Actual usage & thoughts:
- Green Beans – I think we must have forgotten about these this week, since we had one or two meals that could have used them. They’re still looking good in the fridge, so I’d be surprised if they’re not all eaten in the coming week.
- Bok Choy – As I predicted, we had a stirfry last night that used the Bok Choy and the Komatsuna, details of which are in June’s blog posting about Hot & Sweet Chicken and Noodles Stirfry. The Bok Choy hearts were firm and sweet, giving a nice crunch to the overall dish, and the greens helped round out the noodles.
- Green Peppers – As before, we haven’t used a single one of these yet. They’ll probably end up in the freezer sometime this weekend unless I get creative, but they’re definitely not going to go to waste.
- Komatsuna – Used in the Hot & Sweet Chicken and Noodles Stirfry, along with the Bok Choy. The Komatsuna lived up to it’s alternate name of ‘mustard spinach’, with the general taste of spinach but with a definite warm kick very akin to mustard. It added a nice heat to the stirfry (bolstered by our homemade hot & sweet chili dipping sauce that June added), and I’m definitely hoping we get more of this in the future.
- Radishes – As recommended in the newsletter, I sliced them up and ate them on buttered bread, which worked surprisingly well – I’d never thought of radishes on bread before, but now I’m thinking about it I guess it makes just as much sense as lettuce or tomato. The radishes were crunchy and crisp, with a good warming aftertaste. Unfortunately, we waited until too late in the week to use the tops, which started wilting very quickly.
- Aubergine/Eggplant – Earlier in the week, June decided to make an Beef & Aubergine curry, adding the Asian Mix from Box 5 that we still had. However, the quality of the meat was poor, and the aubergine turned into a goop, so we ended up abandoning the dish – the aubergine bits didn’t taste that bad, it was the texture that killed it. There’s still half of the aubergine left over, but we’re now hesitant to use it, since both this and a previous dish using aubergine failed to be edible. Given that the Aubergine & Chard gratin I made last month worked out well, I suspect it’s more a case of our needing to find a use for the aubergine that suits our palettes (and doesn’t turn it into mush).
- Piper Betel Leaf – Since we’re rapidly accumulating these leaves, I finally took a chance and tried a little bit. My goodness, I’d read that it was supposed to taste similar to smoked sausage, but I didn’t realise how strong it was! Wow! Since we were making a stirfry anyway, we used just one leaf as an aromatic, and it added a slightly meaty element to the overall taste. We probably could have used more than we did, but since the little tastes we had were so strong we decided to err on the side of caution, as obviously the last thing we wanted was to swamp all the other flavours. Now that we know what it’s really like, I’m definitely going to look for ways to use this leaf more.
- Canistel – We’re not 100% sure if these are actually ripe or not yet, so we’ve not touched them this week. My idea of roasted vegetable soup still sounds doable, so hopefully that’ll happen this week.
Ratings:
- Hits – bok choy, komatsuna, piper betel leaf, radishes
- Near Misses – aubergine
- Total Flops – none
- Not Rated – green beans, green peppers, canistel
Final Opinion:
An interesting week, with a good percentage of things all working fairly well together in the stirfry, and only one thing being abandoned. However, as always there’s more things left than there really should be, so we’re going to have to start planning our meals to use them more in the coming weeks.
Posted by Bill Jacobs on Saturday, 16th January, 2010 at 6:26 pm
The canistels will soften up like the black sapotes when they ripen. If you suspect that they’re under-ripe, they are. If you suspect they’re rotten, they’re ripe. I suggest you continue with the roasted vegetable soup plan even when you notice how sweet and goopy the canistels get when ripe. Roasting tones down the sweetness significantly and thickens up the texture. I think they’ll work fine in soup. I’m definitely a minority opinion on this, though, so use your own judgment.
The piper betel tastes more like root beer than smoked sausage to me, but I can see the comparison. I really liked stir fry I made that used it more as a vegetable than an herb, the way Thai recipes use a whole lot of basil.
As for the lingering green peppers. Have you considered beef and green peppers stir fried in a black bean sauce? It’s a classic Cantonese combination of flavors.
Posted by Manic on Saturday, 16th January, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Our canistels are all very firm still, so they’re definitely not ripe yet then. Guess it’ll be at least another week on the counter then…
I see what you mean by a rootbeer taste, I didn’t consider that at the time (BTW, June thinks it tastes similar to cilantro, but that’s probably due to her aversion to cilantro). We’re definitely going to use it in larger quantities when cooking with it in future dishes.
The real problem with green peppers is that only I eat them, so either I cook for myself, or cook them in such a way that June won’t notice they’re there… definitely a challenge in either case! That being said, I’ve always liked beef & peppers in black bean sauce, so I’ll keep it in mind should the opportunity arise.