Summer CSA Season Kicks Off

Today was the first day for picking up food from the Centennial CSA program which features fresh produce, eggs, and meat from the Zahradka Farm in Baltimore County. We get a medium share of food which includes 8 different fruit/vegetable items. Todays picks included strawberries, potatoes, asparagus, zucchini, yellow swiss chard, spring onions, spinach, and romaine lettuce. In addition, we get the bread option which features products from the Breadery, the speciality food item which was a jar of fruit spread from Infused Spreads of Baltimore, and a dozen eggs. You can see a picture of the bounty from this week. I also made dinner tonight using some of the asparagus, zucchini, and spinach. Very happy to get great farm fresh ingredients!

Penne with Spring Vegetables, Chicken, and Herbs

1 1/3 cups uncooked penne
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
10 stalks of asparagus. cut into 1 inch pieces
1 zucchini squash, cut into 1 inch strips
1/2 red pepper, cut into 1 inch strips
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1 tablespoon, fresh chopped basil
1/2 tablespoon, fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
salt and pepper

First, cook the penne in boiling salted water for approximately 11 minutes. Drain the pasta once it is done. In your pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and lightly toast the pine nuts and set aside. In the same pan, heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and add the chicken and lightly season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken until it cooked through and set aside. After the veggies have been chopped, add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to the pan and saute the asparagus, zucchini, and red pepper until they are slightly brown. Season the veggies with salt while they are cooking. Slice the chicken breast into thin slices and add it to the veggies. Add spinach and garlic and saute another minute. While still on the stove, stir in the herbs, cooked penne, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. You are now ready to eat!

Grilled Latin Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Corn Salsa

This past weekend, we went to our first summer cookout. This gave me a chance to try out a new recipe with some of the numerous spices from my pantry. I also wanted to use some fresh corn that I found last week at Frank's Produce in Elkridge. In addition to having some great produce, Frank's has several greenhouses of full of healthy, colorful plants at reasonable prices. Check it out if you have not been there. Now, back to the recipe. I decided on a Latin insired pork tenderloin with a corn and tomato salsa. The dish went over very well at the cookout. Hope you enjoy too!


Pork and Spice Rub Ingredients:
1-1.5 pound pork tenderloin
2 teaspoons ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon guajillo chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon corriander
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon canola oil

Corn Salsa Ingredients:
1 small onion
1/3 red bell pepper
1/3 orange bell pepper
3 ears of fresh corn
1 tomato
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Salsa Dressing Ingredients:
1 tablespoon canola oil
juice of 1/2-3/4 of a lime
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon salt

First, prepare the pork. Coat the pork tenderloin with the canola oil. Combine the spices together and then coat the pork all over with the spice rub. Place the pork in a sealed plastic bag and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Next, prepare the salsa. Boil the 3 ears of corn in salted water for about 15 minutes. While the corn in boiling, finely dice the onion, peppers, and tomato and combine in a mixing bowl. Finely chop the cilantro including the stems and set aside. Combine the remaining dressing ingredients. Once the corn is finished cooking, let cool for at least 10 minutes. Cut the corn off the cob and add it to the pepper and onions.

Finally, grill the pork. Heat your grill to a high temperature at first and get a good sear on the outside of the pork on both sides. Turn down the temperature to medium and cook until the meat reaches your desired internal temperature. The pork should reach 160 degrees before serving. Take the pork off the grill and allow to rest at least 5 minutes before cutting. Slice the pork into thin medallions for serving.

When you are ready to serve, combine the dressing, cilantro, and corn mixture together. Use the corn salsa as a base of your serving dish and place the pork medallions on top of the corn. Enjoy!

As a possible variation, you could grill the corn in the husks along with the peppers. This would add a more robust grill flavor to the dish. I had planned to do this when I started. However, I was having problems with my grill starting. So I resorted to cooking the corn on the stove and not roasting the peppers at all. Either way, I think it is a great dish.

Getting Ready for CSA Season

Last year, my wife and I joined the Centennial CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program for the summer and fall. Before then, I did not know anything about CSA programs in the area, and discovered that there were several options available in Howard County. The Centennial CSA program of 2010 was a great experience for us. Each week, we got to select eight different vegetables/fruits from things that were in season. In addition, each week we got a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread and every other week, a meat. It was great to have such a good supply of fresh vegetables in the fridge to use throughout the growing season. We became a little overloaded with eggs. They were fresh and delicious. However, we tend not to eat too many eggs during the week. I really like to support local farmers and to know where my food is grown. I was raised on a farm in Kentucky and know all about the hard work it takes to raise a good quality crop.

Last year's CSA products were provided by Martin Herb Farm. This year, they have switched to another provider, the Zahradka Farm, which is located in Essex, Maryland in Baltimore County. The farm has been managed by four generations of the family and follows organic guidelines for raising its crops. I am looking forward to trying a variety of fruit and veggies, and coming up with new ways to use the products. I plan to share some ideas for recipes throughout the summer and fall. This year, I am hoping for more fresh fruit, tomatoes, and different kinds of beans or peas. I am starting to get hungry just thinking about all the possibilities.

