Fresh Tomato Salsa

My CSA was giving me tomatoes up until last week.  Combine those with the cilantro and garlic they gave me and I was halfway to some great salsa.  This salsa is great with chips or even on top of some grilled chicken.  The recipe is easily doubled or halved based upon how much you want.  After eating this, you will not go back to the stuff in the jar.  If you like it spicy, feel free to add more jalapeño.

Ingredients:

3 large tomatoes, diced

1 pepper, diced, I had a yellow one but you can use what you have

1 jalapeño pepper, minced

1/2 onion, small diced

1 TBS fresh cilantro, chopped

1 TBS salt

Juice of one lime

2 garlic cloves, minced

Here's how:

Combine all of the ingredients.

Place in an airtight container and refrigerate at least 24 hours.

Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup

As my summer CSA winds down, I am starting to get some cool weather crops in my share like carrots, potatoes and kale.  I added some celery and onions from a friend's garden and stock from my freezer and a great soup was on its way.  This recipe is easy, flavorful and hearty...you must make this.

Ingredients:

1 TBS olive oil

1.25 - 1.5 lbs bulk sausage, pork, chicken or turkey are fine

5 celery stalks, diced

2 large carrots, diced

1 medium onion, diced

12 cups chicken stock, homemade preferred

1.5 lbs white potatoes, cut into 2 inch pieces

2.5 cups kale, stems removed and sliced

3 fresh thyme stems

2 bay leaves

1 2 inch Parmesan cheese rind

Salt and pepper

Here's how:

In a large soup pot, heat the oil on medium heat.

Add the sausage and break it up as it cooks.  

Cook until brown, about 10 minutes.

Add the celery, carrots and onion.

Sauté 7 minutes, until softened.

Add the stock, and use your stirring spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot and get off all the brown bits....this is where the flavor is.

Add the potatoes, kale, thyme, bay leaves and cheese rind.

Bring the soup to a simmer and cook 30 minutes.

Remove the stems, bay leaves and rind.

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Guinness Beef Stew

I wanted to make hearty stew this cold fall weekend and decided that some beer would be a great addition.  Guinness is a full flavored beef that is perfect for the task.  I used ingredients from my garden and CSA so the fresh veggies really shine through the rich gravy this recipe creates.  The beef marinade helps to tenderize and flavor the beef.  This recipe takes time to make, but much of it is waiting time not active time...and the wait is worth it.  

Makes 4.5 quarts 

Ingredients:

3 lbs stew meat

2 tsp granulated garlic

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 14.9 oz. cans Guinness beer

2 TBS olive oil

2 large onions, large dice

16 oz. baby Bella mushrooms, stems removed and cut into quarters

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS tomato paste

2 TBS flour

8 cups beef stock, homemade preferred

2 Bay leaves

5 stems fresh thyme

5 large carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces

1.5 lbs white potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces

Salt and pepper

Here's how:

In a large bowl, toss meat, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, thyme, pepper, basil and mustard.  

Add the Worcesterhire sauce and beer and cover the bowl.  Place in the fridge and let it marinate overnight, about 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the meat from the marinade and keep the marinade.  Pat the meat dry with paper towels.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven.  Brown the meat in two batches, this will avoid steaming it.  Add more oil if the pan gets dry in between batches.  It should take 10 minutes per batch.  Set the meat aside.

If needed, add more oil and add the onions to the pot, sauté for 7 minutes.  

Add the mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes.

Add garlic, sauté for 1 minute.

Add the tomato paste, stirring it into the onion mixture, cooking it for 1 minute.

Add the flour, stirring it into the onion mixture, cooking 2 minutes.

Add 4 cups of broth and stir it into the mixture.  Scrape the bottom of the pot to remove all of the brown bits that have accumulated there.  This is where great flavor is.

Add the rest of the beef broth and the reserved Guinness marinade to the pot.

Add the Bay leaf and thyme.  Bring the mixture to a boil.

Remove the pot from the stove and place it in the oven.  Cook for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, add the carrots, potatoes, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper to the pot.  Stir to combine and cook 1 hour to an hour and 15 minutes until the veggies are soft.

