Week 6 Items: Carrots, fennel, lettuce, green scallions, Swiss chard, radishes, salad mix, small head of radicchio, mizuna, green beans and basil

Week 7 Items: Carrots, beets, lettuce, baby leeks, zucchini and summer squash, cucumbers, Swiss chard, radishes, and basil.

If weeks 1-4 were about greens then weeks 5-7 have been about diversity. The greens are still there and in quantity but accompanying them are carrots, full sized beets (with greens), peas, beans, fennel, scallions and baby leeks. At not quite one-third of the way into the season, the variety is amazing.

To be sure there are enough greens to keep my salad habit satiated. Garlic scapes, which became a spring favorite after I discovered them last year at the Farmers Market, are wonderful sliced in eighth inch rounds, rough chopped (to open up their garlicky aroma) and tossed in a salad along with some freshly torn basil. Dressed with a bit of oil and balsamic vinegar, it is my daily lunch. I miss the garlic scapes the other three seasons of the year!

One green that I just can’t love, however, is Swiss chard. While the crisp leaves and stalks draw my eye, the deep earthy taste is not palatable by me. Raw is about the only way I can take the leaves and even those must be mixed in with other greens. Wilted with pasta or rice is a “non-starter” as the deep dirt aromas turn off my appetite. We’ll see if the two dozen or so leaves with stalks blanched and frozen go better in soups.

Baby leeks make great substitutes for scallions/green onions and the carrots are simply the best! They have a slight spiciness to them that is reminiscent of a parsnip. They are in great supply right now but like the scapes I’ll long for them after they stop coming in.

The summer squash along with the fennel and radicchio are great grill buddies. Grilling and greens didn’t seem like compatible partners at first, but radicchio (as with other endive type greens) is simply wonderful tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and lightly grilled over medium heat. Used as whole head sliced in half or even just a few individual leaves, 2-4 minutes is plenty of time to impart great flavor. Served as a bed for other grilled veggies or tossed into a salad with a red-wine vinaigrette, it instantly became a grilling favorite.

I am taking the storage route for the snap peas, green beans, cucumbers and beets. Blanched and frozen the peas and beans will be great this fall and winter in stir-fries, soups and casseroles. And while I want to experiment with roasting a beet or two, it’s simply too hot outside right now to crank up the oven, hence into the pickling mixture both will go.

Coming out of this first 7 weeks it is pretty clear that my weakest area is greens – other than tossing them in a salad (and now grilling certain types) I really don’t know what to do with them. Growing up my family didn’t eat greens other than in salads. Cooked greens that I ran into (mostly elementary school creamed spinach) were not appetizing. So the hunt is on for resources that explore the culinary possibilites of greens outside of the salad realm. If you happen to know of any, please let me know!

Week 4 Items: 2 heads radicchio, Napa cabbage, daikon, red scallions, escarole, butter head lettuce plus PYO strawberries, sugar snap and snow peas.

Leaving for “The Cape” on Saturday June 25th meant that week 3 and 4 CSA pickings would travel with us. Not to mention that I had to pick week 4′s share up at the farm – which provided an opportunity to explore the PYO peas and glean for any remaining strawberries. Two hours later, week 4 was in the truck and headed home. Leftovers from week three were mostly the salad turnips, garlic scapes and radishes, along with about 3/4 lbs of spinach. That combined with the fresh stuff made the trip south to Cape Cod along with our other 4 house mates.

First thing Sunday the strawberries were macerating – after all home made Sangria needs berries! By Monday the spinach was gone – some went into a green salad and the rest on chicken salad sandwiches along with the daikon and a few scapes. Marinated slaw consumed the Napa Cabbage and a few scallions as well, although the slaw would pickle until Wednesday. Tuesday some of the greens, snow and sugar snap peas and bell peppers from the store made a wonderful stir-fry. Escarole, some ground Italian chicken sausage, pasta and seasonings went into a very yummy soup on Wednesday. Friday was clean out the fridge – roasted butter head lettuce and radicchio made a great salad to go with roasted chicken breast and a rice salad.

All that went home were the left over salad turnips, radishes and garlic scapes. Not bad for a week at The Cape with friends. We really “veg-ed out”!

Learning by making mistakes is a well trodden path for me. Last week’s lessons revolved around grit and dirt. After munching on a few dirt clods in my salad, there was plenty of resolve in the system for finding a better way to wash greens. Three washes in the salad spinner didn’t get the job done. This week it’s swish washing twice in a large bowl followed by a spin wash and dry cycle. So far it’s working much better – less soil, more taste. Wonder what the water bill will look like?

Tuesday evening is mostly taken up with settling the CSA haul into the fridge and trying to think how all of it will be used. Last week was pretty easy as Garden Risotto was already on the menu. My wife suggested Frittata for a Saturday evening meal so by the following Monday, Week 1′s veggies were mostly gone – only the bok choy and some green leaf lettuce remained. There is no need to purchase salad greens at the market this week as there are plenty to go around.

