CSA Share Week 9

There’s something triumphant about seeing the season’s first mature eggplant-- glossy, rich, vibrant—dangling purple under a canopy of large felt-like, green leaves. We’re glad to see this crop looking healthy and abundant. A nod must go to Ken and our 5-year-daughter Alis who spent many an evening hand picking Colorado potato beetles and their larvae from the plants’ leaves, so that these predatory insects didn’t decimate the crop. (As mentioned in a previous note: having planted our potato crop about ¼ mile away from our main veggie field, the beetles chose to hammer in on the eggplant this year instead.) Sometimes Ken & Alis would squish the yellow and black striped beetles between their fingers or pinch the red-orange grubs until they popped like berries. Other times they’d collect the beetles in a coffee cup, so Alis could proudly bring her found treasure back to the house to show everyone before incinerating in our wood-burning furnace.
It’s the end of July, and we’re moving plants, such as Brussels sprouts and collards, out of the greenhouse and into the fields. In the past week we also planted a 2nd crop of tomato plants, hoping to stretch the tomato season, which we’re now just beginning. These late plants will hopefully yield through September, and, if we're lucky, into October.

We'd like to encourage everyone to use their veggies for snacks in addition to using for dinner. We were chomping on the purple carrots this morning while packing up members’ shares. The yellow wax beans, too, make a great snack. Last night we wanted to test the cooking time on the “lower-fat” roasting method for eggplant (recipe in this week’s newsletter) and couldn’t help but graze off the cooled roasting pan every time we passed by. One of our beloved farmers’ market supporters swears by a steady diet of swiss chard smoothies, which we’re tempted to try. In case anyone is choking at the thought, he says adding banana and avocado are key. (Owning a deluxe blender, like a VitaMix, is essential for "juicing" greens too. We're not purists. We like sweets. But we never regret when we grab something like a carrot for a snack instead.

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IN THIS WEEK'S SHARE:
1 large eggplant
1 bunch purple carrots
1 bunch beets
1 head of Romaine lettuce
6 ounces spicy baby greens (see note)
1 large, sweet onion
12 ounces yellow wax beans
1 bunch Swiss chard

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RECIPES:

Grilled Eggplant
Grilling eggplant is simple and delicious. Serve it as a side as is or topped with any of the following individually or in combination: crumbled feta or goat cheese, chopped olives, toasted pine nuts, minced garlic and/or a fresh herb, such as parsley, basil, mint or oregano. Or add it to a pasta dish or layered in lasagna.

1 large eggplant
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; more as needed
Kosher salt

Prepare a medium-high charcoal or gas grill fire. Trim the ends off the eggplant and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Just before grilling, brush both sides of the eggplant slices with olive oil and season with salt. Grill (covered on a gas grill; uncovered on a charcoal grill) until golden-brown grill marks form, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the eggplant and grill until tender and well marked on the second sides, 3 to 4 minutes more. The interior should be soft and grayish in color.


Spaghetti with (Lower-Fat) Eggplant and Basil
Adapted from How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman (Macmillan, 1998)

Eggplant soaks up a startling amount of olive oil, especially if you sauté it in a skillet. Roasting does turn the flesh a tasty golden brown without requiring quite so much oil.

1 Italian globe eggplant, stem end trimmed
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups canned (drained) plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
Kosher salt
¼ cup shredded fresh basil leaves
1 pound spaghetti, linguine, or other long pasta

Preheat the oven to 450° F. Cut the eggplant into ½-inch cubes/chunks. Once the oven is heated, pile the eggplant in a roasting pan or heavy-duty baking sheet, drizzle with 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and toss. Cook on the middle or lower-middle rack, until the eggplant cubes have turned golden brown, after about 10 minutes. Flip a metal spatula over so its underside faces up, and push the spatula’s edge through the eggplant to turn it over. Continue to roast until golden brown on 2 sides and tender, about 5 to 7 minutes more.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.

As the pot of water is heating, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to a 12-inch skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they break up and the mixture becomes saucy, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt. Add the roasted eggplant and ¼ cup shredded basil leaves (or a tablespoon of pesto—especially if you’d made some from this season’s past shares and stored in the freezer). Taste and add more salt, if needed.

Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until al dente—tender but firm, not mushy. Drain.

Add the spaghetti to the pan of sauce. Using tongs, toss to gently coat the noodles with the sauce. Serve.

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Tips:

This week’s baby greens are spicy a mix of arugula, baby mustard and baby Asian greens. Use them to make a salad, wilt with a warm dressing or briefly in a pan of hot oil with minced garlic, or stuff in a crusty sandwich with grilled eggplant and a soft, melty cheese, like Taleggio, with a slice from this week’s mild onion and a drizzling of balsamic vinegar.

Store this week’s large, white onion in the refrigerator. It’s mild in flavor. Slice and eat raw in salads or sandwiches or cook gently in a fry pan with butter and/or oil as it caramelizes nicely.

