I was 18 that summer, the summer before I would move out east to attend college. The summer before everything would change. In the true spirit of my family we took one of our crazy  last minute road trips to Memphis, TN for some barbecue and blues. I didn't think there existed a place more muggy than St. Louis, but Memphis sure had the old STL beat. Nonetheless, the food, the music and the company were great. Walking down Beale Street and eating at BB Kings is a memory I wont soon forget, especially considering the crazy street performers that enraptured me. Fried green pickles are still one of my favorite snacks, when I can get them of course. I remember going in and out of kitschy shops and coming across a sign that said "Put some south in your mouth!" My parents quickly herded my younger brother and I along because of the obvious connotation. But when I was planning this week's meals based on our share, I knew I would be using the cornmeal to make some grits and bringing some south to our mouths here in, what I fondly call, the arctic north.

Special thanks to Lucky Penny Farm for generously providing the goat chevre  for this post!

Shrimp 'n grits
***I originally found the recipe for the shrimp in this dish on Food Network's website. I should have trusted my gut when I had doubts about the preparation because it definitely not my favorite. So this recipe represents what I should have done and will do in the future when I make this again. Because even though the shrimp was a little bleh, the grits and greens were amazing!


1 C stone ground cornmeal (Source: Stutzman Farms, FFM)
1 C water
1.5 C chicken or veggie stock (Source: homemade from the bones from our FFM chicken)
1/4 C whole milk or cream (Source: Snowville Creamery, FFM)
4 oz chevre (Source: courtesy of Lucky Penny Farm)
1 TBL butter
fresh parsley (Source: fire escape garden)
fresh chives (Source: fire escape garden)

Shrimp- try to find some big tiger shrimp, mine were a little sad
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 TBL butter
1 TBL olive oil

Mustard greens (Source: FFM)
Beet greens (Source: FFM)
2 TBL olive oil

Chevre Grits-
Bring stock and water to a boil and lower heat to medium low. Add cornmeal in slowly while whisking to avoid lumps. Stir occasionally and let grits cook for about 5-10 minutes or so. Whisk in the butter, milk, and chevre and remove from heat.

Shrimp-
Heat oil and butter in a skillet and cook onions and garlic until soft. Saute shrimp until pink. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp as they will become tough.

Greens-
Saute your greens on high heat in a skillet with olive oil. S&P to taste

Serve shrimp and greens over grits.

I'm a collector. Of recipes, of vintage and sometimes antique kitchen items and linens, cobalt blue glass, of good books, of passport stamps and memories. Growing up in St. Louis one of my favorite memories was checking out garage and estate sales with my mom and cousin during the summer. We'd always find something we absolutely had to have. I distinctly remember the day we picked up a vintage black and white pony purse (not a horse, but the pattern) and some gloves. Playing dress-up was never quite the same after that as store bought princess costumes just didn't seem to pack the same punch. My love affair with things old and "used" grew as the years went by, partially because of the frugality of it, but mostly because I love things with history. There's just something about furniture that has endured the ages or as my grandpa used to say, "They just don't make things the way they used to!"

When I lived in Scotland for a semester my senior year of college I collected china teacups from every town that I visited. I always smile whenever I use them because they bring back a flood of memories from that special time in my life. Although the photo of today's meal is less than impressive, the dish I served it in was a piece I collected from an antique mall near where I went to college. Considering one of our first dates when we first met in college was a picnic, it seemed appropriate to use this dish on a picnic at the Tremont Farmer's Market. Here's to things that last- memories and all.

Carmelized Onion Quinoa and Lentil Salad
** When I was preparing this dish to take to the market, I realized I was out of feta. An atrocity of epic proportions in our home, but I knew that Lucky Penny's stand would be there and could rescue us from our feta-less-ness.






1 C organic quinoa
1 C lentils de puy or any lentils you have on hand (I soak my lentils over night to reduce cooking time)
h2o
1-2 onions, thinly sliced 1/4" on mandoline (Source: FFM)
olive oil
butter (Source: FFM- it's the never ending butter roll!)
parsley (Source: Fire escape garden)
Chives (Source: Fire escape garden)
Cilantro (Source: Tink Holl Market)
Feta (Source: Lucky Penny Farm)
Sriracha Sauce
Lemon juice

Cook your quinoa (1:2 ratio) either in the microwave or on the stove top. Meanwhile, boil your lentils until tender and strain. Melt butter and olive oil in a skillet and toss in the sliced onions. Cook on medium heat until tender and reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook until golden. I never have enough patience for this step so I could probably cook mine a little longer than I do. I have also heard you can caramelize onions in the oven- something I will definitely try next time!

