Squashing Around

This year has been a tough one for many farmers’ across Missouri. Floods, heavy rain, damaging winds and then more flooding has caused many farmers’ to loose their vegetable crops, meaning their farmers’ market business well also suffer this season.

But there are many folks that have salvaged their gardens or vegetable operations. I attended the recent Fahrmeier Field Day Monday for work and received a bountiful basket of fresh produce from the Fahrmeier family that included, tomatoes, squash, zucchini and raspberries.

My garden is almost ready to provide me with some wonderful squash, but I’ll still have to wait about another two weeks for tomatoes.

Reminder: Get out to your local Missouri Farmers' Market this season and enjoy the wide variety of produce and talking with the producers.

Here’s a new recipe for squash that I know you will all enjoy!

Italian Summer Squash

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

5 tablespoons olive oil

salt and ground black pepper to taste

2-1/2 tablespoons chopped dill (use the feathery portions only)

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

3 pattypan squash - trimmed and cut into

1/2 inch thick slices

3 zucchini, trimmed and cut into 3/4" thick slices

3 yellow (crookneck) squash, trimmed and cut into 3/4" thick slices

Combine lemon juice, oregano and garlic in a non-reactive bowl. Whisk in mustard and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the dill and feta cheese; set aside. Cook squash until tender, but not mushy. Carefully transfer squash to a serving plate. Stir dill and feta dressing to recombine, spoon over squash.

Back With Many New Recipes from Spain

Yes, I know it’s been a bit since I’ve posted and I do apologize but with being gone for three weeks in Spain put me a little behind in work when I arrived back. Thanks for the emails from some loyal readers, I appreciate the kind notes.

How was Spain? It was a wonderful experience that I will always remember. We walked up mountians, view world famous paintings and buildings, shopped at local farmers' markets for meat, fish and produce. From tours of palaces where I saw walls and ceilings of gold and beautiful paintings, fountains galore, to cathedrals that absolutely amazed me by the treasures that laid inside and not to mention the best part of all- THE TAPAS! View my photos from Spain.

Tapas, you ask? Tapas are snacks, canapés or finger food. Tapas come in many different forms and can vary from town to town! But, what are they?

Tapas can be practically anything from a chunk of tuna, cocktail onion and an olive skewered on a long toothpick to meat with sauce served piping hot in a miniature clay dish or even a plate of olives. They are served day in and day out in every bar and café in Spain. So much a part of the culture and social scene that the Spanish people invented the verb tapear which means to go and eat tapas!

In most regions of Spain one tapa is complimentary with each round of drinks ordered. Tapas keep the Spanish fueled for their long journeys from bar to bar before their mid-day meal and in the evening before dinner. (I think I will start serving tapas when we have friends over more often, you can almost fill up on them.)

We really enjoyed sharing in the culture of the Spanish and with my husband’s family who all live outside and surrounding towns of Madrid. We traveled, we ate (a lot), we met family we had never met and learned so much! It was a wonderful experience that we will always cherish.
Spain also showed me a new appreciation for new tastes to draw upon to create new recipes which I will be sharing. Today, I’ll pull out one of my favorite recipes from Spain that we had with dinner almost everyday – A Spanish Salad. No, salad dressing on Spanish Salads- just olive oil and vinegar.

Spanish Salad

Lettuce (two kinds if your prefer)

1 tomato, sliced

Spanish Olives

3 green onions (scallions), chopped with tops

A little cracked black pepper

Place on large plate. Drizzle with a good olive oil and some vinegar, don’t use too much though. (I also like to use red wine vinegar.)

Simple recipe that is also good for you. In Spain you sit this salad in the middle of the table and everyone eats from the plate, no salad bowls. It’s kinda fun!

Spain Here We Come

My husband and I leave tomorrow morning for a long awaited vacation in Spain. A three week vacation to be exact.

Why Spain? Well, as you've probably read on my blog before, my husband's mother was born and raised in Madrid, Spain. She moved over to the US after marrying my husband's father. They live now in Mt. Vernon, MO.

We are traveling over to Spain with my in-laws and will have the opportunity to meet my husband's family in Spain, which will also be their first time he will meet his family in Spain as well.

