WEEK OF JULY 18^TH

The tomatoes are starting to turn.  We picked the first one for dinner on Friday.  Our squash and cucumbers are in bloom.  Fennel, cabbage, and broccoli are starting to mature.  The beans and potatoes will be around for several weeks to come. We finished harvesting all the garlic this past week.  We will let it dry and divide up the best looking bulbs to plant this coming fall for next years harvest.  For now your share will have garlic each week until our supply gets low.  During this time of year I try to cook with produce from the garden every day of the week.  I am always looking at recipes for inspiration on different ways of preparing the summer bounty.  Below are some ideas for this week’s bounty.

Whole Roasted Garlic:  Break the cloves of garlic apart and remove the out layer of skin.  Place the cloves on a piece of foil and drizzle with olive oil.  Fold the foil around the cloves and place in the oven/toaster oven.  Bake at 350 for thirty minutes or until golden brown.  Roasting fresh garlic is great and you can put it in anything like pasta, pizza, or spread it on some crusty French bread with butter. 

Vegetable Ragout with a Basil Cream Sauce:

Cube 1 pound of potatoes and lightly fry in two tablespoons of oil.  While the potatoes cook, cut off the tops of the green beans and then cut them in half on the diagonal.  Once the potatoes have browned add ½  cup water with a teaspoon of veg or chicken stock concentrate.  Cook on low until liquid reduced by half.  Take off heat and add ¼  cup cream.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add the green beans and stir.  For the basil cream sauce put ½  cup sour cream and ½  cup fresh basil leaves, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in the Cuisinart and puree.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Drizzle the sauce over the ragout.  This makes a great side dish or mix with cooked pasta and some Italian sausage.