Slightly cool your quinoa and lentils and toss with a little bit of olive oil and lemon juice. S&P (keep in mind the feta will add some salt!), and a few drops of Sriracha Sauce (a little goes a long way here!). Chop up your herbs and toss with the rest of the ingredients. Crumble feta over the top and serve. This is great as leftovers either room temperature or cold, though I have warmed it up a little in the microwave before eating and it was great that way too!

Okay, what is with the Cleveland weather these last few weeks? I understand it's summer, and yes it's Cleveland where we get the worst of everything. And nobody better say, "In just a few short months you are going to be wishing for this weather, young lady!" because I totally won't (right).But, seriously! Where is the sun? Why is it as muggy as in Miami, FL?? The bad part of the weather is that it makes me want to skip cooking, let alone any semblance of dinner and just eat ice cream all day long. Bad for the body and bad for the blog. And sometimes, that's all that motivates me to get into the kitchen! I have no way to prove this, but I assume we have loyal readers or even semi-loyal readers who count on coming to this blog and seeing SOMETHING, ANYTHING. As the Pioneer Woman would say:
 
tap tap tap....

......is this thing on?

Anyway, so it's into the kitchen I go. After last weeks bounty of greens I was somewhat disappointed with this week's share. I don't know, nothing really "spoke" to me and told me what it needed to become. We all have those weeks I guess. But I think I came up with some exciting ways to use the produce. Let me know what you think and which recipe this week ends up being your favorite!

Swiss Chard and Sweet Potatoe Gratin
***I found this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen Blog and sort of halved it since I didn't have as much chard as she suggests and didn't want too heavy of a sauce considering the weather. Also, I put this together and baked it on Saturday and it heated up and served very well today- a great option if you don't feel like turning on the oven after a day at work or because it's too damn hot!


1 bunch swiss chard, more if you've got it!, washed and chopped coarsely (Source: FFM)
2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (1/8" setting on mandoline)
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped finely
1 C whole milk or heavy cream (Source: Snowville Creamery, FFM)
1 TBL flour
1-2 TBL butter (Source: FFM)
cheese
s&p
fresh flat leaf parsely (Source: Fire escape garden)

Prep your onion, garlic, greens and potatoes. Saute onions and greens in a little butter. The original recipe warns against liquid and draining it off, but I didn't have any?? Set aside when wilted, after about 5 or so minutes. TIP: If you are using the stems, put them in first and let them soften up a bit before adding the leaves. I didn't use mine as I tossed them into my crockpot batch of veggie stock!

To make the sauce, melt the remaining butter and whisk in the flour. Cook for about 1-2 minutes and add garlic. Warm milk for about 30 seconds in the microwave or in a saucepan if you're anti-microwave. Slowly whisk in milk to avoid clumps. S&P the sauce- congratulations, you've made a bechamel sauce one of the mother sauces! Whisk over medium heat until thickened.

Grease a 9x9 glass pan and layer sweet potatoe slices, a little cheese, S&P, and then half of the chard mixture topped with half of the sauce. Repeat with remaining ingredients and put a little cheese on top too. Bake for about 45 minutes or so at 400F. I baked mine a little less knowing that I would be heating it up on Monday and because I didn't have as much sauce as the original recipe.

I am not a huge fan of leftovers. Which is a serious problem considering I am completely incapable of cooking for two people. I can't help it though, it's been bred into me that it takes the same amount of energy to cook enough for 2 as 20! But after seeing how much meat was on our chicken, I knew exactly what I was going to do with the leftovers. For some reason, leftovers are so much more palatable to me if they have been remixed into a new version of something equally or more yummy than the original. With the scapes and green onions in our basket (last week) I knew chicken salad was in my future.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Chicken Salad Sammies
**This recipe isnt exactly rocket science. Use leftover roasted chicken for the best flavor but you could always poach some chicken and shred it. Add your favorite stuff or remove anything you don't like.






1-2 C shredded chicken, leftover from Chicken Riganati (Source: FFM)
2-3 green onions, chopped finely
bunch white french breakfast radishes (source: FFM), sliced thinly on a mandoline
lettuce (source: FFM)
bread (we used Pugiliese Bread)

homemade mayo
1-2 scapes (source: FFM)
juice of lemon

Make the scape aioli with homemade (or store bought, I wont tell) in your food processor. S&P

Combine sliced green onions and radishes with shredded chicken. Mix with scape aaolio and serve on your favorite bread. Enjoy!