CSA Share Week 8

We wouldn’t be surprised if members have seen an occasional ladybug, cabbage looper (light green “caterpillars” that cling to the undersides of broccoli), or other insect amidst the produce at distribution. But frogs ?! Gulp.
Somehow a frog snuck into one of the farm’s produce totes and made it on the truck to New York City. (Sounds like the beginning of a classic children’s adventure story.) Fortunately, a CSA member was kind enough to set it free in a nearby park. One of our CSA organizers in the city wrote, “I love it! Does it get any more “farm fresh” than that.” We should hope not. A wild rabbit would have a harder time snuggling into a bin of lettuce without notice (though we wouldn’t mind one less rabbit around here). Our neighbor once had a chicken ride on the axle of his truck into town…
We wish the frog well!

Other farm happenings:
We just wrapped up our garlic harvest. This is usually a big feat to squeeze in with everything else we never have enough time to do. But this year’s field crew works like World Cup champions in the (veggie) field--incredibly team spirited. One day they got an early start at 6 a.m.—without our even asking. The harvest was wrapped in less than a week (versus the usual 10 to 14 days). Hooray.

We’re anxiously waiting to see our tomato crop ripen. A grower friend who is all about his tomatoes assures us that his crop seems to be taking its time too. So it could be a few more weeks before we’re really picking tomatoes. Other classic summer crops, like eggplant and peppers, should be arriving within the next few weeks too.

Feedback. One of our original CSA members from up in the Adirondacks recently wrote: “I just made a big pot of veggie and split pea soup with our leftover CSA veggies. The kids even asked for seconds! I froze some onion greens and for dinner I am making roasted beets with candied ginger and brook trout that my husband and kids caught yesterday. I needed a day like today! It feels so good to cook with fresh veggies and ingredients on hand.”

We love this kind of correspondence. It’s great to hear how members are using their produce.
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We’d like to hear from you too: Use the farm's e-mail address to share with us what you’ve been doing with the items in your share. It doesn’t need to be in recipe form, and it doesn’t have to be anything fancy. A simple idea is great; the simpler the better. Something we can then share with everyone else. We can all benefit from others’ inspirations/creations.
Or send us a question! We’d love to include a Q&A section to the weekly blog (or, if your CSA group has its own newsletter, to that too).
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IN THIS WEEK'S SHARE:
1 bunch carrots
1 Napa cabbage
¾ lb. (12 oz.) green beans
2 jalapeño peppers
1 bunch curly-leaf kale
1 head cauliflower
2 cucumbers
2 lbs. summer squash (mix of green zucchini, golden zucchini and/or crookneck summer squash)
1 bunch fresh red onions
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RECIPES

QUINOA WITH LEMON AND ZUCCHINI

Serves 6
Toss with peeled, cooked shrimp to make a complete meal.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium zucchini, sliced into ¼-inch thick half moons
3 tablespoons finely diced red onion
Kosher salt
1 1/4 cups quinoa, rinsed for 1 minute under running water
2 1/2 cups water
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup thinly sliced red onion or green onion tops
Finely chopped parsley (optional)
Crumbled feta (optional)


Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini in a single layer. Season with salt and cook, flipping once the zucchini is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle in the onion, stir with a spatula to blend, and remove from the heat. In a large saucepan, add the quinoa, water and a large pinch of Kosher salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, until quinoa is tender but still chewy and a white spiral-like germ appears around each grain, about 15 minutes.

Add the quinoa to the zucchini, zest, lemon juice, onion tops and parsley (if using) and toss. Serve warm or room temperature, topped with feta cheese and a wedge of lemon if you like.

Nutrition
Per serving (about 6oz/184g-wt.): 170 calories (45 from fat), 5g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 5mg cholesterol, 570mg sodium, 25g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 1g sugar), 6g protein
Adapted from the Whole Foods’ web site


WILTED NAPA CABBAGE WITH PEANUTS AND STICKY RICE

This is a riff off of a recipe for sticky rice pancakes published in “Simple to Spectacular” by Jean-Gorges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman (Broadway Books, 2000). The salty-tart sauce might be a little unexpected but works particularly nicely with the cabbage.

1 ½ cups sticky or sweet rice
4 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage
¼ cup thinly sliced red onion or fresh green onion tops
Minced jalapeño (to your liking)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons peanut or other neutral oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
¼ cup chopped peanuts

Soak the rice in water to cover for at least 1 hour or, preferably, overnight. Bring a pot of water to boil (use a wok or pasta pot). Drain the soaked rice in a mesh colander and set the colander over the pot of boiling water (the rice should not be immersed in the water). Cover and steam for about 8 minutes, until all traces of chalkiness are gone and the rice is fully tender.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, soy sauce, and lime juice. Turn the heat to low to melt the butter. Season with pepper. Set aside.

In a wok or large fry pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage and onion and cook, tossing frequently with tongs, until just wilted. Serve the cabbage mixture draped over the rice. Spoon some of sauce over the cabbage, sprinkle with the peanuts and serve.

If you wish to make the rice into crunchy pancakes: toss it while still hot with 1 tablespoon butter, some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in 1 lightly beaten egg, 2 minced scallions, and 2 tablespoons minced cilantro. Gently shape into 4 large or 8 small cakes. In a large fry pan heat 2 tablespoons of peanut or other mild oil over medium-high heat. Cook the cakes in the hot oil until lightly browned on both sides, a total of 4 to 6 minutes.


CHOCOLATE-NUT ZUCCHINI BREAD

Macerating the grated zucchini—tossing it with sugar and
leaving it to sit—helps draw out excess moisture to avoid
the soggy, dense texture that typically plagues zucchini
bread.

