thoughtful consumption

For this St Patrick’s Day delivery, I’ll divide the discussion into three parts – like a shamrock!

Part 1

• bean sprouts
• honey yogurt
• apple pie jam
• cabbage
• popping corn
• watercress
• sweet potatoes

The bean sprouts are going to my mom because she has a pad thai recipe she’s been wanting to try. The yogurt was very tasty – just yogurt with a whole bunch of honey. I inhaled it immediately. Apple pie jam looks great. I’m defrosting some whole wheat bread from a pre-season delivery to make toast and jam. Bet you could also make some good cookies with this jam. Cabbage is great to have for fast sautés with onion and garlic. Probably won’t have any until next week, though.

Have you got a whole bunch of popping corn, too? Did you hear the one about popping corn on the cob in the microwave in a paper bag? You stick the cob in a paper lunch sack and put it in the microwave on high for two minutes. Haven’t tried it yet, but I’m going to as soon as I find a bag. If not, I’ve got a system for popping corn on the stove that’s working well. Check out this pretty batch.

I’ll be sure to write about the on-the-cob recipe once I try it.

Watercress is a peppery green that you could put in salad. Or you can put it in the food processor with some cream cheese and make a sandwich spread. Either way, be sure to pull yours out of the bag and check it for slimies. With my bunch, I tried to pull out all the slimy stems and leaves. Then I wrapped the base in a paper towel to control some of the moisture and put it back in the bag (after turning the bag inside –out so it wouldn’t be so wet inside).

These sweet potatoes look like good ones. We just wrap ours in plastic wrap and microwave them for 5 or 6 minutes, turning once. Sweet potatoes + salad make a great lunch.

Part 2

• eggs
• hydroponic lettuce
• strawberries
• kale
• spinach

I was fresh out of eggs, so it’s great to get these guys. Looking forward to scrambled eggs and possibly more egg custard this week.

The hydroponic lettuce is all washed and ready to plate at a moment’s notice.

I’ll serve it with sweet potatoes and a couple of pieces of leftover fried chicken next.

The strawberries are already washed, chopped, and flash frozen.

I do love my frozen strawberries! And I think the local ones are even better than these from Florida. In this week’s newsletter, Patricia says the strawberry crop might suffer from the moisture and lack of sun. And I was planning to stock up this season and have frozen strawberries for a treat all year round! But that’s part of the ups and downs of eating local produce.

I was happy to see the kale in the box this week. I think I’m coming around to liking kale –  at least kale with raisins and pine nuts. Somehow, as a vegetable, kale has charisma. Maybe it’s the texture? I really want to like kale, and I’m glad we’re becoming better acquainted.

I’ll go through the spinach and pick out the baby leaves for a fresh salad. The rest I’ll cook or possibly wilt for salad.

Part 3 – online store order

• catnip
• catfish
• blue cheese

The catnip is for my afternoon tea break. I make a pot of caffeinated tea in the morning and a pot of decaf in the afternoon. But herbal tea’s better because it is tea and it hydrates. While catnip is calming, it doesn’t put me to sleep, so it’s okay in the afternoon.

Couldn’t resist trying the catfish although I don’t think I’ll be able to cook it until next week. I plan on frying them in some of the cornmeal I got in pre-season. Maybe I’ll make some coleslaw with the cabbage, too.

This month’s Cooking Light had an article on frying basics and especially on how to keep fried food from getting greasy. I like Cooking Light. I’ve tried several cooking magazines, but this one fits the way I like to cook best – fresh, not fancy, and not a lot of emphasis on presentation. Here’s what I learned and will try to use with my catfish.

Keep the oil hot and clean: I’ve never used a thermometer, but I’ve got one and will try this time. When you add the food, the oil temp goes down. So the thermometer helps you adjust the heat to keep the oil hot. And food doesn’t absorb as much hot oil.  I’ll also try to skim out any leftover breading bits between batches to keep burned bits from interfering with the flavor. (Although with catfish for two, there won’t be many batches.)

Add carbonation: Adding baking soda or something carbonated to the breading also keeps the food from absorbing excess oil. For catfish, I’m thinking beer.

Conveniently the article has a recipe for frying catfish that describes a three-step breading process.

1. flour alone
2. milk and eggs mixture
3. flour, cornmeal, and black pepper mixture (about 1:1 with the flour and meal)

So that’s what I’m going to try next week.

The Blue Farmhouse Cheese was my birthday/getting-a-book-to-press present to myself. It tastes sooo good!

Part 4 (oops!):

Found this little guy at the bottom of my CSA box. How lucky is that! It’s been a couple of months since we’ve had fresh garlic, and I’m so looking forward to using it again.