glacier grist
Issue #79 • Thursday, September 02, 2010
SPECIAL NOTE
As I am writing this we are experiencing the first day of sunshine in 30 days. This has been a tough year for our Alaskan farmers needless to say. The cauliflower and other items may not make it into our boxes. If not, we will give you extra of another item or possibly an item that is not even listed!
ALWAYS REMEMBER that if you are not happy with something in your box, please let us know right away. We are dealing with Mother Nature and sometimes she throws us a curve. We will make it up to you in your next box.
recipes
for glacier grist Issue #79
carrot salad with green chili and cilantro
(contributed by Nancy)
This is the one shredded salad you want to make right before you serve it, because the carrots bleed once they’re shredded and salted. It is adapted from The Vegetarian Option by Simon Hopkinson.
4 cups peeled and grated carrots
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons superfine sugar
juice of 1 small lime
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
cilantro leaves picked from 4 or 5 bushy sprigs
1 green serrano or 1/2 jalapeno, seeded
1. In a large bowl, mix the grated carrot together with the salt, sugar and lime juice. Leave to macerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place the coriander seeds in a small, dry skillet and gently toast them over low heat until they smell very good, but be careful not to burn them. Tip into a mortar and lightly crush with the pestle.
3. Now mince the cilantro and chili together. Add to the carrots together with the coriander seeds and mix well. Turn into a serving dish and enjoy.
eliane’s chunky zucchini gratin
(contributed by Nancy)
This is from Patricia Wells’ The Provence Cookbook. Since I didn’t see light cream in the store, I just used regular cream. I bet half and half would work well too.
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 lb zucchini, trimmed and cut into chunks
¼ cup light cream
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup (1 ounce) freshly grated Gruyere cheese
1. Preheat the broiler.
2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add the garlic and zucchini, and brown the zucchini for about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until soft, about 8 minutes more.
3. With a slotted spoon, transfer the zucchini to the 1 quart gratin dish. Drizzle the light cream all over. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the cheese. Place under the broiler and broil until the cheese is melted and golden, 2 to 3 minutes.
Cook’s note: I have made this without the cheese and substituted bread crumbs. It does brown faster so be sure to watch your broiler.
italian bread and cabbage soup with sage butter
(contributed by Nancy)
This serves approximately 8 people for dinner, so you could cut the recipe in half. It also seems that I have won over a few of you that have either never tried or feared the anchovy. Bravo for being so brave! Everyone who wrote to me said that it added flavor to the dish and didn’t taste fishy at all. If you want to omit them you can, but give it a try.
3 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
1 cabbage (savoy, Napa, or green)
2 big handfuls of kale, stalks removed, leaves washed and roughly chopped
approximately 16 slices of stale country-style or sourdough bread
1 clove of garlic, unpeeled, cut in half
olive oil
12-14 slices of pancetta or bacon
1 can of anchovies (4 oz size can)
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
7 oz fontina cheese, grated
5 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
small bunch of fresh sage leaves
1. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
2. In a large kettle, bring the stock to a boil and add the cabbage and kale. Cook for a few minutes until softened. Remove the cabbage and kale to a large bowl, leaving the stock in the pan.
3. Toast all but 5 of the bread slices and rub the garlic on one side.
4. Heat a large, 4 inch deep ovenproof casserole type pan on the stove, pour in a couple tablespoons of olive and oil and add your pancetta or bacon and drained anchovies. Smash the anchovies into the oil as the pancetta cooks. When the pancetta’s golden brown and sizzling, add the rosemary and cooked cabbage and toss to coat the greens. Put the greens and pancetta mixture back into the large bowl. You can drain out some of the oil if using bacon. Pancetta won’t give you as much oil.
5. Place 4 of the toasted slices in the casserole type pan, in one layer. Spread over one third of the cabbage/kale mixture, sprinkle over a quarter of the grated fontina and Parmesan and add a drizzle of olive oil. Repeat this twice, but don’t stress if your pan’s only big enough to make two layers. Just pour in all the juices remaining in the bowl and end with a layer of untoasted bread on top. Push down on the layers with your hands.
6. Pour the stock gently over the top till it just comes up to the top layer. Push down again and sprinkle over the remaining fontina and Parmesan. Add a good pinch of pepper and drizzle over some olive oil. 7. Bake in the preheated oven for around 30 minutes, or until crispy and golden on top.
8. When the soup is ready, divide it between your bowls.
9. Melt the butter in a frying pan and quickly fry the sage leaves until they are just crisp and the butter is lightly golden (not burned). Spoon a bit of the flavored butter and sage leaves over the soup and add another grating of Parmesan if you wish.
cold curried carrot and coconut milk soup
(contributed by Nancy)
I needed to make something for a lunch and needed to consider two things. I had to do it ahead of time and it had to be easy to eat with little or no clean up. I made the soup and put it in a zip lock and served it coffee cups. It was a big hit!
¾ cup finely chopped scallions (about 1 bunch)
1 small onion, chopped (about 2/3 cup)
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger root
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon curry powder
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and sliced thinly (about 4 cups)
2 ½ cups low salt chicken broth
1 to 1 ½ cups canned unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus additional
1. In a large heavy saucepan, cook chopped scallion, onion, and ginger root in butter and curry powder and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Over moderately low heat until softened and add carrots and broth. Simmer mixture, covered, 20 minutes or until carrot are very soft.
3. In a blender puree the mixture in batches with coconut milk until very smooth, transferring as pureed to a bowl. Stir in 1 tablespoon lime juice and chill soup at least 6 hours or overnight.
4. Thin soup with ice water and season with additional lime juice, salt and pepper.
Cook’s note: I always hated dealing with fresh ginger root even though I loved the taste. Then I discovered the easy way to peel it. Simply use the side of a spoon to scrape the skin off. Easy peasy!
marinated sliced cucumber salad
(contributed by Nancy)
It’s cool, refreshing and easy — but do be careful if you use a mandoline slicer and use the safety gizmo they give you! This is from T. Susan Chang.
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon regular salt)
1/2 cup water
1 English cucumber
6 to 8 leafy dill sprigs
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Combine the vinegars, sugar, salt and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When it’s fully dissolved, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture becomes somewhat syrupy. Let cool to room temperature.
2. While the marinade is cooling, finely slice the cucumbers into rounds about 1/16-inch thick. You can use a mandoline, or you can just slice them with a knife. Pick the leaves from the dill sprigs, discarding the stems, and finely chop.
3. Place the cucumbers, dill and marinade in a heavy-duty re-sealable plastic bag and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably 4 or more. With a slotted spoon, lift the cucumbers into a serving bowl and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Mango/Kale salad is delicious. And I love it amazingly. We all friends eat in the summer hot weather. It’s really really tasty. Yummy! 
