Summer in a jar

 I have been busy, and have neglected this blog this summer....
But  I have not forgotten and with my project 'Flying Avocado Whole Foods' taking off (so to speak...)I  will have more opportunities to post. I will soon have a website and may combine the two some how. Meanwhile, I am still cooking, still creating and having a load of fun

Weekly Bread

Freshly dug Taters

The Joy of Broccoli

I went to the Farmer's Market in Plumsteadville on Saturday . It is a sweet little affair, complete with a small table of quilters,  a Bluegrass Band, 2 tables of fresh, local produce, local honey, some handcrafts, and a cute little girl in a NY Yankees visor selling homemade cookies. I chatted with the sheep lady about the birds using wool for their nests, and the efficacy of spider webs to stop bleeding,..really. 

 I spent all of $3.00 and left with a huge head of broccoli and two strawberry filled butter cookies. Better yet, I left with a wonderful warm feeling of community, of small town life, thankful for my place here in this lovely corner of the country

Whole Wheat Rotini w/ Broccoli, White Beans and Garlic

Put a pot of water on to boil.

Chop 4-5 big cloves of garlic and saute in 1/3 c olive oil until soft.

Salt water when it boils and dump on half a box of pasta.

Set timer for 7 min.

Cut broccoli in to florets.

Open and drain a small can of cannellini beans. Add to Garlic mix

Bing! Add broccoli to pasta, cook 2-3 more minutes. 

Drain and dump immediately into Garlic -Bean pot

Season with lots of fresh ground pepper

Shave some Parmesan over and toss

So simple and so delicious!

Today's Supper

I just finished cooking and delivering a meal to two of my favorite friends. I used veggies that they get as their share from a local CSA, and some things from my garden as well.

The menu :

Broccoli, in a balsamic marinade, grilled, topped with toasted pine nuts and diced red pepper

Polenta tartlets to be topped with:

Fresh Kale braised with scallions, spring onions, garlic and leeks and a sprinkling of Parmesan

What a pleasure to cook with such fresh ingredients!

Of course, me being me, after I made this yummy meal for Marg and Terry, I stopped for my dinner at Ohwowcow.....a chocolate milkshake! Well, it's local, homemade ice cream....lots of calcium....and scrumptiously cold! Who cooks for the cook?

Garden Veggie Time!

We have been eating lettuce, peas, kale, radishes, and more lettuce for weeks now, and what a season it has been! All of my squashes have grown in leaps  and bounds, the tomatoes, green beans, peppers and eggplants have flowers, and I am looking forward to beets and swiss chard and leeks. 

This past week I have dipped into my rain barrels to water my veggies and my flowers. I bought sturdy plastic collapsible barrels from an online source, and I am so happy I did. They cost me less than $40.00 each  ( compared to the $75.00-$150.00 hard plastic barrels I have seen ) and are working out just fine. I can attach a hose or dip and carry my watering cans. It seems that nature is keeping up by refilling the barrels  when I have had to use more than half of their 75 gallons. When winter comes, I can empty them out and fold them up and store them in my basement.

Well, I am off to pick some Kale, which I will braise in a bit of olive oil in which I have already sauteed onions and garlic.....a squeeze of fresh lemon and I am back in my Mom's dining room eating dinner with my family!

New Adventure

I am starting a new venture now that I am footloose and fancy free.......Introducing Flying Avocado Whole Foods featuring me,Chef Peg as your personal Chef. I am very excited about this new venture because as Executive (and only) Chef, I will be able to tailor my cooking to fit anyone's particular needs. There is no limit to what I will be able to do,  or who I will be able to serve. I have been thinking for a long time about doing this and now I have been afforded the opportunity to carry out my dream. So I will set myself up on Facebook, get some business cards made,  and hopefully, within the next couple of months get cooking again, custom work made to order. I am hoping to use this blog as a menu board, but will continue to write up recipes to share.
Wish me luck and Bon Appetit!

So much rain means...Mushrooms!

It's has been raining a lot these past few weeks and the Delaware River has risen above flood stage...which means I am staying home and  thinking about....mushrooms!  Mushrooms are a wonderful phenomenon.There are so many varieties and they are so good for us in so many ways. First and foremost, for all of us breast cancer survivors, mushrooms have been found to play a significant role in helping to prevent breast cancer by inhibiting tumor growth and boosting the immune system. They contain a phytochemical that inhibits the production of a protein in our body than makes estrogen. This is important news for post-menopausal women who have had an estrogen driven cancer (75% of post menopausal  breast cancers are hormone dependent). 

