Why CSAs Rock

So, I am happy to announce that I've just been accepted to the... West Harlem CSA! It was a brutal application process complete with letters of recommendation and a personal essay. Nah, just kidding, but I did nearly miss out entirely. Most devoted CSAers know to sign up in February when fresh fruits and veggies are a mere memory of summers past. Of course, this year, like last year, I only thought, hmm CSA, when asparagus popped up at the market a few weeks ago. I was wait-listed at two others until I found my future Alma CSA at Just Food's website.

What is a CSA, you might ask? It's basically a food coop where members buy a share in a farm's yearly harvest. Windflower farm, my CSA's farm, will be growing fruits and veggies and harvesting pasture-raised eggs this year and I will be getting my equal share. Here's a rundown of why I've joined and maybe you'll be inspired to find one in your neighborhood for this season, or, if you're too late, punch a reminder into your calendar for next year.

Reasons I Joined a CSA:

1. For fresh, local and usually organic fruits and vegetables grown just for me.
2. As if you need to hear it again, eating local and organic is good for the environment. When food travels thousands of miles, not only are natural resources being wasted, but added pollution is being pumped into the air all so we can have strawberries in January.
   
3. Eating local and organic is good for you. The farther produce travels the fewer nutrients it retains upon reaching your mouth.
4. Accountability - yeah, that's a big one for me. While you might be buying organic raspberries from Chile, who from the FDA is actually overseeing the farming? Who is protecting our interests as consumers? When you buy from local farms that are a short drive from you, you can go visit and see for yourself where the food is coming from and how it's being raised.
5. It's cheaper. Huh? Yes it is, by a lot. My weekly produce bill comes in at well over $50 a week if not $70. Provided this year's crop is a good one (and that's always the risk, you do as well as the farmer does), then I won't have to supplement my weekly CSA goody basket with outside produce. I will be spending $40 a week for fruits, veggies and a dozen eggs from June through November which means I'm cutting my shopping bill in half!

I'll still be going to the market every week to see if there's anything I can't live without and to pick up meat, milk, cheese and bread, so keep tuning in on Fridays for my Farmer's Market Finds column. And, starting on Tuesdays, I'll be filling you in on what I'm getting from my CSA and how much. Will one week be nothing but kale? I hope not, but if so, I'll give you the good and the not so good and the how to cook all this stuff anyway every Tuesday.

This is my first experience with a CSA. I've never been a get psyched kinda gal probably because I am still traumatized by my years of forced participation in an all girl's convent school. But I am psyched and I'm excited to enter a world of community support where we will enable our local farmers rather than our corporations. Maybe, come next winter, you'll be signing up for a CSA too.

Simply Sausage

I can barely remember it now, but I was once a Citigroupian. Every day I would take the E train out of Manhattan and into Long Island City where the Citigroup building rose, a single skyscraper all by itself, over the blocks of town houses and pockets of factories. There wasn't much in LIC in the way of food then, but every morning my friend, J, and I would go down to the deli for a bagel and chat with our deli friend whom we called the Swede.

One day I had a hankering for sausage and so I asked the deli manager, "How's your sausage?" Flustered, he looked down at his pants and then up at J and me and just stuttered and blushed. I, of course, didn't have a clue what his problem was, so I turned to the Swede who was busting his gut as hard as J was and asked if they had any sausage. After that, I finally caught on. I promptly exited the premises and went to the cafeteria.

Well, today I want to tell you about Farmers' Market sausage where when you say those three words, the men don't blush, stutter and look at their pants. They reply, "It's amazing." This past Friday, I pushed my baby girl down to our local market on West 97th street and bought some seriously fabulous pasture raised and farmer made sweet Italian pork sausage. I was tired and didn't feel like fixing a complicated feast so instead I fixed a simple one of grilled sausages with local Rao's marinara sauce and some Jerusalem artichoke spaghetti. Yum yum is all I can say.

Approximate Dinner Cost
• W/Wine - $25
• W/o Wine - $15
• Leftovers - Zip
• Breakdown - Sausage $11, Sauce $3, Pasta $1 and Wine $10

Farmers' Fish?

My husband and I lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn for three years and frequented the farmer's market at Grand Army Plaza, which, in my humble opinion, is second only to the mighty Union Square market. Every Saturday, we noticed a line at this one particular stand and, no matter how early we roused ourselves, the goodies were always gone before we got there.

What was sold at this mystical place? Fish! Fish at a farmers' market? Ew gross! you might say and we did too until it dawned on us that NYC is actually an island within spitting distance of the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound. This stand would bring in fresh seafood that really truly still smelled like it's old home, the ocean.

Due to extreme laziness - that must've been the cause - we never did get to sample the offerings of the fish stand at Grand Army Plaza. However, we just happened to hit the Union Square market early enough this week and scored big time. Little babies who wake up at 7am every morning will do wonders for getting you killer fish - er, shellfish as is the case this week.

