Blanching!

Hi all,

Sorry for the hiccup in service last week. Technology issues.

But we're back this week with new box contents: peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and sweet corn this week, with a possible acorn or spaghetti squash, too.

Food World News? Time for Lunch is approaching rapidly! Here's the map with links to Missouri Eat-Ins:

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch-eat_ins_by_state/Missouri/

In lieu of a recipe, I thought I would share a strategy we use every year about this time, when we're too busy to properly cook up all the goodness from the CSA and Farmer's Market. We blanch most of our produce and freeze it. This strategy does NOT work with squash, cucumbers, peppers, onions, potatoes, or eggplants, but it's great for just about everything else, including some of those big tough root veggies, as my freezer can attest.

Last week alone, we blanched beans, tomatoes, and corn. Here's the procedure:

1. Boil water in the biggest pot you own.

2. Prepare the vegetables to be blanched (wash them, husk them, tail them, and so on, as necessary). For really big veggies like celeriac or beets, peel them and then cut them into chunks.

3. Add the vegetables (only one kind at a time) to the pot. The trick here is not to overfill the pot. Be sure to leave room for the water to circulate amongst all the veggies.

4. Wait, in most cases, for a color change to take place. With tomatoes, watch for the skin to start splitting. It should take 2-4 minutes, maybe a bit more for corn or beets.

5. Once the color has changed uniformly, pull the veggies and let them cool.

6. Prepare the veggies for freezing by cutting corn from the cob, skinning and coring tomatoes, and portioning out everything into freezer-safe containers.

7. Repeat with the next batch of veggies.

You are, of course, welcome to change the water between vegetable types, but we generally find if we start with the least messy stuff (corn or beans) and move to the more messy stuff (beets or tomatoes), we can use the same water.

See you next week!
;-)M

The Southern Foodways Alliance

Hi all,

If you don't know yet about the Southern Foodways Alliance in Oxford, Mississippi, now's a great time to check it out. The SFA studies Southern food as culture and history. Registrations for their fall symposium are still available. The topic? Music and Food: Exploring Interdependent Cultural Expressions. Here's the link:
http://www.southernfoodways.com/events/symposium/index.html

As far as recipes go? Here's a great side dish to help you use up any sweet corn that didn't get devoured in the hour after you arrived home from the CSA pickup: Sweet Corn Bread Pudding. Here's the link:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/sweet-corn-bread-pudding-recipe/index.html

See you next week!
;-)M

Down Home Salsa

Hi all,

This recipe was one of my favorites last year and I just made a fresh batch yesterday. It tastes great after a few hours of letting the flavors blend and it freezes well, too. We really enjoyed digging out a little taste of August in January.

Down Home Salsa

6 medium tomatoes, blanched and roughly chopped
3-4 ears of sweet corn, blanched, cut from the cob
3-5 sweet or low-heat peppers (bell, Hungarian wax, Anaheim, etc.), chopped fine
3-5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1-3 crushed dried hot peppers (cayenne, poblano, etc.) or red pepper flakes to taste
1-2 tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped fine
2+ tablespoons of fresh cilantro
1+ tablespoon of lime juice

Combine all ingredients in large non-reactive bowl, pour off excess liquid, and allow to blend for at least two hours. Reserve liquid as desired for spicy cocktail mixer. Serve salsa with chips, avocado and cheese or use as topping for any Mexican dish. Serves 8-12 adult diners.

For Food World news? The Slow Food Katy Trail Eat-In to support the national Time for Lunch program happens on September 7, 2009. Here's the link for more info:

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch-detail/slow_food_katy_trail_eat_in/

In boxes this week: Sweet corn, tomatoes, muskmelon, green beans, cukes, zukes, peppers.

See you next week!
;-)M

Taste of the Market Tonight!

Hi all,

It's that time again. Most of my conversations this week were, in some form, about upcoming fall schedules. Quick lunches are the order of the day. Easy to pack for work or school, easy to grab on the run to all the last-minute fun we're having this month.

And I don't know anybody who does quick better than Mark Bittman. A friend sent me this article and I couldn't resist passing it on to all of you: 101 Simple Summer Salads.

In food news this week? Tonight is the second annual Taste of the Market event at The Columbia Farmers Market. Dozens of the market's vendors are involved in providing or preparing food for tonight's gathering. Tickets are $5 for adults, children 12 and under are free. It's going to be a huge party. We'll be there, come join us! Here's the link for more information:

http://www.farmersmarketpavilion.org

See you next week!
;-)M