After a fabulous week in Montreal (why we didn't make it to San Francisco is a long story), full of good food and lots of walking, we returned for a crazy week of BBQ and work.

The CSA for the fourth included lots of yummy vegetables, many of which are our favorites.

1 head romaine
1/4 lb mixed greens
1/4 lb lettuce mix
1 bunch parsley
.3 lb sugarsnap peas
2 kohlrabi (yum! more on that later)
10 garlic scapes (also yum!)
1 head Chinese cabbage
1 bunch swiss chard

Last night I made some egg rolls with this week and last week's Chinese cabbage. They're a great way to use a lot of Chinese cabbage and make a few meals.

Egg Rolls

1.5 lb ground pork (I used boneless pork loin and ground it myself)
2 heads Chinese cabbage
1 bunch scallions
3 cloves garlic
1/3 lb sugarsnap peas
1 T cornstarch
Water
1 egg
Soy sauce
Rice wine vinegar
Sesame oil
1 package egg roll skins
Oil

1. Thinly chop the cabbage and sugarsnaps
2. Mince the scallions and garlic
3. In a wok, saute the scallion, garlic, and sugarsnaps until slightly soft
4. Add the ground pork and saute until white
5. Add the cabbage, about 1/4 cup soy sauce, a splash of rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil to taste
6. Mix the cornstarch with a splash of water and add to the mixture
7. Cook on high until the cabbage is soft
8. Remove from heat and add 1 egg, beaten
9. Let cool
10. Follow the directions on the egg roll skins for rolling
11. Fry in oil until brown (I used about 1 inch of oil and flipped, but you could easily deep fry for extra yumminess.)

Serve! I made a nice dipping sauce with soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chili paste, sesame oil, and rice wine vin. Otis likes hot mustard and duck sauce, but we didn't have any, so he lost out.

We've also been eating a lot of salad, of course. So, current veg status is as follows:

1 head romaine
1/4 lb mixed greens
1/4 lb lettuce mix
1 bunch parsley
.3 lb sugarsnap peas
2 kohlrabi (yum! more on that later)
10 garlic scapes (also yum!)
1 head Chinese cabbage
1 bunch swiss chard

More on garlic scapes in the next entry! I think we'll see the return of charmoula, and possibly some kohlrabi chicken salad.

The past week has been a whirlwind of work-busy, life-busy, and general overwhelmed-ness. That hasn't kept us from some delicious meals, of course.

Otis whipped up an incredible salad that we ate Tuesday and Wednesday, with raw shaved kohlrabi, grilled chicken, pan-seared garlic scapes, and a mustard dressing. I'm in the process of bugging him to get the recipe to post here.

It was a perfect example of CSA cooking-- maximizing the fortuitous combination of vegetables.

Another perfect example of my personal approach to CSA cooking was our Thursday night meal, when I worked late and then served 365 Organic frozen pizza from Whole Foods along with a glorious salad. Sometimes convenience foods are just required.

In that vein, I'm currently reading Plenty for a slow food book group, and it's fascinating so far. It's about a couple who commit to eating only foods that come from within 100 miles of their home in Vancouver BC.

It's truly frightening how a local diet has become so difficult in the age of agribusiness. We're awfully lucky here to have Wolf Pine, the farmer's market, and so many incredible local purveyors. Of course, during the wintertime it's really necessary to have store put by, which the people in the book didn't do (they started their experiment on the 1st day of spring). One thing Otis and I have done, which makes an enormous difference, is install an additional freestanding freezer, which can hold more pureed tomatoes and kale soup than any two people could need! Actually, we process a lot of the CSA veg, since it's usually a little much for the two of us. There's also nothing like eating tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes you pureed yourself during the depths of winter-- it's like a little taste of summer laid by.

Saturday afternoon we attended an event at Vignola, which featured Allagash Brewing's Hugh Malone beer and Silvery Moon Creamery cheese. The event was organized superlatively by Katey Szum of Allagash (hi Katey!) and was raising funds for MOFGA (it was $10 per person to attend). Allagash also donates $1 for each bottle of the Hugh Malone sold to MOFGA. It's a delicious beer, and pairs well with the Silvery Moon cheeses, all of which were incredible. The Camembert was particularly delicious, and was, to my palate, comparable to or better than any similar cheese imported from France. The cheese folks also were offering tastings of a cheese-on-development, which they called No. 9. It was dry, tangy, and really outstanding as well.

Then, Saturday night, our friends Jenn and Matt grilled some halibut to perfection, served with charmoula (everyone loves charmoula. all the cool kids are eating it) and Israeli couscous. We brought (guess what?) a salad. We also enjoyed a few mojitos made with mint grown by their neighbors, and met their newest pug, a cute chubby little thing named Helga.

Mint has been growing quite well all over southern Maine, as far as I can tell. Our friend Pearl also provided a couple of bunches, which I am going to cook into a simple syrup for future cocktails.

