Shiitake and Japanese Herbs Pizza

I was not sure if this recipe would turn out good. Mixing up Japanese flavors (teriyaki, japanese herbs) with Italian, hum… However, it turned out really well. The Japanese herbs came from my Aerogarden. You can use spinach instead. I need to review Japanese cooking, as I am going to start giving my friend Shelley some lessons on traditional Japanese ingredients!

Shiitake and Japanese Herbs Pizza

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon sake

1/2 tablespoon mirin

1 teapoon brown sugar

8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, coarsely chopped

1 store bought whole wheat pizza crust

olive oil spray

1 cup coarsely grated mozzarella cheese

2 ounces chilled soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled

1 - 2 cup raw Japanese herbs (crisantemum, mitsuba) or cooked, drained spinach

Directions

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small pan. Turn the heat to very low. Add soy sauce, sake, mirin, brown sugar. Stir well. Add mushrooms and toss to coat well.

Spray pizza dough with olive oil; top with the Japanese herbs, sprinkle with mozzarella. Top with mushrooms, then dot with goat cheese.

Cook according to pizza package instructions.

Corn Chowder with Seared Squash

Corn Chowder with Seared Squash

Adapted from the wonderful recipe below. I used green bell pepper instead of jalapeno, yukon gold potatoes, fresh herbs and sour cream instead of soy yogurt. And squash in place of summer squash. That’s what I had in my fridge!  J

I served the soup with just warm from the oven bread made with Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix, which was totally delicious. We had 5 people for dinner and the bread was all gone!

Creamy Corn Chowder with Seared Summer Squash, from http://wholefoodwholefamily.blogspot.com/

Ingredients:

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 bunch of scallions, sliced thinly

1 red jalapeno, seeded and sliced

4 c. fresh corn, sliced from about 4 cobs (reserve the cobs to flavor the soup), or frozen corn

4 large fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise and sliced, or about 2 c. of another kind of potato

4 c. vegetable broth

2 T. fresh or 2 t. dry thyme

1 T. fresh or 1 t. dry oregano

1 bay leaf

1 c. unsweetened soy yogurt

2 long summer squash, sliced

chives, to garnish

Instructions:

1. Heat 1 T. oil in a soup pot and add the garlic, scallions and jalapeno. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the corn, cobs, broth, potatoes and herbs. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.

3. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet (preferably cast-iron) over medium-high heat. When the pan is very hot, add the sliced squash in a single layer. Sear for 3-5 minutes a side, until slightly blackened, then flip and sear the other side. Sprinkle with salt (use smoked salt, if you have it) and set aside. (I needed to do this in two batches.)

4. When the soup is done, turn off the heat. Remove the bay leaf and corn cobs. Add the yogurt to the pot and insert an immersion blender to process the larger chunks, blending the yogurt thoroughly. Alternatively, you could remove half of the soup to a blender, combine with the yogurt, and process it that way, returning the pureed soup to the pot. You can also puree the entire soup, if you wish, but I like it a little chunky. Season the soup to taste with salt and black pepper.

5. Serve the soup ladled into large bowls. Add a layer of seared squash and sprinkle with chives.

Eggplant Baba Ganoush

So there are days (very few) I am not in the mood to cook. Yesterday was one of these days. Then my husband is the one who goes to the store or take out. But I make a little thing as an appetizer: eggplant baba ganoush. That’s a Middle Eastern recipe that I love.

Baba Ganoush

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant or 3 small

2-3 tablespoons lime juice

Kosher salt

2 small clove garlic

4 tablespoon tahini

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prick eggplant(s) with a fork.

Bake whole until tender (about 20 minutes). In the last 5 minutes, add garlic wrapped in a piece of foil. Remove eggplant from oven, put in a bowl and cover with a towel for 5 to 10 minutes. Peel and cut in coarse pieces. Blend in a food processor with the garlic, lime juice, kosher salt, tahini and olive oil until smooth.

Serve chilled with toasted pita bread.

