More Summer Fixin’s!

 

Grab a cookbook and go!

Good Ole’ Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (can’t find the publication date but I bought it in 2003) by my side! Tonight I served Red Long Chinese Beans with Sherry Cream Sauce, Italian Yellow Squash-Tomato Skillet, and Fried Okra.

First I washed the beans, cut them in bite sized pieces, boiled them, and set them aside.

Then I made the sherry cream sauce.

And mixed them together. (They turned a dark, almost black color.)

The okra came from the farm in all sizes – and I’ve never seen red okra before! I washed it, cut off the stems and cut them into bite sized pieces. Some were slimy some were not. They were definitely still as fresh as when I got them! The recipe called for flour and corn meal but I had a Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix box and used that instead. (It turned out so sweet because of this mix!) And the recipe was for “Cajun Fried Okra” but I didn’t want the ‘Cajun’ so I just used Adobo All Purpose Seasoning Salt instead.

I heated up some shortening in a skillet while I tossed half the okra in an egg/milk mixture then tossed it in a bag with the corn bread mix and seasoning salt. As you can see it cooked up very nicely! (Mmmmmmm, I can almost smell it!)

I forgot to take a picture of the beautiful yellow squash before slicing them and tossing them with tomatoes, onions, and some fresh basil from Farmer Z! When I sat down to eat, each vegetable was still crisp tender and not overcooked. Perfect!

Not exactly meal partners but it sure was satisfying!

Related articles

• Okra from the East and West (williams-sonoma.com)
• Southern Fried Okra (wherefloursbloom.com)

 

Kale Quiche

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adapted from Spinach Quiche recipe from Allrecipes.com 

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (I used 3 tbsp.)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (I used fresh kale instead of spinach)
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can mushrooms, drained
• 1 (6 ounce) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled (I had plain feta and added oregano, basil, and rosemary)
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
• 4 eggs, beaten (I used cuckoo maran and araucana eggs from Farmer Z)
• 1 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). (I baked the crust for 5-7 minutes before I put anything in it.)
2. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in spinach (kale), mushrooms, feta and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into pie crust.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into the pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle top with remaining Cheddar cheese, and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center. Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

The second time I made it I used gorgonzola instead of feta, mozzarella instead of cheddar cheese, and capers instead of mushrooms. The flavors in both variations were DIVINE!

 

Related articles

• Vegan Quiche with Kale (spicesandspackle.com)
• Kale Queso (veggiesfromthefarm.wordpress.com)
• Things I’m Baking: Spinach & Three Cheese Quiche (catomt.wordpress.com)
• Recipe for Baby Kale, Mozzarella, and Egg Bake (and Ten More Ideas for Starting Your Day with Kale!) (kalynskitchen.com)
• I’ll Have What She’s Having (ginagennari.wordpress.com)

Add-Ins

I started the process to make green puree from Sneaky Chef but got interrupted. How surprising! 😉 The greens I was using were a mixture of turnip (fast and slow cook) and mustard. I washed, tore the leaves off, and boiled and drained them, then stored them in the refrigerator so I could get to the other vegetables later.

Those greens stared at me for a few days every time I opened the fridge. So one morning, I put some in my scrambled eggs. The next night, I added some to a fettuccine alfredo with chicken dish. I realized the possibilities were endless! The best thing about it was they were already prepared. Though I love the time washing, tearing, chopping, and preparing the produce, I can’t spend all day in the kitchen! (Though this experience has made the kitchen a pleasant place for me!)

Well, I have a new batch of greens from my box now so I can continue the green puree…sometime.

To be continued…

mustard greens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

turnip top, turnip greens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

• Brown Butter and Maple Glazed Turnips (veggiesfromthefarm.wordpress.com)
• Southern Greens and Turnip Custard (veggiesfromthefarm.wordpress.com)