We had a rather curious harvest this week. Our walk-in refrigerator broke down over the weekend, and the refrigeration repairman was still waiting on parts Wednesday morning when we needed to harvest the CSA share. So, in the name of getting things harvested as close to delivery time as possible—so that nothing sat out for too long, we didn’t jot down a list of what was in the week’s share. So, this is what we think was in the share:
1 bunch basil
¾ pounds green beans
4 tomatoes
1 quart of potatoes
½ pound salad mix
2 cucumbers
3 bulbs of garlic
1 bunch of leeks
1 large onion
3 patty pan squash (great grilled or roasted or sautéed; they brown really beautifully)
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Week 10; August 6, 2008
Farm stuff:
We’re planning an open house Aug. 12—Tuesday afternoon/early evening for CSA members to see the farm, learn more about how we do things differently from a conventional farm, and why that might really matter to you, our environment, and, thus, the world at large. (We’d also just be glad to meet members face to face!)
There will be one or two fixed tour times. Children are encouraged to come. Stay tuned for info. on tour times and directions to the farm.
In this week’s share:
½ pound yellow wax beans
1 head of broccoli
3 Walla Walla onions
½ pound mixed baby lettuce leaves
3 cucumbers
3 zucchini
1 large eggplant
4 tomatoes
1 bunch of carrots
1 head of Napa cabbage (good for stir fries)
Ideas from Maryellen on eggplant:
While roasting eggplant is pretty sensational, grilling is a delicious alternative to turning on your oven in August. If the idea of grilled eggplant is new to you or you just feel like you could brush up on how to get it right, here are some basic instructions from someone who used to work at Chez Pannise, a Berkeley-CA restaurant founded by Alice Waters, a goddess in the movement to eat fresh, in season and local:
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes/grilled-eggplant.aspx
If you received Japanese eggplant, which are more slender than bulbous, slice them at a diagonal so that they are more oval in shape than round and, thus, less likely to fall between your grill’s grates.
Alice Waters has a new book out called the Art of Simple Food that I have only had time to browse through. It’s refreshingly, well, simple in terms of approaching cooking and keeping the focus on quality of ingredients.
If you’re entertaining this week or just want to surprise the family with an appetizer before dinner, this recipe for bruschetta with grilled eggplant and Vidalia onion is a fun way to make use of some of those sweet Walla Wallas and the eggplant and last week’s garlic: http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes/bruschetta-grilled-eggplant-vidalia-onion.aspx?ac=ts&ra=fp
The author, Jessica Bard, is a friend of mine who lives on a former family dairy farm in the Hudson Valley. She teaches classes at Warren Kitchen Tools (http://www.warrenkitchentools.com/) in Rhinebeck. It’s a store that a lot of Culinary Institute of America students go to for their knives and for knife sharpening. I’ve been wanting to get down there to have my knives sharpened for the last year or so (gulp). After seeing what the nearest sharpening service did to our knives for butchering chickens, I vowed I’d make a trip and have someone who deals only in kitchen knives--not also lawn mower blades—take care of these all-too-important tools. Besides, I’m dying to drool over their knife selection.
If you’ve never had your knives sharpened, do it—even if they aren’t anything special. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to prep foods. Also, the sharper they are, the safer. Knives that cut more easily are less apt to slip while in action. Just make sure you take them to someone with experience sharpening knives. I believe Warren Kitchen Tools will even accept knives for sharpening through the mail. You’ll have to pay for shipping, but the actual cost of sharpening is really inexpensive. If you go this route, ask them for advice on how to safely package your knives.
Other tips: If you’re not home to cook as much this week and want to use as much of your veggies as you can, try a stir-fry with the cabbage, yellow beans, broccoli, zucchini, and walla wallas. You could also throw in carrots. They are just so good raw, that I have a hard time extracting them from my 3-year-old’s fists to use for cooking. If you’re one of our Cooperstown members, Cooperstown Natural Foods sells really good quality ginger, a staple in stir-frying. Make the stir fry extra big and enjoy leftovers for lunch. Just remember to cook the vegetables in batches—you don’t want to overcrowd the pan or cook vegetables simultaneously that end up cooking at a different rate.
