Saturday 11 January 2014

WWOOF CSA: local, organic goodness delivered to your door

As someone who loves to cook but dislikes supermarkets, CSA is a dream come true. Toiling through crowded aisles and obscure specialty stores in order to find just the right ingredients can be a huge hassle. Add in the component of living in a foreign country where signs and labels are in a different language and going to get the groceries becomes an altogether stressful experience. Thankfully, on January 20, 2014, this can all come to an end for those of us lucky enough to be living in South Korea.

January 20 is the official launch date of WWOOF CSA. This means, if you are living in Korea, you have the opportunity to have fresh organic groceries delivered to your door! When I lived in Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada!), I loved hearing the weekly knock on my door and receiving my local CSA box. However, since moving to Korea, it's been old-fashioned grocery shopping. I am very happy about the WWOOF CSA launch in Korea - it's too bad that our time is coming to an end in 2 short months and we won't be able to enjoy it for very long.

All that aside, I was privileged to receive a sample CSA basket full of great products:



I decided to make the most of the  mushrooms, onions, garlic, and bread to make one of my favourite appetizers: 
Mushroom Ragout on Garlic Crostini.
              



Here are the pictures of the process followed by the recipe:


Mushroom Ragout












Garlic Crostini









Ingredients:

500g mushrooms
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup of diced onions
6 cloves of minced garlic
splash of brandy
splash of red wine vinegar
1/4 water
1/4 cup of sour cream 
salt and pepper to taste 

Instructions:

Mushroom Ragout
- roughly dice mushrooms
- in a sauce pan, put butter and olive oil over medium heat until it foams 
- add mushrooms and a generous pinch of salt
- stir occasionally (mushrooms release A LOT of water-- allow them to boil in their own juices and when water has evaporated they will sauté in the oil and butter)
- Once the mushrooms have started to brown add a splash of Brandy and red wine vinegar
- When the alcohol has evaporated add water and sour cream -- cook for 5-10 mins or until desired consistency
- remove from heat and stir in raw garlic
- add salt and pepper to taste
- Enjoy finished product on crostini, pasta, rice, poached egg -- it goes well with so many things!


This recipe was LARGELY inspired by (stolen from) Chef John.

Garlic Crostini

- Preheat oven to 180 degrees
- Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet; drizzle both sides with olive oil and season with salt
- bake until golden (8-10 mins on each side)
- remove from oven and rub the top side of each hot crostini with a clove of raw garlic
- cool to room temperate and enjoy!



For more information on WWOOF CSA check out the links below:

http://wwoofcsa.com/
https://www.facebook.com/WWOOFCSA?fref=ts