"Jambalaya" and Other Things

The freezer was getting rather full so I decided to use a few things to make some room.  I found some frozen chicken andouille sausages and created a jambalaya of sorts.  I browned some diced onion and celery and then added the napa cabbage from the farm share.  Once this was all fried a bit, with salt and pepper, I added 1 can of tomatoes in thick puree, 1 pint of my homemade tomato sauce, bay leaves, thyme, a bag of frozen okra, and the sausages.  After simmering for an hour, I chopped up the sausages and put them back in the pot, with a cup of rice.  This cooked for another 45 minutes and it was excellent.  That, plus a salad of snap peas, lettuce and arugula, has almost used up the farm share.

After dinner, I made a batch of vegetable stock.  I have a one gallon bag in the freezer for veggie scraps and I boiled them for an hour in 10 pints of water with peppercorns, bay leaves, and salt.  After 30 minutes in the pressure canner, there are now 10 more pints of stock - I've decided I like using vegetable stock for risotto.  It's rich without being heavy.

Oh, and we did a taste test on the capers.  Not as strongly flavored as store bought capers, and the texture is a little bit more delicate as well.  But they are tasty and will certainly be put to good use.