Wednesday, July 27, 2016

July 27 or 30

Share contents this week:  1 pound of torpedo onions, 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, 3 pounds of slicing tomatoes, 1 pound of silver slicer cucumbers, 1 green zucchini, 2 zephyr squash, 1 head of savoy cabbage.

Storage:  onions, cucumbers, and squash store in the fridge.  Tomatoes can stay on the counter but if you're going to wait a few days to eat them and your kitchen is warm, put them in the fridge.

We are in the heart of tomato season.  If you want an extra tomato or 2 please help yourself.  If you want tomatoes to can, please email me and we'll arrange it.  A 20 pound box of tomatoes for CSA members
will cost $35.  If you're interested, it probably needs to happen within the next 10 days.
And if you want a few hot peppers for the week, please grab them!

With all the tomatoes in your box, its the perfect time for tomato pie or tomato soup.  The small yellow tomatoes are "garden peach" and will ripen a bit more to all pale yellow with a little pink blush on the blossom end.  The larger golden ones are yellow brandywine.  The red ones are celebrity.  In the recipe below, I substitute torpedo onions for vidalia.
Tomato Pie Recipe

The cabbage is a little spicy because of the serious heat we've been having. The spice goes away in cooking.

We have been enjoying this simple salad almost daily at the farm.
Simple Summer Salad
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in half from blossom end to stem end
1 torpedo onion, sliced very thin
2 to 4 cucumbers, sliced thin
whatever herb is laying around ie: parsley, chive, basil, dill, cilantro
1 tsp ume-boshi vinegar or salt
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
black pepper
a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Combine all ingredients and let sit a few minutes before eating.
Cherry tomatoes before mixing colors



Wednesday, July 20, 2016

July 20 or 23

This weeks' share:  1 bunch of carrots, 2# gretel eggplant, 1# red onions, 1 fennel bulb, 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, 3# tomatoes, 1 japanese cucumber, 1 sweet italia pepper, 1 garlic bulb.

Storage:  The tomatoes, eggplant, and pepper do not have to be refrigerated if you eat them within 2 days.  All else, store in the refrigerator.

As we start to bring hot peppers to market, please feel free to take a few if you like them.  We rarely put the hot peppers in the boxes because many people do not eat them.

The tomatoes in your box today are a few different varieties.  The large pink ones are brandywines.  The brick red to orangey brown ones are Paul Robeson and the larger reds are a hybrid named celebrity, the small red ones are new girl.  All are great for fresh eating.  They make great sandwiches, salsa, salad.

Roasted Fennel and Tomato Sauce

The eggplant is great cut in half lengthwise and roasted with olive oil and salt.  You can scoop it out of the skin and eat it plain, make baba ghanoush dip, add it to pasta sauce.

Traditional Baba Ghanoush Recipe

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

July 13 or 16

This weeks' share includes: 1 Paul Robeson heirloom tomato, 1 bunch of leeks, 1 green celery, 1 bunch of purple basil, 2# Satina potatoes, 1# lemon cucumbers, 1 bulb of garlic, 2 yellow onions, 1 pint of baby squash.
Storage:  garlic can be kept un-refrigerated now. We keep ours in a basket on the counter. The basil will keep best in a paper bag or go ahead and make it into pesto now and keep that in your refrigerator.  The tomato will keep best on your counter for another day or two until it is a deep orange-red color.

The baby squashes are a bit dirty from getting splashed in some heavy rains we've been having.  We don't wash them at the farm because they won't keep well.  Just wash them before preparing.

The lemon cucumbers are so named for their looks.  They do not have any lemon flavor but just a nice fresh cucumber flavor.  The ones that are darker yellow have a tougher skin and you may want to peel those. 

We have been talking about cold soups at the wash shed lately and the leeks are looking so nice that we thought we'd give you the ingredients for vichyssoise.

To make your own vegetable broth:
Into a large soup pot, combine: the green parts of the leeks chopped into 1 inch pieces, the head of celery chopped into 1 inch pieces and washed well, 1 T salt, some black pepper, a bay leaf, and cover with 2 gallons of water.  Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer.  Let simmer uncovered for an hour or so until it is smelling good and somewhat reduced in liquid.  Strain all of the solids out and save the broth for your soup.  Taste for flavor and add salt if need be.  Any extra broth can be used for making flavorful rice or frozen for another soup.
To make Vichyssoise:
Mince:
3 to 4 medium size leeks: white and light green part only
2 yellow onions
Stir and saute them 3 minutes in:
2 tablespoons butter
Slice very fine or dice into small cubes:
4 to 6 medium yellow potatoes
(some recipes say to peel the potatoes.  for a finer texture soup, you'd want to but more greater nutrition, keep the peels on!)
Add:
4 cups of your celery and leek broth
Simmer the vegetables, uncovered, until tender. Put them through a food mill or blender to make a puree.
Add:
1 to 2 cups of cream or unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon of mace or nutmeg
salt and white pepper to taste
chopped parsley or chive for a garnish
This soup can be served hot or cold.


Wednesday, July 6, 2016

July 6 or 9

Box contents this week:  1 bunch of golden beets, 1 bunch of cipollini onions, 1 head of savoy cabbage, 1 pint of baby eggplant, 1/2 # tomatoes, 1 japanese cucumber, 1 # of green beans.

Storage:  everything in the refrigerator except the tomatoes. The beets will store best with  the greens removed and kept in a separate bag with the air squeezed out.  The onions will store best with the greens removed. Tomatoes can be kept on the counter.

Cipollini onions are on the sweet side for onions. Which makes them incredible for roasting or caramelizing.  Roasted whole in the oven or cooked in a little butter on the stove top, cipollinis become soft and practically melt in your mouth.  Those residual sugars caramelize and concentrate, leaving behind none of the astringent raw onion flavor.
 Try steamed green beans with roasted cipollinis and thyme.  To roast the onions:
Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 325°F. Melt butter in a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add onions and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to oven and roast, tossing occasionally, until deeply caramelized and tender, about 30 minutes.
To steam the beans:
Wash and de-stem the beans.  Cover the bottom of a skillet with water and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and add beans.  Add a sprig or 2 of thyme.  Cover the skillet.  Let steam until desired tenderness.  You may have to add more water.  When beans are done, take lid off and let any remaining water evaporate.  Salt and pepper to taste and stir in the roasted cipollinis.  Some toasted nuts would be good on this too.

Golden beet Salad recipe
I changed a little of the recipe.  I used the beet greens and stems instead of spinach.  I tossed them with the  beets while the beets were still hot, to wilt them a little bit.

We got a much needed rain shower yesterday afternoon.  We all breathed a sigh of relief.  A break from the heat and some good old-fashioned water from above make our job pleasant.  We hope you have a good week!