My FarmBox: 8/15/2012

16 Aug

I’m still hoping to have a FarmBox delivery to my city, but in the meantime, they now deliver to a town about 35 minutes from me, which is great and not too bad of a drive.  The box I got yesterday looked great, and we’re eating some of it already.

This time, I picked the pizza crusts, green leaf lettuce, 2 bunches of radishes, micro cilantro, micro parsley, gala apples (from Briggs & Eggers), white potatoes, zucchini, and spaghetti squash.  Love this program!

 

Note: I order a custom box and choose what I want in my box from their Web Store.  There may be variances in availability on different pick up days.

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Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo

16 Aug

 

I apologize that the picture above isn’t the best, but I forgot to take one of the finished product!  Had a busy day yesterday.  Anyway, this gumbo is delicious and something I only make occasionally, just because it is rather time-consuming.  Plus, the roux can be tricky to get just right.  This particular recipe calls for a dark brown roux, which doesn’t mean burned, it will become a dark brown color after 30-45 minutes of cooking.  This article from allrecipes.com has a great explanation of how to make a roux, with pictures of the different shades of roux to use as a guide.  Once the roux is right, the rest is easy and can be done either on the stove top or in the slow cooker.  This recipe uses sausage and shrimp, but you could also add chicken or substitute chicken for the shrimp or sausage.  I used my last bag of Zaycon Foods shrimp (sniff, sniff) to make this, along with smoked andouille sausage.  You can also change-up the vegetables a little if you want, I sometimes won’t use okra if I don’t have it and will use extra corn or celery in place of it.

 

Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo
Original recipe here

What you need:

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup sliced fresh okra
2 cups whole corn kernels
3 cups seafood stock (use vegetable or chicken stock if you can’t find seafood stock)
1 cup bottled clam juice (or use another 1 cup of stock in place of this)
1 cup chopped tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (I use Louisiana Cajun seasoning)
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked smoked sausage, sliced diagonally (I used Johnsonville Andouille)
2 pounds shrimp, cleaned and deveined
Cooked white rice

How to make it:

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Add the flour, and cook on low heat until the roux is dark brown; about 30 to 45 minutes, stirring constantly.  Be careful not to burn the roux.

Add the onions, celery, peppers and garlic and saute until translucent.

Mix in the remaining ingredients, except the rice, and simmer over medium-low heat until thick, about 1 hour.  Remove the bay leaves.  Serve over white rice.

Slow Cooker Method:

Make the roux the same as above, and saute the onions, celery, peppers, and garlic until translucent.  Transfer this all to the slow cooker and add remaining ingredients to the slow cooker, except the rice.  Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours, or high heat for 3-4 hours.  Remove bay leaves.  Serve over white rice.

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Slow Cooker Lentil and Kale Soup

12 Aug

 

I have been on the hunt for recipes using lentils since I got a 25 pound bag recently from Bountiful Baskets.  After getting Tuscan kale this weekend from Bountiful Baskets, I started to look at soup recipes online to see what I could find.  So, I came across this recipe, that also used celery and carrots, which I also got from Bountiful Baskets, and onion, which I have plenty of on hand.  I thought this was very good, my 5-year-old enjoyed it as well, although she ate mostly the kale.  My husband and 3-year-old turned up their noses at it, but their loss, more for me!

 

Slow Cooker Lentil and Kale Soup
Original recipe here

What you need:

1 cup lentils, rinsed and drained
8 cups water
3 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 1/2 cups carrots, finely diced
1 1/2 cups celery, finely diced
2 whole onions, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups kale, leaves removed from stems and chopped
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon sage
salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:

Add all ingredients to the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

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Basket Breakdown: 8/11/2012

11 Aug

This week I got the conventional basket for $15.

 

The basket contained cherries, mangoes, peaches, carrots, Galia melon, celery, mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, and Tuscan kale.

With all the lentils and beans I have, I may try out some new soups this week, possibly a Sausage, Lentil, and Kale soup and maybe a kale and bean soup.  For the green peppers, I’m thinking about grilling them with some onions and steak for fajitas.  The tomatoes will be sliced to for sandwiches, BLTs and grilled cheese, yum!  Not sure on the mushrooms yet, but maybe I will make a stew with the mushrooms, carrots, and some beef.  Chicken and noodles, using the celery and carrots sounds good too!

