Vegetables

Roasted Garlic Zucchini Dip

August 5, 2011 By Valerie in the Gallery Leave a Comment

Freshly picked garlic from Loon Organics

8 More days until the Garlic Festival here in Hutch. It is all things garlic this month here at Clay Coyote. We will be featuring our tastiest garlic recipes prepared with our favorite Clay Coyote pieces. I will be creating my dishes from my weekly produce box from Loon Organics. I was inspired to create this dish after a recent discussion on different methods of preparing baba ghanoush. I thought, “Zucchini might be a tasty alternative to eggplant.” Mmm mmmmmm I was right! I had previously roasted and then frozen multiple heads of garlic, so this recipe was prepared in less than 10 minutes.
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Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Featured, Potter's Life, Recipes, Vegetables Tagged With: clay, clay coyote, clay pot, Clay Pot Cooking, cooking, cooking with clay, garlic, garlic festival, garlic recipe, garlic roaster, homemade vinegar, hutchinson garlic festival, hutchinson mn, local food, loon organics, Minnesota, organic recipe, roasted garlic, slow food movement, vegan recipe, vegetarian dish, vegetarian recipe, Vinegar, vinegar crock

August is Garlic Month at Clay Coyote

August 3, 2011 By Valerie in the Gallery 2 Comments

Ellen, Toby and I in the field

This week at Loon Organics, we harvested part of the garlic crop. As I sat in the sunny field and rubbed the dirt from each head, I developed a new appreciation for this little allium. “Nothing is easy about garlic.” I heard Adam say as he moved down a row, rhythmically pulling head after head from the dirt. I was quick to understand why. The heads don’t give up easily. Sometimes they stay in the ground, and all you come up with is the top of the plant. The pitchfork is then used to free the garlic. After each head has been cleaned, they are loaded onto the wagon and escorted by Toby back to the barn for drying. Up the ladder and into the loft of the barn they are lined up to dry. Hearty German, Music, and Red Chesnok varieties of garlic filled the warm air inside the barn with their fragrances. I biked home that day winged with green garlic stalks bursting from my backpack.
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Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Recipes, Vegetables Tagged With: art, clay, clay coyote, clay pot, cooking, cooking with clay, foodie pots, garlic, garlic festival, garlic harvesting, garlic icecream, garlic recipe, hutchinson mn, local food, loon organics, Minnesota, pesto recipe

Fennel, Scallion, and Egg Spread

July 23, 2011 By Valerie in the Gallery Leave a Comment

I have taken a hiatus from my oven during our recent heat wave. After working outside, the last place I want to be is over my hot stove. This makes menu planning for week 5 a new type of challenge. Use my entire box, 2 dozen farm fresh eggs, heat up the house as little as possible, and create a flavor explosion for my mouth. Week 5′s box is packed full of old friends, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and cucumber, to name a few. There is also a stranger in the midst. Fennel. I did a little research and discovered Fennel dates all the way back to 500 BC. The Greek word for fennel is marathon. The Battle of Marathon was fought on a field of fennel. This hardy perennial flavors absinthe, wards off fleas, and helps soothe digestive troubles. Prometheus brought fire to man in a fennel stalk. Impressive herb! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Clay Pot Cooking, Recipes, Vegetables Tagged With: clay coyote, clay pot, Clay Pot Cooking, cooking, cooking with clay, cookware, csa box, egg salad, fennel, flameware, foodie pots, greek history, greek yogurt, homemade vinegar, hutchinson mn, local food, loon organics, organic produce, scallions, stovetop, vegetarian dish, vegetarian recipe, Vinegar, vinegar crock

Swiss Chard and Carmelized Onion Tacos

July 21, 2011 By Valerie in the Gallery Leave a Comment

I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to do a work share at Loon Organics, a CSA just outside of Hutch.(aka Hutchinson, Minnesota) In exchange for a little hard work and sweat, I receive an entire box full of delicious, organic vegetables every week. The gratification I experience from working outside is something I get to take with me as well. I am challenging myself to use the entire contents of each box. This takes a bit of planning, preparation, and research. Until this week, I had never used a garlic scape. I didn’t know of the existence of a Japanese salad turnip, and I had never truly considered the value in properly storing my produce. I have a cookbook from Featherstone CSA near Rushford, Minnesota. This book contains storing techniques, recipes, and other useful information about a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. I have linked the ingredients in this week’s recipe to their website for storage techniques. I would recommend picking up your own copy of Tastes from Valley to Bluff: The Featherstone Farm Cookbook.

