My date with daikons

My husband brought home our latest box full of CSA goodies and along with some of the usual suspects – chard, mixed salad greens, broccoli, cabbage – we also received a bunch of what we determined were a new fangled variety of white carrots; something organic, natural and different, we thought. We decided to try these “white carrots” and while Will (smartly) took a danty little sample, I bit in whole heartedly, eagerly anticipating the sweet, crispness of a nice, fresh carrot. To our surprise, these “carrots” had a bitter pepper taste, more common with a radish and after some quick research online, I determined that my “white carrots,” were in fact daikons. One mystery solved, one left…what the heck do you do with a bunch of daikons??

After some additional Web searches I learned that daikons are common in Japanese cooking, particularly as an accompaniment to sushi. Apparently they’re also quite good pickled, and while both options sounded delicious (along with the suggestions I received on Facebook ranging from roasting them with pancetta or simmering in a Miso broth), I was hoping to avoid a run to the store and whip up something quickly with what I had on hand. I decided to get a bit creative with another recipe online for roasting radishes and turnips – and with my fresh bunch of turnips as well, with this recipe, I could kill two birds with one stone.

I peeled and cubed the turnips and radishes and added in some garlic and onion (though in my kitchen, garlic and onion are requirements for virtually all dishes so this should come as no surprise), tossed them in a roasting pan and topped with a mixture of olive oil, soy sauce, honey, mustard, white wine and oodles of fresh and dried herbs. And what a nice surprise this dish yielded! Not only did my house smell heavenly as everything roasted and simmered together, but the final results were a nice mixture of sweet and savory. After roasting for 45 minutes in the oven, the roots were both tender and well seasoned, flavored by the unique mixture.

While I was happy with my results with daikon for the first time, I’m anticipating receiving many more of these “white carrots.” What are some of your favorite methods for preparing daikons?

No Veggie Left Behind

SM and I went to the Hollywood Farmer's Market per our usual Saturday routine. Love, love, love this time of year! It's right when the markets are brimming with vegetables, but so much more to come and everyone is out and about enjoying the lovely Portland summer. However, the downside is I always buy way too much and I'm really trying to stick to my no vegetable left behind rule. So when I got home I found there were still vegetables I bought last week eagerly waiting to be cooked. What's a girl to do?

From last week, I had beets, fennel and some carrots waiting in the wings and this week I bought some cabbage, leeks and salmon (among other things, including more beets...I'm Polish, what can I say?). Hmm...what does this all add up to? Well, a delicious accident.

SM, who is Italian and my perennial dinner guest and life guest, is also in the beet fan club. So I quickly knew we had to beet it for dinner. I cut off the tops and bottoms of the beets, added a clove of garlic, so salt and a drizzle of olive oil and wrapped them in tin foil and popped them in our toaster oven @ 425 until tender (about 40). IMHO, there's really no better way to cook a beet. Shout out to Marcella Hazan for this revelation.

Made myself a gin martini to inspire the creative process <--This is a crucial step not to be missed.

I then grabbed the cabbage (used 1/4 head), 3 leeks, 2 carrots and 1 trimmed fennel and decided after a little braising they'd make a comfy and yummy bed for the salmon. Another crucial step besides the martini is to thoroughly clean the leeks. After cutting off the snaggles, and dark green leaves, cut the root horizontally and soaked in some cold water. Soil, be damned! I sliced up everything (leaving the carrots a bit thicker for texture), plopped them in a saute pan with some melted butter and 1 sprig of thyme and tarragon for about 4 minutes. I added 1 cup stock and let it simmer until the stock was absorbed. Set aside. Reheat and sprinkle with parsley before serving.

While I working on the braised veggies, I had another revelation (thank you, martini!). Horseradish cream sauce would complement all the elements quite nicely. I am addicted to Fage Greek style yogurt (1 cup), so pulled that, some heavy cream (1/3 cup) and prepared horseradish (1 TB or to taste) and some chopped chives (1/2 TB), courtesy of the herb garden. I mixed this all together and put in the fridge. Honestly it was a bit tart and recommend a little butter (1 TB).

After letting the salmon come to room temp, I seasoned it and pan fried it in butter with a bit of lemon, shallots and chives.

Served this over Israeli couscous, but any grain/small pasta would do.

I am really trying to amp up my cooking "UI." I come from a long line of cooks who focus too much on taste and not on presentation. I hope to break that habit. Posting a photo with each entry keeps me honest.

I layered the dish this way:
--couscous
--braised veggies
--salmon
-sauce
-beets, quartered and reassembled on the side

We enjoyed this with a bottle of Elk Cove Vineyard La Sirene. Nice light red that complemented, but didn't intimidate the dish.

Both SM and I enjoyed this dinner immensely and I am grateful that this blog is forcing me to record my happy accidents. :-)

What exactly is The Kohlrabi Diaries?

Farms, gardens and markets are full of some of the freshest – and sometimes, the most unusual – produce right now and all summer long. But just what can you do with all that kale and chard? How can you best use mixed greens so as to not eat salads every single day? Tomatoes are great, but how can you use cartons full of them on a weekly basis? Are squash blossoms really edible and/or usable? And what the heck is kohlrabi and what can you do with it?

In The Kohlrabi Diaries, we aim to put our own experiences with fresh, local ingredients on display, showcasing both our successes and missteps for others interested in finding ways to make it through a week’s worth of CSA goodies, produce from your farmers market or homegrown gifts from your own garden. We’re all learning together and look forward to hearing your experiences as well. So stay tuned as figure out the best way to use kohlrabi, as well as all the other bounties of the season!