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Thursday, June 3, 2010

First salad share

Picked up straight from Rosie Creek Farm, where they had been picked that morning:

I have no idea what that is in the bunch in the middle. I thought I'd either stir-fry it with garlic, or put it into soup. Most greens are okay like that. :)

I have been having fantastic salads with fancy oils and vinegars and fresh cheese, this time made with milk from Matanuska Creamery, which I purchased at local foods vendor extraordinaire, HomeGrown Market:

As always, I welcome any suggestions of what to do with whey!

Matanuska Creamery Milk:

12 comments:

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

Those greens in the middle look like ramps, also called wild leeks. You can do pretty much anything with them, as you figured out!

Whey: Bread, biscuits, crackers, pancakes... pretty much anything involving dough or batter. Just use the whey where you'd use water or milk.

You can also make mysost by boiling it down till it's thick, then it'll thicken more on cooling. This can take a while though.

Make a cheese sauce! Reduce the whey by half, grate in some cheddar, and a pinch of cayenne powder and cumin powder. Then sift in some flour while whisking. Start with a little bit of flour and stop when it's the consistency you want.

You can also add it to soups! Makes great soup stock. Chowders too. Clam chowder make with whey is soooooooo good!

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

Just sub the whey for the coconut cream. Or half of each. http://dingodavedelightfullydaringdelicacies.blogspot.com/2008/09/seafood-chowder.html

mdr said...

My suggestion for whey is to feed the dogs :-(
BTW, what is it?

mdr said...

For hot day meal:

1) green bean/barley/rice soup

2) sliced cucumber with salt/sugar/vinegar or lemon juice

mdr said...

One more:

sliced cold bean curd with soy sauce/sesame oil

With the other two, you have protein, fiber, calcium, C and more

Rena said...

Most CSAs offer a newsletter/recipe sheet along with their weekly offerings. You should offer to write it for them for a discount on your subscription! I used to get a great one from Mariquita Farms, but Dave didn't like all the bitter braising greens so I quit and used the money at the Farmer's Market instead.

The center looks like something from the mustard or kale family that has bolted, making it pretty tough and bitter. Braise it low and slow. I think it's kind of funny that they gave you bolted veggies, by the way, without bothering even to cut off the tough flower stems. But maybe Dave is right and they are akin to wild ramps.

Rena said...

Oh, and do you know anyone with pigs or maybe even chickens? They could probably feed the whey to their livestock.

Arvay said...

Thanks for the great suggestions, Dingo Dave!

Mudder: whey is the liquid part of the milk after you take out the curds that make cheese. What's wrong with trying to use it? It has residual protein and calcium. I'll probably use it to make bread this weekend.

As for that vegetable, I don't think it was any sort of leek because it didn't have a leek flavor. The flowers were actually tender and nice-tasting, like you sometimes get flowers with bok choy. I did have to feed all the tough, lower stems to Millie though.

Arvay said...

Oh, and they had no taste at all... like water. I don't know anyone with pigs who is close enough to make it worth while for just a gallon of whey. As for chickens... chickens drink whey?

mdr said...

So that is "whey". Just be sure it is not spoiled when days are hot.

The vegi looks fresh and nice, yes, feed the tough parts to Millie, her stomach can digest it better than human's.

Arvay said...

Mudder, it is okay to keep cheese at room temperature, but not whey. I put it in the fridge, like milk. :)

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

After looking at the pic again, I'm agreeing with those who say it's not ramps. Especially since you said there's no taste.

Oh, last comment about what to do with whey: just drink it straight-up!