proto|mondo » eating

Lamb Chops with Mustard au Jus

Rusty Smith — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:00:58 +0000

With Easter just around the corner, this past weekend we decided to whip up a little Lamb Chops with a nice mustard au jus sauce. What a treat it turned out to be. In this week’s larder from Moore Farms and Friends, we had several nice-sized rutabagas (not too large, but not too small), a turnip, and a couple of small bunches of greens (one kale, one chard). We slow-steamed the greens over in a mustard sauce, and cooked the rutabagas and turnip down into a soft and smooth puree for a side dish. I got a new tube pan several weeks ago and have been dying to try it out, so for desert we also made a nice lemon angel food cake. While making it together, I learned that Jennifer REALLY loves to sift flour. Finally, with a dozen egg yolks left over, we also made a month’s supply of lemon curd as well. Also, after adding these two recipes to this post, I leaned that evidently the plugin that I use to add ingredients to my posts is broken – looks like I will need to go back and fix it – until then, sorry the recipe lists are throwing an error! It is always something….

by Rusty Smith

from the CSA this week.

Rusty Smith — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 01:29:54 +0000

Greens, greens and more greens! All of the rain and cool weather that we have been “enjoying” this summer has reportedly slowed the farm crops down by about two weeks. Spring sprouts are supposed to coming in however, but until then I think it will be root vegetables and greens for a while yet. on another front though, we are supposed to be getting access to fresh stream-fed catfish and pasture raised chicken in just a couple of weeks – yea!

So here is what we got THIS week:
1 head of red leafy lettuce
1 head of green lettuce
1 bunch of green chard
1 bunch of kale
1 large bunch of green onions
1 head of celery
1 green pepper
1 rutabaga
1 turnip
2 sweet potatoes
3 oranges
1 grapefruit
1/2 dozen pastured chicken eggs
1 pound of spicy pork sausage
1 pound of spicy Italian sausage
1 carrot
1 potato

so now we have TWO potatoes -things are looking up!

by Rusty Smith

from the CSA this week.

Rusty Smith — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:43:25 +0000

After the round-robin week of cabbage wars, I was actually kind of disappointed to not get any more cabbage in this week’s delivery. But we did get a variety of other leafy greens, so we should be set on salads for the week. We also got a mess of fresh Florida citrus; maybe next week I will order some extra and try my hand at making some orange marmalade. Of course that would mean I would have to get a whole bunch of canning supplies first though, and for that Jennifer would probably kill me. But the way I figure, if not that then she will surely find some other excuse. And not to change the subject, but I am not really sure what to do with just one potato and carrot….?

Here’s what we got this week:

1 sirloin tip roast
1 head of leafy lettuce
7 valencia oranges
1 grapefruit
1 turnip
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of watercress
1/2 dozen pastured eggs
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 bunch of celery
2 green bell peppers
1 potato
1 carrot

by Rusty Smith

Attack of the Cabbage: Episode III

Rusty Smith — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:57:20 +0000

Wednesday of this week was officially St. Patrick’s Day, and to celebrate I decided to prepare a traditional Irish Lamb Stew. Fortunately we received just about all of the fixings required last week from our CSA. This was another great crock pot meal, and one that takes advantage of all the seasonal roots that are just beginning to come in: turnips, rutabagas, potatoes, and carrots. Also, it gets a great flavor from using the “less undesirables” of a lamb – the necks and shanks. Slow cooked, the marrow from the bones really gives it a rich and hearty flavor. In addition to the stew, I also made some Irish raisin bread, and served it all up with a couple of Half and Halfs. Alright, they were really Black and Tans – I did not have Harp, so I had to use Bass instead. But I really do know better…

Rusty 3, Cabbage 0

by Rusty Smith

Attack of the Cabbage: Episode II

Rusty Smith — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:25:04 +0000

For Round Two of the cabbage onslaught I decided to do something quick and easy (yet tasty) and that I could bang together quickly as I have not yet got used to this crazy daylight savings time thing. It seems to get late before you know it. For this meal I prepped a Cabbage Slaw with Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette and quick seared some thick Pork Chops for a topper. The only thing in this meal that takes any time at all is the preparation of the dry rub for the pork chops and the fact that the slaw is best if it chills for at least a half hour before serving. For the rub I always make enough for about 10 chops and store it so that it is ready to go at a moments notice. As for the slaw, I like it when I can prep at least part of the meal ahead of time so that I am not rushing around trying to get everything ready at once – with the prep work all done, cooking time becomes martini time instead!

