Ditmas Park CSA Extended Season Week 2

Fall foods, earthy, and not as vibrant as the summer varieties

Is there a better way to get your weeks food then with a group of like minded people sharing a supporting a farm? You can say hello to your farmer, swap recipe ideas, swap unwanted vegetables with your neighbors, ask questions. Its nice. Hundreds of times nicer then the grocery store.

I bought two of five weeks of the extended share option from my neighbor. That breaks down to a whole share, every other week. I will spend less time rushing between my neighborhood and Ditmas Park, a bonus. The trick is for me to spread the extra food over 2 weeks before it wilts. Not so hard with potatoes, beets, onion, and squash. Tomatoes, peppers, turnip, and bok choy are on this weeks menu.

Ditmas Park CSA Extended Season Week 2
8 oz honey!
1 fat turnip
2 green peppers
1 big head of bok choy
2 tomatoes
6 small beets
10 small potatoes
3 big onions (I swapped my broccoli and cauliflower one onion, I just cant eat that much food)
1 big honking daikon
1 hubbard squash

Sarma Grapeleaves

Sour and savory grapeleaves filled with rice stuffing and steamed

Some of you know stuffed grapeleaves as dolma, but in my home (half American-half Armenian/ Lebanese) we called them sarmas. The reason? Sarma means rolled and dolma means stuffed. I have an ancient memory of my father telling me that. My sarma has shredded vegetables, white wine, and parsley. Not traditional ingredients, but flavorful. I hold no recipe sacred. No food is safe from my kitchen meddling.

This isnt an easy recipe. It involves multiple steps, and a little bit of a guessing game (How much rice goes in each leaf? How long to cook until the rice isnt chewy or too soft? Why is there extra water left in the pan) and time to manually roll each leaf. The good news is even if you mess up you will probably get something that tastes great. Make it for a special occasion, or a good party. If youre making grapeleaves, then you ought to show them off, er, um, I mean share.

Sarma Grapeleaves

1 medium onion
1 medium zucchini
2 tblsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tblsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried mint
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 bunch of parsley, stems removed, chopped
2 tsp white wine
1 1/2 cups uncooked medium or long grain rice

1-2 jars of grapeleaves
olive oil
2 cups of water
1/2 lemon juice
1/2 cup pickle juice from jar of grapeleaves
more olive oil and lemons for presentation

Shred onion and zucchini. I used the slicing disks on my food processor. Alternatively, can pulse the vegetables in the bowl of your food processor until its in little pieces, or the old fashioned on the large holed of a cheese grater. Add vegetables to large skillet with salt and oil. Cook over low-medium heat until very soft. Dont brown. Brown chunks in the grapeleaves looks kind of funky. Add tomato paste and mix to coat vegetables. Cook for about one minute, stirring. Stir in spices and mix until combine. Add white wine, scraping the bottom of the skillet to remove any of the flavorful bits that cling to the bottom. A wood spoon is a great tool for this. Turn off heat, and stir in rice. Mix until the rice is evenly coated. This mixture will be the filling for the grapeleaves. It can be prepared 3-5 days before rolling the grapeleaves and stored in a sealed container. When Im in full on party planning mode I make the filling up to 2 weeks in advance freezing it in a good container.

A good set up makes the work easier

To roll and cook the grape leaves youre going to want to set aside a good 1-2 hours. Have some fun music playing while you dirty your hands, maybe invite some friend over to help. First find a large pot, 4 qts are more, to steam the grapeleaves in. You will need to keep a plate on top of the grapeleaves while they cook, so make sure that you have a plate that fits snugly over the opening before you start rolling grapeleaves. Find a nice clean workspace to roll grapeleaves where you can place the pot, a surface for rolling individual leaves (like a plate), the stuffing and leaves within comfortable reaching distance.

Remove the grapeleaves from the jar and rinse. Dont throw out the pickle juice the leaves are packed in. Cover the bottoms and sides of your pot with grapeleaves. Try to use the large leaves, which may be tough or hard to roll the sarmas with. The leaves will provide an ideal steaming environment, and help prevent sarmas from burning on the surfaces of the pan. Slosh a few glugs of olive oil on the leaves, and youre ready to sit and roll.

Stem facing you, veins up

Spread an individual grapeleaf on a plate, stem end pointing towards you, veins up. Using a small spoon plop a clump of filling across the wider stem end of the leaf. Around 1 tsp of filling per leaf. You dont want to over fill the leaves. They will explode, and you will have wasted all your hard work. Fold the sides of the leaf over the filling and roll away from you. Push/fold any wild leaf edges in towards the center as you roll. You are trying to make a nice little rice and leaf package that is not too tight, with a little lose space for the rice to expand. Tight packages may explode when cooked. Place each rolled grapeleave loose edge down (important) in the pot. Continue rolling and neatly packing grapeleaves in rows in your pot. You can stack 2-3 rows of grapeleaves.

