A pleasant awakening of newly selected produce appeared early on the porch this week. Its presence was acknowledge by my mother-in-law's dogs as they barked the alert of delivery person. As I pushed away my early morning slumber, I picked up the two boxes in the living room entry to bring them into the kitchen for examining the contents.
To receive a produce box, the descriptive feeling comes to mind from a past event. I had step out the kitchen for a quick moment, upon my return a small blue box was left on the stove by my secret admirer. Typically most small boxes usually contain jewelry of course and it made me smile. It was the surprise of unknown held within. I had this same feeling of curiosity that held wonderment of what did they hold. In the first small produce box I found the contents of "Small Fruit Only" :
Bananas
Strawberries
Tommy Atkins Mangos
Oranges
Ruby Red Grapefruit
Apples
My 2nd box "More Veggies Only" contained:
Radishes
Carrots
Celery
A Bag of White Baby Potatoes called Potato Klamath Pearl
Tons of Baby Bok Choy
Cilantro
Fava Beans
Avocados
Iceberg Head of Lettuce
Cherry Tomatoes
Brocolini- also called Baby Broccoli
Broccoli
A good handful of Zucchini
Recipe Ideas:
Baked Apple Crisp
Tasty healthy alternative to an apple pie.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grab a 13x9 pan.
Dice your apples.
Throw into your pan.
Sprinkle to taste sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.
For the crumb topping.
Grab a bowl to mix the following items: quick oats, sugar, cinnamon, a little flour, and smart spread.
Mix together until crumbly. Adjust the margarine so that there is no flour left.
Optional: nuts
Place in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. The top should be a little brown, apple soft, and smells really good.
Sushi Roll: Teriyaki Salmon and Chard
My homemade version of sushi involved cooked teriyaki marinated salmon and cooked chard vegetable mixture.
This recipe has three components put together to create the final product.
1st part:
Sushi Rice (recipe in published blog 1)
** Remember not to use any metal products after the sugar & vinegar is mixed with the rice. No metal spoons, metal knives, or metal mixing bowls. **
2nd part:
Cook the fish. I decide to use a simmer fish technique(from published blog 6.)
Let it cool and then shred it to remove any bones.
3rd part:
I grab the following items to make my saute chard vegetable mix:
a serrano pepper
garlic
fava beans
soy sauce
chard
pepper
To my heat pan, I threw in the minced pepper and a little olive oil. Let it cook up a little then add in the chopped garlic.
I decided to chop up the fava beans into little pieces to speed up the cooking process.
I splashed on some soy sauce and allowed the mixture to simmer in the sauce.
I added in the last of my chard into the pan tearing it into eatable pieces.
I covered the vegetables in the pan.
I checked it and stirred about every 5 minutes until the chard was shriveled like spinach.
Let it sit and cool.
Final Product:
After each component has cooled down, prepare in the following order:
Pat down sushi rice onto plastic wrap on top of your sushi roller.
Next add your salmon in a line about 1/4 away from the edge of rice in length.
Next add your chard vegetable mixture.
Then roll it up with firm pressure.
Allow it to sit.
Remove roller and plastic wrap, then quickly cut with a plastic knife.
Serve.
Cherry Tomato Sauce
This is a versatile sauce providing a sweet tomato flavor. It is cooked down to increase thickness and it can be tossed into many dishes. I use it for a couple different recipes such as on homemade pizza, over chicken breasts, or toss with pasta or potatoes. I sometimes add in peppers to it to make it a little spicy which I sauteed with fresh corn.
Method:
Heat up a sauce pan on medium heat.
Add olive oil.
First add in a small onion to caramelize.
I used shallots because I had them on hand leftover from a previous produce box delivery.
I then sliced each of my washed cherry tomatoes in half and added them to the pan.
I allowed the mixture to cook down by simmering away the excess liquid.
I like to mush down the cherry tomatoes skins to blend in better.
This sauce can be placed in the freezer for later use. Another helpful tip is this recipe allows for to enjoy fresh homemade tomato sauce on hand and helps prolong the shelf life of the tomatoes.
My last recipe in this blog will be dedicated to all those who have in either heart or blood have provided loving nourishment for another. Mothers come in so many forms and relationships. It is no longer the perception that a child will be born unto and only know one mother. A child may have several mothers throughout their lifetime. I have learned the motherly instincts comes forth when needed.
My own relationship with my own son brought forth my motherly instincts. My stepson and I were introduced when he was 3 1/2 years and I was 22 years old. He changed my whole life as my whole scheduled evolved around him and my new husband. I was forced to change from only thinking of myself to thinking about his future and how can we provide better for him. As I reflect back, my husband and I are both better people because we have him in our lives.
Going back to discussing cooking, my next recipe because of the developing unique relationship my mother-in-law and I have as we are joined by a mutual love. We've come to the acceptance part of our relationship. She provides the opportunity for me to provide her some of the love I have for food. She mentions in conversation the latest recipe she saw on television from the Martha Stewart show. So from my internal knowledge I put her recipe recommendation into action.
Candied Orange Peel
I washed and soaked my oranges in cold water. I had two recipes to use the oranges. I wanted to juice my oranges but I also wanted to remove the peel. It's much easier to remove the peel while the orange is whole. I used a vegetable peel to remove the peel (because I do not have a zester) and made smaller line pieces with a knife.
I added 1 cup sugar and 1 cup of cold water to a sauce pot. It's that simple.
Let it come to a boil and add in the orange peels.
I let it cook down and did not use a candy thermometer.
I then poured it out onto greased parchment paper placed on top of a cookie sheet to cool.
I broke it into pieces as it cooled down.
Here's a picture of what it looked like:
I decided to grind up the orange peel in the simple sugar into a powder for future recipes. I found that the food processors works best for this task because it has the power.
Here's what it looks like:
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