Stuffed pork chops always seem so complicated, but they’re really not. Do you have a couple of beautiful Riverview pork chops around? If not, I bet there’ll be some at the one of weekend farmers markets or on the Farm Mobile.
I saw a note that says we can look forward to apples in our box through the end of the season. Thought you might want some ideas. This recipe comes from “Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes” by Janice Cole (Chronicle Books). The onions and apples can be cooked (separately) up to 8 hours ahead of time and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before using.
Finally, that bounty of butternut squash may be getting a little daunting. This recipe is sort of out there, but David Larkworthy of Five Seasons Brewing Company is an amazingly talented chef, and this is one of his recipes. Worth considering, even if 2 pounds of jumbo lump crab meat will be quite an indulgence. Butternut squash in place of cracker crumbs, bread crumbs and other fillers … it’s the kind of thing only a chef would dream up.
Our final pepper recipe also features greens. Now you have an amazing assortment of greens in this week’s box. My box had a few collard leaves, a bunch of mustard greens, all the tops from those hareuki turnips and the greens from the kohlrabi. I have to say that the kohlrabi bulbs are so small (believe me, they’ll get bigger as the season goes on) that I just cleaned them and sliced them up to eat raw with the hareuki turnips. Then the greens went into the sink with all the others. I’ll be making the gumbo z’herbes we featured last year. I can’t find the recipe in the archive, so I’ll make a note to include it next week.
Anyway, here’s a recipe from chef Eddie Hernandez of Taqueria del Sol, also demonstrated last year at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market. It uses greens and peppers. Hernandez’ version was all collards, but this mixture of greens in the box would work just fine. You cook the greens separately, then add them as an ingredient. Just steam the greens unless you have some leftover from another meal. Love that this will use up some of your jalapenos and tomatoes as well.
For our next pepper trick …. stuffed peppers. But not your grandmother’s stuffed peppers. I cannot remember where this came from – but I love the tuna filling. This is a great way to cook tuna even if you’re not going to use it to stuff peppers. Any leftover stuffing would make a fabulous tuna salad sandwich.
Kohlrabi season always reminds me of our neighbor Joy who told us of the German’s love for kohlrabi, which inspired a children’s song that she sang for us on the porch. This recipe sounds worthy of that inspiration! Make it easier by substituting Riverview’s breakfast sausage for the ground pork, paprika, marjoram, and caraway.
This next recipe amuses me. It’s from Lynne Sawicki of Sawicki’s Meat Seafood & More in Decatur and it calls for 1 part bacon to 3 parts raw collard greens. Now we all know that both bacon and collards cook down – but the proportion seems to favor the bacon, and I guess that’s appropriate for the owner of a meat shop.
Adapted from a recipe in “The Sweet Potato Lover’s Cookbook” by Lyniece North Talmadge.
Perfect with your leftover mashed sweet potatoes from Thanksgiving, or make it with sweet potatoes prepared especially for this dish. I’ve added rutabagas to the filling. Yum.
One more recipe from my AJC archives ….
Even in winter I like dinner salads – especially those with cheese and nuts and fruit. This adaptation of a traditional Waldorf salad combines some of my favorite ingredients. The honey mustard dressing is a nice foil for the richness of smoked Gouda and the sweet crunch of the apples. Use all one variety of apple or mix them for contrasting flavors and colors. Substitute Swiss cheese for the Gouda if you’re not fond of smoked cheeses.
This is a recipe we ran in the AJC last January. I thought it was absolutely delicious – a nice variation from more traditional chicken soups.