Farmbox Direct & Winter Squash Soup

Squash, pomegranate, turnips, carrots, pear, apple, grapefruit, lemon, cucumber, green beans,
kiwi berries, garlic, tiny onions, and Havarti cheese. Whew!

I recently was approached by organic produce delivery service Farmbox Direct asking if I would be interested in their product. Of course I was, so they sent me a free box of goodies, which you can see above. Farmbox Direct offers three sizes of boxes at three price points, the box I received was a small, one person, box.

Farmbox Direct founder Ashley Turner hand-picks all of the USDA Certified Organic producers that her company uses, including the dairy farmers and bakers whose products can also be added to a shipment. Each week, subscribers get an email with information on the contents of that week's box. They are then able to make up to five substitutions (swapping out apples for additional lemons, for example) and add other grocery items to their shipment. Boxes and packing material are eco-friendly, and shipping is FedEx Periship, for perishable goods.

I think programs like Farmbox Direct are great for folks who don't want to subscribe to a traditional CSA, which involves regular weekly deliveries and payment in advance. If you don't want a box one week, with Farmbox Direct, you can skip it. It's ideal for people like us, who, for work purposes, end up eating dinner in restaurants more often than not, and can't always use up an entire shipment in one week.

If you want more information on Farmbox Direct, check out their Web site.

So what did we do with all of our produce? Well, the onions, some garlic, pomegranate and the squashes went into this yummy soup.

I've seen a lot of squash and pumpkin soups that are more like a puree than an actual soup. Soup shouldn't stand up in a mound in the bowl! This recipe has plenty of broth, so it's pleasantly thick but not a porridge. And the warm spices make the common squash seem almost exotic.

Spiced Winter Squash Soup

3 round winter squash (acorn, turban, sweet dumpling, etc.)
Olive oil
Salt
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Pomegranate arils
Pistachios

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut squashes in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut each half into quarters. Place squash pieces on a foil-lined baking sheet. Rub each piece with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast until pieces are very tender and starting to caramelize, about an hour. Remove from oven and cool long enough to handle.

When cool, remove squash pulp from rinds with a spoon. Discard rinds. Put pulp in a blender, in 3-4 batches, and puree. You might need to add a little water if you don't have a high speed blender.

Melt the four tablespoons of butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent and just starting to brown. Stir in the garlic and cook an additional minute or so. Add the squash puree, spices, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a bare simmer. Cook for 30 minutes before stirring in the cream. Taste for seasoning and remove from the heat.

Serve garnished with pomegranate arils and pistachios.

Makes at least 2 quarts.

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Zucchini Bread

So we joined an on-demand CSA at the end of August, because our little backyard garden wasn't producing the way we wanted. Perhaps our lovely temperate summer had something to do with it. We aren't used to low humidity, and neither were our zucchini, eggplant, and other veg. We got a couple of nicely sized zucchini in our first box. Just two, nothing extraordinary. Personally, I love zucchini any way I can get it - raw, grilled, stewed, etc., but Mr Minx appreciates its squishy cooked texture about as much as I like lima beans. (I hate lima beans.) So rather than torture him with it, I decided to use the zucchini in a quick bread.

Before I had the chance to look for a zucchini bread recipe, Melissa Clark posted one on her Facebook page. Or she posted a list of ingredients. I saw that I had just about everything on her list and went from there. Here's my interpretation, which makes a lightly-sweet bread that is super-moist and has a nice springy texture. It's great as a snack, and for breakfast.

Zucchini Bread, adapted from a recipe by Melissa Clark

3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 eggs
2 cups AP flour
1 cup oat flour (you can use more AP flour, or whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon yogurt
2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a stand mixer (or use a large bowl and a hand mixer), combine the sugars and olive oil at medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

In a medium bowl, combine the flours, salt, baking soda and powder, and cinnamon. In another bowl, combine the orange juice and yogurt. Alternate adding the flour and yogurt mixtures to the sugar mixture, starting and ending with flour.

Squeeze the zucchini dry and add to the batter. Pour into a greased 9 x 5 loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs.

Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting the bread onto a rack to cool completely.