Remove from the oven, salt and pepper to taste, and remove the bay leaves and thyme stems.  Serve right away.  

Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze up to six months.

Organic Potato Corn Chowder

All of the ingredients in this soup come from the garden or my CSA at the Garden of Eve Farm in Aquebogue.  The recipe is simple and uses ingredients I had on hand.  The recipe is vegetarian and can be vegan if you leave out the heavy cream.  This recipe is a great way to use fall ingredients that are available at farm stands now.

Yield:

3 quarts

Ingredients: 

1 TBS organic olive oil

1/4 cup organic parsnips, small diced (optional)

1 cup organic carrots, small diced

1 cup organic celery, small diced

1 small organic onion, small diced

2 large organic garlic cloves, minced

2 Organic bay leaves

8 sprigs fresh organic thyme

1/4 cup fresh organic parsley, minced

1 tsp organic marjoram, dried

1 TBS salt

1 tsp pepper 

5 ears of organic corn, kernels removed, cobs saved (about 4 cups)

7 small organic potatoes, medium diced (about 4 cups)

64 oz organic chicken broth

1 cup organic heavy cream

Here's how:

Heat the oil in a a large soup pot on medium heat and add all of the ingredients up to the pepper.

Sauté the ingredients for 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.

Add the corn, corn cobs, potatoes, and broth.

Bring the soup to a simmer and let simmer on low heat for 1 hour.

Remove the cobs, bay leaves and thyme stems.

Use and immersion blender and purée half of the soup.

Add more salt and pepper to taste if needed.

Add the cream, heat through and serve.

Organic Tomato Peach Salsa

I came up with this recipe after a pick up of my CSA yielded all of the ingredients needed except the onion and lime.  This recipe is based upon what I had.  You can add more peaches, reduce the tomato, add more jalapeño or whatever you want to get the salsa you prefer.

Ingredients:

4 cups tomatoes, diced, organic preferred 

2 cups peaches, peeled, diced, organic preferred

1 cup peppers, finely diced, organic preferred

1/2 jalapeño, finely diced, organic preferred

1/2 onion, finely diced, organic preferred

1 TBS cilantro, finely minced, organic preferred

1/2 TBS salt

Juice of one lime, organic preferred

Here's how:

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

Let the mixture sit at least 24 hours or up to one week.

Serve with chips as a snack or on top of chicken, fish or pork.

3rd Anniversary

September 1 marks the third anniversary of this blog.  After 422 posts, hundreds of recipes and thousands of posts, I am still going strong.  I want to thank you all for following me and supporting my efforts to spread the word about local and organic foods, gardening and green living.  I will keep posting if you keep following me.  Thank you.

Three Kinds of Beans

I picked my second harvest of beans today.  I planted green beans, yellow wax beans and purple beans.  Here is the picture I took along with the four cucumbers I picked.

Organic Raspberry Blueberry Jam

This recipe was created after I joined a CSA that had a fruit share which gave me more fruit that I can eat. The ingredients are from the farm and the fresh taste of summer shines through.

Yield: 6 half pints

4 cups fresh organic raspberries

4 cups fresh organic blueberries

2 cups organic sugar

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice from organic lemons

Here's how:

Prepare a water bath canner and sterilize jars, lids and bands.

Canner getting ready

Jars and tools ready

Combine all the ingredients in a medium sized pot.

Great looking fruit

Organic sugar

Everything into the pot

Bring to a boil over high heat.

Combined and coming up to a boil

At the boiling point

Reduce heat to medium and let simmer until the jam is thick and falls off a spoon in sheets, 20-25 minutes. You should be stirring frequently to prevent scorching.

Simmering down

Done and ready to put in the jars

Skim off the foam.

Ladle the jam into the jars.  Clean off the rims.

Top with lids and bands.

Ready to go into the canner

Place in the water bath canner and boil for 10 minutes.

Remove the jars from the canner and set aside.

Out of the canner and the seals are setting

Make sure the lids pop and seal.  Store for up to one year. If the lid done not seal, store in the fridge.