Kale Potato Soup

My half Portuguese boyfriend's preferred use of kale is kale potato soup. I wish I had chorizo to make it properly Portuguese, but I skipped that ingredient this time. Here's the recipe as it should be.

I used my own vegetable broth and halved the recipe. He informed me kale should be sauteed a bit in butter or oil before being added, especially since it is no longer the tender, early season kale. This soup is a comfort food that would be fitting in mid-winter, except you don't have such delicious kale then!

Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
3/4 cup sliced carrots
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound russet potatoes
4 cups chicken broth
3/4 pound Spanish chorizo
3/4 pound kale, stems discarded and the leaves washed well, spun dry, and shredded thin (about 8 cups packed)
1 pound red potatoes

In a soup pot, cook the garlic, the onions, and the carrot in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until the vegetables are softened. Add the russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces, the broth, and 4 cups water, bring the liquid to a boil, and simmer the mixture, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, in a skillet cook the chorizo over moderate heat, stirring, until it is browned lightly and transfer it with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. With the slotted spoon transfer the cooked potatoes to a blender, add about 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid and purée the mixture until it is smooth.

Stir the purée into the broth mixture, add the chorizo, the kale, the red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces, and salt and pepper to taste, and simmer the soup, covered, for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Vegetable Broth

All season long I've been freezing my leftover bits of raw vegetables, saving them for a vegetable broth. The stalk of broccoli, tops of garlic and onion, unused greens (except lettuce), last year's wild harvested fiddleheads. I had a one-gallon sized ziploc bag full of veggies, so now it's time for broth!

It was incredibly easy to make; I can't believe I haven't done it before. I chose the longer method - where you take your time browning the veggies before adding the liquid. You can skip the browning to speed things up.

The flavor was so concentrated, I may dilute for use.

Vegetable Broth

Heat a soup pot and add 2 Tbsp of oil. Add the veggies to brown. Leave them alone for 5 minutes, then stir. Repeat this procedure until you have good browning.

Add 6 cups of water, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 20 stems with leaves of parsley, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer.

Simmer, covered, for about an hour. The longer you go, the more flavor it will have, though even just 30 minutes will do if you are in a hurry.

When finished, strain the liquid into a container.

Broth can be frozen to increase storage time.

Babaganoush

The recipe for Babaganoush came with the farm newsletter. I wish I could credit the person who submitted the recipe, but I lost the original page. This is based off of memory. I made it one more time to be sure I remembered it correctly.

Babaganoush

1 large eggplant
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup parsley, thick stems removed, chopped

Grill, broil or bake the eggplant until soft and collapsed, turning a few times. The skin can become blackened in places.

Chop the garlic cloves small and mush in the salt to create garlic salt. In a bowl, combine the garlic salt, tahini, lemon juice and parsley. When cool, remove the eggplant skins and add the eggplant to the mixture. Stir well. If you prefer a smoother texture, blitz in a food processor.

Quick Pasta for One

I got home later than usual after going to the gym. My kitchen was already clean and I didn't want to mess it up with a complicated recipe. Plus, I had some delicious pesto ready to use.

I made a pasta without following a recipe, just creating as I went.

I sliced zucchini into long wedges, put it on a cookie sheet with two scallions, spritzed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and broiled until a little brown at the edges.

Meanwhile, I put whole grain pasta on to boil. When cooked, I drained the pasta but left a little bit of the cooking water behind. I stirred in a spoonful of pesto, carrot puree (also pre-made earlier this week) and Parmesan. I put the veggies from the broiler on top, drizzled a bit of balsamic vinegar and cracked on pepper.

Dinner in 15 minutes!

Pesto

I had great success storing the basil I got over a week ago.

When I brought home the share, I placed the bunch of Basil in a vase with water, wrapped it in a wet paper towel, covered it with a plastic bag and stored it in my fridge. It stayed as fresh as the day I picked it up. A few of the flowers even blossomed.

I used little bits of it here in there for lemonade, pasta dishes and a sandwich. But now, it's just beginning to show signs of wilting. Before I waste any of it, I'm making a pesto. You can even use the flower blossoms in the pesto.

Basil Pesto

2 cups of basil leaves
2 Tbsp pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and puree. Scrape down the sides a few times as you go. Add up to an additional 1/4 cup of olive oil as needed.

For storage, spritz the top with olive oil to keep it nice and green. Cover tightly.

When you are ready to use the pesto, stir in some parmesan cheese.

Vegetable Puree

When all the veggies from yesterday's pickup were spread out across my kitchen table, I was feeling a little overwhelmed. There was so much there! I never want anything to go to waste.

So I made a puree. It stores much smaller and is a different texture than other veggie preparations so my meals don't get boring. Puree can add excitement to simple things. I think I want to use it as a bed for a roasted vegetable dish. Doesn't that sound pretty?

