donna's daily dish

Dreyer Farms CSA Week 2

5/30/2023

Last week I was getting through my produce from a shared CSA box. So far I’ve received asparagus, lettuce, radishes, kale, spinach, eggs, golden beets, shiitake mushrooms and rainbow Swiss Chard. For the kale in the box, I found a recipe on Lidia Bastianich’s website, www.lidiasitaly.com for Barley, Kale and Butternut Squash Risotto. The spinach was used in a recipe from the website www.modernproper.com for Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Spinach, Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. For the radishes and the arugula, I prepared White Beans with Radishes, Miso and Greens, a recipe by Colu Henry via The New York Times and their column, “Five Dishes to Cook This Week.”

Although risotto can be filling, using pearl barley made for a lighter tasting risotto. For the recipe you’ll need kosher salt, fresh bay leaves, pearled barley, chicken stock, extra-virgin olive oil, a carrot, two stalks of celery, dry white wine, one bunch of kale, butternut squash, butter and Grana Padano cheese.

birthday celebration

5/9/2023

Last week we celebrated our daughter-in-law’s birthday at our house with dinner. In the May 2023 issue of “Southern Living Magazine” there was a recipe for Sweet & Smoky Grilled Pork Tenderloin. For the recipe you’ll need brown sugar, kosher salt, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, ground mustard, pork tenderloins and canola. I was happy to see another recipe using smoked paprika, which I purchased for other recipes I’ve made.

The pork has a dry rub made with brown sugar, salt, smoked paprika, onion and garlic powders and ground mustard. You must plan ahead as the pork has to sit refrigerated uncovered for 8 to 12 hours. When ready to cook, the pork is brought to room temperature by removing it 30 minutes ahead of cooking. The pork is grilled until the internal temperature reaches 140°. When done, remove from the grill, cover and let it rest for 15 minutes. The temperature will rise another 5 to 10 degrees.

what happened to spring?

5/3/2023

I saw a funny meme on Facebook recently. “I just realized why this month is called May. It may rain, it may snow, it may be 70 degrees or it may be 20 degrees. However, we seem to have turned the corner and the weather is becoming more enjoyable.

If you’re like me you like to have an extensive collection of various preparations for poultry and beef. My husband has been in a stir fry mood, which brings me to my first recipe. It’s from the website “Dinner at the Zoo.” This website specializes in easy dinner recipes that appeal to kids; aren’t we all kids at heart? The recipe, Honey Garlic Chicken Stir Fry was a quick meal to prepare. For the recipe you’ll need vegetable oil, carrots, broccoli florets, boneless skinless chicken breasts, fresh garlic, chicken broth/stock or water, soy sauce, honey, cornstarch, salt and pepper.

tempting flavors

12/28/2022

The year ended on a flavorful note. A neighbor shared some Ruby Red grapefruits he received as a gift. While you can eat the grapefruits as is, my husband found an interesting recipe in the December 2022/January 2023 issue of “Garden and Gun Magazine” for Easy Winter Grapefruit Salad. It’s from Chef Aaron Bludorn of Houston, Texas of the restaurant Bludorn. For the recipe you’ll need one fennel bulb, sea salt, olive oil, one lemon, 2 grapefruits, capers, oil-cured black olives, fresh parsley, mint leaves, fennel pollen and bottarga.

Unfortunately, I was unable to located the fennel pollen or bottarga. The recipe suggested substituting ground fennel seed in place. I also left the mint out as a taste preference. Overall, the salad was quite easy to prepare. The grapefruit needs to be peeled and segmented. I recommend a sharp knife for this task.

new turn on chicken

6/22/2022

A few months ago, I was watching the Food Network and Guy Fieri was in Hawaii reporting on the preparation of Huli Huli Chicken. Huli Huli is barbecue chicken that’s slathered with sauce whose main components are ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar and an acid (rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar or pineapple juice). It sounded interesting, but it wasn’t until The New York Times featured it in their “Here to Help” column that it grabbed my attention. The original recipe is by Alana Kysar, a food blogger who wrote a book called, “Aloha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawaíí,” and adapted by Margaux Lasky.

not your parents' cheeseburger

6/18/2022

One day in the New York Times newspaper, they featured a recipe by Kay Chun for Korean Cheeseburger with Sesame-Cucumber Pickles. This simple, yet delicious recipe was packed with tons of flavor.

For the recipe you’ll need distilled white vinegar, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, turbinado sugar, Persian cucumbers, low-sodium soy sauce, scallions, fresh garlic, mayonnaise, roasted sesame seed oil, ground beef (preferably chuck or sirloin), American cheese, hamburger buns, butter lettuce, sliced onions and sliced tomatoes.

Sunday round up

5/29/2022

Spring is here and my herb garden has expanded. My husband went a bit overboard and selected some varieties I wouldn’t have thought of. Besides the stalwarts of basil, parsley, oregano and rosemary, chives and sage, which were saved in the cold frame over winter, I now have dill (for homemade refrigerator pickles), chamomile (for making tea) and lemon-flavored varieties such as lemongrass, lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon thyme plus flat and curly leaf parsley. This should make for a flavorful summer.

About a week ago my local ShopRite had Atlantic cod fish on special. I found a delightful recipe on The New York Times cooking app, Cod Baked with Prosciutto, by Nigella Lawson, using just a handful of ingredients. Besides the cod and prosciutto, you’ll need butter, salt and pepper. After reading the cooking notes of other cooks, I used some fresh thyme from my garden.

roundup

11/19/2021

In our CSA box of week 25 I had yet another new variety of squash, kabocha. Kabocha is also known as Japanese pumpkin and is very versatile as it can be stuffed, pureed or cooked on a stove top. Kabocha taste is a cross between pumpkin and sweet potato.

I found a recipe at NYT Cooking/The New York Times, Simmered Kabocha Squash with Scallions. The recipe is originally from Cynthia Chen McTernan, whose blog is “Two Red Bowls.” Julia Moskin of the Times, adapted the recipe below. The appealing part is it contains just five ingredients, not including kosher salt and pepper. Also, the Cook’s comments were very positive.

For the recipe you’ll need vegetable oil, the kabocha squash, scallions, chicken or vegetable broth, salt, pepper and either Sriracha, soy sauce or both. It takes about 20 minutes from start to finish to prepare this dish.

CSA week 23 & 24, cauliflower

11/12/2021

Peak season for cauliflower is from September through November and n our CSA box for week 23 and 24 we received a head of white cauliflower and the following week, purple. The white cauliflower was transformed into a delicious and velvety cream of cauliflower soup. I was unsure what to do with a purple head, until I read the Cook’s notes for Melissa Clark’s recipe for Lemony Carrot and Cauliflower Soup. The commenter suggested using purple cauliflower.

csa week 24 and 25

11/8/2021

Our CSA is coming to an end and it with comes hardier vegetables and greens that can withstand the cooler nights. My recent items were radishes and arugula. When I was growing up, radishes were added to a nightly salad. Arugula a very popular green in recent years, appears in salads and as a topping on gourmet pizzas. Not wanting to do either of those, I came across two great recipes from The New York Times Cooking app. The first is from David Tanis for Butter-Stewed Radishes and the other from Mark Bittman for Pasta with Gorgonzola and Arugula.