Italian Style Marinated Chuck Steak

My CSA for the summer also has a meat share. I have received a chuck steak and did not know what to do with it.  I used balsamic vinegar as a way to tenderize and herbs to add flavor.  The flavor that comes out complements the steak perfectly.

 Ingredients:

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup Olive oil

6 Fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces

2 Fresh rosemary sprigs

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

1.5  to 2 lb Chuck steak

Here's how:

Place half of each ingredient (except the steak) into a large pan.

Place the steak on top.

Pour the remaining ingredients on top of the steak and marinate overnight or up to two days.

Grill on the outdoor grill for 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Add more time for more well done.

Remove from the grill and let sit for 5 minutes.

Eat and enjoy.

Summer Squash Frittata

                                           

A friend of mine has a huge garden that she uses to feed her family and to share with friends...like me. She gave me some zucchini and yellow summer squash this week and I wanted to try using it in a frittata.  My CSA has been providing me with one half dozen eggs per week so frittatas have been great ways to use up veggies.  You can use any kind of summer squash you have for this recipe.  This recipe can be used for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack.  I used all organic ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 TBS olive oil

1/4 cup onion, small dice

2 cups summer squash ( I use 1 cup zucchini, 1 cup yellow), diced

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk

10 eggs

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Here's how:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Add the oil to a large nonstick fry pan and heat it on medium until it glistens.

Add the onion and squashes and sauté for 5 minutes.

While that is cooking, add the milk and eggs to a large bowl.  Whisk to incorporate.

When the squash and onions are done, add the egg mixture to it.

Add the cheese and mix it in fully.  Scrape the side of the pan and cook for 1 minute.

Add the pan to the oven and cook for 25 minutes.  Turn it halfway to cook evenly.

Remove from the oven.

You can eat right away, at room temperature or refrigerate and reheat later.

Organic Garden Vegetable Soup

I know it is summer and it is hot, but a light summer soup is still a great lunch.  The ingredients in this soup is from my CSA at the Garden of Eve, my friend's garden and my garden.  The soup came about when I had many items in my fridge that were not getting used or that I had small bits left over from other recipes.  This soup truly is the taste of the summer.  All o the ingredients here are organic including the canned tomatoes.  You can use conventional items if that is what you have.  If you are missing any of the ingredients feel free to leave them out or substitute them for something else.  Or, feel free to add something you may have on hand if it is not included.

Yields: 6 quarts

Ingredients:

1 TBS olive oil
1/2 onion. diced
1/2 cup carrot, diced
1/4 cup parsnip
1/4 cup celeriac
 fresh thyme sprigs
1 large zucchini, seeded and diced
1 1/2 -2 cups broccoli
2 TBS pesto
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
1 cup green beans, cut in thirds
2 TBS red pepper paste (or tomato paste if you have that)
12 cups water
1 Parmesan cheese rind
1 TBS salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cups small pasta, such as mini farfalle

Here's how:

In a large soup pot, add oil and heat on medium heat until the oil is hot.

Add the onion, carrot, parsnip, celeriac and thyme to the pot and saute until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Veggies sauteing

Add the zucchini and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the broccoli and pesto and stir.

Broccoli in

Add the tomatoes, beans, red pepper paste, water, cheese rind, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.

Everyone into the pot

Water added and bringing it to a boil

Add the pasta and cook until the pasta is almost to al dente.  The heat of the soup will continue to cook the pasta.

Pasta just in

Pasta done and soup is ready

Serve now or save for later.

Cherry Vanilla Jam

I am always trying to come up with new ideas for combinations of jam.  Sometimes I like to mix different fruits together and sometimes I like to add something unexpected to a fruit.  This time I chose to take a classic flavor like cherry vanilla and combine them.  This jam is has neither element as dominant and is a unique flavor of its own. I used organic cherries from my CSA and organic sugar.

Yield: 5 1/2 pints

Ingredients:

4 cups cherries, pitted with their juice

3 cups sugar

1 TBS vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean scraped

1 TBS lemon juice

1 pouch powdered pectin

Here's how:

Prepare a water bath for canning.  Boil the water, sterilize the jars, lids and screw rings.

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot.

Bring to a boil and letter simmer for 10 minutes.

Use a stick blender to purée down the jam.  You can use a potato masher but you will have some chunky bits.

Simmer 10 more minutes. 

Add the pectin and bring the mix back up to a boil and boil for 1minute until it is thick.

Skim the foam.  

Funnel the mixture into the prepared jars.  Leave 1/4 inch of headspace.

Place the jars in the water bath canner and process for 10 minutes.

Remove from the canner and let sit aside.  Make sure all the lids pop before storing away.  If they do not, keep stored in the fridge.

Seedless Raspberry Jam

I was given some raspberries from  friend's garden and we made a deal - I make jam with it and she gets half.  That was a great deal for me.  One of the things I do not like about raspberries are the seeds so I decided to use 2 methods to remove the seeds in this jam: the food mill and a fine mesh sieve.  It was a bit of time to make it but not difficult.  I used all organic berries and organic sugar.  I have never seen organic pectin in the store, so I did not use that.

Yield: 8 half-pint jars

Ingredients:

10 cups fresh raspberries, organic preferred, cleaned
6 1/2 cups organic sugar
1 TBS lemon juice
1 pouch liquid pectin

Here's how:

Prepare your water bath canner by filling it with water and bringing it to a boil.  Sterilize the jars, lids and rings.

