Equinox Share
Posted 9/23/2009 7:44am by Christy and Chris Kantlehner.
hello everyone!
It was so nice to visit with those of you who came to the farm for a tour on Sunday. We have been enjoying a streak of fabulous weather. Quintessential fall days. The swamp maples at the back of our field (where the stand is) are already changing color. From now on the nights will be longer than the days . . . Nature tells us to store up, eat hardy and pay a little more attention to indoor stuff.
this week the box has the first of some fall treasures:
Delicata Winter Squash - these are a delicately skinned winter squash that is good for eating right away. Butternuts are best after curing for 10 days or so, but these tender little guys are very good just sliced open, seeds scooped out and baked in the oven on baking sheet. maybe 375 for 15-20 minutes. a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt never hurt. some prefer a pat of butter and a dash of maple syrup. I think they are usually sweet enough just as they are. The skins are edible, but if anyone chooses not to eat it, they can just scoop it out.
Purple-top Turnips - we had two bunches leftover at the stand and sliced them up on a cookie sheet - chris wanted to put potatoes, too, so we did rounds of all of them, roasted in the usual method. Roasted turnips are excellent! You can make a quick creamy soup by cooking down some onions with butter, tossing in diced turnips (the smaller the faster they cook but a coarse dice is fine), once tender adding chicken stock just covering the veggies. Puree (an immersion blender saves a lot of mess) add cream, half and half, milk, creme fraiche if you want. adjust for salt and pepper (white pepper if you don't want black flecks in your creamy white soup). Turnips are an excellent addition to mashed potatoes - just throw a couple in with the potatoes as you boil them. They can also give beef stew or a turkey pot pie that little something special. I tried sauteeing the greens with olive oil and garlic and found them too bitter to enjoy. Hope you have a compost pile!
Red Ace Beets. Roasted beets. I've talked about that quite a bit. With some diced shallot or red onion and a simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing, diced roasted beets stay for a good week in the fridge to have as a side or on a salad. Maybe try a beet and potato salad for something different. or look up the rosti on the recipe blog. There is a recipe for beet chocolate cake! It is in a great cookbook for CSA members called "From Asparagus to Zucchini" put out by CSA farmers in Madison, WI. Anyway, from Zephyr Community Farm, here is BEET CHOCOLATE CAKE:
Heat oven to 325. grease two 9 inch cake pans. Whisk dry ingredients together: 2 cups sugar, 2 cups flour, half teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda. Melt 3-4 oz unsweetened chocolate over low heat or in a double boiler. cool chocolate, blend thoroughly with 4 eggs and 1/4 cup oil. combine flour mixture with chocolate mixture, alternating with 3 cups shredded beets. Pour into pans bake until toothpick comes out clean, 40-50 minutes. (if you have a food processor with a grater that makes the shredding less of an ordeal, for potatoes, too)
Potatoes. Roasted, Mashed, Boiled. My cousin said she's been making a really nice hash out of the onions and pepper, fried up first, then grated fresh potatoes, squeezed in a dish towel to remove excess moisture, then fried up with the rest. I am sure there are other secrets, but that should be a good start. I looked up how to make french fries in "The Best Recipe" cookbook (from Cook's Illustrated). The experiment was a good success. The wedges had to be placed in cold water first (they said 1/2 hour I did 10 minutes) then fried at 325 I used organic safflower and canola oil until a little bit soft. drained on a paper bag for 10 minutes, then refried for 1 minute in oil at 350. I salt and peppered them and they were as good as restaurant fries!
Red Onion. Fine diced red onion, cilantro, and lime juice is a wonderful marinade or condiment for fish. If you use very fresh white fish and lots of lime you can make ceviche. add some finely diced Serrano pepper to give a kick. Thinly sliced red onion is nice on a sandwich or a bagel with cream cheese and a slice of tomato.
Yellow Onion - perfect for frying up for onions and peppers to go with sausages or steak tips or any sort of stir fry. If you have enough onions built up you could try a French Onion soup.
Garlic. We finally began cleaning and sorting our garlic. We need to save some for seed, put the damaged ones aside, and the rest are for CSA and market. I was envisioning our Tuscan Kale frying up with some sliced garlic.
Tuscan Kale. this is the first picking of our fall planting of Kale. We hope you have been missing your greens and are ready to see them again! Like always, it's good sauteed with garlic, olive oil, and salt. Once cooked it can be added to an omelet, pizza, pasta. It would go especially well with spicy sausage and ricotta. If anyone makes escarole and white beans, the kale would be a good substitute for escarole.
Sweet Peppers - Carmen, Jimmy Nardello, and a Green Bell. more pepps. good for pasta sauces, stir fries, rice and beans, salads, pizza toppings. I still recommend roasting red peppers and keeping them preserved in a little jar in the fridge, covered with olive oil. Our lunch today hit the spot -fried onions and peppers (one Serrano) and tomatillo and tomato, then leftover rice, a can of black beans, that mix in a burrito with some grated cheddar and sour cream. chopped cilantro would have been the perfect touch.
Hot Peppers - several green Serrano, one Habanero
Two Heads of Lettuce
Cooking Celery. Same as before - I don't recommend raw celery sticks. celery is magic with roasted meats. a fine dice is super in stuffings, tuna salad, egg salad. Perfect for soup or stew. very nice with chinese style noodles or stir fried veggies.
Pinch of Cilantro.
