Good Stuff

I guess I will start by sharing a new zucchini recipe I tried this week, it was wonderful and a nice deviation from the normal 'zucchini bread' fare. The recipe is for a savory zucchini-basil muffins, I made mini's and they disappeared very quickly. The recipe can be found here at Synergy Farms, they did a three zucchini bread recipe taste test, and this was the favorite, give it a try!

Next in line, today's CSA share. I am happy with the contents this week, but once again the condition of the produce was not good. Today's 1/2 share included the following:

• 2 pieces summer squash
• 2 cukes
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 apples
• 3 ears corn
• 1 lb. potatoes
• 1/2 lb. onions
• kale

The cold nights and mediocre days are doing a number on the garden.....the vegetables have not increased in size at all this week, and that is a bit worrisome. I have so many peppers and eggplants out on the vine, I would hate to lose them all to cold temps. Luckily a few things are still producing and don't seem to mind the evening's temperatures, here they are pictured below:

Herb Butters

(Note- For some reason Blogger is not editing correctly, I am unable to change/control paragraph spacing. My apologies!) Herb butters are a great way to put those left-over herbs to use. This past week I did two batches, one with basil and the other with parsley. The butters can add fresh flavor to pasta, vegetables, meats, or bread. Here are the recipes:

GARLIC BASIL BUTTER

1/2 C chopped, fresh basil; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1/4 lb. butter, softened; salt and pepper to taste.

Beat ingredients together in a small bowl, wrap into a cylinder and chill. Makes about one half cup. Recipe courtesy of The Complete Book of Sauces.

GARLIC & PARSLEY BUTTER

1-1/2 bunches parsley, stems removed
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 pound butter, diced into small cubes, cold

Place the parsley, garlic, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal chopping blade and pulse until evenly minced and well blended.
Add the cubed butter to the parsley-garlic mixture. Process, scraping down the sides as needed, until the butter is softened and mixture is well blended. The butter should be light green in color.
The butter may be placed into a ramekin, or shaped into a log and rolled in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready for use. Makes 2 cups. The butter can be held for at least a week in the refrigerator, or frozen for several weeks. recipe courtesy of the CIA.

I used some of the parsley butter to make mashed potatoes with Yukon Golds from the garden. The kids wouldn't eat them because of the green, but that just left more for us adults! I put the butters into freezer bags and press them flat. Then all I need to do is pull a bag from the freezer and break off what ever amount I need for my recipe.

Pistou Basil

Recently my Pistou Basil arrived from The Cook's Garden. It is an attractive plant to add to the garden and it tastes wonderful. The fragrance and taste are more mild than a traditional basil. It's leaves which more closely resemble thyme than basil in size have been wonderful sprinkled over a mixed green salad with a bit of crumbled feta, raisins, and my favorite Brianna's Blush Wine Viniegrette dressing.

Pistou is a french version of pesto:

Pistou From Wikipedia

Pistou sauce, or just pistou, is a cold sauce made from cloves of garlic, fresh basil, and olive oil. Some more modern versions of the recipe include grated parmesan, pecorino or similar hard cheeses. Traditionally, the ingredients are crushed and mixed together in a mortar with a pestle, (pistou means pounded in the Provençal language). It is often confused with pesto with which it shares some of the same ingredients, the key difference being absence of pinoli (pine nuts), from pistou. It is a typical condiment from the Provence region of France that can be served with pasta dishes or as a spread for bread. But it is most often associated with the Provencal dish Soupe au Pistou, a minestrone like summer soup that includes white beans, green beans, tomatoes, summer squash, potatoes, and vermicelli. These ingredients can be left out or replaced as long as the soup's golden rule about summer vegetables is followed. Thus Pistou soup is not made with, for example, leeks. Some recipes incorporate the pistou into the soup just before serving. Others recommend offering the sauce at the table to be added after the soup is served.
Both pistou and pesto probably share the same origins. The Roman poet Virgil describes a sauce of crushed herbs, garlic, salt, and olive oil. A version with pinoli emerged around Genoa to become pesto, while pistou evolved in the areas around Nice.

Next year I will be sure to order a packet of seeds, this herb is already a favorite in my house!

Recipe: SOUPE AU PISTOU http://www.soupsong.com/rpistou.html