Serves 8

4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter; more for the pan
9 ½ oz. (2 cups plus 2 Tbs.) all-purpose flour; more for the
pan
¾ lb. zucchini (about 3 small), stem ends trimmed
¾ cup plus 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/3 cup strongly brewed coffee, cold or at room temperature
1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt or buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 oz. finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (1/3 cup)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (1 oz.)
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. table salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the
oven to 375°F. Butter a 8 ½ x 4 1/2-inch metal loaf pan and
dust with flour; tapping out any excess.
Using the large grating disk on a food processor, pass
the zucchini vertically through the feed tube to grate. (If
the zucchini is too wide to fit, slice in half lengthwise.)
Discard any remaining ungrated portions wedged on top
of the disc. Transfer the grated zucchini to a colander or
sieve set over a bowl. Sprinkle 1 Tbs. of the sugar over the
grated zucchini and toss to distribute. Sprinkle another
1 Tbs. sugar over the zucchini and toss again. Set aside
for 20 minutes.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low
heat. Pour the butter into a medium bowl and let cool
slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk the remaining 3/4 cup
sugar, coffee, yogurt or buttermilk, and eggs into the
butter.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, chocolate, walnuts,
baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Squeeze the zucchini by the fistful to thoroughly wring
out excess liquid. Add the zucchini to the wet ingredients
and stir to combine. Pour over the flour mixture, and using
a large wooden spoon, stir until just blended.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading
it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until a toothpick
inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let
cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with
a knife and release the bread, turning upright onto the
rack until completely cooled.

Recipe by Maryellen Driscoll, Free Bird Farm
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TIPS:

Napa cabbage has a more delicate flavor and tender texture than green or red cabbage, which makes it popular for use in cole slaw. We like it, too, in stir fries.

Purple carrots. If you can believe it, carrots were originally purple. We’ve been growing a particular purple variety of carrot, called Purple Haze, for a number of years now. It actually outsells orange carrots at one farmers’ market we attend, because our customers have come to know and love this variety well.
The carrots—purple or orange—are terrific as a fresh snack, but we also love to roast them as it concentrates their sweet flavor. Before roasting, wash the carrots but don’t bother peeling. Toss with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast in a 425° F oven on a baking sheet with raised edges until they feel tender when skewered with a fork, 25 to 30 minutes. About halfway through cooking, do shake the baking pan back and forth so that the golden undersides of the carrots roll to face upwards.

Quick weeknight pasta with cauliflower … Cauliflower is an easy veggie to add to a quick weeknight pasta. Cut into small florets and sauté or roast until golden brown and tender. Stir in some minced garlic at the end of cooking, and then toss with white, kidney or aduki beans, chopped capers, a pinch of red pepper flakes and a pasta of choice (set aside a little pasta cooking water to add as needed; it helps moisten and bring everything together). If you eat meat, sausage or crisped prosciutto is a nice addition. Serve with grated parmigiano.

CSA Share Week 7

Soon after the terrific downpour we finally got on Sunday afternoon, this rainbow (in pic) appeared over the farmstead that sits across the street from us. It was the perfect conclusion to how we were all feeling—people and plants, alike. What a relief to get some drenching rain and a break from last week’s torrid heat. During the heat spell, we put as much irrigation (water) on things as we could. For the most part, everything in our fields held in there and has since rebounded. (And our hard-working staff is still standing too; we arranged days and afternoons off during the worst of it so no one overdid it or risked getting sick.) It was pretty critical that it rained when it did, as the plants were stressed. And hopefully we’ll continue to get some rain. (The rainbow was actually more spectacular than in the photo—a double rainbow no less. But by the time the camera and kids were feteched, it had begun to fade.)

We just got our issue of Fine Cooking magazine in the mail today, and, lo and behold, there’s a feature on zucchini written by Maryellen. Perfect timing. Kind of lost track of that article’s publication since most of the recipes were developed last summer, when the ingredients were in season and the weather right for the magazine to take outdoor photos. We’re not allowed to reprint the recipes in this newsletter this year (copyright agreement stuff), but do look for this issue at your local grocer’s or bookstore. A flip through it might tempt you enough to grab it off the shelf. There’s a recipe for tri-color zucchini ribbon salad with mint and olive vinaigrette, grilled zucchini with chive oil, and sautéed zucchini with za’atar and crispy chickpeas. There’s also a “hand pie” feature (not by Maryellen) we’re drooling over. Sweet and spicy fried peach pies(?!) and blackberry-apple turnovers we’ll surely try when blackberries come into season in late August at the berry farm in our neighborhood.

