Eat Local Wednesday! Our CSA

I'm super excited about our CSA portion this week.  It's the first week when we don't have mostly greens and instead we have some of my favorite things:

Squash ~ Cucumber ~ Green Beans ~ Carrots ~ Blueberries ~ Green Onions ~ Snap Peas ~ Potatoes 

We are headed to the lake this weekend so we will probably take most of this down there to cook and enjoy with friends!  Except for the blueberries, they will be gone by morning!! ;)

And a preview of tomorrow's post - Squash & Zucchini Pie

Sweet Potato Casserole

I started making this dish back in high school and I love it.  I have no idea where I originally found the recipe as I have it written on a scrap of paper in my recipe binder.  I should probably transfer the recipe to something that will last.  I love sweet potatoes but not with marshmallows.  This one is wonderful and has a nice crunchy top.  I took it to 2 Thanksgiving meals this year and it was well received all around.  Even better I had sweet potatoes left from my last CSA portion earlier in November.

 

  Ingredients   3 cups of mashed sweet potatoes (usually about 4 large potatoes) 1/4 C brown sugar 1/4 C granulated sugar 2 T butter 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp cinnamon 1 5 oz can evaporated milk   Topping 1/2 stick butter, melted 1/2 C chopped pecans 1 C crushed corn flakes 3/4 C brown sugar       Peel & boil sweet potatoes until very tender.   Then mash. Add all ingredients through evaporated milk to sweet potatoes and mix well together. In a separate bowl, mix all ingredients for topping together. Spread sweet potato mixture into casserole dish - I usually use a 9x5 dish Top with topping mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
 This is my absolute favorite Thanksgiving side.  I like it so much I make it at Easter too!  Enjoy it!

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

I made loaded mashed potatoes for Eric Saturday.  When he told me what he wanted to eat after his surgery, mashed potatoes and yogurt were his two requests.  These potatoes are definitely good but they could also be called the most fattening potatoes on earth.  

Ingredients
5 lbs potatoes
3/4 C sour cream
3/4 C heavy cream
1/2 stick butter
Salt & pepper
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 lb bacon, cooked & crumbled
1.5 C shredded cheddar cheese

Wash & peel 5 lbs potatoes.

Boil potatoes until they puncture easily with a fork.

Mash potatoes.

Mash in sour cream, heavy cream, and butter.

Add salt & pepper to taste.

Stir in scallions, bacon, and cheddar.

Mix well and serve warm. 

 

Sunday Dinner - Roasted Chicken Legs, Sauteed Cabbage & Apples, & Crash Hot Potatoes

This entire dinner was worked around using the cabbage from our CSA portion this week.  I bought new potatoes the other day at the store so I figured I would incorporate them as well, so we just needed a main dish.  Then, last night I was watching the Pioneer Woman's Food Network Show (you might say I like her just a little bit) and she made Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs which looked really good.  So this morning when Eric asked what I wanted for dinner, I already knew exactly what we were going to have.  I will link to the original recipes and share what I did/didn't do.

The Main Course - The Pioneer Woman's Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs

If you go to her site you will see that I am going to make them differently.  I don't have hot salt and had never heard of it (although now I think I just might need it).   But I do, have all the other ingredients she alluded to using  - salt, pepper, garlic, and red pepper.  The alternate way was actually how she made it on yesterday's show.  Although as I mentioned in Friday's post, she is often cooking for a crowd - this week she was making 48 chicken legs and we definitely don't need that many so I cut the recipe way down and changed the proportions slightly.  As a side note, we did not think these were the slightest bit spicy.

Ingredients

Chicken legs

1 stick butter

Juice of 1 lemon

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp cayenne pepper

S&P

Melt butter in saucepan.

Add juice of one lemon.

Add minced garlic and remaining ingredients and whisk together.

Coat each chicken leg in mixture and place on foil coated baking sheet.

Brush each chicken leg with additional sauce.

At this point I lightly sprinkled them with cayenne pepper.
Bake on 450 degrees for 30 minutes.  I then broiled the chicken for a couple minutes to brown up the skin.

Cabbage Side - Farmer Boy's Cabbage & Apples

Our CSA shared this recipe with us.  It comes from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Book, Farmer Boy.

Ingredients

1 small head of cabbage, chopped

2 onions, sliced

2 apples, chopped 

Butter

S&P

In a cast iron pot, saute onions in butter until translucent.

Add cabbage & apples.  Cook until soft.

Add salt & pepper to taste.

Potato Side - Crash Hot Potatoes

I originally saw this dish on Pinterest and included the link above.  I do have to say when searching for them online, I also found them on the Pioneer Woman's website.

Ingredients

12 new potatoes

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Herb of your choice - I used parsley because it's in my garden.  The original recipe uses rosemary.

Boil potatoes.

Drizzle baking sheet with olive oil to keep potatoes from sticking.

Place boiled potatoes on baking sheet, spaced evenly.

Use potato masher to lightly smash them.  Rotate masher and smash 2nd time.

Drizzle with olive oil again.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake on 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

And it's off to work for me.  I hope you enjoy trying one or more of these recipes.