Eating Kentucky Proud . . .
To follow up with earlier mention of the Eat Local Challenge, we bring to your attention two events bouncing around the Bluegrass area this week. The Governor and First Lady of Kentucky hosted a Kentucky Proud dinner at the Governor’s Mansion last week and issued a challenge to the attendees. For the next thirty days, they challenged individuals to eat at least one locally produced food each day; families to source and cook at least one KY Proud meal at home each week; and business owners and institutional decision makers to source Kentucky produced items for their employee cafeterias, their board meeting luncheons, and their student populations. Representatives from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s KY Proud program were on hand to help link folks with local foods. View Savoring Kentucky for a first hand account of the evening.
Also this week, Good Foods Market & Café in Lexington is challenging local folks to put their money where their mouths are and help stimulate local economic growth by taking the second, national Eat Local Challenge this August. You can pick up a packet in the Southland Drive store near the produce department and then commit to eating four out of five meals with local food – roughly 80 percent of your diet. For a CSA member, this should be easy since your household is filled already with locally produced items.
Good Foods is hosting a kick-off event for the challenge this coming Saturday, Aug 1st from 11am – 2pm. For more info phone or visit Good Foods at 859-278-1813.
In Your Share . . .
Shares may vary depending on your share size and day of your harvest. Each share may not have every item listed below.
Half Runner Green Beans – organic
Remember from earlier in the month that you need to remove the strings before cooking.
Stringless Green Beans – organic
Enjoy one more week of the stringless variety of green beans. This type is great for green bean salads or a quicker side vegetable since they have no strings to pull before cooking.
Cauliflower – organic
Sweet Corn
Slicing Cucumber
Eggplant
Fresh Herb – Sweet Basil - organic
Leeks – organic
We continue to harvest the baby leeks. Since we can pull them using the green tops, but cannot dig bulb onions in rainy weather, we included them in this week’s share. Enjoy leeks with potatoes in a frittata or use in the ratatouille in place of onions. Related to onions, leeks have a mild flavor and sweeten when cooked. Store refrigerated, they will keep for 2 weeks. Find a recipe on the Elmwood blog 8-20-07.
Okra – organic
Store your okra in the refrigerator before preparing. You can pan fry, oven roast, or stew with tomatoes for Cajun style.
Green Bell Pepper
Use with your squashes and eggplant for ratatouille or use with tomatoes and cucumber for cool gazpacho!
Potatoes – organic
This week’s potato is a red skinned, white flesh variety called Sangre or a red skin, streaky red and white flesh variety called Cranberry All Red. Both are good for baking or boiling and will hold their shape for salads. Remember to store these new potatoes refrigerated covered from light to prevent the skins from greening.
Yellow Summer Squash
Tomatoes, Red – organic
Green Zucchini
Watermelon
The dark green melons should have a red flesh and are said to be seedless. The striped skin melons have a yellow flesh, and you should have one or the other. The robust shares should have one of each. We grow mostly the icebox size round small melons as we can’t fit the large ones into the CSA box and most folks prefer a smaller size. Seedless re melons will have small white seeds that are edible and from time to time they will have regular black seeds like a traditional watermelon. The yellow melons we grow do have seeds. Some of this season’s melons may have a little hollow spot in the middle – we see this in rainy years and we see it more in the yellow ones. Enjoy!
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Roasted Ratatouille Salad
Serves 6 as a side dish, can be adapted to fit the amount of veggies on hand, recipe adapted from an internet blog site for grilled vegetable ratatouille
1 large eggplant cut into 1 1/2" thick chunks (peeled or not depending on preference)
2 onions, loosely chopped into ½" thick slices
2 zucchini, cut into 1” thick chunks
2 yellow squash, cut into 1” thick chunks
2 bell peppers, seeded, cut into 1” pieces
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 1” chunks
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves minced
1 small bunch basil leaves, ripped in half
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Arrange all the vegetables (tomatoes are optional to roast or use fresh) on a large baking sheet. Lightly drizzle with olive oil, and toss to coat thoroughly. Sprinkle with salt. Oven roast in one layer in oven, turning once for approximately 30 minutes at 400°. (Can be roasted on outdoor grill).
Allow vegetables to cool slightly. Add to bowl with tomatoes. Toss vegetables with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with extra basil leaves.
Mexican Squash
Thanks to a friend of the farm for sharing this delicious Esmeralda Maynes recipe, serves 8
¼ C favorite cooking oil
5 to 6 medium yellow squash or zucchini, sliced
4 ears corn, kernels removed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 to 4 jalapeno chilies, seeded and chopped
1 T garlic powder
1 T butter
¾ tsp salt
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add squash, corn, onion, chilies and garlic powder. Cook 12 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently. Add butter and salt.
Ratatouille’s Ratatouille
recipe from the movie as created by Deb at SmittenKitchen.com, thanks to a CSA member for suggesting the connection!
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10-inch long. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.
Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.
On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer, or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick. Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.
Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.
Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.) Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.
Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain. Visit Smitten Kitchen for wonderful photos to help your assembly.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Week 11, CSA
From the Farm . . .
