White Bean Stew with Sausage and Chard

It may be June, but on a chilly wet day like today, stew seemed to be in order.  I used my last package of frozen roasted tomatoes here.  With luck, we'll have fresh ones in the garden by late next month.

Olive oil
3/4 cup finely diced garlic scapes (or 4 cloves garlic, minced)
1 lb Italian sausage (casings removed)
3 cups cooked white beans
1-2 cups diced tomatoes (frozen and thawed or canned, optional)
2 cups chicken stock
1 Tbsp dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 cups well chopped Swiss chard

Heat some olive oil in a soup pot.  Add the scapes and saute for 2 minutes or so.  Add the sausage and cook until nicely browned.  Add the beans, tomatoes (if using), stock, basil, and salt and pepper.  Simmer for 10 minutes or so, then add the chard.  Cook until well wilted, then serve.

Serves 4-5.

Ingredients to Pair With Asparagus

Now that it's June, the novelty of the early season has worn off - and if you have a patch of your own you've been eating it almost daily for long enough that you're getting desperate for new ideas.  There are many recipes in the archives here, but I thought I've give some more general ideas, too.  Asparagus is a versatile vegetable.  Trying pairing it with:

1. Pork: chorizo, bacon, ham, proscuitto...
2. Eggs: in frittatas, scrambles, quiches, topped with fried eggs...
3. Cheese: goat cheese, feta, cheddar, Parmesan...
4. Mushrooms: especially flavorful wild mushrooms

And with many different types of seasonings:

1. Garlic: always good, whether roasted, grilled, sauteed...
2. Mustard: try a mustard-shallot marinade or sauce
3. Asian flavors: soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger...try these as marinades or sauces, or toss it right into a stir fry
4. Curry: Indian or Thai, it works well in both
5. Herbs: basil, tarragon, dill

Asparagus Bacon Frittata

Our kitchen is functional again!  (Beautiful, too.)  To celebrate having plumbing and a working stove again, I cooked.

This recipe works best if you have two skillets available.  You'll want a clean 10-inch oven-proof one to cook the frittata in; you can saute the other ingredients in another.

4-5 slices bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cups sliced asparagus (in rounds)
Salt and pepper
6 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Cook the bacon in a large skillet, then drain on paper towels.  Pour off most of the bacon fat, then add the onions and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add the asparagus and continue to saute over medium heat until tender, about 3-5 minutes depending on the size of the pieces.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

While the bacon and vegetables cook, combine the eggs and Parmesan in a medium bowl.  Chop the bacon once it is cool enough to handle and add to the eggs.  When the vegetables are ready, stir them in as well.

Take a 10-inch ovenproof skillet and oil it well.  Heat over medium heat, then pour in the egg mixture and level it out.  Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the eggs are partially set.  Turn on the broiler.  Finish cooking the frittata under the broiler for 3-5 minutes; check for doneness by inserting a knife into the middle.  Watch it carefully to avoid overcooking or burning.

Serve hot, warm, or room temperature.

Serves about 4.

Strawberries This Week!

Upinngil Farm in Gill says they will have strawberries at the farm stand by Thursday, with U-Pick possibly opening Saturday.  Can't wait!  Further south in the Valley there are probably berries starting to be available already.  What will you do with yours?

Local Goat Cheese Burger

We've been renovating our kitchen over the last several weeks, hence the paucity of new recipes lately.  But here's a simple one that did not require my stove (currently out of commission) or any pans (currently stored in the basement).

This isn't really even a recipe so much as a suggestion:

Grill up some local grass-fed beef burgers (keep them medium rare).  Serve them on good quality buns, toasted on the grill alongside the burgers.  Instead of slicing cheese and melting it on the burgers on the grill, spread some local goat cheese on them upon serving.  Be generous with the quantity.  What else to add?  Well, it's spring, which means tender local arugula and lettuce are in season.  Maybe a little locally made mustard.  You can add ketchup if you like.  Although they're not in season, grilled slices of red onion would also be excellent.  Enjoy!

Community Supported Fishery

This was a new idea to me, but one that makes plenty of sense. A friend in the Boston area tipped me off about the Cape Code Fish Share. Participants buy shares that consist of a variety of fish, sustainably fished off Cape Cod. Share are offered in six week sessions several times a year, based on the fishing seasons, and they come in multiple sizes. There are pick-up sites around the Boston and Cape Cod areas, plus a couple here in the Pioneer Valley (Amherst, Northampton, and Easthampton for the current share session). If you like fish and seafood (some share options include lobster and scallops) - and especially if you like fish but have shied away from it because it's hard to know how it was fished or where it came from - check this out!

Grilled Ham Steak

If you love ham but find a whole ham is a lot to cook for any old night, get your hands on some ham steaks. Many local pork farmers offer these - essentially 1/2-3/4 inch cross slices out of the whole ham. A single ham steak will typically feed 2-4 people. An added bonus - they are great on the grill!

No recipe is really needed here. Make sure you bring the steak to room temperature before cooking, then grill over a medium-hot fire for 4-5 minutes per side and serve.

Ham steaks are great served straight with no condiments, but you can also pass mustard at the table or any glaze you'd serve with a baked ham, though I personally think the savory or tangy ones work better with grilled ham than the sweet ones.