We’re starting to make plans for our Open House on Sunday, Sept. 12. We chose September for our Open House because there’s still plenty of your produce to see growing in the fields but the heat has mellowed and there’s something beautifully still about the air. Apples are coming into season, our barn is wafting with the smell of thousands of bulbs of cured garlic, … and besides, July is pure craziness here (we’re in overdrive) and August is when the fly population peaks, and we can’t begin to tell you how annoying they can be—especially if there’s a big picnic taking place. We’d love to have you come spend the day to relax and explore at the farm. We’d love to meet or re-meet you too!
In addition to visiting the farm for the day, here are a number of other places you can go while over this way:
Arkell Art Museum- Late 19th and early 20th century American paintings, public library, art gallery; www.arkellmuseum.org
Bellingers Orchard- U-Pick apple orchard with beautiful vista of the Mohawk Valley, addictive cider donuts made on the premises, www.bellingersorchard.com
Conbeers- small family farm with agri-tourism events in fall (no web site; we’ll provide more before the Open House weekend)

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IN THIS WEEK’S SHARE:
1 bunch small turnips (see recipe and tip)
1 bunch carrots (see tip)
12 to 13 ounces green beans
2 cucumbers
2 pounds zucchini (green or gold) or summer squash
1 cabbage
1 bulb of fresh garlic
1 bunch fresh onions or 1 cauliflower

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COOKING TIPS:
We grow two kinds of zucchini—one is a deep, glossy green and the other a vivid gold color. Both can be used interchangeably in a recipe along with yellow crookneck summer squash and even the patty pans (the squat, dumpling-like yellow summer squash that are in limited supply this week). The crookneck squash tends to have more seeds inside, so you’ll want to slice it in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds before slicing or dicing.

Withering onion tops. You’ll probably notice that the fresh onions you’ve been getting are graduating into a new stage in which the green tops are starting to die back. Some of the green tops are still good; some are wilted or even a bit slimy. If wet or turning slimy, cut any of the latter off before storing the onions in your refrigerator. There’s nothing wrong with the onions; they were just harvested for this week’s share. They are simply preparing to become the topless kind with the papery outer layer that we all know best. We start leaving these onions in the field now until the tops are fully wilted and the onions have developed a dry outer skin. We then pull the onions out of the ground, let them cure briefly in the field, and then spread them inside our barn so that the outer skin layer further dries making the onion suited to storage.

Turnips While the turnips in this week’s share could be roasted or used in a stew, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how delicious these small turnips are in a salad. Trim off the ends and thinly slice into coins, like a radish. They’re well suited to Mediterranean flavors like in this week’s green bean and turnip salad recipe.

Carrots. The carrots in this week’s share are wonderfully aromatic; nothing like the cardboard-flavored carrots you get in your average supermarket. They’re fairly thin and their skin is thin too, so don’t bother peeling and wasting away any of the carrot (or the skin’s excellent nutrients). Just scrub lightly with a clean cloth or your hand under water before use.

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RECIPES

Green Bean and Turnip Salad with Cumin Vinaigrette

The following is how we prepared the turnips for their dinner last night—using green beans, turnips and zucchini from this week’s share. One of our farmers' market customers inspired us to try the turnips in a salad; we were lapping our plates by the meal's end. The quantities for the main salad ingredients are approximate (kind of pulled together on the fly), so use your best judgment as to how much you’d like to make. The vinaigrette measurements are specific. If you add too much vinaigrette, no worries. It’ll pool to the bottom of the bowl.

For the vinaigrette:
3 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. clover honey
1/4 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted, coarsely ground in a mortar and pestle
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 Tbs. canola oil

For the salad:
5 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for pita strips)
¾ pound green beans
1 bunch turnips
½ of a zucchini, gold or green, sliced into thin half moons
about 3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion tops
about 4 tablespoons chopped parsley
¼ cup diced tomato (optional)
1 small whole wheat pita

Fill a stockpot with enough water to comfortably cover the beans. Bring the water to a boil. Add the green beans and a large pinch of Kosher salt and let cook until the beans are bright green and slightly tender, about 3 minutes. Strain the beans in a colander. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl and cover with cold water until the beans are no longer warm. The beans can be made many hours ahead and kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

In a small mixing bowl or 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine the vinegar, mustard, honey, and cumin seeds. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to evenly blend. Season with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Set aside.

Slice the pita into strips, about ½-inch wide. On a baking sheet, mound the strips, drizzle with a couple tablespoons of the olive oil and toss to coat. Spread evenly on the baking sheet and then toast under the broiler until golden brown and crispy (most likely just a few minutes, depending on your broiler).

Strain the beans from the cold water and dry out the bowl. Add the beans, turnips, zucchini, onions, parsley and tomato, if using, to the bowl. Add half the vinaigrette. Using tongs, toss and season with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add more vinaigrette, as needed, and the pita strips. Toss and serve.

Recipe by Maryellen Driscoll, Free Bird Farm


Zucchini Oven Fries with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce
Serves 4.

For the fries:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound medium zucchini, stem ends trimmed
¼ cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ tsp. hot sauce, such as Tabasco
1 ½ cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Kosher salt

For the sauce:
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
2 Tbs. sour cream
1 Tbs. milk
1 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbs. minced flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400° F. Pour the olive oil onto a rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan, spreading evenly with a pastry brush.
Slice the zucchini into 3” long by 1/3” thick sticks.
In a medium bowl, whisk the milk or buttermilk, eggs, hot sauce and table salt to blend. Set aside.
In an 8”x8” baking pan, combine the bread crumbs and sesame seeds.
Set a cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Dip and coat the zucchini batons in the egg mixture and transfer onto the wire rack. Working in batches, place a handful of the batons in the pan of bread crumbs. Shimmy the pan back and forth to evenly coat.
Transfer the breaded sticks to the baking sheet and continue the breading process until all of the sticks are arranged on the baking sheet. [it might seem crowded, but the sticks will shrink as they cook]
Bake until the breaded zucchini sticks are golden brown on their undersides, about 12 minutes. Using a large metal spatula, turn the sticks and continue to bake until crispy and golden brown all over, about 12 minutes more.
Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate and serve immediately.