Rusty 2, Cabbage 0

by Rusty Smith

Attack of the Cabbage: Episode I

Rusty Smith — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:15:15 +0000

I have been on the road so much lately, I have not really been able to cook much. But now that I am home for spring break, I can make up for lost time. Good thing too, as when I went to pick up our weekly box from the CSA, I found 2 heads of cabbage mixed in amongst the harvested bounty. Of all the goodies that we received, why is the cabbage of note? Well, last week we also received two heads that I had no time to deal with. So now I am faced with not two but FOUR heads of cabbage – these things seem to be multiplying like old issues of The New Yorker… Anyway, on Thursday night I got in from the Rural Studio at around 6:30pm and needed to whip something together pretty quick. We had some Italian sausage in the freezer, so I went to thawing that out slooooooooooowly in the microwave. While that was working, I peeled and cubed a few sweet potatoes (also multiplying like coat hagers), and rough-shredded a head of cabbage. I heated just a little butter in the Dutch oven, and tossed the sausages in to brown. While that was going I sauteed some green onions and green pepper in butter. I took the sausages out of the dutch oven and replaced them with sweet potatoes along with about a cup of water, and then layered the cabbage on top. I sprinkled in a pinch or two of various spices, and then placed the sausages on top of it all. Finally, I covered the whole thing tightly, turned it to a low simmer, and let it cook for about 20 minutes or so, until the potatoes were soft. The whole thing only took about 30 minutes to prepare, and Jen claimed to enjoy it. So, if you find yourself overloaded with cabbage and sweet potatoes like we are, you can check out the whole recipe here. Bon Apetit!

Rusty 1, Cabbage 0

by Rusty Smith

from the CSA this week.

Rusty Smith — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:24:10 +0000

Spring is here! Spring is here!
Tons of rain, its getting warmer, and spring break is just around the corner. On the way home from Auburn today, I swung by The Cook’s Warehouse in Decatur and picked up our weekly order, which was hugely awesome. In addition to the regular veggie box, I ordered a variety of meats, and all of the ingredients that we need for a great St. Patrick’s Day Irish meal.
Here is what we got this week from Moore Farms and Friends:

1/2 Dozen Duck Eggs
1 Dozen Chicken Eggs
1 Quart Cherry Tomatoes
Raisin Bread mix from the Irish Bakery in Suwanee, Georgia
1 Grape Fruit
5 Oranges
2 Cabbages
1 Pound Unsalted Butter
1 Head of Broccoli
3 Sweet Potatoes
2 New Field Potatoes
2 Green Peppers
4 Rutabagas
3 Heads Red Leafy Lettuce
1 Bunch Green Onions
2 Bunches of Celery
1 Bunch of Basil
2 Fresh Sprigs of Rosemary
2 Carrots
1 Pound Lamb Shanks & Necks
2 Pork Chops
1 Pounds of Hot Sausage
1 Ribeye Steak
New York Strip
1 pound of Ground Beef
Pork Shoulder Roast
5 1/2 pound Leg of Lamb

by Rusty Smith

CRusty rustic bread for Margaret

Rusty Smith — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:17:08 +0000

This past weekend Jennifer and I enjoyed our bi-monthly supper club with Raigan, Eric, Joy and Stev, with Margaret hosting. Margaret prepared a most-excellent ~~Chef Paul Prudhomme~~ beef bourguignon. Her support call went out for crusty bread, some sort of green salad thingy, and desert. Raigan prepared an awesome green salad with apples, walnuts, and a raspberry(?) vinaigrette. And just because she is a suck-up keener, she also made a jammy appetizer that was enjoyed with crackers. Joy made a chocolate chocolaty chocolate cake with chocolate chocolaty chocolate icing. The best thing about Joy’s cake is that Margaret was just rude enough to not offer us coffee before inviting us to leave. If she had, I would have been compelled to have a second slice of cake which would have without a doubt propelled me into cardiac arrest. Thanks for looking out for my best interest, Margaret!

