glacier grist
Issue #27 • Thursday, May 07, 2009
PLEASE LOOK FOR YOUR LABEL!
When you are picking up your box, please make sure that your name is on the label. If you accidentally pick up someone else’s box, it sets off a terrible chain of events. Thank you!
NEW ALASKAN SPROUTS!
There’s a new farm in town—a bean sprout farm, that is! We’re pleased to include mung bean sprouts from Alaska Sprouts this week! We hope you enjoy them!
LOCAL MILK
Did you know that you can buy local milk from the Matanuska Creamery at your local Fred Meyer? The milk is 100% Alaskan, and is from cows NOT treated with rBST. Find the milk in the regular dairy section in bright goldenrod-colored gallon jugs. This milk is so fresh that when I steam it for a chai tea, the foam gets amazingly tall!
PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOXES!
recipes
for glacier grist Issue #27
fried rice with peas and bean sprouts
I have to admit, I don’t have a lot of recipes for bean sprouts, other than a very complicated and “authentic” Pad Thai… but this one from Cooks Illustrated looked really good. I haven’t tried it yet, but I like extra bean sprouts, so I increased the amount—and called for brown rice, too. I’m going to try it out as soon as my sprouts arrive!
¼ cup oyster sauce (to your taste)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil
2 large eggs , beaten lightly
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 medium cloves garlic , minced
6 cups cooked brown (cold), large clumps broken up with fingers
3 cups or more bean sprouts
5 medium scallions , sliced thin
1. Combine 2 tablespoons oyster sauce and soy sauce in small bowl; set aside.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot; add 1½ teaspoons oil and swirl to coat pan bottom. Add eggs and cook without stirring until they just begin to set, then scramble and break into small pieces with wooden spoon; continue to cook, stirring constantly, until eggs are cooked through but not browned. Set eggs aside.
3. Return skillet to burner, increase heat to high, and heat skillet until hot. Add remaining 2½ tablespoons oil and swirl to coat pan bottom. Add peas and cook, stirring constantly, 30 seconds; stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add rice and oyster sauce mixture; cook, stirring constantly and breaking up rice clumps, until mixture is heated through, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, bean sprouts, and scallions; cook, stirring constantly, until heated through. Serve immediately.
arugula salad with grilled onions &
roasted red peppers
The salad recipe is based loosely on one in Cook’s Illustrated, and it is great even without the roasted red peppers.
dressing
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press
sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
salad
6 small onions, grilled (recipe follows) and cut in half
3 red peppers, roasted (recipe follows) and cut into ½” squares
1 large bunch arugula, washed, dried and stemmed
1. Whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste in small bowl; set aside.
2. Place grilled onions in serving bowl and toss gently to separate layers. Toss onions with red peppers. Toss the vegetables with a little dressing.
3. Toss the arugula with dressing to your taste; add more salt and pepper to taste. Put a big mound of dressed arugula in the center of the plate, then top with a pile of onion mixture. Serve immediately!
grilled onions
6 small onions, peeled and cut crosswise into ½” rounds
3 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt or kosher salt and ground black pepper
1. Place sliced onions on baking sheet to hold them while preparing them and brush each side with oil. Season each side generously with salt and pepper.
2. Preheat grill with lid down and all burners set to high until very hot, about 15 minutes. Scrape grate clean with grill brush. Lower heat to medium and place onions on grill.
3. Grill onions, covered, until onion rounds are deep golden brown and just tender, 15 to 20 minutes, checking onions every 5 minutes and flipping and rotating onion slices as needed to ensure even cooking. (Keep lid down except when checking onions.) Transfer onions to a sheet of aluminum foil, removing the thinnest ones that finish cooking first as they are done. Wrap the onions up tight in the shiny side of the foil to finish cooking while they cool. (The dull side of the foil can react with the red onions and turn the edges a little blue.)
roasted red peppers
1. Preheat your grill or broiler. Roast the red peppers, turning them as each side gets blackened.
2. When they are blackened all the way around, place them in a big bowl and cover it with a lid or a plate until the peppers are fairly cool (this steams and cooks the peppers the rest of the way).