In batches, put the berries through the food mill.

Food mill

Berries into the mill

Almost all the way through

Berries after going through the mill

 Discard the things that did not go through the mill.

This is what it left

Take the berries and juice that have come out of the food mill and push it through a fine mesh sieve that is placed over the pot you will be using for make the jam.  This may need to be done in batches.  Be sure to scrape the bottom of the sieve to get all the raspberries.

Sieve over the pot

Berries into the sieve

Pushing the berries through

 Discard the seeds from the sieve.

Seeds to be discarded

There should be about 4 cups remaining.

Add the sugar and lemon juice and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.  This should take about 10 minutes.

Berries, sugar and lemon juice in

Stirred up and heating to a boil

At a boil

 Add the pectin and bring back to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute.

This is the pectin that I use

Pectin into the pot

Pectin stirred in

Skim the foam from the top of the pot and discard it.

Prepare to can the jam.

Funnel the jam into the sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch of head space.  Be sure to wipe the edge of the jars to ensure a good seal.

Funneling in the jam

Put on lids and rings.

Jars ready for the canner

Place the jars into the boiling water bath canner and boil for 10 minutes.

Jars into the water bath canner

Remove the jars and set aside for 24 hours.

Jars all done and sealed

Ensure the lids have sealed.  If not, refrigerate that jar.  If sealed, store for up to 1 year.

Green Living Tip #13 - Be a Greener Gift Giver

 

Everyone loves to receive gifts. But what about gift giving?  I like to give gifts that are given in a Green way.

If you like to use wrapping paper, look for wrapping paper that is made from recycled products.  Better yet, use newspaper! 

If you like to use gift bags, look for gift bags and tissue paper made from recycled products.

My favorite way is to give a gift is inside a reusable shopping bag instead of a gift bag.  These bags come in all shapes, sizes and designs today.  Find a bag that fits your gift and place the gift inside. Now, you are giving two gifts in one: the gift and the bag. Not only will you be giving a gift to your friends, you are also encouraging them to get into the reusable gift habit.  That is the best Green gift you can give.

Green Living Tip #12 - Be Aware of What You Can Recycle

 

You can recycle more things than you realize.  We all know that milk containers and mayo jars can be recycled but did you know that aluminum foil, aluminum pans, and aluminum containers can be too?  What about your shampoos bottles, saline solution bottles, laundry soap bottles, plastic take out containers, or even the plastic cup from the fast food place?

The point is to check to see what you can recycle before you put items in the trash.  When you have something to throw out, turn it upside down and look to see if there is a triangle with a number inside it.  This is what they look like:
 
Depending on your municipal recycling program, you can usually recycle anything with a 1or 2 inside it. Other numbers are less likely, but more and more areas are recycling up to 7.  If your locality does not recycle these other numbers, Whole Foods will take the ones with 5 inside. 

If you cannot recycle everything in your area then try to be aware of what you purchase in the first place.  In my area, I cannot recycle 5 containers, so I try to avoid buying those items.  If you don't buy it, then you don't have to throw it away!  Smart shopping is the best way to start smart recycling.

Whole Chicken on the Grill

This is probably my favorite method for making a whole chicken on the grill.  This is the way my mom made it and it is so easy.  The chicken cooks evenly and ends up juicy, but not burned.  The basic method is to cut it open and cook it flat.  If you like to eat a whole chicken and want to make it on the grill, make this recipe.  The trick here is to use the indirect cooking method where the chicken is on the grill where the heat is not underneath it.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken 3-5 lbs, organic preferred
2 TBS of your favorite seasoning mix or 1 TBS salt and 1 tsp pepper


Tools:

1 pair kitchen shears

Here's how:

Turn on your grill and crank all the burners to high.

Meanwhile, prepare the chicken to cut out the back of the chicken.

This is the chicken I used.  It is available at Costco.

Remove the giblet back if there is one in the cavity.

Place the chicken on a plate.

Turn the chicken so the breast is facing down and the back is facing up.

Breast side up

Back facing up

 Take the shears and cut up the right side of the back bone.

Cut up the left side of the back bone and remove it completely.

Save the back for chicken stock.  I put it in a Ziploc bag into the freezer for later.

Rinse the chicken under water to clean it and remove all organ and blood left inside the cavity.

Dry the chicken with paper towel.

Place the chicken back on the plate with the breast side down and open up the chicken like a book.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the seasoning on the cavity area of the chicken.

Turn the chicken and push down on the breast until the chicken is flat on the plate.

Sprinkle the remaining seasoning on the chicken.

Go to the grill and it is time to turn of one of the burners on the grill.  If you have two burners turn off one side.  If you have three or more burners, turn off the middle burner(s).

Place the chicken on the grill on the area where the heat has been turned off. Reduce the heat on the other burners to medium high.

Cook the chicken for about 45 minutes, breast side up.  The chicken is done when the juices run clear (check this is the area where the leg meets the breast) and the leg is loose.  Also, a meat thermometer will read 150-155 degrees.

It is done.  This has black on it because I put some oil on it...don't do that.  It was a mistake.

This is what the underside looks like. 

Let the chicken sit for 10-15 minutes.  The meat thermometer should now read 160 degrees and the juices will redistribute.