Tuesday Box 10.20
10/21/2009 9:42am
howdy folks!
Can you believe you have all been eating your vegetables for 21 weeks! One more pick-up to go.
so what found its way into the box this week?
3 lbs mixed red and white onions. Has anyone made french onion soup yet?
5 lbs Keuka Gold potatoes. yellow-flesh. good keepers. excellent for mashed potatoes, potato salad, roasting, potato-leek soup . . . Named after a region in the Finger Lakes
Acorn Squashes. 2 mini varieties, "Honey Bear," and one larger variety, "Jet." They can both be prepared the same way, althouth the larger one will cook longer. the usual recommendation is to bake the halved squash (with seeds scooped out) cut side down first, then turn it over to add a pat of butter, and maybe brown sugar, maple syrup, fresh grated ginger, whatever and cook right side up with the goodies for the last 10-15 minutes. These are not quickly perishable, so feel free to leave them in a display until you are hungry for local veggies in a few weeks.
Little Red Cabbage, "Red Express." Isn't this manageable little guy a relief after last week's Napa cabbage, larger than a football. Cole Slaw is always good, look into an Asian Style marinade for sweet red cabbage. Pickled Red Cabbage also comes to mind. Here is a recipe to use any leftover Napa from last week, too.
Red and Green Cabbage with Thai-Style Fresh Herb dressing
4-5 cups sliced or shredded red cabbage
4-5 cups sliced or shredded napa cabbage
1/2 cup slivered green onions
dressing:
2 tsp minced garlic, pressed to a paste
1 hot chile, seeded and minced
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tahini, peanut butter, or cashew butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp dark sesame oil
2 tbsp each: fresh mint, cilantro, and basil
Combine cabbages and green onions in a large bowl. Combine all dressing ingredients in a smaller bowl. toss as much dressing as you like with cabbage. serve immediately or chill for 1/2 hour. 4-6 servings
Carrots.
Watermelon Radishes. That bunch of round white roots with the pink tinge. Regular spicy radish flavor. The heat can be mellowed by a brief cooking in butter. sautee with a little orange zest and ginger if you're feeling adventurous. When you slice them into rounds a pink center will be revealed - you'll see why they are named "watermelon radishes." The awesome cookbook, From Asparagus to Zucchini, has this recipe:
Confetti of Beauty Heart Radishes and Carrots
3 medium Beauty Heart Radishes, peeled
4-6 medium Carrots, peeled
8 oz feta cheese (or fresh chevre)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 T. fresh mint, 2 T. fresh dill, 1 T. fresh parsley, S&P to taste
Shred radishes and carrots using box grater. Toss with remaining ingredients. Chill and Serve. Makes 8 servings
1 Bunch of Baby Bok Choy. Remember these from the first few weeks of the share? These tender young vegetables will be very nice in a stir fry. Just rinse them, add the stalks earlier and and the coarsely chopped leaves just a few minutes before the dish is finished cooking. The handful of broccoli, some matchsticks of carrots, sliced onion, and some leftover rice can round out the stir fry.
2 heads lettuce. The red-leaf, "Magenta," and the green "Buttercrunch," which usually has really nice crunchy hearts, although the appearance is not very good. We had a very deep freeze last Wednesday night, so they may not be completely perfect, but they held up pretty well and should be able to provide another week of salads.
Handful of Broccoli Florets. Just enough to include in a stir-fry or a pasta dish.
3/4 Lb Spinach. Wash and spin to use in a salad or a vegetable roll-up. Look up a wilted spinach salad, which usually starts with crisping diced pancetta and making a quick dressing out of the drippings and some vinegar, dijon and shallots. Steamed or sauteed spinach is a really easy side-dish. Wilting the fresh leaves into macaroni and cheese is a tasty, simple, and kid-friendly way to serve spinach. Spinach lasagna is good. Look up creamed spinach if you want to do something a little richer and more involved.
