Mariquita Farms Mystery Box!

I just picked up my first Mystery Box--$25 for all this, which I slung over my shoulder and lugged home from Incanto, a few blocks down the street from home... thank you, Julia and Andy! What should I make for dinner?? Feeling like a giant, herbed-vinaigrette salad with roasted garlic bread crumbs, but pasta with wilted chicory could do the trick, too...

Galician Roulette

Last week, the Crush team played; this week, I felt a bit masochistic and so played by myself, alongside nearly unbearable green curry leftovers. The padróns were no problem... the curry, yes.

To double your money on take-out Thai curry, simply don't drink the extra cup of wildly spicy green curry sauce that comes with your order. Eat your veggies, and your chicken if you like, but leave a good amount of sauce--only crazy, agita-adoring people don't have loads of this leftover from a standard order.

Buy an avocado squash at the greenmarket, along with a small Japanese eggplant, some purple Thai basil, and a few multi-colored carrots.

Quickly wok-fry the vegetables with leftover white meat from last week's fried chicken, then plunge into green curry sauce and pour over white rice.

Two carrots, one squash and one eggplant also yielded enough for lunch tomorrow--and there's still plenty of curry sauce to go. Triple your money, then! And I still have seven padróns left... thrilling.

Ramps-'n-a-Biscuit

I got ramps galore, and I been cravin' me some biscuits. Solution: RAMP BISCUITS. Because, why not?

The base recipe is courtesy of Ms. Paula Deen, and then I just chopped up a bunch of ramps and sauteed them up in some butter before incorporating them into the dough. A clever little dusting of crushed coriander seeds was a nice idea from the folks at Bon Appetit.

I also made a lovely, simple and spicy carrot ginger soup garnished with some ramp greens.

 

Then I wanted dessert, so I pulled out my fig jam and planned to consume it slathered on another biscuit, because, again, why not? That seemed like a good idea until...

If Josie or Martha sees that I ate this, they might get mad...

but the good part tasted so good. Thriftiness requires a sense of adventure, I say.

Scurry Lunch

After the scrumptious stir-fry on Sunday night, I had to get rid of the defrosted lobster stock I had in the fridge. Lobster stock = too precious to let go. So I scrounged around the fridge to see what other pretty little goodies were screaming to be consumed quickly, and I found carrots, two little Jerusalem artichokes, a heap of scallions and a lonely stalk of celery. Good enough for RICE! Boy would Dad be proud.

Instead, I transformed plain Jane rice into a quite nice little lobster risotto that became my scurried lunch in a hurry the next day in between giant piles of work. Gosh, risotto is the easiest thing in the world and so, so satisfying.

Comfort Food, Midwestern Style: Redux

2/16/10

The Creation:

Byerly's Wild Rice Soup

So, what's in the fridge (items listed newest/most recent additions to oldest):

ham steak
eggplant
mushrooms
fresh Mozzarella
1 slice guanciale
small hunk of Stilton
1/2 white onion
1/3 red onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
Sugo (Mama's homemade, pork-based tomato sauce)
chicken stock
rabbit stock
3 stalks celery
frozen peas

Key ingredients consumed:
ham steak

celery

white onion

chicken stock

rabbit stock

Ingredients purchased:
carrots

wild rice

The creative process:
It's been snowing and sleeting for I think 24 hours straight. I needed a meal that consoled me, so I looked back to the Minnesota childhood and dug up an old favorite: Byerly's Wild Rice Soup. Let's just say there's a reason this is ultimate Midwestern comfort food, and it has to do with a stick of butter and a cup of heavy cream. The dash of sherry doesn't hurt, either.

The verdict:
I took it easy on the butter and subbed milk for cream, plus tossed in some celery (it had to go), and the results were fantabulous still. But now I have a crap-ton of leftover, cooked wild rice that I need to figure out what to do with...