To make the sauce:
In a small mixing bowl, whisk the cheese, sour cream, milk and lemon juice until well combined. Depending on the consistency of the cheese you may need to mash some of the cheese with the back of a soup spoon to blend. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe by Maryellen Driscoll, Free Bird Farm

CSA Share Week 6

Do we need to even say it? It’s really, really, really hot. We’re not sure we’ve seen a heat wave quite like this in the 11 years we’ve owned our farm. We’re irrigating as best we can, but the pond project isn’t complete, and our present system cannot distribute water in large sections of field. So we’ll keep disconnecting and reconnecting irrigation lines to keep as much watered as we can until this heat breaks.
Certain crops simply don’t like heat. Lettuce and broccoli are sure casualties. We’re harvesting all of our fennel crop now too; that will otherwise bolt. And we’ve severely trimmed down the basil (thus, this week’s big bunches) so that it won’t go to seed either. In sum, many of the items in this week’s share you aren’t apt to see again soon. Other heat-loving crops we see further into summer, like tomatoes and peppers, melons and cucumbers, aren’t necessarily going to thrive under these conditions either. When it’s this hot, plants become stressed.
Like we said, we’ll do our best with irrigation and hope the intense heat breaks sooner than later.
Meantime, this week’s share has a lot of new items we’re excited about. The anise flavor of the variety of fennel we grow, called Orion, makes the flavor of store-bought fennel seem feeble. See this week’s tips on how to thinly slice fennel (great mixed in with your baby salad greens). There are also ideas on hot-weather options for cauliflower—something we normally love to roast but wouldn’t consider turning on the oven for right now. And while this week’s herbs—basil and parsley—go beautifully with just about every vegetable in this week’s share, they can also be their own stars. It just might be a good week to make pesto and tabbouleh.

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IN THIS WEEK’S SHARE*:
1 bulb fennel
1 bunch parsley
1 head cauliflower
6 ½ ounces salad mix
1 large bunch basil
1 bunch radish
1 bag spinach
1 lb. bag of sugar snap peas

*The above list is what local members can expect to receive. Due to a short supply of certain crops, members in the city are receiving a slightly different share than local members. Our summer squash crop is just kicking in and was compromised by mice in the early greenhouse stages; so we didn't have enough for everyone this week. Similarly, our spring pea crop didn't germinate well. So this crop is limited and short-lived. We will have more squash and peas for all as the season progresses. We do our best to make sure what when there are variations that the different items are of comparable worth and overall desirability.
For our CSA members in the city, please refer to the newsletters your CSA group compiles weekly for specifics on your shares and other CSA news specific to your community group.

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RECIPES:

Sautéed Cauliflower: Cauliflower has an inherently nutty flavor that especially comes through when sautéed (or roasted). To sauté, heat a heavy-bottomed or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil or a heat-friendly oil like canola or safflower oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add the cauliflower (cut into 1-inch florets) so that it fits in the pan in a single layer. If necessary, cook in batches. Lower the heat to medium and let cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the cauliflower and loosely cover with a lid so that the cauliflower browns and steam cooks. Continue to cook until golden brown and tender, about 5 more minutes. Suggestions: serve in a pasta dish with beans (kidney, white or garbanzos), roasted red pepper or sun-dried tomatoes, sautéed onion, garlic, and basil or as a side dish with melted butter, chopped parsley and minced capers.

Cauliflower pickles. We're really liking the sound of this cool, crunchy pickled cauliflower recipe (click on "pickled cauliflower" to connect to link). Since carrots and red bell peppers aren’t quite ready at our farm, you can always omit and add a few more cups of cauliflower. If this seems like way more pickles than you’d ever eat, you can halve this recipe.

Quick fix: Radish and parsley salad
Make a simple salad of thinly sliced radish and parsley leaves. Serve with freshly squeezed lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and a pinch of Kosher or sea salt. If you have any green onion tops left over from last week’s share, thinly slice and add some of those too. Or shave some of this week’s fennel and toss in too.

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Tips:
Fennel- very thinly slicing fennel is the best way to prepare it, especially if serving in a salad. You don’t have to have a super-sharp knife and knife skills to achieve this. A vegetable peeler lets you shave it. Trim the base, quarter lengthwise, cut out the core, and run the peeler lengthwise along each quarter to shave. You can also use a mandoline or hand slicer, if you have one. For a more detailed lesson on how to use any of these tools to thinly slice or shave fennel, go to the Fine Cooking test kitchen’s web site.

Storing herbs- like basil (last week’s tip), store parsley in a cup or jar of water tented with a plastic bag and refrigerated. Parsley will hold up for a number of days; basil usually only lasts 3 to 4 days.