We are very excited and have been packing for about a week now. My lovely girlfriends are taking care of our "kids" while we are away, as well as watering my gardens and flowers. Thank goodness for great friends.

I will not be posting anything on the blog until June 13, when I return from vacation, so here's a recipe to leave you with.

Simple Marinade

1/4 cup of soy sauce

1/2 cup of water

1 tbs. brown sugar

1/2 garlic clove

1/2 tsp. of ginger

Mix ingredients. Add meat and turn occasionally for best results. Marinade 6 hours in refrigerator. Broil or grill.

Friendship 4-Ever

I am very fortunate to have a group of very good friends. It’s funny how we develop and grow our group of friends through the years. I have high school friends, college friends, work friends and then friends that have come into my life many other ways.

(PHOTO: Lane, Ginger, Tyne and Kala at MU Graduation.)

One of my best friends, Lesley, is now married to a wonderful guy and just finished up her Masters in Oklahoma. She was my maid of honor in my wedding and I in her wedding. Although she doesn’t live close, she remains one of the true people that know me and who I am.

Then there are my three girlfriends that I am constantly with as they live close by. Kala, Danielle and Tyne I met all through my previous job at the Brownfield Farm Radio Network. These three girls mean very much to me. We are together as much as possible, but that is getting ready to change…why?

Well, Tyne finally graduated from MU this past weekend. It was kinda strange at graduation- watching her graduate finally because I first met her when she came to Brownfield for an internship. She was a little sophomore in college then, now she is a graduate that will be starting at Monsanto in June. Where does the time go?

Wherever the time goes, I’m very fortunate to have a wonderful group of friends in my life.

To celebrate my very wonderful friends here’s a recipe that’s perfect for any summer BBQ with friends.

BBQ Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts
1 cup of Your Favorite BBQ Sauce
¼ cup beer
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp. lime chipotle powder

Mix everything together. Place chicken in a bowl with the mixture. Let chicken marinate for at least 2 hours.

Get grill nice and hot and grill ‘em up.

Umm..so good.

Beef Stir-Fry with Snap Peas

Here’s a new recipe I tried a couple weeks ago that’s quick and easy to make and not to mention healthy!

This meal took me about 28 minutes to make and was really worth it. My husband and I love homemade stir-fry that we can cook together. You can also use shrimp for this recipe instead of beef.

(This photo isn’t mine, as it’s from Marth Stewart's Everyday Food. My photo didn’t do this recipe justice, so I’ll let the professionals take this one.)

Beef Stir-Fry with Snap Peas

From Everyday Food

Serves 4

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced crosswise, halved if long

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

12 ounces snap peas, strings removed

5 to 6 scallions, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced diagonally

1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (depends on how spicy you like it)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 1 lime)

In a medium saucepan with a lid, bring 2 cups salted water to a boil. Add rice; return to a boil. Stir once, and reduce to a simmer. Cover, and cook until rice is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand, covered, 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. (*Don't stir you rice when it begins to cook, that breaks the starch down and you'll get mushy rice.)

Ten minutes before rice is done, place steak in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with cornstarch, and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Cook half the steak until browned on one side, 1 to 2 minutes (steak will cook further in step 3); transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining beef.

Add snap peas, white part of scallions, ginger, red-pepper flakes, and 3/4 cup water to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook until snap peas turn bright green, 1 to 2 minutes. Return steak to skillet until cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and mix in green part of scallions and lime juice. Serve with rice.

Spring Asparagus Pasta

Ahhhhh……Spring is in the air and the thought of fresh produce is just around the corner. Farmers’ markets have some produce right now, but in about three weeks lots of produce and fruits will be ripe for the pickin’.

I spent the past weekend on the farm with my parents. My husband was at Table Rock Lake pre-fishing for a tournament he has this weekend. So, me and the kids (Rudy & Liz) made our way to the farm on Thursday night. Lots went on this weekend….