That, for me , is a great reason to eat loads of  yummy fungi. Big white stuffing mushrooms came in first, but shiitake, portobello, cremini and button mushrooms have also been named as preventive dynamos. There are other mushrooms that are not commonly available fresh in our neck of the woods: reishi, maitake. enoki, oyster, & pocini, to name a few, that can be found dried( easily reconstituted in simmering water) that have been found to have cholesterol reducing and immune system boosting properties.

So, the lowly mushroom, long used in Japan and China for their health sustaining properties, but scorned as nothing more than salad bar fillers in this country, have become an important weapon in our arsenal of cancer fighting weapons. And best of all, they are delicious!  Their versatility is limited only by one's imagination. In soups, stews, ground up as fillers for stuffings, used as vehicles for stuffing....the possibilities are endless.

One of my favorite restaurants has a wild mushroom gratin on it's menu that I can not resist...sauteed mixed mushrooms, a splash of sherry and a topping of Jarlsberg Swiss (and/or Gruyere), shoved under the broiler 'til brown and bubbly...oh my.... some crunchy bread and I'm in heaven.

Here's a recipe I have made many times that has been a popular menu item.

                                Portobellos Stuffed w/ Spinach and Goat Cheese

• Portobello Mushrooms, wiped clean*, & de-stemmed

• White wine  or dry Sherry**

• Olive Oil

• Garlic, minced

• Onion fine chop

• Fresh spinach~ 2-3 bags or about a pound at least. That will look like a huge amount , but will cook down to a much smaller amount, no worries

• Goat cheese ~your favorite or Feta if you are not fond of goat

• Toasted pine nuts

Spray a rimmed cookie sheet.

Place mushrooms gill side up on the pan and sprinkle liberally w. wine or better yet sherry

Bake 350 for 10-15 min.

Meanwhile, soften the garlic and onion in a splash of olive oil in a large-ish pot

Add your well washed spinach, toss around a bit

When spinach wilts keep stirring to allow liquid to reduce.

Remove from heat.

Mound onto mushrooms, crumble goat cheese on top, sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and broil briefly to melt cheese.

Remove to serving plate and pour pan juices over all

Sit down and enjoy this wonderful dish!

*never soak or wash mushrooms if a wiping can suffice to clean them . When fresh they are like sponges and will absorb too much water.

**always cook with wine that you would drink and having a glass while you cook is not such a bad idea.

You will notice that I never give you exact amounts....I am trusting your judgment as should you. Plus I do not know if you are cooking for one or ten.

It's a Rainy Night in Pennsetucky.......

Arrrgghh !  What to make for supper? I cook all week long at work and I have fun doing it most of the time so why is it soooo hard to make a meal at home?  Because it's just for 2! My Sweetie does not like leftovers, or the big pot of soup that lasts all week (I am fine with that, I can eat the same thing every day no problem) I took a look in my pantry, which is usually pretty well stocked with basic staples, but happens to be on the slim side at the moment. We need something hearty, not too heavy as I have to hit the rack soon, and Fast. Here is what I came up with.

                                      Miracle From the Depths

Ok so, put a pot of water on to boil.

Chop an onion and Saute in a splash of olive oil

• Open a jar of artichoke hearts.

• Find the open green olives in the refrigerator...grab the capers while you are at it, and might as well use the kalamata olives too.

• Dump your various and sundry finds into the pan with the onions, and mix up well.

• Throw in a can of  diced  (or whatever...)tomatoes, and that hard rind of Parmesan that's in the bottom of the cheese drawer.

• Grab some pesto (if you are one of those crazy basil growers who makes pesto by the quart just before the frost so the gigantic harvest of basil does not go to waste...)  If there's no pesto, then a sprinkle of some dried herbs* would suffice: oregano, basil, & a touch of thyme.
• Grind some pepper in to taste. Add some chopped garlic (I usually leave mine in big chunks because I am lazy and I like to bite down on a big piece of garlic every now and again)
• Simmer this for a half hour or so

Cook some whole wheat pasta...Bio Naturae is a great brand, made in Italy. (If you grow and can your own  your own tomatoes, you offset your carbon footprint a tiny bit)

Drain your al dente pasta, throw it back in the pot , add the sauce and  hey presto! you have supper!  Add a little salad and you are set.

Now if you live with a carnivore, a little handful of julienne'd pepperoni on top of their bowl of pasta would make him/her very happy. Oh and another thing...take a bite of the cheese rind that has been simmered in your sauce..... oooboy.
*A little note: dried herbs are dicey things. If kept at room temperature in a spice rack out in the light , they lose a lot . Their flavor gets dusty and stale. Now if you can buy them in smaller quantities  and keep them in the door of your freezer, they are just as handy as the spice rack and way tastier. Just a thought.