Good Eats

What’s for dinner?

claudiaSeptember 14, 2011Family, Good Eats

Every time Janna and her gang visit us, they bring a scrumptious dinner. Apparently, this is part of the secret as to why they’re always welcome wherever they travel. Now, Mike D. sure can cook, but Jan’s hubbie Anwar is a close rival. Here’s what he brought for dinner last weekend. And, oh, was it easy to make and good.

Pasta with Sausage & Kale

ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb medium or spicy turkey or pork sausage, casings discarded and
sausage crumbled
1/2 lb kale, tough stems and center ribs discarded and
leaves coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb dried egg noodles or fettuccine
1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup grated pecorino-romano or mozzarella cheese

preparation:

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook sausage, breaking up any lumps with a spoon, until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain grease.

Meanwhile, blanch kale in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, 3-5 minutes. Remove kale
with a large sieve and drain. Return cooking water in pot to a boil, then cook pasta in boiling water, uncovered, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander.

While pasta cooks, add kale and garlic to sausage in skillet and sauté, stirring frequently, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add broth, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, then add pasta and 1/2 cup reserved cooking water to skillet, tossing until combined. Stir in 3/4 cup cheese and thin with additional cooking water if desired. Squeeze fresh lemon over dish, with dash of salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, with 1/4 cup cheese on the side.

adapted (just slightly) from recipe at Epicurious.

photo by Romulo Yanes

A ‘Crisp’ Fall Dessert

claudiaSeptember 5, 2011Friends, Good Eats

For the record, this is not a food blog. How could we even begin to compete with all the marvelous food blogs out there? Nope, no way, not even gonna try. But we still, of course, like to share and swap good recipes and edible ideas with friends.

While we were at the local farmers market awhile back, Linda, who has a farm in Nances Creek and makes the most incredible jellies and jams, said to us, “It’s been a good year for pears.” Boy, has it. Our orchard is full of them — all kinds of bumpy, delicious, country pears — and we keep giving them away to everyone we meet. That includes our friend Wendell, who got a sack of them on his front porch a couple of weeks ago. I knew this foodie would do our humble fruit justice and he didn’t disappoint — a pear crisp! Perfect for fall. He shared the recipe, adapted from an apple crisp entry in Ruth Reichl’s A Gourmet Cookbook. But since we didn’t have all the right ingredients and wares on hand, we sort of improvised too. This dessert is easy to make and forgiving. (Wendell, here’s hoping we did you proud.) Enjoy!

Pear Crisp

INGREDIENTS

For the Topping:

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

5-6 large pears (ripe or unripe)

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

2-3 tablespoons honey

Zest of 1/2 small orange

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a glass pie plate with butter or Crisco.

For the Topping:

Combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla in a bowl and mix with fork until well combined. Add melted butter. Stir with fork, then mix with your fingers. Set aside.

For the Filling:

Whisk together sugar and cinnamon. Peel and slice pears into about 1/2-inch slices. Toss pear slices with lemon juice and orange zest, then add the sugar mixture. Mix with your fingers until well combined.

To Bake:

Spread pears in pie plate and drizzle with honey. Crumble topping evenly over the fruit. Bake until topping is golden brown, about 45-50 minutes. Let cool a bit and serve warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Serves 4-5

Pear-It Forward

Making Biscuits in the Black Belt

High on Pie

Lessons in Beekeeping

aww, first farm eggs

claudiaAugust 28, 2011Animals, Good Eats, On the Farm

Sam-n-Ella laid their first eggs this weekend!

Granted, we found one egg by the front door…and another in the garage.

Not in the fancy coop that Mike just built.

But it’s a start.

the original farmer’s market

claudiaAugust 17, 2011Good Eats, Stuff We Like

Happy Birthday to America’s original (and still most amazing) farmer’s market — Pike Place. If you’ll be in Seattle soon, check out Farm Days on the Cobblestones, happening now through Sept. 28.

Garrison Keillor pays tribute to the historic market in today’s Writer’s Almanac:

On this date in 1907, Pike Place Market opened in Seattle. It’s the oldest continuously operating farmer’s market in the United States, and it covers the waterfront: nine acres overlooking Elliott Bay. On opening day, eight farmers brought in their wagons full of produce, and they were met by about 10,000 eager shoppers. Now, more than a hundred years later, the merchants gather at nine o’clock every morning and a market master takes their shouted request for stalls: about 130 free spaces for 225 approved vendors. If your first choice is taken, you’d better have a second, or third, ready, because they don’t wait. They manage to sort everything out in less than 20 minutes.

Under the Stars…with S’mores

souper cool

let us eat cake

heirloom inspiration

pears aplenty

claudiaAugust 16, 2011Good Eats, In the Garden

We have buckets and buckets of pears right now, so let us know if you want some! And, if you happen to have any good pear recipes…well, we’d appreciate your sending those along. 😀

Perfect timing

Near Pear-Fect

Lessons in Beekeeping

Cerakko Farm