Red Hook CSA member Stacy Cowley has been chronicling her battle with the CSA bounty on CNN’s Eatocracy blog.
She says Red Hook-specific versions of these columns are coming our way. Until then, check out her latest entry featuring purslane.
Tag Archives: Stacy Cowley
Operation Veggie Decimation
Week 3: The vegetables are winning.
At the start of the CSA season, my fridge’s crisper drawers were almost bare. Less than a month in, they’re already overflowing. So my plan for this week was to cut a swathe through the stockpile. A recipe uses just one or two veggies? Not good enough! I demand dinners that consume at least five! six! DOZENS!
I decided Step One was to take down the beets — along with a pair of turnips that had been hanging out in my fridge since March. Turnips are apparently indestructible; I can see why people would toss these things in root cellars and live off them for years.
A Tale of Garlic Scapes and Vegetarians
First share, first share! By week 10 I’ll have collards stacked neck-high in the fridge and be eying all leafy greens with trepidation, but right now — after a particularly long stretch of subsisting on takeout tacos — I’m thrilled to stock up and start cooking again.
Plus, we started off with one of my favorite things: Garlic scapes. Being a garlic freak, I love these, and they’re something I never encountered until I moved to NYC and started visiting farmer’s markets. For something so seasonal, they’re also remarkably durable: I’ve stashed them in my fridge for a month or two and they’ve held up fine.
Hailstorm Collard Gratin
Most of us have probably already heard about the devastation the hail storm unleashed on the farm; NY1 has a report from the scene.
When I went Saturday to pick up my share at the Harvest Fest (LIVE CHICKENS! I was like a little kid when I spotted them; I’ve probably never been that close to a live chicken before. They are way cuter than pigeons.), I saw the giant bins of shredded “take me I’m free” collards and chard. It’s heartbreaking to see so much of the crop torn down — but I wanted to take a stab at putting at least a bit of it to use. So I loaded up a bag with mangled chard, and set out to find a recipe that would make use of odds-and-ends bits.
Eggplant and Crostini Mishmash
I’ve discovered that CSA shares are like cats and small children: if you neglect them for too long, they get cranky and plot revenge.
I’ve been MIA the past few weeks (bad blogger! no biscuit!) thanks to a slammed travel schedule. On Friday, I got back, opened the fridge, and surveyed the carnage.
Stacy vs. Her Nemesis: Tomatoes
I have a confession that will get me tossed out of the foodie ranks: I don’t like tomatoes.
I like things made with tomatoes, like pasta sauce and ketchup. I like sun-dried tomatoes. I even like bruschetta. What I can’t stand is actual, raw, squishy and oozy chunks of tomato.
It’s a texture thing, I think. Tomatoes sploosh in a way that sends “yeek spoiled bad don’t eat!” signals off to the reactionary lizard parts of my brain.
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RIP Victoria, Beloved Zombie Hyssop
I went out of town last weekend and returned to a tragedy: Victoria, the zombie hyssop I acquired way back in week 2, finally succumbed to the ravages of mortality.
She was doing just fine earlier in the month, perkily sharing her age-defying tips with a batch of mint I strategically placed nearby. But apparently Victoria couldn’t handle my absence: I left a relatively vibrant green plant and returned to a desiccated leaf-dropping stem.
I’m wearing a black armband this week to commemorate the loss. Kristen, can we have another petexotic planting again soon!? -Stacy Cowley
(Almost) No-Cook Dinner
Too @%^@! hot.
I forayed out today to go grocery shopping and almost turned to flee right back inside. With the sun blasting down and our AC on the fritz, I had little motivation to actually do any cooking. I also had a zucchini that needed eating.
Starting from those two axioms, I hit epicurious for suggestions. It came up with the idea of shaved zucchini with pine nuts and Parmesan — both of which I had in the fridge. Score!
Cucumbers, Corn and Crab
Sometimes enthusiasm gets the better of my common and culinary sense. This was one of those weeks.
When I saw Moirah’s scallion-sauce spicy cucumber recipe, I instantly decided I wanted to make it. Cucumbers are one of those Adult Things I’m still coming to terms with, like taxes and treadmills.
I’ve had an aversion to them my whole life, but I’m grudgingly accepting that there might, in some conceivable variants of this universe, be a handful of ways of preparing them that I don’t hate. My first inkling of this was when I cracked a jar of Rick’s People’s Pickles and realised I love pretty much anything with that much garlic.
Attack of the Spikey Garlic Flowers
OKRA! Not to knock kale, but sometimes a gal’s gotta eat something other than leafy greens. So I was excited to crack this week’s share and find the okra.
Only problem: I’ve never cooked okra before. I hit up epicurious for suggestions.
Some went straight out the window. No way am I deep frying in 100-degree heat.
But succotash sounded manageable, and would let me take advantage of the corn that just started showing up at the farmers’ markets. Also: the garlic flowers!