This year's CSA is organized differently than last. There is more flexibility in what you buy and you can specify if you want to buy a small, medium, or large share. The eggs, bread, and meats are available as options and you can get these weekly or biweekly. The CSA runs weekly from the first week of June until Thanksgiving. The pickup location is at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church parking lot on Frederick Road in Ellicott City on Thursdays from 4:00-6:30. Also you will get to pick your selections there on the spot based on what they have for the day. It is still not too late to sign up. If interested, here is a link to the CSA page. Looking forward to June 2 for the first pick-up.

Cooking with Top Chef Carla Hall

Melissa and I spent an evening last week at a cooking demo by Top Chef contestant Carla Hall. This is the third class we have taken from her and each one has been a lot of fun and entertaining. Did I also mention we got to try some great food? During the past season of Top Chef All-Stars, Melissa and I were pulling for Carla and very happy that she made it to the final 5 and won the fan favorite prize. We have a few pictures here from the class, including the dishes that we got to try. Just overlook the fact that my eyes are closed in the picture above, not a great shot.

For the cooking class, we had four courses to try, each accompanied by a wine pairing. The meal included Goat Cheese and Leek tart, Persian Turkey Burgers with flatbread, Roasted Lemon Thyme Chicken, and Chocolate Mousse Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce. Carla made a portion of each of the recipes herself, demonstrating the techniques she used and giving tips for improving your ability to create recipes on your own. We all were given a serving of each dish which was made earlier in her kitchen. I really liked all of the dishes, even the cucumber relish and ailoi that accompanied the turkey sliders. I don't normally like cucumbers, but the flavors worked well together in the dish.

Carla's class was at her cookie making headquarters located in Silver Spring. She has ended her catering service and is now focusing on making and selling cookies, both savory and sweet. We got to sample cookies during the class and bought some to bring home. Yum! You can order some by visiting her web site at Alchemy by Carla Hall.

Carla appears to be a very busy person. Not only has she made several Top Chef appearances, she recently appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Paula Deen's Show. She recently landed a spot on a new daytime talk show about food which premeirs in September. The show will be on ABC (after All My Children ends) and is called The Chew, and will also include Mario Batali and Michael Symon. Her cookbook proposal is also going up for auction among publishers. Looking forward to getting a copy when it is finished.

What to do with Red Peppers

Recently, I was looking at all of the vegetables in the refigerator, trying to see what we had and what we needed to eat. I found a more than ample supply of red bell peppers from a recent trip to Costco. So I started to brainstorm ideas on what to do with them. The result turned out to be a delicious soup.

Roasted Red Pepper and Lentil Soup

2 red peppers

1 onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1.5-2 cups of vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon ras al hanout spice

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1/4 cup of half and half

1 cup of cooked lentils (1/2 cup uncooked lentils)

kosher salt & pepper

First, preheat your grill to get it hot for roasting the red peppers. Cut each red pepper into about 5-6 large pieces, removing seeds. Also quarter the onion and leave the pieces together. Toss peppers and onion in a tablespoon of olive oil. Roast the peppers and onions on the grill. The skins of the red peppers should be blackened. Remove the pepper from the grill and set aside. Move onion to the soup pot on the stove.

While peppers cool, you can begin cooking the lentils. In a nonstick saucepan, bring one and a half cups of water to a boil, adding salt. Rinse the lentils and add them to the water. Cover and reduce heat to a very low temperature. You will let these cook very slowly for about half an hour. However, you might want to check them occasionally to make sure the water hasnt't evaproated. Do not overstir or mash the lentils. Test the lentils to see if they are indeed soft and done.

Remove skins from the red peppers. Add peppers to soup pot with the peppers. You do not need to chop the peppers further. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the minced clove of garlic. Saute in pan for about 3 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, ras al hanout spice, lemon zest, pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the soup for about 40 minutes on low heat.

The next step is to puree the soup. Right before blending, add cilantro to the soup. Pour the soup into a blender in batches. Don't forget to remove the plastic cap at the top of the blender to let heat escape when you blend. You might want to put a towel loosely over the opening so that soup doesn't splash out when you blend. After blend, strain the soup through a mech strainer or food meal. Collect all of the liquid and return soup to the stove. Discard the solids. To the soup, add the half and half, 1 cup of cooked lentils, 1 additional tablespoon of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook soup on low for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Hope you enjoy.

More Top Chef Talk

The Finale

If you don't know who won Top Chef, then you probably aren't a fan. So I won't spoil anything by saying that Richard won. Yeah! That said, I though that both Richard and Mike made some really interesting food. Richard throughout his two seasons showed a range of skills, cooking many different styles of food well. I would have loved to try his fish and meat dishes that he made in the finale. I am a little skeptical of foie gras ice cream, though. Mike seems to have elevated his skill level substantially since the first season. Did he take cooking classes between the taping of the show in September and the finale in January? It was clear from the show that both Mike and Richard did research and preparation for the finale in the Bahamas before they went. It paid off. It didn't seem like Antonia, Tiffany, or Carla prepared in the same way for the finale. So congratulations to Mike and Richard and really the entire cast. They made for a great season.