As you might expect, our farm report includes an update on how the farm is affected by the unseasonably cool weather and our early summer rain. Though we are running irrigation to most heavy-water-using crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, the squashes (summer and winter), and corn, the soil really benefits from spring and early summer rains like we have had this season. Plants that grow where you really don’t want them (a/k/a weeds) take advantage whenever possible to utilize the extra soil moisture and will thrive if you let them. A little bit of grass growing between your crop rows or around the perimeter offers a natural habitat for your beneficial insects (think lady bugs or parasitic wasps). It also helps to prevent the loss of your precious topsoil to wind erosion or compaction from lots of food traffic. But weeds need to be kept under control by a hoe, by hand, or even mowing or weed eating around the border of your plantings. Weeding takes much more labor than in a dry season, but is preferred over drought conditions anytime.
Longer season crops of Brussels sprouts, celery, and sweet potatoes are helped along by early rains and we’re setting up irrigation to continue to supply their needs for healthy growth.The more moderate conditions are nice for fruit set and plant harvesting and for both farm workers and market stand workers with lower humidity and temperatures in the 70s or low 80s.
Nighttime lows in the 50s, however, disrupts the growth cycle of heat-loving crops like tomatoes, melons, and peppers. People are asking us daily why their back door tomatoes won’t turn from green to ripe. It just takes longer as if you are growing the tomatoes in early fall rather than late July.
This week is the fourth straight for the harvest of sweet corn – we are pulling from patches 5 and 6. The first two plantings were ready simultaneously along with two ready this week. This is probably a good thing as we are sad to report that the raccoons have found the sweet corn. As you may recall from past years, they can destroy an entire planting in 1 or 2 nights by pulling down the stalk, taking a single bite from each ear. We are working on the electric netting to keep them out! We try not to harvest anything damaged by insects, birds, or ground predators – but in case something slips by, just slice the end off before shucking and preparing. Some corn varieties have better coverage (lengthier green shuck) over the tip than other varieties – poor shuck coverage will invite nature right into the corn.
The green bean plants continue to produce well, along with squashes and cucumbers. We’re looking ahead to harvesting onions, garlic and melons in the next couple of weeks. This is the busiest time of the year on the farm with harvesting, weeding, irrigating, transplanting and planting going on simultaneously. We will reopen our Fall Season CSA signup next week and can answer any questions on details of the 10-week October-December fall/ winter season. For now, enjoy the veggies from the summer season!
In Your Share . . .
Stringless Green Beans – organic
Slicing Cucumber
You can enjoy all of this onion plant, the white stalk all the way up into the green leafy portion. Just chop finely or use a processor – use for sauté, oven roasting, soup, or this week’s recipes – in anything that calls for onion. Store refrigerated.
Green Bell Pepper
These freshly harvested green bells are packed full of flavor. They keep well for you (up to a week or more) if refrigerated. They have high nutrition including Vits. A, C & E, iron and potassium. You can easily freeze in an airtight container for later use – just wash, dry and cut into desired sized pieces, or chop finely.
Potatoes – organic
This week’s potato harvest includes a gold variety that is one of our favorites along with the all-blue potatoes. They both should be kept refrigerated and out of direct light. You can oven roast, mash, boil, make potato salad, steak fries, or hash browns. Many people comment they have never seen such odd looking blue potatoes, but they soon realize they are familiar with blue potato chips in the supermarket. Maybe they just never really thought about how potato chips are made? Like most vegetables the more color present, the more nutrition available for human health.
Tomatoes, Red – organic
These tomatoes make a nice size for an early red tomato. Most of the heirloom type are in the mid-season planting and will be coming ripe in the next several weeks. In the meantime, enjoy a red sliced on a plate with some salt, pepper, and a fork! As it is challenging to get them delivered to you perfectly ripe without risk of splitting or bruising, you may want to set some out to ripen more for a day.
Eggplant
Okra – organic
Store your okra in the refrigerator before preparing. You can pan fry, oven roast, or stew with tomatoes for Cajun style
Recipes to Enjoy. . .
Our thanks to a friend of the farm for the two cold salad recipes below. She says she has used these for several years and probably originally pulled them from a magazine. We’ve tried them both and give them a thumb up!
Tomato and Bread Salad
¼ lb Italian bread, torn into chunks (4 cups)
¼ cup olive oil
½ small red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 large tomatoes (1 ½ lbs), diced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced
¼ cup thinly sliced basil leaves
Toast bread on baking sheet in 350-degree oven for 5 minutes. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Cook onion and garlic over medium-high heat, 2 minutes. Remove from heat, then stir in tomatoes, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Place bread in large bowl and toss with tomato mixture, cucumber, and basil.
Creamy Potato Salad
2 ¼ pounds potatoes, scrubbed
3 tsp salt, divided
2 large plum tomatoes, diced
3 tbsp finely chopped onion
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp white balsamic or white-wine vinegar
½ tsp pepper
5 large fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Bring potatoes, 2 tsp salt, and enough cold water to cover by 2 inches to boil in a large saucepan. Cook 15 to 17 minutes, until fork tender. Drain potatoes in colander. Rinse under cold running water just until cooled to room temperature. Drain again.
Meanwhile cook tomatoes in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes or until thick. Cool. Combine tomatoes, onion, mayonnaise, vinegar, remaining tsp salt, and pepper in food processor. Puree until smooth. Transfer to medium bowl. Set aside 1 tbsp basil strips. Add potatoes and remaining basil to dressing. Toss to coat. Top with reserved basil.
Italian Corn, recipe serves 6
from Mario Batali and Judith Sutton’s Italian Grill, they report “In Mexico, we have seen groovy little stands where the vendors poach ears of corn and then paint it with mayonnaise, dust it with chili flakes and grated queso fresco, and squeeze lime juice all over the whole thing. They do not do that in Italy, but this is what they might do.”
