Sufferin' Succotash!

CSA Succotash Ingredients

Billy Brown (born William Xavier Brown) was my grandfather- “Pop-Pop”. He wore a white dress shirt, tie, creased charcoal grey trousers and a Derby hat every day. He was bald ‘like a monk’, with a strip of black hair from ear to ear. And he was the kindest person I’ve ever known.
He would pick me up from Sacred Heart Academy in his blue Bonneville. Really good pumpernickel bread and butter, wrapped in Saran Wrap, would be sitting on the center console of the big car. “Here you go, Toots. This is for your hungry tummy”. I’d munch on it during the drive home, telling him about my day. When I went away to college in Pennsylvania, Pop-Pop would send ‘Care Packages’ to my campus apartment. They’d be filled with food to sustain me: Skippy peanut butter, Ritz crackers, spaghetti and a jar of Aunt Millie’s Spaghetti Sauce, Spam, tuna fish, and cans of succotash.
Succotash. That is the last time I thought about the mixture of lima beans, corn, green or yellow beans and red pepper. In college, I didn’t care for lima beans, and picked them out of the mix (I could have eaten them and ‘offered it up to God’, but I chose not to. I might go to hell.) Now, many years later, I actually love all kinds of legumes and pulses, limas among them. Succotash can have any legume in it—fava, kidney, white, navy- as well as corn and green or yellow beans. I made succotash earlier in the season with fava beans that I bought at Whole Foods. But this week’s share contains yellow wax beans, edamame, and corn. So-succotash!! Peppers from last week’s share will round-out the dish. Oh…and some bacon, too, just ‘cause it’s yummy and will add some smokiness to the dish. I think Pop-Pop would like it!

Succotash with edamame

Succotash

The key to a good summer succotash is to keep it fresh and simple. I used bacon here for a wonderful smoky flavor, but butter or oil (1 Tablespoon) could be substituted.

2 slices thickly sliced bacon
8 ounces fresh or frozen lima or fava beans (shelled), or shelled edamame*
3 ears of corn
2 bell peppers (any color, but red and purple look great!)
4 ounces green or yellow wax beans
3 scallions (optional_
freshly ground black pepper

1. Dice the bacon and add to a deep heavy skillet. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is almost crisp and the fat is rendered.
2. Meanwhile, cut the kernels off the corn and dice the peppers. Trim the beans and cut into 1-inch pieces. Trim the scallions and slice diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces.
3. When the bacon is nearly crisp, add the corn and peppers. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until the peppers are crisp-tender. Add the green or yellow beans, cover and lower the heat to quite low. Cook for 5 minutes, until the beans just begin to change color. Stir in the scallions and season with black pepper to taste. Serve hot.

To cook edamame pods: Bring a pot of water to boil- large enough to fit the edamame with 2-inches of water covering them. Add the edamame and bring back to a boil. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Squeeze the beans out of the pods.

Succotash with fava beans

This week's share also includes potatoes, leeks, eggplant, cucumbers, and eggplant. Potato-leek soup sounds good for tomorrow- it's supposed to rain all week!
Cheers!

Ever SO Much Lettuce: Beyond the Salad

The weather in southern Connecticut this summer so far promises an awesome growing season- a perfect mix of cool, wet nights and warm sunny days. This is a big difference from last year's rain, rain and more rain~~ I'm looking forward to this season!

I'm late in starting this blog. Blame it on end-of-the-school-year melancholy. Or procrastination. Maybe both. But I will be posting recipes and ideas of what I do with my CSA share from this point on.

The first of my CSA shares from Stone Garden Farm included leaf lettuce, baby bok choy and Asian mix (aka more lettuce), as well as radishes, Hakurei turnips ('salad turnips'), small pots of herbs, scallions, kohlrabi and garlic scapes. Fred and Stacia Monahan, the owners and farmers at Stone Garden, also raise chickens, pork, beef and sell fresh eggs. The share often includes a dozen of the best fresh eggs (if you've never had a truly fresh egg, you have no idea how 'eggy' really fresh eggs taste!)

Back to what has been in my box. Hmmm. . .I like salad- I do. Future blogs will include some fun and easy salad dressing recipes. But as much as I like a good salad, I also tend to get cantankerous if I have to eat the same thing every day. So what to do with all that lettuce?

First things first- how to store the veggies.

Leaf lettuce will last much longer in the fridge if it is washed, dried and stored in toweling. Separate the lettuce leaves and swish in a bowl of cold water. Spin dry in a salad spinner and lay out on layers of paper towels or a clean tea towel and roll up. Place in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator and the leaves will stay crisp for several days.

If the tops are left on the turnips, radishes or kohlrabi, cut them off and store them separately from the bulbs (otherwise the greens sort of suck the life out of the vegetable and they lose their crispness quickly).

Once you've taken steps to make sure that your vegetables are stored correctly, you can figure out what to do with them. I have been in an Asian mood lately, so here are some of the ways I've cooked the veggies.

Asian Egg Pancakes with Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup flour

2/3 cup cold water

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 egg (optional)

bunch of scallions (reserve one for the dipping sauce)

bunch of radishes

oil as needed

Wash and trim the scallions and radishes and cut into very, very thin slivers (technically a julienne cut- but don't skimp on time and effort here- good knife cuts will really elevate this dish).

Whisk together the flour, water, salt and egg (if you are using it). Fold in the scallions and radishes. Heat a nonstick or cast iron skillet until very hot. Add enough oil to just cover the bottom of the pan. Drop the batter into the oil in large tablespoons. Lower the heat slightly and cook until crisp on the bottom. Carefully turn over and cook until the other side is browned and crisp. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and keep warm while you repeat with the remaining batter. Serve with the dipping sauce

Dipping Sauce: combine 1/4 cup each of soy sauce and rice vinegar with 2 teaspoons sesame oil, the remaining scallion-minced, a minced clove of garlic and a big pinch of red pepper flakes.

Tofu and Noodles with Peanut Sauce

1 package extra firm tofu

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 bunch baby bok choy

2 cloves garlic

2 large salad turnips or 1 medium cucumber

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

4 Tablespoons soy sauce

4 Tablespoons rice vinegar

5 ounces dry pasta or 2 cups cooked pasta (like spaghetti or linguini)

Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet and saute the tofu cubes until they begin to crisp. Set aside.

Wash and trim the bok choy and cut into strips. Mince the garlic. Trim the salad turnips and cut into strips (if using the cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into thin slices).

Blend together the peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar and garlic. Combine the vegetables, tofu and pasta and pour the sauce over. Serve at room temperature.

Yummy, easy, and everything can be done in advance~~ just heat the pancakes in a low oven (about 300 degrees) for a few minutes before serving.

Cheers!