Chive and Tarragon Duck Egg Omelette

Herbs are in! It's always exciting to have the first flush of anything, and spring herbs are really special. They add fresh, flavorful dimensions to any dish, and egg dishes are especially suited to highlight the herbs used with them. You can use any herbs you choose, but we really like this combination of chives and tarragon. This recipe serves two hungry people.

Ingredients
Two sprigs tarragon
5-10 chives
Four duck eggs - five to six chicken eggs if you want to substitute
Olive oil, butter or bacon fat (for the pan)

        
Recipe
Put a skillet on the stove on medium-high. Put your cooking oil of choice in the pan.
Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat lightly. Strip the tarragon leaves from the stem and chop into about 1/2" pieces. Chop the chives more finely, to about 1/4". At this point you can mix the herbs into the eggs,where they will make beautiful green specks, or save them to go just in the middle (in the middle they will be just-warmed, not cooked, so you get more fresh-herb flavor).
When the oil is shimmering - but before it smokes - pour the beaten eggs into the skillet. Turn down to medium-low. If you like a gooey omelette, add your herb (or other) filling (see notes!) when the underside of the omelette just starts to brown and bubbles have come through to the top surface. If you like your eggs firmer, wait until the surface of the eggs loses its shiny look to add your filling.
Gently fold the top half of your omelette over onto the bottom half. If cheese was one of your additional fillings, wait a minute or two for it to melt. Otherwise, cut in half, serve, and enjoy!

Note: Other great fillings include cheese of any kind, sauteed spinach, mushrooms, nettles, or pea shoots, cooked bacon or sausage...the sky is pretty much the limit!

 

Spinach and Meatball Soup

This is a favorite in my (Ailish's) family. My parents made it a lot when I was growing up and, even though it had spinach in it (gasp, vegetables!), I always loved it. 

Ingredients
1 pound ground meat (we suggest pork!)
1 egg, beaten
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs (or GF bread crumbs; or mashed potato)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

6 cups stock or broth (my parents always used beef broth, but your favorite will work well)
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups dried pasta (or GF pasta) - usually ditalini, but other small pasta like orzo, stelline, etc. work well
Spinach, coarsely chopped - 1/2 pound if you want it spinach-lite, 1 pound if you loooove spinach

Recipe
Pour the stock and water into a soup pot and bring to a boil.
While the soup comes to a boil, combine meat, egg, garlic, cheese, bread crumbs, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Form into balls about 3/4 of an inch wide.
Once the soup boils, add the meat balls to the soup. 
After all the meat balls are in, add the pasta. 
Stir, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
When the pasta is done to your liking, add the spinach. Sometimes it is helpful to add it in batches so it all wilts promptly.
Once the spinach has wilted - serve!

For a vegetarian option, add diced potato (give it five or so minutes before adding pasta if you cut a large dice) or shiitake mushrooms (add with the pasta). 

Kohlrabi Hash Browns

Kohlrabi Hash Browns

From Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables.  By Farmer John Peterson and Angelic Organics via our customer Karen and her work at the FARMS Community Kitchen. Thanks Karen!        

Serves 4 to 5

Ingredients

• 4 medium kohlrabi bulbs (about 1 pound total)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• 2 tbsp. dried bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. dried red pepper flakes
• black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions

1. Peel and grate kohlrabi.  Wrap in dish towel and squeeze away excess water.
2. Combine eggs, onion, bread crumbs, salt, ginger, red pepper and black pepper in a large mixing bowl.  Blend together.
3. Add kohlrabi and mix together.
4. If desired, roll into 1 inch balls.   
5. Heat oil in large, heavy skillet.  Add kohlrabi mixture or balls to skillet.  Flatten the balls with spatula or continuously mix the mixture.  
6. When golden brown, flip the flattened balls.  (5 to 7 minutes per side)

Spinach Grilled Cheese

Ingredients:
A loosely packed cup of spinach
Your favorite cheese (that melts - I used a combination of Cabot Cheddar and Spring Day Creamery Blue)
Your favorite grilled cheese bread (I had a nice, light rye from Zu bakery handy)
Butter (or your preferred cooking oil)

Recipe:

You wouldn't think it, but there are definitely different ways of making grilled cheese. This is the way I (Ailish) make it. Ben makes it differently, and I will describe his variation.

1. Assemble your ingredients. Slice the bread. Slice the cheese so it will comfortably fit on the bread, and tear the spinach into smaller pieces if it looks like it won't sit comfortably on the bread either. You can also wilt the spinach first, and then it will drape nicely on top of the cheese.
2. Turn your skillet or griddle on to medium heat.
3. Butter the outer sides of each of your pieces of bread. Place one slice, buttered-side down, on the hot skillet. Quickly place the cheese, spinach, and other slice of bread - buttered-side up! - on top. 
4. Turn the skillet down to medium-low and cover the sandwich with a lid (this helps the cheese melt without burning the bread)
5. Check the bottom in a minute or two - when it is golden brown, flip the sandwich over completely. Cook on this side until golden brown. It should be another minute or two, and the cheese should be perfectly melty. 
6. Variations: Ben likes to make each half of his grilled cheese separately, by melting butter in a medium hot pan, and putting both slices of bread in at once. Usually, both slices get cheese and toppings, and then the lid, to hold in heat and melt the cheese faster. Check to make sure the bottoms aren't burning after a minute or so (turn down the temperature, if so. When the cheese is melted, pick up one half and flip it over onto the other half, making your sandwich complete.
7. More variations: add caramelized onions, a slice of ham....the options are endless!
8. Enjoy!

Ham Steaks and Gravy in the Crockpot

Fresh Ham Steaks and Gravy in the crock pot

Perfect for the crock pot or other slow cooker.

Ingredients

• 1 Whatley Farm organic fresh Ham Steak, cut into 2 pieces. Our ham steaks are large and equal 2 store-­bought steaks
• 1⁄4 cup butter
• 6 Tbsp flour (or equivalent gluten-free thickener - see this article in Bon Appetit for suggestions)
• 2 cups chicken or turkey stock – preferably homemade
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp celery seed
• 1 Tbsp "Rosemary's Italian Blend" from Gryffon Ridge Spice Merchants 
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped – or use dried mushrooms and rehydrate

Recipe

1. If you are using dried mushrooms, rehydrate in enough warm water to cover, until tender.
2. Warm the chicken stock.
3. In a large saute pan, melt the butter. Add flour and stir together. Cook on low, stirring constantly, until slightly golden. Slowly pour in the warmed stock, whisking to smooth out the lumps, until mixture is nice and thick. 
4. Add remaining ingredients – salt, pepper, chives, parsley, garlic, mushrooms. Stir sauce until well mixed. Adjust seasoning to taste.
5. Pour a little sauce into crock pot, place one piece of ham steak in crock pot, pour half of sauce over it, place second piece of steak in, pour remaining sauce.
6. Cook for at least 4 hours on high. It is done when the meat is tender and falls apart in large chunks. If you double this recipe you will need to increase the cooking time, as the bulk in the crock pot will slow down the cooking a bit.