One thing I really liked about the finale was how they chose their sous chefs. Each of the other competitors had to cook a one-bite dish for Richard and Mike to sample. However, they did not know who made what. Based on their three favorite bites, they picked who would be working with them. It seemed like all six sous chefs did an outstanding job for Richard and Mike. Even Jamie (who was surprisingly picked) got compliments from Mike.

Dislikes
My main dislike for this season were some of the elimination challenges. I felt that some of them were way too insane and didn't showcase the talent that was on the show. I don't mind the quick-fire challenges being a little whacky. However, when you are up for elimination, technicalities and faulty equipment should not send you home. The elimination challenges should be challenging and test the chef's skills at thinking outside the box. I strongly feel that for the challenges toward the second half of the season, the chefs should be given higher quality cooking equipment and should be tested on how well they cook with certain proteins, vegetables, and desserts. In particular, I really hated the challenge where the chefs had to collect items from Target, set up a cooking station, and make a meal all in 3 hours at midnight for a number of Target employees. I don't care how well the chef can pull off a Target shopping trip and put together a half-baked cooking station to cook. I also found the first challenge in the Bahamas at some dive restaurant with deep fryers, microwaves and heat plates to be unacceptable, especially when one of the deep fryers caught on fire. This resulted in the chefs having to start completely over since the sprinkler system ruined their food. I also did not like the tennis-type challenge where everyone did not actually serve their food. Clearly, Jamie should have gone home for her under-cooked chick peas, but since her dish was so bad, the team didn't make her serve her food and so she couldn't be eliminated. Next time, more thought should go into the challenges by the show designers.

Likes
My two favorite challenges were restaurant wars and the one where they had to cook food from relating to their heritage. In these challenges, they were given much more to work with and were able to showcase their talents well. I liked the concept of the pop-up restaurant instead of putting together something more formal in the short amount of time they have.

This season I also really enjoyed watching Carla on the show. I was really rooting for her and happy that she won 3 elimination challenges and 3 trips. However, she really seemed to get tripped up by some of the later challenges and it wasn't meant to be. My wife and I have been to two of her cooking classes in Bethesda. She is very personable and fun and makes really good food. We have added a few of her recipes to some of our favorites that we make from time to time. I also made her African Groundnut Stew that she made on her first elimination challenge win. That recipe can be found here. It was a labor intensive recipe, but very good. We are looking forward to seeing her again on April 19 for another class and hearing her stories about this season. Oh, and congratulations to Carla for winning fan favorite!

Biggest Surprises
Jen went home on the second episode. When I saw the cast, my top four picks were Richard, Angelo, Jen, and Carla. Jen really fell apart on that episode. The other biggest surprise was Dale and how much he had improved. Kudos to him for taking anger management classes.

And now, we can all get ready for Top Chef Masters.

The End of Top Chef All-Stars

The finale of Top Chef All Stars is finally here tonight. It has been an interesting season to watch with several highs and lows. I think it has been fun to watch even though I haven't always enjoyed the types of challenges the contestants have had to endure. Here are my thoughts about the final two: Richard and Mike.

When the season started, I thought that Richard Blais was the one to beat. He was a very strong competitor in the Chicago season. He and the winner from his season, Stephanie, were neck and neck all throughout the competition. For that finale, I figured it was pretty much a toss-up between the two of them. He seemed like one of the strongest chefs from the collection of "All-Stars". On the other hand, Mike Isabella, who competed in the season based in Las Vegas, never appeared to be very strong to me. The Las Vegas season had some really extraordinary talent in the Voltaggio brothers, along with Kevin and Jen. Mike paled in comparison to this foursome. When this season started, I expected Mike to go home in the first half of the contestants. With the finale here, there have been several surprises along the way for both of these contestants.

Richard: Can we say obsessive? He over-analyzes everything he makes and becomes a little nutty under pressure. He uses liquid nitrogen way too much. He thinks too highly of himself. I don't like it that he felt like he lost in Chicago because he messed up and that he gives Stephanie no credit for her own skills. I don't like how dismissive he is to the other chefs on the show. He is a very highly skilled chef, and I would love to try some of his food. He does think outside the box and is able to put together dishes with ingredients he does not normally use and they still seem to taste great. However, he has not been at the top of his game the entire season and he has really gotten on my nerves.

Mike: Mike layed low for most of the first part of the season. He was never the worst, but rarely one of the best. However, he has gotten on a role, winning several challenges late in the season. That said, I just don't find him impressive. I really dislike his personality and honestly cannot believe he is in the finale. He is so rude and arrogant and I can't stand that.

So I will reluctantly cheer for Richard tonight. He deserves to win. Ironically, I was a bigger Richard fan before the All-Stars season than after. We will all know soon who is Top Chef.

In a future post, I will talk more about the rest of the season and the things that made it good and bad.