We bought 2 pounds of sea scallops that were so fresh and perfect, they basically talked to me. Wondering what on earth to do with them, I copied our good friends who cook outrageous Risotto Milanese with scallops and a balsamic vinegar reduction. It's so simple and light and the pleasing touch of saffron accentuates the scallops' sweetness and saltwater freshness. Even my daughter was gobbling scallops and risotto with her little spoon. Served with a salad of fresh market greens lightly dressed with lemon and olive oil, the entire perfect meal only took 30 minutes to put together. Give it a go!


Risotto Milanese with Scallops and Balsamic Vinegar

Bring to a boil and then simmer about 5 cups of chicken broth (homemade if you can manage it, but I use organic all the time!) in a small pot. Pat the scallops dry and set them aside. Chop up a medium onion and add it to a large hot pot sprinkled with a bit of olive oil. After about 5 minutes, once the onion has softened, measure out 10 ounces of arborio rice and pour into the pan mixing it into the onion. Add a pinch of crumbled up saffron to half a cup of wine and pour over rice and onion mixture. Keep stirring and stirring – the key to a good risotto is the stirring. Once the wine is absorbed, add a ladle-full of chicken broth. Stir until it’s absorbed and keep adding ladle-full after ladle-full until the risotto is soft, but al dente. Turn off the heat and add a pat or so of butter and half a cup of Parmesan cheese.

With your other hand – keep stirring! – add about a cup or so of balsamic vinegar and a teaspoonful or so of sugar to a small pot. Stir and bring it to a boil and then simmer until it reduces down to a thick syrupy texture.

When your risotto starts coming together, sprinkle some salt and pepper on the scallops. Throw them into a hot pan and sear on both sides until they are a nice golden brown.

To serve, spoon some risotto into bowls, pop a few scallops on top and drizzle with a bit of the reduced balsamic. Enjoy!

Approximate Dinner Cost
• W/Wine - $39
• W/o Wine - $24
• Leftovers - 3 nights of rice with chicken thighs and salad came to $6 per meal for us three
• Breakdown - Scallops $13, Saffron $3, Arborio Rice $3, Butter $.50, Chicken Broth $3, Parmesan Cheese $.50, Salad $2 and Wine $15

*Author’s Note – If you or someone you’re cooking for has a dairy allergy as my daughter does, just pull out a serving of risotto before adding the butter and cheese. It’s super creamy and tasty even without the dairy.

Here Chicky Chick Chick

Thank God Manhattan is only 13 miles long because it takes forever to get anywhere. Sure, some argue otherwise, but they, like myself, have been sucked into the vortex of blocks and neighborhoods rather than miles.

I live say 85 blocks, about 4 miles, from the Union Square Farmers' Market. In suburban time, only a 5 minute drive, but in Manhattan time, it's a 30 minute train ride and then a 15 minute walk. With a baby stroller, add a back-straining 10 minutes for hauling the stroller up and down subway stairs while smiling adoringly at any person who looks like they can walk and therefore help with the stroller.

Don't get me wrong, I love New York and I love that I actually experience the weather and walk on streets and in parks rather than overheated malls, but occasionally, when it’s cold and rainy and I just don’t have time, I am eager for a driveway outside my house containing an awaiting car where I plop baby-girl into her carseat and drive off into the sunset.

This weekend, after the above journey, my husband, baby girl and I arrived at the farmers’ market to find a stand filled with pheasant sausages, chickens, ducks, eggs, smoked chickens and on and on. I was in love. After chatting with the farmer about how he treats his animals, he found the biggest chicky for me, which weighed in at 4.5 lbs and then he said, "$21." While the chickens at Whole Food are generally $8 or so cheaper, look at the title, I am emulating Alice right? Sure, I am, but my hubby, not so much.

“No thanks,” he said and rolled our daughter away. Since he had the cash and the baby, I had to follow. However, after about five minutes of heartfelt sulking and explaining it's less money than one entree at a nice restaurant, he gave in and I got my beauty-full chicky with her little neck and organs tucked inside.

Usually, when I roast a chicken, I stuff it with herbs and lemon or roast loads of root veggies alongside it. But this time, chicky was too stunning to mess with so I left her all alone covered in soft butter, salt and pepper. Alice does say, with the freshest ingredients, do very little. I cooked it at 400 degrees for an hour and a half, basting whenever I remembered and what came out was the most beautiful golden bird I'd ever seen.

After I put the chicken in the oven I decided the gizzards and neck couldn’t be wasted so I simmered them uncovered in a little pot of half water, half white wine, a clove of garlic, some peppercorns and a bay leaf. Mixed with the drippings from the chicken and a little white whole wheat flour and salt, it was the best gravy ever. Some buttered peas, organic, but frozen and brown rice cooked in chicken broth and my husband and baby girl were thrilled. Did I mentioned the local Finger Lakes Pinot Gris? Delish!

Approximate Dinner Cost
• W/Wine - $38.50
• W/o Wine - $23.50
• Leftovers - 4 nights at $9.63 per meal including vino - not bad!
• Breakdown - Chicken $21, Peas $1, Rice $.50, Butter $1 and Wine $15

*Writer's Apology - Of course, I was so into my cooking and racing against time before my husband and baby girl returned from the playground that I didn't take a picture. Sorry! New to this blogging thing. I myself can't stand pictureless cookbooks unless it's a book by Alice of course.