6 ears corn, shucked
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 to 1-1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
About 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
Hot red pepper flakes
Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill. Place the corn on the hottest part of the grill and cook for 3 minutes, or until grill marks appear on the first side. Roll each ear over a quarter turn and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then repeat two more times. Meanwhile, mix the oil and vinegar on a large flat plate. Spread the Parmigiano on another flat plate. When the corn is cooked, roll each ear in the olive oil and vinegar mixture, shake off the extra liquid, and dredge in the Parmigiano to coat lightly. Place on a platter, sprinkle with the mint and pepper flakes, and serve immediately.
As you might expect, our farm report includes an update on how the farm is affected by the unseasonably cool weather and our early summer rain. Though we are running irrigation to most heavy-water-using crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, the squashes (summer and winter), and corn, the soil really benefits from spring and early summer rains like we have had this season. Plants that grow where you really don’t want them (a/k/a weeds) take advantage whenever possible to utilize the extra soil moisture and will thrive if you let them. A little bit of grass growing between your crop rows or around the perimeter offers a natural habitat for your beneficial insects (think lady bugs or parasitic wasps). It also helps to prevent the loss of your precious topsoil to wind erosion or compaction from lots of food traffic. But weeds need to be kept under control by a hoe, by hand, or even mowing or weed eating around the border of your plantings. Weeding takes much more labor than in a dry season, but is preferred over drought conditions anytime.
Longer season crops of Brussels sprouts, celery, and sweet potatoes are helped along by early rains and we’re setting up irrigation to continue to supply their needs for healthy growth.The more moderate conditions are nice for fruit set and plant harvesting and for both farm workers and market stand workers with lower humidity and temperatures in the 70s or low 80s.
Nighttime lows in the 50s, however, disrupts the growth cycle of heat-loving crops like tomatoes, melons, and peppers. People are asking us daily why their back door tomatoes won’t turn from green to ripe. It just takes longer as if you are growing the tomatoes in early fall rather than late July.
This week is the fourth straight for the harvest of sweet corn – we are pulling from patches 5 and 6. The first two plantings were ready simultaneously along with two ready this week. This is probably a good thing as we are sad to report that the raccoons have found the sweet corn. As you may recall from past years, they can destroy an entire planting in 1 or 2 nights by pulling down the stalk, taking a single bite from each ear. We are working on the electric netting to keep them out! We try not to harvest anything damaged by insects, birds, or ground predators – but in case something slips by, just slice the end off before shucking and preparing. Some corn varieties have better coverage (lengthier green shuck) over the tip than other varieties – poor shuck coverage will invite nature right into the corn.
The green bean plants continue to produce well, along with squashes and cucumbers. We’re looking ahead to harvesting onions, garlic and melons in the next couple of weeks. This is the busiest time of the year on the farm with harvesting, weeding, irrigating, transplanting and planting going on simultaneously. We will reopen our Fall Season CSA signup next week and can answer any questions on details of the 10-week October-December fall/ winter season. For now, enjoy the veggies from the summer season!
In Your Share . . .
Stringless Green Beans – organic
Savoy Cabbage - organic
This type of cabbage seems to hold so much flavor and sweetness. Use in any cabbage recipe and refrigerate prior to preparation.
Slicing Cucumber
Leeks - organic
Related to onions, leeks have a mild flavor and sweeten when cooked. Store refrigerated, they will keep for 2 weeks. Find a recipe on the Elmwood blog 8-20-07.
Green Onions – organicYou can enjoy all of this onion plant, the white stalk all the way up into the green leafy portion. Just chop finely or use a processor – use for sauté, oven roasting, soup, or this week’s recipes – in anything that calls for onion. Store refrigerated.
Green Bell Pepper
These freshly harvested green bells are packed full of flavor. They keep well for you (up to a week or more) if refrigerated. They have high nutrition including Vits. A, C & E, iron and potassium. You can easily freeze in an airtight container for later use – just wash, dry and cut into desired sized pieces, or chop finely.
Potatoes – organic
This week’s potato harvest includes a gold variety that is one of our favorites along with the all-blue potatoes. They both should be kept refrigerated and out of direct light. You can oven roast, mash, boil, make potato salad, steak fries, or hash browns. Many people comment they have never seen such odd looking blue potatoes, but they soon realize they are familiar with blue potato chips in the supermarket. Maybe they just never really thought about how potato chips are made? Like most vegetables the more color present, the more nutrition available for human health.
Tomatoes, Red – organic
These tomatoes make a nice size for an early red tomato. Most of the heirloom type are in the mid-season planting and will be coming ripe in the next several weeks. In the meantime, enjoy a red sliced on a plate with some salt, pepper, and a fork! As it is challenging to get them delivered to you perfectly ripe without risk of splitting or bruising, you may want to set some out to ripen more for a day.
Eggplant
Okra – organic
Store your okra in the refrigerator before preparing. You can pan fry, oven roast, or stew with tomatoes for Cajun style
Recipes to Enjoy. . .
Our thanks to a friend of the farm for the two cold salad recipes below. She says she has used these for several years and probably originally pulled them from a magazine. We’ve tried them both and give them a thumb up!
Tomato and Bread Salad
¼ lb Italian bread, torn into chunks (4 cups)
¼ cup olive oil
½ small red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 large tomatoes (1 ½ lbs), diced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced
¼ cup thinly sliced basil leaves
Toast bread on baking sheet in 350-degree oven for 5 minutes. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Cook onion and garlic over medium-high heat, 2 minutes. Remove from heat, then stir in tomatoes, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Place bread in large bowl and toss with tomato mixture, cucumber, and basil.
