the flavor would change after baking.  When they came out of the oven, I tried another one.  My last.  I put them on a tray and my husband said "is this a savory cookie"  and I pretended that I didn't hear because he would expect full disclosure.  Normally I've got his back.  But I wanted to see if maybe he'd like them without my input.

He tried one.  He hated it.  He asked me if it was an April fools joke.

I know that some people already have made and enjoyed this Friday's French Fridays with Dorie .  It is amazing how we all have different food preferences. 

Spinach with a hint of lemon - FFwD

This was easy and delicious.  My husband thought I was making a salad because he walked in on this  at the beginning.  We make something similar with garlic.  I enjoyed this.  Perhaps I forgot to photography it after it was steamed...

I've caught up on a few French Fridays with Dorie recipes.  We loved the cheezy crackers.

Only one family member likes seaweed in his sables.

I could eat the spread every day.

Around my French Table is indeed one of my favorite cookbooks.

Disaster - Ispahan Loaf Cake - FFWD

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe was for an Ispahan loaf cake.  Ispahan is a type of rose and famed French pastry chef Pierre Hermé made some inspiring combinations of rose, raspberries and lychees.  Does that appeal to you?  Apparently, people rave about them.  Not in my house, remember they prefer their fruit uncooked.  And their roses in vases.

I considered not making this dessert because I knew that I would end up with some unusual ingredients and probably wouldn't be using them frequently.   We are not drawn to desserts,   They will eat anchovies, garlic, parsnips, snails.  I cannot fault their desire to eat all fruit raw.

The Monin bottle of rose syrup is gorgeous.  Although I went to four Middle Eastern grocery stores without success and then ordered it on line. 

The recipe was easy to follow.

The loaf was easy to assemble.

It was a fairly simple recipe.  A loaf cake.  My results however made me ponder how long I had been baking.  My mother was willing to accept all help in the kitchen.   I can remember not being able to reach the temperature controls to turn on the oven in my early kitchen experiences.  So, maybe I have been baking for 40 years.  4 decades... 

Perhaps I was somewhat distracted.  I am doing a lot of that now, distracted baking.  It doesn't always work out.

Anyway  the loaf appeared baked.  I tested it.  I remember thinking that I thought that it might take longer.  I was surprised that it was done.  You can see the hole where the skewer went in in the shot above.


When I went to take it out, disaster struck.  Clearly, the middle level was still not cooked,  hot batter and berries oozed out.  I slapped it back in the pan and put it back in the oven.

People ate it.  I may make it again to show that I can bake.  I may not.  Anyone still looking for rose syrup?

Soup's On - French Fridays with Dorie

There are somethings that I want to taste simply because visually they appeal to me.  Fresh strawberries, autumn pears, a chunk of cheese, a beautifully browned baguette all would beckon to me with their beauty, even before I smelled them.  Taste me.

This orange scented lentil soup lacks visual appeal.  Mine looked like brown water.  But the smell was intoxicating.  And the taste was delicious.

It started out with onions, carrots and celery sauteing in olive oil.  I added brown vegetable broth, but I don't think the alternative chicken broth would have really perked things up.  French green lentils, coriander seeds, pepper corns, one clove , some orange peel and some ginger were simmered for an hours.  After seasoning with salt and pepper I so enjoyed this soup with a piece of crunchy bread.  I really enjoyed the hints of ginger in each spoonful.

I am glad that I made this week's French Fridays with Dorie.

Last week I made the cheesy crème brulee  but didn't post.  We were not wowed by it.  We are not custard fans.  It tasted good, but I'd rather eat the cheese by itself.  

Chicken Breast Diable - FFwD

When I read that we were doing Chicken Breasts Diable for March's first French Fridays with Dorie I got a little excited.  My husband loves anything that the Italian's cook fra diavolo, however I quickly learned that the French and the Italians have different ideas of spicy.

The French use mustard.  We had been forced to throw out many of our condiments when we moved.  Luckily, I had picked up a bottle of my favorite Dijon, boasting 260 years of expertise.

This ended up being a delightful meal.  Easy to prepare and enjoyed by all.   

 I was very exited that the sauce needed some dry white wine.  I needed an excuse to leave the house on another wintery day to buy a bottle.  It was chilling in the fridge and missed the photo op.

Chicken breasts were pounded and sauteed in olive oil and butter.  Then they went into the oven to stay warm.    Garlic and shallots were sauteed in the pan, a little wine was added and the brown bits were scraped into the sauce.  Cream, mustard and Worcestershire sauce were combined to make a delicious sauce.  One that I am sure that we will return to again.