We put our lovely spaghetti squash from the food bank farm to use with this recipe from www.fabulousfoods.com
This is an old standby-Yumm! We particularly enjoyed the delicious and delectable company of our friends Tim and Eric.



Spaghetti Squash With Vegetables and Mozzarella

Servings: 6
Author Notes: This recipe makes a veggie rich, cheesy casserole, almost like a lasagna. Spaghetti Squash substitutes for the role traditionally taken by pasta in such dishes for a delicious, lower calorie, low carb alternative.
Ingredients: 1 spaghetti squash, cooked by your favorite method and separated into strands (click here for instructions)
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions: Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix the cheeses together, set aside.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the onion, pepper and garlic. Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, basil, and crushed red pepper (if using). Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes. Mix squash well with the cooked vegetables and put half in the bottom of a large (13 x 9 inch) baking dish. Top with half the cheese mixture, followed by the other half of the squash mixture, then the rest of the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. Let cool 10-15 minutes before serving

Fried Mozzarella with Blue's Tomato Wine Sauce

This original recipe was quick and easy as we already had Blue's tomato wine sauce in stock.

-Two Mozzarella Balls (fresh and preferably very high quality from your local Italian market)
-Bunch of Basil
-Tomato Wine Sauce
-1 cup Panko Crumbs
-2 Eggs
-1/2 cup flour
-1/8 cup good quality olive oil


Slice Mozzarella Balls and dip first into eggs, dredge in flour and generously coat with panko crumbs. Set aside. Heat up oil at medium high in a skillet. Fry mozzarella in oil, 1 minute to each side, fry longer if needed until crisp, but before mozzarella seeps out into oil.

Generously cover mozzarella balls with tomato wine sauce, slivered basil and basil leaves to garnish.

Tomato Wine Sauce Recipe

2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp ground fennel (key ingredient!)
1 tsp dried oregano or 2 tbsp fresh finely chopped
1 tsp dried basil or 2 tbsp fresh finely chopped
1/3 cup red wine
3 cups fresh tomatoes (boiled with skins and core removed)
salt and ground pepper to taste

In a saucepan, warm the olive oil. Add the onions and garlic, sprinkle with the salt, cover, and simmer on very low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the onions are beginning to soften. Add the fennel oregano, basil and cook for another minute. Pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Whirl the tomatoes in a blender until just pureed and add to the pan. Cover the sauce and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can buy a box of late summer tomatoes, make a bunch of batches and freeze the sauce to last over six months.

Mama's Tomatillo Salsa Verde

The Food Bank farm was overflowing with tomatillos last weekend.
Yes, I went a little overboard with the tomatillo picking

I was very excited to make and freeze tomatillo salsa verde
I admired the beauty...

And set about preparing the salsa:

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

1 pound tomatillos (about 15), husked, rinsed and roughly chopped (really, if you have a decent food processor you can cut into quarters)
1 jalapeno (slice)
3/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. You could fully puree, but I "almost" puree the salsa

If you are packing the freezer, maybe you do this four or five more times.

I'll be doing some recipe adjustments in the near future as I didn't manage to fully take advantage of the mounds of tomatillos. Perhaps I'll try basil instead of cilantro and add cipollini onion. Not mexican...but, really, one does need to find some more than one use for this husky guys.

From My Heart Barramundi

We had this lovely Barramundi dish last week. I was going to use a recipe, but decided to make "From my Heart" Barramundi, and go with my gut. I sauteed the Barramundi in VT cultured butter, with white wine. I heated a sauce of local ricotta and milk to go over the fish. I also sauteed some local cippolinni onions with food bank farm chimichurri sauce-this also went on top of the fish. The snow peas were a lovely accompaniment to the fish.

Barramundi is a south east Asian sea bass that is grown sustainably at an indoor farm in Turners Falls, MA. Known for its sweet buttery taste and delicate texture, it is the "next big fish" in the eyes of chefs and food editors alike. It was even recently written about in O Magazine!

Enjoy!

Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture

This lucky girl purchased this wonderful old sign at a tag sale: originally hung at The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture. It is now hanging in my kitchen. The organization was founded in 1792 with the purpose of "inviting others thereto on the subject of agriculture". The first year they gave prizes for providing agriculture knowledge, one of the prizes was for the most satisfactory account of the natural history of the canker worm. The organization is still in existence and provides grants for promoting agriculture in Massachusetts.

Strawberry Pasta

Yeah, Strawberries! Made with delicious food bank farm strawberries. Sounds bizarre, but really just wonderful!

Review from Bluesky who partook of the pasta: Delicous, delicious...OMG...Watch you don't stain your shirt..

Ingredients

1 pint fresh strawberry
1/2 lb spaghetti (I used Bucati-Spaghetti tubes)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
mint sprig (to garnish)

Directions

1Purée strawberries in blender.

2Drain to remove seeds. (not really necessary)

3Cook spaghetti according to package.

4Drain and toss with cheese.

5Heat butter and cream in a small saucepan.

6Pour strawberry sauce then cream over pasta

7Serve with additional cheese and garnish with mint, if desired.

Food Bank Farm Opening Day!

Today was the grand opening of the Food Bank Farm CSA in Hadley. As a member, I begin craving the "real" lettuce by Christmas. The weather has been cooperating so fully with the growing season, so the share was quite abundant. My haul included tot soi, mezzuna, baby arugala, bok choy, the most amazing head of lettuce, garlic onions, radish and turnip. Tonight we had a caesar salad prepared with the lettuce along with the El Jardin Rosemary and Olive Bread from Holyoke.

You can also purchase local and regional food products in the share room. Today I got a lovely almond peach yogurt from Vermont, organic eggs from New Hampshire and Maine Sea Salt.

I can't wait for the U-pick season to start, from strawberries to sugar snap peas, then green beans and flowers on to the tomato season.

Not only is the Food Bank Farm a bountiful CSA, but 50% of what they grow goes to benefit the recipients at The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. You can't beat that!

Asparagus Lemon Pasta And Radish and Pine Nut Salad

Yes, I'm still on the asparagus kick. While my lady was on line buying ingredients, two locals passed on their email to her asking for the recipe.
I made this dish on Saturday and the book club folks thoroughly enjoyed both the Asparagus and Lemon Pasta from Gourmet and the Radish and Pine Nut Salad. They also enjoyed the book: You Must Remember This by Joyce Carol Oates.

Asparagus Lemon Pasta

1 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally in 1/2 inch pieces (preferably thin asparagus
1 lb. angel hair pasta
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest (from about 3 lemons)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup finely chopped freshly chopped parsley
Accompaniment: freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Steam asparagus until crisp tender (approximately 3 minutes). Transfer asparagus to a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain asparagus well.

In a deep 6 quart kettle bring 5 quarts salted water to boil for pasta

In a deep 12-inch skillet heat butter and cream over moderately low heat until butter is melted and stir in zest, lemon juice and salt. Remove skillet from heat and keep sauce warm, covered

Add pasta to boiling water and boil, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Ladle 1/2 cup past water into the sauce and drain the pasta in a colander.

Immediately add pasta and asparagus to sauce and cook over moderate heat, tossing, 1 minute, or until heated through. Add parsley and salt and pepper to taste and toss well.

Sprinkle pasta with a little Parmesan and serve more Parmesan on the side.

Radish and Pine Nut Salad

5 tsp red-wine vinegar
6 tlb olive oil
8 cups lettuce (this called for red leaf-I used water cress and red leaf)
1 cup julienne strips of radish
1/3 cup pine nuts lightly toasted

-In large bowl whisk vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, add oil whisking, whisk until emulsified
-add shredded lettuce, radish, pine nuts and toss well
-line each plate with whole lettuce leaves and divide up salad

Pesto Porkchops With Basmati Rice and Asparagus

Last night we prepared one of our favorite new standards, Pesto Pork Chops. This recipe is quick, inexpensive, easy and really tasty. We served the pork chops with basmati rice and asparagus spears, dressed in lemon and pepper.