Irish-Brazilian Lamb Stew

Stew is another wondeful fall/winter dish that uses up a lot of the CSA’s vegetables. This stew recipe blends Irish (husband) and Brazilian (me) stew recipes. Lamb and potatoes from the Irish side, collard greens and lots of other vegetables from the Brazilian side. In my parent’s house, they add collard greens to all stews. You can add several vegetables, such as broccoli, turnip, leeks, squash, collard greens, corn, cauliflower etc. Sometimes I use red wine instead of beer. Depends on the mood. Today I am using CSA’s cippolini onions, carrots, potatoes (from last week), celery, cabbage, zucchini, and kale (from last week). Fresh herbs from my garden.

If you are in Irish mode, serve it with Irish brown bread (I have a wonderful recipe that I will share in the future); if you are in Brazilian mode, serve it with long grain white rice (or brown rice). 
The vegetables got too mushy. Next time I'll cook the meat in the slow cooker with the basic vegetables (onions, carrots, celery) and herbs first, and then move the meat to a casserole and add the remaining vegetables (potatoes, cabbage, etc). 

Irish-Brazilian Lamb Stew

8 servings

Ingredients:

1 ½ pound lamb shoulder, visible fat removed

1 cup red wine

1 cup broth (beef or vegetable)

1 ½ cups ceppolini onions

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 medium carrots, cut in 1” pieces


3 stalks celery, cut in 1” pieces

½ cabbage cut in wedges


6 small potatoes, cut in 1” pieces

2 small potatoes, cut in ¼” pieces

1 large summer squash, cut in 1” pieces

½ bunch kale, stems removed, leaves torn

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
 (use ¼ t if dry)

1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves (use ¼ t if dry)

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary (use ¼ t if dry)

1 bay leaf

Kosher salt

black pepper


Directions:

In a 6-quart slow cooker, combine the vegetables except the kale. Top with the meat, spices, wine, broth, spices, salt and pepper. Cover the slow cooker, then cook on low until the lamb is fork-tender, about 5 to 6 hours. Half hour before serving, take the lamb shoulder pieces from the pan, remove the bones and cut in small pieces. Mash some potato to thicken the sauce and add the kale leaves. Skim off and discard fat.

Mi's Minestrone

“Minestrone (Italian: minestra (soup) + -one (augmentative suffix) hence "the big soup", the one with many ingredients) is the name for a variety of thick Italian soups made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes.

There is no set recipe for minestrone, since it is usually made out of whatever vegetables are in season. It can be vegetarian, contain meat, or contain a meat-based broth (such as chicken stock).” (Wikipedia)

As we can see, minestrone is a perfect recipe to use up the abundance of CSA’s fresh vegetables. Today I am using onions, carrots, celery, cabbage, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans and parsley from the CSA box. I am also using some kale that I didn’t use from last week. Minestrone can be gluten free and vegetarian, but today I am adding a leftover kielbasa.

Mi’s Minestrone (basic vegetarian recipe)

8 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 small carrots, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

½ cabbage head, coarsely chopped

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

4 cups of vegetable broth

4 cups boiling water

1 can cooked white beans, drained

3 small zucchini, cubed

¼ cup chopped parsley

Kosher sea salt, black pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions

Heat the oil in a big stockpot; add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 min. Add cabbage and cook another 5 min until soft.

Add oregano, basil, thyme, tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir.

Add the broth and water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 40 min. Add beans and zucchini and simmer for 15 more minutes. Remove from heat and add the parsley. Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese and bread if desired.

Pasta alla Bolognese

The CSA box this week was huuuuuuge! Squash, zucchini, corn, tomato, baby lettuce, romaine, carrots, parsley, onions, cippolini onions, cabbage, beet, green beans, eggplant, celery, spinach. I don’t know where to start!

