Yet more CSA stuff
Cherry clafouti and hazelnut praline. The clafouti was good, though sort of an eggy, desserty-yorkshire-puddingy, custardy type thing; a little more comfort foody than I was expecting, but tasty nonetheless. The praline was just caramelized sugar poured over toasted hazelnuts. Delicious! Though I don't know if I would necessarily pair them again. But maybe. CSA ingredients: absolutely none, but the cherries were on sale and I couldn't resist. I bought like six pounds, ate oneish, and froze five.
Kohlrabi slaw. Kohlrabi sliced thinly on a mandolin, with roasted beet chunks, mango bits, green onion, and an oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. Pretty good, though kohlrabi's texture is not crispy, as I thought it was. Good, though texturally it was a moderate success. CSA stuff: Kohlrabi, green onion
Roasted mixed veggies. Spring squash (zucchini, yellow, and pattipan? squash), and baby turnips, roasted along with garlic scapes in the oven, and topped with dubliner cheese. CSA stuff: all but cheese
Kale chips. Very crispy, and good flavor (if you like kale). Lightly oiled kale (dino kale in this case) sliced into bite sized bits, with salt, baked for around 20 minutes at 350ish. I might try it in a dehydrator next time to avoid burning it. CSA stuff: kale
Butter lettuce salad topped with cucumber, green onion, seared scallops, and finished with a cherry gastrique (in this case, deglaze the scallop pan with water and vinegar, add a few frozen cherry halves, some brown sugar, salt, pepper, and whir in the food processer until saucy. Pretty good! CSA stuff: lettuce, onion, cucumber.
Sauteed radishes: sautee thickly sliced radishes, add spring onions, salt, pepper. Not bad. Tempers the bitiness of radishes and makes them taste faintly turnipy. Good but not fabulous; though part of that might be my general dislike for radishes. CSA radishes, natch.
Strawberry crumble stuff: 1 quart delicious but squishy CSA strawberries topped with crumble mix. FABULOUS like crazy. I shorted the sugar on the strawberries down to 1/4 c. Topped with whipped cream. Actually, some of it was topped with regular whipped cream and some of it was topped with whipped cream which was folded into one egg white whipped into stiff peaks with a little sugar. Raw, yes, but the risks of salmonella are actually quite low in general, don't worry about it. Probably wouldn't serve the raw concoction to guests due to OMG lawsuits, but I was experimenting. Actually, I adapted that notion from a Berry Fool recipe, which I daresay predated salmonella concerns [though not the risk, I daresay]. At any rate, no pictures, but it was a really interesting texture, sort of a much lighter whipped cream (more like spray whipped cream) with an added bonus of increased protein and decreased fat per tablespoon. Might try again. Might try in the fool, actually.
Collard greens, braised in wine, with onions and parmesan rinds for flavor. Pretty good, actually. Terrible color, but that's [CSA] collards for you.
Risotto: Saffron risotto with spring onions and garlic. Leftovers were turned in to arancini (bite sized risotto balls stuffed with, in this case, dubliner cheese and rolled in, in this case, instant potato flakes to make a potato crust. Typically it's fontina or mozarella, and breadcrumbs, respectively, but needs must. ) and deep fried. These tasted like an amazing cross between an onigiri and a hash brown. :) I also floured slices of cold risotto and seared those to serve under wilted chickweed, but no pics of that. Needless to say, that risotto recipe made a metric fuckton of risotto, and how much starchy cheesy saffrony goodness can one eat? (HAH). CSA stuff mostly limited to the onions and garlic.
An amalgam: a seared square of aforementioned risotto, topped with some wilted Russian kale, topped with a pan-seared scallop, finished with a (different) cherry gastrique: this one made of pan brownings deglazed with white wine, cherries, and either balsamic or I think apple cider vinegar (I think the latter, and just a spritz). The risotto, I think, is best when served with something a little bitter or a little tart in order to cut the richness, and this was a great combo! The sweetness of the cherries matched the scallops, the creaminess of the risotto texturally complemented the scallop but was cut nicely (in texture and richness) by the kale, which was in turn softened by the cherries, and on it goes. Needless to say, yum! YUM! No, I will say it twice!