We’re planning an open house Aug. 12—Tuesday afternoon/early evening for CSA members to see the farm, learn more about how we do things differently from a conventional farm, and why that might really matter to you, our environment, and, thus, the world at large. (We’d also just be glad to meet members face to face!)
There will be one or two fixed tour times. Children are encouraged to come. Stay tuned for info. on tour times and directions to the farm.
In this week’s share:
½ pound yellow wax beans
1 head of broccoli
3 Walla Walla onions
½ pound mixed baby lettuce leaves
3 cucumbers
3 zucchini
1 large eggplant
4 tomatoes
1 bunch of carrots
1 head of Napa cabbage (good for stir fries)
Ideas from Maryellen on eggplant:
While roasting eggplant is pretty sensational, grilling is a delicious alternative to turning on your oven in August. If the idea of grilled eggplant is new to you or you just feel like you could brush up on how to get it right, here are some basic instructions from someone who used to work at Chez Pannise, a Berkeley-CA restaurant founded by Alice Waters, a goddess in the movement to eat fresh, in season and local:
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes/grilled-eggplant.aspx
If you received Japanese eggplant, which are more slender than bulbous, slice them at a diagonal so that they are more oval in shape than round and, thus, less likely to fall between your grill’s grates.
Alice Waters has a new book out called the Art of Simple Food that I have only had time to browse through. It’s refreshingly, well, simple in terms of approaching cooking and keeping the focus on quality of ingredients.
If you’re entertaining this week or just want to surprise the family with an appetizer before dinner, this recipe for bruschetta with grilled eggplant and Vidalia onion is a fun way to make use of some of those sweet Walla Wallas and the eggplant and last week’s garlic: http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes/bruschetta-grilled-eggplant-vidalia-onion.aspx?ac=ts&ra=fp
The author, Jessica Bard, is a friend of mine who lives on a former family dairy farm in the Hudson Valley. She teaches classes at Warren Kitchen Tools (http://www.warrenkitchentools.com/) in Rhinebeck. It’s a store that a lot of Culinary Institute of America students go to for their knives and for knife sharpening. I’ve been wanting to get down there to have my knives sharpened for the last year or so (gulp). After seeing what the nearest sharpening service did to our knives for butchering chickens, I vowed I’d make a trip and have someone who deals only in kitchen knives--not also lawn mower blades—take care of these all-too-important tools. Besides, I’m dying to drool over their knife selection.
If you’ve never had your knives sharpened, do it—even if they aren’t anything special. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to prep foods. Also, the sharper they are, the safer. Knives that cut more easily are less apt to slip while in action. Just make sure you take them to someone with experience sharpening knives. I believe Warren Kitchen Tools will even accept knives for sharpening through the mail. You’ll have to pay for shipping, but the actual cost of sharpening is really inexpensive. If you go this route, ask them for advice on how to safely package your knives.
Other tips: If you’re not home to cook as much this week and want to use as much of your veggies as you can, try a stir-fry with the cabbage, yellow beans, broccoli, zucchini, and walla wallas. You could also throw in carrots. They are just so good raw, that I have a hard time extracting them from my 3-year-old’s fists to use for cooking. If you’re one of our Cooperstown members, Cooperstown Natural Foods sells really good quality ginger, a staple in stir-frying. Make the stir fry extra big and enjoy leftovers for lunch. Just remember to cook the vegetables in batches—you don’t want to overcrowd the pan or cook vegetables simultaneously that end up cooking at a different rate.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Week Nine; July 30, 2008
At last, tomatoes!!! We really wanted to get you tomatoes, so we picked them a little under-ripe. Just let them sit on your countertop, and they’ll ripen. Don’t refrigerate. Bleck! They’ll just get mushy.