This is a recipe from Loon’s first week newsletter. Its combination of Swiss Chard and garlic scapes makes for a healthy, satisfying, head bobbing good meal. You can always add a grilled chicken breast to please the carnivores at your table. It was prepared entirely in my Flameware Skillet.

Swiss Chard and Caramelized Onion Tacos
1 bunch of Swiss chard, thick lower stems removed (or sub spinach for chard)
1 1/2 tbl. oil or bacon drippings
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 bunch garlic scapes, finely chopped
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth Salt
12 warm corn tortillas
1 cup (4 ounces) Queso Fresco or other fresh cheese such as feta or goat cheese
Salsa for serving

Slice the chard into 1/2-inch ribbons. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion then cook until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. To the onions add the red pepper flakes and garlic. Stir for about 20 seconds until you are hit with the aroma of the garlic then immediately add the broth or water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the greens. Adjust the heat to medium-low then cover the skillet. Cook until the greens are almost tender.
For Swiss chard this will be about 5 minutes. Spinach only takes about 2 minutes. Uncover the pan, adjust the heat to medium-high then cook until the juices have reduced significantly and merely glaze the greens. Taste and add salt if you think it needs it. Serve with the corn tortillas, crumbled fresh cheese, and salsa.

Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Clay Pot Cooking, Easy and Quick Meals, Recipes, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: ceramic skillet, clay, clay coyote, clay pot, Clay Pot Cooking, cooking, cooking with clay, couscous, csa minnesota, garlic scape, hutchinson mn, local agriculture, local food, loon organics, Minnesota, stovetop, swiss chard, taco

… and the Tagine Recipe Contest winner is:

May 2, 2011 By Valerie in the Gallery Leave a Comment

Drum roll please…

Congratulations Sue Doeden!
“Moroccan Chickpea and Sweet Potato Tagine” has been chosen by our 3 judges as the winner of our tagine contest. Sue is a food writer, columnist, recipe developer, food photographer, and culinary instructor from Bemidji. You can view other recipes she has created on her All About Food Blog. This is a favorite dish in her “Meatless Menu” cooking classes. Our judges described it as having a smooth, sweet, and tangy flavor with a spicy bite at the end.

2012 TAGINE CONTEST
For details on the 2012 Tagine Contest, please click here.

Moroccan Chickpea and Sweet Potato Tagine

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
2 carrots, chopped
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons peeled, minced ginger root
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained, or 1 1/2 cups cooked
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, minced, for serving
1/4 cup dried apricots, sliced thin, for serving
1/4 cup golden raisins, for serving
8 ounces whole wheat Israeli couscous, uncooked
2 cups vegetable broth or water

Preheat your tagine over medium high heat. Add oil, onions and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender and golden, about eight minutes. Meanwhile, toast coriander and cumin in a small pan over medium heat, stirring until fragrant. Remove from heat. Transfer toasted seeds to coffee grinder and grind into a powder. Transfer ground cumin and coriander to a small bowl, then stir together with turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper. Add ginger and garlic to the onions, then stir in the spices and cook another three to five minutes to let the spices color the onions, stirring to prevent garlic from burning.

Add sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and tomatoes and stir to blend. Add 2 cups vegetable broth and simmer about 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are fork-tender. Check stew and add more vegetable broth as needed.

Meanwhile, in another pot, bring 2 cups vegetable broth to a boil. Stir in whole wheat Israeli couscous, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until liquid is almost gone. Stir and serve immediately with tagine. Offer cilantro, dried apricots and raisins at the table for diners to stir into the tagine. Serves six as a main course.

Visit the recipes of our other 2 finalists.

Moroccan Chicken with Tomatoes, Saffron, & Honey served with Spicy Couscous

Tagine aux Pruneaux

Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Clay Pot Cooking, Featured, Moroccan, Recipes, Tagine Contest March 2011, Tagines, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: clay, clay coyote, clay pot, Clay Pot Cooking, cooking, cooking with clay, cookware, couscous, flameware, foodie pots, local food, meatless menu, meatless monday, moroccan chick pea, stovetop, sue doeden, sweet potato tagine, tagine, tagine recipe, tagine winner, vegetarian dish, vegetarian recipe

Roasted Garlic Zucchini Dip

August is Garlic Month at Clay Coyote

Fennel, Scallion, and Egg Spread

Swiss Chard and Carmelized Onion Tacos

… and the Tagine Recipe Contest winner is:

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