Beets and greens

I'm trying to be creative in my use of the various share items so today I did a take off on this recipe at Epicurious.


What did I change? Several things. First, rather than rice I used the seven grain mix from the share. I added a couple of cloves of garlic and I used Parmesan cheese rather than goat cheese. Then I sprinkled the final dish with fresh basil. And I liked it a lot, in fact, I liked it a lot better than the squash risotto I made awhile back. The problem with beets is that everything cooked with beets ends up looking like beets. Here is what it looked like right after I added the beets:

At the end, it was quite a lot more dramatic:



I also made a puree of the the rutabagas from the share. I boiled them with the remaining two parsnips, two accidental turnips (I couldn't tell they were turnips until after I peeled them) and three peeled and cored apples.

I mashed them with my new and wonderful toy, the immersion blender. Oh how I love using that thing for smoothies in the morning.

I mixed them until they looked like this:
Then added some butter, salt, and maple syrup.


Now, that was a decent side but it wasn't as good as the beet pilaf. The funny thing though? My favorite part of the meal was the salad I made with the lettuce from the share, some of the topping from the Judyboo's Bok Choy salad recipe, a generous handful of dried cranberries and a simple dressing of vinegar, sunflower oil, hot sauce, sugar, and salt.


I served everything above with a roast whole chicken but who wants a picture of a chicken? And why were there pictures today anyway? Ben broke my cheapie tripod so he bought a new one on eBay and it's an amazingly complicated professional tripod. I'm still trying to figure out which controls move the camera and tripod in which direction however, I make no promises to take more pictures as I'm cooking. But I might.

Mmm mmm good

This recipe came in the share newsletter and I decided to give it a try with the mushrooms we got today and the grains we got last week.


Mixed Grains Pilaf

1 1/2 cups cracked mixed grains
3 1/4 cups chicken stock
8 tbls (1 stick) butter or half butter & Olive or other oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
5-6 oz. sliced mushrooms
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 (1 ¼ hour in oven, ¼ hour prep)
Saute grains in 4 tblsp butter, using a heavy frying pan on medium low, until golden
(about 5 mins.) Meanwhile chop onions. Pour grain into covered casserole, such as corning glassware. Saute chopped onions in 2 tblsps butter on low heat until soft, about 5 mins. Meanwhile slice mushrooms. Pour onion into casserole. Saute sliced mushrooms in remaining oil on low heat until water evaporates, adding salt & pepper to taste, about 5 mins. Add to casserole. Add 1 1/2 cups chicken stock warmed in microwave 2 mins. or in saucepan to casserole. Cover and bake 30 mins.

Add another 1 1/2 cups chicken stock warmed in microwave 2 mins. or in saucepan
to casserole. Cover and bake 30 mins. Add the remaining 1/4 cup warmed stock and bake the last 15 minutes covered. Stir well and serve.


Verdict: How could this possibly have been bad when it starts with a stick of butter? It is spectacular but very very rich. Sam wants it in his lunch tomorrow.

Samcakes!

Sam wanted pancakes for breakfast this morning, pancakes shaped like bunnies of course.

I used a basic recipe

1 egg
3/4 c milk
1 c flour
2 T oil
1 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt

But added leftover cooked multigrain cereal that had apple and cinnamon, about a cup in total.

Served with frozen blueberries and strawberries I picked and froze a long time ago. Sam wanted them in bunny shapes but I forgot to take the picture until after he ate the ears.

Grade: Excellent, the cinnamon from the cereal was a nice touch.

Grains grains grains

Breakfast gruel

Soak 1 c of cracked grains (wheat, barley, oat, flax, rye) overnight

In the morning
Cook with a peeled diced apple and a little salt

Top with brown sugar

Grade: Good, kinda bland