CSA Week 5

If you aren’t clued into all the hustling that is going on in the fields and behind the scenes here, it’d be easy to think this thing called farm life is relatively tranquil--unless you’ve been monitoring the traffic in our driveway for the last month. The activity starts around 6:30 a.m. when a large, diesel truck rumbles up our driveway. That belongs to a local excavator, who has been digging a 1-million gallon, 3/4-acre pond on our farm. This pond is a big deal for us. We received a grant through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to build the pond as the primary source of water for irrigating our fields. It was the first grant we’ve applied for, and it was a boon to be selected as a recipient.
Up to this point, we’ve naturally relied on rain to keep our plants adequately hydrated. And when that’s not enough, we’ve irrigated using water pumped from a well. The well has miraculously never run out, no matter how dry the summer, but it can only pump water to the fields in small segments (we’ll not bore you with the technical details as to why), and the amount of acreage upon which we grow keeps expanding. So, to have a pond like this is a significant form of insurance for when we face drought conditions. It also simply allows us to have more control over our environment, so we can grow better crops. The grant includes the cost of irrigation line, a pump, filters, etc. So, really, we couldn’t feel more fortunate.
The pond project has meant daily visits from USDA field agents, an occasional fuel-truck delivery, a periodic visit from a large-equipment repair trucks (there seem to have been a few breakdowns), and an entourage of pickup trucks somehow affiliated with the contractor. Between that, the day-long hum of excavating machinery at work behind our fields, and the usual traffic in our driveway—harvest vehicles, staff comings and goings, supply deliveries, random (sometimes very random) visitors—the farm has been buzzing.
Right now the project is in its final stages, and, fortunately, we’ve been getting ample rain. The pond is dug but the “spoils”— the equivalent of 1 million gallons of displaced dirt, now need some re-arranging. So this past week we’re seeding, planting, harvesting and weeding to the background hum of a bulldozer at work.
It has been exciting to watch it all develop, and the excavation site makes a great post-dinner destination for the kids when Ken has to work until dark. By then the day’s traffic has quieted, and all seems at peace as we walk over the mounds of spoils and gape at the giant hole, trying to imagine what it will be like when it’s full of water, surrounded by a grassy border, and no longer quite the mud pit our children in the meantime are quite enjoying.



IN THIS WEEK'S SHARE:
1 head frisée
1 bunch basil
1 head red leaf lettuce or bag of salad mix
1 head green cabbage
1 bunch broccoli
1 bunch spring onions
1 head curly leaf kale
1 bunch rainbow swiss chard

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RECIPES:
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Frisée salad with peaches, avocado & pistachios
Serves four.

1 head frisée, rinsed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons raspberry or red-wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup thinly sliced green onion tops (from the fresh onions in this week’s share)
½ cup pistachios, toasted
2 peaches, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic scapes (hopefully you have some left over from last week’s share)


Add the frisée to a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar and honey to blend. Whisk in the olive oil. Whisk in a large pinch of Kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper. Drizzle all but a couple tablespoons of the dressing over the frisée, sprinkle with the sliced onions, and, using tongs, toss to evenly distribute. Add the peach slices and garlic to the remaining dressing and gently toss to coat.

Mound the frisée on four salad plates. Arrange the avocado slice and then the peaches on top. Sprinkle the pistachios on top and serve.

© Maryellen Driscoll, 2010


Crispy Kale
Serves four.
Roasting kale until it’s shattery crisp is one way to coax finicky eaters into enjoying this highly nutritious green. Children and adults alike eat them as if they’re chips. Serve as an appetizer, snack or with a meal.
Tip: To quickly remove the stem from a kale leaf, wrap your hand around the stem at the base of the leaf. Firmly hold the stem with your other hand as you run your wrapped hand up towards the leaf tip, quickly stripping the leafy portion from the stem. Discard or compost the stems.


1 bunch of kale from this week’s share, washed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Kosher salt

Heat the oven to 350° F. Meanwhile, strip the kale leaves from the stems (see tip, above). Tear the leaves into large, bite-size pieces. Thoroughly dry in a salad spinner. Transfer onto a clean kitchen towel and blot just to make sure the kale is dry.
Mound the kale on a heavy-duty, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and cider vinegar and toss with your hands to evenly coat the leaves. Bake in the oven, turning the leaves once they’ve begun to crisp, after about 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet and continue to cook until crackly crisp but not browned, 8 to 12 more minutes. Do not let the leaves turn brown; they’ll taste burnt and bitter. Remove from oven, sprinkle with salt and serve.

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KITCHEN TIPS

Kitchen Tool of the Week. A salad spinner is one of the more worthwhile kitchen gadgets to own, and it’s not just great for drying salad greens. Use it to store the delicate salad mix (mixed baby lettuce leaves) you’ve been seeing weekly in your share. The basket lets air circulate around the greens to prevent damage from too much moisture, while the lid on the salad spinner helps keep just the right amount of moisture in. The greens tend to hold well this way through the entire week.
You can also use the salad spinner to spin out any excess moisture from your kale before trying this week’s addictive crispy kale recipe. It’s also handy for spinning excess moisture from greens, such as this week’s swiss chard, before adding to hot oil for a sauté or stir fry.

Storing basil. Fresh basil doesn’t hold well in the refrigerator. So use as soon as you can. If you can’t use immediately, store stem end down in a cup of water and loosely cover the leafy top with a plastic bag. If you don’t have the ingredients for pesto and want to find a way to store it long term, finely chop with olive oil in a blender or food processor. You can then add to tomato sauces, pasta dishes, winter soups or risotto in the winter.