Today is really cold so some comfort food will be nice… Tradition says to use up the tomatoes first, so let’s make some pasta Bolognese… Uma-mi’s style… hummmm…

Pasta alla Bolognese

4 servings

Ingredients

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 small carrot, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb ground beef

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon fines herbes

2 small bay leaves or 1 large

8 medium tomatoes or 2 cans diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and coarsely ground fresh black pepper

1/4 cup basil torn

8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti or linguini, cooked al dente

Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions

If using canned tomatoes, skip this step. Place a saucepan 3/4 full of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Dip tomatoes that need to be peeled in the boiling water for 1 minute. Remove tomatoes and set aside to cool enough so that you can handle them. Gently pierce, just barely, the skin of the tomatoes with the tip of a sharp knife. Loosen the skin with the knife and peel away. Repeat with all the tomatoes. Cut peeled tomatoes in half lengthwise. Hold tomato half in your hand over a small bowl. Gently squeeze tomato half so that seeds drip into the bowl. Put the seeds and their juice through a strainer. Discard seeds, add the strained juice to the bowl of tomatoes. Crush the tomatoes with your hands leaving big pieces. Add the balsamic vinegar. Stir and set aside.

Place the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, cook until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the meat, Worcestershire sauce, fines herbes, bay leaves. Cook stirring often until there is no more pink. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Add the tomato balsamic mix to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add the basil and cook 1 minute more. Serve over pasta, sprinkled with parmesan and more basil if desired.

Eggplant Pizza

Today is cleaning fridge day and I have some eggplants to use up. The Fairy Tale eggplant is delicious, creamy and delicate in taste. Tossing the pizza with garlic and pepper flakes before baking is a must. I will definitely make this recipe again.

Eggplant Pizza

4 servings

(Adapted from Gourmet, Sep 1999)

Ingredients

1 large eggplant (1 1/4 pound)

1 large tomato

Store bought whole wheat pizza dough

3 ounces grated mozzarella (3/4 cup)

3/4 ounces grated Parmesan (1/4 cup)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

Fresh basil leaves

Directions

Cut eggplant into 1/3-inch-thick rounds and arrange in 1 layer on a foil-lined large baking sheet. Spray both sides with olive oil spray and season with kosher salt. Broil 2 to 3 inches from heat until golden brown and tender, 5 to 8 minutes on each side. Cut tomatoes into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Toss together cheeses and sprinkle 1/4 over dough. Spread basil leaves over cheese. Cover with eggplant and tomato slices, overlapping them, and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Heat olive oil in a small skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook garlic and red pepper, stirring, until just fragrant, 30 to 40 seconds. Spoon evenly over eggplant and tomato. Bake pizza according to package instructions.

Almost Original Waldorf Salad

Delicious baby lettuce, apples and celery fresh from the farm = Waldorf salad!!!

The original recipe doesn’t contain grapes or yogurt, and it uses regular mayo and lettuce cups. I lightened the recipe a little bit. You will also see yellow pear tomatoes in the pictures: these are from our backyard. They are so pretty. Uma-mi!

Almost Original Waldorf Salad

4 Servings

Ingredients

2 medium apples, diced
 1" pieces

2 medium stalks celery, chopped 1" pieces


1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts


½ cup red grapes, halved (I used black grapes)

¼ cup light mayonnaise


¼ cup fat free plain yogurt

Baby lettuce 

Directions

Toss the apples, celery, grapes and nuts with mayonnaise and yogurt. Serve over lettuce cups.

Turkey Meatloaf Stuffed with Spinach, Carrots and Shiitake

This meatloaf is a total crowd pleaser. One of its secrets is the colors, the dark of the meat, the green from the spinach, the orange from the carrots, and the white from the egg whites. I am using the spinach, parsley, celery, onion and eggs from the farm. Shiitake comes with the CSA delivery but they are Colorado’s local Hazel Dell organic mushrooms. Many vegetables work well in this dish, just get creative! Corn, zucchini, bell peppers, broccoli. For richer taste and additional fiber, add grated celery to the meat dough.

