Cinnamon Apple Beets

My produce items: Chioggia Beets, Pink Lady Apples

2 pink lady apples
2 chioggia beets
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Dice up the apples and beets into cubes.  Place in a sauce pan and add the cinnamon sugar.  Cover and let cook 10-15 minutes stirring frequently to coat everything in the sugar and prevent burning.

Final Verdict: Fail

I promised myself I would attempt all new recipes on this blog.  Everything I've made so far, I've never made or attempted before.  Unless I list where I got the recipe, it's something I just threw together and made up on the fly.  I've been mostly successful so far, but not this time.  I also promised that I would post every recipe that I make with produce items from the boxes, even if they don't turn out and this one definitely didn't turn out.  This was actually a dish I had made at the beginning of the month that I wasn't going to post, but again I have to post every experiment.  On the plus side, the apples were delicious.  The beets however were kind of yucky.  They threw the whole flavor of the apples way off.  I had heard that chioggia beets were sweeter than regular beets and maybe the fact that they look like a candy cane got me thinking it would be good to attempt a dessert with it and although beets are pretty versatile, they are not THAT versatile.  It just didn't work.  I ended up eating all the apples out of it and throwing the rest away.  On the plus side I usually hate baked apples but the apple side of this dish turned out really good.  Note to self: pink lady cinnamon sugar apples simmered in a covered saucepan are the way to go.

Survivor food & Chocolate covered strawberries

 The contenders this week:

Kale, lettuce, lemon, green garlic and strawberries!

Survivor Food (aka basic, no frills food)

3 cups of cooked rice
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 green garlic, finely chopped
Sun dried tomates, sliced thinly
Extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of lettuce (optional)
1 lemon
Lawry's seasoned salt
Pepper
Basil
Balsamic vinegar
Patron (or whatever alcohol you have on hand that feels fitting)
Chicken breast fillets (I had 6 on hand)

In a large pan on medium heat, add in evoo, shallots, salt, pepper, basil, green garlic and sun dried tomatoes, and let them saute for about ten minutes. Add in kale, lettuce and bit more evoo and cook the greens down, about another 10-20.

Combine greens with rice & juice of lemon. Set aside. Add in more evoo to the pan, toss in chicken, season as you like, cook til done.

After the chicken was cooked I noticed that there were tasty burned bits stuck to the pan. I love white rice, but it can get boring. So I decided to deglaze the pan with 1 shot of water, 1 shot of patron and 1 shot of balsamic because it looked at me the wrong way when I went through my cabinet. I deglazed and cooked it down by half and added it to the rice.

The results: Tasty and filling.

I was a big fan of the green garlic. Subtle sweet earthiness; I was pleasantly pleased. It also mingled well the the shallots. The balsamic concoction added the favor that was missing from the rice, though I would probably try to add a bit more in the future. Definitely will have to remember this recipe for the future.

And then I did this:

I will never buy grocery store strawberries again. ...Unless they're 2 for 3 at Ralph's. But I'll try REALLY hard to buy from a farmer.

GOLABKI or Polish Stuffed Cabbage

My produce ingredients: Cabbage and green garlic

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage

1 cup rice

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

1 tsp polish seasoning

2 tbls diced green garlic

2 cups beef broth (and or 1 can tomato sauce)

Pronounced go-womp-ki, this dish took me back to my Polish roots. I'm embarrassed to say it's the first Polish food I've made on my own (I've made quite a few things with Grandma over the years). First cook the rice half way: boil 2 cups of water, add rice, bring back to a boil, cover and set on low heat for 10 minutes. We don't need to cook all the way through. Then core your cabbage as best you can (just slightly is ok). Bring a few cups of water to medium heat on the stove and add your cabbage. In order to roll up the golabki the cabbage has to be tender and flexible. As the outer leaves turn bright green, peal them off and leave the head in there, as the inner layers will still be tough. In a medium mixing bowl mix together meat, as much rice as you like (I only used half a cup for this), seasoning, and garlic. Some recipes call for minced, partially cooked onion, so feel free to add that too if you've got it. 

To assemble your golabki, place a small handful of filling in the leaf, fold either side in, and roll up. I channeled my inner burrito maker to help with this. Then I used toothpicks to secure the Polish treats. In your largest skillet, heat up beef broth to medium. Add as many golabkis as you can fit in one layer (don't over do it). Let this cook for 2 hours on the stove. Add water as needed to keep them mostly submerged. Flip them once at an hour and again near the end. This will keep the filling moist. Serve with some of the broth or with sour cream for an authentic Polish meal.

Result: Wyborny (that's Polish for excellent)

This may be a labor of love, due to the long cooking time, but if you've got time to spare, this is an excellent meal. I had a few that wouldn't fit in my skillet so I baked them in the oven with can of tomato sauce on a bed of the remaining rice. I could have added a can full of water to this too, as it was difficult to keep these from drying out. I flipped these the same as I did in the skillet, which helped immensely. 

I have to say, I love the green garlic. The flavor is crisper, and sweeter than regular garlic. A real treat to find something so tasty! It's almost like a green onion and garlic had a love child, and the result is perfect to add flavor to savory dishes! For this reason, it's a good thing I forgot to add the onion! I chopped up all of it, but I only added about 2 tablespoons (maybe another pinch for good luck). It was an appropriate amount, and now I have some extra garlic ready to cook in something else! I'll have to keep my eye out at the stores to see if anyone sells it regularly.