3. Peel the skins from the peppers and remove the seeds, but don’t rinse the peppers—just rinse your fingers as you peel the skins off. Slice the peppers into ½” wide pieces.
sautéed mushrooms
This really simple recipe is from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It’s great on toast or just as a side dish.
1 pound mushrooms, cut into halves, quarters, or slices about ¼-inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil (part butter if you like)
salt & freshly-ground pepper
½ lemon
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 large garlic clove, minced
Heat the oil over high heat. Add the mushrooms all at once and move them around the pan so they all pick up a little of the oil. Keep sautéing even though the pan appears to be dry. Once the mushrooms yield their juices and the juice cooks off, they’ll begin to color nicely. When golden, season well with salt and pepper. Add a squeeze of lemon, then toss with the parsley and garlic and serve.
garlic-roasted potatoes
2 pounds potatoes
garlic oil (recipe in Step 1)
sea salt or kosher salt
1. Make garlic oil: Mash or mince 3 or 4 garlic cloves and cover with ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil. Let steep for 30 minutes if you have time. Strain out the garlic and store the oil in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Toss them in a bowl with a few spoonfuls of garlic oil, then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt. Toss again.
3. Lightly oil a large baking dish or sheet pan, and transfer the potatoes onto it, making sure that a cut side of each potato is touching the pan. (The side touching the pan will brown nicely). Roast the potatoes until tender and browned, 35 to 40 minutes.
broccoli and red peppers with Thai peanut sauce
This recipe is also based on one from Cook’s Illustrated! It’s important to use an oil with a high smoke point, like peanut oil or grapeseed oil, so it doesn’t burn and smoke while you stir-fry the eggplant. Don’t use olive oil, for sure!
Thai Sauce Base
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice plus 1 teaspoon grated zest from 1 lime
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
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Vegetables
¼ cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon peanut oil or grapeseed oil plus 1 more teaspoon
2 large red bell peppers, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch strips
1 ½ pounds broccoli, separated: stems peeled and sliced into ¼”-thick coins, crowns cut into 1-inch florets
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1. For Thai Sauce Base: Mix fish sauce, lime juice and zest, sugar, and red pepper in small bowl until sugar is dissolved.
2. Add coconut milk and peanut butter to Thai Sauce Base, whisk until smooth; set aside.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in your largest nonstick skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add broccoli stems and cook until starting to soften (3 or 4 minutes), then add red pepper and broccoli florets; cook, stirring often, until just barely tender, about 5 more minutes—keep tasting to make sure!
4. Push vegetables to sides of skillet, clearing center of pan. Add remaining teaspoon oil, garlic, and ginger to center of pan and mash with back of spoon; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then stir mixture into vegetables.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in about half of the sauce mixture. Taste it and see how you like it, and whether you’d like to add more sauce. I didn’t use quite all of my sauce (it’s pretty potent, salty stuff!), so just keep adding until you’re happy with the flavors.
6. Simmer to heat through and blend flavors, about 1 minute; serve immediately with rice.
salad with garlicky red wine mustard vinaigrette
This will make more dressing than you need, but it keeps very well in the refrigerator.
Toss washed, dried, and torn Romaine lettuce leaves with this dressing and toasted pepitas (green pumpkin seeds). Toast the pepitas in a skillet on medium-high heat until puffed, light brown and fragrant. If you have a ripe avocado, peel, dice and add it, as well!
dressing
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 medium cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1 tablespoon honey
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Put first 5 ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Slowly pour in oil to make a creamy emulsion. Taste and season with more salt and/or honey.
For more recipes, visit http://www.AlisonsLunch.com, http://www.SouthAnchorageFarmersMarket.com
Happy cooking! --Alison