Leeks. The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook has their version of the classic French potato-leek soup,Vichyssoise, which is served cold. You can have it hot, too, I say. The cookbook is made for entertaining so probably you can make half of this recipe to serve your family (this recipe makes 12 portions)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
8 large leeks. white part only, well rinsed, dried and thinly sliced
1 large yellow onion, sliced
8 medium sized all-purpose potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
6 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 cups milk
4 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
fresh ground black pepper
One day before serving, melt butter in stock pot on medium heat. add leeks and onion and sautee slowly until golden, about 15 minutes
Stir in potatoes, stock, and lemon juice. Boil gently for 45 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Process the soup in batches in a blender or food processor to a slightly coarse puree (i say immersion blender)
Return soup to the pot and stir in milk and 3 cups of the cream. Season to taste w/ S&P. heat just until simmering. cool and refrigerate overnight
the following day, stir in the remaining cream and refrigerate until ready to serve. Sprinkle with chives just before serving.
Google "potato-leek soup" for other, perhaps lighter, options.
If you want to feature the leeks on their own, try Alice Waters' recipe from The Art of Simple Food
Leeks Vinaigrette
trim and clean 12 small leeks (less than 1 inch in diameter) or 6 medium leeks. Cook for 7-12 minutes or until tender, in abundant salted boiling water. To test for doneness, use a sharp knife to pierce the thickest part of the root end. If the leek is tender it will offer no resistance. when the leeks are done, carefully lift them out, drain them, and set them aside to cool.
To make the vinaigrette, mix together in a small bowl:
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
Salt, pepper
whisk in 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. taste and adjust seasoning.
squeeze the cooled leeks gently to remove excess water. cut larger leeks lenghtwise into halves or quarters. gently toss the leeks with a pinch of salt. when ready to serve, arrange on a plate, spoon vinaigrette over, and turn to coat. sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley or chervil to finish.
Black Beans. trick or treat? The most labor intensive part of growing dried beans is getting them out of their pods and cleaned. That's why this excellent source of vegetable protein that can store all winter is not usually included on any meaningful scale on small farms. There are bean threshers made out of converted shredder/chippers and fairly low tech methods involving gravity and a fan to winnow beans, so maybe in the future we will grow more beans. For now, here is a mini stash of black beans so you can make some good rice and beans or chilli. the beans need to be removed from their pods and will store for a very long time sealed in an airtight glass jar. Look up cooking dried beans. Usually you soak them overnight before cooking and often boil with a little bouquet garni (?) which is onion with a bay leaf tacked to it with a couple whole cloves (chiodi, in Italian. it means nails). I believe adding salt to the water inhibits cooking so don't add salt until the beans are cooked.
A pumpkin. for decoration. definitely for seeds. if you're a purist, roast it, scoop the flesh into a food processor and puree. you can freeze in portions appropriate for pumpkin pies, muffins, cookies, etc. The very large orange ones are jack-o-lantern pumpkins and probably not the best eating quality.
Can you believe you have all been eating your vegetables for 21 weeks! One more pick-up to go.
so what found its way into the box this week?
3 lbs mixed red and white onions. Has anyone made french onion soup yet?
5 lbs Keuka Gold potatoes. yellow-flesh. good keepers. excellent for mashed potatoes, potato salad, roasting, potato-leek soup . . . Named after a region in the Finger Lakes
Acorn Squashes. 2 mini varieties, "Honey Bear," and one larger variety, "Jet." They can both be prepared the same way, althouth the larger one will cook longer. the usual recommendation is to bake the halved squash (with seeds scooped out) cut side down first, then turn it over to add a pat of butter, and maybe brown sugar, maple syrup, fresh grated ginger, whatever and cook right side up with the goodies for the last 10-15 minutes. These are not quickly perishable, so feel free to leave them in a display until you are hungry for local veggies in a few weeks.
Little Red Cabbage, "Red Express." Isn't this manageable little guy a relief after last week's Napa cabbage, larger than a football. Cole Slaw is always good, look into an Asian Style marinade for sweet red cabbage. Pickled Red Cabbage also comes to mind. Here is a recipe to use any leftover Napa from last week, too.
Red and Green Cabbage with Thai-Style Fresh Herb dressing
4-5 cups sliced or shredded red cabbage
4-5 cups sliced or shredded napa cabbage
1/2 cup slivered green onions
dressing:
2 tsp minced garlic, pressed to a paste
1 hot chile, seeded and minced
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tahini, peanut butter, or cashew butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp dark sesame oil
2 tbsp each: fresh mint, cilantro, and basil
Combine cabbages and green onions in a large bowl. Combine all dressing ingredients in a smaller bowl. toss as much dressing as you like with cabbage. serve immediately or chill for 1/2 hour. 4-6 servings
Carrots.