Creamy Potato Salad
2 ¼ pounds potatoes, scrubbed
3 tsp salt, divided
2 large plum tomatoes, diced
3 tbsp finely chopped onion
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp white balsamic or white-wine vinegar
½ tsp pepper
5 large fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Bring potatoes, 2 tsp salt, and enough cold water to cover by 2 inches to boil in a large saucepan. Cook 15 to 17 minutes, until fork tender. Drain potatoes in colander. Rinse under cold running water just until cooled to room temperature. Drain again.
Meanwhile cook tomatoes in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes or until thick. Cool. Combine tomatoes, onion, mayonnaise, vinegar, remaining tsp salt, and pepper in food processor. Puree until smooth. Transfer to medium bowl. Set aside 1 tbsp basil strips. Add potatoes and remaining basil to dressing. Toss to coat. Top with reserved basil.
Italian Corn, recipe serves 6
from Mario Batali and Judith Sutton’s Italian Grill, they report “In Mexico, we have seen groovy little stands where the vendors poach ears of corn and then paint it with mayonnaise, dust it with chili flakes and grated queso fresco, and squeeze lime juice all over the whole thing. They do not do that in Italy, but this is what they might do.”
6 ears corn, shucked
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 to 1-1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
About 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
Hot red pepper flakes
Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill. Place the corn on the hottest part of the grill and cook for 3 minutes, or until grill marks appear on the first side. Roll each ear over a quarter turn and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then repeat two more times. Meanwhile, mix the oil and vinegar on a large flat plate. Spread the Parmigiano on another flat plate. When the corn is cooked, roll each ear in the olive oil and vinegar mixture, shake off the extra liquid, and dredge in the Parmigiano to coat lightly. Place on a platter, sprinkle with the mint and pepper flakes, and serve immediately.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Week 10, CSA
In Your Share . . .
As always, items may vary in your share depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not have every item listed.
Stringless Green Beans – organic
These stringless green beans are the other favorite, besides white half runner beans, of most folks looking for fresh green beans. They have no strings, just snap into bite size pieces to follow a traditional side dish recipe. You can also cook for a short time in boiling water, plunge into ice water before making a green bean salad – you want the beans to be cooked, but crisp, not mushy. Store refrigerated until ready to use.
Broccoli Florets and/ or Broccoli heads – organic
We are getting mostly side shoots for harvest now as the big broccoli heads are gone for the spring crop. Try your broccoli in the curry recipe below.
Rainbow Swiss Chard – organic
Sweet Corn
This week’s corn harvest is another white super sweet variety, a little more narrow ear than last week’s variety, but packed full of flavor. Store refrigerated.
Slicing Cucumber
Eggplant
The hot weather eggplant is ready to harvest. It is low in calories, high in fiber, but a relatively low amount of vitamins and minerals. Usually it is enjoyed with other foods that offer more nutrition. But, it is beautiful to look at with its deep purply-black skin color. Peeling is not necessary before using, just your personal preference, and it is most always eaten cooked, not raw. To remove excess moisture or any bitter flavor that seeps from the dark skin into the fleshy part, lightly salt fat slices that are laid out on a slotted baking pan or in a colander – the salt will push out any excess liquid and it will soak up less cooking oil when preparing. If you try this, use less or no salt in your recipes. And, it seems that young, fresh eggplant often can skip this process altogether. Store refrigerated.
Green Onions – organic
You can enjoy all of this onion plant, the white stalk all the way up into the green leafy portion. Just chop finely or use a processor – use for sauté, oven roasting, soup, or this week’s recipes – in anything that calls for onion. Store refrigerated.
Green Bell Pepper
These freshly harvested green bells are packed full of flavor. They keep well for you (up to a week or more) if refrigerated. They have high nutrition including Vits. A, C & E, iron and potassium. You can easily freeze in an air tight container for later use – just wash, dry and cut into desired sized pieces, or chop finely.
Potatoes – organic
This week find some of the Yukon Gold variety of potatoes. These golden skin, golden flesh, early potatoes are smooth fleshed, and will hold their shape when cooked. They are a great flavorful all-purpose potato for baking, boiling, mashed, fried, or potato salads. Some suggest the gold insides are so creamy, you won’t even feel the need for butter! Remember to store these new potatoes refrigerated and covered from light to prevent the skins from greening.
Also, this week we are harvesting a red skinned, white flesh variety called Sangre. It is good for baking or boiling and will hold its shape for potato salad.
Baby Squash Mix
Enjoy baby squashes raw in salad or as a snack, steamed or sautéed lightly with olive oil, or put on skewers for the grill. Refrigerate and try to use soon as small veggies store less time than larger ones.
Tomatoes, Red – organic
Enjoy more red tomatoes this week and find a new recipe below for a tasty tomato pie!
Zucchini, Green
Cauliflower – organic
It seems to have taken the spring cauliflower a long time this season to make a head. It is always a longer grower than broccoli and cabbage, but the cooler temperatures lately along with the early rains have produced lots of plant and leaf growth, and less fruiting – we see this in many crops, not just the brassica family. Cauliflower contains lots of vitamins and minerals. You can steam 15-20 min. for a whole head, or only 5-10 min. for florets – you want to get it cooked tender, but not mushy as the flavor diminishes when overcooked. To enjoy raw, soak upside down in cold water with a drop of dishwashing soap to remove any hidden field pests. Store refrigerated, can be frozen, like broccoli, for use in soups, stews, or purees.