If I had an orange, I would have used orange juice instead of lemon and I would have grated in some orange zest. I used stem ginger, since I had some I wanted to use up, plus that adds a touch of sweetness.

Carrot Puree

1 small bunch of carrots, cleaned and roughly chopped
Salt
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp minced ginger

Steam the carrots until soft. Using a hand blender or food processor (or a fork and some determination) mash the carrots to your preferred texture. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

CSA Week 6

The Pick List for Week 6:

Spring Onions
Celery
Beets
Carrots
Kale
Japanese Eggplant
Green Peppers
Parsley
Pickling Cucumbers
Zucchini

The celery is greener and smells better than any I have seen before. I get a kick out of becoming familiar with the farm-version of vegetables. The CSA doesn't trim them up like they do in the produce aisle; the vegetables still have their extraneous leaves and offshoots. 

As usual, I purchased extra items in the farm stand. The stand is so well stocked, I hardly need to go to the grocery store. I bought eggs, honey made right on the farm, cheese, bread, tomatoes, plums, raspberries, bananas, an avocado, a cubanelle pepper, yellow zucchini (which is comic book yellow!) and romaine lettuce. My pet rabbit will appreciate the romaine I bought. He turns his nose up at any other type; his stubbornness means he hasn't gotten fresh lettuce in many weeks.

The farm newsletter informed us that high heat damaged 1,000 heads of lettuce. That may explain why we didn't get any lettuce included in bushel.

Olive Chicken and Mustard-Caper Sauce over Cauliflower

I was thinking of Julia Child as I sliced the hunk of butter into this dish. It was worth the indulgence. The flavors of this dish are tangy and salty. They work well together. In some dishes, a sprinkling of capers can be overpowering. Here, with so many strong flavors at one time - olives, sundried tomatoes, gherkins, capers, mustard, vermouth - it worked well.

The recipe called for anchovies, which I'm not a big fan of and rarely have in my kitchen. For a similar salty flavor, I would substitute olives or olive tapenade. I only had a sundried-tomato/olive tapenade in my refrigerator. A substitute for the substitute.

I pounded my chicken breasts with a jar to flatten them up a bit before cooking, then sprinkled with salt and pepper.

My cauliflower was impressively white around the outer florets. Middle-of-the-winter cauliflower with its browning edges is no comparison.

Olive Chicken

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Olive tapenade
Two 4 to 6 oz. chicken breasts
1/2 cup vermouth or dry white wine
4 gherkins, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the olive tapenade and push around the skillet for about a minute to spread the flavor into the oil. Salt and Pepper two chicken breasts. Cook for a few minutes each side and remove to a warm plate. Add the vermouth and gherkins, letting the wine bubble the bits off the bottom of the pan. Scrape over the chicken.


Mustard-Caper Sauce over Cauliflower

2 to 3 Tbsp of butter in the microwave.
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp of stone-ground mustard
1 Tbsp capers

Melt the butter in the microwave. Add the remaining ingredients to the melted butter. Whisk in 1 tsp of cornstarch if you'd like a thicker sauce. Serve over freshly steamed cauliflower or broccoli.

Kale Chips

I've been wanting to try this recipe, but I use all my kale for smoothies. I bought extra kale this week and had enough to finally try it. The oven was hot this morning while roasting some veggies for a breakfast side dish and I used it for the dual purpose of making a salty snack for later in the day.

Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale
Olive Oil
Seasoned or plain salt

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. Line a non-insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil. Remove the kale leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite-sized pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry with a salad spinner.

Drizzle the kale with ~1 Tbsp olive oil. I have spritzer, so I spray mine on without measuring volume. I likely use less than 1 Tbsp with the spritzer. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 min.

My friend warned me they were easy to overcook. I erred on removing them a little early, and they were perfect.

I hesitate to call them chips; they are so frail. They have an interesting taste and would fix a salt craving, but they certainly couldn't be used to scoop any dip. Crushed, they might make an interesting topping for a baked dish.

Fennel Chicken

This recipe was given to me by my farm share buddy. In the past, I've eaten the fennel raw in salads or slaws. This was my first time cooking with fennel!


Braised Chicken with Fennel and White Beans

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 lb Chicken Breasts, in large slices
Salt
Pepper
1 onion, cut into little moons
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Parsley for garnish

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces to the skillet and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove the chicken from the pan.

Add the onion, garlic, fennel and bell pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chicken, tomatoes, wine and rosemary. Heat to boiling, then cover and reduce the heat to a light simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.

Stir in the beans and cook for a few minutes until the beans are heated through and the sauce is thickened.

Serve with crusty bread for soaking up the flavorful sauce!