Cheesy Spinach Mashed Potatoes

My produce items: Spinach, Red Potatoes

6 red potatoes
1 bunch of spinach
1/4  teaspoon of seasoning salt (I used Penzey's 4S)
1/8 teaspoon of garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon of table salt
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese

Chop up spinach and sautee in a pan.  Sprinkle in pinches of seasoning salt and garlic salt for flavor and continue to sautee until spinach is soft and seasoned.

Slice red potatoes into 2 inch pieces and boil on stove until soft. Drain red potatoes and mash them up with a potato masher.  Add in 1/4 teaspoon of seasoning salt, 1/8 teaspoon of garlic salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of table salt and continue to mash/mix up.  Add in sauteed garlic and mix with a wooden spoon.  Add in cheddar cheese and mix with a wooden spoon until all cheese is melted.  Add more seasoning and garlic salt if desired.

Serves 4-6

Final Verdict: Yummy

I've always liked mash potatoes but this is the first time I added spinach to them.  It was very good.  What else can I say?  It's mashed potatoes.  I always feel red potatoes are the best for mashing.  I think it actually would have tasted even better if I added chopped up bacon to it.  I would likely use less salt if I added bacon, but next time I make this I'll try adding it.

Kiwi Apple Turnovers

My produce items: Kiwis, Pink Lady Apples

2 kiwis

3 pink lady apples

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

2-3 tablespoons of sugar

2-3 tablespoons of peach jam

2 tubes of pillsbury crescent rolls

Skin and dice apples removing the core. Place apples in a saucepan. Add cinnamon and sugar and simmer covered until apples are soft and evenly coated in cinnamon sugar (about 10-15 minutes).

Skin and dice kiwis. Spread out 8 crescent roll triangles on a baking sheet (1 tube). Spread peach jam on the crescent roll dough. Add kiwis and apples on top. Open up the second tube of crescent rolls. Place new triangles over top of each triangle with kiwi apple mixture and pinch the sides to create a triangle packet with the kiwi and apples inside (you may need to spread out the dough some to get it to cover).

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve warm.

Serves: 8
Final Verdict: Yummy

We were serving 8, but for less people you could obviously use 1 tube of pillsbury crescent rolls to make 4. The pillsbury rolls come precut into 4 triangles. Instead of rolling it into a 'croissant,' I just used it as a crust. I think the kiwis and apples went well together with the peach jam. This recipe could be easily duplicated with other types of fruit and jams. The jam I used was homemade from Dupar's Restaurant and Bakery. Next time I'm going to try strawberries with raspberry jam from Solvang. I also felt the turnovers could have used more jam so next time I'll also top off the fruit mixture as well as spreading on the dough.

Strawberry Blood Orange Creamsicles

My produce items: Strawberries, Blood Oranges

1 cup of chopped strawberries

3/4 cup of blood orange juice

1/2 cup of milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk
Juice the blood oranges (I used all four) and puree the juice with the strawberries in a blender until smooth. Add milk and can of sweetened condensed milk and puree again until smooth and creamy.

Pour into popsicle trays and freeze. You may need to run hot water under the bottom of the popsicle mold to loosen in order to get them out once you're read to eat them.

Serves: 8-12

Final Verdict: A Delicious Treat!

I got this recipe online from Poor Girl Eats Well. I think it turned out amazingly well. I actually made these a week ago and just kept frozen until it was time to serve at the luncheon. They were delicious. It's basically a strawberry creamsicle. The blood orange flavor didn't appear to be too prominent but it was a nice treat I'll be making again in the summer time.

Produce Box Luncheon

Thanks to everyone for an excellent produce box luncheon. We ended up with a balanced three course meal (totally unplanned). Everyone made a dish out of their produce box fruits and vegetables and collectively everything went together wonderfully.

For an appetizer, we had guacamole with carrots and radicchio by Madeleine.

For our beverage we had strawberry orange mimosas by Ryan.
For lunch we had kale grapefruit and raspberry salad by Meli...
Beet risotto by Dobi...
And rainbow chard quiche with caramelized onions by Evelyn.
For dessert we had kiwi apple turnovers and...

Strawberry blood orange creamsicles by Kieu.

Everything was delicious!

Thanks again to everyone who participated. Please feel free to post your recipes in the comments or under separate entries to help share our cooking experiences. I can't wait until the next luncheon.

Slow Cooked Collards and Beef Short Ribs

My Produce Items: Collards, Scallions

1 bunch of collards

3 scallions

1 lb of beef short ribs (about 8-10 pieces)

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 teaspoon of seasoning salt

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

1/2 teaspoon of oregano

ginger

Place short ribs in the slow cooker. Season with seasoning salt (I use Penzey's 4S special seasoning salt), thyme and oregano. Mince garlic and add. Grate ginger on top (ginger should be equal to garlic). Dice scallions and chop up collards, removing the stems. Toss everything in the slow cooker.

Cook on high for 2.5-3 hours stirring every 45 minutes to an hour. You need to keep stirring or it may burn on the edges/sides.

Serve with broth glazed over top.

Serves: 4-5

Final Verdict: Needs Improvement

I used beef short ribs for this recipe and the slow cooker really dried them out. I didn't have any wine to use as a tenderizer so it probably would have helped if I had that. Once again, the collards have a strong overpowering flavor. However, the broth leftover in the slow cooker was absolutely delicious. I probably should have made a soup out of it. The collards drenched in the broth actually tasted pretty good. I also tried drenching the dried meat in the broth, and even though it didn't really absorb any, together the flavors were very good. So altogether I feel like the flavors are there, but the consistency is just off. It's definitely a recipe worth trying to perfect.