6.27.2007

Balcony Garden

Just wanted to share a picture of my balcony garden progress. Things are looking good for the most part, just some slight yellowing of leaves is occurring in my basil. I'm trying to determine if I'm over watering or if they need to be fertilized. On a positive note, my pepperoncini peppers are looking great!

6.25.2007

Here is our Share!
Week 3


Starting at the top from left to right: Red Chard, Broccoli Rabe, Arugula, Beets, Sugar Snap Peas, Japanese Turnips & lettuce.


With week three upon we are starting to receive a more diverse share. Things are looking up and tasting good!

We could not wait to get our hands on the broccoli raab. I have to admit I was jealous last week when I heard that the larger shares were receiving some. We gave the raab a quick steam bath to loosen them up and make them feel good before stewing them in some fresh sausage sauce. The raab and sauce went over some fresh gnocchi from Capones.




We couldn't stop popping the sugar snap peas au natural.







Sauteed red chard, grilled salmon and lemons.








The last honorable mention this week;
The Salted Cod has pickled some baby beets to save for a later date.

6.18.2007

Here is our share!
Week 2

Starting at the top from left to right: Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, Lettuce, Arugula, Red Russian Kale, & Pea Tendrils.

Another week of greens! Steve promised some "non greens" next week. Either way another week of great salads with the lettuce and arugula.


Kale and Collards: Southern style with ham hocks







We also had a little Father's day grilling action!



Lemon garlic sauteed pea tendrils, grilled nectarines, grilled bbq chicken and red bliss potato salad.

6.14.2007

Crabs Ahoy!

We came across these soft shell crabs yesterday at Whole Foods in Cambridge. These were caught live in Maryland and selling for $5.99 per crab, very simple to prepare as well. Pat Mr. Crab dry with a paper towel before dredging in a mixture of flour, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Cover the bottom of your frying pan with oil, once the oil reaches a medium high heat around 350f you’re good to go. The best part is it only takes 2-3 minutes per side. We served this po’boy style on some fresh bread, fresh lettuce, tarter and hot sauce. Mr. Crab had a nice crispy crunch with soft mild meat inside. This brought us back to a child hood vacation in Chesapeake Bay! Get them while you can.

6.13.2007

Homemade Pizza Pies!

Much to the surprise of The Salted Cod, we have finally made a good pizza at home. The crust was basic supermarket pizza dough which was first oiled and grilled on the barbie to give it a nice crunch (and those burnt edges we love so much.) We then topped this pie with fire roasted eggplant & sweet potato chunks along with caramelized onions and crumbled goat cheese. A few sprinklings of dried rosemary really brought this to a higher level. The topped pizza then went under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

Even the roommates were impressed by this pie, "looks better than Mama Celeste!"

6.11.2007

Here is our share!
Week 1

We are happy to announce a new weekly series entitled, “Here is our share!” These specific posts are going to follow our CSA share from Parker Farm in Lunenburg, Massachusetts through out the summer and into the fall. Every Wednesday we meet up with Mr. Parker in Cambridge where he drops off weekly vegetable shares for us urban people who buy a share in his farm for the season. We receive a great variety of different items that are currently in season. It’s a great value which goes to a noble cause and it's super fresh! You can even talk to the farmer who grows your food (how many of you can say that?) We will post a picture of what was received for the week, and an entry or two of the more exciting things we have made with the share.


WEEK 1

Starting at the top from left to right: mustard greens, turnip greens, mizuna, spinach, lettuce, and bok choy.



After making a nice salad with some of the mizuna and boston lettuce greens we quickly turned out attention to the baby bok choy in share number one. The greens were chopped off the top while the bottoms were halved and braised with some wild mushrooms. We paired these tender greens with teriyaki chicken and brown rice. Next time we would suggest caramelizing the bok choy just a bit more.

Other tips after week one; let the greens soak in a large bowl then a few times around in a salad spinner. Not that we mind, but there is significantly more sand and dirt in these greens than the mega mart variety. It’s still a nice trade off.