Vegans and Coconut Milk

 A very random thought, food-related of course...

I'm not a vegan--or a vegetarian for that matter. I like meat a couple times a week, and I also eat a lot of seafood for protein. However, the concept of being vegan intrigues me, so I read a lot about it, particularly recipes and how to swap traditional ingredients for vegan alternatives. Coconut milk comes up time and time again as a swap for sweetened dairy in dessert recipes. I mean, it seems like it's in every single vegan dessert recipe that's not essentially just fruit. If you ever want a creamy texture in a vegan dessert (ice 'cream', pie, pudding, you name it), you reach for the coconut milk.

So, I'm curious...can you be a vegan and not like coconut? With my incredible sweet tooth, I doubt I could survive on plain fruit alone. Thankfully, I love the flavor of coconut, but I'd be curious to know of vegans that don't and if they feel a little left out come dessert time.

This ends the randomness...go on with your day.

3rd Summer CSA Pick-Up!

This week's share was much like last week's, but with the added pleasure of freshly unearthed new potatoes! Extra sugar snap peas are always welcome at our house too, so we were pleased to get a full pound this week! Here's the list:

1 bag of Yukina Savoy cabbage
1 head of Red Leaf Lettuce
1 pound of Sugar Snap Peas (Yay!)
2 Onions
1 bunch of small Beets with Greens
2 Tomatoes (big and beautiful)
1 Quart of (gorgeous) Strawberries!

2nd CSA Pick-Up!

Again, I forgot to take a picture of everything. Sorry. I've already prepped stuff for dinner, so it's not all in one piece any more. This week from Heron Pond Farm as part of our full farm share we got:

1 bag of Yukina Savoy cabbage
1 head of Red Leaf Lettuce
1 bunch of Swiss Chard
1 pint of Sugar Snap Peas (Yay!)
3 Onions
1 bunch of small Beets with Greens
1 Tomato (big and beautiful)
1 Quart of (gorgeous) Strawberries!

Tonight, we're having the yukina savoy and some onions, as part of Pad Thai (along with some carrot, bean sprouts, egg and chicken). That tomato seems a little under-ripe, so I might bake it--stuffed with seafood stuffing. The sugar snap peas and chard/beet greens will be sides with dinner another night soon. The strawberries will be eaten over the next day or two, as breakfast over cottage cheese or as dessert with sugar and whipped cream. I'll probably use all the lettuce in a big salad tomorrow for lunch, possibly with roasted beets and crumbled blue cheese (hmmmm).

The value of this share is unbelievable--and it's only June.

I'm on Pinterest!

Where has this site been all my life? I can look at endless pictures of food--and edit the "menu" to my precise liking. I follow a limited number of boards, mostly food related of course. Daily visits to my page not only inspire me, but also give me the munchies. Check out the boards I follow: http://pinterest.com/shannonmperry/following/ and the two boards I just started for myself: http://pinterest.com/mcdougallduval/shannon-hungry-wordsmith/ and http://pinterest.com/shannonmperry/it-s-all-about-the-ingredients/

It's Summer CSA Season!

I cannot tell you how excited I was to pick up our first CSA share of the summer today from Heron Pond Farm (www.heronpondfarm.com)! Just the idea of the summer produce season keeps me going through March and April. I'm a seasonal food fanatic, and as a New Englander, that means I eat best from June to November, starting today.

My super CSA share today included:

A generous bag of Swiss Chard
Another generous bag of Baby Kale
3 onions
2 lbs of potatoes
1 head of beautiful Red Leaf Lettuce
1 quart of ripely red STRAWBERRIES!

I didn't think the farm's strawberry crop was ready yet, so that was a terrific surprise! These babies are small and sweet, bursting with juice. I can only imagine the berries that are yet to come after this soaking of a rain and a week or so of sunshine!

I'll try to photograph the CSA shares more in the future. Tonight, we're digging right into the Swiss Chard (sauteed with olive oil, garlic and crumbled Ritz crackers, finished with freshly grated parmesan cheese).

Seafood Chowda

Seafood Chowda, with a little 92.5 FM "Brunch by the River" in the background.

Oh chowda, sweet chowda. On a cool day (with the house all to yourself) is there anything better? When I saw the reasonable prices for lobster, shrimp and haddock at the seafood counter, I knew I could swing this. I had also been saving a few lobster bodies from when we splurged on a lobster dinner a few weeks back, which would help to make a great stock. (See stock recipe at end of this entry.) The result of the homemade stock combined with fresh ingredients was OUTRAGEOUSLY GOOD.

Ingredients:

½ pound of bacon, chopped, smoked (preferred) 

6 stalks of celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 large potato, chopped (I leave skin on; washed well.)

1 cup corn, lightly cooked (best cut fresh off a lightly boiled cob)
1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

1 teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Salt to taste (bacon is salty and Old Bay has celery salt, so go easy and taste test)

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

6 cups of seafood/fish stock*, warmed

Seafood of Choice (about 3 cups total):

1 pound haddock or cod, filets or chowder fish chuncks

3 large shrimp, peeled & chopped

3 sea scallops, shelled (remove muscle too) & chopped

1 lb lobster meat, chopped

½ cup clams, chopped (canned ok, add clam juice to stock)

1 and ½ cups heavy cream

In large sauce pan, spread out chopped bacon and turn heat to medium-low. The idea is to first render the fat off of the bacon before browning it up. Don’t stir the bacon. Just let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Sweet and Zesty Seared Scallops over Greens

If you're a scallop lover, this combination of flavors will create a party in your mouth!

You'll need:

Large Sea Scallops, equally sized, muscles removed*
Chopped Greens
Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove, finely minced
Cayenne Pepper, enough for dusting
Salt & Pepper
Pat of Butter
1 Teaspoon of Orange Marmalade
 
*After rinsing and patting the scallops dry, look for the muscle on each. Sometimes it may not still be there, but if you see one remove it by gently peeling it away from the rest of the scallop. Even some of the best restaurants fail to do this step, and it annoys the heck out of me because the muscle is tough to chew and will otherwise ruin a good mouthful of food.

Dust one side of the scallops with cayenne pepper and a little salt. Set aside.