We are hoping this is just the beginning of a generous tomato crop, but all that rain we’ve had wasn’t such a good thing for tomatoes. For one thing, bees don’t care for rain. So they have not been busy cross pollinating—bopping from blossom to blossom—so that the plants are more prolific. (We’re noticing this too with our summer squash; production is now down.) Also, all this rain encourages blight—“the scourge of tomato growers in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic states and Midwest,” notes our seed supplier. And no matter how much we dust the plants with copper (an organic method for discouraging blight), with so much moisture, there’s little that can be done. We are seeing blight on the leaves of our tomato plants but, so far, not the tomatoes themselves. We’re just trying to keep our fingers crossed, since we planted our largest tomato crop ever—about 1,500 plants among which are 15 different varieties.
The variety you have this week is called New Girl. It’s an early variety that, as far as I can tell, is relatively all-purpose. Use it sliced, in salads or in a quick sauce.
Here’s what was in this week’s share:
3 tomatoes
3 green peppers
2 big fresh onions—1 red, 1 Walla Walla
fresh garlic
½ pound salad mix
3 cucumbers
1 bunch of basil
2 large eggplants
1 pound of green beans
1 head of green cabbage
We are hoping this is just the beginning of a generous tomato crop, but all that rain we’ve had wasn’t such a good thing for tomatoes. For one thing, bees don’t care for rain. So they have not been busy cross pollinating—bopping from blossom to blossom—so that the plants are more prolific. (We’re noticing this too with our summer squash; production is now down.) Also, all this rain encourages blight—“the scourge of tomato growers in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic states and Midwest,” notes our seed supplier. And no matter how much we dust the plants with copper (an organic method for discouraging blight), with so much moisture, there’s little that can be done. We are seeing blight on the leaves of our tomato plants but, so far, not the tomatoes themselves. We’re just trying to keep our fingers crossed, since we planted our largest tomato crop ever—about 1,500 plants among which are 15 different varieties.
The variety you have this week is called New Girl. It’s an early variety that, as far as I can tell, is relatively all-purpose. Use it sliced, in salads or in a quick sauce.
Here’s what was in this week’s share:
3 tomatoes
3 green peppers
2 big fresh onions—1 red, 1 Walla Walla
fresh garlic
½ pound salad mix
3 cucumbers
1 bunch of basil
2 large eggplants
1 pound of green beans
1 head of green cabbage
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Week Eight; July 23, 2008
This week we included our newest onions—Walla Walla Sweets. That name kind of says it all. They’re a mild, juicy variety not meant for storage (keep in your fridge).
They may look huge and overwhelming, but if you slice relatively thin and slow cook over medium to medium-low heat in olive oil and/or butter, stirring occasionally, they melt down into a perfect portion of caramelized onions to add to a pasta dish or bruschetta. We used them last night in a pasta dish with broccoli, green onion tops, chicken and a parmesan-cream sauce. I just kind of winged the sauce with heavy cream, a dry white wine and parmesan cheese. The next time I make it, I’ll write down the recipe.
Here is what was in this week’s share:
Green Beans
Green cabbage
Zucchini
fresh garlic
½ pound salad mix
Walla Walla Sweet onions
Beets with tops
Carrots
If there’s anything else in your share that you’re wondering what to do with or would just like a fresh different idea for, write us or post a comment soliciting input from others.
They may look huge and overwhelming, but if you slice relatively thin and slow cook over medium to medium-low heat in olive oil and/or butter, stirring occasionally, they melt down into a perfect portion of caramelized onions to add to a pasta dish or bruschetta. We used them last night in a pasta dish with broccoli, green onion tops, chicken and a parmesan-cream sauce. I just kind of winged the sauce with heavy cream, a dry white wine and parmesan cheese. The next time I make it, I’ll write down the recipe.
Here is what was in this week’s share:
Green Beans
Green cabbage
Zucchini
fresh garlic
½ pound salad mix
Walla Walla Sweet onions
Beets with tops
Carrots
If there’s anything else in your share that you’re wondering what to do with or would just like a fresh different idea for, write us or post a comment soliciting input from others.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Week Seven; July 16, 2008
In this week's share...
