I heart my CSA basket

We are so lucky in Seattle to have a large year-round public market and an above average community relationship with local growers. At our house, we have been members of a Community Supported Agriculture program from several local farms over the years. This year, we are receiving produce (on Wednesdays for 22 weeks) from Tiny's Organics in Wenatchee, Washington.

Participating in a CSA has done several things for us. First, it has taught us about so many different foods that we didn't know about or how to prepare and has widened our horizons in a big way. As we are both from the northern to central "midwest" we were pretty familiar with the starch and meat equation but not with the tremendous variety. I had no idea what sorrel or mizuna was four years ago. Secondly, it has taught us to value fresh, local ingredients. Chef Beef's father is a farmer in Ohio, so we have mixed feelings about swearing allegiance to the organic movement, however, we believe heavily in the local food movement for the simple facts that it supports the local economy and tastes a lot better.

Thirdly, it has vastly increased our vegetable consumption (which was not terrible before). There was a time when Chef Beef could not have imagined eating only vegetables for dinner. This year's basket is also relatively fruit heavy. I have no talent for canning or preserving, but I have pawned off an awful lot of fruit crisp this summer from pluot crisp to apple crisp.

Pike Place market itself provides produce throughout the year in addition to local butchers, cheese crafters, arts, dairies, food vendors and flowers...(for the decoration-ally challenged).

Weekly Lunch Splurge -- Steelhead Diner

Lest you worry that I will only be a one note blogger, I introduce a new feature: Weekly Lunch Splurge. I will tell confess where I ate a brilliant lunch this week as opposed to a smushy sandwich from the cafeteria upstairs or questionable noodles from up the street.

Given my love of weird food, odd combinations, and utter devotion to carbohydrates despite their relatively unfashionable reputation, the Steelhead Diner in Pike's Place Market is the place to eat lunch.

Typically I try to be somewhat budget conscious during the week, but when I want to spend $25+ on lunch (which I do maybe once a week) I try to do it somewhere fun and different. Yesterday, I sampled the heirloom tomato/pesto/and hand pulled mozzarella (from neighboring partner Beecher's cheese) and a side of potato latkes. First, its amazing you can get a side of potato latkes because they are not exactly common Seattle restaurant fare. It was a great lunch and accompanied by a cold glass of blackberry lemonade. I don't know what was up with the pineapples. They were everywhere.

I highly recommend getting in on the heirloom tomato crop while they are fresh. Spend the extra money and eat them fresh...you'll see tomatoes in a new light.

Nostalgia and Meatballs

Once upon a time, in college, I didn't eat meat. I just didn't like the taste of it. But when I finally started back on it, this recipe became one of my favorites.

These old fashioned meatballs were one of my grandmother's specialties even though we are sadly not even a little bit Italian. Combined with a quick Marinara and some pasta, I cannot think of many better meals. Hand me a restaurant meatball and I will likely hand it right back to you. The simple original Meatball recipe consists of...

3/4 lb ground beef

1/4 lb ground pork

1 cup fine breadcrumbs

1/2 cup milk

1 T fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic

2 eggs

1/2 c grated parmesan

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Gently combine all and shape into 1-2 inch balls. Saute in olive oil until well browned.

Chef Beef went to the store and found they were out of ground pork. We substituted some mild italian sausage and it might have been a little overseasoned in the end, but still quite delicious. It was served with my own Marinara:

1 white onion

2 cloves of garlic diced

(saute these in olive oil for about 2 minutes)

1 large can Muir Glenn chunky tomato sauce
1 T fresh basil

1 T fresh parsley

6 fresh tomatoes diced

1 medium pinch salt

10 twists pepper

2 T (generous pour) of mid grade balsalmic vinegar.

(simmer till thickened)

We used whole wheat fettucini which held up almost too well for the sauce. CB also made some garlic cheese toast under the broiler with a baugette he found, parmesan, and garlic butter.

The following evening, CB built big grinders with the leftover baguette, meatballs, and sauce. Normally, we are not leftover superstars (we have removed our microwave from the kitchen), but this time we triumphed. And continued to dream of being Italian.

Fresh Ground Burger Craze

Because I cannot pass up a bandwagon when it comes to cooking, we successfully tried the fresh ground beef craze about a month ago. The Food Network tends to be my default channel when there is nothing on (and that is often) so I have watched numerous celeb chefs recently demonstrate the technique with grinders and processors and wholeheartedly extol its virtues.

Almost 2 years ago, we bought a 1/4 of a cow, thinking it would be an economical way to satisfy our beef intake. (If you didn't know, 1/4 of a cow fits into a top freezer and can be ordered from your butcher cut in a variety of ways to fit your lifestyle.) So we ate the hamburger. And we ate the steaks. Then we ate the stew meat. And then there were roasts. Big roasts, small roasts, pot roasts, arm roasts, rib roasts...you get the picture. Though when pressed, I can make a roast, its not my favorite food.

Maybe, we thought, those roasts would be better served as part of a burger. An arm roast worked well for this venture, combined with a lonely chuck steak for a little higher fat content on the grill. We found that small batches of cubed meat in the Cuisinart pulsed about 12 times (a longer pulse than you'd use for crumbs) worked really well. Make sure you get picky and cut out all the connective tissue because its just not fun to bite into. The fries on the side of the picture are parmesan oven fries done with Yukon Gold potatoes. For minimal effort, not only can you have better control of your ground beef, but you can use up those roasts you might have stashed in the freezer but really should use. Overall, it was a success and a technique I was hesitant to try, but now fully endorse.