Quick and Easy:Ramps with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Ramps

Ramps with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Serves 2 - 4

½ lb. Ramps, cleaned and washed

5-6 slices of Bacon

2 -3 ounces of Blue Cheese, crumbled

Equipment: frying pan with lid

Ramps

Fry bacon, remove from pan, drain and chop. 

Bacon and Boucher Blue 

Remove excess fat from pan and add leeks.  Saute for a minute or so, until leaves wilt.  Cover, turn off burner.  Let set 20 minutes.

Toss cooked leeks, bacon and blue cheese together.

Ramps with Bacon and Blue Cheese 

This is an easy side for grilled beef-- though Dan and I ate it all before the steaks were done.

Leeks with Blue Cheese and Bacon

To eat, twist ramps around a fork like pasta and spear bacon and cheese – delicious!

On The Side: Vegetarian Mixed Grill

Vegetarian Mixed Grill

 On Memorial Day, I cooked up a mess of sides.  Asparagus, baby fennel, shiitakes and oyster mushrooms (all from farmer's market) were marinated in a garlicky commercial dressing and grilled on "high".  The potatoes were previously boiled and marinated in Drew's Romano Caesar - which caramelized very quickly.

The highlight was the potatoes, which were served with a dollop of soy-free mayonnaise mixed with sriracha (delicious).  Dan ate all the fennel - I didn't get any - but he said they were his second favorite item on the plate.

On The Side: Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

I fired up the Big Green Egg at 300f for chicken and beef, and while those were prepped, I put this side together.

10 Medium/Large Button Mushrooms, stems removed (frozen for stock).

Stuffing: 1 Cup Crab Meat (Chicken of the Sea, nothing fancy), 1 Small Egg, 2 TB Grated Cooked Carrot, 2 TB sauteed Diced Onions, 1 TB Jess's Green Goddess*, 1 TB Cornmeal Crumbs, 1/8 tsp. Salt.

*From Black Creek Preserves booth @ Burlington Farmer's Market

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

They cooked for 40 minutes, until the filling was set and the mushrooms cooked through.  A squeeze of lemon was all they needed.  (Muffin tins kept them from tipping over)

They had a slight smokiness and were very moist.  There will be more recipes with Jess's Green Goddess, it's been the go-to condiment/mystery-ingredient of the winter.

On The Side: Cauliflower Gratin

Cauliflower Gratin

This shot actually looked better in my head, than in print.

I blanched a cauliflower in the microwave; sauteed some leeks (2 medium) and 8 oz. mushrooms to begin - there were leftovers of everything because I was making other dishes.

I made a thick bechamel (2 TB Mochiko, 2 TB Butter, 2 Cups 1/2 and 1/2) and layered everything into small serving dishes.  I topped each serving with slices of Vermont Butter and Cheese herbed chevre (4-ounces in all), shredded 2-year old Grafton cheddar (about 3 ounces), and about 3 TB wheat-free breadcrumbs.  I added some additional 1/2 and 1/2 to cover the vegetables underneath.

I put the dishes on a baking sheet for ease in slipping them in and out of the oven - which was fortuitous, since there was some bubbling over - they baked at 375f for 40 minutes, until browned.

Cauliflower Gratin

This came out undersalted - probably because I usually rely on our cheeses to provide additional salt - and I didn't use them.  Is there any salt in chevre?  There definitely isn't any in the gf breadcrumbs.

The sauteed mushrooms, leeks, and bechamel were salted, but it wasn't enough to carry the finished dish.  A bit of salt while layering ingredients will solve that.

This is one of Dan's most requested sides, other than the cauliflower mash my sister makes.

Cauliflower Cole Slaw

Cauliflower Cole Slaw

I was in the mood for fish tacos, but instead of pairing them with a cabbage or carrot slaw, I made a cauliflower condiment.

I blanched the cauliflower in the microwave, separated the florets and set them in the refrigerator to chill for twenty minutes.

Then, I seasoned and pan-fried the tilapia filets, chopped some romaine, sliced a red onion, and made the dressing for the cooled cauliflower:

1/4 cup mayonnaise, and a teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic powder. Then 1/2 tsp. each of celery salt and mustard powder, 1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, and enough white sugar to give a sweet/sour balance (a tsp. or so). 

Well, you can certainly tell that I didn't do a lot of fussing with the plated photo this time. The sweet cauliflower was a nice accompaniment to the fish.

On The Side: Homefries

Homefries

 This is something we don't eat anymore - except, that we are eating it right now - winter doldrums are creating cravings for comfort food.

I had some bacon-fat oven-roasted Yukons leftover, coated them in garlic and onion powders, paprika and some Italian spices.  Pan-fried - and covered them in shredded Cabot Hunter cheddar.

Panfried Potatoes

OMG You can't beat these as a side for any meal, including breakfast.

On The Side: Smashed Blue Potatoes

Smashed Blue Potatoes

Okay, so maybe this sounded better than it looks.  Blue potatoes are not waxy enough to make a smooth mash, but "smashed" with some sour cream and parmesan, they are pretty good.  The only thing you have to get past is the Flintstones color and texture.

On The Side: One Potato, Two Potato

Oven Roasted Potatoes

Couldn't be easier: oven at 375f, potatoes on an oiled baking sheet, bit of salt.  At the 20-minute mark, I turned them and let them go another 5 minutes, until they were cooked through.  Nice with chicken.