I found this recipe in a magazine maybe 30 years ago and I stick to it. The original recipe calls for beef and regular mushrooms. Today I used turkey and shiitake mushrooms. Just because I have shiitakes.  Meat would be too strong with them, so turkey was today’s choice. I also used whole wheat bread, soaked in chicken broth, instead of white bread and milk, as stated in the original recipe. Making this delicious dish is easier than it looks, I assure you.

Turkey Meatloaf Stuffed with Spinach, Carrots and Shiitake

8 servings

Ingredients

Meat Dough

1 1/2 lb ground turkey

1 whole wheat bun or breadcrumbs, soaked in broth (chicken or vegetable), then drained

1 large thinly chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, very thinly chopped or garlic powder

1.5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

A pinch of cinnamon

Kosher salt, pepper

optional: thinly chopped celery, fresh parsley, green onions

Stuffing

1 big bunch of spinach steamed and drained or 1 pack of frozen spinach (16oz), defrosted, drained

1/2 cup of shredded carrots

¼ cup of chopped onion (optional)

6 large shiitake mushrooms, sliced

3 eggs, boiled and cut ½” slices

2 slices of bacon, cut in ½ across

Sauce

1.5 cup of chicken or vegetable broth

1/4 cup of half and half

1 or more tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup of minced Italian parsley

1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms

1 tablespoon of cornstarch

Kosher salt, pepper

Topping

1 slice of bacon, cut in ½ lengthwise and then cut in ½ across

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.

Meatloaf

Combine meat dough ingredients in a bowl.

Place ½ of the dough into a loaf pan coated with cooking spray., forming a bed for the stuffing. Layer the spinach, carrots, onions, mushrooms and eggs over the meat mix. Top with the bacon slice halves.

Pat small amounts of remaining meat mixture over the stuffing and patch over the stuffing, until it’s all covered. Top with the loaf with the 4 pieces of bacon, diagonally.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until browned. Remove from pan and cut into 8 slices.

Sauce

While the loaf is baking, prepare the sauce:

Combine all sauce ingredients, except the cornstarch, in a pan and cook in medium heat.

Bring to a boil. Lower the heat.

Add the cornstarch, dissolved in ¼ cup of broth.

Stir constantly until the mixture gets thick.

Seafood Stew with Wine, Onions and Potatoes

This week we’ve got some very big yellow onions and lots of Yukon Gold potatoes. Initially I thought about making gnocchi, but Russet potatoes are the best for that purpose. So I decided to make a fish stew. My mom used to call it bouillabaisse. It’s not the actual French bouillabaisse but it’s a fish stew.

This is a great dish for impressing people, but at the same time it’s very easy to make and it’s flawless: there is no way to get it wrong. It is sophisticated and simple. And delicious.

Seafood Stew with Wine, Onions and Potatoes

6 servings

1 lb seafood:

any combination of white fish (1/2 lb at least), shrimp, small scallops, mussels or calamari. Sometimes I use only fish, today I used fish and shrimp.

1 large onion, sliced ¼” rounds

6 medium or 3 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut in ½” slices, pre-boiled for 5 minutes

2.5 - 3 cups dry white wine

1 cup half and half

¼ cup chopped parsley

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

In a large skillet arrange 1 layer of onions and potatoes and sprinkle some salt. Top with the fish, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the wine and if you’d like, make some stock with the shrimp peel (about ½ cup) and add it with the wine. The liquid needs to cover the potatoes, but not necessarily the fish. Cook in high heat until it starts boiling, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes (depends on the fish thickness). Add the rest of the seafood, if using. Cover and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the shrimp is done. Add the half and half and cook until it starts boiling. Remove from heat, check the seasoning, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately with rice (I serve it with steaming hot basmati rice).

Eggplant, Shiitake, Cepollini Vinaigrette with Quinoa

Monday is usually the most challenging (and fun) day for planning a dish as cleaning the fridge for Tuesday’s CSA box is my highest priority. Today I have 2 eggplants, ½ lb of shiitake mushrooms (you need to sign up for these separately), cepollini onions and romaine lettuce left. And some parsley. Ok, let’s have a vegetarian dish for lunch.