Cucumber. just enough for a salad. summer crops are fading.
It was so nice to visit with those of you who came to the farm for a tour on Sunday. We have been enjoying a streak of fabulous weather. Quintessential fall days. The swamp maples at the back of our field (where the stand is) are already changing color. From now on the nights will be longer than the days . . . Nature tells us to store up, eat hardy and pay a little more attention to indoor stuff.
this week the box has the first of some fall treasures:
Delicata Winter Squash - these are a delicately skinned winter squash that is good for eating right away. Butternuts are best after curing for 10 days or so, but these tender little guys are very good just sliced open, seeds scooped out and baked in the oven on baking sheet. maybe 375 for 15-20 minutes. a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt never hurt. some prefer a pat of butter and a dash of maple syrup. I think they are usually sweet enough just as they are. The skins are edible, but if anyone chooses not to eat it, they can just scoop it out.
Purple-top Turnips - we had two bunches leftover at the stand and sliced them up on a cookie sheet - chris wanted to put potatoes, too, so we did rounds of all of them, roasted in the usual method. Roasted turnips are excellent! You can make a quick creamy soup by cooking down some onions with butter, tossing in diced turnips (the smaller the faster they cook but a coarse dice is fine), once tender adding chicken stock just covering the veggies. Puree (an immersion blender saves a lot of mess) add cream, half and half, milk, creme fraiche if you want. adjust for salt and pepper (white pepper if you don't want black flecks in your creamy white soup). Turnips are an excellent addition to mashed potatoes - just throw a couple in with the potatoes as you boil them. They can also give beef stew or a turkey pot pie that little something special. I tried sauteeing the greens with olive oil and garlic and found them too bitter to enjoy. Hope you have a compost pile!
Red Ace Beets. Roasted beets. I've talked about that quite a bit. With some diced shallot or red onion and a simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing, diced roasted beets stay for a good week in the fridge to have as a side or on a salad. Maybe try a beet and potato salad for something different. or look up the rosti on the recipe blog. There is a recipe for beet chocolate cake! It is in a great cookbook for CSA members called "From Asparagus to Zucchini" put out by CSA farmers in Madison, WI. Anyway, from Zephyr Community Farm, here is BEET CHOCOLATE CAKE:
Heat oven to 325. grease two 9 inch cake pans. Whisk dry ingredients together: 2 cups sugar, 2 cups flour, half teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda. Melt 3-4 oz unsweetened chocolate over low heat or in a double boiler. cool chocolate, blend thoroughly with 4 eggs and 1/4 cup oil. combine flour mixture with chocolate mixture, alternating with 3 cups shredded beets. Pour into pans bake until toothpick comes out clean, 40-50 minutes. (if you have a food processor with a grater that makes the shredding less of an ordeal, for potatoes, too)
Potatoes. Roasted, Mashed, Boiled. My cousin said she's been making a really nice hash out of the onions and pepper, fried up first, then grated fresh potatoes, squeezed in a dish towel to remove excess moisture, then fried up with the rest. I am sure there are other secrets, but that should be a good start. I looked up how to make french fries in "The Best Recipe" cookbook (from Cook's Illustrated). The experiment was a good success. The wedges had to be placed in cold water first (they said 1/2 hour I did 10 minutes) then fried at 325 I used organic safflower and canola oil until a little bit soft. drained on a paper bag for 10 minutes, then refried for 1 minute in oil at 350. I salt and peppered them and they were as good as restaurant fries!
Red Onion. Fine diced red onion, cilantro, and lime juice is a wonderful marinade or condiment for fish. If you use very fresh white fish and lots of lime you can make ceviche. add some finely diced Serrano pepper to give a kick. Thinly sliced red onion is nice on a sandwich or a bagel with cream cheese and a slice of tomato.
Yellow Onion - perfect for frying up for onions and peppers to go with sausages or steak tips or any sort of stir fry. If you have enough onions built up you could try a French Onion soup.
Garlic. We finally began cleaning and sorting our garlic. We need to save some for seed, put the damaged ones aside, and the rest are for CSA and market. I was envisioning our Tuscan Kale frying up with some sliced garlic.
Tuscan Kale. this is the first picking of our fall planting of Kale. We hope you have been missing your greens and are ready to see them again! Like always, it's good sauteed with garlic, olive oil, and salt. Once cooked it can be added to an omelet, pizza, pasta. It would go especially well with spicy sausage and ricotta. If anyone makes escarole and white beans, the kale would be a good substitute for escarole.
Sweet Peppers - Carmen, Jimmy Nardello, and a Green Bell. more pepps. good for pasta sauces, stir fries, rice and beans, salads, pizza toppings. I still recommend roasting red peppers and keeping them preserved in a little jar in the fridge, covered with olive oil. Our lunch today hit the spot -fried onions and peppers (one Serrano) and tomatillo and tomato, then leftover rice, a can of black beans, that mix in a burrito with some grated cheddar and sour cream. chopped cilantro would have been the perfect touch.
Hot Peppers - several green Serrano, one Habanero
Two Heads of Lettuce
Cooking Celery. Same as before - I don't recommend raw celery sticks. celery is magic with roasted meats. a fine dice is super in stuffings, tuna salad, egg salad. Perfect for soup or stew. very nice with chinese style noodles or stir fried veggies.
Pinch of Cilantro.
Cucumber. just enough for a salad. summer crops are fading.
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