Cooking with LMNO

[LMNO]

It's genetic, what can I say?

[Suu]

He was talking about the hat.

[LMNO]

Swiss Chard with Sausage Stuffing

The Farmer's Market is officially open.  So, grab some Chard, and trim & dice the stem. Blanch the leaves for 30 seconds in boiling water, then shock them in ice water and let dry.



Tear some bread into tiny chunks, and moisten them with a bit of milk.



Fry up some Italian sausage.  Shown here: a mix of hot and sweet.



Chop onion and garlic, and sauté with the chard stems.




Add the whole thing to the bread mixture.



Throw in a beaten egg.



Put some of the mix into the wide end of a chard leaf, and roll it up into a pouch. Repeat.



Place the rolls into a Dutch oven.



Drizzle some olive oil over the tops, and add some stock to keep them moist.  Roast them, uncovered at 350 for about half an hour.



Serve with, I dunno, the quinoas and corn salad I made a while back.

[Raphaella]

This thread is always so great! Sucks I have not been here in a while, but now I can look through the back pages and get some really great ideas!
This Swiss Chard with Sausage Stuffing looks wonderful! I have never made anything with Chard before though, what do the stems taste like?

Also I need to look into getting a hold of some of those fiddelheads you cooked with a while back, those look amazing!

LMNO I have been meaning to ask you if you have ever cooked with squash blossoms? I was listening to a show on NPR the other day and they were describing all kinds of neat sounding ideas for them. They said they taste like squash perfume. 

[LMNO]

After the stems are minced and sauteed, they don't have a very strong flavor, especially mixed with the sausage.  It adds texture and a bit of depth to the stuffing.  Chard is basically a bitter green... less bitter than collards or mustard greens, more bitter than kale.  Needs blanching/braising first, but you don't have to cook the fuck out of it.

I think fiddlehead season is over.  You normally find them in the spring.

I haven't cooked with squash blossoms, no.  But I have eaten them, and they are good.

[Jenne]

I have--we have put them in an egg batter after filling them with a cheese-and-herb mixture and then deep-fried them.

Very delicious.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Wow, that looks fantastic, LMNO! Hot damn.

Have any recipes with grape leaves? Besides dolmathes? I have a backyard-full and it seems a shame to not eat any.

[Raphaella]

After the stems are minced and sauteed, they don't have a very strong flavor, especially mixed with the sausage.  It adds texture and a bit of depth to the stuffing.  Chard is basically a bitter green... less bitter than collards or mustard greens, more bitter than kale.  Needs blanching/braising first, but you don't have to cook the fuck out of it.

I think fiddlehead season is over.  You normally find them in the spring.

I haven't cooked with squash blossoms, no.  But I have eaten them, and they are good.

too bad about the fiddleheads, perhaps I'll catch them next season. I'll keep my eye out for some Chard though, sounds great.

Jenne, on the show I listened to they had made some of those, I really want to try that sometime.

[LMNO]

Grape leaves... Hmmm.  I don't have any offhand that i've done myself, but i did see one that is grape leaves wrapped around thyme-scented goat cheese, grilled.  That could be pretty good.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Goat-Cheese-in-Grape-Leaves-with-Tomato-and-Olive-Salad-108271

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That looks tasty!

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

No new foods lately?

I enjoy looking at your stuff.

[LMNO]

Some things.  I wanted to test them out.

Recently, we had a toasted orcchietta with grilled vegetables, scapes, and kale pesto.  It worked well, so next time I do it, I'll post pics.

[LMNO]

Toasted pasta with kale pesto and grilled vegetables   and sausage

The sun actually came out for a few days, so I was able to do some more grilling.

But first, the pesto.  You'll need to toast some walnuts.


Next, simmer chopped kale and stems for about 10 minutes, or until tender.


Toss the walnuts in a food processer with some garlic, and chop them up. Drain kale, and add to the mix.


Season to taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice, parmesan, and, in this case, mint.  Add olive oil while it's running until it reaches the texture you want.


So, for the grilling: What you see here are summer squash, zucchini, and scapes (baby garlic shoots, essentially).


Break out the grill pan, and char the scapes.


Do the same for the squash...


...and the sausage.


Ok, we're almost done.  Cook pasta until fairly "al dente".  They'll finish off cooking later.  NOTE: Normally, I use orecchiette, but the stupid grocery store didn't have any.  What you see here are medium-sized shells.


In a large pan, add a decent amount of olive oil over high heat, and when smoking, add the pasta.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.


Remove excess oil, and add the roasted bits.


At the last minute, add the pesto, and let it warm through.


Serve with more cheese!

[Kai]

mmmmmm

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

never seen pesto made with kale.
interesting.