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how case ends are distributed once everything is distributed evenly. I also volunteered and got an extra item for volunteering.

 

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Local Farm Finds: 8/10/2012

11 Aug

Friday, I decided it was time for another local farm adventure!  I had originally planned to go to Sunizona Family Farms to pick up a FarmBox, but since they now have a delivery to the Bisbee Food Co-op on Wednesdays, I decided to wait.  But, on one of my previous trips, we had noticed a pinto bean farm, so I decided to still go over and check it out, plus head to Apple Annie’s again for veggies and apples.  I went with my friends, Jen and Verity, and Verity’s little guy (he’s 1 and was great the whole trip!).  Thanks to Jen for driving!

So, the first stop was the Bonita Bean Company.  They process beans from growers in the southeastern part of Arizona.  They have pinto beans in 3, 10, 25, and 50 pound bags.  They also have a 9 bean mix, pinto, cranberry, light red kidney, yellow, black, small red, pink, navy and great northern beans, in 1.25, 10, and 50 pound bags.  Very friendly and helpful staff there, and I decided on the 10 pound burlap bag of pinto beans and the 1.25 lb 9 bean mix.  My total came to $12.50, $10 for the pinto beans, $2.50 for the 9 bean mix.  Verity also bought a recipe book with lots of ideas for beans, so I should be able to make good use of all the beans.  I think my first attempt will be refried beans, and we’ll see what else from there.

After the bean company, we headed back through Willcox to find a place to eat lunch.  We decided on a cute place named Big Texas Bar-B-Que.  Part of their dining car is in a train car, as the restaurant is near the railroad tracks in town.  They have a big smoker where they smoke their own barbecue, which we could smell immediately when we got out of the car to head inside.  I had the Texas Brisket Sandwich with french fries, both of which were very good.  I recommend a stop in there if you are over that way.  Edited to add in more pictures, thank you to Jen!

Front of Big Texas Bar-B-Que in Willcox, AZ

Big Texas Bar-B-Que, rear view of train car dining area and the entrance

 

 

Texas Brisket Sandwich and Fries. Delicious!

The Brisket Stuffed Baked Potato. Quite possibly the largest potato I’ve seen!

 

 

Next we traveled to Apple Annie’s Produce and Pumpkins, then Apple Annie’s Orchard.  They have a lot of produce available now already picked or you go out and pick.  I got 1/2 dozen corn, a 5.01 lb cantaloupe, a 4.82 lb cantaloupe, 5.08 lbs of assorted squash, 2.13 lbs of cucumbers, 0.2 lbs of jalapenos, 0.82 lbs of okra, and 1.81 lbs of Gala apples for a total of $21.62.  I also got some homemade fudge, which was buy 4 for $11.99, get 2 free.  Delicious!

Here is the produce:

I may head up that way again next month when more apples will be in season.  Then, I can make apple crisp, maybe make some apple juice in my juice extractor, apple sauce, and apple butter.  Yum!

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Basket and FarmBox Breakdown: 8/4/2012

10 Aug

I have been trying to get this written all week!  We took an end of summer “staycation” to a resort in Tucson at the end of last week into the weekend, and then we had to get ready for our big start of school this week, part-time preschool and full day kindergarten for my two darlings.  It’s been just a little busy here lately!  However, the wonderful thing about our “staycation”, was that there was a Sunizona Familiy Farms FarmBox pick up and a Bountiful Baskets site, each within 10 minutes from the resort.  How awesome that both these programs are flexible enough that I can pick up in other locations so I don’t have to miss out on my produce!

Friday afternoon was the pick up for my FarmBox.  I got some of our favorites and tried a few new things this week.

 

This week, I got 1 bunch carrots, 1 seedless cucumber (to make Refrigerator Pickles), 1 bag white potatoes, 1 Big Ol’ Beef  tomato, 1 zucchini, 1 head garlic, 1 6 pack burger buns (these were amazing!), 1 Sprouted Khorasan Plus bread, and 1 head green leaf lettuce.  This cost me $27.25.  I love how fresh this all tastes!  I am so excited that the FarmBox program is now delivering a little closer to me, and I’m still working toward bringing it to my city!