Today was one of those days that I really enjoy living in Cleveland. The weather was beautiful and made for a great evening with friends out on our fire escape patio. The sun was golden, turning the sky into a watercolor painting. With the "heat wave" we have been having I have been reminiscing about summers growing up in St. Louis. Only there, the heat is nearly suffocating but the lively buzz of the city during the summer made it tolerable. Growing up along the Mississippi in a city founded by the French meant we have a lot of southern influences. When I tell that to people they don't believe me because St. Louis is the gateway to the west after all, but in culture and food we are Southerners at heart. I was delighted to see the beautiful collards in this week's share and in homage to growing up in the city who has the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in the USA I prepared them in my interpretation of Dirty Rice.

Dirty Rice and Greens
***Again, if you think you have too many greens, add some more. They cook down considerably and they will be so good you will be wishing for more. This is not really a traditional dirty rice dish but it incorporates a lot of Southern flavors that I personally like.






1-2 lbs collard greens, stems and ribs removed (Source: FFM)
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1/2 lb black eyed peas, dried
1Andouille or smoked sausage, sliced
2 C rice
4 C water or stock
1-2 TBL spicy grainy mustard
S&P

Either soak your black eyed peas overnight or place into 2-3 C of salted, boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cover for about an hour. When you are ready to prepare your dinner, heat the peas up again and then drain the water off and reserve. Use the black eyed pea water to boil your rice according to the package instructions- 1:2 rice to water ratio. Add 1-2 cloves garlic, 1/4 of the onion and a little olive oil and S&P to the peas and heat up until the garlic is cooked. Meanwhile saute the rest of the garlic and onion in olive oil. Add the sliced sausage to this pan and saute for about 1-2 min. Add your greens in batches. S&P. When the greens are wilted add 1-2 TBL grainy mustard to the pan and stir. Serve the greens, sausage and peas over rice. S&P to taste. If you're feeling spicy, add a little Siracha sauce.

We recently attended the Local Produce / Local Wine / Local Location dinner, which was hosted at the Grovewood Tavern up by E 170th and another great local place (for music that is), the Beachland Ballroom.  But, this evening was less about music (although i must say  the mix they had on was top notch), and more about blending the diverse selection of local produce and wines showcasing how rich the flavors we have at our dispense (within 75 miles).  The produce was supplied by Trevor over at Fresh Fork Market, the wine by Debonne, and the location and cooking by the wonderful people of the Grovewood Tavern.  Now, let me be the first to say that I have already been won over by the deliciousness that is cleveland+ produce.  So far everything we've gotten from FFM has been outstanding.  So, to say the least, I wasn't too worried about what I'd be eating.  The wine on the other hand.....

I shuddered to think what might be presented to us this evening.  And I say shudder because Kate and I have had numerous encounters with Ohio wines and been utterly disappointed.  We've even gone on a romantic wine tour through the valley, hoping to find a surprise gem, and come up rolling our eyes back into our heads as the overpowering taste of pure sugar...yes, sugar, , drowned our taste buds.  I'm not quite sure why, but it seemed that every person who was making wine had a love affair with sugar and attempted to top the brix scale or achieve some new record, because every...stinking..wine...tasted sugary, syrupy, and downright nasty to us.  And as scientists, we didn't merely give up on Ohio wines.  Oh no, we tested more, tasted the same winery's production again (perhaps it was an outlier or bad year), but even with an increased sample size, still the same result.  Ick.

Well, the folks from Debonne (as with every wine dinner, a little sales pitch and description of each wine was done with each course) started off with the first wine.  Raising the glass to my lips, I inhaled, took a small sip...and........would you believe it?!  NOT...SUGARY!!  Now, was the taste my favorite?  Perhaps not, but I didn't care.  It wasn't corn syrup!  As the food begin to be served, different wines poured, I took a moment to look around at the crowd that had gathered.  For some, this was their first time purposely eating local foods.  For others, this was a way of life.  For some, food is a "ehh" thing, a take it or leave it of flavors and tastes, for others, food and tastes are again...a way of life.  But, it didn't matter.  Here we were, a bunch of clevelanders+ that were enjoying eating and drinking local fruits of the earth, and hopefully, continuing the steps of seeing more families, communities, cities, living local and eating local. 

