notes about spaghetti squash
Recipes
Apple-Stuffed Biscuit Buns
And this recipe is from “The Apple Lover’s Cookbook” by Amy Traverso. It makes 9 cinnamon buns and not a hint of yeast to be found.
Apple Upside Down Cake
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for apple desserts. The first one I’m offering is from King Arthur Flour, a riff on pineapple upside down cake. The recipe calls for making this in a cake pan, but I’m going to use my cast iron skillet. Boiled apple cider is apparently a product relatively easily found in New England, or from the King Arthur catalog. I’m going to use the apple juice concentrate instead. I love having those frozen concentrates on hand … orange juice, pineapple, apple …. they make it easy to add lots of fruit flavor without lots of liquid. Great for glazes for grilling as well. The idea about putting the apple top in the center of the cake makes for an interesting presentation. You could skip it and just use apple slices instead.
Pickled Peppers and Okra
It seems that many people in the Riverview CSA are into canning and pickling. I found this recipe idea from the Food Network’s “Big Daddy’s House” an intriguing way to use jalapenos and okra in one fell swoop. The original directions were a little confusing, so I’ve modified them here. The idea seemed worth sharing, especially if you’re a household that uses pickled jalapenos.The quantities of jalapenos and okra called for here may not match what you got in your box, but I think you could add in some of the green peppers as well to make a total of 1 1/2 pounds of vegetables (in addition to the carrots and onion).
Nut-stuffed Delicata Squash
Here’s another idea for a vegetarian-friendly delicata squash entrée. It comes from Sunset magazine. Are you familiar with Sunset? I grew up reading it in California. It’s part of the family of magazines that includes Southern Living and Cooking Light, but Sunset has a distinctly western sensibility. The combination of onions, sage and nuts is going to give this dish a distinctly sausage-like flavor. You certainly don’t have to use all the nuts listed – just use what you have to make 1 1/3 cups of nuts total.
Harissa
Here’s a recipe I found for harissa. If you still have your cayennes from several weeks ago, you might give this a try. It’s generally made from dried peppers (true confession: I have dried cayenne peppers in my refrigerator from LAST YEAR!!!) but I’m going to mix dried peppers with fresh peppers from this week’s box and see how it turns out.
Tomato, Goat Cheese and Basil Cornbread
And finally, how about baking up some of those tomatoes? This recipe comes from the “Green Market Baking Book” by Laura Martin. Once you’ve enjoyed it fresh from the oven, you could vary the experience by toasting slices until golden brown.
notes about popcorn
Winter Greens with Olives and Capers
And we can certainly be sure that more greens are in our future. Here’s an idea from “Okra”, the magazine of the Southern Food and Beverage Association.
Homemade Caramelized Applesauce
One more idea for apples is this lovely recipe for applesauce.I found this recipe through the website for NPR’s Splendid Table. Here are their testing notes: A heavy-bottomed saucepan and long, slow cooking are necessary here to prevent scorching of the caramelization that is the essence of this delicious sauce. Keep a close eye on the mixture while it is cooking on high heat; again, to make sure it isn’t scorching. Go by the progress of the caramelization rather than a specific number of minutes. We also made a double batch; it works, but the caramelization takes longer because of the increased volume. Either way, we think it’s worth the time because the sauce is so very good. From the “Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook” by DeDe Lahman and Neil Kleinberg (Little, Brown and Company). Granny Smiths are fine here, but you could really use whatever’s in the box. The cookbook says “peeled”, but I wouldn’t do it – if I didn’t want the bits of peel, I’d just use my immersion blender to make a smooth puree when everything is cooked. Up to you.