Ideas for using your share contents this 4th of July weekend:
Spring onions: caramelize the white portion of the onions (bulb end) and use as a bruschetta topping with thin slivers of basil and goat cheese; if you’ve a stockpile, make into an onion tart; thinly slice the green tops and use in anything from scrambled eggs or egg salad to tuna salad a garnish for hummus or tossed in a pasta dish

Garlic scapes: make pesto (see last week’s recipe) and top on grilled,
homemade pizza along with fresh mozzarella or toss with pasta, fresh mozzarella, feta or goat cheese and basil for a simple pasta salad

Cabbage: make cole slaw with a light dressing using rice vinegar or lemon juice, sour cream and walnut oil

More on salad dressings. A couple weeks ago we talked homemade salad dressings--how much better they taste, how simple they are to make. Jamie Oliver's weekly Food Revolution newsletter includes a link to what he calls Jam Jar Dressings. He sums up the subject really well, in his quintessential Jamie way, and offers a handful of great salad dressing recipes too.

CSA Week 4

A ladybug, a natural predator of pests, nestles in the fronds of some upcoming fennel

Letter from the Farm At last we’ve had some nice weather—warm temperatures with enough moisture so that the plants are showing some vigor. Up until now, cold nights, dry stretches, and general inconsistencies in growing conditions have been hard on many of the plants in our fields. In sum, we’re finally seeing crops growing.
Now is a critical time for pest control, as this is the time pests really take off. Our main insect problems are potato beetles, cucumber beetles and flea beetles. On occasion, we battle cutworms.
Just like weed control, successful pest control is all about timing and getting on top of the issue when it’s new. We make every effort to cultivate when the weeds are hair-like (and easy to remove); we try as best we can to control pests now before they have a chance to lay their eggs and multiply exponentially.
This year we’re lucky enough to have planted our potatoes ¼ mile away from where we planted last year. We’ve seen not one potato beetle on the plants thus far. Last year the beetles hammered on the plants with an intensity we’d never seen before, and then came blight. It was a weak year for potatoes.
The potato beetles are here but have tried to prey upon our eggplant crop instead. So we have been going over the rows of eggplant twice daily squishing with our hands the adult potato beetles off the top of the plants’ leaves and, just as importantly, smashing any eggs laid on the underside of the leaves that we find.
The kicker is, often times, the farm’s weekly schedule and the weather don’t allow us to do such things in a timely manner. So bugs and especially weeds take off—all too often. This results in much more labor-intensive pest and weed control and, at worst, the loss of a crop.
Like most years, we’ve had our share of successes and failures. Right now we’re seeing a lot of crops looking strong. That feels good.

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IN THIS WEEK'S SHARE:

1 pound garlic scapes (see recipes)
1 bunch basil
5 ounces mesclun mix
1 bunch spring onions
1 green cabbage (local CSA members); 1 bunch broccoli (NYC members)
1 head freckles romaine lettuce (see note)
1 bunch Tuscan kale
½ pound salad mix
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notes on this week’s share:
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Freckles! Don’t be fooled by the brown mottling on this week’s lettuce. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. This is an heirloom romaine lettuce—meant to have light-brown freckling—that we just love. It’s buttery-tender yet toothsome, and delicious.


Garlic scapes. Those curly-cue shoots in this week’s share are garlic scapes. They’re a flowering shoot that gets snapped off the garlic plant shortly after they appear so that the plant’s energy stays focused on developing a large, healthy bulb underground. Snap a scape in half, and you’ll recognize the bright aroma of early-season garlic. Scapes store really well (refrigerate in a sealed bag, and they’ll hold for at least a couple of weeks). But, if you use them like you would garlic or a scallion, they probably won’t last that long in your fridge. You can sauté or stir fry. Grill whole. Chop and add to pasta, salad, eggs… It’s incredibly versatile. Have fun experimenting with it on your own or with these two recipes.

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RECIPES


WHITE BEAN AND GARLIC SCAPES DIP
by Melissa Clark, published in the New York Times.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups.
Time: 15 minutes

Melissa is an inspiring food writer, who wrote a great companion piece to this recipe about green garlic (in case you still have some of yours kicking around in your fridge).


GARLIC SCAPES PESTO
For ½ pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.

1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup walnuts
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼-1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional: To bring out the flavor of the walnuts, gently toast them over medium-low heat in a skillet until fragrant. Remove from the skillet immediately. Let cool before processing.

Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until blended. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper to taste.

Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for one week. Or freeze in a thin layer in a sealed freezer bag. Break off a portion of the frozen pesto to use as needed—to flavor pastas or soups or spread on a sandwich.

Adapted from "A Mighty Appetite with Kim O’Donnell" blog, The Washington Post website

CSA Week 3

The harvest for this week’s CSA share finished early enough that there was a little time to catch up on a few things in the fields. The last tomato stakes were pounded into the ground. Young, delicate tomato plants were carefully tied to the stakes or to overhanging wire trellises (seen here in farm pic). Row covers used to protect spring plantings from cold and wind were pulled off and rolled up. And a cool breeze helped dry things off some after a weekend of rain, so at least no one was working with five pounds of mud clinging to their work boots.
The deficit of rain we experienced in May has been plenty compensated for this first half of June. The long-term forecast this week calls for more rain and cool temperatures-- no higher than in the 70s. This is concerning, as such cool, wet conditions are a welcome mat for mildew and disease, such as dreaded blight, to plants. We’re looking anxiously for some strong sun.
CSA members are on the cusp of seeing a little more variety (that is, less lettuce) in their shares. If you eat a lot of salad, like we do, you can be assured that we do try to offer some kind of salad green just about every week of the CSA season. So, if you haven’t been making your own salad dressings, now might be a good time to start (see the basic vinaigrette recipe below). While we’re sure there are a few decent bottled dressings out there, the majority of commercial dressings are harshly flavored, greasy, and heavy. You can’t toss and gently coat the mix of delicate baby greens you’ve been getting in the last 3 week’s shares with glop. So we strongly encourage you to try making your own. It’s really a cinch.

