Green Market Quesadilla

Farmers Market season is back. Thank goodness. This time of year, there is an abundance of greens – young kale, chard, lettuces and cabbages – all so fresh and bright, they emit the aromas of spring’s sun and rain. You can taste the photosynthesis, they’re that fresh.

There are plenty of wonderful things to make with greens. Salads and sautés spring to mind. This quesadilla recipe is like baking them into a little present. Greens are sautéed beforehand to reduce their volume and remove some moisture.  Onion scapes add an additional layer of savory-sweetness, as well as texture.

I used Neighborly Farms Monterey Jack cheese and Grafton Cheddar, both from Vermont, but check your farmers market for local cheese artisans.

Green Market Quesadilla - serves 4 – 6

6 onion or garlic scapes, finely chopped
1 T olive oil
1 lb fresh young mixed greens – pepper greens, young kale, young chard, baby bok choy, etc
4 ounces Monterey Jack, grated
2 ounces Cheddar, grated
6 – 8 inch tortillas

Remove any tough stems from the greens. Loosely chop all greens. Combine the grated cheeses in a shallow dish.

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium. Add chopped scapes and sauté for 5 minutes until softened and bright green.

Add greens, cover and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Remove the cover and cook an additional 5 minutes, allowing excess moisture to evaporate off.

Preheat oven to 375.

Sauté scapes in olive oil for 3 min over medium heat. add greens and cook down until wilted and some moisture evaporates off – about 5 minutes.

To assemble each quesadilla, lay tortilla on a work surface and cover one half with a layer of cheese. Cover the cheese with greens.  Top the greens with more cheese. Fold the tortilla in half so that the bare side covers the stuff side.

Helpful hint: In order to evenly distribute the cheese and greens for each quesadilla, it helps to divide the cheese and greens into 6ths (see pic).

Arrange quesadillas on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Serve hot as an appetizer or main dish. Great to serve while watching the World Cup!

Ingredient origins: scapes and greens – Massachusetts; olive oil – Italy; Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses – Vermont; Tortillas -Rhode Island.

Stuffed Chicken Rolls

Boneless skinless chicken breast is known for being a good source of lean protein, which is just great for boneless skinless chicken breast. However, what lies behind this truth is a seedy underbelly: a mean reputation for being bland and dry. [Shriek!] I like to un-enhealthify things with that kind of reputation. It’s like I’ve said about wonderfully healthy, but sometimes un-loved vegetables like Brussels sprouts and beets: they just need a muse. Like cheese.

Goat cheese offers its tang and sun-dried tomatoes sweeten the deal. White wine makes a flavorful sauce. With the exception of the sauce, the last 15 minutes are spent in the oven, and once construction gets going it’s easy to double or triple the recipe, making this dish a valid contender for dinner parties. And people always seem impressed buy stuffed meats, don’t they?

Stuffed Chicken Rolls – serves 4

4 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 – 4 ounce log of goat cheese, sliced into medallions
4 sun-dried tomato pieces in olive oil (about 1 inch in length), diced
2 T olive oil, reserved from the tomatoes
1/2 t salt
1/2 C flour
1/2 C white wine
1 T butter

Mix four with salt in a shallow bowl and set aside.

Pound the chicken breasts to flatten. Place one medallion in the center of each. Top with diced sun-dried tomatoes.

Fold sides up around the cheese and tie like a present, using an 18 inch piece of kitchen string for each.

Dredge each parcel in flour and shake off the excess. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for ten minutes.

Heat the reserved olive oil in a 10 inch oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chicken rolls in pan, seam-side down to seal. Cook 5 – 7 minutes and, using tongs, carefully, carefully turn each piece. Allow to brown another 5 – 7 minutes, watching to be sure the cheese isn’t seeping through. If the cheese isn’t running out at this point, carefully sear the sides of each piece, using the tongs. Return each piece to their seam-side up positions (this will create a little bowl so that the cheese will not flow directly out.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake for 15- 20 minutes.

Remove from oven (Hot Tip: Wear your mitts on both hands from this point on so that you don’t accidentally grab the hot skillet handle! That thing stays hot for a good hour, depending on you pans. I may or may not know this from experience. A hot tip indeed, my friends. A hot tip indeed.) Gently shake the pan to loosen the chicken and transfer to a warmed plate. Carefully cut and remove the string.

Over medium heat on the stove top, deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up all the bits. Bring to a simmer and allow the the alcohol to cook off. Add a teaspoon of butter and swirl to thicken. Whisk together to form a sauce.

Top the chicken with the sauce and serve.

Ingredient origins: Organic chicken – Unknown; sun-dried tomatoes – California; olive oil – Italy; salt – Italy; flour – Vermont; white wine – California; capers – Italy

Filo Fish Pie

I eat a lot of fish. In fact, we belong to a Cape Ann Fresh Catch, a community supported fishery. It’s great and there’s often a quite a bit left over. I developed this recipe during our winter share, when we had a good amount of excess each week and I wanted to create a decadent and flavorful dish with the leftover cooked fish. For some reason, when I think decadent, I always think flaky.

