Week 18

Let's hope this week's November-like stretch of cold is a precursor to one loooong Indian summer. We've so many beautiful fall crops, but they need sun to grow and come to fruition.

Here is what's in this week’s share:
1 butternut squash
1 bunch radish
1 pound Brussels sprouts
2 pounds potatoes
1 bunch parsley
2 heads lettuce
1 bunch curly-leaf kale
1 bulb garlic
1 pound green beans
1 red onion

Week 17

In this week’s share:
Bunched fresh red onions
1 bunch kale
1 bunch leeks
7 ounces salad mix
7 ounces spicy greens mix (mesclun)
1 lb. green beans
3 green bell peppers
1 bunch beets

Beets. Don't like 'em? Then maybe you haven't tried them roasted:

1 bunch beets, trimmed, peeled*, and cut into 3/4- to 1-inch-thick wedges
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Lemon juice, optional

Heat the oven to 450° F. On a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet, mound the sliced beets in the middle and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat generously. Sprinkle with salt and a few grinds of pepper, and toss again. Evenly spread the beets cut side down in a single layer across the baking sheet.

Roast until they've begun to brown (or turn a darker red) on their undersides, 15 to 20 minutes. Flip and roast until tender, about 15 minutes more.

Transfer the beets to a serving bowl. Season to taste with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can also add a squirt of lemon juice or toss with a balsamic vinaigrette and top with crumbled goat cheese.

*If you're short on time or big on shortcuts, you can skip the step of peeling the beets. After roasting, the skins will have loosened and will slip right off on your plate with the help of a fork.

Week 16

There was a point this season that we weren’t sure we’d get a corn crop. With all the rain and lack of sun the stalks just sat there through July and most of August, not growing. Then, suddenly, they shot off. Our 4-year-old daughter, seen here in perfect fairy form planting her giant pumpkin plants this spring, seems to have an eagle eye for such details and noticed this like a typical kid would notice a new display of balls at the local supermarket. “The corn has taken off!” she exclaimed. Indeed, it did. We planted 2 varieties with different growth cycles—one needing more time to grow than the other—so we’d have a few weeks worth of corn to harvest. Unfortunately, because the plants’ growth was so out of whack, they ripened simultaneously. This happened with a few crops we planted at different times; they matured at the same time because of this year’s poor growing weather. So this season's corn harvest will be a short-lived one. Here and, sadly, gone. Any leftover ears from dinner this week we’ve been slicing and freezing to make Ajiaco, a flavorful Colombian chicken soup we often crave (but just don’t have time to tackle this week!).

In this week’s share:
1 head of Pac Choi (also known as Bok Choy)
1 pound Brussels Sprouts
1 pound Yellow Wax Beans
2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
1 yellow onion
10-11 ears sweet corn
1 large Italian eggplant
1 head of Romaine lettuce
7 ounces salad mix

Pac Choi. Like the classic, white-stemmed pac choi (also known as bok choy or pak choi), the beautiful, green-stemmed version we grew this year, called Black Summer, is well suited to stir fries and Asian-flavored soups. If you’re stir frying, you’ll want to slice the thicker stem end of the leaves and cook separately from the leaves since they need more time to cook. Or, similarly, start stir-frying the stems and shortly before their being done, stir in the sliced or chopped leafy part, which should wilt pretty much immediately.

Brussels Sprouts. In our minds, brussels sprouts are a lot like beets. You need to know how to cook them to love them. Like beets, our favorite way to prepare them is to roast them. It brings out a nutty flavor that you may never have known Brussels sprouts to have if all you’ve done is steam them. You can simply toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast as is. Or you may like to branch out with this recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Dijon, Walnuts & Crisp Crumbs by our friend Martha Holmberg, who is the editor of the food section at the Portland Oregonian and former editor of Fine Cooking magazine. This recipe for Creamy Brussels Sprout Gratin is a little more decadent but surprisingly simple to make.

Week 15












In this week’s share:
1 honeydew melon
1 bunch carrots
1 large green pepper
1 head of broccoli
1 pound green beans
1 bag of arugula
1 bunch of leeks
1 pound shallots
1 cooking onion (cured; will hold in pantry)
Garlic

One of our members splits her share with her adult daughter who lives and works about 50 minutes away. She recently told us how her daughter travels to her house every Wednesday night so that they can cook a meal together from their share. Then they have fun figuring out how to divvy the rest. We LOVE hearing these stories: how our food brings people together, challenges people to cook something new or with greater spontaneity, provides them fresh, organic ingredients they can't find in the stores, inspires their kids to eat more healthy... Thanks to everyone who shares these tidbits with us. They go a long way.

There are no great mysteries to the ingredients in your share this week. Lots of fresh, practical produce we hope you will enjoy. If you have potatoes left over from last week, it's feeling like just the right weather for some leek and potato soup.