Purple Green Beans
Broccoli
Zucchini
½ pound salad mix
1 bulb of fresh garlic
½ pound arugula
1 large bunch of spring onions
Basil
Purple Green Beans
Broccoli
Zucchini
½ pound salad mix
1 bulb of fresh garlic
½ pound arugula
1 large bunch of spring onions
Basil
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Week Six; July 9, 2008
In this week’s share:
Bunch of Broccoli
1 head of green cabbage
4 zucchini
bunch of medium-sized beets
Swiss chard
½ pound salad mix
1 head of Romaine
1 bulb of fresh garlic
Cooking notes:
I highly recommend making use of the beet greens. They’re flavorful and also really good for you. For weeknight purposes, I usually sauté them over medium-high heat in extra-virgin olive oil until well wilted. Either way they go great with garlic and balsamic vinegar and goat or blue cheese.
Storage notes:
Fresh garlic can either be stored in the refrigerator or on the countertop. On the countertop, the exterior layer on the bulb will begin to dry some. So you may need to peel that away. The garlic has not been cured, so it’s still more sweet and delicate in flavor than after it’s been hung to dry for a few weeks. Use as much of the garlic as is tender, not just the formed cloves. The outer and inner skin layers of the bulb and up the green stalk, provided it is yields to a knife. You'll likely know when it's getting too tough. It’s pretty amazing stuff.
If you have a salad spinner, wash and spin your salad mix and then store in there. It holds for up to a week that way. The spinner also protects the delicate lettuce leaves from getting squashed in the fridge.
Beet greens hold well if cut from the beets and stored in a ziplock bag with a damp paper towel. You can also store the beets right in there. That’s also a good way to hold lettuce. Wash and spin the leaves first. Swiss chard holds well this way too.
Bunch of Broccoli
1 head of green cabbage
4 zucchini
bunch of medium-sized beets
Swiss chard
½ pound salad mix
1 head of Romaine
1 bulb of fresh garlic
Cooking notes:
I highly recommend making use of the beet greens. They’re flavorful and also really good for you. For weeknight purposes, I usually sauté them over medium-high heat in extra-virgin olive oil until well wilted. Either way they go great with garlic and balsamic vinegar and goat or blue cheese.
Storage notes:
Fresh garlic can either be stored in the refrigerator or on the countertop. On the countertop, the exterior layer on the bulb will begin to dry some. So you may need to peel that away. The garlic has not been cured, so it’s still more sweet and delicate in flavor than after it’s been hung to dry for a few weeks. Use as much of the garlic as is tender, not just the formed cloves. The outer and inner skin layers of the bulb and up the green stalk, provided it is yields to a knife. You'll likely know when it's getting too tough. It’s pretty amazing stuff.
If you have a salad spinner, wash and spin your salad mix and then store in there. It holds for up to a week that way. The spinner also protects the delicate lettuce leaves from getting squashed in the fridge.
Beet greens hold well if cut from the beets and stored in a ziplock bag with a damp paper towel. You can also store the beets right in there. That’s also a good way to hold lettuce. Wash and spin the leaves first. Swiss chard holds well this way too.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Week Five; July 2, 2008
Yes, we’re still in the season in which greens abound. It doesn’t last forever. Try mixing the lettuces and frisee to give some dimension to a salad.
July 2
In this week’s share:
Broccoli
Zucchini and Pattypan squash (the latter is great cut into wedges and roasted, grilled or sautéed so that the cut sides brown, bringing out its natural sweetness)
Arugula
Green onions (use it all, bulb bottoms and green tops)
1 bunch of basil
1 head of escarole (not to be confused with lettuce; see June 11 posting for cooking advice)
1 head of Romaine
1 head of Red Lettuce
1 head of Frisée
For a quick weeknight use of the arugula, try this pasta dish by Tony Rosenfeld: http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes/shell_pasta_arugula_feta.aspx
July 2
In this week’s share:
Broccoli
Zucchini and Pattypan squash (the latter is great cut into wedges and roasted, grilled or sautéed so that the cut sides brown, bringing out its natural sweetness)
Arugula
Green onions (use it all, bulb bottoms and green tops)
1 bunch of basil
1 head of escarole (not to be confused with lettuce; see June 11 posting for cooking advice)
1 head of Romaine
1 head of Red Lettuce
1 head of Frisée
For a quick weeknight use of the arugula, try this pasta dish by Tony Rosenfeld: http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes/shell_pasta_arugula_feta.aspx
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