In Your Share . . .
Items in the shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.
Stringless Green Beans – organic
Your beans are growing fast with all the heat. If you store in the plastic unopened bag, you may see some rusting color appear on the beans with a lack of airf. Sometimes it cooks out and some-times it won’t, but either way it will not affect the flavor or nutrtional benefits of fresh green beans. You only need to snap off the ends – this variety adapts well to a quick saute or blanching for green bean salad.
Eggplant
Eggplant is very low in calories as it is mostly water. It will absorb a lot of oil (if your recipe calls for it) so keep this in mind when considering your preparation. Your eggplant will store well refrigerated, though it prefers the warmest area of your fridge. Use within a week or so, and feel free to peel prior to cooking as most bitterness if found in the skin.
Garlic – organic
Fresh Herb, Sage – organic
Your fresh bundle can be used with the spaghetti squash and a butter or cream sauce. You can hang up to dry; or you can pan fry the sage leaves (see 8/18/08 on Elmwood’s recipe blog); or add to the leek chip recipe below.
Leeks – organic
Related to onions, leeks have a mild flavor and sweeten when cooked. Store refrigerated, they will keep for 2 weeks. Find a soup recipe on the Elmwood blog 8/20/07 and a snack recipe below.
Red Onion and Yellow Onion – organic
Raspberries – organic
Spaghetti Squash
Store this hard skin squash in your pantry until ready to use, as this item will keep for you for weeks. Boil whole; or halve and bake with flesh side down in a little water until done; remove seeds, then enjoy with a little butter, fresh pesto, or your favorite pasta sauce. Find a recipe below.
Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic
Swiss Chard - organic
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Stuffed Chard
From Elmwood’s farm kitchen, this recipe can use cabbage, kale, or chard leaves, and any of your favorite meats.
15 large chard leaves with stems removed and reserved
2 medium onions, chopped
2 TBS butter
2 C chicken stock
2 TBS lemon juice
1-2 TBS olive oil
Meat Filling
1 ¼ lbs ground beef, veal or turkey
¼ lbs ground pork
1 large clove garlic, chopped
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
¼ C parsley
1 tsp each fresh oregano and thyme
½ tsp Tabasco sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg beaten
¼ C milk
Mix the meat filling ingredients together until well combined and set aside.
Immerse the chard leaves, 4 or 5 at a time, in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes or until limp. Remove and drain. Repeat until all the leaves are done.
Lay chard leaves out flat. Mound several rounded TBS of the meat filling on the center of each leave. Fold sides of leaf over center, and then fold top and bottom down. Roll each leaf into a compact bundle.
Finely chop reserved chard stems. In a large heavy pot, melt 2 TBS butter. Sauté the chopped onions and chard stems about 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Lay chard bundles on top of sautéed vegetables, add chicken stock and sprinkle with lemon juice. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Drizzle 1-2 TBS olive oil over the bundles. Simmer over low heat until filling is done, about 35 minutes. Garnish bundles with fresh lemon slices and fresh yogurt or sour cream.
Spaghetti Squash and Shrimp or Scallops
This recipe was such a hit, we have included it again this season. Our thanks to a CSA member who shared this great recipe last summer! She was thrilled that her whole family really enjoyed this one-dish meal.
1 med. spaghetti squash (about 3 lbs.)
¼ C olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
½ pound shrimp, shelled and cleaned (or scallops)
2 T lemon juice
1 ½ T fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 sm. tomatoes, chopped
1 lg. bunch watercress or ½ bag spinach, washed
¼ C toasted pine nuts (optional)
1 C crumbled Feta or grated Parmesan cheese
Cut squash lengthwise; bake face down on oiled cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until easily pierced by fork. Cool; scoop out insides. Heat oil and sauté garlic. Add shrimp, lemon juice, and spices. Sauté, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and watercress or spinach and cook 1 minute longer until vegetables are wilted. Add pine nuts and cheese and toss with squash. Serve heaped in squash shells or individual casseroles. Makes 2 generous servings.
Fried Eggplant Salad
from Greene on Greens
1 large eggplant or 2 small (about 1 ½ pounds)
salt
½ C olive oil, approximately
1 medium onion, halved, thinly sliced; or green onions
1 large clove garlic, minced
juice of 2 lemons
salt and freshly ground pepper
chopped fresh parsley
lemon wedges
Cut the stem from the eggplant and slice it in half lengthwise. Cut each half into ¼ inch thick slices. Place the slices in a colander, sprinkle them with salt, and let stand 30 minutes. Brush the eggplant with paper towels to remove the salt; pat dry.
Heat 2 T of the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add enough eggplant slices to cover the bottom. Sprinkle lightly with more oil, and sauté until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Continue to sauté the eggplant slices, adding more oil as needed.
Pour off all but 2 tsp of oil from skillet. Add the onion; cook over medium-low heat 1 minute. Add the garlic; cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Place one fourth of the eggplant in the bottom of a deep, narrow serving bowl. Sprinkle with the juice of ½ lemon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Top with one fourth of the onion mixture. Continue to layer, squeezing lemon juice over each successive layer of eggplant, until all ingredients are used up. End with the onion mixture. Chill well. Serve garnished with parsley and lemon wedges. Serves 4 as an appetizer.
Leek Chips
A Mollie Katzen recipe – reminds you of the old fashioned homemade French-fried onions atop the green bean casserole. A great snack!
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2-3 medium sized leeks (1 ½” inch diameter)
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 250°. Line a large baking tray with foil and coat with the oil.
Remove and discard the dark green leaves from the leeks. Slice off about ¼ inch from the root end as well. (You want the white and pale green portions only.) Use a very sharp knife to cut the leeks into ¼ inch slices, then transfer them to a large bowl of cold water. Use your fingers and thumb to separate the slices into rings, then swish the pieces around vigorously to remove any grit that might be tucked in between the layers. With your hands or a large slotted spoon, lift the leek rings out of the water and transfer them to a colander in the sink. Drain thoroughly, then pat dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels.
Distribute the leek rings onto the prepared baking tray and toss to coat with the oil. Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp. Some rings may be ready to remove at 30 minutes, others may take up to 60 minutes or longer – just remove them as they are done.
Transfer the finished chips to a plate, season to taste with a few dashes of salt and pepper and serve at room temperature. Store in a covered container. They will keep for a week or longer, but taste best within a few hours of being made.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
CSA News, Week 14
In Your Share . . .
Items may vary in your share depending on share size and your harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.
White Half Runner Green Beans – organic
This most popular of all of the string beans, your half runner beans offer the most “beany” flavor, but come with a price. You do need to remove the string from each bean and then break into bite-sized pieces before cooking. Start by break-ing the end and pulling down the length of the bean until the string is removed at the other end. Repeat the process up the otherside of the bean. Then, when breaking into pieces, remove any string piece that you might have missed the first time. A little time now will result in a delicious result later on. Refrigerate.
Sweet Corn
Though we thought last week was your last corn for a while, we had a few more of the smaller ears available for today. You may recall these are the second ear off of the plant and will not be as long or as full as the earlier harvest. However, you’ve told us you would rather have the small ears than no corn at all! Enjoy this extra surprise in today’s shares.
Eggplant
Sweet Onion – organic
Italian Sweet Pepper – organic
Your cone shaped green pepper is sweet, similar in flavor to a mild red or green bell pepper. Use as you would any sweet pepper, or mix with the hot in making a salsa.
Assorted Hot Peppers – organic
Find just a handful of hot peppers including jalapeno and hot banana. Use caution when cutting, remembering the seeds and interior membrane is the hottest. Refrigerate.
Raspberries – organic
Tomatoes, Heirloom and Slicing - organic
Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic
Today’s shares contain the Garden Peach (light yellow skin with peach-like texture), Black Plum, and the popular Sungold.
Watermelon
Garlic – organic
Leeks - organic
Okra - organic
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
For several years we have had someone at the farm in charge of feeding all of us a nutritious home-cooked meal each day at noon. Several people have held this position, and you have seen many of their recipes in your newsletters over the seasons – including the tried and true selections included today!
Tomato Salsa
1 ½ lbs ripe tomato
2-3 fresh jalapeno chilies, stemmed
½ small onion
4 cloves garlic
¼ C water
1/3 C cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cider vinegar
Heat broiler. Lay whole tomatoes and jalapenos out on broiler pan and broil for about 6 minutes. Flip over and do other side. May develop char spots. Set aside and cool.
Turn oven down to 425. Separate onions into rings and place on baking sheet with whole peeled cloves of garlic. Roast in oven until browned and wilted. 15 minutes.
Place in a food processor and pulse to right consistency. Add cilantro, salt, and vinegar.
Fruit Salsa
1 C diced cantaloupe
1C diced watermelon
1 C peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber
4 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
½ C chopped red onion
¼ C fresh lime juice
3 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1-1 ½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
Stir together in a bowl; cover and chill for 1 hour. Eat on tortilla chips.
