Produce Delivery

We did get a delivery on Thursday, I just neglected to post. Sleep stuff. Work stuff. Stuff stuff. It's been an interesting week.

So our latest box contained:

1 avocado (already used in crab salad

Beets with tops (roasted the beets for our Moroccan dinner the other night, still have the greens)

Celery

3 cucumbers (made mango salsa topped cucumber snack one afternoon and used another in our cous cous with the Moroccan dish)

1 green leaf lettuce

1 pound yellow onions

5 bananas

4 Bartlett pears (have used some in Waldorf salads)

3 tomatoes (used them all up in Moroccan dish and cous cous)

4 Gala apples (used some in Waldorf salads)

1 local pea green sprouts (I'm in love with these! We ate them like salad greens, mine with crab)

4 Valencia oranges

So we're doing pretty good on using up this box. My Moroccan feast that I mentioned needs some work -- it was a fish tagine that was ok. I think my choice of fish was the wrong one. The dish really needed a mild fish without much flavor of its own. The veggies with the dish turned out pretty well, though, and I loved using my tagine.

Savory Spice Shop Gets FoodTV Show!

One of my favorite local shops is getting their very own show on FoodTV and it starts tomorrow!

I was stoked to see Savory Spice Shop on Road Tasted With the Neelys just after they opened their Boulder location. In fact, I knew they were coming to town, but didn't even know the store had opened yet. I made my first trip that weekend and came home with loads of stuff. I even sent my dad their way and he mail ordered stuff all the way in Louisiana.

'Cause they rock.

So of course I was super excited to hear that they were getting their own show in Food Network. And since I'm planning to tune in, I figure all of you should know ahead of time so you can as well (all of you, are there any of you out there?).

Anywho, Spice and Easy premieres tomorrow morning (April 24) at 9:30 ET (that's 7:30 for us Mountain folks and 8:30 for my Louisiana friends). Check it out and then head over to the shop (they have a great website you can order from) and buy some stuff! Coincidentally, I'll be using their Harissa powder tonight in my Moroccan supper.

Kale Chips

I view each new produce delivery as a new sort of adventure. I've made limited use of the substitutions, only omitting zucchini (though that worked against me) and the occasional item I haven't yet used up from the previous delivery.

Last week I arranged for an extra delivery -- extra meaning a delivery in our off week. Due to a computer glitch, we ended up with two boxes. There is an abundance of produce in the house right now. Here's what we ended up with:

2 bunches broccoli

2 bunches carrots

1 leek

4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

2 mangoes

3 naval oranges

2 romaine lettuce

2 bunches spinach

8 Braeburn apples

2 avocado

6 bananas

8 Danjou pears

2 pints strawberries

1 pound zucchini

1 green chard

And I still had a few items including some fruit and kale from the previous deliver. Plus, Mike's been cooped up at home with tight deadlines. It's been a little strange here lately.

The greens are one item that I'm really not used to cooking or eating. I had some fantastic collards in Sough Carolina and did try to mimic that recipe with little success (I'll keep trying). So far, my favorite thing to do with the greens is saute them with sausage -- just basic Hillshire Farms Polish sausage.

I've been seeing the recipe for kale chips floating around and decide I had to give it a shot when a friend of ours mentioned that she was itching to try it. During our conversation, we both said that we loved to check out Smitten Kitchen for new recipes. Lo and behold, not a few days later, SK posted a recipe for Baked Kale Chips.

Today, with the fridge literally bursting with green leafy veggies, I decided it was time to try kale chips. Um, can I just say that these things are incredible. I had my doubts. Kale chips. As I was tasting my third one, I told Mike I didn't think I'd ever sit down with a bowl of kale chips and dip and replace them for potato chips. Then I ate the rest of the pan!

I followed SK's recipe pretty closely, except for the oil. I'm a bit olive oil nut (thanks, Dad). I'm thinking that this recipe has possibilities far beyond plain grocery store extra virgin. For this batch, I used Olivar de Luna, which I originally purchased at Oliv You & Me in Boulder. I've since seen it at Whole Foods, though. I'm dying for Oliv to get more Merula in stock. I think that would be an excellent oil to use on these chips since it's got a nice, surprisingly spicy bite at the end.