Anyway. I'll post Otis's recipe as soon as I can make him write it down. In the meantime, this past week's CSA contained:

2 heads lettuce -- used in salad
0.3 lb. mesclun
Kale
¾ lb. sugarsnap peas
1 bulb fennel
1 bunch baby turnips -- we've used about half of these in salads and will probably finish them tonight
1 bunch carrots -- same as the baby turnips. these are the sweetest little tasty carrots, they're just incredibly carroty.
10 garlic scapes
1 bunch scallions

And, here's the status of last week:

1 head romaine-- used in salad
1/4 lb mixed greens-- used in salad
1/4 lb lettuce mix-- used in salad
1 bunch parsley
.3 lb sugarsnap peas-- used in egg rolls
2 kohlrabi-- used in Otis's chicken salad
10 garlic scapes-- used in Otis's chicken salad
1 head Chinese cabbage-- used in eggrolls
1 bunch swiss chard

I have been vanquished and ashamed by the extent of my ambition and my abject failure to fulfill it-- vis-a-vis this CSA documenting project. I look back on my original plan to document every CSA vegetable that passes through our kitchen, and realize it was completely ridiculous. Not that I don't have excuses-- lots of work, USM, freelance programming, attempts to have a social summer-- but really, I am ashamed.

Ahem. That said, let's get back to the vegetables. Otis created a delicious new form of casserole this week, which I'll be sharing with you: Portuguese Kale Casserole (based on the soup.)

In the meantime here's the update!

Last week:

2 heads lettuce -- used in salad
0.3 lb. mesclun -- salad-- I made this really yummy steak with onions, marinated and then stir-fried in a mix of lime juice, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and chili garlic paste, and then served on a bed of the mesclun with chopped sugar snaps and baby turnips.. Really great.
Kale-- casserole too!
¾ lb. sugarsnap peas
1 bulb fennel fennel salad-- see below
1 bunch baby turnips -- salad
1 bunch carrots -- salad
10 garlic scapes -- stir-fried in peanut sauce with scallions and pork
1 bunch scallions-- same as above

Week before last:

1 head romaine-- used in salad
1/4 lb mixed greens-- used in salad
1/4 lb lettuce mix-- used in salad
1 bunch parsley-- used in salad
.3 lb sugarsnap peas-- used in egg rolls
2 kohlrabi-- used in Otis's chicken salad
10 garlic scapes-- used in Otis's chicken salad
1 head Chinese cabbage-- used in eggrolls
1 bunch swiss chard-- Isn't it nice that greens last so long? This went into the greens casserole.

Now that I think of it, I might have spoken about fennel salad before. But who cares! Fennel salad is so easy, and so delicious, that everyone should know about it and eat it ALL THE TIME.

1. Slice fennel into the thinnest slices you can. We use a snazzy ceramic slicer.
2. Add lemon juice, olive oil, and s & p to taste.

That's it! Easy and utterly delicious.

This week's share was the following:

1 head red butter lettuce
.35 lb mesclun
1 bunch collards (I swapped for some kohlrabi)
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch beets (yay! I cannot express how much I love roasted beets!)
1 summer squash
1 cucumber
1.5 lb wax beans
.5 lb sugar snaps (this has been a bumper crop this yearm which is great. they are really delicious.)
3 lonely little cherry tomatoes

And that is all. I promise to harass Otis more for that kohlrabi salad recipe, and now the greens casserole.

Who wants to go to the great State of Maine Grilling and BBQ Fest with us? It's Aug 3-5.

Last night Otis and I went out to celebrate his pre-birthday. It had been a hot-as-hell day, already cooling somewhat, as we walked over to Caiola's. We're awfully lucky to have such a stellar restaurant right around the corner, especially when you factor in the gorgeous patio.

We started with the most unusual appetizer-- a salad of figs, raspberries, gorgonzola, and fennel. All four ingredients have strong, even overwhelming flavors, but together they really harmonized. The plate was lovely as well:

After that, I had mushroom risotto with red wine reduction, and Otis had blackfish with clams in a nice brothy sauce (I think I would call it a brodo, but maybe I would be being pretentious) and barley and herbs.

On the way over we discussed the ridiculousness of the opening of Bonobo Pizza being delayed because the city decided at the last minute that they need an additional hand sink. Because if there are two people working there who dirty their hands at the same time, one certainly can't wait
five minutes for the first to finish washing. Ah, our tax dollars at work.

In other restaurant gossip, Local 188 is re-opening Wednesday! With Caiola's, Bobobo, OhNo, Aurora, Local, my goodness, it's really an embarrassment of riches over here.

Anyway. I wonder if mushroom risotto would be good for breakfast? I'm really hungry and Otis will probably be asleep for a while...

For Otis's birthday on Saturday we ended up going out for pizza to Flatbread. As usual, the pizza was delicious, but as usual, the service was hideous. It always makes me slightly tense to be there, partly because it reminds me of waitressing and how there was always one other waitress who just completely didn't get it. At Flatbread, the entire staff is utterly clueless. This is how I imagine their interview process:

Q. Are you a hippie?

Q. Do you seem somewhat stoned all the time?

Q. Do you promise to forget at least one person's drink, preferably the crying baby's milk, plus possibly the birthday celebrant's beer?

Q. Do you like to disappear partly through service?

Q. Are you physically incapable of hurrying or speaking quickly?

Congratulations! You are hired! Only people who answer yes to the previous five questions are incompetent enough to be hired in service roles at Flatbread!

The funny thing is, the people who actually make the pizza seem to be fairly together. Although in truth one of our four pies had to be remade because they dropped it, or burnt it, or something.

But they were all delicious!