Wild Things Farm

Well, they look like flying saucers anyway.  Once summer squash starts coming in boy howdy, you better keep your windows rolled up when you park your car around here.  Not that it might get stolen or anything like that, but somebody might throw some squash in there (it's a local joke) (well, maybe not too local.....)

Anyway, I really haven't taken the time to enjoy any summer squash so far this season, so the other night I got in early, around 8:30, so I thought "wow, I have time to cook".  I decided to attack one of the cool squashes I had been harvesting for a couple of weeks.  This is a rendition of a recipe I found on veggie ventures kitchen parade blogspot.  It's a stuffed ufo. 

First, I selected which one of the aliens would be invited to my oven.  I chose a pretty yellow one.  Next I retrieved my favorite paring knife and proceeded with the evening's main course. 

 I bet you're looking at that and thinking "what kind of countertop is that?"  It's an awesome slab of Crab Orchard stone, courtesy of my handy-dandy friend, Shane. 

Back to the squash.  Cut a circle out of the squash.  I pretty much followed the green circle.  Then take a spoon and scoop out the insides and put them aside for chopping.

 That little chopper is a great tool.  It's a Black and Decker and it sits on top of the cup and you press down on it and push one of the buttons on the front to make it go--easy to use, easy to clean up.

Put the squash and some onion, I used a green onion, in a pan with a drizzle of evoo.  Saute until tender, remove from heat, then mix it in with 1 T flour, egg, and about 1 oz of feta cheese. 

 The recipe makes 4 squashes and I was too tired to split one egg into 1/4's, so a whole egg went in the one squash.  The feta cheese I used had basil and tomatoes in it (courtesy of a friend who didn't like it). 

Stuff all this into the hollowed hole of the squash.  Pop into a 350 oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until the squash is tender.  I sauteed a chicken breast with sun dried tomatoes and added sour cream to make a sauce and browned a piece of polenta to accompany the flying saucer to my belly.  I felt like a queen eating something besides cereal for supper!

Okay, so I'm a magazine junkie.  My mom, two of my sisters, and one of my best friends share the same addiction.  While perusing the March 2009 issue of Southern Living (courtesy of Mom), I ran across an article for great recipes that had tasty Gulf Shrimp in them.  That statement, sadly, doesn't mean the same thing today. 

I did make an awesome find in the magazine though.  Southern Living is famous for their amazing recipes, and their recipe website is http://www.myrecipes.com/.  It looks very easy to use,and  has over 46,000 recipes and everyone knows you can't have too many recipes!

Just yesterday one of the "on-farm pickups" came to pick up her box and she told me about a great blogsite called A Veggie Venture and that address is:  http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/.  It's an upbeat site with yummy-sounding different vegetable recipes.  Today the author posted a recipe for "Toad in the Pattypan Hole" for breakfast.  After looking at more pattypan squash recipes, I'm going to try the stuffed pattypan squash tonight.  The squash are doing great in spite of the drought we're deep into around here.

Some of my favorite, well, memorable memories from childhood and motherhood involve blackberries.  It was a tradition during my childhood to gather up crisco cans, buckets, and whatever would hold a bunch of berries and head up the holler at my nanny's farm. 

We kids had no choice--we had to pick blackberries.  I don't remember any insect spray and I don't remember ticks.  I do, however, remember chiggers!  I started wearing fingernail polish at an early age (on the chigger bites that is).  

Fast forward to motherhood:  My youngest son and I made it a yearly ritual to go along the roadways where we lived to pick blackberries.  We lived way out in the country and all the roads were dead ends and gravel and we could pick gallons of berries within a stone's throw of the house.  We'd be sweating and itching and fighting bugs and I would always say "think about having a great blackberry pie in December".  He'd laugh and say that he could go right there with me!

