“I Can Hear It!”

Old South Wharf

Taken early today and processed in HDR.

Medical Afflictions of the Cartoon World

I can think of a couple to add to this. Donald Duck with social anxiety disorder. The Smurfs with argyria. Barney Rubble, codependent to the narcissistic Fred Flintstone.

Beet Risotto

Best thing about this beet risotto recipe is, it is pink. Pink is exciting. Made the kids want to eat it. And they did, without even realizing they were eating veggies!

Beet Risotto

1 bunch small beets, roasted (about 3/4 lb)
1 bunch of beet greens, stemmed and washed
2-1/2 cups arborio rice
8 cups of chicken stock
2 tblsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cups of dry white wine
salt, pepper
3/4 cups grated parmesan cheese
3 tblsp flat-leafed parsley, chopped

To roast the beets, I cut off the greens, leaving about 1/4 in of stem. Scrubbed them. And put them in a roasting pan, covered them with foil, and baked them abotu 45 minutes at 400 deg. They’re done when you can easily pierce them with the blade of a knife. After they cool, you can easily peel them skins off with your fingers (the tips of which will turn bright pink). I removed the greens from the stems, cut them in to 1″ ribbons, washed them well, and set them aside.

I heated a large skillet over mid-high heat, added the olive oil and, once hot, added the onions until clear, about 3 minutes. I then added the rice and stirred until the rice began to smell slightly nutty, separating and started to crackle. Then I added the wine, which immediately begin to bubble gently (adjust the heat accordingly).  You should already have the chicken stock simmering on the adjacent burner, and have a ladle handy.

Once the wine has cooked down, and incorporated in to the rice, you begin the slow dance of adding a ladle of stock, and stirring. One at a time, slowly incorporating the stock a little at a time. You will stir 3-4 minutes at a time, for each ladle added. After 2-3 ladles, you want to add the beets, which you have diced up. And you want to add the garlic, and some salt.

Continuing to add more stock, one ladle a t a time, you will taste the dish frequently, while sampling the rest of the bottle of wine, until the rice is chewy, but no longer crunchy. It will take a good 20 minutes of adding stock, and stirring. The skillet will start to almost overflow, as the rice plumps. Once the rice tastes al dente, or just about done, add the parmesan cheese, some fresh ground pepper, and the greens. Stirring just until the cheese is melted and the greens are wilted. Serve while hot!

Garlicky Chard

Tonight was the first pickup night for our 8-week autumn Moors End Farm CSA. The basket was a treasure chest. Red raspberries, tomatoes, pattypan and yellow summer squash, hot peppers, green peppers, beets with greens, carrots, corn, parsley, basil, rosemary, and beautiful rainbow chard. The latter excited me the most. So that is the recipe I would like to share. It was wonderful. Fresh and rich-tasting.

Garlicky Greens

modified from Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks blog

1 large bunch of chard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt
5 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
crushed red pepper flakes (or chopped, fresh red pepper)

To de-stem each leaf of chard/kale, grab the main stalk in one hand and strip the leaf from the stem all the way up with the other. Tear the big leaves into bite-sized pieces. Wash the greens in a big bowl (or sink) full of clean water, rinsing and swishing to rinse away any stubborn grit and dirt. Drain, rinse again, and set aside. Chop the stems into bite-size, colorful pieces, and wash as well. Keep separate.

Hold off cooking the greens until just before eating. Then, in a large skillet heat the olive oil. Add a couple big pinches of salt and the stems and saute for 1-2 minutes first. Then add the greens. Stir continuously until their color gets bright green, and they just barely start to collapse – two, three, maybe four minutes, depending on how hot your pan is and how much structure your greens have. Then, just thirty seconds before you anticipate pulling the skillet off of the heat, stir in the garlic. Saute a bit, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the Parmesan, and add a big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Taste, add a bit of salt if needed, and serve immediately if not sooner.

Email Sam and Rachel for more info about the Moors End Farm CSA (sslosek@earthlink.net).

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