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Cauliflower Potato Curry
Recipe from Asparagus to Zucchini, suggested to serve over cooked rice, makes 4 servings
2 T peanut oil
1 tsp each: curry powder, turmeric, cumin, dried thyme
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2/3 C chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic
2 C cubed waxy potatoes
1 C chicken or vegetable stock or water
2 C chopped cauliflower or broccoli
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 slices fresh gingerroot
¼ pound fresh beans, chopped
1 T fresh lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat oil in deep skillet. Stir in dry spices. Add onion and garlic; cook over medium heat until tender. Add potatoes and stock, cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir in cauliflower, carrot, and ginger. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir in beans (add broccoli here if using). Cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove cover; continue to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over rice.
Paula Deen's Tomato Pie
Our thanks to a CSA member for this yummy recipe.
PREP TIME: 45 MIN SERVINGS: 6
4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 (9-inch) prebaked deep-dish pie shell
1 cup grated mozzarella
1 cup grated cheddar
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350° F. Place the tomatoes in a colander in the sink in 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt and allow draining for 10 minutes.Layer the tomato slices, basil, and onion in pie shell. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the grated cheeses and mayonnaise together. Spread mixture on top of the tomatoes and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. To serve, cut into slices and serve warm.
Fried Eggplant Cubes
A Barbara Kafka recipe to enjoy eggplant as a snack or added to a tomato sauce over pasta. It also allows you to use as much or as little as you have on hand.
Cut off and discard the stem, then cut eggplant into 1-inch cubes, leaving the skin on. Place in a bowl and toss lightly with kosher salt. Weight down with a plate or other heavy object for 30 minutes. Drain well and blot dry.
Fill a deep pot with favorite cooking oil to a depth of 4 inches. Heat to 375° F. Lightly dust eggplant cubes with cornstarch. Deep fry for 3 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Drain on paper towel.
Zucchini Gratin
Our thanks to a CSA member for recommending this Ina Garten recipe. Similar to a potato gratin, it is highly recommended by many who have tried it.
6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for topping
1 pound yellow onions, cut in 1/2 and sliced (3 large)
2 pounds zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch thick (4 zucchini)
2 tsp kosher salt (reduce if using salted butter)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
2 T all-purpose flour
1 C hot milk
¾ C fresh breadcrumbs
¾ C grated Gruyere
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a very large (12-inch) sauté pan and cook the onions over low heat for 20 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Add the zucchini and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until tender. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Stir in the flour. Add the hot milk and cook over low heat for a few minutes, until it makes a sauce. Pour the mixture into an 8 by 10-inch baking dish.
Combine the breadcrumbs and Gruyere and sprinkle on top of the zucchini mixture. Dot with 1 tablespoon of butter cut into small bits and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly & browned.
As always, items may vary in your share depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not have every item listed.
Stringless Green Beans – organic
These stringless green beans are the other favorite, besides white half runner beans, of most folks looking for fresh green beans. They have no strings, just snap into bite size pieces to follow a traditional side dish recipe. You can also cook for a short time in boiling water, plunge into ice water before making a green bean salad – you want the beans to be cooked, but crisp, not mushy. Store refrigerated until ready to use.
Broccoli Florets and/ or Broccoli heads – organic
We are getting mostly side shoots for harvest now as the big broccoli heads are gone for the spring crop. Try your broccoli in the curry recipe below.
Rainbow Swiss Chard – organic
Sweet Corn
This week’s corn harvest is another white super sweet variety, a little more narrow ear than last week’s variety, but packed full of flavor. Store refrigerated.
Slicing Cucumber
Eggplant
The hot weather eggplant is ready to harvest. It is low in calories, high in fiber, but a relatively low amount of vitamins and minerals. Usually it is enjoyed with other foods that offer more nutrition. But, it is beautiful to look at with its deep purply-black skin color. Peeling is not necessary before using, just your personal preference, and it is most always eaten cooked, not raw. To remove excess moisture or any bitter flavor that seeps from the dark skin into the fleshy part, lightly salt fat slices that are laid out on a slotted baking pan or in a colander – the salt will push out any excess liquid and it will soak up less cooking oil when preparing. If you try this, use less or no salt in your recipes. And, it seems that young, fresh eggplant often can skip this process altogether. Store refrigerated.
Green Onions – organic
You can enjoy all of this onion plant, the white stalk all the way up into the green leafy portion. Just chop finely or use a processor – use for sauté, oven roasting, soup, or this week’s recipes – in anything that calls for onion. Store refrigerated.
Green Bell Pepper
These freshly harvested green bells are packed full of flavor. They keep well for you (up to a week or more) if refrigerated. They have high nutrition including Vits. A, C & E, iron and potassium. You can easily freeze in an air tight container for later use – just wash, dry and cut into desired sized pieces, or chop finely.
Potatoes – organic
This week find some of the Yukon Gold variety of potatoes. These golden skin, golden flesh, early potatoes are smooth fleshed, and will hold their shape when cooked. They are a great flavorful all-purpose potato for baking, boiling, mashed, fried, or potato salads. Some suggest the gold insides are so creamy, you won’t even feel the need for butter! Remember to store these new potatoes refrigerated and covered from light to prevent the skins from greening.