Before slicing into your melon, make sure it is truly ripe. It should give a little when you press into the dimple end with your thumb. If it feels too firm, let it sit on your countertop for a few days until it reaches proper ripeness.

Week 14

In this week’s share:
1 honeydew melon
1 pint sungold cherry tomatoes
2-3 sweet Italian red peppers
1 bunch carrots or beets
2 pounds red potatoes
1 pound edamame (see last week’s share info.)
2 or 3 bulbs of garlic
1-2 mild cured onions
Bag of mixed young salad greens
1 bunch radish
1 bunch swiss chard

Week 13










In this week’s share:

watermelon

purple cauliflower (tastes great and holds its gorgeous color when cooked)

1 lb. fresh edamame (see cooking info. below)

2 to 3 tomatoes

8-ounce bag of spinach (not baby in size but tender enough for eating in salads)

1 lb. green beans

2 jalapenos

1 bunch carrots

2 red onions

It’s hard to believe this is our last August share. Where did the summer go? Oh right, we hardly had one(!). Here’s a photo (above) of Ken (right) and our go-to staffer Karl (left) setting up to plant some fall crops in the field. Karl came here from Asheville, NC, to work a season on the farm with us. Some of you have met him. He’s great. Hard working, personable, and lots of fun.

Edamame. Pronounced like eh-dah-mah-may. That would be the name for the small, fuzzy pods with flat, nutty-tasting beans you're seeing for the first time this season in your weekly share. This link: http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Edamame sums up well how to cook and serve. Our kids chant this fresh soy bean's name when we serve it for dinner. Finger food. Very simple, very tasty.

Tomatoes. Somehow our failing tomato plants are still producing some but an ever-dwindling crop of tomatoes. See last week’s blog for information on how we were affected by this year’s late blight.

Crop report. There’s a frost warning tonight in an area of the Adirondacks about an hour north of us. Any mumblings of this “f” word, let alone in August, make us shudder.

Week 12

In this week’s share:
3 tomatoes

1 large, round Italian eggplant
1 cucumber
1 bag of salad mix
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
¼ pound arugula
1 walla walla sweet onion
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of carrots
1 ½ pounds Italian heirloom fresh shell beans (see tips below for cooking and storing)
1 head of broccoli
1 bunch of leeks

We have a CSA member who periodically e-mails us with descriptions of some of the dinners she puts together through the week using her share. It’s inspiring to read about the healthy dinners she is serving to her family of four. And it’s rewarding to see how her CSA share has inspired her to make the most of what comes from the farm. She tells us that this is something she especially enjoys about the CSA: it forces her out of cooking the same thing over and over again.

On the farm, we too can fall into the trap of cooking the same thing over and over again (especially when everyone is working such long hours this time of year). So we glean a lot from talking to (or e-mailing with) CSA members and farmers’ market customers, some of whom are truly accomplished cooks (domestic and professional). This can be especially useful with less obvious ingredients like the colorful Italian heirloom fresh shell beans in this week’s share, pictured above.

We’ve heard from a number of people that they use them for succotash. One farmers market customer planned to use them to make minestrone soup. One chef—confit. We use the beans as many ways as we can think of, as we love their creamy texture and nutty flavor. They’re great in a pasta dish.

Using ingredients from this week’s share, here is one suggestion for using the beans:

Penne with Caramelized Walla Walla Onions, Fresh Shell Beans and Tomato.
We’ll try to flesh out a specific recipe for the future, but, in short, caramelize sliced onion in extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat until deeply golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside. Dice tomato and sauté briefly in a few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat adding minced garlic towards the end. Toss the penne with the tomatoes, onion, and beans—adding a little more olive oil if needed. Season to taste with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and serve with shaved parmigiano reggiano. Some capers would be nice too. Or, even better, stir in some pesto if you have any made from the basil you’ve been getting in the past weeks’ shares.

(For more detailed instructions on how to caramelize the onions, see this recipe for Caramelized Onion Cheeseburgers. You might be tempted to try this recipe too. It calls for both the Walla Wallas and arugula in this week's share.)

The beans would also be great on a grilled pizza with (from this week’s share): arugula, caramelized onion and goat cheese.

Or freeze them. Cook, following instructions below, and freeze in zipper-lock freezer-grade bags to use in soups or stews this winter.


How to Cook Fresh Shell Beans

Shell the beans, discarding the pods. (If you have kids, recruit their help with shelling.)
Cover the colorfully mottled beans in chicken broth or water with a handful of added aromatics—such as (from your share) some leeks, carrot, parsley stems (save the leaves and just add the flavorful stems), and a bay leaf. Either keep the aromatics in large enough pieces that you can easily fish out or bundle in cheesecloth. Bring the water or broth to a boil, and then reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender (30 to 45 minutes; taste to check for doneness). Sadly, the beans will lose their color and mottling as they cook. Drain in a colander.