Green Bean Salad
1½ lbs green beans
A handful of Sungold tomatoes
1 small sweet or red onion chopped
½ C lemon vinaigrette
Feta cheese
Cook green beans in boiling salted water for about 8 minutes if using snap beans, longer if using half-runner beans – just make sure tender. Drain and plunge into ice water to stop cooking process. Drain and pat dry. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Add chopped onion, tomatoes, vinaigrette and top with feta cheese.
Lemon Vinaigrette
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
3 TBS white wine vinegar
1 TBS Dijon mustard
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
½ C olive oil
Cajun Succotash
Sauté diced onion and minced garlic. Add corn cut off the cob and okra sliced in bite-sized pieces. Finish with diced tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. To freeze, cut all fresh ingredients (except tomatoes) and put in plastic bag. Add tomatoes when ready to cook later.
Eggplant Casserole
1 eggplant, peeled and chopped
4 slices bread, torn
1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, separated
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cover eggplant with water in saucepan. Cook egg-plant in boiling water for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Mash eggplant and set aside.
Combine bread and milk. Let stand 10 minutes.
Cook onion and garlic in butter in a large skillet over
medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until tender. Add eggplant, egg yolks, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into eggplant mixture. Pour into well-greased 1 ½-quart baking dish and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until set. Serve immediately.
Classic Southern-Style Green Beans
This recipe is from Ronni Lundy’s Butter Beans to
Blackberries. In her narrative, she says” I’ll wager
just about anything that slow-cooked is the only
way we’ll be asking for them in heaven, with a pan
of cornbread, a platter of fresh sliced garden –warm
tomatoes, and a chilled bowl of cucumbers and
onions on the side.”
2 pounds beans
water
¼ pound salt pork
salt
Snap beans into pieces about 1 inch long. Discard any with blemishes. Rinse in very cold water and drain. Put beans in a large, heavy pot with a lid, and just cover with water. Add the salt pork, using your hand to bury it down in the beans. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, turn down the heat, and simmer for 1 hour.
After the hour, add salt if needed (depending on how briny the pork is). Half-cover and simmer for another hour or so, until the beans are very tender and saturated with the seasoning, and the water has boiled down to a bit of rich pot likker. These beans are even better warmed up the second day. Don’t let the water boil completely boil away, so add more if needed during your preparation.
Items may vary in your share depending on share size and your harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.
White Half Runner Green Beans – organic
This most popular of all of the string beans, your half runner beans offer the most “beany” flavor, but come with a price. You do need to remove the string from each bean and then break into bite-sized pieces before cooking. Start by break-ing the end and pulling down the length of the bean until the string is removed at the other end. Repeat the process up the otherside of the bean. Then, when breaking into pieces, remove any string piece that you might have missed the first time. A little time now will result in a delicious result later on. Refrigerate.
Sweet Corn
Though we thought last week was your last corn for a while, we had a few more of the smaller ears available for today. You may recall these are the second ear off of the plant and will not be as long or as full as the earlier harvest. However, you’ve told us you would rather have the small ears than no corn at all! Enjoy this extra surprise in today’s shares.
Eggplant
Sweet Onion – organic
Italian Sweet Pepper – organic
Your cone shaped green pepper is sweet, similar in flavor to a mild red or green bell pepper. Use as you would any sweet pepper, or mix with the hot in making a salsa.
Assorted Hot Peppers – organic
Find just a handful of hot peppers including jalapeno and hot banana. Use caution when cutting, remembering the seeds and interior membrane is the hottest. Refrigerate.
Raspberries – organic
Tomatoes, Heirloom and Slicing - organic
Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic
Today’s shares contain the Garden Peach (light yellow skin with peach-like texture), Black Plum, and the popular Sungold.
Watermelon
Garlic – organic
Leeks - organic
Okra - organic
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
For several years we have had someone at the farm in charge of feeding all of us a nutritious home-cooked meal each day at noon. Several people have held this position, and you have seen many of their recipes in your newsletters over the seasons – including the tried and true selections included today!
Tomato Salsa
1 ½ lbs ripe tomato
2-3 fresh jalapeno chilies, stemmed
½ small onion
4 cloves garlic
¼ C water
1/3 C cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cider vinegar
Heat broiler. Lay whole tomatoes and jalapenos out on broiler pan and broil for about 6 minutes. Flip over and do other side. May develop char spots. Set aside and cool.
Turn oven down to 425. Separate onions into rings and place on baking sheet with whole peeled cloves of garlic. Roast in oven until browned and wilted. 15 minutes.
Place in a food processor and pulse to right consistency. Add cilantro, salt, and vinegar.
Fruit Salsa
1 C diced cantaloupe
1C diced watermelon
1 C peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber
4 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
½ C chopped red onion
¼ C fresh lime juice
3 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1-1 ½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
Stir together in a bowl; cover and chill for 1 hour. Eat on tortilla chips.
Green Bean Salad
1½ lbs green beans
A handful of Sungold tomatoes
1 small sweet or red onion chopped
½ C lemon vinaigrette
Feta cheese
Cook green beans in boiling salted water for about 8 minutes if using snap beans, longer if using half-runner beans – just make sure tender. Drain and plunge into ice water to stop cooking process. Drain and pat dry. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Add chopped onion, tomatoes, vinaigrette and top with feta cheese.
Lemon Vinaigrette
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
3 TBS white wine vinegar
1 TBS Dijon mustard
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
½ C olive oil
Cajun Succotash
Sauté diced onion and minced garlic. Add corn cut off the cob and okra sliced in bite-sized pieces. Finish with diced tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. To freeze, cut all fresh ingredients (except tomatoes) and put in plastic bag. Add tomatoes when ready to cook later.
Eggplant Casserole
1 eggplant, peeled and chopped
4 slices bread, torn
1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, separated
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cover eggplant with water in saucepan. Cook egg-plant in boiling water for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Mash eggplant and set aside.
Combine bread and milk. Let stand 10 minutes.
Cook onion and garlic in butter in a large skillet over
medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until tender. Add eggplant, egg yolks, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into eggplant mixture. Pour into well-greased 1 ½-quart baking dish and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until set. Serve immediately.
Classic Southern-Style Green Beans
This recipe is from Ronni Lundy’s Butter Beans to
Blackberries. In her narrative, she says” I’ll wager
just about anything that slow-cooked is the only
way we’ll be asking for them in heaven, with a pan
of cornbread, a platter of fresh sliced garden –warm
tomatoes, and a chilled bowl of cucumbers and
onions on the side.”
2 pounds beans
water
¼ pound salt pork
salt
Snap beans into pieces about 1 inch long. Discard any with blemishes. Rinse in very cold water and drain. Put beans in a large, heavy pot with a lid, and just cover with water. Add the salt pork, using your hand to bury it down in the beans. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, turn down the heat, and simmer for 1 hour.
After the hour, add salt if needed (depending on how briny the pork is). Half-cover and simmer for another hour or so, until the beans are very tender and saturated with the seasoning, and the water has boiled down to a bit of rich pot likker. These beans are even better warmed up the second day. Don’t let the water boil completely boil away, so add more if needed during your preparation.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Week 13, CSA
From the Farm . . .
When we first started transitioning from a traditional Kentucky beef cattle and burley tobacco farm to a more diversified farming system in the early 1990’s, farmers markets (specifically Lexington Farmers Market) were busy and thriving with an abundance of truck farmers and a supportive customer base. However, one did not see as much promotion of “Buy Local” in supermarkets and restaurants as we see today. Restaurants imported specialty foods from Europe (like cheese, mushrooms and chocolates) and our groceries promoted convenience over freshness and flavor.
Over the past decade, we have started to see people becoming reacquainted with locally grown foods they may remember eating as a child at the home of a grandparent. Now people are beginning to seek out Kentucky based value-added products (jams, jellies, cheeses, sausages, salsas, and much more) or even learning how to process their own. Issues surrounding food safety and food security give people motivation to get to know their local farmers, purchase a CSA share, seek out certified organic products, and know more about production practices of how their food is grown.
Finally, it seems there is also a resurgence of community as people come together in canning or freezing parties at local church kitchens, organize potluck dinners in their neighborhood with food from their own gardens, or request local farm foods at their wedding and birthday celebrations. The existence of the internet and use of websites and food blogs for people to post or search for favorite recipes has opened up the secrets of food presser-vation and fresh food preparation to all of us. It is not as hard to “Buy Local” as it once was and for this we can all be Kentucky Proud!
Many of you are already aware of many local activities and resources in our Central Kentucky area that focus on this topic. A few that Elmwood feels fortu-nate to be a part of recently are listed here:
Take the Eat Local Challenge during the month of August – you can signup and get helpful information from Good Foods Market and Café in Lexington.
Visit Kentucky Green TV, an internet based television station to learn more on sustainability and visit one or two of the Elmwood farmers.
Local Lexington based web site that promotes, educates, and helps us find all local things to satisfy our taste buds. Enjoy the delicious photos of Savoring Kentucky, along with tried and true recipes, and sometimes some really nice tributes to local farms.