Another variation I'm going to try next time I get kale in is Round Pond's Blood Orange Olive Oil.

So here's my slight variation on Smitten Kitchen's Baked Kale Chips

1 bunch kale (I did use a curly variety)

1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (use a good one)

Sea salt

Preheat oven to 300. Cut the stalk from the center of the kale leaves and then tear or cut into chip sized pieces. Toss half the kale with 3/4 tbsp olive oil and spread over a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt, to taste -- watch this, I found my first batch to be a bit too salty even for me, and there wasn't much there at all. Bake 20 minutes.

When the kale is done (crispy like a chip) remove from oven and repeat with the remaining half batch.

I dare you not to eat a whole pan by yourself.

Childhood Chili

Throughout my life, I've noticed a strange series of coincidences that sometimes lead me to believe that maybe there is a reason for everything. I don't know.

My brother is a picky eater. Most of us grow out of it with age, I certainly did, but he's still a picky eater. When we were little, there was a tiny little chili stand near our house and this was one of the only things my brother would eat. We all loved the chili. It was fantastic.

Strangely enough, back in those days, my best friend was a neighborhood boy who was one year older than me. When I was five, we moved away, across town and to a new school district. Years later -- seventh grade to be exact -- a new girl moved to town. This girl would become one of my best friends. Turns out, my best friend from that old neighborhood was her cousin. And the chili stand that sadly had closed down long ago, was run by her grandmother and her aunt.

Coincidences!

I've been begging her for that chili recipe for years and she finally shared. Yesterday, I decided it was chili weather, and it was that recipe that I reached for. I started it at noon and by 5:30 the smell in the house was mouthwatering.

Now, I've had many different chilis throughout the year. I even have a whole cookbook of chili variations now. This particular recipe (a play off of my friend's) is the variety I remember from childhood, ground beef and sauce with a thick layer of red grease floating on top. This is Frito pie chili. This is hearty, even the pickiest little boy will eat it smothered in cheese chili. Here's how I made it:

Chili

2 tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground beef (I used a chili cut from a local butcher -- probably higher fat)

Chili mix*

Tony's, to taste

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

3 cups water

2 beef bouillon cubes

1 (11.5 ounce) can spicy V-8

Melt the butter in a large, heavy bottom pot (I used my Le Crueset). Drop in the onion and garlic and sweat for just a minute or two. Add in the ground beef and cook until browned. Sprinkle with chili mix and stir to combine. Season with Tony's!Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and bouillon cubes. Allow to come to a boil before reducing heat. Simmer, covered, for a LONG time. As long as you like, actually. I had all day, so I left it all day.

You'll want to check it occasionally and stir it around to make sure that your liquid isn't cooking off too quickly. I added the V-8 at this point because my liquid had cooked off quite a bit and I wanted something spicier than just tomato sauce. Adjust seasonings as needed, note that the beef bouillon is salty so you might want to go lighter on the salt (in the chili mix below) and the Tony's as a result, or you can cut it with additional water or tomato sauce. The longer you cook this, the thicker it will be.

Serve with Fritos and top with any variation of the following:

Shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped red onion

Sliced jalapenos (pickled)

Sour Cream

Avocado -- yes, that's right, avocado. I love it!

*The recipe called for mixed chili seasoning packets. I didn't actually have any so I made up my own. You can play with this and change it up as you like:

My on the fly chili mix:

1 1/2 tbsp Chili powder

1 tsp Ancho chile powder

2 tbsp Cumin

1 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp Cayenne

Pinch garlic powder

Pinch onion powder

Now if I can just figure out Dennis's vegetarian chili at Cafe Foods, I'll be a happy girl!

Hazel Dell Mushrooms

Just one of the many vendors at our Boulder Farmers' Market is the Hazel Dell Mushroom Farm, located in nearby Loveland.

I tend to increase my ingredient list one item at a time and mushrooms are a recent and growing addition. When I was doing my training in Charleston, I ate frequently at The Glass Onion and one of their dishes was a local fish with green beans and oyster mushrooms. Those mushrooms were by far one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted. Sure, I've had mushrooms, but these were meaty and flavorful and all around wonderful!

