1st COOKING DAY
Roasted asparagus, roasted carrots:
Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil and a good shake of salt over 1 pound of asparagus. Toss well to coat. Jen used a pan in the grill and closed the lid and roasted until the asparagus began to brown, then stirred and continued until all sides were nicely charred. She used the same technique with the roasted carrots with the addition of a dash of Allepo Pepper which is a mildly hot pepper which can be purchased from Penzey’s spices. A nice Hungarian paprika would also work. You can also do it in your oven at 450 degrees.
Omelet:
Jen started by sautéing diced green garlic scapes, shitake mushrooms, and country ham until softened and then added finely chopped greens and continued to sautéed until they also softened. She put them in another container, wiped out the pan, added equal parts olive oil and butter and heated until quite hot. She poured in well beaten eggs and let set up. Then shake the egg free, flip it over add the filling, and fold the egg over the filling and serve.
Hominy grits:
Start with white hominy grits ( you can find them at the Amish store in Woodlawn)
Use 5 cups of water for every cup of grits. Jen made a big batch, so she brought 10 c water to a boil with a tsp salt. She whisked in 2 c grits and cooked over medium heat stirring occasionally. Cook til softened, about 25 minutes. For each cup of grits,add a ¼ cup butter and a ½ cup of parmesan cheese. In this double batch, that’s ½ c butter and 1 c parmesan. You can eat it now OR pour into a flat pan with tall sides ( a cake pan works well) and cool on the counter. Once completely cool, cover and place in fridge overnight. If you cover while hot, condensation will form on the plastic and your polenta will be soggy, not firm.
Fried polenta:
Slice your chilled grits into 1inch slices, season with salt and pepper and fry in a mix of butter and olive oil until browned on one side, flip and brown the remaining side.
Jen topped hers with sautéed greens.
Orzo with greens:
Cook the orzo according to package directions.
Saute garlic and red pepper flakes in a mix of butter and olive oil. Add chopped greens and continue to sauté until greens are tender and reduced. Then add marscapone cheese( or cottage cheese) stir till melted, then add salt, pepper and parmesan to taste and stir in the cooked orzo to reheat and mix well.
Sausage sandwich:
Jen cooked chirizo links on the grill. She split the sausage and layered it on a split and toasted Honest Bread baguette with sauted onions and cheese.
Sirloin Tips:
Jen sauted onions, shitake mushrooms and garlic scapes in a large pan she added the sirloin tips (Little River Farm) and browned them and then covered with water and covered the pan and cooked over low heat for 4 hours, added more water as needed.
RECIPES FROM JULY 3rd
Cucumber salad:
Jen used Suiyo Long Japanese cucumbers sliced into rounds. She added salt and pepper to taste and ¼ cup each olive oil and vinegar and 2 TB honey ( or to taste) ¼ tsp dried dill and 1 chopped garlic clove. Mix together and serve. You can garnish with lemon basil
Roasted squash:
Slice ¼ inch thick any variety of squash-Jen demonstrated with every kind of squash at the market that day and all were delicious- season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Don’t be skimpy on the oil.
Throw on the grill and leave until starting to brown. Flip and brown the other side. Yes it’s that easy!
Roasted Onions:
Cut an onion in half. Leave the root end on or the onion will fall apart. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil and grill until softened. Eat as is or mix with other grilled veggies.
Sautéed squash with grits:
Slice squash in ¼ inch rounds. Sauté with olive oil and butter. Add a dash of shiracha hot sauce. Serve with polenta. See recipe from 1st cooking day
Omelet with sautéed spiralized squash noodles:
Sauté squash with olive oil, butter, chopped clove of garlic,salt, pepper and siracha. In another bowl, beat 2 eggs very well. When the squash is softened, pour the eggs on top and let set. Flip or fold and garnish with minced chives and parsley
Lamb Stew:
Dredge chunks of lamb in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Jen used a pound of lamb. Sauté in a mix of butter and olive oil until browned. Add chopped onions, carrots, garlic and potatoes and continue to sauté until browned. Add 4 cups water and ½ cup peas. Simmer until tender. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Jen added a tsp of “better than boullion” to add some depth.
Yogurt with fruit:
Add chopped fresh fruit to yogurt, sprinkle with nuts and serve.
Homemade Gatoraid:
Juice 2 oranges and ½ a lemon. Add 2 TB honey and a pinch of salt and add water to thin and shake and serve with ice.
RECIPES FROM AUGUST 7th-TOMATO DAY
Gazpacho:
This is one of those recipes that is more of a guideline than an actual recipe.
You want 3 parts tomatoes to 1 part of a mix of cucumbers, peppers, onions green onions and garlic. Put it all in a blender or food processor and add salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and worcestershire sauce and a pinch of cayenne pepper to taste. Blend, taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
Sauteed Eggplant:
3 oriental eggplant sliced into rounds. Into a hot saute pan add olive oil, ¼ cup of garlic , a ¼ of a cayenne pepper, then add the eggplant rounds and saute until tender and browned.
Coleslaw:
Finely chop cabbage. Mince white onions and rinse under cold water. Add lemon juice(or apple cider vinegar), olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and let sit so the flavors can come together. Add shredded carrots if desired.
Meatloaf:
Rinse wheat berries, then place in a jar with water and soak 24 hours. Rinse again and use.
Use equal parts ground pork and beef. Heartmoss Farm sausage and Little River Beef worked well. She added coleslaw, wheat berries salt and pepper. Mix well and put in oven proof pan, top with mustard, shiracha, worchestershire, and ketchup. Jen actually used the condiment pack from Subway!
Roasted Peppers:
Place red or green peppers in a cast iron on high heat, turning to blacken all the skin, remove and cover, when it has cooled enough to handle remove the blackened skin.
Yellow tomato Italian stew:
Add olive oil to a pan on medium heat, saute onions and garlic for a moment then add chicken (French Family Farm) chopped into bite sized pieces and sausage removed from its casing. Once cooked a bit, add white balsamic vinegar and chopped yellow tomatoes and simmer until the chicken is done. Add chopped roasted peppers and fresh herbs-Jen used thyme and rosemary.
Soy glazed green beans:
Get a cast iron pan hot add olive oil and garlic and green beans and a bit of water. When the water cooks off and the beans are still crunchy add soy sauce and some butter to the pan. Stir until the beans are nicely glazed and a bit burnt, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Spaghetti squash with sausage:
Puncture the squash(Bird and Hopper Farm) and bake for an hour. Turn 5 or 6 times if cooking in a grill to ensure even cooking. Cut open and shred the innards.
For the sauce: squeeze the sausage out of the casing. Sauté with onions and garlic then add chopped tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes break down and serve on the squash.
Salsas:
Peach Salsa:
To easily remove the skin, drop in boiling water for 1 minute. The peel will slip off. This also works for tomatoes. Chop 8 peeled peaches, ¼ of a minced serrano, 1 medium minced, chopped, rinsed, white onion, a handful of minced cilantro, fresh lime juice and salt to taste.
Pineapple Salsa: this won the “All other Salsa” category
Peel, core and chop a whole pineapple. Mince ¼ of a cayenne pepper. Add a handful of chopped cilantro, a squeeze of honey and some fresh lime juice.
Fresh tortilla chips:
Get fresh corn tortillas. Cut into sixths. Fry in rendered pork fat (Crosscreek farm) until crisp. Sprinkle with salt while still hot.