At the end of the night, the wine was 3 for 5.  Two iIjust didn't care for, one of them being an ice wine.  I'm not a huge fan of ice wine, but I appreciate what it takes to make it, and am glad there are people who do enjoy it.  The food, all around, was scrumptious, (we kinda expected it would be seeing how our CSA contents have been top notch) and afterward, we talked with Trevor about another local food dinner in August.  We'll keep you posted!

I have struggled with a chronic pain condition for the last 8 years and last year I decided I was going to challenge myself to a half marathon. I started training June of last year for the Cleveland half that would be in May 2010. Unfortunately, I somehow injured my knee in October and wasn't able to run for the next 6 months. I was pretty disappointed that I didn't meet my goal but then I remembered that there was still time in 2010! So, after my knee miraculously healed I started training for the Cleveland Towpath Half Marathon in Oct. 2010. It hasn't always gone as smoothly as I would like but I keep reminding myself that life is a marathon, not a sprint. I just have to finish, it doesn't matter how slow I go to get the job done. While running yesterday I was rocking out to my jams (I love my new Ipod Nano that has a radio!) and dreaming about dinner. I was only out on a 30 minute run and it ended much worse than it started, but the thought of this delicious dinner kept me going. I love me some carbs! Also to my delight this dish photographed as good as it tasted.

Kale Whole Wheat Fettucini
**Swiss chard is another one of my favorite greens and goes well with a fatty meat like bacon. If you're meat free, pine nuts and cranberries are also delicious! This recipe made enough for the two of us to have large helpings and leftovers for lunch.





1 lb fresh whole wheat fettuccine (Source: Ohio City Pasta, FFM)
1-2 lb Kale: any kind of you like (Source: FFM)
1 large onion sliced thinly on a mandolin- 1/4" thick
3-4 cloves garlic diced
red pepper flakes
olive oil
8 oz bacon (Source: New Creation Farm, FFM)
2-3 oz chevre (Source: Lucky Penny Farm)

Clean and destem your chard. You will probably feel like you have way too much chard. You don't, trust me. It will cook down to a manageable portion. Slice up your onions and dice your garlic. Bring salted water to a boil. Cook up your bacon and chop coarsely.

Heat olive oil in skillet on medium-high heat and cook your onions 'til golden. Carefully add the chard in batches, allowing each batch to cook down a little bit before adding the next to make room in the pan. When swiss chard is all in the pan, let it wilt down about 5+ minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes S&P and cook for another 5 minutes or so until the chard is tender but still green. Cook pasta to al dente- fresh pasta takes about 4-6 minutes. Drain pasta and add to skillet with your greens. Toss in the bacon. Serve with a dollop of chevre or crumbled feta on top.

**Note about the chevre: Lucky Penny gave me a 4 oz container of the chevre about 2 or so weeks ago. I used most of it in the cheesecakes last week and it was still good this week, despite being past it's "use by date" which was a pleasant surprise!

Tonight was another case of "holy crap this tasted amazing" but "holy crap...what, do I photograph?!"  I say "I," but really I just did some of the prep work and all the uploading/blog upkeep.  Kate is the real mastermind behind the photographs.  Anyway, tonight we wanted to put something together fast after a day in lab so we could run over to the Tremont Farmers Market.  Tonight there were a ton of local artists as well as the usual great bunch of booths.  We met up with some good friends, and sat out on the blanket enjoying this summery dish.  Of course had to go to Tremont Scoops for a little something afterward, and as we ate our turtle sunday taking in the shimmering glow of the evening sun, we could help but think how this time of year is truly wonderful.  Well, enjoy this fresh, clean, bowl of goodness!

Giant Bowl of Goodness
**I got tired of having the word salad in my recipes and this description seemed pretty appropriate. If you cant find some of these specialty ingredients, substitute cilantro and parsley.







Cabbage, I had koboku and as they say, necessity is the mother of invention (Source: FFM)
Mint (Source: Minh Anh Vietnamese Market)
Rau Rum (Source: Minh Anh Market)
Cilantro (Source: Fire escape garden)
Green Onions (Source: Fire escape garden)
Optional: Shredded chicken breast, Mango slices

Dressing:
Wasabi Paste (Source: Tink Holl Market)
Sesame oil- only use a few drops as this can be a pretty dominant flavor (Source: Tink Holl Market)
Rice wine vinegar
Lite soy sauce

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Chop greens and herbs. Toss with shredded chicken, sliced mango and greens. S&P to taste. Serve with crusty bread and butter.

