Week 6 Box

More summer vegetables are appearing now in the box, which I appreciate.  I was especially excited to see the herb of the week, since it's an easy one to use up quickly.

• Garlic
• Onions
• Kale
• Swiss Chard
• Potatoes
• Zucchini
• Cucumber
• Beets
• Basil

Pizza Pasta

I had a lot of odds and ends in the refrigerator, which means casserole night.  This one came out well and, bonus, took some of the CSA ingredients I had floating around.  Anything that involves a topper of browned cheese, I like. (A note about the pictured bakeware: I love this baking dish.  It is the perfect size for casseroles, it heats evenly, it cleans easily, and it is pretty.  I have it in blue, since it matches my dishes, and it can be found at this link Le Creuset Stoneware 11-1/2-Inch Oval Baking Dish, Cobalt Blue)

Serves 3-4

2 cups pasta (I used mini wheels)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, sliced
1/2 tablespoon butter
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano
1/2 cup cut up pepperoni (I used turkey pepperoni)
1 cup pizza cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, removing from heat and draining a few minutes before pasta tests done.  Pour into greased casserole dish and set aside.
2. Saute garlic and green onion in butter until soft.  Toss with pasta in casserole dish.  Add mushrooms, tomato sauce, oregano, and pepperoni.  Stir well and smooth top.  Sprinkle cheese evenly over casserole.
3. Bake casserole in 350 degree oven until bubbly and brown.  Let set 5 minutes before serving.

Raspberry Coffee Cake

I really like cake.  Any excuse to eat cake at any time is good for me, so coffee cake is great.  This cake went to work and didn't last long, even in my small office.

Serves 16

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons cold butter
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1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups raspberries

1. Mix together 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in bowl.  Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender or your fingers.  Set aside in refrigerator.
2. Grease 9x13 inch pan.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in eggs and sour cream, scraping bowl as needed.  Sift 2 1/2 cup flour, soda, baking powder , and salt into batter.  Mix until combined.
4. Dollop half of batter into prepared pan.  Smooth until even.  Sprinkle berries evenly over batter.  Dollop remaining batter over berries.  Smooth to cover berries and to distribute evenly.  Remove strudel from refrigerator and sprinkle evenly over batter.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until it test done.  Cool completely before cutting into squares to serve.

Strawberry Raspberry Jam

For most of my jams and jellies, I just use the recipes on the inside of the pectin box.  The last week of the berry season, I didn't have enough berries for a full batch of anything.  I did, however, have a coupon for strawberries.  This came out well, for being merely convenient.  A note on the crushing: after years of making jam, I always crush my berries with a pastry cutter.  It does a better job of breaking down berries than a potato masher but leaves better berry pieces than a food processor.

Makes 9 1-cup jars

2 1/2 cups crushed raspberries
2 1/2 cups crushed strawberries
6 3/4 cups sugar
1 box pectin

1. Measure sugar into a bowl.  Set aside.
2. Prepare jars and lids.  Jars should set in hot water until ready to use (I use my sink, plugged, for this).  Sealing lids need to be soaked in boiling water (I heat 1 cup water in microwave, drop in lids, and let sit in microwave) until ready to use.
3. Measure the fruit into a heavy large saucepan and stir in pectin.  Place saucepan over high heat and stir constantly until it reaches boiling.  The fruit and pectin need to boil continuously even when stirred.
4. Pour sugar into fruit.  Heat to boiling again and boil one minute.  Remove from heat.
5. Drain jars and lids.  Line hot jars up on a towel.  Working quickly, ladle hot jam into jars and top with lids.  Seal jars.

Black Raspberry Pie

I can't even count the number of pies that I have made in my life.  Because of the number of berries collected, I usually make a number of black raspberry pies in a summer.  It was the Fourth, so there are stars on this one. (A note about pie pans: for pies like this one, I like to use a glass baking dish.  Glass browns better than most aluminum pans, so the crust doesn't tend to get soggy, and it also means that it can go in the dishwasher.  Deep-dish means more fruit and the larger lip means it's easier to take in and out of the oven.  The one I have is here 9" Pyrex Pie Plate)

Serves 6-8

8 cups black raspberries
Zest and juice of one-half lemon
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup flour
Crust for one double-crust pie

1. Toss raspberries with zest and juice of lemon.  Toss with sugar and flour.  Set aside.
2. Mix up and roll out crusts.  Fit bottom crust to deep-dish pie pan.  Roll out second crust and ensure some kind of ventilation.
3. Pour berry mixture into bottom crust.  Top with top crust and seal edges.  Sprinkle top crust with sugar.
4. Bake in 375 degree oven for 35-50 minutes.  Serve warm or cool.

Raspberries!!

My parents own some land that has trees, wild roses--which are a lot less pretty and a lot more irritating than they sound--and a lot of black raspberries.  The first discovery of them was before a lot of the space between the trees was cleared, when we were walking around the edge of the tilled fields.  My mom concluded that she hoped there would be enough raspberries for a pie.

Once we ventured deeper into the tree area, we started finding more and more berry bushes.  This was years ago--about 6 now, I think--and since then there hasn't been a year when we picked fewer than 10 gallons of berries.  My mom and I split them, usually, and the majority of mine turn into canned goods.  Those that don't get crushed into jam or juiced into jelly get baked into other things.  The recipes that can be--meaning those I made up--are included here.

Week 5 Box

There was a warning on our box this week that all veggies should be checked for green caterpillars.  Boy were they right.  Probably because of these critters, I sense that this will be the last week for lettuce.  I had to be particularly careful about making that into salad.

• Lettuce
• Greens (chard and kale now)
• Potatoes
• Garlic
• Onions
• Radishes
• Rosemary