Farm to Table: Chives, Red Potatoes, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Snow Peas

Happy Farm to Table Friday! This week’s dinner was hearty and delicious, with the mashed potatoes anchoring the meal (so good!). The potatoes also allowed us to add in some other veggies, making good use of all of our produce. We paired our dishes this week with chicken breasts that were brined and grilled. The brine kept the chicken very moist while grilling. Here’s what was on the menu this week:

Mashed Potatoes with Broccoli, Cauliflower & Bacon

Sour Cream with Chives

Snow Peas in Orange Ginger Butter

Grilled Chicken Breasts

From Bailey:
Mashed Potatoes with Broccoli, Cauliflower & Bacon
Sour Cream with Chives

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Bacon
• About 3 lbs of Red Potatoes
• 1 Head of Cauliflower
• 1 Head of Broccoli
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 bunch Chives
• Sour Cream
• 1 stick Butter
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Start by cooking the bacon in a pan until it’s crispy, let it cool then crumble it. You can do this right before you cook the rest or earlier in the day.

 

I started using two burners. On one start a large pot of boiling water for the potatoes. Chop them into quarters and, when the water is boiling, put in the potatoes. When they are soft when prodded with a fork they are done. You can peel the potatoes if you want to, either way will work.

On the other burner I started a steamer. First I cleaned and chopped up the head of cauliflower, then steamed the cauliflower until it was soft to a fork poke. Put the cauliflower in a large plastic bowl, then do the same thing with the head of broccoli. You don’t need to change the water in the steamer, just throw it in.

 

Take a potato masher ( I know, so old-fashioned, but I usually use an electric mixer and this time I used the old fashioned hand potato masher and loved the results! I’m a convert to manual) and mash up the steamed cauliflower really well.

Next add the steamed broccoli and mash it up. Then add the cooked potatoes and mash them into the broccoli/cauliflower mix. After the potatoes are mostly broken up, add a stick of butter and mix it in. Your mixture should have a pretty smooth consistency.

Next, add about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese and the bacon crumbles. You can add salt and pepper as well.

 

On the side dice up some chives and just mix them into some sour cream. I did about 1/4 cup of chives into about 3/4 cup of light sour cream. I served them on the side, so dollop away!

From Megan:
Snow Peas in Orange Ginger Butter

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups of Fresh Snow Peas (or Sugar Snap Peas)
• 1 small Ginger Root, peeled and grated
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• Orange Marmalade
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Black Pepper to taste

Trim the ends of the peas. Cook the peas in a small amount of salted, boiling water for about 3 minutes, then drain well. Your peas should still be crisp, don’t overcook them or they will get soggy (blech!)

 

While your peas are cooking, melt the butter in a pan, then add the grated ginger and cook for about a minute.

Next add a few spoonfuls of the orange marmalade, a splash of cider vinegar, and some pepper to taste. Stir the sauce until the marmalade has completed melted.

 

Pour the Orange Ginger Butter over the drained peas, and toss to coat. Serve immediately.