Now, there are thornless blackberries on the farm.  I still can't get near them without being careful of the thorns even though they are thornless!  I found an awesome recipe for not a pie, but a crunch.  I love "crunches" with fresh berries whether cherries, blueberries, or blackberries.  Here's the recipe:

Fresh Fruit Crisp

2 cups fresh fruit, 3/4 cups sugar, 2T all purpose flour, 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (I use quick cooking), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

In a large bowl combine fruit, 3/4 cup sugar and 2 T flour.  Pour into a square baking pan (8x8 or so).  In a medium bowl combine 3/4 cup flour, oats, and brown sugar.  Cut in the butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle over the top.  Bake for 30-45 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

It's great with ICE CREAM!  It's also good nuked in the microwave the next day; it stays crispy!

Ok, so I'm a kitchen tool junkie.  I love anything to do with cooking and kitchen, whether old or new.  I've owned a wide assortment of kitchen tools from my favorite Kitchen Aid stand mixer to a Mr. Bacon Cooker (which I hated). 

One gadget that I had not procured until recently was a salad spinner.  I used to laugh at them and think they were frivolous until I began CSA farming.  A big majority of the crops that are delivered early in the season consist of lettuce, spinach, and other salad greens.  One of the most important parts of making a good salad is having dry greens to comprise the salad mixture so the dressing will stick to the greens.  Enter salad spinner!

My sisters and I went on a "sisters day out" a couple of months ago and one of the main attractions of our shopping was to secure the very best deal in a salad spinner.  I had tried paper towels, dish towels, letting it drain in a colander, but nothing works as great as a salad spinner.  Trust me, it's not a frivolous purchase if you like good salads. 

Anyway, we went to TJ Maxx and checked out the salad spinners.  They ranged in price from $7.99 to over $20.  I decided on a model that cost $9.99.

You simply wash your greens, place them in the colander part of the spinner, put the lid on, and push the red knob like spinning a top (I keep waiting for the whirring noise like a really cool top I had growing up).  After a few spins, check the greens, and oh my, are they fluffy and dry!  It's a miracle.....go get one now.  It's the basic ingredient for a great salad.

I was introduced to spaghetti squash about 20 years ago.  A friend of mine gave me one, told me how to cook it, shred it out, and gave suggestions on how to serve it.  I looked at that squash for about 6 weeks or maybe even 2 months, and sorry to say, I chickened out and it ended up going to waste. 

I've been growing spaghetti squash on the farm since the first gardening season here, and I love it.  I've introduced many people to this veggie, did everything I could to FORCE them to cook it, and most folks like it, but I think some people expect it to taste just like spaghetti and they are dissappointed---sorry, nothing tastes like freshly cooked pasta :)

I tricked my kids and their father into eating it one night.  I prepared the usual marinara sauce for one of my favorite dishes, spaghetti of course, and didn't tell them the noodles were spaghetti squash.  Everyone asked why the noodles were crunchy and I told them it was a vegetable.  They thought it was cool. 

The biggest drawback I've found with spaghetti squash is that they are so darn big that I almost hate to cut one just for one or two people.  This year I found seeds for small spaghetti squash--that's what the members are getting this year.  They are supposed to be the perfect size for a meal. 

Spaghetti squash is low in calories; a 1 cup serving has just over 40 calories.  It's also got other vitamins and nutrients in it such as 3% of the MDR (minimum daily requirement) of Vitamin A, 9% of Vitamin C, 1% Vitamin E, 2% Vitamin K, 4% Thiamin, 2% Riboflavin, 6% Niacin, 8% Vitamin B6, 3% Folate, and a few other things that don't really have a minimum daily requirement.  So, in addition to being easy to cook and fun to eat, it's good for you, too.

To prepare spaghetti squash, I just wash it off under tap water, poke holes all over it with a really sharp knife; make sure to get through the skin and about 1/2" deep into the squash---they make a real mess when they blow up in the microwave (trust me, I know).  Nuke it on high for 5-8 minutes, depending on the size of it.  You can periodically check it by gently squeezing; when it starts getting soft you can take it out.  Let it cool for a few minutes then cut it open longways.  Scoop out the seeds with a spoon then take a fork and start scraping out the fleshy part.  It will start making strands.  Get all the strands out then you're ready for a recipe.