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Spicy Smoky Beet Ketchup

I tell ya, even getting a small CSA box leaves one with a ton of veggies and fruits to use up before they go bad. Every time I open the crisper drawer, I spot something else that needs to be cooked. "Oh yeah - those Chioggia beets! I forgot all about them!" Mr Minx had cooked up the tops and combined them with organic kale, but left the root part for me. He's not a big fan of beets, and the three beets I was now staring at were enormous--no way I was going to eat them without assistance.

So I made ketchup. As with everything I cook, I think "why the hell not?" I've had mango ketchup and banana ketchup. Beets are sweet, too, and red. Like ketchup. Chioggia beets are pink though, so to up the color, I added balsamic vinegar. And, of course, brown sugar and spices. I always think ketchup tastes like cloves, but those little suckers are pungent. I didn't want to go overboard, so I just added a pinch. After tasting my concoction, I added a bit of smoked paprika and cayenne, for oomph. You can add more cayenne, if you want, but I thought a small amount was more prudent.

The texture, after pureeing, is rather thick and spoonable, rather than pourable. Heinz ain't got nothing on homemade.

We served the ketchup on lamb burgers, and it was really delicious. I think beet bbq sauce made with beet ketchup might be the next step.

Spicy, Smoky Beet Ketchup

2 cups chopped roasted beets
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch ground cloves

Place the beets, garlic, and vinegars in a saucepan and stir to combine. Turn heat on to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until beets are tender. Stir in seasonings and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Puree mixture in a food processor or blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.



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Swiss Chard Gumbo

For some time, the Minx has been pushing for us to eat more fruits and vegetables. While I'm not averse to eating vegetables and sometimes prefer a vegetarian meal over something meat-centric, I'm often challenged by the task of making vegetable dishes tasty and satisfying. I have a relatively small number of tricks up my sleeve, one being to make Indian-inspired dishes, but getting the seasonings just right is daunting. Another trick is to make gumbo since I've learned how to make a dark roux quickly and I can nail the Cajun/Creole flavor profile more easily.

Recently, the Minx signed us up for a CSA (community supported agriculture) that delivers a box of fresh fruits and vegetables to our door when we place an order. Among the items we received was Swiss chard, so the Minx tasked me with using the Swiss chard in our dinner. Since we also happened to have onion, celery, and a bell pepper, gumbo seemed to be the best option. It would also give me a chance to use some of the chicken andouille sausage that had been languishing in the freezer for weeks. Normally I would make rice to go with gumbo, but we happened to have some small potatoes around, so I thought that might be an interesting twist. I also threw in some okra that I had picked from the garden, but it's not absolutely necessary for the recipe. The silky Swiss chard is the star here.

Swiss Chard Gumbo

1 medium onion chopped
1/2 cup celery chopped
1 red or yellow bell pepper chopped
3 andouille sausages
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
4 cloves garlic smashed
1/2 pound baby fingerling potatoes
1 bunch Swiss chard chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
salt to taste

Chop your onion, celery, and bell pepper and set aside. Also slice your three andouille sausages and set aside. Preheat a large pot until it starts to smoke and put in your butter and flour. Stir constantly until the butter and flour are combined and begin to brown. This is your roux. Keep stirring until the roux turns the color of dark chocolate. There will be quite a bit of smoke, so don't panic. That's just the way roux cooks. Once the roux reaches the right color, throw in your trinity (onion, celery, and bell pepper) along with the sliced sausage. Toss a little bit of salt in to release the juices from the vegetables. Reduce the heat and mix everything together. Put a lid on the pot and allow the onion to sweat.

At this point, smash the garlic with a garlic press and dump it into the 2 cups of chicken stock. Once the onions have become translucent and the roux has become liquidy, pour the stock and garlic into the pot. Raise the heat and stir. Once the mixture reaches a boil, toss in the fingerling potatoes. Depending on the size, you can leave them whole or, if they are too big, cut them into finger-sized chunks. Turn the heat to medium and let simmer.

Remove the leaves of the Swiss chard from the stems. Dice the stems and add them to the pot. Give them about 10 minutes to cook. Meanwhile, roughly chop the Swiss chard leaves. After the stems have cooked for 10 minutes, add the leaves and the seasonings. Adjust the seasoning to your own taste. Once the leaves have cooked for about five minutes, the gumbo is ready to be served.  

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