But I've been having trouble finding them for myself. I did run across some dried at Whole Foods, but I knew the mushroom man at the Farmers' Market would be my best shot.

Finally, victory! They were cheap and abundant and I came home with a whole bag of oysters mixed with shiitakes on Saturday. We ate some of them sauteed in butter and white wine, garlic, and parsley and served over this fantastic local spinach (also an FM purchase).

I still have some left and am trying to figure out how I'm going to cook them next. I'm thinking Hazel Dell will see a lot of me this Farmers' Market season!

Culinary School of the Rockies Bake Sale

Saturday was not only the opening day of the Boulder Farmers' Market, it was also the Culinary School of the Rockies Bake Sale day. I arrived shortly after 12 to find they were already selling out of things! Not to fear, they were constantly baking and restocking items.

Most of what I made it home with was eaten before the day was out. Oh my GOD! I got some truly amazing pastries and cookies. You'll have to satisfy yourself with the picture of the remainders. Sorry, I can't share the actual cookies. They're too good.

They had fresh breads, brioche, fruit tarts, Easter cupcakes, Easter egg cake pops, fleur de sel caramels (salted caramel, so good!), strawberry French macarons, traditional coconut macaroons (monstrously sized, I might add), meringues, alfajores (the most spectacularly buttery sandwich cookie with ooey gooey caramel in the center), marshmallows, and much, much more. It was a bake sale to die for!

Farmers' Markets

It's Farmers' Market season here in Colorado and such a relief. I love the Farmers' Markets. I think it comes from trips to the different ones back home. Any fruit or veggie stand, truck selling watermelons, and tamale stand (inside joke) that we passed as kids was a guaranteed family stop. As I got older I continued the trend.

When I was in college, I was lucky enough to be in a town that had a devoted farmers' market shop year round. It was set up with an indoor outdoor location so tarps were set down on cold afternoons, and you kind of had to get there on produce delivery day -- the day before produce delivery day was the worst for selection, obviously. They also had a section of locally made pickles, jams, and everything else you can imagine. I miss it.

So when farmers' market season hits here in Colorado, I get super excited. There's a bevy of them to choose from and if you plan it right, you can probably do just about all of your shopping this way, just by hitting the various markets throughout the week.

Here are a few dates and locations in my immediate area, for those who are interested, and I'll be posting some more about my opening weekend trip throughout this week.

Boulder Farmer's Market: 13th Street between Arapahoe and Canyon -- Saturdays, April 3 - November 6 -- Wednesdays, May 5 - October 6

Longmont Farmers' Market: Boulder County Fairgrounds -- Saturdays, May 1 - October 30

Louisville Farmers' Market: Walnut and Front Streets at Steinbaugh Pavilion -- Saturdays, June 5 - October 18

Lafayette Farmers' Market: Festival Plaza -- Thursdays 4pm - dusk (can't find exact dates just yet)

For more, you can also check the Colorado Farmers' Market Association page here.

Latest Delivery

Produce box came yesterday and here's what was inside:

Avocado

Baby carrots

Yams

Cucumber

Fennel

Garlic

Kale

Bananas

Green Bell Peppers

Strawberries

Fuji Apples

Mangoes

Red Leaf Lettuce

Now with the bevy of good stuff I'm hoping to bring home from the Farmers' Market tomorrow, we'll be stocked up for the next few weeks and eating healthy-ish!

Produce Box Recap

It's Thursday and that means a new produce delivery here! Yay! I thought I'd take a look at how the previous box ended up being used, since I know I haven't been posting every meal here. And I'm curious to see it all written out.

Avocado -- chopped salad with imitation crab

Carrots -- chopped salads, noodle stir fry

Red Onions -- with spinach, pork chops with potatoes, and with rainbow chard

2 Eggplant -- eggplant ricotta crostini, caponata, and pasta with eggplant puree sauce

Rainbow Chard -- side dish with pork chops and potatoes

Yukon Gold Potatoes -- pork chops and potatoes

Bananas -- eaten as is

Murcott Tangerines -- eaten as is

Braeburn Apples -- with peanut butter

Romaine Lettuce -- chopped salads

Spinach -- braised with chicken and served over saffron rice

Valencia Oranges -- eaten as is

Not too shabby, but I think I can do better.