In Your Share . . .
Items in your shares may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Each share may not have every item listed below.
Stringless Green Beans – organic
Savoy Cabbage – organic
You may recall that the savory cabbage is a little sweeter than traditional green. It will also store for you very well in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.
Sweet Corn
The last harvest for several weeks – Enjoy!
Garlic – organic
Your garlic head has been air-dried and cured and will store at room temperature.
Yellow Onion – organic
Bell Pepper
Raspberries – organic
Ripening very fast due to the heat, eat these soon!
Tomatoes, Heirloom and Slicing - organic
Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic
Watermelon
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Summer Succotash with Bacon and Garlic Croutons
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe. She reports that it is “TO DIE FOR” and that she used frozen lima beans as fresh are not in season yet. Original recipe was in Gourmet magazine, but this also appeared on the Smitten Kitchen food blog site. Makes 4-6 servings.
1 pound fresh or frozen baby lima beans
1/4 pound bacon (about 4 slices)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 pound cherry tomatoes halved, or other tomatoes chopped
Fresh kernels from 4 ears corn
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
1/4 cup packed small fresh basil leaves (optional)
In a small saucepan of boiling salted water cook shelled beans over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. In a sieve drain beans and rinse under cold running water to stop cooking. Set aside.
In a skillet cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels and crumble. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat from skillet. Add oil to bacon fat in skillet and cook onion over moderate heat, stirring, until just softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, corn, and vinegar and cook, stirring, until tomatoes just begin to lose their shape. Remove skillet from heat and gently stir in cooked beans and half of bacon. Cool succotash to room temperature and gently stir in basil and salt, pepper and additional sherry vinegar to taste. Toss with croutons (below, if using) and sprinkle with remaining bacon before serving.
Garlic Croutons
1 garlic clove, peeled and halved
1 round loaf crusty bread
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Cut three 1-inch-thick slices from middle of loaf and brush bread with oil. Lightly oil a well-seasoned ridged grill pan and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Grill bread until golden brown on both sides. Alternately, you can run toasts under the broiler for a minute. Remove from heat and immediately rub bread both sides with cut side of garlic and sprinkle with salt. Cut into cubes and toss into succotash.
Corn Cob Jelly
Though this old-time recipe may seem a bit of a novelty, if you are intent on using “everything” in your share this week, this fits the bill. People say it reminds them of honey.
12 corn cobs, kernels removed
4 cups water
1 box pectin (such as Sure-Jell)
4 cups sugar
Place corn cobs in large pot and add 4 cups water. Bring to boil and cook 10 minutes. Remove cobs and drain liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. You should have 3 cups; if not, add water to equal three cups. Return liquid to pot and add pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil. Add sugar, bring back to boil and boil for one full minute. Skim foam and pour into hot jars (I use half pint size), top with sterile lids and rings.
Tomato and Smoked Mozzarella Pasta
Thanks to a friend of the farm for this tasty, yet simple quick pasta recipe. You can customize by using different colors and varieties of tomatoes; adding cooked chicken or shrimp; and changing the type of cheese, perhaps provolone. Serve immediately.
Penne pasta
4 cups chopped tomatoes
8 oz smoked mozzarella, diced
½ cup chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Combine all ingredients except pasta in large bowl. Toss with pasta and serve.
Country Green Beans
recipe from Entertaining with Bluegrass Winners – recipe can be adapted using oil rather than bacon grease and leaving out the bacon
2-3 pounds fresh green beans
3-4 slices uncooked bacon
1 heaping T bacon drippings
1 large onion, chopped
1 heaping T sugar
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Pop off ends of beans and break into bite-sized pieces. Rinse in cold water. Place in large pan with just enough water to cover. Cut bacon into pieces and add to beans with rest of ingredients. Bring beans to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 ½ hours, adding a little water if necessary. Serves 6 to 8, improves as leftovers.
When we first started transitioning from a traditional Kentucky beef cattle and burley tobacco farm to a more diversified farming system in the early 1990’s, farmers markets (specifically Lexington Farmers Market) were busy and thriving with an abundance of truck farmers and a supportive customer base. However, one did not see as much promotion of “Buy Local” in supermarkets and restaurants as we see today. Restaurants imported specialty foods from Europe (like cheese, mushrooms and chocolates) and our groceries promoted convenience over freshness and flavor.
Over the past decade, we have started to see people becoming reacquainted with locally grown foods they may remember eating as a child at the home of a grandparent. Now people are beginning to seek out Kentucky based value-added products (jams, jellies, cheeses, sausages, salsas, and much more) or even learning how to process their own. Issues surrounding food safety and food security give people motivation to get to know their local farmers, purchase a CSA share, seek out certified organic products, and know more about production practices of how their food is grown.
Finally, it seems there is also a resurgence of community as people come together in canning or freezing parties at local church kitchens, organize potluck dinners in their neighborhood with food from their own gardens, or request local farm foods at their wedding and birthday celebrations. The existence of the internet and use of websites and food blogs for people to post or search for favorite recipes has opened up the secrets of food presser-vation and fresh food preparation to all of us. It is not as hard to “Buy Local” as it once was and for this we can all be Kentucky Proud!
Many of you are already aware of many local activities and resources in our Central Kentucky area that focus on this topic. A few that Elmwood feels fortu-nate to be a part of recently are listed here:
Take the Eat Local Challenge during the month of August – you can signup and get helpful information from Good Foods Market and Café in Lexington.
Visit Kentucky Green TV, an internet based television station to learn more on sustainability and visit one or two of the Elmwood farmers.
Local Lexington based web site that promotes, educates, and helps us find all local things to satisfy our taste buds. Enjoy the delicious photos of Savoring Kentucky, along with tried and true recipes, and sometimes some really nice tributes to local farms.
In Your Share . . .
Items in your shares may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Each share may not have every item listed below.
Stringless Green Beans – organic
Savoy Cabbage – organic
You may recall that the savory cabbage is a little sweeter than traditional green. It will also store for you very well in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.
Sweet Corn
The last harvest for several weeks – Enjoy!
Garlic – organic
Your garlic head has been air-dried and cured and will store at room temperature.
Yellow Onion – organic
Bell Pepper
Raspberries – organic
Ripening very fast due to the heat, eat these soon!
Tomatoes, Heirloom and Slicing - organic
Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic
Watermelon
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Summer Succotash with Bacon and Garlic Croutons
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe. She reports that it is “TO DIE FOR” and that she used frozen lima beans as fresh are not in season yet. Original recipe was in Gourmet magazine, but this also appeared on the Smitten Kitchen food blog site. Makes 4-6 servings.
1 pound fresh or frozen baby lima beans
1/4 pound bacon (about 4 slices)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 pound cherry tomatoes halved, or other tomatoes chopped
Fresh kernels from 4 ears corn
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
1/4 cup packed small fresh basil leaves (optional)
In a small saucepan of boiling salted water cook shelled beans over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. In a sieve drain beans and rinse under cold running water to stop cooking. Set aside.
In a skillet cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels and crumble. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat from skillet. Add oil to bacon fat in skillet and cook onion over moderate heat, stirring, until just softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, corn, and vinegar and cook, stirring, until tomatoes just begin to lose their shape. Remove skillet from heat and gently stir in cooked beans and half of bacon. Cool succotash to room temperature and gently stir in basil and salt, pepper and additional sherry vinegar to taste. Toss with croutons (below, if using) and sprinkle with remaining bacon before serving.
Garlic Croutons
1 garlic clove, peeled and halved
1 round loaf crusty bread
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Cut three 1-inch-thick slices from middle of loaf and brush bread with oil. Lightly oil a well-seasoned ridged grill pan and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Grill bread until golden brown on both sides. Alternately, you can run toasts under the broiler for a minute. Remove from heat and immediately rub bread both sides with cut side of garlic and sprinkle with salt. Cut into cubes and toss into succotash.
Corn Cob Jelly
Though this old-time recipe may seem a bit of a novelty, if you are intent on using “everything” in your share this week, this fits the bill. People say it reminds them of honey.
12 corn cobs, kernels removed
4 cups water
1 box pectin (such as Sure-Jell)
4 cups sugar
Place corn cobs in large pot and add 4 cups water. Bring to boil and cook 10 minutes. Remove cobs and drain liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. You should have 3 cups; if not, add water to equal three cups. Return liquid to pot and add pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil. Add sugar, bring back to boil and boil for one full minute. Skim foam and pour into hot jars (I use half pint size), top with sterile lids and rings.
Tomato and Smoked Mozzarella Pasta
Thanks to a friend of the farm for this tasty, yet simple quick pasta recipe. You can customize by using different colors and varieties of tomatoes; adding cooked chicken or shrimp; and changing the type of cheese, perhaps provolone. Serve immediately.
Penne pasta
4 cups chopped tomatoes
8 oz smoked mozzarella, diced
½ cup chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Combine all ingredients except pasta in large bowl. Toss with pasta and serve.
