We had a cooking demo with Kate Strassman of Kate’s Renegade Aboveground Kitchen (KRAK). Kate showed us how to make her excellently tasty and flavorful Coconut Corn Soup and her all-purpose quick and easy dressing. Recipes are below.

The Coconut Corn Chowder was quick and easy and had complex flavors of ginger, chili, garlic, coconut and vegetables. This soup is also vegan. The soup base, as Kate mentioned, makes a good base for any kind of soup you want to make b/c you can really add whatever vegetables you have on hand. Kate prefers the heaviest coconut milk you can find and I would agree, that the fattier, the creamier! The finishing touch is a good dose of minced cilantro.

Kate’s Dressing, equally simple yet complex in flavor, can be used as an alternative to butter or olive oil on steamed vegetables or salad. We also thought it would taste great with pasta or any starch if you are looking for a good quick meal. The Bragg’s is like soy sauce (salty and vinegary) but is a little thinner and has good amino acids in it. Nutritional yeast, similar to brewers yeast is full of B vitamins and has a nutty, cheesy flavor. So, the dressing is good for you!

One interesting nutritional note that Kate pointed out about oils is that not all oils are created equal. Oils that are processed correctly will not seem “oily.” For example, she pointed out that if you were washing out a bottle that had high quality refined oil in it, you would not need a lot of soap. She also pointed out that you should not use olive oil for high temperature frying/sautes. Not only is it a low temperature oil (it will smoke and burn at high temps), it can also be carcinogenic!

On a sad note, Kate is leaving us in PLG and Brooklyn at the end of October. Fortunately for her, she will be going to India at the end of the year to teach English! No doubt she will be eating and cooking (and teaching) her way through the country! Best of luck to you Kate! I feel fortunate to have been able to get to know you a little!!!!

THANKS KATE!

============= Coconut Corn Chowder =============
base:
1 can fatty coconut milk (no light stuff!)
3 tablespoons canola, peanut, or coconut oil (not olive oil! it’s just not right for this recipe!)
2 onions
5 cloves garlic
1-2 inches grated ginger
2 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
2-3 tsp salt
cilantro

optional, but yummy:
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
12 curry leaves

veggies!
3-4 ears of corn* (a must)

plus optional combos of these:
1-2 small zucchini
1 bell pepper of sorts
tomatoes are yummy
scallions or red onions
slivered collards, chard, kale

Coarsely chop your onions, garlic, and ginger.

Heat oil in the bottom of your medium sized soup pot, and add cumin, mustard, and chili flakes. Sauté until the seeds start to sputter and change color. (medium high heat) Add ginger, garlic, curry leaves and onions– Sauté until onions are translucent.

Pour in the coconut milk, plus 2 - 3 more cans of water. Add salt, turmeric, smoked or regular paprika. If you are cooking with collards or zucchini (half-inch cubes), add them at this point since they take a little longer to cook. Also, if you want to make this extra hearty, you could add a can of rinsed and strained chick peas at this point in time. Stir and cover, (medium heat), let broth bubble and infuse itself with yumminess for about 8 minutes.
While this is happening, shuck your corn, and with a sharp knife carefully sliver off the corn kernels from the  cob into a bowl. Mince your pepper into little cubes, tomatoes, onions, and chard or kale. Add all the veggies into the bubbling pot. And stir for just a minute, then turn off burner and remove from heat. This is what makes this soup delicious– crunchy, still tender vegetables. Do not overcook! Mince your cilantro, stir in it in, and Enjoy!

============= Kate’s Dressing =============
Do not cook with this. Simply dress steamed vegetables, tofu, or salads:

Find a clean jar or bottle.
Fill it 1/3 way with flax oil
Fill it 1/3 more with Bragg’s liquid aminos
Then 1/4 more with apple cider vinegar
Add 3 minced garlic cloves
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons black pepper

shake! keep in fridge.

This week we’re expecting the following veggies from Woodbridge Farm:

1 - Carrots
2 - Celery
3 - Garlic
4 - Basil
5 - Choice of other herbs
6 - Salad Greens
7 - Zucchini and/or Cucumbers
8 - Tomatoes
9 - Kale
10 - Beans
11 - Peppers or Eggplants
12 - Hot peppers

====================
COOKING DEMONSTRATION WITH KATE STRASSMAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
6:30 p.m.
MAPLE STREET SCHOOL
====================

START THE FALL THE RIGHT WAY BY
LEARNING SOMETHING NEW!