Listening (courtesy of the DJ)
Artist(s): Lady Sovereign, The Rolling Stones, Phoenix,

The difficulty with photographing food is that the food often tastes better than it looks. At least that's true at our house, anyway. Sometimes I think I've created an epic failure in the kitchen because it just doesn't look like the picture and in fact, kind of looks like a mess. This has especially been true in our kitchen as of late which I am sure you probably have noticed. Salads start to all look the same and lack the pizazz they have on your tastebuds. I even made a dish last week that looked so horrible I'm embarrassed to post it. But being a home chef means things arent always glamorous even when you are working with top notch ingredients. I have already waxed poetic about my love for greens in what I consider unusual preparations. I was so pumped this week to work with some of my favorite greens- kale, cabbage, collards and mustard greens. I made a very unique but delicious Thanksgiving stuffing with red mustard greens this past year that wasn't too well received by my very traditional in-laws. But I was excited to try some green mustard greens. The best part of Google reader is that I can search all my favorite blogs for "mustard greens" and every possible recipe pops up from people whose food I actually like. (I kind of feel like a commercial for Bing right now). I got lots of ideas and even though we are going through quite the heat wave recently I couldn't resist turning my oven on to bake it. I wasn't disappointed and boy was it worth it to heat the house up a bit. That's what fans and good food are for! 

Mustard Green Tart













**I found a recipe for this savory tart with Turnip greens and figured mustard greens would be a great substitution. Thanks to 101cookbooks.com for this recipe. I have made some changes based on what I had to work with plus I never seem to be able to leave a recipe well enough alone! You can substitute a homemade or store bought (if you have worked late, are lazy, or just plain bad at making pie/tart crusts like me) pie crust for the cornmeal tart shell if you are pressed for time. This recipe is extremely easy so don't let the laundry list of ingredients and instructions fool you.

Cornmeal Tart Shell
2 1/4 C AP flour
1 C spelt flour
scant 1 cup medium coarse corn meal
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 C unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk
1/4 C cold water


Mustard Green Filling
1/4 lb mustard greens destemmed (*I used my entire bunch of mustard greens because I was using an 11" tart shell and because I didn't want to waste any greens, probably about 1 lb)
1 head of green garlic, finely chopped (no easy feat, use your food processor for sure) (Source: FFM)
2-3 green onions, diced (Source: FFM)
2 large eggs + 1 yolk (I ended up using about 4 eggs and 1 egg yolk because I had so many greens and a large tart pan plus I didnt have any heavy cream and I wanted to make sure it wouldn't end up too watery) (Source: FFM)
3/4-1 C vegetable broth (Source: homemade chicken broth using the bones from our chicken from last week)
1/4-1/2 C heavy cream (or, you can use 2% milk plus a few TBL of butter like I did- the butter from FFM is so good I could eat it on a spoon)
S&P
2-3 TSP dijon mustard
bunch parsley (Source: Fire escape garden)
Gruyere or Swiss Harvarti (Source: FFM, Mayfield Road Creamery)


Tart Dough
Combine flours, cornmeal and salt in food processor. Pulse in butter until pebble like mixture forms. Add egg yolk and 1/4 C water. Pulse and add more water if needed to make a ball. Divide dough into two pieces and chill for about an hour before rolling/pressing one disc into your tart pan. Freeze the other half for another day. Chill tart for about 30 minutes and partially bake with pie weights for about 25 min. Let cool while you prepare the filling.

***I did not have the time or trust that I could actually make a tart crust. So I bought a pastry crust and just pressed it into my 11" tart pan. I got the pan at one of my Bridal Showers 3 years ago and I haven't gotten a chance to use it until now and by was I excited. I could've used a regular pie pan as well if I wanted. I did not prebake my crust either. Just refrigerated it after I pressed it into the pan while I made my filling.

Chop greens and green garlic finely. Whisk eggs and cream and dijon mustard with the broth in a large bowl. S&P. Add greens, green garlic and parsley. S&P. Sprinkle some of the grated cheese on the bottom of the tart crust and pour the filling into the crust. Bake for about 30 minutes until the center is set. For the last 5 minutes of baking I sprinkled the rest of the cheese on top. Then I let it set on the counter about 5 or so minutes before I took it out of the pan and served it so that it could set up a little more.