Also, this week we are harvesting a red skinned, white flesh variety called Sangre. It is good for baking or boiling and will hold its shape for potato salad.
Baby Squash Mix
Enjoy baby squashes raw in salad or as a snack, steamed or sautéed lightly with olive oil, or put on skewers for the grill. Refrigerate and try to use soon as small veggies store less time than larger ones.
Tomatoes, Red – organic
Enjoy more red tomatoes this week and find a new recipe below for a tasty tomato pie!
Zucchini, Green
Cauliflower – organic
It seems to have taken the spring cauliflower a long time this season to make a head. It is always a longer grower than broccoli and cabbage, but the cooler temperatures lately along with the early rains have produced lots of plant and leaf growth, and less fruiting – we see this in many crops, not just the brassica family. Cauliflower contains lots of vitamins and minerals. You can steam 15-20 min. for a whole head, or only 5-10 min. for florets – you want to get it cooked tender, but not mushy as the flavor diminishes when overcooked. To enjoy raw, soak upside down in cold water with a drop of dishwashing soap to remove any hidden field pests. Store refrigerated, can be frozen, like broccoli, for use in soups, stews, or purees.
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Cauliflower Potato Curry
Recipe from Asparagus to Zucchini, suggested to serve over cooked rice, makes 4 servings
2 T peanut oil
1 tsp each: curry powder, turmeric, cumin, dried thyme
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2/3 C chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic
2 C cubed waxy potatoes
1 C chicken or vegetable stock or water
2 C chopped cauliflower or broccoli
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 slices fresh gingerroot
¼ pound fresh beans, chopped
1 T fresh lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat oil in deep skillet. Stir in dry spices. Add onion and garlic; cook over medium heat until tender. Add potatoes and stock, cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir in cauliflower, carrot, and ginger. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir in beans (add broccoli here if using). Cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove cover; continue to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over rice.
Paula Deen's Tomato Pie
Our thanks to a CSA member for this yummy recipe.
PREP TIME: 45 MIN SERVINGS: 6
4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 (9-inch) prebaked deep-dish pie shell
1 cup grated mozzarella
1 cup grated cheddar
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350° F. Place the tomatoes in a colander in the sink in 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt and allow draining for 10 minutes.Layer the tomato slices, basil, and onion in pie shell. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the grated cheeses and mayonnaise together. Spread mixture on top of the tomatoes and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. To serve, cut into slices and serve warm.
Fried Eggplant Cubes
A Barbara Kafka recipe to enjoy eggplant as a snack or added to a tomato sauce over pasta. It also allows you to use as much or as little as you have on hand.
Cut off and discard the stem, then cut eggplant into 1-inch cubes, leaving the skin on. Place in a bowl and toss lightly with kosher salt. Weight down with a plate or other heavy object for 30 minutes. Drain well and blot dry.
Fill a deep pot with favorite cooking oil to a depth of 4 inches. Heat to 375° F. Lightly dust eggplant cubes with cornstarch. Deep fry for 3 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Drain on paper towel.
Zucchini Gratin
Our thanks to a CSA member for recommending this Ina Garten recipe. Similar to a potato gratin, it is highly recommended by many who have tried it.
6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for topping
1 pound yellow onions, cut in 1/2 and sliced (3 large)
2 pounds zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch thick (4 zucchini)
2 tsp kosher salt (reduce if using salted butter)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
2 T all-purpose flour
1 C hot milk
¾ C fresh breadcrumbs
¾ C grated Gruyere
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a very large (12-inch) sauté pan and cook the onions over low heat for 20 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Add the zucchini and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until tender. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Stir in the flour. Add the hot milk and cook over low heat for a few minutes, until it makes a sauce. Pour the mixture into an 8 by 10-inch baking dish.
Combine the breadcrumbs and Gruyere and sprinkle on top of the zucchini mixture. Dot with 1 tablespoon of butter cut into small bits and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly & browned.
Monday, July 6, 2009
CSA News, Week 9
Local First
Is it the economy? Or, did we just hang around long enough to finally see “buy local” move from a concept into an action plan? By even bringing it up in a CSA newsletter, it’s a little like “preaching to the choir.” Members of a CSA have already made the decision (and financial commitment) to source some of their food from a local farm. An egg share, or meat share, or weekly trip to the farmers market is a little bigger commitment. Some folks even move further along the spectrum to shopping locally for other needs besides food – independent local businesses rather than national chains. This can be retail stores (clothing, books, hardware), services (hair salon, tax advisor, automotive needs), products (restaurants, food shops, newspapers, or farm supplies.) Lexington has an organization to help promote locally owned businesses - Local First Lexington. Other area towns are in different stages of something similar. It does seem a little odd to have to “think and remind ourselves” about sourcing our household or business needs from friends and neighbors in our community, rather than patronizing a national (or international) business – but it shows just how the habits of a society change in only one generation. So, hold on, habits are changing again – get ready for the Eat Local Challenge coming up soon!
To continue and expand your local sourcing for farm products, visit
Local Harvest
Kentucky Proud
Local chapter of Slow Food USA
In Your Share . . .
As always, items in your share may vary depending on your share size and your harvest day. Each share may not have each item listed below.
Half Runner Green Beans – organic
These fat pod beans are one of the most popular in Central Kentucky originating in the rural and mountain areas of the Eastern US. The flavor is well loved, the process of stringing and breaking beans is passed down through generations who celebrate family through their loved local foods. Store refrigerated, then boil in water until tender – be sure to pull the strings along each side (like you did with the peas) before breaking into bite-sized pieces, and be sure to allow enough cooking time. A recipe is below.
