A Minestrone for Fall

While it is foggy in Ventura, you might enjoy a Minestrone. You might not think you like minestrone. This soup can evoke memories of trying to choke down soggy tomatoes and zucchini. Who would do that to a vegetable?
I've had a Minestrone Renaissance- I cook everything al dente, garnish it with plenty of fresh basil and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano from my great grandmother's Italian wooden cheese grater, and pair it with a hunk of Kate Pepper's delicious bread. Minestrone uses the vast majority of the ingredients in the summer harvest, and with some technique- it is a perfect light summer dinner. Give it another try.

I've been doing my minestrone research; minestrone means "the big soup" and comes from a style of cooking the Italians call "cucina povera"- the poor kitchen. Like most provincial food, it is based on what is abundant- so use what you got.

Start with a base of sauteéd onions and garlic cooked in butter and olive oil until they are translucent. Add your herbs (rosemary, thyme, fresh oregano or marjoram). Add stock and water in ratio with the amount of soup you want. While the stock is coming to a boil, prepare your ingredients.

Potatoes- cubed

Zucchini- cut in thick rounds, half moon, or quarters

Tomatoes- quartered

Peppers- sliced

Chard- cut into strips

Basil- cut into thin strips

Cannellini Beans- cooked, rinsed

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Add the potatoes to the stock and boil until tender. Add the beans.

Meanwhile, sauté the chard with salt and butter. In a separate pan, sauté the zucchini and sweet peppers just until al dente with more fresh herbs and salt and pepper.

When the potatoes are ready, combine the zucchini, peppers, chard, fresh tomatoes, and 1/2 the basil . Let simmer for a minute. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve in a large flat bowl and garnish with fresh tomatoes, basil, fresh shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, and a dash of cream. (You may like to add pasta shells at the end)

Peppers and Pork

When fellow member Jet sent me a link to Jamie Oliver's pepper and pork-shoulder recipe, I knew that I had to give it a go. The flavors just looked so luscious and perfect for the gorgeous peppers that are still heating up our shares.

Sadly, Jamie's people have made it all but impossible for me to cut and paste the recipe here, so you'll just have to visit his site. It's worth it for the picture anyway.

A few notes on the recipe: If you are a slow-cooker type, you can absolutely dump the whole deal into the cooker and set it on low for 8 hours. Works just as well as the oven. Also, as Jet pointed out, when you cook chiles for ages, they lose most of their heat, so you can easily double the number of chiles and still have the results be fairly mild. If your pork is exceptionally cubic, you may want to cut it in half so as to reduce the amount of liquid needed to cover the pork. And finally, do not skip the part where he tells you to add lemon zest to the sour cream. It is a critical flavor element at the end, and I promise you will LOVE it.

We made it for some of my husband's coworkers to absolute raves. It's hard to go too far wrong with pork shoulder, but this is truly excellent.

- Christiana

Palak Daal

This is one of those recipes that is worth the effort. It isn't hard, but it does take time. Fortunately, the ingredients are all simple to collect, as many are currently in our shares, and the rest can be had without even venturing out to specialty stores.

I took this recipe from the 101 Cookbooks site. If you are not already familiar with Heidi, you should be, because she makes healthy eating delicious. Her work is critical for us CSA types. In a note at the top, she says that if you can't find white lentils (daal), substitute others.

1 cup / 6.5 oz / 185 g white urid or urad daal, picked over and rinsed

6 cups / 1.5 liters water, plus more if necessary
1/2 pound spinach, washed and finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 medium green chile peppers, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon pure red chile powder
a pinch of asafetida, optional
more salt to taste
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

In a large pot over medium-high heat combine the daal and water. Bring to a boil, then add the spinach, ginger, turmeric, 3/4 of the green chiles, and all of the tomatoes. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the lentils are extremely soft. You may need to add a bit more water during the cooking process to keep the lentils soupy. After an hour and a half, stir in the salt.

In a separate pan, heat the butter and cumin and fry until the cumin seeds start to pop. Now add the red chile powder (and asafetida if you're using it) and fry for another 30 seconds. Taste and add more asafetida if you like. Add this butter mixture to the lentils and allow to cook for another five minutes. Taste, and season with more salt if needed. I also enjoyed a touch of lemon juice added at this point. Serve topped with the cilantro and the remaining green chiles.

Chakchouka

Don't be alarmed by the name, which is thoroughly exotic even to those of us who have traveled extensively through our dining. It is nothing more than a traditional Moroccan tomato and pepper salad, though salad might be stretching it a bit compared to our usual fare. I think this would make a lovely side dish, especially with some grilled fish and couscous. It also has the advantage of using many items in our current shares.

This is from the New Mediterranean Diet cookbook, which is an all-around great book, and especially useful for folks in CSAs.

8 large tomatoes, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 C olive oil

4 sweet peppers

1 small chile pepper

1 Tbs paprika

1 Tbs fresh parsley

In a large pan over medium heat, cook the tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil until the tomatoes cook down and get jammy, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, roast and peel the peppers. Cut into large dice. Stir the peppers and remaining ingredients into the tomato mix. If you are the sort of person who keeps preserved lemons handy, add some of that too. Otherwise, serve with bread or other grain.

An Ode to the Pepper

When Columbus found America he was disappointed to discover that he had not also found black pepper (piper nigrum), a spice so common today that it is hard to ever believe that it was rare enough to risk your life in the pursuit of a new sailing route to it. Instead, he found chiles (capsicum), decided that was good enough, and rather than admit defeat, he named them "pepper."

Today, there are so many varieties of pepper that it practically takes a degree in botany to keep them all straight. In large part, this is thanks to the peppers themselves, who just love to cross-pollinate. It seems certain that, if you choose to keep tabs on such things, you will see a new variety of pepper come into existence. Make it into a local favorite, and you may even have the honor of naming the chile yourself.

The chile has grown in the last 400 years to be the world's most highly consumed spice, outstripping even the peppercorn that precipitated its accidental introduction. It is capsaicin that gives the chile its unmistakable heat. This molecule is most concentrated in the white pepper membranes, so be sure to remove these along with the seeds for a milder experience. To mellow the pepper still further, roasting is usually a good bet. Simply char the skin until blackened, and when the pepper is good and cool, remove the char and give the pepper a rinse.

It will come as no surprise to learn that traditional medicine uses chiles to warm the internal organs. Practically, this means that chiles are good at stimulating digestion, dispelling colds, and treating asthma. If you choose to pickle your peppers, you can keep them through the colder months. Add them to chicken soup for a truly traditional cold remedy.

Peppers

The peppers are here in great abundance these days. Many are hot - hotter than I normally go for in my usual cooking (though, truth be told, I'm a complete wuss in this regard). This means that the pepper harvest requires some real creativity on my part. Here's a quick list of what I've found that looks fun and intriguing.

Stuffing them seems universal - I like this blog a lot

Jelly? Not sure what you would do with it, but it seems fun

Bobby Flay never leads you astray, though this recipe seems like he might be trying...

Candy them

Pickle them

But this sauce is my definite favorite

If you try any of these at home, please let us know!

- Christiana Thomas