On to week 4....

Week 4 pick-up was last Thursday:

1 lb garlic chive linguine

1 package Italian Sausage Links 

1 lb ground beef

1/2 lb spinach

1 head napa cabbage 

Broccoli Florets or carrots (depends how the broccoli yields after the cold)

1 gallon apple cider

1 quarter peck apples

3# sweet potatoes

2 ct winter squash*

1 candy onion

1 red onion

1 bag leaf lettuce, 1/2 lb

1 dz eggs

* there will be assorted squash.  Most will be dark orange hubba hubba, a baby hubbard squash, or buttercup, which is a dark green/brown with a "cap" on the top, which kind of looks like a turban.  Both are great roasted and pureed or used to stuff and serve as a meal. 

I made week 3's acorn squash and the BLT's with week 3's tomato and week 4's lettuce.

Then (you may notice a pattern) I didn't cook again until Sunday. After a long weekend that involved gymnastics, kindergarten flag football (really just five year olds maybe chasing the football), getting our Christmas tree, and another Brown's loss...we headed over to mom's for steaks on the grill.

Our fresh fork sides included steamed broccoli and grilled napa cabbage.

When I saw the napa cabbage I had no idea what to do with it. I kind of resigned myself to the fact that it may wilt away in the fridge. Then I recalled a grilled romaine salad a friend ordered while out to dinner several months ago. This looked a little like a romaine heart and sturdy enough to stand up to the heat of the grill. Brushed with some olive oil, salt and pepper.....amazing! Even my dad ate it. Which is saying A LOT.

Monday:

While researching what to do with more winter squash I found a recipe courtesy of Emeril for squash stuffed with italian sausage, etc. Perfect! I adapted his recipe for taste and proportion.

Baked Squash stuffed with Italian Sausage and Pasta:

2 Squash, halved and cleaned
2 Italian sausage links, casings removed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup sliced red onion
2-4 cups of your preferred pasta sauce
6 oz elbow macaroni
4 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Season squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet flesh side up. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan. Cover with foil and bake until tender. This time will vary widely based on the type of squash. Mine took about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

In a large sauté pan brown sausage and onions over medium heat, about 8 minutes. Turn off heat and add pasta sauce, pasta and cheese. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. 

Spoon pasta mixture into each squash. Bake for about 20 minutes, until heated through and cheese melts. 

The squash  (Hubba Hubba? Who comes up with these names?)

The sauce (found at Heinens, from Aurora, OH)

The meal

Served with fresh fork lettuce topped with remaining mozzarella

These were little squash bowls of deliciousness. And to think I used to buy gourds strictly for decoration purposes. Not so any more! I can't wait to try variations on this theme in the future.

Hoping to make pizzas sometime this week, and I can't wait to try the linguine. 

Tree is decorated, now off to wrap a few presents. Yes, I like to pretend I'm on top of things!

Playing Catch-Up

After returning from New York there were still several things to use up from the first few weeks of Fresh Fork deliveries.

Eggs

Bacon (purchased extra at last pick-up)

Acorn squash

Purple potatoes

Tomatoes

Parsnips

Sauerkraut

Turtle beans
Breakfast sausage (also purchased at last pick-up, frozen)
Pizza dough (frozen)

The apples are always gone within a day or two, the cheddar, sprouts and cabbage were eaten in New York.

Sunday: steaks, swiss chard, mashed purple potatoes and parsnips

The parsnips added incredible flavor to the mashed potatoes. I simply simmered the root veggies in salted water, drained...

And smashed with some butter and milk. 

The only problem was we had A TON of leftover potatoes.

I love Pinterest. Yes, it's an easy way to waste a few hours a day. But sometimes it's also divine inspiration. Take Monday for example. I have a bowl full of mashed potatoes in the fridge, bacon in the freezer and nothing planned for dinner. I stumble across a recipe for mashed potato pancakes. Lightbulb...Breakfast for dinner! Bacon, eggs and potato pancakes.

The bonus was that I also had the cheese in the fridge, so all I had to buy were some green onions.

