A Very Interesting Creation...

I have been so happy to be back in my kitchen creating fun meals with fresh farm ingredients. Being away in Argentina has certainly helped me to appreciate the access we have to delicious food here in New Hampshire. 

A very interesting creation I came up this week is hard to name, but consists of rice and quinoa, mushrooms, a red wine reduction and a fried egg. Here is what happened. 

• For the base of this creation, I wanted to mix brown rice and quinoa, in part because I had rice left over in the fridge that I needed to use. For the quinoa, I was excited to try cooking it in the beet juice I had left over from cooking my CSA beets. I just added some bay leaves and it was a beautiful start to this meal.

• With the quinoa done I mixed in the rice and some CSA scallions, olive oil and salt and pepper. 

• Next I started the red wine reduction sauce. It began by frying some onion and CSA cabbage with garlic. To this I added lots of wine, half of which I knew would ultimately boil away in the reduction process. I also added some balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. This I brought to a boil and reduced to a simmer until it thickened up to my liking (the longer it simmers the thicker it will get). 

• Next came the mushrooms: black trumpets and shiitakes from Greenhill Collective Farm. I briefly cooked them together in butter and coconut oil. I was sure not to overcook them because they can disappear in a meal, especially the black trumpets, if they go too long. 

• Finally I fried a couple of eggs. For me it is very important that the yoke stays uncooked, so it can drizzle all over the rest of the meal. 

• And this is how the plate came together: a pile of the rice/quinoa mixture, topped with a spoonful of mushrooms, then the red wine reduction and finally the fried egg. Garnished with some scallions. Delicious! A very interesting creation...