This week’s strawberries were quartered and macerated right away. Two night later, there was nothing left of them. Must. Have. More. One pound of the spinach went toward a veggie pasta and chic pea recipe from A Pot On The Fire, by John and Matt Thorne – great food writer by the way. Only addition I made to the recipe was a bit of lemon juice to pump up the acidity.

The mustard greens and some of the bok choy will go in a shrimp stir fry this coming Monday . That will leave about one-half pound of spinach, the salad turnips and dill carrying over into week 3. I’m hoping for a dill dip recipe from a friend of mine to help clear the dill back-log.

Hope my family enjoys eating salad and greens!

Take Lasagna - classic Italian dish with wide noodles, cheeses, tomato sauce and perhaps ground beef or pork all baked together. Enjoy it at restaurants, fresh made at home or in conveniently packaged frozen containers. But what if you made it “Vermont” style? What would a Vermont Lasagna have in it that would make it say “Vermont” – no not maple syrup!

One take on Lasagna “Vermont Style” can be found at Ye Olde Bradford Tavern at the Fullerton Inn in Chester, VT. Their “Stone Ground Polenta Lasagna”, offers an interesting twist on the traditional classic. In between the pasta layers, the polenta’s texture compliments a wonderfully smooth blend of Vermont crafted cheeses including a Horseradish cheese that brings an unexpected “kick” to the experience. It wouldn’t be Lasagna without a tomato sauce and the house marinara provides just enough sweetness and acidity to round out the dish.

Saying that I “enjoyed” it would be an understatement. It was a uniquely Vermont take on a classic Italian dish, despite the fact that Polenta Lasagna isn’t all that unique – there are a number of recipes for it out there. That aside, the combination of the setting, ingredients, and regional food made the dish and meal one for the books.

If you are out and about the Chester, VT way, stop in at the Fullerton Inn for a meal. It’s worth the trip!

Prepared according to the recipe (OK, I admit substituting agave nectar for the corn syrup), the main difficulty was getting the “batter” (as it were) into the “maker”. The Kitchen Aid is a non-tilt head mixer and must be running when the batter is poured in otherwise “bad things happen” – trust me I know.

Eventually most of the yogurt batter went in the maker using a combination of swear words and a long handled rubber spatula. 20 or so minutes later, Voila! Frozen Yogurt. Made about a pint. The expectation was the addition of air would create slightly more volume like it does with ice cream, but evidently that’s not the case with frozen yogurt.

You would think that was the end of the story, but you would be wrong. Remember that straining process? Straining produces 2 things: the semi-solid “yogurt cheese” and whey. What can you do with the leftover whey (other than toss it)? Turns out that whey can be recooked to make Ricotta cheese. Ricotta mean “recooked” – whey cool!

Just recooking the whey from the strained yogurt won’t make Ricotta – I know, I tried it. Guess there’s more to it, but there are serveral adventures in the making here:

• figuring out how to make Ricotta cheese from yogurt whey + ???
• making mozzarella cheese

Should be a fun adventure! Perhaps I will need that yogurt strainer…

In looking back I see that I neglected to review one that I really enjoyed – TerraNoble’s 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. From my notes I see that I gave it 89 points and this writeup:

Clear and green-to-straw yellow in the glass, there is strong apple and grass on the nose. Crisp, steely acidity compliments the fruit and blends nicely with the modest citrus accompaniment. The balance is quite good and the finish hangs in there for a reasonable amount of time. A wonderful quality-to-value ratio. I’ve already bought my next bottle.

I really did go out an get another bottle. Needless to say that bottle is gone as well.

So, here’s the revised list, in order of preference, of favorite Sauvignon Blanc wines in the “under $10″ category:

• TerraNoble
• Veramonte’s Reserva
• Santa Rita’s 120
• Emiliana’s Eco Balance
• Santa Ema
• Domaine de Ballade Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne
• Cono Sur’s Bicycle
• Rancho Zabaco’s Dancing Bull
• Sebeka

Look for this list to be updated on the “Wine” page going forward. Now I think it is time for something completely different.

Of the two, the Sterling was our favorite, with richer fruit and more complexity both on the nose and palate. Rich black cherries and berries with background hints of wet leather on the Sterling side contrasted with less complex, sweeter and silky cherry/berry Castle Rock. I was really surprised at the complete lack of detectable tannins in the Castle Rock while the Sterling got silkier after being open a while. In hind site I should have decanted the Sterling.

Overall the Sterling got 88 points while the Castle Rock garnered 83 on the enjoyability scale. I would have no problem purchasing either wine again but would prefer the Sterling. Oh, and the movie – The Way Back via Apple TV.