For my part I provided a couple of loaves of crusty bread. It should be noted that I really enjoy baking, as unlike cooking it is very scientific. In this sense baking reminds me high school chemistry lab – if you veer from the instructions by even an iota, you will most likely get a inedible mess. Occasionally however you will do even worse, like the time in tenth grade when the school was evacuated because we made hydrochloric acid by (sort of) accident. Even more rarely, there is a truly serendipitous moment when you make something entirely new, AND it is edible, AND it won’t kill you. I have only read about these baking moments. Anyway, I did not aim for this rarefied moment of baking, but I did want to try out something that required a couple of days of carefully orchestrated agents, reagents, actions, and reactions to perhaps engender any modicum of success. So I took the weekend and made a some half-whole-wheat rustic bread. From everything that I read about one’s first attempt at baking, I was steeled for abject failure. Surprisingly, my first foray into bread baking from scratch was instead just successful enough as to leave me most likely thoroughly disappointed with my next attempt. We will see soon enough.

After dinner, Margaret, Raigan and Eric introduced the rest of us to a fun card game called “~~Oh, Hell~~” “~~Aw, Shit~~” “Tarter Sauce” in which you get points by not winning any points, lose points by not winning enough points, and the dinner hostess gets points each round just by virtue of being score keeper. It was an all around nice close to a fun weekend. Like always, click the thumbnail above to see the pics.

by Rusty Smith

Sweet & Spicy Pork with Apples

Rusty Smith — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:49:13 +0000

Over the past few weeks we have been absolutely inundated with sweet potatoes from our CSA. While there are all kinds of recipes out there for a wide variety of mashed potato and sweet potato casserole kind of things, we really wanted something different. After looking at all kinds of options, I decided on another “mash-up” kind of thing: with all of the sweetness of the potatoes, I thought it would be nice to mix it with something kind of hot and spicy. While picking up some odds and ends at YDFM, I noticed that they had some really nice looking, large, bone-in pork roasts. I picked up about four pounds worth. Since JT has been working so hard, I wanted to serve her a well-deserved “feast,” and at any good feast the pig always has an apple in its mouth. So, I also grabbed four sweet fujis. Now, what to do for the spicy? I started to get poblano peppers for stuffing, but then noticed that they had some really pretty dried chipotles. I figured the smokiness that they would provide would contribute to the feasty theme, so I grabbed a handful. Finally, having all day in front of me, I decided to take advantage of the time and cook the whole thing on low in the slow cooker. Rather than simply mix the chilis into the the vegetables, I decided instead to cook them down into an adobo sauce and make a rub for the pork, so I did that the night before. I was a little afraid of the heat that the chilis would bring, so I de-seeded them before cooking them down. If I had to do it again I would keep the seeds in and then strain them out in the end. Other than that the whole meal turned out really well. Over about eight hours the potatoes and apples cooked down into a kind of sweet chutney, and I made a nice little gravy for the meat out of the strained liquids from the veggies – it was nice and sweet, which was great on the (mildly) spicy and smoky pork.

by Rusty Smith

Lamb Sausage Ragoût

Rusty Smith — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:26:48 +0000

Ragoût is derived from ragoûter, which is french for “revive the appetite.” It is also the name of a thick, winter-time stew (of sorts) similar to the ragù that is made in Italy. Ragoût can be served as a main course dish, or it may just be used as a thick sauce to accompany potatoes, noodles, or some other form of starch. We had one last package of curried lamb sausage left in the freezer, so last night I prepared a spicy Ragoût to serve over rigatoni. As a surprise though I grilled some portabello mushrooms and snuck them in under the pasta. Topped with a generous amount of shaved pecorino romano, this made for a warm and hearty meal. In addition to the lamb curried sausage, I added onions, celery, and carrots and a lot of pureed tomatoes from our CSA’s hothouse . But there are no rules with ragoût. the imagination is really the only limit when cooking this dish. Recipes for this stew date back to the seventeenth century and vary widely. Some ragoûts are entirely vegetarian, while others are heavy on meat, and some cooks even introduce ingredients like cream to vary the flavor.

by Rusty Smith