Kitchen Gadget Girl Cooks

My trip this Sunday to the Farmer’s Market was awesome! Spring has definitely sprung and the variety was overwhelming. Every available stall was filled with a farmer, and I enjoyed just walking through and visiting with some of my favorites. Here is what I found:

From Coke Farm, organic broccoli rabe and celery root. Organic kiwi from Four Sisters Farm. Organic asparagus from Bounty of the Valley Farms in Salinas. And organic greens from Heirloom Organics. I also found some wonderful baby artichokes, which I hope to put to good use this week later this week, along with everything else. This is my menu plan for the week of Monday, March 8:

Sunday: Potato and green chili stew with lamb, Rancho Gordo Rio Zape beans, homemade tortillas

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Pasta with Asparagus Pesto, Lamb Mint meatballs

Wednesday: Greens with Cannellini Beans and Garlic, Celery Root Salad, roasted Salmon

Thursday: Leftovers, sautéed brocolli rabe

Friday: Dinner out to celebrate basketball end-of-season party

Saturday: Roast chicken with artichokes and caramelized lemon

What is on your menu plan this week? Any great ideas to share?

Hard to tell what the weather is going to be like this week, so I cannot tell if I am going to want comforting soups and stews, or grilled and fresh spring items. Oh well, how about a mix of both with Pancake Night thrown in for good measure. Here is my menu plan for the week of Monday, March 1:

Monday: Grilled pork chops, baked acorn and Delicata squash, steamed green veggie

Tuesday: Curry in a Hurry (from Pressure Perfect), brown rice, green veggie

Wednesday: Pancake Night

Thursday: Fish (whatever is fresh and local), bulgar and orzo pilaf, green veggie

Friday: Takeout and Movie Night

Pretty plain-jane this week. What is on your menu plan?

This weekend’s Farmer’s Market was fabulous! At my favorite greens stand, I picked up a bag of baby beet greens and a pound of purple potatoes. At another organic stall, I found some fresh asparagus. And just next to that, baby artichokes from Castroville, the home of Artichokes!

Here is my menu plan for the week of February 22nd:

Monday: Roasted chicken with roasted potatoes, steamed asparagus

Tuesday: Out to dinner after bball practice

Wednesday: White Bean Soup – I am still searching for a slow cooker recipe, any suggestions?

Thursday: Grilled lamb chops, Shaved-Artichoke and Parsley salad (I am going to leave out the serrano ham), bread

Friday: Something braised, I have just not figured out what yet. Might be short ribs, might be beef shanks. Stay tuned.

What is on your menu plan this week?

Have you ever wondered where your food comes from? Ever curious about how your vegetables are grown, the path your fruit takes to arrive at your table? Well, if you subscribe to a Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, you will never wonder again.

Since 2005, we have subscribed to a vegetable delivery service which provides locally grown, seasonal, organic vegetables, once a week. The box is always interesting, full of variety, and provides ample opportunity for experimenting.

For the last four years, we have subscribed to Two Small Farms vegetable box. And late in 2009, we added a subscription to Frog Hollow Farms for our locally grown and organic fruit. Let me tell you a little about both:

Two Small Farms is really two small farms – Mariquita Farms in Hollister, California, and High Ground Organics in Watsonville, California. Their CSA program runs from March through November, and you can sign up for 4 weeks, 9 weeks, or a full season. We go ahead and commit to the entire season, because of the price break, and when we find ourselves out of town or unable to take our box, we offer it to a friend or neighbor. My favorite part about Two Small Farms is the variety and quality of the produce. Each week they pack several things I am familiar with, and at least one or two items I would never have purchased if left to my own devices. This causes me to rethink my cooking and try new recipes, which is a great way to experience local and seasonal food.

Frog Hollow Farms in Brentwood, California, is mainly focused on stone fruits, including peaches, plums and cherries. But, they have a year-round CSA program and during the off-months, they pack their box with oranges, avocados, pomegranates and kitchen goodies to keep us happy. We started subscribing to them right in the middle of plum season, and have moved nicely through the winter with pears, apples and many varieties of citrus. Last week, our box had very juicy blood oranges and navel oranges, as well as kiwis and end-of-season apples. All organic, all very tasty.

Spring is a great time to think about joining a CSA. I highly recommend Two Small Farms and Frog Hollow Farms, but if you live outside the San Francisco Bay Area, you can check out Local Harvest for CSA, Farmer’s Markets and Co-ops in your area.

More rain is scheduled for this week, and with that, I definitely feel like comfort food. Yesterday, a few of us were chatting about our favorite way to cook vegetables, and roasting was by far the preferred method. Everything from brussel sprouts to sweet potatoes taste better when roasted with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. I mean, really, fat and salt, what could be better than that!

From my last trip to the Farmer’s Market, I discovered I still have a couple acorn squashes, a bag of mixed root vegetables ad carrots, and orach. Using those items, here is my menu plan for the week of Monday, February 8:

Monday: Roasted chicken with mixed root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, turnips, rutabagas), sautéed orach

Tuesday: Dinner out after basketball, while I get to go eat dinner for Check Please! Bay Area!

Wednesday: Pizza for the kids

Thursday: Baked salmon, sautéd orach, roasted Delicata squash rings, steamed rice

Friday: Healthy Mac and Cheese (with acorn squash), salad

Saturday (we will be celebrating Valentine’s early): Sweet and spicy Asian pork shoulder, steamed rice, bok choy

What is on your menu plan this week? Any special Valentine’s Day plans?