Briny and sharp, feta adds satisfying tang to white fish. Flaky filo makes this dish reminiscent of burek (though not nearly as rich and fantastic – it’ll be a mighty day when I have the chops to pull off burek).

Filo Fish Pie – serves 4 – 6

1.5 lb cooked (poached or baked) cod, haddock, pollock or another round white fish
1/2 lb filo dough (about 20 sheets)
6 – 8 ounces feta cheese, diced
1/3 C olive oil

If starting with fresh fish as opposed to leftover, begin by baking or oven-poaching the fish at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. If poaching, I recommend using a combination of 1/2 C white wine and 1/2 C fish stock.

Remove any skin or pin bones from the fish.

Brushing each layer of filo dough with olive oil as you go, layer10 sheets (or half of a 1/2 lb. package) into baking dish Depending on the size, the sheets may need to be folded or overlapped to line the dish. It’s not a huge deal if it’s not perfect. Despite how delicate filo is, it’s also forgiving in the end result.

Place chunks of the fish in the filo-lined dish. Top with diced feta.

Layer the rest of the filo over the the top of the pie, brushing each layer as before. Fold the edges up over the sides to seal.

Bake 25 minutes at 350 until golden brown.

Ingredient origins: Cod – Coastal New England; White wine – California; Feta – Maine; Filo – New Jersey; Olive oil – Italy

Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

I know, I know, I know. Sun-dried tomatoes are a un peu 1992, but I guess I’m a child of the 90’s. For years I really didn’t care for sun-dried tomatoes, so I missed out on it the first time around. They say your taste can change over time and in this case it certainly has. It’s hard to imagine not liking them now.

Goat cheese has a lovely tang and provides the perfect foil for the sweet sun-dried tomatoes. Olive oil lends a grassy flavor and creates a vehicle for cracker dippage.

This is a good spread to throw together for impromptu visitors, provided that you keep a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil on your refrigerator door and, like me, have a good goat cheese on hand at most times.

Sun-dried Tomato Spread – serves 4

4 oz. fresh goat cheese
5 – 7 pieces sun-dried tomato in olive oil, diced (about 4 T), + 1 T oil
2 – 3 T olive oil
a dash of finely ground sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Mash together using a fork.

Transfer to a pretty, pretty dish (as my mother says), using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and get all the goodness.

Serve with a sliced baguette or crackers.

Ingredient origins: Goat cheese – Vermont; Sun-dried tomatoes – Turkey; Olive oil – Italy; Sea salt – Maine

Mushroom Spinach Quiche

Quiche is the every-meal. The any-time-of-day item that tends to show up in odd places. Brunch buffets, bridal showers, cafeterias, airport lunch counters. And in many cases, it’s not particularly great. I think the problem is that too often, especially in institutional settings, quiche is served pre-plated and cold, which is just smack in the face of what is, or can be a really good thing. Quiche is best served hot and fresh out of the oven. Freshly grated cheese also makes a difference, as pre-grated cheese usually comes coated in cornstarch which tends to dry out the custard.

The use of sour cream makes this quiche fluffy and light, with just enough vegetable goodness to make you feel like you’re having something relatively nutritious. The spinach fortifies the dish with added folate and vitamin A and the mushrooms take on an almost escargot quality as they steam, tucked away inside the egg mixture.

Coarsely grated, the Gruyere shows up in ostentatiously flowing strands from time to time, making this quiche the opposite of the dry, last resort cafeteria item and more the all-around crave-worthy star that it really should be.

And be sure to serve it hot and fresh, for goodness sake!

Mushroom Spinach Quiche – serves 8

1/2 recipe for pie crust (seen here)
5 oz spinach
1/4 C water
8 shiitake mushrooms, finely diced
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, finely diced
1 T butter
1 C Gruyere cheese
4 eggs
1 1/2 C sour cream
1/2 t salt

Make the pie crust dough, roll out and spread in an 8 inch pie plate. Form the edges as desired. Refrigerate 10 minutes while the oven heats to 350 degrees.

Fill the pie crust with pastry weights and bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large covered skillet, steam the spinach in the water over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat when wilted, drain and press out any moisture. Allow to cool and finely chop.

Melt butter in a skillet. Add mushrooms and cook, covered for 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove cover and continue to cook 10 more minutes until moisture is almost evaporated. Allow to cool.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Beat in sour cream. Add spinach, cheese and mushrooms and mix well.

Pour filling into the pie crust.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until the center has lost its gloss. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Ingredient origins: Spinach – California; Organic shiitakes – Pennsylvania; Organic baby bellas – Pennsylvania; Butter – Maine; Eggs – New Hampshire; Sour Cream – Vermont; Salt – Maine