Eggplant, Shiitake, Cepollini Vinaigrette with Quinoa

Forgive me if I don’t give you a detailed recipe for this dish but it is pretty simple. Cut the eggplants in ¼” slices, the cipollini in ½” wedges, clean the shiitake (this week they were bite size so no cutting). 

Broil each side of the eggplant for about 5 minutes or until golden brown and the shiitake and onions for about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring once. Put the cooked vegetables in a glass bowl. Chop some herbs. Parsley from the farm and fresh oregano and thyme from my garden. Just a bit, as oregano and thyme have strong flavors. I always plant basil, thyme, rosemary, green onions and oregano in springtime so I have fresh herbs all summer and fall. 

Oh, back to the recipe. In a small bowl, mix kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, vinegar and olive oil. One thing that I absolutely won’t give up is the organic extra virgin olive oil. Back to the recipe. The proportion of vinegar and olive oil is 1 to 2. Mix well and pour over the vegetable mix. Toss and at this point you have a dish that you can enjoy with salads, as a side dish to meats or in a sandwich, yummy. Keep in the fridge but bring it to room temperature before eating.

Cook some quinoa according to the package instructions. Arrange lettuce leaves and tomatoes in a dish, top with quinoa and vegetable vinaigrette. 

Enjoy! 

Chicken and Hearts of Palm Pie

We bought a slow cooker. I have never cooked with a slow cooker before so I tried to make a whole chicken as my first attempt. Well, it turned out overcooked, the meat got too tender! So I decided to make a chicken pie with it. Peas, tomatoes, eggs from the farm. The best brand of hearts of palm I can find here is the organic "Native Forest".

Chicken pie is an almost weekly dish at my parent’s house in Brazil. I don’t have a recipe for it, sorry. Briefly: saute onion and garlic in olive oil, add the tomato sauce (not too much) and chicken, some tomato paste, peas, heart of palm, parsley, Tabasco, salt, pepper, boiled eggs. I bought the bottom part of the pie but I made an oil pastry for the top. 2/3 cup flour, 3 tablespoons oil (I used evoo), a pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons milk. Use two wax paper sheets to open the dough. It was easy and it turned out flaky and tasty.

Pasta Primavera

As you might have noticed, Tuesday is pasta day. At least while we get these wonderful tomatoes in the Grant Farms CSA box! This week we got lettuce, baby lettuce, kale, cipollini onions, eggplant, cucumber, squash, parsley, basil, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, peas and maybe more.

It’s been more than 25 years I found this recipe in a magazine back in Brazil and everybody in the family still makes it. The flavors are intense but still the dish is simple and very refreshing. You can serve it with a steak or grilled chicken breast. I prefer it solo.

Mi’s Pasta Primavera

4 Servings

Ingredients

4 large or 8 medium tomatoes


4 large cloves garlic


6 - 10 large basil leaves


1 teaspoon kosher salt


Fresh ground black pepper


1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil


8 oz spaghetti or linguini

Directions 

Prepare tomatoes (see below). If you are in a hurry, there is no harm in using chopped whole tomatoes. Peel garlic cloves, smash them slightly with the knife and add to tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Stir in olive oil. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours.

Cook pasta according to package instructions. I used whole wheat linguini.

Remove garlic from tomato sauce. Add pasta to tomato sauce while pasta is hot. Toss well. Tear basil leaves and add to pasta. Toss.

How to prepare the tomatoes

Place a saucepan 3/4 full of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Dip tomatoes that need to be peeled in the boiling water for 1 minute. Remove tomatoes and set aside to cool enough so that you can handle them. Gently pierce, just barely, the skin of the tomatoes with the tip of a sharp knife. Loosen the skin with the knife and peel away. Repeat with all the tomatoes. Cut peeled tomatoes in half lengthwise. Hold tomato half in your hand over a small bowl. Gently squeeze tomato half so that seeds drip into the bowl. Coarsely chop the tomatoes and put them in a big bowl. Put the seeds and their juice through a strainer, save the juice for another recipe.