My hometown farmers’ market celebrated it’s opening ceremony this past weekend and I attended. I also visited the Simpson Strawberry Farm to tour the family’s farm/Agritourism operation. My mother and I painted one of the bathrooms my parent’s are remodeling. (My parents are crazy. Seriously. They are building a lake house, remodeling their house on the farm, putting in a HUGE garden, trying to keep up with our registered Charolais and Angus cattle and landscaping the front of the farm house.) Why on earth would anyone put all of this on their shoulders at once I don’t know. But, they are.

My mother was very thankful I came down and helped her paint. She is already planning the next room she wants to paint…God love her!

I do have a point to all of this….this weekend was about the most relaxing I’ve had a quite awhile. One main part I love about going to the farm- no cell phone service! Peace, quite…all you hear is the cows moo-ing and the birds singing. Oh, one more thing I love about my parents house- no internet. Even when I want to check my email, I can’t. How wonderful is that!

Here’s a recipe that’s in-season right now that makes a great weeknight meal. Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

Spring Asparagus Pasta
2 lbs. of asparagus
salt for water
2 T. olive oil
8 cloves garlic shaved thin and then julienned
1 C. shallots peeled and julienned
pinch of crushed red peppers
2 lemons juiced
3/4 C. fresh chives chopped fine
1 lb. angel hair pasta
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese freshly grated

Rinse the asparagus and remove the bottom inch of the stem. Cut the tips into 2 inch pieces. Cut the remaining piece julienned. Set the asparagus aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes in olive oil, until tender but not browned. Add the lemon juice and reduce by half.

Drop the pasta and the asparagus tips into the boiling water. Cook until the pasta is ala dente, about 3 - 4 minutes. Drain for a few minutes and add to the pan.

While the pasta is cooking add the remaining asparagus to the pan with the shallots and saute until they begin to wilt. Toss in the chives, the pasta and cook until the remaining water has evaporated. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from heat and add the Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Serves 4 - 6.

Shrimp Tonight

Do you ever wonder where the time goes? I never seem to have enough hours in the day to do everything I want to.

Yesterday, I was off work. I thought the day was going to be rainy and nasty out, but instead the sun came out and it was the perfect day for me to get some more yard work done.

I have a very large vegetable garden, plus a fair-sized herb garden. I start a lot of my herbs early in a starter tray for transplants. Then I buy my tomato and pepper plants from the Cole County Masters Gardeners Plant Sale. Why don’t I grow my own tomato and pepper plants….simple: I am a Master Gardner and I spend about 35 hours between Feb-April in our greenhouse in Jeff City starting seeds, transplanting and caring for plants in our greenhouse, so I really do grow tomato and pepper plants.

Today, I separated out my purple basil, lemon basil and then changed out the dirt in all my containers. Plus, I had my husband pick-up mulch on his way home to mulch all the landscape around the house, which we did when he got home.

I also had to lay plastic all over my herb garden and mulch it as well. (Yes, I’m getting lazy…the plastic will now make it so I don’t have to worry about weeding it.)

Somewhere in the middle of all of this I whipped up an old stand-by recipe for dinner tonight:

Shrimp Scampi & Lemon Spaghetti
by Lane
Salt
1 pound spaghetti
4 T. butter
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or just use garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 lemons, juiced and zested or 4 T. lemon juice
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmigianino Reggiano
Parsley and basil flakes, ½ tsp of each

Bring your pasta to a boil and be sure to salt it. Cook according to directions.

In another pot melt butter, garlic and red pepper flakes. After the pasta has boil for about 8 minutes add a cup of the water from the pasta water to the butter mixture. Add cream and lemon juice and season with all seasonings (to suit your own taste). Remove from heat and add cheese and toss mixture with the drained pasta. Let the pasta and sauce sit, tossing occasionally.

While sauce is setting….cook your shrimp.

Shrimp Scampi
1 pound raw shrimp, shells and tails removed
1 T. parsley
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
3 T. butter
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

Heat large skillet and belt the butter. Add shrimp, peppers and season with seasonings. Cook and toss shrimp around to coat with butter. Cook until shrimp are pink. DO NOT OVERCOOK SHRIMP.

Remove and drain excess butter from shrimp.Give pasta one more last toss and plate some and top it with some shrimp.Serve with crusty French bread and salad. Makes great leftovers! and salad. Makes great leftovers!