A slightly disjointed menu preview this week...
Some people are incurable romantics or optimists, I happen to be an incurable insomniac as I do my absolute best worrying in the middle of the night. I am used to finding myself at 3 am, clutching a mug of tea for comfort and staring out the window into complete darkness while I think things through. With the arrival of Covid, I noticed an uptick in fellow night travelers around April. Now that L. and I are back in Manhattan, I am saddened by the huge increase in number of bedrooms in the buildings across the quad from me whose lights are also on at 3 am. I certainly understand why we have become a nation of insomniacs though...Worrying aside, it is also taking me some time to adapt from the Cape’s nocturnal silence (apart from the occasional animal sound which I heavily documented this summer) to the noises of Manhattan, even if they are much reduced from the norm. This has led to an increase in napping and meals at odd times so last week’s menu did not go exactly as planned and I did not post any recipes.
This week's CSA box contained a generous mix of end of summer produce and fall fare. I certainly got my money’s worth as the quantity of items was slightly overwhelming. I guess a glut of herbs and tomatoes got passed along to subscribers. There was also a mistake with my order and I received 2 boxes of produce; my mother can refrain from veggie shopping this week. I was interested to find that the two boxes contained the same base items but different vegetables in each. Anyway, I have transcribed below only what I kept, and L. lugged a huge bag of surplus over to my mom’s, so you can imagine what I started out with...
Since L. is attending school from home, stay tuned for a few bonus lunch recipes in the weeks to come as well as my usual dinner-centric recipes. I, for one, am looking forward to eating a Corn Meal Crusted Fried Green Tomato BLT. L. is still militantly anti soup as a meal, something which I had planned on featuring heavily in the lunch rotation, so – at this point in time -- the rest of my bonus lunch posts are as much a mystery to me as they are to you.
Though I was disappointed at the paucity of response, those of you who were kind enough to respond to last week’s survey question overwhelmingly asked that I return to my old format. So I have.
Anyway...
Herbs: a few sprigs each of rosemary and thyme, a bunch each of Mexican Marigold mint, sage, flowering garlic chives and Thai basil, and a very wilted bunch of parsley which I am attempting to revive in a glass of water in the fridge. I do not have high hopes for it.
Greens: a huge head of Boston lettuce and a smaller one of Butter Oak lettuce.
Alliums: 5 gigantic white onions, a head of garlic and a bunch of muddy, neon green leeks.
Vegetables: 8 squash blossoms, 4 mini seedless cucumbers, a punnet of mixed mushrooms (from chanterelles to shiitake), 15 heirloom tomatoes of various sizes and colors (green, red and yellow), a peck of jalapenos, 2 ears of corn, 2 punnets of mixed hot red peppers (Habanero, Serrano and cayenne), a plump cauliflower (possibly my least favorite vegetable), a tiny Blue Hubbard squash (maybe for soup for one?), a purple rutabaga, 2 red bell peppers and a tiny purple one, 3 carrots, a small bunch of red kale, a bunch of rainbow chard, and 3 yellow potatoes.
Fruit: 4 lovely, unblemished, organic Gala apples and 2 Ginger-Gold ones, 2 punnets of Cape gooseberries, and a gallon of fresh apple cider.
Remainders: --
The contents of this week's box (minus various items for lunches, snacks, already used in a delicious and easy salmon lunch for my mom yesterday since my CSA box arrives on Saturday, and the jalapenos which were transformed last night into a bonus recipe of Cowboy Candy hot sauce) will be transformed into:
Sunday “Pantry Roulette”; fridge, freezer, and pantry item dinner]
Mixed Heirloom Tomato Salad with Ricotta Salata and an Herb and Garlic Dressing
Monday [Wildcard; a more complex or fiddly dish than usual to test my culinary skills]
Green Salad
Plain Boiled Potatoes
Tuesday [Pasta and dinner for a friend who had just been through quarantine in Canada so I thought dinner would be O.K...]
Antipasti - Fresh Sardines en Escabèche, Marinated Artichokes, Tomato Salad with Capers and Pickled Garlic Scapes, Onion and Red Pepper Compote with Thyme and Ricotta Salata, and Leeks Vinaigrette
Mushroom and Black Truffle Risotto
Chocolate Ice Cream with Cayenne Pepper Syrup
Wednesday [L.'s choice]
Thursday [Fish]
Green Salad
Friday [Veggie-centric]
Saturday ["Picnic"; something that is easy to assemble and easy to eat in front of a movie]
Mixed Salad
Decadent Steak Sandwiches
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