Thursday, June 28, 2007

Share Day

Share day sounds like something they make you do in the psych ward. Or at least, at sleepaway camp. But here in rural-land, it means the day I pick up the goodies.

This week's ingredients:

1 bunch rainbow chard
1 bunch red scallions (really beautiful)
1 bunch of a special kind of turnips, the name of which, I cannot remember
1 head of lettuce
3 zucchini
3 summer squash
1 bag of peas in the pod
a quart of those amazing berries

I'm open to suggestions!

7 comments:

goodfellow said...

I miss our organic baskets back home... I would always make Martha Stewart's creamed swiss chard (the simpler, older recipe - from '95? - with milk and ?sherry? marsala?) when there was chard in the basket...

I think I saw a couple of good recipes for yellow squash recently in the current (JULY) issue of MSL. I can't remember what they were, I just remember moaning that I haven't seen any yellow squash here...

But hey! Tomorrow is market day for me. I've been buying cherries to make clafouti every week (ever since our own cherry tree finished), and (this is where I try to make you jealous) my market sells poulet de Bresse. Yes, the real McCoy!! Tags, medals, numbers, blue feet and all. I am so intimidated by the damn thing (and the head neck and blue feet -- don't want to traumatize the 3.5 year old! She's in love with poules!), that I don't know what to make with it yet... coq au vin? That means finding a good wine first... with cream and tarragon? Haven't seen any tarragon, although that doesn't mean it isn't around... Guess I am not ready for that chicken yet. What would you make with your first poulet de Bresse?

goodfellow said...

oops! I'm NOT Pierre -- I'm Monika! How did our accounts get switched?

Unknown said...

Paige, I am so jealous of this lovely new life you have created for youself that I can hardly speak. Having said that, I have no idea what one does with a turnip or two.

Alto2 said...

Those zucchini and summer squash call for either a julienne cut or a french-fry cut. Heat a little olive oil and butter in a saute pan and give them a quick toss until just tender. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy.

If those berries are truly fabulous, you should try your hand at making preserves or jam. Come January, a smear of strawberry jam on a piece of toast will warm your frozen toes.

monika said...

The squash salad was wide ribbons of yellow squash, cucumber and cantaloupe; the dressing had yogurt and cumin.

As for the berries, my favourite celebration of berries is Eton Mess -- whipped cream (with a little vanilla and couple of TB of sugar), stir in broken meringues, and dribble in mix in lightly (do NOT make homogenous) macerated and mashed or pureed berries. Leave pools of berry juice, and spoon carefully into nice chilled glasses or glass bowls.

Paige said...

Wow, fantastic suggestions. Monika, I cannot believe you can get poulet de Bresse. Where are you again? I would go with the cream and tarragon, I think, though I am always partial to chick and biscuits. The simple stew shows off the flavor of really good chicken (and is kind to less flavorful ones, too.) I'll put up a link to my recipe for it. And Eton Mess sounds amazing. I was going to make a strawberry rhubarb fool tonight, but maybe I'll combine the two...

monika said...

Geneva, Switzerland, so we are surrounded by France. the border is maybe 1.5 miles from our house; we do most of our grocery shopping there (it is cheaper than in Switzerland). Every Saturday morning, we have our local French market. The variety of local cheeses is astounding... we still haven't worked our way through them yet.