It hasn’t always felt like it, but summer is still here. Here’s what was in this week’s share:
2 bunches of carrots
½ pound salad mix
1 ½ pound shell beans
1 cucumber
1 to 2 eggplants, depending on size
6 tomatoes
1 large onion
1 bulb of garlic
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of basil
1 pound of purple beans (unfortunately, these will lose their regal color once cooked; serve fresh with a green goddess dressing or hummus?!)
6 ears of sweet corn
The corn was at its peak of maturity, which is when the bugs love it. So we did our best to find ears that weren’t buggy. That would explain why a lot of the husk was peeled back or off. If you haven’t already eaten it, it holds best wrapped in a damp towel in a zipper-lock bag in the produce drawer of your refrigerator.
The lima-like beans with the mottling on the pods are fresh shell beans. We love these. Cook them just like you would a dried bean. Because they’re fresh, however, they shouldn’t need quite as much time to cook.
To cook shell beans: Remove the beans from their pods. Place them in a pot of water with aromatics, such as onion, peppercorns and a bay leaf (I’ll also throw in carrot trimmings if they’re kicking around). Bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer until they are tender. Stir occasionally. Depending on the age of the bean, the amount of time needed to cook varies. I recommend tasting beginning after about 20 minutes. We have hard water, so it can take twice that time in my kitchen. I’m going to try adding a little baking soda to the water this year to soften it and, hopefully, speed things along. I know that helps when cooking dried beans.
You can use them with your corn to make succotash. They’re also great in pasta. Last night we caramelized some onion, browned some diced eggplant in extra-virgin olive oil, and then simmered them briefly with chopped tomatoes, more extra-virgin olive oil and minced garlic. Chopped basil was added in at the end. It was great as is, but the beans would have been a nice addition and source of protein. And the good news is that all those ingredients are in this week’s share.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Week 12; Aug. 20, 2008
Yes, we have corn at last! Our corn crop took a hammering recently from torrential thunderstorms with strong winds (what’s up with all these storms?! Sigh.). But not all of it was leveled by the wind. The kernels on this variety aren’t large but are succulent and sweet. This was picked just hours before we delivered your shares.
You might also be wondering what those fuzzy little green pods are. They’re edamame, also known as soybean. They’re such a treat. We like to just boil them in their pods in well salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain, spread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with Kosher salt (the salt part makes it tasty, but it is optional). They can be served warm, but some recommend serving at room temperature. The best way to eat is to just pinch the beans out of their pods and into your mouth with your teeth or with your thumb and fingers. If anyone else has a take on how to serve these, please comment!
For something different to do with red cabbage, try this Chinese chicken salad with peanut sauce: http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes/chinese_chicken_salad.aspx
If you’re vegetarian, you could substitute tofu or tempeh for the chicken.
Here’s what was in this week’s share:
1 pound edamame in pods
1 Walla Walla onion
4 tomatoes
1 quart of red potatoes
1 bunch of beets
1 bunch of purple carrots
1 red cabbage
1 bulb of garlic
10 to 12 ears of corn
You might also be wondering what those fuzzy little green pods are. They’re edamame, also known as soybean. They’re such a treat. We like to just boil them in their pods in well salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain, spread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with Kosher salt (the salt part makes it tasty, but it is optional). They can be served warm, but some recommend serving at room temperature. The best way to eat is to just pinch the beans out of their pods and into your mouth with your teeth or with your thumb and fingers. If anyone else has a take on how to serve these, please comment!
For something different to do with red cabbage, try this Chinese chicken salad with peanut sauce: http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes/chinese_chicken_salad.aspx
If you’re vegetarian, you could substitute tofu or tempeh for the chicken.
Here’s what was in this week’s share:
1 pound edamame in pods
1 Walla Walla onion
4 tomatoes
1 quart of red potatoes
1 bunch of beets
1 bunch of purple carrots
1 red cabbage
1 bulb of garlic
10 to 12 ears of corn
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Week 11, August 13, 2008
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)
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 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
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