Country Green Beans
recipe from Entertaining with Bluegrass Winners – recipe can be adapted using oil rather than bacon grease and leaving out the bacon
2-3 pounds fresh green beans
3-4 slices uncooked bacon
1 heaping T bacon drippings
1 large onion, chopped
1 heaping T sugar
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Pop off ends of beans and break into bite-sized pieces. Rinse in cold water. Place in large pan with just enough water to cover. Cut bacon into pieces and add to beans with rest of ingredients. Bring beans to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 ½ hours, adding a little water if necessary. Serves 6 to 8, improves as leftovers.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Week 12, CSA
In Your Share . . .
Share items may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not have every item listed below.
Stringless Green Beans – organic
These stringless snap beans, the most popular variety it seems, only need the ends removed, then either use whole or break into bite sized pieces prior to cooking. Refrigerate to store.
Blackberries and / or Raspberries – organic
The berries are very ripe and ready to enjoy. We do our best to harvest them as ripe as possible to ensure the best flavor, but know that we still have to cool them and get them to you safely prior to one or two becoming over ripe. Rinse before eating, store refrigerated.
We should tell you that the red raspberries grown at Elmwood are the fall-bearing varieties. We expect them to begin production late August and continue until frost. This hot year, we see that some berry plants have already begun ripening – not having seen this before, we do not know if the plants will continue the rest of the summer, or stop early since they started early. For now, enjoy and we’ll keep you posted on the production.
Sweet Corn
Yeh! More sweet corn is ready for harvest. This super sweet white variety has been the best tasting so far this season according to the taste testers here at the farm (all self-appointed to this job, of course).
Sweet Onion – organic
You are probably familiar with the name brand of sweet onion, Vidalia, only grown in Georgia. Any farm can grow the same variety, but cannot call them Vidalia unless they are grown in Vidalia County, Georgia (or the surrounding counties) as stipulated by law. Our sweet onions are tasty this season. They have not been “cured” for long time storage, but you probably will not want to refrigerate either unless you have pieces left over after cleaning and slicing.
All-Blue Potatoes – organic
Contrary to popular belief, potatoes are not fattening on their own, it’s the butter and cream. High in Vit. B, potatoes are mostly starch with a little protein, sugars, and random other vitamins and minerals.
Find some All-Blue potatoes with a deep blue skin and the same color flesh inside. They keep the color after cooking, have outstanding flavor, and moist texture. Most popular preparations include baking, boiling, and potato salad. Store refrigerated.
Summer Squash
Tomatoes, Heirloom and Yellow Slicing - organic
Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic
We continue with the small salad tomatoes as our early first crop wanes and the mid-season crop begins to be ready for harvest. We still see Tigerella and Black Plum varieties, along with Chadwick Cherry, Gold Nugget, Green Zebra, and the Peach Tomato. Enjoy whole, halved, chunked in salads, as a snack, or put on a kebab for the grill. Store at room temperature.
Watermelon
Today’s melon is the old fashioned variety of Sugar Baby, an icebox seeded red watermelon. Once you cut into it, refrigerate, but it is not necessary when still whole and uncut. It does live up to its name and seems as sweet as sugar this season.
Specialty Asian Melon
The greenish skin Asian melon is a small variety with a creamish to light greenish color flesh inside. The Asian melons are never as sweet as a traditional Southern canteloupe, but do offer an outstanding eating experience. Try mixing with other melon or berries for a fresh salad. Cut into slices or cubes and refrigerate in a covered container to keep.
Okra - organic
Several of you have been asking for fresh okra this season. Store refrigerated until ready to prepare. You only need to remove the stem, then toss in seasoned corn meal and lightly pan fry in your favorite cooking oil. Eat as a snack or serve as a side vegetable. Okra can also be stewed with corn and tomatoes.
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
All-In-One-Pot Using My CSA Share
Our thanks to a CSA member for this recipe she describes as “probably not all that original, but it was easy, forgiving, and used up a lot of my CSA odds and ends. It’s a keeper!”
¼ C chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 C green beans, tip and tailed
2 ears corn, cut into 1" disks
1 lb rope sausage, cut into 1" chunks
3 red potatoes, partially cooked in the microwave and cut lengthwise into wedges
In a small pan, sauté red onion and garlic in a little oil. In your 3-quart Dutch oven, combine green beans, corn, sausage, potatoes and onion/garlic mixture. Pour 1 C water over the mixture and salt/pepper to taste. Cook on medium-low heat for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Serve with homemade bread.
New Potatoes in White Wine
from Bert Greene
1¼ pound small potatoes
4 T unsalted butter
2/3 C dry white wine
3 T chopped fresh parsley (or other favorite herb)
1 T chopped fresh dill
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cut away a small strip of peel around each potato with a vegetable peeler to give a candy-striped look. Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until barely tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.
Melt 2 T of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes and roll them in the skillet until a light crust forms, but do not let them brown. Add the wine; raise the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the wine is reduced and the sauce is fairly thick, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, the parsley and the dill. Stir gently to coat the potatoes with the herbs. Serves 4.
Cream of Squash Soup
Our thanks to a CSA member who has shared several successful recipes and this has turned into one of her favorites. This soup could also be made with zucchini or broccoli.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
1½ pounds yellow summer squash
2 T butter
1 medium onion, sliced
¼ lemon, sliced, seeds removed
¼ C flour
6 C chicken, turkey or vegetable broth
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
3 to 4 grinds of fresh nutmeg or dash of ground nutmeg
1 C heavy cream or fat-free half-and-half
Wash and trim squash. Slice, reserving 8 very thin slices for garnish. In a large saucepan, melt butter; gently sauté onion and lemon. Sprinkle with flour and cook slowly, stirring, until flour is absorbed. Add chicken broth gradually, then sliced squash, salt and pepper. Simmer for 1 hour. Puree soup in blender or food processor. Add nutmeg. To heat, stir in cream with a wire whisk and cook over low heat. Do not allow to boil. Garnish cream of squash soup with reserved squash slices. Squash soup serves 4-6.
Melon Smoothie
recipe adapted from Fresh Start by Julee Rosso. Serves 1
¼ fresh melon, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)
2 T plain yogurt
1 T honey
juice of ½ lime
sprig of mint for garnish, if desired
Process all of the ingredients, except the mint, in a blender until smooth. Garnish with the mint sprig and serve immediately.
Share items may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not have every item listed below.
Stringless Green Beans – organic
These stringless snap beans, the most popular variety it seems, only need the ends removed, then either use whole or break into bite sized pieces prior to cooking. Refrigerate to store.
Blackberries and / or Raspberries – organic
The berries are very ripe and ready to enjoy. We do our best to harvest them as ripe as possible to ensure the best flavor, but know that we still have to cool them and get them to you safely prior to one or two becoming over ripe. Rinse before eating, store refrigerated.
We should tell you that the red raspberries grown at Elmwood are the fall-bearing varieties. We expect them to begin production late August and continue until frost. This hot year, we see that some berry plants have already begun ripening – not having seen this before, we do not know if the plants will continue the rest of the summer, or stop early since they started early. For now, enjoy and we’ll keep you posted on the production.
Sweet Corn
Yeh! More sweet corn is ready for harvest. This super sweet white variety has been the best tasting so far this season according to the taste testers here at the farm (all self-appointed to this job, of course).
Sweet Onion – organic
You are probably familiar with the name brand of sweet onion, Vidalia, only grown in Georgia. Any farm can grow the same variety, but cannot call them Vidalia unless they are grown in Vidalia County, Georgia (or the surrounding counties) as stipulated by law. Our sweet onions are tasty this season. They have not been “cured” for long time storage, but you probably will not want to refrigerate either unless you have pieces left over after cleaning and slicing.
All-Blue Potatoes – organic
Contrary to popular belief, potatoes are not fattening on their own, it’s the butter and cream. High in Vit. B, potatoes are mostly starch with a little protein, sugars, and random other vitamins and minerals.
Find some All-Blue potatoes with a deep blue skin and the same color flesh inside. They keep the color after cooking, have outstanding flavor, and moist texture. Most popular preparations include baking, boiling, and potato salad. Store refrigerated.
Summer Squash
Tomatoes, Heirloom and Yellow Slicing - organic
Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic
We continue with the small salad tomatoes as our early first crop wanes and the mid-season crop begins to be ready for harvest. We still see Tigerella and Black Plum varieties, along with Chadwick Cherry, Gold Nugget, Green Zebra, and the Peach Tomato. Enjoy whole, halved, chunked in salads, as a snack, or put on a kebab for the grill. Store at room temperature.
Watermelon
Today’s melon is the old fashioned variety of Sugar Baby, an icebox seeded red watermelon. Once you cut into it, refrigerate, but it is not necessary when still whole and uncut. It does live up to its name and seems as sweet as sugar this season.
Specialty Asian Melon
The greenish skin Asian melon is a small variety with a creamish to light greenish color flesh inside. The Asian melons are never as sweet as a traditional Southern canteloupe, but do offer an outstanding eating experience. Try mixing with other melon or berries for a fresh salad. Cut into slices or cubes and refrigerate in a covered container to keep.
