Corn Chowder

This year, the CSA decided to offer a supplemental "corn share." We didn't subscribe. Probably a good thing. The way things have been going, the corn probably failed too.

So a roadside stand in rural New Jersey provided the supplies for a quick corn chowder. Trader Joe's plain soy milk provides a perfect replacement for milk or cream, which I think takes a light summer dish and turns it into something heavy and thick. Topped with crostini, and a few jalapenos and the first tomatoes from our garden.

Berry Sheet Cake

I don't regularly read Martha Stewart Magazine. But I have to admit that we have a huge stack of them in the basement. It appears that K's mom got a subscription using her airline miles. The middle class can hardly afford to purchase airline flights anymore... but hey, we can use unused airline miles for periodicals! And one issue gave me this recipe for a nice cornmeal sheet cake... something I would otherwise never have made.

Red, white, and blue colors perfect for July 4... as, of course, the magazine pointed out.

Martha Stewart's Berry Sheet Cake

-1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

-3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal

-1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

-3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

-1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar

 -3 large eggs

 -1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

 -3/4 cup buttermilk

-18 ounces mixed fresh berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries (cut in half if large), plus more for serving

-Whipped cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and line with parchment, leaving overhang on long sides. Butter parchment. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of buttermilk and beating until just combined. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle berries over top, then sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Remove cake with parchment and cut into pieces (3 or 4 on short side, then 4 or 6 on long side). Cake is best served the same day, with whipped cream and additional berries.

Refrigerator Pickles

People have been slamming the CSA this year, so much so that the folks who run it felt obliged to issue an open letter to the subscribers. A mea culpa, it wasn't. They basically called out the complainers, saying that they were hurt by the insensitive comments and that subscribers needed to understand the nature of "community agriculture."

I guess that I can see both sides. To the complainers, shut the &^$% up! If you don't like it, go to Whole Foods.

To the CSA, why not offer your subscribers some alternatives in times that crops are slim? A couple of organic, free range eggs? Some flowers? Little tokens like this would make a big difference.

Anyway, we've received a dearth of cukes this past week, so I saw no recourse other than to pickle them. So I made picked cucumbers and zucchini (also in abundance) and threw in some onions and carrots for variety.

Ted Allen has a pretty sure-fire recipe. Too bad he's on that horrible channel called Food Network.

-10 cloves garlic, peeled
-2 cups white vinegar
-6 teaspoons kosher salt
-Several sprigs of fresh dill
-1 teaspoon celery seed
-1 teaspoon coriander seed
-1 teaspoon mustard seed
-1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
-1/2 teaspoon pink peppercorns (if you have 'em)

In a medium saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil, reduce the heat so the water simmers and add the garlic. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and salt, raise the heat and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt dissolves. Remove from the heat.

In 2 clear 1-quart jars, place a few sprigs of dill. Divide the seeds and peppercorns between the jars. Using tongs, remove the garlic from the brine and place 5 cloves in each jar. Then pack the jars full of cucumbers, carrots, scallions or green beans, cauliflower and chiles. You want them to be tightly stuffed.

Bring the brine back to a boil, pour it over the vegetables to cover completely, let cool, then cover and refrigerate. The pickles will taste good in just a few hours, better after a couple of days. And they'll keep for about 3 months.