Spaghetti Squash can be served as the noodles in spaghetti, served with an alfredo sauce, tossed with butter and garlic then sprinkled with parmesan cheese, and I like to make egg rolls with them.  Just substitute cooked spaghetti squash for the cabbage, bean sprouts, or whatever kind of "green" you use in your egg roll recipe--it's really tasty!

Spaghetti Squash is considered a "winter" squash, so it will be a while before any fresh ones are picked on the farm, but I'll be ready, parmesan in hand!

Remember when we were kids how disgusting broccoli was?  The only broccoli I remember being offered was the frozen stuff which I suppose remotely resembled broccoli.  The ONLY thing that made it palatable was the melted Velveeta on top.  I don't even remember anyone growing broccoli when I was a kid, come to think of it.

Broccoli is a member of the brassica family, along with cabbage, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower, to name a few.  Broccoli is a little tricky to grow, I must say.  It needs to be timed so it matures in cool weather, meaning spring or fall.  I've had more success with it in the fall (except last year, the broccoli didn't learn how to swim so it drowned a slow, terrible, slimy death (oops, sorry--I keep obsessing about all the rain last year)....back to the present.  The best broccoli I ever grew was in the spring, in a brand new garden bed that only gets about 6 hours of sun a day (the farm is at the foot of a mountain).  The plants were huge and the heads were awesome as well.

Broccoli is prone to those cabbage moth worms, but to take care of them, I spray Bt on the plants every few days and that usually takes care of the problem.  I've tried floating row covers, but somehow those moths always manage to get in there and lay their eggs so not only do I not know the moths are flying about right away, I'm usually greeted by a crowd of worms upon removing the cover from the crop.  Also, I think the row cover tends to make the plants too warm, making them tend to bolt quicker.  This year I've purchased diatomaceous earth which is supposed to kill these cabbage worms by slicing their skin and causing them to deydrate---I can't wait to see that!  (we gardeners get sadistic sometimes, you know.....)

Broccoli is one of the most nutritious veggies we can eat.  Broccoli is high in vitamins C, K, and A, as well as fiber.  It also contains several anti-cancer compounds, and a half-cup provides 52 mg of Vitamin C.  The benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if the vegetable is boiled more than ten minutes, so a slight nuke in the microwave or just eating it raw would be better than cooking it very much.  Studies have also shown that eating A LOT of broccoli slows down agressive prostate cancer (I'm not sure how much A LOT is) and broccoli is good for your heart.

Broccoli is great raw in a salad, or on a crudite plate with cauliflower (one of its cousins), carrots, celery, and kohlrabi----oh yes, and a big bowl of ranch dressing right in the middle for dipping!  It's also great in stir fries or lightly steamed with butter and salt, or cheese sauce. 

Recipes.....ah, recipes.  This broccoli salad is totally EXCEPTIONAL!  It simply won't last in the fridge (with me around, anyway).   It's from my favorite recipe site, Allrecipes.com, and here's the link to Bodacious Broccoli Salad.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!   I used a colby/cheddar mixed cheese because that's what I had in the fridge.  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bodacious-Broccoli-Salad/Detail.aspx

Yes, I said potatoes.  I bet you're thinking to yourself...potatoes, EVERYBODY knows about potatoes.  Do you?  Do you you really?

I checked out the website www.healthypotato.com and found gobs of useful information and recipes for the "lowly" potato. 

Did you know that potatoes rank really high on the list for several vitamins and nutrients, namely potassium, Vitamin C, and Vitamin B6? 