Okra - organic
Several of you have been asking for fresh okra this season. Store refrigerated until ready to prepare. You only need to remove the stem, then toss in seasoned corn meal and lightly pan fry in your favorite cooking oil. Eat as a snack or serve as a side vegetable. Okra can also be stewed with corn and tomatoes.
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
All-In-One-Pot Using My CSA Share
Our thanks to a CSA member for this recipe she describes as “probably not all that original, but it was easy, forgiving, and used up a lot of my CSA odds and ends. It’s a keeper!”
¼ C chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 C green beans, tip and tailed
2 ears corn, cut into 1" disks
1 lb rope sausage, cut into 1" chunks
3 red potatoes, partially cooked in the microwave and cut lengthwise into wedges
In a small pan, sauté red onion and garlic in a little oil. In your 3-quart Dutch oven, combine green beans, corn, sausage, potatoes and onion/garlic mixture. Pour 1 C water over the mixture and salt/pepper to taste. Cook on medium-low heat for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Serve with homemade bread.
New Potatoes in White Wine
from Bert Greene
1¼ pound small potatoes
4 T unsalted butter
2/3 C dry white wine
3 T chopped fresh parsley (or other favorite herb)
1 T chopped fresh dill
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cut away a small strip of peel around each potato with a vegetable peeler to give a candy-striped look. Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until barely tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.
Melt 2 T of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes and roll them in the skillet until a light crust forms, but do not let them brown. Add the wine; raise the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the wine is reduced and the sauce is fairly thick, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, the parsley and the dill. Stir gently to coat the potatoes with the herbs. Serves 4.
Cream of Squash Soup
Our thanks to a CSA member who has shared several successful recipes and this has turned into one of her favorites. This soup could also be made with zucchini or broccoli.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
1½ pounds yellow summer squash
2 T butter
1 medium onion, sliced
¼ lemon, sliced, seeds removed
¼ C flour
6 C chicken, turkey or vegetable broth
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
3 to 4 grinds of fresh nutmeg or dash of ground nutmeg
1 C heavy cream or fat-free half-and-half
Wash and trim squash. Slice, reserving 8 very thin slices for garnish. In a large saucepan, melt butter; gently sauté onion and lemon. Sprinkle with flour and cook slowly, stirring, until flour is absorbed. Add chicken broth gradually, then sliced squash, salt and pepper. Simmer for 1 hour. Puree soup in blender or food processor. Add nutmeg. To heat, stir in cream with a wire whisk and cook over low heat. Do not allow to boil. Garnish cream of squash soup with reserved squash slices. Squash soup serves 4-6.
Melon Smoothie
recipe adapted from Fresh Start by Julee Rosso. Serves 1
¼ fresh melon, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)
2 T plain yogurt
1 T honey
juice of ½ lime
sprig of mint for garnish, if desired
Process all of the ingredients, except the mint, in a blender until smooth. Garnish with the mint sprig and serve immediately.
Monday, July 19, 2010
CSA News, Week 11
From the Farm . . .
With this being the eleventh week of our harvest and distribution for the summer season, you are halfway through the 22 weeks. Compared to other recent growing seasons, this first half has been as good as one could ask with plenty of sunshine, rainfall, and mostly healthy plants. We are seeing things ripening earlier than ever, plants growing faster then normal due to long hot days. High temperatures during the night increase plant growth as well. Some plants are not setting very many blooms due to the high heat resulting in not enough harvestable fruits (specialty peppers and green beans come to mind).
As is necessary when attempting to grow vegetables, we run irrigation to many of the crops which requires monitoring on the amount of water the plants receive, switching from one block of rows to the next after the appropriate amount of time, cleaning filters, and trying to not let the pipes and water lines get run over with the mower. We have only had to irrigate a couple of fields with the overhead traveling gun irrigator in order to get seeds to germinate on some of your later season root crops; we are seeding some of the fall crops in the greenhouse as transplants are a better way to ensure plant viability and establishment - just much more time consuming and costly to produce than direct seeding. But, we can get a head start on the weeds and a larger plant can better protect itself against strong predatory insect populations or wind-blown plant diseases that are both prevalent this time of the summer.
Everyone is putting in long days right now with all of the harvesting and a little planting and weeding. We are well fed at noon each day, and we appreciate knowing that the items we grow are being eaten and enjoyed by lots of you – thank you for your feedback in the email comments and conversations from time to time at the farmers markets.
NOTE: If you are interested in a box of “canning” tomatoes to can, make salsa, put into the freezer, tomato juice, etc. please let us know soon. We have the #2 tomatoes with nicks, cracks, and a spot here or there that we can make ready for you. You will want to get them right before you are ready to process, so call or email and we can set you up.
In Your Share . . .
Items in the shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.
Blackberries – organic
The berries are very ripe and ready to enjoy either with your breakfast, for a snack, or possibly in a cobbler tonight! Store refrigerated and rinse prior to eating.
To freeze, wash and let dry on a paper towel. Lay out on a baking sheet and put the entire pan in your freezer. Once the berries are frozen, gather them up into a container or bag – later on you can remove only the amount you need as they are individually frozen rather than in one mass.
Cauliflower - organic
The last few heads of the season, remove the outer leaves, obviously sunburned by the hot temperatures. Refrigerate until ready to use, and as we told you before – the creamy color is from sunshine and high heat, fall cauliflower will be whiter when the days and nights are cooler.
Sweet Corn
Cucumber
Eggplant
Melon
We have several varieties of melons planted, and they seem to be ripening a little at a time. Today’s harvest includes Pixie, Sugar Baby, and Napoli – some similar to canteloupes others are water melons. Flavor is tasty, but not as sweet as a really dry year (the wonderful rainfall over the past week directly affects melon sweetness).
Store refrigerated and rinse prior to eating. We should tell you that the red raspberries grown at Elmwood are the fall-bearing varieties. We expect them to begin production late August and continue until frost. This hot year, we see that some berry plants have already begun ripening – not having seen this before, we do not know if the plants will continue the rest of the summer, or stop early since they started early. For now, enjoy and we’ll keep you posted on production.
Retono de Repollo – organic
A new item this year, you can prepare as you might Brussel Sprouts or cooked cabbage. These baby cabbage heads are tender and sweet – find a recipe below.
Tomatoes, Red Slicing - organic
We really sorted through our red tomatoes to try to only include good ones in the shares. With the early blight set into the plants, the leaves have shriveled up resulting in more of the tomatoes being exposed to the sun. This causes sunburn and uneven ripening, both of which result in tomatoes with yellowng, or that will be whitish and unripe inside. We tried to cull those out during our harvest, and find that most of the better quality tomatoes are just not super ripe and ready to eat today. We did inlcude those as they will be really nice tomatoes, but be sure to let them ripen out at room temperature for a day or two prior to use. Try to not ever store your tomatoes in the refrigerator if possible.
Tomatoes, Heirloom – organic
Your share includes some more of the small salad varieties: Tigrella and BlackPlum. Also find some of the sweetest tomatoes on the farm – Sungold. And one or two of the large heirloom slicing tomatoes – varieties right now include Cherokee Purple, Pink Rose, or Arkansas Traveler. These are all quite fragile and will ripen up for you. In general they have less acidity than red tomatoes, wonderful flavor, and often will become your favorite for just slicing and eating.
Stringless Green Beans
We have a handful ready today though many of the beans are still flowering and just producing tiny little beans, another week or so before the full bean set is ready to harvest. These stringless snap beans only need the ends removed, then either use whole or break into bite sized pieces prior to cooking. Refrigerate to store.
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Summer Panzanella
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing one of her favorite summer recipes. Found on Smittenkitchen dot com, she says, “I leave out the capers, I like the beer bread from Liquor Barn, and I usually use apple cider vinegar instead of champagne vinegar. It’s really good!”
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (I like to use a combination of purple or yellow or orange, to nicely colorize the dish)
1/2 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained
For the vinaigrette :
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1/3 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.
2. For the vinaigrette, whisk together the ingredients.
3. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
4. Serve immediately, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.
Green Bean Pate’
½ lb fresh green beans, trimmed
1 T oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 hard boiled eggs
3 TBS finely chopped basil
1 tsp lemon rind
Mayonnaise
Seasoned salt and pepper
Cook beans until tender by boiling or steaming them. In skillet, heat oil. Add onion and sauté until softened. Cool.
In a food processor grind green beans, eggs, onions, lemon rind and basil until roughly pureed. Remove from bowl and add enough mayo to hold mixture together. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Chill and serve with Melba toast or crackers.
Cucumber Salad
3 medium cucumbers
1 tsp salt
2/3 C white vinegar
½ C sugar
1 tsp dill or chervil
1/8 tsp pepper
Salt thinly sliced cucumbers and let stand at least 1 hour with a weight to release liquid. Pour on vinegar and seasonings.