I kept things simple for Bountiful Baskets on Saturday, just getting a regular basket and honey whole wheat bread.  It was neat to get to see another site and how they run things.  Here is what was in the baskets:

 

I got cherries, plums, a Galia melon, bananas, blueberries, Romaine lettuce, cabbage, red potatoes, mangoes,  and peaches.

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how case ends are distributed once everything is distributed evenly.

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Peach Crisp

10 Aug

 

The Apple Crisp recipe I have is one of my very favorite desserts.  So, since I had plenty of peaches from my trip to Apple Annie’s, I decided that a Peach Crisp might be something to try.  And, I was right, it was very delicious!

A hint on peeling peaches that I used for this recipe and also for the Peach Freezer Jam:  Place peaches in boiling water for a few minutes, then remove and place in ice water.  Then, the peels should slide off easily, to be ready for slicing or chopping.

 

Peach Crisp

What you need:

Filling:
4 cups peeled, pitted, and sliced peaches
1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons water or lemon juice

Topping:
1/3 cup margarine or butter (cold, not melted)
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup quick oatmeal
Note: I sometimes like more crumble on top, so I will double the topping ingredients.

How to make it:

Combine the ingredients for the filling and place in a 8×8 or 7×11 baking pan.

Cream together the butter and flour for the topping.  Mix in the brown sugar and oatmeal and form “crumbs” with your fingers. Spread over the apple mixture.

Bake at 325 F for 30-40 minutes.  Let cool slightly, and serve warm. Or it tastes great cold from the fridge the next day too…if it lasts that long!

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Peach Freezer Jam

9 Aug

 

I have attempted to make jam before, and failed miserably.  It was too sweet and didn’t set right.  That was well over a year ago, so I decided it was time to attempt it again.  I recently bought some canning supplies from a friend, so I was feeling better prepared, but I wasn’t able to get to the store for lids yet, so I decided on freezer jam using the Ball plastic freezer jars.  I also felt the peaches were sweet enough, so I found a no sugar needed recipe and made sure I had no sugar needed pectin.

Here is the recipe I used: Peach Freezer Jam

It was a pretty easy, straightforward method, and it turned out decent.  It was still runnier than it should have been, so I will need to adjust the pectin for the next time.  I’ve read that in time I will learn better the pectin amount, and I need a little more work, but much better than the last time I attempted jam!

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Parmesan Garlic Green Beans and Cauliflower

7 Aug

 

This was a different combination for me, but in a good way.  When I was deciding what to make for dinner one night, Cyndi at Daily Cynema had posted what she was making, Pan Seared Cod and Garlic Green Beans, which inspired me to make this with our dinner that night (I wish I could recall what main dish I made to go with this, but it was a couple weeks ago and my memory is failing me!).  Anyway, I threw in the cauliflower with the green beans because it needed to be eaten soon, and it turned out to be a nice combination.     You could do this with just one of either vegetable too.

 

Parmesan Garlic Green Beans and Cauliflower

What you need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb fresh green beans
1 cup cauliflower florets
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

How to make it:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add the garlic, green beans and cauliflower, cooking and stirring in the oil until they are browned.  Stir in lemon juice, sugar, salt, and black pepper.  Cook another 3-4 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and serve warm.

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Freezing Sweet Corn

7 Aug

You may remember about a month ago, I shared a burlap sack with 5 dozen ears of sweet corn from Apple Annie’s Produce &  Pumpkins with a friend.

 

So, what did I do with 2 1/2 dozen ears of corn?  First, I removed all the husks and scrubbed the ears with a vegetable brush to remove any remaining silk.  Then, I blanched the corn.  If you aren’t familiar with blanching, this site explains why blanching is needed and what times you need for blanching.  For corn, you will want to boil it for 3-7 minutes, if you will be cutting the corn from the cob, 6-10 minutes if you will be freezing it still on the cob.  After the boiling, you put it in ice water to stop it from cooking any farther.  Once cool, you can cut the corn from the cob for packaging or package the whole cobs (or, in my case, I did some whole and some half cobs).

 

I used the first of this for dinner 2 nights ago.  I let it thaw, sprayed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, then wrapped in aluminum foil.  I cooked it on the grill along with some burgers, and it turned out really good.  Not exactly like fresh, but still really good.  I’m pleased with the corn and that the process worked.  Now, we can have grilled corn all through winter, since we can still grill here in AZ almost all year!

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