This table, found on the aforementioned website, lists foods considered "high" in Potatssium content.  ( A 5.3 ounce potato with skin on)

Food Source Potassium (mg)

Potato (1, 5.3 oz) 620
Banana (1 med) 400
Mushrooms (5 med) 300
Brussels Sprouts (4 lg) 290
Cantaloupe (1/4 med) 280
Orange (1 med) 260
Grapefruit (1/2 med) 220
Spinach (1 ½ c raw) 130

* USDA Standard Reference 18

Geez, I always ate a banana if I was getting leg cramps--think I'll go for a potato  next time!

Back in the early 2000's everyone went on the low-carb diet.  I agree that the diet works, but it soooo can't be healthy for you; all that fat and cholesterol....anyway, people shy away from potatoes because they are "starchy".  Well, here's what "healthy potato" has to say about the starch in 'taters:

Resistant Starch

Resistant starch is the starch that is ‘resistant’ to enzymatic digestion in the small intestine.  Resistant starch is found in foods such as potatoes,
legumes, bananas (especially under-ripe, slightly green bananas) and some unprocessed whole grains. Natural resistant starch is insoluble, is fermented in the large intestine and is a prebiotic fiber (i.e., it may stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria in the colon). Other types of resistant starch may be soluble or insoluble, and may or may not have prebiotic properties .

The physiological effects and potential health benefits of resistant starch have been studied in animals and humans for over 30 years.  Resistant starch appears to exert beneficial effects within the colon, as well as body-wide. Health benefits in the colon include enhanced laxation, extensive fermentation and the production of important short chain fatty acids and increased synthesis of a variety of “good” bacteria.

WOW!  That's a plus!  Have you checked out the stomach/ digestion /laxative aisles at the stores?  They are almost as large and comprehensive as the pain relievers and sinus areas.  If we ate more potatoes maybe we could get some good bugs going in our systems to help digest all the cra......uh, food that we eat each day!

Back to the website......

Potato Nutrition:

More than skin deep

A common misconception is that all of the potato’s nutrients are found in the skin. While the skin does contain approximately half of the total dietary fiber, the majority (> 50 percent) of the nutrients are found within the potato itself. As is true for most vegetables, cooking does impact the bioavailability of certain nutrients, particularly water-soluble vitamins and minerals, and nutrient loss is greatest when cooking involves water (boiling) and/or extended periods of time (baking). To maintain the most nutrition in a cooked potato, steaming and microwaving are best.

 If you need to get dinner on the table in minutes, try baking potatoes in the microwave. The key to great microwave baked potatoes is cutting a thin wedge, lengthwise, approximately 1/2-inch wide and 1 inch deep. This is done so the steam can fully escape from the potato, resulting in a dry and fluffy pulp.  (I didn't know that!)

On the farm there are 3 kinds of potatoes raised; Kennebec, Red Pontiac, and Yukon Gold.  Each of them has their virtues; I like the Red Pontiacs best harvested small and prepared as "new potatoes", whole.  The Kennebecs are good all purpose potatoes, good for mashing, frying, or baking.  The Yukon Gold are creamy and make great mashed potatoes.

Before you cut potatoes out of your diet to lose some weight, why not get moving and burn off some extra calories instead?  I would never recommend to cut down on chocolate.......

I just made the most awesome soup.  The recipe was on The Old Farmer's Almanac website.  There are many potatoes still in the cellar waiting to be a part of a meal (some will be seeds for this year's crop, but shhhhhh, don't say anything).

Anyway, the recipe goes like this.....

Take 3 pieces of bacon and cut into little pieces and saute in a large saucepan until they are crisp.  Drain off the grease.

Add 3 cups diced, peeled potatoes, 1 small onion, finely chopped, and 2 stalks celery, finely chopped.  Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.  Cover all this with water and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Pour 1 cup of flour onto a cutting board and in the middle of this add 1 slightly beaten egg and 1/2 tsp salt.  mix this up--I had to add a little water to make it moist enough to mix--and then cut it into little pieces to make "rivels".  They should be about the size of peas.  Drop them into the boiling soup and stir them in to keep them separated.  Add 2 cups milk and 3 tbs butter.  Cook for about 10 minutes more, until the rivels are done.  I added a pinch of sage to the pot. 

