One of my favorite reasons  for belonging to a CSA (community supported agriculture) is that we receive a box each week with many vegetables that I am not familiar with cooking with.  It forces me to think outside of my tried and true, “box” and instead experiment with what is in my CSA box.  It allows my family to enjoy food that is in season, all season long.  I first came across the environmental and health benefits of eating as close to seasonally as possible while reading Barbara Kigsolver’s, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” a wonderful and informative read especially for those of us who cook for our family.

This week we received a bounty of green tomatoes.  I wasn’t sure what they would taste like or what to do with them but I remember reading that they were popular in some parts, breaded and friend (what isn’t?)  So I gave it a shot.  The result was that it was a bit firmer and tarter than red tomatoes.  I would never use it as a substitute.  If we get any next week, I’ll probably like them sprinkle the slices with salt, dill, olive oil and perhaps a smear of La Tur cheese ;o).

This week we put a fried egg on it and placed it on a bed of arugula.  My husband loved it!  How do you prepare yours?

6 tomatoes sliced into thick 1/2 inch slices, dip in egg (I used two) and then combined corn and all purpose flour 1:2.

Here’s what we yielded out of the frying pan (fried in safflower oil).

Worked for us! The children were not as impressed but my oldest doesn’t like tomatoes either.

Ready for dinner or tomorrow’s lunchbox!

We’ve spent a lot of time experimenting and learning about yeast.  Pele’s kindergarten class did a unit on bread last year and I volunteered to bake bread with the children and to teach them about yeast. The children were fascinated to learn that yeast, “poop” carbon dioxide.  They were also fascinated to learn that yeast is a fungus (we loosely covered the different kingdoms) and closer to mushrooms than they are to plants!

Using 5 test tubes, we also did an experiment to see what yeast preferred to eat (salt, sugar, baking soda, soil, molasses).  We also established that certain things (like molasses) actually were sugars which explained why the yeast responded to those.  I was happy to learn that we weren’t the only family to use nutritional yeast (great in popcorn), brewers yeast (ginger ale, beer) in addition to baking yeasts.

For this recipe, one of the first steps to preparing the dough is to, “proof” your yeast.  Think of proofing as literally finding proof that your yeast is still living or “active” and prepared to work.  It’s a great way of explaining it to children.  They “get” that some living things hibernate or remain dormant for periods.  The warm water gently awakens the yeast (as the warmer spring weather does the bears) and gives them a safe environment to thrive.  A teaspoon of sugar gives those hungry yeast something to feast on.  Let your child smell the yeast and watch as it multiplies.

I allow the children to add ingredients and to help me knead the dough.  In truth, if the children weren’t around, I’d do most of this in the Kitchen Aid mixer in the name of efficiency and if your child is a toddler, I suggest that you do that and just allow them to pat/knead a small piece of dough.  You can let their little pat rise in a ramekin.  The dough in this recipe is tough and you’ll need to put all of your weight into kneading it well.  I allow my eldest to knead it and once he becomes bored, I take over and add the elbow grease.

Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls (with sesame seeds)

2 tsp  Active Dry Yeast

1 1/4 C  lukewarm water (use only 1/4 cup for proofing)

1 1/2 C  All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 C  Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (whole wheat is fine too)

2 tsp  Salt

1/2 C  Sesame Seeds (optional)

Whisk all dry ingredients (not including the yeast) and create a well in the center.

In a separate bowl, proof your yeast using 1/4 C of the warm water and a generous pinch of brown sugar.

After 20 minutes if your yeast has passed the test, add the yeast solution along with the remaining cup of lukewarm water to the well of the dry ingredients.

Put those little hands to work and then bring out the “big guns” and knead until your dough is smooth and elastic– should not be sticky.

Once the dough has risen, punch it a knead it a tad more. Cut it into 14 even pieces and roll them into balls (don’t stress that your chid’s balls aren’t perfectly round, they will all rise and taste the same– even if it is a little funny looking ;o). Place them in a round, buttered) cake pan, cover and leave them to rise until they have risen over the rim of the pan.

Once they have risen the second time, put them into your preheated 375 F degree oven and bake for roughly 30 minutes. If using sesame seeds, sprinkle some on top.

Once bread is removed from the oven, allow it to cool on a rack.