Tomatoes: Peeled, Seeded, and Juiced – Fresh Tomato Pulp
from Julia Child
To peel tomatoes, drop them into a large pan of rapidly boiling water and time the boil for exactly 10 seconds. Cut out the core, then peel then skin down from it. To seed and juice them, halve crosswise and gently squeeze to dislodge jelly and juice, poking out remaining seeds with your fingers. They are then usually chopped or diced into “fresh tomato pulp.”
Fresh Tomato Sauce
Julia Child
For about 2 ½ C, sauté ½ C minced onions in 2 T olive oil, and when tender stir in 4 C fresh tomato pulp (see above) or half fresh and half canned Italian plum tomatoes. Season with a pinch of thyme, a bay leaf, 2 large cloves of pureed garlic, and if you wish, both a pinch of saffron threads and ¼ tsp dried orange peel. Salt lightly and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
Retono de Repollo with Tomato and Onion
Caramelize 2 small onions and keep warm in a pan.
Cut baby cabbages in half and using another pan, quickly fry in sesame oil - should only take a minute! Take cabbage out and put on top of onions.
Add a bit more oil to your open pan and throw in 6-8 of your black plum and/or tigerella tomatoes (halved or quartered) and stir-fry quickly. Add to onion-cabbage mixture. Add a bit of salt and top with soy sauce. Serve warm.
With this being the eleventh week of our harvest and distribution for the summer season, you are halfway through the 22 weeks. Compared to other recent growing seasons, this first half has been as good as one could ask with plenty of sunshine, rainfall, and mostly healthy plants. We are seeing things ripening earlier than ever, plants growing faster then normal due to long hot days. High temperatures during the night increase plant growth as well. Some plants are not setting very many blooms due to the high heat resulting in not enough harvestable fruits (specialty peppers and green beans come to mind).
As is necessary when attempting to grow vegetables, we run irrigation to many of the crops which requires monitoring on the amount of water the plants receive, switching from one block of rows to the next after the appropriate amount of time, cleaning filters, and trying to not let the pipes and water lines get run over with the mower. We have only had to irrigate a couple of fields with the overhead traveling gun irrigator in order to get seeds to germinate on some of your later season root crops; we are seeding some of the fall crops in the greenhouse as transplants are a better way to ensure plant viability and establishment - just much more time consuming and costly to produce than direct seeding. But, we can get a head start on the weeds and a larger plant can better protect itself against strong predatory insect populations or wind-blown plant diseases that are both prevalent this time of the summer.
Everyone is putting in long days right now with all of the harvesting and a little planting and weeding. We are well fed at noon each day, and we appreciate knowing that the items we grow are being eaten and enjoyed by lots of you – thank you for your feedback in the email comments and conversations from time to time at the farmers markets.
NOTE: If you are interested in a box of “canning” tomatoes to can, make salsa, put into the freezer, tomato juice, etc. please let us know soon. We have the #2 tomatoes with nicks, cracks, and a spot here or there that we can make ready for you. You will want to get them right before you are ready to process, so call or email and we can set you up.
In Your Share . . .
Items in the shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.
Blackberries – organic
The berries are very ripe and ready to enjoy either with your breakfast, for a snack, or possibly in a cobbler tonight! Store refrigerated and rinse prior to eating.
To freeze, wash and let dry on a paper towel. Lay out on a baking sheet and put the entire pan in your freezer. Once the berries are frozen, gather them up into a container or bag – later on you can remove only the amount you need as they are individually frozen rather than in one mass.
Cauliflower - organic
The last few heads of the season, remove the outer leaves, obviously sunburned by the hot temperatures. Refrigerate until ready to use, and as we told you before – the creamy color is from sunshine and high heat, fall cauliflower will be whiter when the days and nights are cooler.
Sweet Corn
Cucumber
Eggplant
Melon
We have several varieties of melons planted, and they seem to be ripening a little at a time. Today’s harvest includes Pixie, Sugar Baby, and Napoli – some similar to canteloupes others are water melons. Flavor is tasty, but not as sweet as a really dry year (the wonderful rainfall over the past week directly affects melon sweetness).
Red Onion - organic
Green Bell Pepper
Store refrigerated and rinse prior to eating. We should tell you that the red raspberries grown at Elmwood are the fall-bearing varieties. We expect them to begin production late August and continue until frost. This hot year, we see that some berry plants have already begun ripening – not having seen this before, we do not know if the plants will continue the rest of the summer, or stop early since they started early. For now, enjoy and we’ll keep you posted on production.
Retono de Repollo – organic
A new item this year, you can prepare as you might Brussel Sprouts or cooked cabbage. These baby cabbage heads are tender and sweet – find a recipe below.
Tomatoes, Red Slicing - organic
We really sorted through our red tomatoes to try to only include good ones in the shares. With the early blight set into the plants, the leaves have shriveled up resulting in more of the tomatoes being exposed to the sun. This causes sunburn and uneven ripening, both of which result in tomatoes with yellowng, or that will be whitish and unripe inside. We tried to cull those out during our harvest, and find that most of the better quality tomatoes are just not super ripe and ready to eat today. We did inlcude those as they will be really nice tomatoes, but be sure to let them ripen out at room temperature for a day or two prior to use. Try to not ever store your tomatoes in the refrigerator if possible.
Tomatoes, Heirloom – organic
Your share includes some more of the small salad varieties: Tigrella and BlackPlum. Also find some of the sweetest tomatoes on the farm – Sungold. And one or two of the large heirloom slicing tomatoes – varieties right now include Cherokee Purple, Pink Rose, or Arkansas Traveler. These are all quite fragile and will ripen up for you. In general they have less acidity than red tomatoes, wonderful flavor, and often will become your favorite for just slicing and eating.
Stringless Green Beans
We have a handful ready today though many of the beans are still flowering and just producing tiny little beans, another week or so before the full bean set is ready to harvest. These stringless snap beans only need the ends removed, then either use whole or break into bite sized pieces prior to cooking. Refrigerate to store.
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Summer Panzanella
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing one of her favorite summer recipes. Found on Smittenkitchen dot com, she says, “I leave out the capers, I like the beer bread from Liquor Barn, and I usually use apple cider vinegar instead of champagne vinegar. It’s really good!”
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (I like to use a combination of purple or yellow or orange, to nicely colorize the dish)
1/2 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained
For the vinaigrette :
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1/3 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.
2. For the vinaigrette, whisk together the ingredients.
3. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
4. Serve immediately, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.
Green Bean Pate’
½ lb fresh green beans, trimmed
1 T oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 hard boiled eggs
3 TBS finely chopped basil
1 tsp lemon rind
Mayonnaise
Seasoned salt and pepper
Cook beans until tender by boiling or steaming them. In skillet, heat oil. Add onion and sauté until softened. Cool.
In a food processor grind green beans, eggs, onions, lemon rind and basil until roughly pureed. Remove from bowl and add enough mayo to hold mixture together. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Chill and serve with Melba toast or crackers.
Cucumber Salad
3 medium cucumbers
1 tsp salt
2/3 C white vinegar
½ C sugar
1 tsp dill or chervil
1/8 tsp pepper
Salt thinly sliced cucumbers and let stand at least 1 hour with a weight to release liquid. Pour on vinegar and seasonings.
Tomatoes: Peeled, Seeded, and Juiced – Fresh Tomato Pulp
from Julia Child
To peel tomatoes, drop them into a large pan of rapidly boiling water and time the boil for exactly 10 seconds. Cut out the core, then peel then skin down from it. To seed and juice them, halve crosswise and gently squeeze to dislodge jelly and juice, poking out remaining seeds with your fingers. They are then usually chopped or diced into “fresh tomato pulp.”
Fresh Tomato Sauce
Julia Child
For about 2 ½ C, sauté ½ C minced onions in 2 T olive oil, and when tender stir in 4 C fresh tomato pulp (see above) or half fresh and half canned Italian plum tomatoes. Season with a pinch of thyme, a bay leaf, 2 large cloves of pureed garlic, and if you wish, both a pinch of saffron threads and ¼ tsp dried orange peel. Salt lightly and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
Retono de Repollo with Tomato and Onion
Caramelize 2 small onions and keep warm in a pan.
Cut baby cabbages in half and using another pan, quickly fry in sesame oil - should only take a minute! Take cabbage out and put on top of onions.
Add a bit more oil to your open pan and throw in 6-8 of your black plum and/or tigerella tomatoes (halved or quartered) and stir-fry quickly. Add to onion-cabbage mixture. Add a bit of salt and top with soy sauce. Serve warm.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Week, 10, CSA News
In your Share . . .
Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not have every item listed below.
Blackberries – organic
Savoy Cabbage – organic
The Savoy cabbage is one of our most popular varieties. You can use as you might any green cabbage – oven roasted, steamed, braised, raw in cole slaws, etc. Store refrigerated and remove the outer leaves before coring and preparing. It will keep very well for you refrigerated, so you can save for several weeks if desired.