Rolling grapeleaves never takes me less than an hour, and usually I get bored and antsy. Do not give in to the urge to overfill the grapeleaves to get done faster. You may just be messing them up, making them pop when cooked. I wish I had take a photo of my exploded grapeleaves, but theyre so gory and sad.

After youve rolled all of the sarmas, and stacked them in your pot, gently pour in the water, lemon juice, and pickled leaf juice. Cover with an inverted plate, and place a weight on top of the plate. I use my Pyrex 2 cup measuring cup filled with water to hold down the plate while the grapeleaves expand. Place pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and lower heat to medium low.

Sometimes it takes 30 minutes to steam the sarmas sometimes over an hour. Im not sure why. I suggest tasting a sarma after 30 minutes for doneness, and every 10 minutes there after. The rice should be tender, not chewy. Remove from heat, and drain any fluids that may remain. Move sarmas to storage container to help cool. Be careful they will be really hot. Use tongs. Squeeze lemon juice on top, and another glug of olive oil. Serve at slightly warm or at room temperature. Enjoy all your hard work, and know it gets a little easier every time you make sarmas!

Ditmas Park CSA Extended Season Week 4

Last week, see you next year CSA

This is it! The last week of the extended share Im splitting with neighbors. Boohoo. I have to buy food in a smelly grocery store. Rotten. I am very pleased with the variety. The vegetables will store well. I have 4 large squash and 3 small squash waiting to be cooked, and about 8 pounds of potatoes and yams, and 6 giant onions stored up. That ought to last me a few months. Again I traded my broccoli and cauliflower away. I have great luck with another CSA member who keeps the same pick up schedule as me.

Ditmas Park CSA Extended Season Week 4
3 yams
12 small, medium, and large potatoes
2 acorn squash, different variety
1 hulking hubbard squash
5 green tomatoes
4 onions
1 red cabbage
2 heads of garlic
1 turnip
dozen eggs

Ditmas Park Monday Night Fun Vinyl Club Sycamore Dec 6th

Brooklyns You bring it, you spin Monday Night Vinyl Club. Whiskey, flowers, vinyl, and the musical selections of Ditmas Park residents. Always a hit, and always on later then we plan. Details on our Facebook page or blog.

Monday Night Vinyl Club #28 - Whiskey & Records
Monday December 6th, 8p-1a
@ Sycamore Bar and Flowershop, 1118 Cortelyou, BK
F R E E
{you bring it, you spin it any variety}

Venison Chili

meal

January to February is chili season, directly following Christmas cookie season. Easy, fast, spicy, warming, and and easy way to feel like youve eaten a round meal with just one bowl.

Dangerously close to a year ago I was given venison loin by my cousin Mary-Tyler. The venison was hunted by her half of the family, likely in Virgina. Mary-Tyler will correct me in the comments if Im wrong. I wasnt sure if the venison would be freezer burned (from a year in the freezer) or if the meat would be too strong. The venison was neither, and I ate a hunk hot off the stove. It was a little bit of a waste to cover up great meat in chili, but this is some outstanding chili. One thing to note, I defrosted the venison on a shallow plate in the fridge. The plate was brimming with blood when it thawed, and got everywhere. Gross. Watch out.

Venison Chili

1 lb venison
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tblsp canola oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or more)
1 tblsp ground cumin (I fresh roast and grind cumin seeds for much better flavor)
1 tsp ground coriander (roasted and ground seeds preferred)
2 tsp chili powder (ditto with above)
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
2 cans water

Put venison a stock pot with 1/4 cup vinegar and water to cover 1 inch. Let sit for 3-5 hours. Soaking in vinegar is supposed to tenderize the meat and remove gamy flavor. Im not too sure if you should soak the meat longer or shorter period of time. I couldnt find specific directions online. Please leave your thoughts in the comments if you know better. When ready to make chili remove venison from the water, and wring out. Pat with many, many paper towels to dry.

Add oil to a stockpot and heat over high fire until oil is smoking. Salt the venison and carefully add to the stock pot. Cook until browned, turning to brown each side. Remove and let sit 5-10 minutes. Dont worry if the venison is raw on the inside, you arent done cooking it.

