Turtle Knoll Farm Dinners begin...

One of my absolute favorite things about having the vegetable garden is creating fun 'farm dinners' based on what is out there to be harvested. Saturday night, July 14,  was our first of the summer in honor of the first zucchini. I'm trying a new variety this year called Green Tiger Striped Zucchini from Kitchen Garden Seeds, where I ordered a lot of seeds from this year for the first time. So far I've been very happy with most of what I started from them. I also grabbed a great bunch of beets from Brent at One Love Farm , who runs our local Richmond Farmers Market. My beets are coming in for the first time this year, but they were not quite ready for that night.

The menu that night was written out on the blackboard in our kitchen:

Appetizers:

• Microwave Chips using the Pampered Chef Microwave Chip Maker and freshly dug potatoes
• Oysters and little necks on the grill 

Dinner Served:

• Stuffed Zucchini on the grill
• Grilled Bread with herbed ricotta and beets
• Karl's Kitchen fresh kielbasa 

Stuffed Zucchini

ingredients:

•   sm - med zucchini's {1/2 serves 1 person}
• 1 sm onion, chopped
• 1 lb sausage {or whatever meat you like - we used the kielbasa in this one}
• 2 tbspns each of fresh parsley and basil
• 1/4 c bread crumbs
• 1/2 c Parmesan, some reserved
• 1 egg, beaten
• s&p

how to cook:
*We cooked the above in that baking pan on the grill for a half hour. We did cover it with tinfoil for 15 mins to make sure it was cooked through. 
**I do not pre-cook the zucchini because I feel that the half hour or so that it spends cooking is enough and leaves some of the crunch.  
 

• Crumble sausage and heat over medium heat. When it's about 2/3 done, add the onion. Cook until soft and starting to brown. As removing from heat add the basil and parsley. Let mixture cool slightly. 
• Cut off each end of the zucchini to the size that fits into the dish you are using to cook them. Scoop out middle so they look like boats.
• In medium bowl toss together sausage & onion mixture, bread crumbs, parm, s&p. Blend together with egg. 
• Fill each 'boat' with mixture and top with remaining cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for a half hour. 

Optional: a)You can use yellow summer squash or other summer squashes like pattypan instead. b)This can be made vegetarian by making the filling with entirely veggies - corn is a good filler. c)Cheddar cheese tastes great on top!

Grilled Bread with Herbed Ricotta and Beets:

ingredients:

• good bread, sliced about a half inch think on an angle
• olive oil
• garlic
• Ricotta, fresh if available
• Herbs: dill, chives & scallions
• baby beets
• s&p

how to cook:

• To make herbed ricotta: mix 1 cup of ricotta with about 2 tbspns each of dill, chives & scallions (or whatever you would like.) Taste to get desired flavor. 
• Beets: cut tops and bottoms off. Toss with olive oil, s&p and wrap in tinfoil. Either roast in oven at 400 degrees for an hour or place on grill for an hour. Let cool completely, peel and slice. 
• Grill bread for 1-2 mins on each side until desired doneness.   Remove from heat, brush with olive oil and rub with garlic. Sprinkle with a little s&p.
• Spread bread with ricotta and layer with beets.