Cauliflower - organic
Enough heads for all shares this week. As we mentioned before, with such hot temperatures and sunshine during most of its growth in June, your heads will be creamier in color than the stark white we expect to see in the fall crop. Refrigerate prior to use.
Cucumber
We’re still harvesting this first round of cucumbers, though we’ll probably have a break before the next planting is ready to go. Refrigerate and know that a high percent of cucumber is water, so you will want to use within the week. Find a new recipe below.
Fresh Garlic - organic
You can store in your refrigerator, or dry it yourself in your pantry, garage, or porch – just hang up and protect from rain & damp conditions. Garlic will keep for you dried for many months – and you’ll be happy you have it when the summer growing season is over.
Yellow Onions - organic
These all-purpose yellow onions were harvested shortly after we got a brief rain at the farm during the night. They have not been dried and “cured” like you might expect when you see a bulb onion (what it is called without the green leafy tops). Use within the week if you find yours very fresh and a little moist. Or you can begin the drying process by storing like the garlic in a dry and undamp location like the pantry or garage.
Green Bell Pepper
All-Red Potatoes –organic
These Cranberry All-Red potatoes are one of the farm favorites – a good all-purpose potato with a red / white interior. They are moist and high in starch and best when steamed, sauteed or au gratin. Refrigerate.
Tomatoes, Red Slicing
We purposelly chose to include ripe and not-yet- ripe tomatoes for you today. Set out on the counter to ripen over the next several days.
Tomatoes, Heirloom – organic
Your share includes some more of the small salad varieties: Tigrella and Black Plum. These are grown in our unheated high tunnel that allows us to get plants out earlier than normal KY weather allows. We hope for earlier harvesting as a result also. With a nice growing spring, our field tomatoes are also starting to ripen. Your share includes a slicing tomato also this week. We’ll offer more on varieties in a later letter, but know that they are fragile, have less acidity than red tomatoes, and best enjoyed fresh! Find a new recipe on the back.
Eggplant
The first harvest of the season finds a handful of the traditional black globe eggplant ready. Refrigerate prior to use and find several recipes at our web blog.
Sweet Corn
Our next patch of sweet corn is ready for harvest today. This Super Sweet White variety is almost as popular as the Bi-Color we started with this season. As always, leave in the husk and refrigerate until ready to prepare to keep your sweetness intact and the ears as fresh as possible.
Patty Pan Squashes
You might steam or lightly saute your little squashes. Enjoy raw with dip or skewered for the grill. Use fairly soon as babies do not keep as well as big squash.
Tomato Feta Salad
Recipe and comments from Rona Roberts – learn more about local foods at her website Savoring Kentucky
1. Wash, core, chop into tablespoon-sized chunks, and put in a medium size bowl:
3 pounds sweet, fully ripe summer tomatoes. Three pounds will be about two giant pink Brandywine or other heirloom types, or four-five mid-sized round tomatoes. Mixed colors are nice.
2. Crumble into the bowl:
2 ounces good feta, or more, or less, depending on your taste
3. Add:
1 Tablespoon good quality balsamic vinegar1 teaspoon sea salt
4. Stir together. Taste. Adjust the seasonings, and add any additional vegetables or aromatic seasonings you want to try. Sit down with a bowl and spoon — this salad is juicy — and enjoy.
Tips on each key ingredient as this salad is a good as the quality of its basic ingredients:
Tomatoes: Use completely ripe, flavorful varieties from your garden or local farmers’ market. Heirloom pink and yellow types work well in this salad because their natural sweetness contrasts beautifully with the feta’s salty bite.
Feta: Make your own, or use locally made cheese like Bluegrass Chevre's
delicious goat milk feta, or buy good quality organic feta.
Salt: Crunchy Celtic Gray Sea Salt crystals add texture; any good sea salt works well.
Balsamic Vinegar: I like Cavalli Balsamic Seasoning, which is fairly sweet. Many other balsamic vinegars will work beautifully here.
Benedictine
As you may know, the original recipes was developed in Louisville by Jennie Benedict. Growing up in Kentucky, when folks move away, they are surprised to learn that this popular creamy spread used for sandwiches or as a dip is not known in other parts of the country. The version below makes quite a bit, you can reduce to meet your needs if desired Keeps very well refrigerated. Yield: 3-3 ½ cups.
1 ½# cream cheese, softened to room temperature
4-6 cucumbers, depending on size; peeled, seeded, pureed
1 med yellow onion, grated
1 tsp salt
(1-2 T mayo, optional)
5-7 drops hot sauce (suggest Crystal)
Peel, seed, crude chop cucumber. Puree. Strain through cheesecloth. Gently squeeze out all possible liquid.
Return to rinsed and dried food processor with remaining ingredients (mayo is traditionally, but it is suggested here to forgo it). (Salt and hot sauce can be adjusted for diet or taste).
Cabbage with Indian Spices
Recipe from Farmer John’s Cookbook
3 T vegetable oil
2 C minced onion
1 ½ tsp minced ginger
1 green hot chile pepper, cut in half lengthwise
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
pinch tumeric
3 T water
1 large fresh tomato, peeled and chopped
½ tsp salt
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, ginger and chile pepper; sauté, stirring often, until the onion is browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
Stir in the cabbage. Add the coriander, cayenne, and tumeric and mix well. Add the water, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the tomato and salt; stir to combine. Cover and cook until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the hot chile pepper before serving.
Garlic Paste
12 large garlic cloves, peeled, cut in half lengthwise
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
½ tsp salt
½ cup olive oil
pepper
Heat halved garlic cloves, thyme, bay, salt and oil in small saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbles start to rise to surface. Reduce heat to low and cook until garlic is soft, about 30 minutes. Cool completely. Strain, reserving oil. Discard herbs and transfer garlic to small bowl. Mash garlic with 1 T garlic oil until paste forms.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Suggested use includes rubbing meat or fish with oil before roasting or grilling. Use paste on meats or fish before oven cooking to give flavorful crust.
Sautéed Cabbage
from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa, she writes that
Martha Stewart taught her this delicious dish
1 small head of cabbage, including outer leaves
2 T unsalted butter
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Cut the cabbage in half and, with the cut-side down,
slice it as thinly as possible around the core, as
though you were making coleslaw. Discard the core.
Melt the butter in a large sauté pan or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, salt, and pepper and sauté for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and begins to brown. Finish with another sprinkling of kosher salt. Serve hot. Serves 6.
Monday, July 5, 2010
CSA News, Week 9
In Your Share . . .
Share items may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Each share may not contain every item listed below.
Blackberries – organic
Surprise! Like many things this season, this crop is ready the earliest ever – first week of July. Enjoy fresh and store refrigerated.
Cucumber
Fresh Green Garlic - organic
These small garlic heads can be used as you would any garlic. They have not been dried as our later offerings will be – so your choice is to store refrigerated, or to air dry yourself by hanging in the pantry or out on the counter.
Yellow Onions - organic
These all-purpose yellow onions are more from our over-wintered crop. We start our own onions from seeds in the the fall of the year and transplant out when appropriately sized. We then mulch and tend to them over the winter, remove the mulch, weed, water and tend to them in the spring. Once the seed heads start and the tops begin to die back, we can begin harvesting organic onions.
Onions are known as antioxidants, are said to remove heavy metals from the human body, lower cholesterol, and help kidney function. Store in your pantry.
Yellow Summer Squash and Green Zucchini
You can use your summer squashes along with onions, tomatoes, and garlic in an easy pasta dish. Or, make a cheesy dip and slice into pieces for dipping raw. Find new recipes below. Store refrigerated.
Tomatoes, Red
Yeh! They are ready!
Tomatoes, Heirloom - organic
Broccoli Florets – organic
Broccoli harvest is trailing off for the spring crop; after the center large head is cut, the plants often produce smaller side shoots that we can har-vest as florets. The smaller pieces will not keep as long, so try to use within several days. Broccoli salad is really nice this time of the year, or add to a quick stir-fry, or make a fresh garlic dip and enjoy as a snack or holiday party appetizer.
Cauliflower – organic
The first cauliflower heads are starting to size up. With such hot temperatures and sun-shine during its growth in June, your heads will be more creamy in color than the white we expect to see in the fall crop. Cauliflower will keep fresh for you longer than expected when refrigerated.
Sweet Corn
As we mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the corn we planted with the intent to harvest this week was ready early, so with this week’s shares we find ourselves in between corn plantings.
Folks may not realize that each corn plant produces only one, and at most, two ears of any size and predictability. We went through many rows looking for the second ears and did find some, but not enough for all size shares. The second ears are often shorter in length than the primary ear, some-times the entire ear will not be filled out with full kernels (a pollination issue), and sometimes there just might not be a second ear at all. So, hopefully you will appreciate a handful of smallish ears rather than no ears at all!
Kale Greens – organic
Find a small bunch of greens this week – perhaps enough to stirfry or steam. We also hear great reports from people making kale chips – review the Mollie Katzen recipe for Kale Crunch we included in the 7-12-07 post on our web blog.