Pesto Pork Chops

3/4 pounds pork chops (bone in, 3/4 inch thick
3 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. pesto (we made a homemade Thai Basil pesto, but regular basil pesto will be just fine)
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Put flour, slat and pepper on a plate and combine.
2. Dredge both sides of pork chops in flour, and shake off any excess.
3. Spray the skillet with cooking spray and preheat on medium-high.
4. Add the chops and brown on each side for two minutes. (you will be tempted to cook it a little longer, since you will still see some red in the meat. Don't be tempted, and it will turn out moist and juicy)
5. After they are browned, spread the pesto sauce over the chops and put lid on the skillet.
6. Continue cooking for an additional two minutes.
7. Enjoy!

Blue, got a new camera. We took pictures, but the software hasn't been downloaded. We will have a pic soon.

Tonight=more asparagus experimentation

Mafalde Alla Gorgonzola with Asparagus

On Sunday, we found a use for the chunk of gorgonzola. The recipe of choice was Penne Alla Gorgonzola from Gourmet magazine with some twists. It involved a bit of Asparagudrama. We started at Serio's on State Street in NOHO, looking for a bunch of local asparagus. They didn't receive a delivery, so we went with their suggestion and stopped at Fido's veggie and flower stand. Alas, Mr. Fido said he was all out-with the rain, the asparagus didn't grow enough and he wasn't able to pick any new asparagus the night before. His stand is at Mom's and his farm is in Hadley. Blue knows all of the suspect asparagus farm stands in Hadley, so I picked her up for our Hadley jaunt. Fortunately, we found the asparagus at our first stop, what I will call Blue Umbrella Farm due to the blue umbrella shading the cooler on which the asparagus perched.

The recipe was a success, so here you go with my adjustments: mafalde substituting for the penne and the addition of asparagus spears.

Mafalde Alla Gorgonzola and Asparagus

12 oz-1 lb. Mafalde (looks like a skinny lasagna)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp dried sage, crumbled or thinly sliced fresh sage
1 cup whole milk
1/2 lb. gorgonzola cut into pieces 1.5-2 cups
1/4 c. black pepper
1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
2 oz. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)

Cook pasta in 6-8 quart pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente
While pasta boils, heat butter in a 12 inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook sage, stirring 1 minute. Add gorgonzola and cook, stirring and breaking up cheese, until sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes (sauce will be thin). I found that it took a little longer than the two minutes for the sauce to become smooth. Reduce heat to low and stir in pepper, nutmeg, and salt to taste.
You (or a cooking partner) should start steaming the asparagus as you begin preparing the sauce. Once the asparagus is a bit tender, remove and cut into four pieces at the diagonal. Set aside.
Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water and drain pasta. Add pasta and parmesan cheese, stirring to coat. Add in the asparagus in at the last moment. Serve.

Enjoy!

A long time coming

Finally, Its here! After 12 years of effort the River Valley Market cooperative has opened. It opened on Wednesday with not a lot of fan fare so they could work out the kinks. The grand opening is coming soon. I took an hour off of work to be there on the first morning. I only had a half an hour, so mostly I strolled through the aisles and examined the prices. A touch high, but as a member owner I'll get special discounts. Highlights: fresh fiddle heads-I need to figure out what to do with these bad boys, beautiful squid, and a great selection of regional cheeses. Soon we will see more local veggies-I can't wait!

Hadley Grass

I'm like a kid in the candy store when it comes to the first appearance of Hadley Grass (asparagus). The best-after all, it is exported to Paris and Germany and makes its way to Queen Elizabeth's spring feast. Since I have been doing my best to only eat asparagus local and in season, I'm even more verklempt upon its arrival. I usually get the cravings come October. Well, Hadley Grass is here. We had it on Wednesday night, prepared simply.

Ways to celebrate Hadley Grass this season:

-Have a bacon and asparagus sandwich

-Stop by Flayvors of Cook Farm and try the asparagus ice cream (It is delicioius!)

-Go to the Asparagus supper at the First Congregational Church in Hadley on the 3rd Sunday in May

As one local farmer says, "Asparagus is a labor of love. It is in your blood, if people want some of our grass, it is worth a trip to the valley."