This is kind of  a cross between potato soup and chicken and dumplings, without the chicken.  I like it!.....A Lot!

P.S.  It's not very good as a leftover......

When I was a kid we had never heard of "fresh, raw spinach"; all we were ever offered was slimy canned stuff that mom had put some sort of meat (fat usually) to give it some kind of flavor.  I can remember choking it down just so I could get up from the table to continue playing barbie dolls or whatever I was doing when I was so "rudely interrupted" to eat supper at the table, with the family.  (imagine that!) 

In my early twenties I was introduced to fresh spinach--it's WONDERFUL!  It's got texture, a rich flavor, easy to grow, easy to prepare and it's one of the most nutritious veggies we can eat.  Here goes..... (USDA guidelines)

 In a 3.5 oz serving, you will get  

23 kcal of energy, .4 g of Sugars, 2.2 g of dietary fiber, .4g of fat, 2.2 g of protein, and the following percentages of the minimum recommended daily allowance of these nutrients:

Vitamin A- 52%
      beta-carotene
      lutein and zexanthin
Folate (Vit. B9) - 49%
Vitamin C - 47%
Vitamin E - 13%
Vitamin K - 460%
Calcium - 10%
Iron - 22%

(No wonder Popeye didn't need a can opener)

The best way to prepare spinach is to simply wash the leaves and spin them dry in your handy-dandy salad spinner (or pat with paper towels).  Spinach mixes well with most "usual" salad ingredients;  tomatoes,  cucmbers, onions, and.......bacon bits!  Blue cheese crumbles are tasty and honey mustard dressing complements the nutty-like flavor of the leaves.  It's also great on sandwiches instead of lettuce.   Sorry, but if you like it cooked you're on your own :)

Eat More Spinach!

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought it appropriate to highlight the most popular vegetable for this holiday, and that would be chocolate, of course. 

Chocolate is one of the most versatie veggies in the kitchen; well it's probably the one veggie that's eaten away from the kitchen more than in the kitchen.  It can be consumed "raw" at room temperature, or melted and combined with fruits, nuts, pretzels; just about anything you want is better dipped in chocolate.

Just like with the other vegetables, "they" say that the more colorful it is, the more vitamin and mineral-rich it is.  So it is with chocolate.  The dark chocolate has better health benefits than milk chocolate, but here are some of the virtues of chocolate: 

 Cacao, the source of chocolate, contains antibacterial agents that fight tooth decay. Of course, this is counteracted by the high sugar content of milk chocolate.

The smell of chocolate may increase theta brain waves, resulting in relaxation.

Chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine, a mild mood elevator (great post-argument).

The cocoa butter in chocolate contains oleic acid, a mono-unsaturated fat which may raise good cholesterol.

Drinking a cup of hot chocolate before meals may actually diminish appetite.

Men who eat chocolate live a year longer than those who don't.

The flavanoids in chocolate may help keep blood vessels elastic.

Chocolate increases antioxidant levels in the blood.

Mexican healers use chocolate to treat bronchitis and insect bites.

The carbohydrates in chocolate raise serotonin levels in the brain, resulting in a sense of well-being (woohoo!)

You might be saying to yourself that chocolate isn't a vegetable.  I beg to differ: If you check out the definition of chocolate on Wiki, this is what you'll see:

Chocolate is derived from the seeds of a fleshy pod from the fruit of the cacao tree. The scientific name of the cacao tree is Theobroma cacao, which means "food of the Gods" and it is classified as a vegetable.

By the way, by definition, fruits are vegetables. The fleshy part of the fruit of cacao is also edible. 