Roma Beans - organic
Green Cabbage – organic
New this week is the first cabbage of the season. Cabbage will keep well for you refrigerated, so you may choose to prepare it later in the week. Julia Child’s method for cabbage advises trimming the stem end, cutting into 4 wedges, arranging cut sides up in a steamer rack with 2 C chicken stock and steaming until tender (15-20 minutes). Once done, remove cabbage,/ boil remaining liquid with 1-2 T butter and season. Drizzle over cabbage to serve 4.
Sweet Corn
This week’s corn harvest is a white super sweet variety. There could be a few yellow kernels from cross-pollination. As last week, store refrigerated in the husk until ready to prepare.
English Burpless Cucumber
Small Cucumber
Have you made homemade Benedictine? It is great for a summer sandwich or as a dip for veggies or crackers. Find a recipe on the elmwoodstockfarm.com website, 9-5-05 news.
Herb, Sweet Basil – organic
Take care when storing your basil to make it last – temperatures less than 40° (or above 90°) will turn the leaves black. Cover with a bag or container to protect from your fridge’s cold air blower. You can store at room temp if your stems are in water.
Lettuce Greens – organic
We are so excited to find our summer lettuces did germinate with the May-June rain and we have some little leaves to harvest. You may not have enough for a big salad, but you will for that fat tomato sandwich (think BLT), or to put on burgers and buns. Still have some green tomatoes? try a fried green tomato sandwich with Benedictine and lettuce.
Potatoes – organic
The first potatoes of the season, Caribĕ, are ready to dig. These purplish skin, white flesh, early potatoes are smooth fleshed, and will hold their shape when cooked. They are a good all-purpose potato for baking, boiling, or potato salads.Any variety of potato freshly harvested is considered a New Potato (not just the red skinned found in the supermarkets). Large baking or boiling potatoes are stored over winter for year-round sales and are not considered new. Freshly dug, ours have a tender skin that is entirely edible (and contains much of the nutrition). Store refrigerated and keep out of light or the skin will turn green. Organic potatoes are not treated with a chemical to prevent the skin from turning color – if you do get some greening, cut away before preparing.
Baby Squash Mix
The tiny multi color patty pan and round squashes are one of the most popular items at the farmers market. By only removing the stem, you can enjoy whole squashes raw in salad or as a snack, steamed or sautéed lightly with olive oil or butter (try pesto!) or put on skewers for a nice shish kabob grill. The small squashes will keep less time than larger ones since the moisture dehydrates quickly. Refrigerate.
Tomato, Red – organic
The cooler nighttime temperatures (57°-58°) do not help tomatoes to ripen up but the full moon does. We probably will be overloaded in a couple of weeks, but for now, we harvested several. Enjoy tomatoes on BLT’s or use in the simple salad recipe below.
Broccoli – organic
The new variety seems to be handling the hot days and rainy weather better than others. It has much smaller beads in the head and is a little lighter in color, but great flavor!
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Simple Tomato Salad with Corn and Basil
recipe adapted from Janet Fletcher’s Fresh From the Farmers’ Market, can be used with any size or type of tomatoes as the season expands
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced (can use green onion or piece of small sweet onion or shallot)
salt and pepper
1 pound tomatoes
½ C corn kernels
1 dozen fresh basil leaves
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, wine vinegar and garlic/onion. Season highly with salt and pepper. Set aside for 15 minutes for flavors to blend.
Core large tomato. Halve through the stem end, lay cut side down and slice thinly. Arrange tomato slices attractively on a large serving platter. Sprinkle corn kernels over the tomatoes. Tear basil leaves in small pieces and scatter over all. Spoon dressing evenly over the salad. Can serve 4.
Coleslaw
Julie Rosso recipe of Silver Palate Cookbooks
3 T apple cider vinegar
1 T plus 1 tsp sugar
3 T sour cream
1 ½ C shredded cabbage
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
In a mixing bowl, combine the vinegar, sugar and sour cream and mix until smooth. Add the cabbage and toss to coat well. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend before serving.
Country-Style Green Beans and Potatoes
In country cooking, the beans cook for a long period
of time and have a rich, wonderful flavor.
1 1/2 lbs white half runners
salt pork
salt to taste
1/2 cup water
3 or 4 potatoes
Wash and string the green beans and break them into one-inch pieces. Wash them again. Place in a pot with a tight fitting lid. Add a piece of salt pork bacon that has been scored with a knife in several places. Pour water over the beans. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for about an hour. Wash the unpeeled potatoes and put them on top of the beans. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes. Salt to taste and cook another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
Is it the economy? Or, did we just hang around long enough to finally see “buy local” move from a concept into an action plan? By even bringing it up in a CSA newsletter, it’s a little like “preaching to the choir.” Members of a CSA have already made the decision (and financial commitment) to source some of their food from a local farm. An egg share, or meat share, or weekly trip to the farmers market is a little bigger commitment. Some folks even move further along the spectrum to shopping locally for other needs besides food – independent local businesses rather than national chains. This can be retail stores (clothing, books, hardware), services (hair salon, tax advisor, automotive needs), products (restaurants, food shops, newspapers, or farm supplies.) Lexington has an organization to help promote locally owned businesses - Local First Lexington. Other area towns are in different stages of something similar. It does seem a little odd to have to “think and remind ourselves” about sourcing our household or business needs from friends and neighbors in our community, rather than patronizing a national (or international) business – but it shows just how the habits of a society change in only one generation. So, hold on, habits are changing again – get ready for the Eat Local Challenge coming up soon!