Recipe:

3 cups chilled mashed potatoes

2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp chopped green onions

1 egg, lightly beaten

Flour

Veg oil, for frying

Salt and pepper

Stir together potatoes, cheese, scallions, and egg. Add flour tablespoon by tablespoon until mixture is not too wet, nor too crumbly. This will vary depending on how much milk, butter, etc were used in original mashed potatoes.

Using your hands, divide mixture into 12 portions. Roll each into a ball and then flatten into a 1/2 inch pancake. 

Place about 1/2 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper Ina shallow dish. Dredge each pancake in the flour. 

Heat 3-4 tbsp of oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Fry the pancakes, in batches, until they are golden brown. Add oil to pan as needed. Transfer pancakes to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt. 

These were surprisingly good. I made mine a bit too thick, but they were still crispy. Like a little fried hash brown with our bacon and eggs. 

Dinner out Tuesday (Greenhouse Tavern before Corey Smith concert!)
Lizard Wednesday before 2nd grade Holiday Concert/Torture

Thursday:
What's the best thing to do with left-over bacon? Ha! Trick question again...everything. But, BLT's are at the top of that list.

About that acorn squash that's been hanging around for a month...

1 Acorn squash, halved and seeded
2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste.

Preheat oven to 325
Place squash, cut side up on baking sheet
Mix butter, syrup, sugar, salt and pepper together in a bowl, spread mixture over cavity and cut side of squash.
Bake for about 50 minutes.

Like a little dessert after our BLT's.



Still need to use:

Sauerkraut
Turtle Beans
Pizza dough
Breakfast sausage

Week Four pick-up was also Thursday...contents to be posted soon. (There was a half pound bag of lettuce, some of which was used on the BLT's - bonus!)

Thanksgiving in New York

It's a miracle we made it to New York at all considering this...

The entire Pennsylvania turnpike. In a snow/sleet/freezing rain storm. We finally arrived in Brooklyn at around 1 am. Mom and dad waited up for us and helped us unload the truck. No small feat considering we had 4 adults and 3 small children packed in there. 

It rained on and off most of Wednesday, but did get to walk the half mile to prospect park and the farmers market set up there. Jamie bought our 18 pound turkey from a local New York poultry farm the week before, so we just needed some rolls and sweet potatoes. Pizza for dinner Wednesday (along with half of America, I'm sure.)

While we took our kids to the Macy's parade Thursday morning (many thanks to our personal guide, Hemali!!!), Jamie prepped dinner. The bird dry brined in the fridge for 2 days and it was fantastic. 

Unfortunately this was the only picture I took of any food. 

Fresh Fork menu item:

Crispy sautéed Brussels sprouts tossed with wilted cabbage seasoned with cumin and turmeric. Holy amazing. 

My contribution was bourbon mashed sweet potatoes, topped with candied pecans. 

After dinner scotch tasting put us all out of commission.

Leftovers for dinner Friday after a day of touristy shopping on 5th avenue. On Black Friday. Not the brightest idea but it was fun! 

We ate so much delicious food (Dinosaur BBQ! Brooklyn bagels with bacon scallion cream cheese!), and our kids got to experience so many cool things. After a delightfully uneventful, sunny drive home Saturday, we can't wait do do it again next year! 

Why, oh why do we torture ourselves every Sunday? At least the roast beef was good.

Sunday, November 24th. I won't rehash the Brown's loss to the Steelers. We almost cried when Weeden came back as our QB.

On to the food...

3 pound round tip cut of beef in week 3's bag. I thought about making a slow cooker pot roast, but wanted to try something different. Plus, this cut of meet lends itself well to a medium rare roast beef. Salt, pepper, sear...

Oven roasted to medium rare...

Sautéed the mustard greens, roasted the remaining fingerling potatoes from week one, red wine pan sauce, and...

As I've found typical with grass fed beef it wasn't melt in your mouth tender, but the incredible flavor of this roast more than made up for that.

Monday....dinner out because Tuesday after school we were leaving for Thanksgiving in New York with my brother Jamie and his wife Hemali.

I took the Brussels sprouts and cabbage to New York...Jamie worked his magic with those.

Thanksgiving recap next.