Now for the recipe:  Mexican Chocolate Chili

It's in the Allrecipes.com website and here's the link.

 http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mexican-Chocolate-Chili/Detail.aspx

Enjoy, and EAT MORE CHOCOLATE!  Don't you think the world would be a happier place if everybody ate chocolate every day? :)

Swiss Chard is a wonderful plant to grow in the garden.  Not only does it taste good, it's pretty as well.  At Wild Things there are several different varieties of Swiss Chard in the garden; Lucullus, Bright Lights, and Sea Foam are the three main varieties grown.  Lucullus is a very hardy plant, withstanding summer heat better than the other varieties, but Bright Lights is colorful and happy and "they" say that colorful veggies are the best choices for more nutrients. 

Swiss chard is one of the most nutritious veggies around.  It contains anthocyanins and fiber, which prevent colon and digestive cancers; iron, supporting the body's ability to utilize oxygen; vitamin A to protect your lungs and prevent heart disease; vitamin C to boost your immune function and protect against heart disease; vitamin K to keep bones strong and allow blood to clot. (whew!)

My favorite way to prepare Swiss Chard is to wash it, remove the stems, tear the leaves up, and eat them in a salad.  If you like fresh spinach salads, you'll like Swiss Chard salads.  It's thicker and meatier than spinach, and is great accompanied by the same things that like to go with spinach salads. 

Swiss Chard is also good sauteed lightly and added to recipes.   Swiss Chard may be substituted in a lot of recipes that call for spinach and many of the chefs on Food Network have been using Swiss Chard in their recipes, so I would suggest checking out their website for specific recipes.

The "vegucation" info in this blog was gleaned from Organic Gardening magazine, in the February/March 2009 issue.

I had my first experience with polenta about 8 years ago.  My oldest son had been on a backpacking trip and someone brought polenta for their meal and he wanted to make some.  He bought a 5 pound bag of cornmeal, got my biggest pot, mixed water with the entire bag, cooked it, and then it was supposed to go in the  fridge overnight.  I'm not exactly sure just how much polenta he made, but let's just say that it was probably the amount that a very busy restaurant, running polenta for the special of the day, would have made!  I let him "do his thing" and I finally had to throw the biggest majority of it out a week or so later. 

Back to the present.  I made a batch of polenta the other night.  I used 1 cup yellow cornmeal and 3 cups of water. I added a tsp of salt also.   Bring the water to a boil then slowly whisk in the cornmeal (so it won't make lumps).  Cook it for 10 or 15 minutes on med/low heat, until the meal is soft.  Pour the mixture into a greased round cake pan and press it down.  It goes in the fridge overnight.  You can also make like a sausage roll and wrap it in plastic, then slice it off as you need it. 

Polenta is kind of like rice or pasta; it's a good foundation for sauces, vegetables, or cheesy things.  That same son came by for lunch the other day and I sliced a couple of slices of polenta, browned them in a skillet, sautee'd a couple of slices of onion and a sliced poblano pepper in a tablespoon of Evoo, then threw a handful of spinach leaves just for the heck of it.  After the spinach was wilted, I served the grilled polenta topped with the sauteed veggies as a side dish to great northern beans I had cooked the day before.  He said it was fabulous!   I think it would be good to deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar also. 

You can also put cheese, garlic, or peppers in the polenta before it's cooled.  

If you've priced polenta at the store, then priced cornmeal and look at how simple it is to make, it's like a no-brainer.  Make your own!

p.s.  My son is a most excellent cook now :)

I've never been a big fan of pumpkin pie so I just lumped all "pumpkin things" in that same category.  WRONG!  A couple of years ago I tasted a pumpkin roll and oooooooo, I've never looked at a pumpkin the same way since.  This pumpkin roll is literally "to die for".  I must correct myself though--around here it's called a "Punkin' Roll".  That's easier to say, you know.