In this week’s share:
1 bunch beets
1 bunch green garlic
½ pound salad mix
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 bunch spring onions
1 head bok choy
1 bunch cilantro

Early Bird special: We have some extra radish and escarole this week. It’s not enough for everyone, so it’s first come, first serve (we’re going on the hunch that not everyone is going to be lunging for more of either). We’d rather share it with CSA members than see it go to waste.

RECIPES:
If you’re not familiar with cooking beets or are looking for some fresh ideas, The New York Times published a nice article on what makes beets so great and healthy a couple of years ago. It includes a handful of tempting recipes for both the beets and their greens. Beet greens are delicious and nutritious, a good source for beta-carotene, vitamin C, iron and calcium.

How to sauté beet greens:
For an easy weeknight preparation, slice the greens from the beets, rinse and pat or spin dry. Heat 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the greens and a tablespoon of thinly sliced green garlic. Using tongs, stir and toss the greens until wilted. It should take just a few minutes. Season with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve with a squirt of lemon juice and some freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Or drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with some crumbled blue or goat cheese.

Basic Recipe for Roasted Beets
If you’ve never roasted beets, you’ve got to try it out. The dry heat of the oven tenderizes the beet and concentrates its sugars.

1 bunch Free Bird Farm’s beets, scrubbed but not peeled
1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 450° F. Cut off the tops and trim the bottoms of the beets. If medium in size, slice into wedges, from top to bottom, so that the wedges about 1 ½ inch thick at their widest point. Small beets can be sliced from top to bottom in half. Line a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Pile the beet wedges or halves on the baking pan and drizzle with the oil. Sprinkle with a large pinch of salt, and toss to evenly coat. Spread the wedges out evenly on the baking sheet, cut side down, and roast until the undersides of the beets have begun to brown and become crispy, about 20 minutes. Using a spatula, turn the beets and continue to roast until they feel tender when pierced with the tip of a knife or the tines of a fork, about 10 to 15 more minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve with the skins on or slip off by rubbing the skin portion of the wedges with a sheet of paper towel.

Roasted beets are wonderful on their own with a little butter and salt or a squirt of lemon, or serve with a vinaigrette. They will keep for five days in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. Make a salad with chilled roasted beets, mixed baby greens (from this week’s share), almonds, blue cheese and a vinaigrette.

© Maryellen Driscoll, 2010


Basic Vinaigrette
Yields 5 to 6 Tbs.

At its very simplest, a vinaigrette is a blending of vinegar and oil. Neither two ingredients like to naturally mix, so you often will see recipes that call for a little Dijon mustard used to help emulsify or bind the two main ingredients (as well as add a flavor boost to the vinaigrette). Once you get comfortable with this basic recipe, you can start branching out—trying different vinegars, combinations of vinegars or lemon, orange, or lime juice, adding thickeners like sour cream, yogurt, or even just a little mayonnaise for creaminess, blending in different fresh minced herbs or chopped capers or olives.


¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small clove garlic, minced or mashed to a paste (or 1 tablespoon minced green garlic from this week’s share)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, freshly squeezed lemon juice or other vinegar; more to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Honey to taste

Add the vinegar to a small bowl or a liquid measuring cup (I like to use my 1-cup Pyrex because it doesn’t tip and makes it easy to pour onto the greens). Add the oil slowly to the vinegar while constantly whisking with a small whisk. (If you don’t own a small whisk, I highly recommend one for this; an inexpensive one is just.) Add the garlic, a pinch of Kosher salt, a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper and a generous drizzle of honey. Whisk to blend. Taste, adjusting the amount of vinegar, oil or other ingredients to your liking.

Tips: It’s helpful if you make the vinaigrette just before serving the salad, since it will separate if it sits. If it separates, whisk until once again evenly blended.

To serve, pour the vinaigrette sparingly over a bowl of greens and toss with a pair of tongs (another favorite kitchen tool). The greens should be pleasantly coated. Taste and add more vinaigrette if needed.

Once dressed with a vinaigrette, greens won’t hold overnight; so dress only as much as you plan to eat.

Double your recipe, use only as much as needed, and store the rest in an airtight container or clean jar with lid in the refrigerator. Before using again, pull the vinaigrette out of the refrigerator so that it can come to room temperature (olive oil will solidify in the refrigerator but return back to a liquid at room temp.). Shake with the container or jar lid on to evenly re-blend the vinegar and oil before serving.

If you have kids, involve them. Let them add everything but the olive oil, which they can whisk in while you slowly pour the oil in or vice versa. If the oil gets dumped in too quickly and doesn't blend, actively whisk it until it's blended (maybe when they're not looking).