Again, this week, I pulled my menu plan together Saturday night, so I could take advantage of the Farmer’s Market on Sunday morning. After a quick perusal of the Sunday newspaper, I jumped out of bed and swooped through the market to pick up key ingredients.

One of the stands I like offers a whole row of greens, braising and salad, and I picked up a big bag of Orach. I like to cook Orach with egg whites for a quick mid-week lunchtime scramble. They also have bins of root vegetables, including Watermelon Radishes, Rutabagas, Turnips (many kinds) and Potatoes. I stocked up on a bag of these.

From another vendor, I chose Jerusalem Artichokes and pointy Cauliflower (although I am sure that is not what it is called). Another stand had the acorn squash I wanted, and I found carrots and celery at two more places. The celery looks so good, I should probably make a soup with it!

Here is my menu plan for Monday, February 1:

Sunday: Pork Tenderloin with polenta, chard and roasted Delicata squash rings

Monday: Dinner out after basketball game

Tuesday: Moroccan Vegetable Stew (original calls for eggplant and zucchini, both out of season, so I am subbing turnips, Jerusalem artichokes and rutabagas), couscous

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Dinner out with a friend

Friday: White Wine Coq au Vin (along with our Friday movie)

What is on your menu plan this week? Notice, I pulled out my slow cooker this week for Tuesday night’s dinner. Sunset.com has a nice collection of easy slow cooker dinner. For additional ideas, heck out Org Junkie….

Saturday morning I was so excited by all the new recipes I wanted to try that I went ahead and made my menu plan starting this weekend. I plan to cook 5 days this week, with one day for leftovers and another for takeout (got to love Friday Movie Night). Here is my menu plan for the week of January 25th:

Saturday: Chicken Fingers (from Looney Spoons by Janet & Greta Podleski), carrots and rice

Sunday: Marrakech-style Veal Tangia with Preserved Lemons (from Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking by Paula Wolfert), couscous, salad, Lemon Mousse (from Back to Basics by Ina Garten)

Monday: Spicy Moroccan Stewed Fish with Couscous (from Jamie’s Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver, reprinted in Jan/Feb 2010 Cooking Light)

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Turkey Meatballs (also from Looney Spoons by Janet & Greta Podleski), pasta, tomato sauce

Thursday: Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens (I am using the tomatoes I canned last August, as well as Dinosaur Kale)

Friday: Friday Movie Night

What is on your menu plan this week? For more ideas, be sure to check out Org Junkie!

With all the rain, and a holiday week, I need some quick ideas for dinner. I threw this menu together this morning, while standing over the latest edition of Cooking Light, with my iPhone right next to me. Easier to make my shopping list that way!

Here is my Menu Plan for the week of January 19th:

Tuesday: Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Butternut Squash, chard

Wednesday: Vegetarian Chili (from Frog Commissary Cookbook), cornbread, salad

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: TGIF – Take out and movie night

And even though she has no idea what my blog looks like, I want to wish my Auntie Marie Happy 95th Birthday!

If I didn’t know Stephanie, I would miss out on so many local good food options. She only moved down here last year, but has already managed to locate my favorite lunch spot, Tootsie’s, and now has turned me onto Philz Coffee. Originally only in San Francisco, Philz recently opened a spot on Middlefield in Palo Alto, and Philz is my last and final suggestion for 12 Days of Local Christmas.

Started in San Francisco in 2003, Philz is a labor of love for Phil Jaber and his son Jacob. They focus on coffee blends, and they offer these coffees through drip stations, a method of coffee service catching on more and more in the Bay Area. I drink decaf, and usually when I want a cup of drip coffee, I am stuck with the one variety of decaf available that day. Not so at Philz, where each cup of drip coffee is prepared to order!

When ordering coffee beans, you need to know how you like your coffee – light, medium or dark roast. Within those categories, there are more choices to make. We are trying Jacob’s Wonderbar Brew, which has lovely undertones of chocolate and nuts.

Through the end of this month (December 2009), 1 pound of Tesora (House Blend) is on sale for $10. That would make a mighty nice stocking stuffer. Or a New Year’s gift to start the new year off with a buzz!

I hope you have enjoyed these 12 local food suggestions – I know I have enjoyed sampling and putting them together. Merry Christmas!

At first, I thought it would be silly to include beans and rice in my 12 Days of Local Christmas series, but then two things happened. My sister gifted me a gorgeous clay pot cooker from Bram, and I decided that come the New Year, I am going to eat a little healthier. Beans and rice seemed to be a good solution for both!

I wrote about finding these two companies at the San Francisco Ferry Building last month. The selection available at the Rancho Gordo stall at the Ferry Building changes periodically, but their website always has a complete selection. You can also buy their beans in San Francisco at the Rainbow Grocery and Bi-Rite Market. A great addition to a bag or two of beans would be the Heirloom Beans Cookbook from Rancho Gordo, with recipes and tips for cooking beans at home. And, even if you don’t stuff a stocking with Rancho Gordo beans, remember to pick some up for your New Year’s Eve celebrations. Cassoulet, anyone?

And Massa Organics Brown Rice is a great accompaniment to the beans for a high-protein dish. It would be great if I could figure out a way to cook the beans and rice together in my new Bram clay pot! Massa Organics is offering nice gift baskets this time of year, with rice, almond butter and roasted almonds. Quite a treat! In addition to their website and the Ferry Building, Massa Organics products can be found at Whole Foods in Los Altos.

Photo courtesy of Bram Cookware.