Schedule your share pick-up around this this excellent cooking demonstration with Kate Strassman, fellow CSAer and Chef Extraordinaire.

Learn new ways to cook with your CSA shares! Chef Kate will teach us how to make a vegan Coconut Corn Chowder and her favorite dressing for salads and veggies. We’ll sample these fabulous recipes and printouts will be provided for you to take home and try it for yourself. We’ll also post the recipes on this site after the event.

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About Kate Strassman:
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Kate Strassman is the founder and chef of Kate’s Renegade Aboveground Kitchen (K.R.A.K.), a successful experiment in vegetarian fine dining. K.R.A.K. operates like a speakeasy, but in the end it is just a dinner party where Alice Waters meets Alice in Wonderland. Check out her website (complete with beautiful food photographs) at http://chezkate.com.

Kate has spent time volunteering in public schools here in Flatbush and Crown Heights, working on photography and writing projects with students. This winter she is moving to South India to teach English. Kate is part of the Lincoln Road community garden, where she has learned all sorts of farming skills from her Jamaican and Guyanese neighbors.

See you there!

We got more plums than you can shake a stick at. And they are tasty. But, if eating them fresh is getting a little old, our CSA members also submitted these recipes.

From Heidi:
A co-worker says this is her all-time favorite plum recipe.

Plum and almond cobbler Gourmet | May 1995
Serves 12.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 pounds prune plums or other plums, pitted and quartered
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt3/4 cup sliced almonds
1 large egg, beaten lightly

Preparation
In a large bowl whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon and add plums, lemon juice, and butter. Toss mixture well and spoon into a shallow 3-quart baking dish.Preheat oven to 375°F.

I used to think that bacon was just another pork product. That is until I read an article in the New York Times Magazine a couple of years ago about a very special bacon smoked here in NYC by Schaller and Weber on 86th and 2nd Ave. The article was accompanied by a very nice detail shot of some beautiful bacon

After reading said article, we acquired some of this pretty pork and true to the photo, it is the best bacon I have ever had. It is double smoked and does not come precut so you can cut it however you like, for whatever meal you are going to need it for. Seriously, after eating it, I thought about it for the rest of the day. Some people might find it too strong, but I find the smoke, fat, salt and meat combo just to my liking. It’s not like your storebought bacon–mostly fat. It is like the American version of pancetta or something.

The most recent issue of Cooks Illustrated reviewed artisanal Applewood smoked bacon. They ranked Vande Rose Farms Artisan Dry Cured Bacon their highly recommended pick. But it’s $14 for 12 ounces plus shipping ($20). Schaller and Weber’s bacon is roughly $10/pound. Plus they have some meat stick thing called TV Snack. Picture it to be a nice german Slim Jim.

Anyway, I’m not really writing about just bacon (but I have been thinking about it a lot). Really, I am writing to pass along a recipe for Kale/Chard that is cooked with bacon since our CSA has been getting the kale/chard combo consistently throughout the season.

This recipe takes about 15-20 minutes to make. It’s really tasty. If you don’t eat bacon for whatever reason, I can’t help you–it wouldn’t be the same without it. We discovered variations of this recipe in both summer issues of Gourmet and Bon Appetit.

I short, it goes something like this:

Garlic
Kale
Bacon
Pasta (Preferrably ziti, penne, farfalle, etc.)

Cook some bacon and set aside. In about 2-3 tablespoons of the bacon oil, saute the garlic and add the kale or chard. Add a little crushed red pepper. Cook until it’s tender. Meanwhile, cook the pasta til al dente. Slice bacon into 1/2 inch piece and throw it in the pan when the kale/chard is almost done. Add to pasta and grate some cheese over it. You can also squeeze lemon over the whole mess for a nice finish.

Easy! Tasty! The end

Garlic scapes are enjoying a new-found popularity. We got some in this week’s share. Not a whole lot, but enough to enjoy. The New York Times posted an article today on the virtues of The Scape (and garlic in general).

There is a recipe for White Bean and Garlic Scape dip that only requires 3-4 scapes that sounds awesome. My mother pickles them in soy sauce for a little seasonal ban chan dish.

Eat ‘em and enjoy ‘em while you can!