November 4 - 10, 2011

In the box:

Gala apples - Lunches, Apple Butter
Basil or cilantro - W
Beets - R
Cabbage - T
Collard greens - M
summer squash - Sa
Green beans - R
Kale - Kale Chips
Leeks - T,
Dry-farmed tomatoes - F, Su

In the house:

Leeks - Su
potatoes - Su

pomegranates - Pomegranate jelly, pomegranate juice, pomegranate syrup

Grocery list:
unsweetened coconut
quinoa
ground turkey
low or no sugar pectin
lemon

Menu:
Friday: Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes

Saturday: Zucchini Latkes, Applesauce, Sausage (if we have it in the freezer)

Sunday: Homemade Bread, Tuscan Tomato Basil soup

Monday: Toasted Collards and Coconut Salad

Tuesday: Sweet and Sour Stuffed Cabbage

Wednesday: Carribean Black Beans with Plantains

Thursday: Roasted Beets, Steamed Green Beans, and Baked Fish

Plan:
Saturday - cook dinner, pick pomegranates
Sunday - Morning: start bread, Prepare Apple Butter; Afternoon: juice pomegranates & make syrup, Cook Soup
Monday - Cook dinner
Tuesday - Afternoon, make pomegranate jelly and can, Make dinner
Wed & Thursday - cook dinner

Recipes:

Tuscan Tomato-Basil Soup
(modified slightly from a recipe in my Bon Appetit clipping file)
serves 4

3 tbsp. olive oil
2 C chopped onions
3 or 4 small potatoes (about 14 oz.), cut into 1-inch pieces
2 lbs. tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 C (or more) water
1 C (loosely packed) fresh basil leaves
4 tsp. chopped fresh basil

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until golden, about 15 minutes. Add potato and sauté until light brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir until juices form, about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth. Return soup to pot. Thin with additional water, if desired. Stir in the cup of whole basil leaves. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into 4 bowls and sprinkle each with a teaspoon of chopped fresh basil.

TOASTED COLLARD GREENS and COCONUT SALAD
Serves 6

1/2 C olive oil
2 tsp. sesame oil
3 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 bunches collard greens, large stems removed, cut in chiffonade
(about 6 cups packed lightly)
1 1/2 C large flake coconut
2 C cooked quinoa, still warm
sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl or jar, combine the olive oil sesame oil, and soy sauce. Toss half the greens with the dressing and spread evenly across 2 baking sheets.
3. Spread the coconut on another baking sheet, evenly.
4. Bake the coconut until golden brown, (about 10 minutes). Bake the collards until they start to crisp (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally.
5. Remove from the oven and transfer the collards to a medium bowl. Toss with the quinoa. Taste and add the dressing, if desired. Mix in the coconut. Serve warm.

Deconstructed Sweet and Sour Stuffed Cabbage
Also from Odile Wolf, who says, “I got it from a friend, who got it from a friend who teaches cooking classes.”

Olive oil to sauté everything
1 large onion, diced
1 pound ground beef or turkey (or well seasoned baked tofu, shredded)
1 pound cabbage, chopped
1 28-ounce can ground tomatoes
1 cup raisins
Juice of about 1 ½ large lemons (or to taste), added a little at a time
About ¼ cup brown sugar (or to taste) added a little at a time
Salt to taste

Sauté the onion in the oil until it becomes translucent. Add the ground meat and cook until it begins to brown, chopping it up with a spatula as it cooks. If you’re using tofu rather than meat, just let it cook with the onion for a minute until it heats through and has absorbed some of the onion flavor.

Add the cabbage, and stir the mixture until the cabbage begins to wilt. Add the tomatoes and the raisins, and let the stew cook for about five minutes or so at a medium-low heat.

Give the stew a stir and a pinch or two of salt. Now add some of the lemon juice, then some of the brown sugar. Taste the stew after each addition, then continue to add more of each ingredient as necessary—you want a balance of sweet and sour that you find appealing. You may need to add more salt somewhere in here as well in order to really find the right flavor balance.

Allow the stew to cook down for ten or fifteen minutes, stirring it occasionally, then serve it over rice.

Caribbean Black Beans with Sautéed Plantains Serves 4 as a main course. 2 large ripe plantains (mostly or all black) [okay, I'll go out on a limb here and say if I couldn't find plantains I would substitute organic bananas! really!!] 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil salt 4 medium garlic cloves, minced 1 small jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced [if you're like me, you still have some of these in your fridge from last week!] 2 15 oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained 2/3 C orange juice 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice 2 tbsp. minced fresh cilantro leaves [the stems have at least as much flavor as the leaves... chop up both!] 1. Trim the pointed ends from the plantains. Cut them into 2-inch chunks. Using a pairing knife, slit the skin lengthwise in several places on each piece. Carefully remove the skin with your fingers and discard it. Cut each 2-inch chunk in half lengthwise. [Wouldn't it be easier to peel the plantains first, before cutting off the skin? Maybe you need to do it this way because the plantains are ripe and fragile.] 2. Heat 2 tbsp. of the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the plantains and cook, turning once, until quite browned but not burned, about 8 minutes. Transfer plantains to a plate and sprinkle with salt to taste. Cover to keep warm. 3. Add remaining 1 tbsp. oil, garlic, and minced jalapeño to the skillet. Cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beans, orange juice, and lime juice and cook, stirring often, until the beans are heated through and have absorbed most of the juices, about 4 minutes. Stir in cilantro and season with salt to taste. 4. Spoon the beans into individual bowls. Top each portion with some sautéed plantains and serve.

Apple Butter

4 lbs. apples

1 C apple cider vinegar

2 C water

1/2 C raw sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

Grated rind and juice of 1 (meyer) lemon

Cut the apples into quarters, without peeling or coring them (much of the pectin is in the cores and flavor in the peels), cut out damaged parts.

Put them into large pot, add the vinegar and water, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cook until apples are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees.

Pass the apples through a food mill and add the remaining ingredients.

Pour 3/4 of the mixture back into the pot and cook, uncovered in the oven 8 - 10 hours, occasionally adding the rest of the apple puree.

Sterilize your jars and lids for canning.

Pack the hot apple butter into hot pint or half-pint jars.  Leave 1/4 inch head-space and process for 10 minutes.

If sterilized and processed properly, does not need to be refrigerated until opened. 

http://www.pickyourown.org/pomegranatejelly.htm