Punkin' Roll

Before you start, set out an 8 oz package of cream cheese and 4 tbs. butter (or margarine) so it will soften.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a mixing bowl beat three eggs for 5 minutes.  Don't cheat, it takes 5 minutes. If you want to know why, it's because the cake will resemble a sheet of rubber if you don't beat the eggs that long!  (Voice of experience speaking there)  Also, line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper then spray it with cooking oil spray (a jelly roll pan is a cookie sheet with little sides on it)

When the eggs are sufficiently beaten up, gradually add: 

1 cup white sugar (I didn't say it was a diet cake)

2/3 cup solid pack pumpkin.  If you are using fresh pumpkin as I did, cook and puree the pumpkin, put it in a colander to drain for about 30 minutes or it will be runny (voice of experience again)

Also add 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 3/4 cup plain flour, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. baking powder and 1 tsp. ground ginger.  When this is all blended, spread it in the jelly roll pan and put it in the oven for 12-15 minutes.   While the cake is baking sprinkle powdered sugar onto a clean dishtowel to put the cake on when it comes out of the oven. 

When the cake is done, (it is springy to the touch and doesn't stick to your finger) take it out of the oven and flip it onto the dishtowel (preferably not terry cloth).  While the cake is still hot roll the dishtowel and cake up from the narrow end into a jelly roll fashion.  Set it aside for 20 minutes to cool. 

While the cake is cooling, prepare the filling.  Mix the cream cheese, butter, 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla in a bowl.  Beat until smooth and creamy.  When the cake is cool, carefully unroll it out flat.

 Spread the filling all the way to the edges using a rubber spatula (there is usually just enough left over for a big glob to eat--yummy!)  After the filling is spread, roll the cake back up (without the towel, of course) and this is the most difficult part of the entire recipe.....wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight.  Yes, all night...but it's WONDERFUL with a cup of hot coffee!  Enjoy.

The members of the Wild Things CSA Farm get to enjoy "baby cabbages" rather than a full head of cabbage when it's in season.  A baby cabbage is just about the right size for a meal and you don't have all that cabbage left over to deal with for weeks on end (it seems like anyway).  Last night for supper I fixed Sweet and Sour Pork with Brown Rice and these yummy cabbage rolls.  A lot of people are afraid of using egg roll wrappers, but they are really not as scary as they seem. 

The ingredients and preparation are as follows:

1 head baby cabbage (green), sliced into thin slices, or about 2 cups of regular head cabbage, sliced

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1 carrot, grated

dash of soy sauce

dash of garlic powder

I used a pork chop left from supper the night before that I had put in the blender but you can use chicken or shrimp, or any kind of meat (I've never used beef, but I suppose it would be tasty).  A vegetarian cabbage roll would be perfectly fine too, you could add tofu maybe.....

Saute' all of these ingredients in either a wok or a frying pan until it's all limp, but not quite done (it will finish cooking in the wrapper)

Take an egg roll wrapper and lay it out on a flat surface.  I use a small bowl of water on the side to dampen my fingers then run them around the edges of the wrapper to moisten them.  Put a heaping spoon of the cabbage mixture in the middle of the wrapper (about 1/4 cup or so).  Fold the bottom third of the wrapper up over the cabbage and kind of tuck it in under the cabbage mixture then roll it all the way up and stick the top part of the wrapper to the roll.  Take the ends and mash them till the wrapper seals together then fold them over towards the middle about 1/2" or so and voila', you have a cabbage roll!  Roll all of them out; this recipe made 14 rolls.  You can keep the extra wrappers in the fridge and use them later.  They also freeze well.

Back to the rolls--heat up about 1/2-1" oil in a wok or frying pan (I used the same one from the cabbage mixture, just wipe it out).  If you use a wok it takes less oil.  Place the rolls in the oil, a couple at a time, and turn them when the bottom side gets brown.  It only takes a couple minutes to cook them.  Drain on paper towels and serve with duck sauce, sweet and sour sauce, hot mustard, or whatever you choose.