What to do with Garlic Scapes

Half the fun of getting a farmshare is trying things you've never had before or things you've never had in mass quantity. There was the summer I learned what to do with an entire box of beets, as well as the endless possibilities of "gazpacho" when you use the term loosely. I've learned that you can make soup out of just about anything and Wednesday is often "Stir Fry Day" as I use up all remaining vegetables in the fridge before the next load comes on Thursday. So, what to do with garlic scapes? These were new to me last summer and I had a whole handful in the veggie drawer today, collected over the last two weeks. I chopped them up, sauted them in a knob of butter with some kosher salt and then I put them in the food proccessor with two more sticks of unsalted butter and more kosher salt. The result is a huge frozen log of the best garlic butter ever. I look forward to using it on fresh baked bread, melted over steak and for sauteing all those other veggies that I won't know what to do with as the summer progresses.

Parsnip and Sunchoke Soup

We received more sunchokes and parsnips in this week's farmshare (CSA). Last week I boiled the parsnips and tossed them with orange juice, zest and honey. They tasted great. And, so far, my favorite way to eat the sunchokes is to boil them with an equal amount of baby red potatoes and some garlic cloves and mash them with butter and milk.

Today, I decided to take the bounty of last week's box and make a pot of soup. I sauted the green garlic, spring onions and a couple of carrots in olive oil and butter then added vegetable stock, dired thyme, sunchokes and parsnips. Once everything was soft, I pureed the whole works in the blender, returned it to the pot and added some cream and seasoning.

The verdict? Pretty good. The flavor of the sunchokes is dominant and is accented well by lemon and thyme. The consistency is that of a potato soup as the sunchokes are starchy. I topped the soup with a bit of finely shedded mozzerella also from Harmony Valley's cheese share. It would also be tasty topped with a bit of truffle oil or you could render some bits of bacon to saute the veggies in at the start and top the soup with the crispy bits.One note about parsnips: they smell bad. I mean, they taste great once they're cooked but during cooking they smell like death. Or like you forgot to take your garbage out before you left for a two week trip in the summer and something died in there. It's unpleasant. Open a window if you can.

Henry's First Camping Trip

We went to Whitewater State Park this weekend and Hank did just fine. He slept well in the tent and was a mostly happy baby all weekend. He dug hiking in the backpack carrier and loved playing with Megan and Emma!

The Ness Genetics are Strong

I found my baby pictures when I was at my folks place a couple of weeks ago. After seeing these, I think that Hank looks just a bit like his mommy!

More Rhubarb

Everyone in my family loves my mom's rhubarb crisp. She makes it in a 9 x 13 pan because if there is a kid, grandkid, neighbor kid, niece, nephew, cousin or husband anywhere in the vicinity, it disappears in hours, if not minutes. I fondly remember the days when I'd come home from school to find a freshly baked crisp cooling on the counter. What mom probably doesn't know is that I'd always immediately dig out a spoon and go after the whole pan in front of the TV. I've witnessed at least two of my nieces/nephews do the exact same thing and I swear they didn't learn it from me :D Wipped cream and/or ice cream on top is totally optional and I like it best the second day (if there's any left) out of the fridge. For the simple fact that I will eat the whole pan in one sitting if given the chance, I only make an 8 x 8 at a time.

Carol Mae's Rhubarb Crisp

Daughter Four Variation

Filling:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 heaping tablespoons flour
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 cup fresh raspberries, sliced fresh peaches or quartered strawberries (optional)

Crumble:
1/2 cup, plus two tablespoons oatmeal
1/2 cup, plus two tablespoons flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup cold salted sweet cream butter

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 8 inch pan with non-stick spray.
Combine granulated sugar, flour and water in a saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until thick and bubbly. Add rhubarb and cook until the consistency of pie filling. Remove from heat and add vanilla and optional fresh fruit.

In a medium bowl, whisk together oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut in cold butter until you have a crumbly mixture. Pour filling into pan and top with the crumble.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cool completely (if you can) on countertop. Serve with or without whipped cream or ice cream. Refridgerate leftovers (if there are any). I would have posted a photo, but I already ate it all.

Singing

Spring Goodies from the Farm

Hooray! Our first box from our CSA farm arrived yesterday full of spring goodies including ramps or wild leeks, overwintered spinach and parsnips, black radish, chives, sunchokes and burdock root. AND the season's first rhubarb! So, as required by my marriage vows, I have to make Nathan's favorite cookies. Here is his Grandma's Rhubarb Filled Cookie recipe:

Rubarb Filled Cookies

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Filling:
1/4 cup water
3 cups chopped fresh rubarb (if you use frozen, thaw and drain it first!)
1 cup sugar

Dough:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
Cook filling in heavy saucepan until thick, then cool
Cream butter and sugar together
Add milk, eggs and vanilla
Blend dry ingredients and add
Roll out dough on floured board
Cut out circles with a 2 1/2 inch diameter cookie cutter
Place one teaspoon of filling the center of each circle
Dampen edge with water or eggwash, place a second circle on top and seal.
Pinch edge with fork and prick top to let steam out
Place circles on parchment paper lined cookie sheet
Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees or until lightly browned

*Use parchment paper if you've got it as the filling might seep out and burn
*Alternately, you can cut 4 inch circles and fold them in half over the filling