csa day + lots going on in the kitchen this week

Half of Finger Pickin' Farms CSA share for the week of July 6, 2010:

This is only our half because I forgot to take my camera over to my dad's house. 

From left to right, starting at the top:

Row 1: Zucchini, squash, peppers 

Row 2: Pattypan squash, white cucumbers, green cucumbers

Row 3: Tomatoes (from one of my dad's patients, not the CSA), onions, and carrots

Not pictured: flowers and basil

And because I've been so gung-ho about cooking lately, I thought I'd share what I've been up to. I made a cinnamon coffee cake for a tea party I had with my friend Julia. The topping was very crumbly at first, but really got good on day 3. That's good to know, but who bakes a cake and then waits three days to eat it?

A couple of you asked to know how the beet gnocchi turned out. It was really good! I don't get many opportunities to eat such bright pink food, and I loved it. 

Beet gnocchi is made from beets, potatoes, and parmesan cheese mashed together with some flour to form a dough. It's rolled out and sliced, then boiled like pasta. I tossed the gnocchi with basil, walnuts, olive oil, garlic, and parmesan cheese. The beet flavor was subtle in the final dish because the garlic and basil were the stand out flavors. I was really surprised how light yet filling the gnocchi were.

I would definitely make beet gnocchi again, but would pick out one big beet to use instead of the tiny beets I used here. Our CSA beets were really sweet, especially after roasting them, but it was a bit of a hassle to peel so many little ones. Also, I would be up for making regular gnocchi without the beets, though I would miss that bright pink color!

This week I checked another thing off of my 2010 to-do list because I made mayonnaise (I know, how strange, who puts "make mayonnaise" on their list of resolutions? Forgive me, I had just watched Julie and Julia). I used my mixer to make the recipe from this book, though someday I suppose I'll try to make it by hand to gain some serious kitchen cred. Despite the fact that the recipe stated that making mayonnaise with a food processor or mixer "takes no skill whatsoever," I'm still pretty impressed that I could get egg yolks and oil to come together to make such a creamy sandwich spread. 

This mayonnaise turned out much creamier than store-bought. I love knowing all of the ingredients that went into it, plus I got to flavor it how I wanted it. I left most of it plain, but did add basil to a small portion. The basil mayonnaise has been great on sandwiches and the plain made a great potato salad.

I had 3 leftover egg whites after making the mayonnaise and so I got to make pavlovas, which I've wanted to try for years. The recipe comes from my new favorite cookbook. These mini-pavlovas (meringues) are so fluffy, crunchy and sweet. Topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit these are a wonderful summer dessert, so light and refreshing. Mmm...I would highly recommend making these!

Weekly Menu:

*Fourth of July cook out

*Enchilada Stack

*Green eggs (scrambled with cream cheese and basil), corn on the cob, green beans

*Picnic food--Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato salad, plums. Ideally eaten at the park, if we can catch a breeze.

*Dinner with Kristie (maybe that squash and pasta casserole)