To continue and expand your local sourcing for farm products, visit
Local Harvest
Kentucky Proud
Local chapter of Slow Food USA
In Your Share . . .
As always, items in your share may vary depending on your share size and your harvest day. Each share may not have each item listed below.
Half Runner Green Beans – organic
These fat pod beans are one of the most popular in Central Kentucky originating in the rural and mountain areas of the Eastern US. The flavor is well loved, the process of stringing and breaking beans is passed down through generations who celebrate family through their loved local foods. Store refrigerated, then boil in water until tender – be sure to pull the strings along each side (like you did with the peas) before breaking into bite-sized pieces, and be sure to allow enough cooking time. A recipe is below.
Roma Beans - organic
Green Cabbage – organic
New this week is the first cabbage of the season. Cabbage will keep well for you refrigerated, so you may choose to prepare it later in the week. Julia Child’s method for cabbage advises trimming the stem end, cutting into 4 wedges, arranging cut sides up in a steamer rack with 2 C chicken stock and steaming until tender (15-20 minutes). Once done, remove cabbage,/ boil remaining liquid with 1-2 T butter and season. Drizzle over cabbage to serve 4.
Sweet Corn
This week’s corn harvest is a white super sweet variety. There could be a few yellow kernels from cross-pollination. As last week, store refrigerated in the husk until ready to prepare.
English Burpless Cucumber
Small Cucumber
Have you made homemade Benedictine? It is great for a summer sandwich or as a dip for veggies or crackers. Find a recipe on the elmwoodstockfarm.com website, 9-5-05 news.
Herb, Sweet Basil – organic
Take care when storing your basil to make it last – temperatures less than 40° (or above 90°) will turn the leaves black. Cover with a bag or container to protect from your fridge’s cold air blower. You can store at room temp if your stems are in water.
Lettuce Greens – organic
We are so excited to find our summer lettuces did germinate with the May-June rain and we have some little leaves to harvest. You may not have enough for a big salad, but you will for that fat tomato sandwich (think BLT), or to put on burgers and buns. Still have some green tomatoes? try a fried green tomato sandwich with Benedictine and lettuce.
Potatoes – organic
The first potatoes of the season, Caribĕ, are ready to dig. These purplish skin, white flesh, early potatoes are smooth fleshed, and will hold their shape when cooked. They are a good all-purpose potato for baking, boiling, or potato salads.Any variety of potato freshly harvested is considered a New Potato (not just the red skinned found in the supermarkets). Large baking or boiling potatoes are stored over winter for year-round sales and are not considered new. Freshly dug, ours have a tender skin that is entirely edible (and contains much of the nutrition). Store refrigerated and keep out of light or the skin will turn green. Organic potatoes are not treated with a chemical to prevent the skin from turning color – if you do get some greening, cut away before preparing.
Baby Squash Mix
The tiny multi color patty pan and round squashes are one of the most popular items at the farmers market. By only removing the stem, you can enjoy whole squashes raw in salad or as a snack, steamed or sautéed lightly with olive oil or butter (try pesto!) or put on skewers for a nice shish kabob grill. The small squashes will keep less time than larger ones since the moisture dehydrates quickly. Refrigerate.
Tomato, Red – organic
The cooler nighttime temperatures (57°-58°) do not help tomatoes to ripen up but the full moon does. We probably will be overloaded in a couple of weeks, but for now, we harvested several. Enjoy tomatoes on BLT’s or use in the simple salad recipe below.
Broccoli – organic
The new variety seems to be handling the hot days and rainy weather better than others. It has much smaller beads in the head and is a little lighter in color, but great flavor!
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Simple Tomato Salad with Corn and Basil
recipe adapted from Janet Fletcher’s Fresh From the Farmers’ Market, can be used with any size or type of tomatoes as the season expands
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced (can use green onion or piece of small sweet onion or shallot)
salt and pepper
1 pound tomatoes
½ C corn kernels
1 dozen fresh basil leaves
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, wine vinegar and garlic/onion. Season highly with salt and pepper. Set aside for 15 minutes for flavors to blend.
Core large tomato. Halve through the stem end, lay cut side down and slice thinly. Arrange tomato slices attractively on a large serving platter. Sprinkle corn kernels over the tomatoes. Tear basil leaves in small pieces and scatter over all. Spoon dressing evenly over the salad. Can serve 4.
Coleslaw
Julie Rosso recipe of Silver Palate Cookbooks
3 T apple cider vinegar
1 T plus 1 tsp sugar
3 T sour cream
1 ½ C shredded cabbage
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
In a mixing bowl, combine the vinegar, sugar and sour cream and mix until smooth. Add the cabbage and toss to coat well. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend before serving.
Country-Style Green Beans and Potatoes
In country cooking, the beans cook for a long period
of time and have a rich, wonderful flavor.
1 1/2 lbs white half runners
salt pork
salt to taste
1/2 cup water
3 or 4 potatoes
Wash and string the green beans and break them into one-inch pieces. Wash them again. Place in a pot with a tight fitting lid. Add a piece of salt pork bacon that has been scored with a knife in several places. Pour water over the beans. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for about an hour. Wash the unpeeled potatoes and put them on top of the beans. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes. Salt to taste and cook another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
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