Baby Melon
The baby canteloupe-type melon is truly personal sized.
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Poached Salmon with Corn & White Wine Butter Sauce
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe from Food and Wine magazine and the website. She used some items from her CSA share and some from her own garden and tells us that the resulting dish is delicious!
medium zucchini (1 1/2 pounds), coarsely shredded
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium shallots—2 finely chopped, 1 halved
Freshly ground pepper
2 3/4 cups dry white wine
1 cup fresh corn kernels
2 lemon thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
Four 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil leaves
1. Set a colander over a bowl. Add the zucchini to the colander and toss with 1 teaspoon of salt. Let stand for 20 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini dry.
2. In a large, nonreactive skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped shallots and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the corn and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook until the corn is tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and keep warm.
3. In a large, nonreactive saucepan, combine 2 cups of the wine with the thyme, bay leaf, the halved shallot and 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Season the salmon with salt, add the fillets to the saucepan and cook at a bare simmer over low heat, turning once, about 6 minutes. Transfer the salmon to a plate and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the poaching liquid.
4. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of wine to the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Season with salt. Stir the basil into the vegetables and transfer to plates. Nestle the salmon into the vegetables, top with the butter sauce and serve.
Disappearing Zucchini Orzo
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this tasty Barbara Kingsolver recipe. She reports that it is wonderful served warm, room temperature, or cold as a salad direct from the refrigerator.
¾ lb pkg orzo pasta
1 chopped onion and/or garlic to taste
3 large zucchini
olive oil
Herbs of your choice (thyme and oregano were recommended)
¼ cup grated Parmesan or any hard yellow cheese
Cook orzo according to package directions. For more flavor, replace water with your favorite stock. Shred zucchini and sauté briefly with chopped onion and garlic until lightly golden. Add spices to zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and then remove from heat. Combine with cheese and cooked orzo, salt to taste, serve hot, cool or at room temperature.
Squash Patties
Recipe from cookbook of Little Rock Farmers Market
2 yellow squash
2 T flour
1 onion
3 T cornmeal
½ tsp salt
1 egg
3 T sugar
Grate squash and onion. Add egg followed by dry ingredients. Mix well. Drop by heaping tablespoons into hot skillet with small amount of oil. Fry until golden brown.
Farmers Market Greek Salad
Recipe from Fresh From the Farmers’ Market by Janet Fletcher; serves 4 as salads or 2 as main course
1 pound mixed tomatoes in different colors and sizes
¼ onion, sliced paper thin
1 or 2 cucumbers, about ½ pound total weight, thinly sliced
2 ounces feta cheese, preferably Greek or Bulgarian
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 kalamata olives
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T white wine vinegar
1 large clove garlic, minced to a paste with salt
Core and halve the large tomatoes through the stem, then lay cut side down and slice into half-rounds. Halve the cherry tomatoes if using. Arrange the large tomatoes on a platter, alternating the colors attractively. Top with onion, then with cucumber rounds. Sprinkle the halved cherry tomatoes on top of the cucumbers. Dot the surface with small clumps of cheese. Tear basil leaves into small pieces and scatter over all. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the olives around the edge of the platter.
In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, wine vinegar and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and pour over salad just before serving.
Share items may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Each share may not contain every item listed below.
Blackberries – organic
Surprise! Like many things this season, this crop is ready the earliest ever – first week of July. Enjoy fresh and store refrigerated.
Cucumber
Fresh Green Garlic - organic
These small garlic heads can be used as you would any garlic. They have not been dried as our later offerings will be – so your choice is to store refrigerated, or to air dry yourself by hanging in the pantry or out on the counter.
Yellow Onions - organic
These all-purpose yellow onions are more from our over-wintered crop. We start our own onions from seeds in the the fall of the year and transplant out when appropriately sized. We then mulch and tend to them over the winter, remove the mulch, weed, water and tend to them in the spring. Once the seed heads start and the tops begin to die back, we can begin harvesting organic onions.
Onions are known as antioxidants, are said to remove heavy metals from the human body, lower cholesterol, and help kidney function. Store in your pantry.
Yellow Summer Squash and Green Zucchini
You can use your summer squashes along with onions, tomatoes, and garlic in an easy pasta dish. Or, make a cheesy dip and slice into pieces for dipping raw. Find new recipes below. Store refrigerated.
Tomatoes, Red
Yeh! They are ready!
Tomatoes, Heirloom - organic
Broccoli Florets – organic
Broccoli harvest is trailing off for the spring crop; after the center large head is cut, the plants often produce smaller side shoots that we can har-vest as florets. The smaller pieces will not keep as long, so try to use within several days. Broccoli salad is really nice this time of the year, or add to a quick stir-fry, or make a fresh garlic dip and enjoy as a snack or holiday party appetizer.
Cauliflower – organic
The first cauliflower heads are starting to size up. With such hot temperatures and sun-shine during its growth in June, your heads will be more creamy in color than the white we expect to see in the fall crop. Cauliflower will keep fresh for you longer than expected when refrigerated.
Sweet Corn
As we mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the corn we planted with the intent to harvest this week was ready early, so with this week’s shares we find ourselves in between corn plantings.
Folks may not realize that each corn plant produces only one, and at most, two ears of any size and predictability. We went through many rows looking for the second ears and did find some, but not enough for all size shares. The second ears are often shorter in length than the primary ear, some-times the entire ear will not be filled out with full kernels (a pollination issue), and sometimes there just might not be a second ear at all. So, hopefully you will appreciate a handful of smallish ears rather than no ears at all!
Kale Greens – organic
Find a small bunch of greens this week – perhaps enough to stirfry or steam. We also hear great reports from people making kale chips – review the Mollie Katzen recipe for Kale Crunch we included in the 7-12-07 post on our web blog.
Baby Melon
The baby canteloupe-type melon is truly personal sized.
Recipes to Enjoy . . .
Poached Salmon with Corn & White Wine Butter Sauce
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe from Food and Wine magazine and the website. She used some items from her CSA share and some from her own garden and tells us that the resulting dish is delicious!
medium zucchini (1 1/2 pounds), coarsely shredded
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium shallots—2 finely chopped, 1 halved
Freshly ground pepper
2 3/4 cups dry white wine
1 cup fresh corn kernels
2 lemon thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
Four 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil leaves
1. Set a colander over a bowl. Add the zucchini to the colander and toss with 1 teaspoon of salt. Let stand for 20 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini dry.
2. In a large, nonreactive skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped shallots and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the corn and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook until the corn is tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and keep warm.
3. In a large, nonreactive saucepan, combine 2 cups of the wine with the thyme, bay leaf, the halved shallot and 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Season the salmon with salt, add the fillets to the saucepan and cook at a bare simmer over low heat, turning once, about 6 minutes. Transfer the salmon to a plate and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the poaching liquid.
4. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of wine to the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Season with salt. Stir the basil into the vegetables and transfer to plates. Nestle the salmon into the vegetables, top with the butter sauce and serve.
Disappearing Zucchini Orzo
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this tasty Barbara Kingsolver recipe. She reports that it is wonderful served warm, room temperature, or cold as a salad direct from the refrigerator.
¾ lb pkg orzo pasta
1 chopped onion and/or garlic to taste
3 large zucchini
olive oil
Herbs of your choice (thyme and oregano were recommended)
¼ cup grated Parmesan or any hard yellow cheese
Cook orzo according to package directions. For more flavor, replace water with your favorite stock. Shred zucchini and sauté briefly with chopped onion and garlic until lightly golden. Add spices to zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and then remove from heat. Combine with cheese and cooked orzo, salt to taste, serve hot, cool or at room temperature.
Squash Patties
Recipe from cookbook of Little Rock Farmers Market
2 yellow squash
2 T flour
1 onion
3 T cornmeal
½ tsp salt
1 egg
3 T sugar
Grate squash and onion. Add egg followed by dry ingredients. Mix well. Drop by heaping tablespoons into hot skillet with small amount of oil. Fry until golden brown.
Farmers Market Greek Salad
Recipe from Fresh From the Farmers’ Market by Janet Fletcher; serves 4 as salads or 2 as main course
1 pound mixed tomatoes in different colors and sizes
¼ onion, sliced paper thin
1 or 2 cucumbers, about ½ pound total weight, thinly sliced
2 ounces feta cheese, preferably Greek or Bulgarian
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 kalamata olives
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T white wine vinegar
1 large clove garlic, minced to a paste with salt
Core and halve the large tomatoes through the stem, then lay cut side down and slice into half-rounds. Halve the cherry tomatoes if using. Arrange the large tomatoes on a platter, alternating the colors attractively. Top with onion, then with cucumber rounds. Sprinkle the halved cherry tomatoes on top of the cucumbers. Dot the surface with small clumps of cheese. Tear basil leaves into small pieces and scatter over all. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the olives around the edge of the platter.
In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, wine vinegar and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and pour over salad just before serving.
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