Add onions and salt to the pot and saute over medium heat until transparent. Add chopped garlic and spices. Continue to cook for 2 minutes. Toss in the crushed tomatoes and beans with fluids. Fill each bean can with water and add to the pot. Stir. Cut the browned venison into 3/4 inch chunks and return to the pot with any drippings. Stir again. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Simmer for 30 minutes and serve. Tastes great with beer and cornbread. Makes about 8 cups of chili.

Buckeyes

Candy shaped like a tree nut. Buckeyes
also share a name with a famed college football team.

If youre from Ohio when you hear the term Buckeye you will likely think football, trees, or chocolate covered peanut butter balls. If you are not from Ohio you will think football, or did you say f*ckeye? The Buckeye is the official state tree of Ohio. The nut of the buckeye is a large brown ovalish-sphere with a tan center called a buckeye. Maybe it looks like an eyeball. Some historical nut with a sweet tooth did create a Reeses-peanut-butter-cup-like treat out of the buckeyes unique shape.

Buckeyes are a standard at any Ohio bake sale, or holiday event with a cookie platter. Ironically I learned my buckeye technique from my Aunt in Maryland. Buckeyes were necessary at Christmas. Once the buckeyes were ready it was only a matter of days/hours before the candy might be swallowed whole by her sons, or lurking cousins, being my brother and I. Story has it that my oldest cousin horded a dozen or so in a frozen coffee can labeled "fishing worms" to keep buckeye thieves away. Buckeyes are worth protect, and maddeningly addicting. They are also idea frozen making them better for sharing in person then for mailing.

I have always wanted sort of "change up" this recipe to make it stand out from the ubiquitous buckeye recipe. You can add more or less sugar and butter, making the peanut butter part sweeter or drier. You cant really add flavors (coffee, cayenne, cinnamon, bourbon, maple) to the mixture without disturbing the balance that is chocolate and peanut butter. What I did find was that adding salt made the sweetness a little more exciting. Browning the melted butter also contributes a small measure of nuttiness of the candy. Mixing in a 1 oz of unsweetened chocolate to the chips to really play with contrasts. Some people melt paraffin, or food grade wax with the chocolate. That makes the candy a little more durable in warm areas, less melty. It also replaces some of the richness of the chocolate with empty wax flavor. Use your own judgement. I make buckeyes once a year I want them to be as decadent as possible.

Buckeyes

2 sticks of butter
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (do not use all natural, chunky or smooth skippy or jiff are great)
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt, more for sprinkling
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups chopped chocolate (I use high quality semi-sweet chocolate)

Melt butter over medium heat in a pan. Allow to simmer until butter becomes a light brown color. Remove from stove and pour into a large mixing bowl with peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Whip with a mixer until a smooth dough forms. Form into 1/2 - 3/4 inch balls. Try to be uniform for a prettier batch. Place peanut balls in rows on a rimmed baking sheet. You should make 5-6 dozen balls. Sprinkle with sea salt. Freeze for 2-3 hours until firm. The balls can be kept frozen for up to a week covered or in a ziplock bag.

I hastily shaped and dipped my buckeyes. Not uniform or pretty.
People will taste them before they even notice.

The next step is to dip the balls into melted chocolate. Its key to be fast and efficient with your chocolate dipping. As the frozen peanut balls thaw they become easier to drop in the chocolate, creating a black buckeye bomb. Not a bad thing, but more like a truffle then a buckeye. At the same time your chocolate will be cooling, making it goopy. Cooled chocolate is more likely to suck in your thawing peanut butter balls. Here is what you do. Find a tall ceramic mug. Use a coffee mug, or a tempered glass measuring cup. A tall melting shape make better use of vertical space.

Use a microwave to melt half of the chocolate in the mug, stirring to make sure its smooth. Bring half of the frozen peanut butter balls out of the freezer. Jab a single ball with a long pointy kitchen tool (I use a fondue fork, but kabob skewers, tooth picks work too) and dip more than half way into the chocolate. You are aiming to leave the top part of the peanut ball uncovered. There are two models for this. One, as you dip move the ball side to side. This creates an oval "eye-like" shape. The other is to dip straight down and up, creating a round shape. You will want to twirl the buckeye as you take it out of the chocolate to remove excess chocolate. Move back to cookie sheet, and continue. Act quickly to fill up your sheet. Melt more chocolate, and dip the rest of the frozen balls as needed. If you want to make A+ buckeyes carefully smudge the fork holes until they close up.

a buckeye with an oval center from side to side dipping and
a buckeye dipped straight down for a circle shape.

When you have finished dipping all of the buckeyes put the trays in the freezer and allow to firm up about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Bump them off the trays and serve. People from Ohio will thank you for buckeyes, everyone else will call them "those awesome peanut butter chocolate ball things."