This weeks selection is Bolla’s 2009 Pinot Grigio Venezie which I picked up on a trip to one of our local supermarkets. Going out of the bottle, it is clear and pale in color – nearly colorless. At first I though I over-chilled it when I got next to nothing on the nose. Even with a slight 10 minute warming, the only smells were faint wisps of citrus. The palate however showed moderately crisp acidity accompanied by light-to-modest notes of green apple, grass and lemon. There was a touch of minerality to it but nothing distinctive or harsh and a finish that was pleasantly longer than most other whites.

While it is better lightly chilled, I was underwhelmed by the light nose and rather single dimensional character. A stronger bouquet and a bit more complexity would make this a much better wine. Given that this is (nearly) my first Pinto Grigio I’m hesitant to score this. Still it could have been better so I don’t think a 79 on the enjoyment scale is too out of line.

From my readings, Côtes du Rhône style reds are primarily Grenache and Syrah with smaller amounts of other varietals blended in. There are no required percentages for Rhône style wines, just that all the grapes are grown in the Rhône Valley. Rhône whites use Grenache Blanc, perhaps Viognier and other grapes.

Over the course of the 2 hours Sheila verbally guided us through the different Rhône style wines of France and also of California where the Perrin family’s Tablas Creek is located. I don’t have scores for these so enjoy the notes:

• 2009 Perrin Reserve, Côtes du Rhône, Blanc – a musty, floral nose. Very, very light but not watery. Moderate acidity accompanies the mineral-ness. A slight bitter note on a modest finish. A bit too light for my taste but nice.
• 2007 Tablas Creek Vineyard, Esprit de Beaucastle, Blanc, Paso Robles – Vanilla notes on the nose. Nearly Chardonnay like in its buttery taste. Not syrupy sweet like a Chard and not oaked. Interesting wine.
• 2009 La Vielle Ferme, Ventoux, Rosé – pale red. Floral and delicate on the nose, the palate got light strawberry sweetness. Nice balance of sweetness and acidity. A pleasant wine, however rosé isn’t my style.
• 2009 Perrin Reserve, Côtes du Rhône, Rosé – floral smells with a deeper body and less acidity than the 2009 La Vielle Ferme Rosé. Still not a rosé person.
• 2007 Perrin Reserve, Côtes du Rhône, Rouge – Inky red in color with a very nice cherry/berry nose!! Peppery and spicy with fine modest tannins.
• 2007 Perrin & Fils, Gigondas, “La Gille” – Strong alcohol nearly over powered the black cherry and berry nose. Rich body, peppery with the same fine tannins.
• 2007 Perrin & Fils, Chateauneuf du Pape, “Les Sinards” – Darker than the Côtes du Rhône. Leather and pepper with a smoky tint. Stronger fine tannins.
• 2008 Tablas Creek Vineyards, Esprit de Beaucastle, Rouge, Paso Robles – Sweet cherry/berry and herbage nose. Fruity with more pronounced tannins.
• 2007 Chateau de Beaucastle, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rouge – deep dark fruit – currents, raisins, figs. Very, very smooth with ultra fine tannins. There is great balance right away. No wonder this is $109.

I’ve really liked the Chateau de Beaucastle, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rouge but purchased the Perrin Reserve, Côtes du Rhône since it was within my modest wine budget. While I wasn’t much on the Rhône white or rosé wines, the reds I can see myself drinking with hardier fare – steaks and other meats with hardy sauces come to mind.

The event was definitely worth the $25 price of admission which included some really excellent food pairings. If you are in the Brattleboro, VT area, the Windham Wine store is definitely worth your time even if they are not having a tasting event.

I was excited to see the bottle of Cono Sur’s 2009 Bicycle brand Pinot Noir. I’ve had their Sauvignon Blanc, enjoyed its refreshing citrus style and have been anxious to try their reds. With a price point in the “under $10″ range it has the potential for good value. The Matua Valley was new to me  and in the “over $10, under $20″ range. From the pour I could have predicted which my friend would like better.

The Matua was ligher purple in color and that carried right on through to the nose of subtle cherry and strawberry notes. The Cono Sur was darker and semi-opaque by comparison with a nose of cherry,  blackberry and some herbal tones. Both had modest amounts of acidity with the Matua carrying in a small amount of residual sugar and the Cono Sur heavier on the tannins. Toward the finish both exhibited a slight acidic bitterness with some steeliness from the Cono Sur and mineral hints from the Matua. Neither exhibited a great amount of complexity and both were more or less balanced  - although there
wasn’t a lot to get out of whack. I did end up decanting
the remainder of the Cono Sur and it did much better after an hour or so. The tannins were tamer and the fruit stood out more.

As expected my friend opted for the Matua while the more tannic Cono Sur suited my style better. For the price, the Con Sur was the better value in my opinion. I scored it 84 while the Matua came in at a 83 on the enjoyability scale. I think we’re both hoping to find better Pinot Noirs. Perhaps we need to take a trip to Burgundy…