Monday Menu: Quinoa-stuffed Peppers

It's another (gasp) vegetarian side.  Quinoa, cheese, roasted tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, all held together by a wheatless bechamel.

I started by roasting some peppers from farmer's market, though I only needed one for the recipe.

The red ones always look like Hortas -- and if you know what that is, congratulations.

One pepper was peeled, seeded and diced.  The excess was frozen for sauce in the near future.

Only a handful of these roasted veggies were chopped and used in the recipe; as with the peppers, the majority will be squirreled away in the freezer.

To about 1/4 cup of veggies, I added 2 ounces of Tomme Collins cheese, grated; 3/4 cup prepared quinoa, and 1/2 cup bechamel (1 TB sweet white rice flour, 1 TB butter, 1/2 cup half and half).

I seasoned the mixture, then stuffed the peppers, grated more cheese on top, and baked at 400f for 20 - 24 minutes, until the bechamel was bubbly and the peppers were cooked.

While they were cooking, I grilled up some veal chops.

And here we are again.  Dan loved the quinoa, he thought it worked really well; I thought it was a bit too mild, and that it could have used lots more garlic and a hotter pepper as the vehicle.

On The Side: Roasted Tomato Sauce

Hard to define this chunky tomato sauce - it has a vinaigrette for a base, and was conceived to complement a tenderloin filet of beef. (I didn't feel like eating beef so the bacon mashed potatoes and grilled oyster mushrooms on my plate seem incongruous - it's all sides and no main.)

I was roasting tomatoes to freeze; I had an entire flat of them from Arethusa Collective.

Washed, cut, cored and placed on an oiled baking sheet.  Oven set to 400f, and a generous amount of salt applied.

Not to panic, these aren't burned - just caramelized.  So delicious!  Tastes like pizza.  Smells like pizza.

The vinaigrette base:

2 TB Tomate Vinegar
1 TB White Sugar

Stir until sugar is dissolved, then add:

1 TB Walnut Oil
1/2 tsp Dry Mustard

Whisk together, then add:

1/4 - 1/2 cup of Roasted Tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces.

The salt for this condiment/side/chunky sauce comes from the intensely-flavored tomatoes.  Big wow factor.

Makes 2- 4 servings.

On The Side: Tomatoes with Mozzarella

All the 90-degree days of the past month had me serving up this up quite often.  Heirloom tomatoes, Vermont mozzarella, avocado oil (sometimes hazelnut or sunflower oil), and pink Australian flake salt.  Sure bet as a side/salad, but works as a refreshing main when it's too hot to cook.

On The Side: Baked Beans

Easy baked beans for "Chicken Day", the Sunday on the farm that we process meat birds.

This was one of the sides for the grilled burger bar.  No photos from that day, though, I was too busy doing all the last minute cooking.

The beans were soaked for 6 hours, then rinsed.  So pretty!

They were covered with a homemade mushroom/beef stock, and 3 cups of pureed oven-roasted tomatoes and onions that I had made previously.  A half-pound of fatty bacon covered the top.  The uncovered casserole went into a 300f oven for 2 hours, then 350f for 1 1/2 hours.

Still kind of pretty.  No sugar in this recipe, the tomatoes and onions provide all the sweet it needs. I fished out the spent bacon (fed it to the chickens) and adjusted for salt before serving.

On The Side: Grilled Stuffed Peppers

Assorted stuffed peppers all set and ready to go on a disposable pizza pan.

The filling: 1/2 cup crumbled cooked sweet Italian pork sausage, 1/2 cup caramelized onions (about 5 medium onions cooked down), 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 TB cream cheese, 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack.  This was topped with cooked shrimp for the pretty, cilantro, and more cheese.

Okay, you might have noticed that these are not on the pan, and kind of a mess.  This is because I didn't cook them, and they were removed from the tray and placed on a stone cold grill with offset heat.  Don't do that!

Preheat your grill to high, place the entire pan of peppers on the heat for a few minutes, until you see the cheese you spilled on the tray go all melty.  Turn that burner off and leave the offset burner on, turned down to medium for 20-40 minutes to melt the cheese and finish cooking the peppers.

Looks great, tastes even better, but the peppers were raw and had to be reheated in the microwave to finish cooking.  Lesson here?  At a potluck, never relinquish control of your dish.

I wanted to repeat this recipe with other vegetables, but Dan ate all the excess cooked sausage on the sly - I had to make gazpacho, instead. Recipe coming soon...

On the Side: Veggie Gratin, or Casserole - whatever! It was good.

I needed a side for a chicken dish, but didn't want anything complicated like macaroni cheese, scalloped potatoes, or any grated vegetable in a creamy bechamel.  Trying to cut back on the washing up, mainly.

I had some leftover boiled new potatoes, roasted fennel, sauteed shiitakes.  I found a container of sour cream with an expiration date of tomorrow, so that became an ingredient.  Also, there were blue cheese and tomme samples that we didn't use at farmer's market.  Frugal fare, if nothing else.

Wheatless breadcrumbs and butter for topping.  On to the egg at 300f for an hour or so, until they were hot and bubbly at the sides.

That's a very large "test piece" missing.  It tasted like really awesome homefries.

It needed a bit of salt, so I added some of the sauce to it.  Over the top!  Too much cook's privilege in seasoning to taste!  I'm already full.