Watermelon Radishes. That bunch of round white roots with the pink tinge. Regular spicy radish flavor. The heat can be mellowed by a brief cooking in butter. sautee with a little orange zest and ginger if you're feeling adventurous. When you slice them into rounds a pink center will be revealed - you'll see why they are named "watermelon radishes." The awesome cookbook, From Asparagus to Zucchini, has this recipe:
Confetti of Beauty Heart Radishes and Carrots
3 medium Beauty Heart Radishes, peeled
4-6 medium Carrots, peeled
8 oz feta cheese (or fresh chevre)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 T. fresh mint, 2 T. fresh dill, 1 T. fresh parsley, S&P to taste
Shred radishes and carrots using box grater. Toss with remaining ingredients. Chill and Serve. Makes 8 servings
1 Bunch of Baby Bok Choy. Remember these from the first few weeks of the share? These tender young vegetables will be very nice in a stir fry. Just rinse them, add the stalks earlier and and the coarsely chopped leaves just a few minutes before the dish is finished cooking. The handful of broccoli, some matchsticks of carrots, sliced onion, and some leftover rice can round out the stir fry.
2 heads lettuce. The red-leaf, "Magenta," and the green "Buttercrunch," which usually has really nice crunchy hearts, although the appearance is not very good. We had a very deep freeze last Wednesday night, so they may not be completely perfect, but they held up pretty well and should be able to provide another week of salads.
Handful of Broccoli Florets. Just enough to include in a stir-fry or a pasta dish.
3/4 Lb Spinach. Wash and spin to use in a salad or a vegetable roll-up. Look up a wilted spinach salad, which usually starts with crisping diced pancetta and making a quick dressing out of the drippings and some vinegar, dijon and shallots. Steamed or sauteed spinach is a really easy side-dish. Wilting the fresh leaves into macaroni and cheese is a tasty, simple, and kid-friendly way to serve spinach. Spinach lasagna is good. Look up creamed spinach if you want to do something a little richer and more involved.
Leeks. The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook has their version of the classic French potato-leek soup,Vichyssoise, which is served cold. You can have it hot, too, I say. The cookbook is made for entertaining so probably you can make half of this recipe to serve your family (this recipe makes 12 portions)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
8 large leeks. white part only, well rinsed, dried and thinly sliced
1 large yellow onion, sliced
8 medium sized all-purpose potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
6 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 cups milk
4 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
fresh ground black pepper
One day before serving, melt butter in stock pot on medium heat. add leeks and onion and sautee slowly until golden, about 15 minutes
Stir in potatoes, stock, and lemon juice. Boil gently for 45 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Process the soup in batches in a blender or food processor to a slightly coarse puree (i say immersion blender)
Return soup to the pot and stir in milk and 3 cups of the cream. Season to taste w/ S&P. heat just until simmering. cool and refrigerate overnight
the following day, stir in the remaining cream and refrigerate until ready to serve. Sprinkle with chives just before serving.
Google "potato-leek soup" for other, perhaps lighter, options.
If you want to feature the leeks on their own, try Alice Waters' recipe from The Art of Simple Food
Leeks Vinaigrette
trim and clean 12 small leeks (less than 1 inch in diameter) or 6 medium leeks. Cook for 7-12 minutes or until tender, in abundant salted boiling water. To test for doneness, use a sharp knife to pierce the thickest part of the root end. If the leek is tender it will offer no resistance. when the leeks are done, carefully lift them out, drain them, and set them aside to cool.
To make the vinaigrette, mix together in a small bowl:
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
Salt, pepper
whisk in 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. taste and adjust seasoning.
squeeze the cooled leeks gently to remove excess water. cut larger leeks lenghtwise into halves or quarters. gently toss the leeks with a pinch of salt. when ready to serve, arrange on a plate, spoon vinaigrette over, and turn to coat. sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley or chervil to finish.
Black Beans. trick or treat? The most labor intensive part of growing dried beans is getting them out of their pods and cleaned. That's why this excellent source of vegetable protein that can store all winter is not usually included on any meaningful scale on small farms. There are bean threshers made out of converted shredder/chippers and fairly low tech methods involving gravity and a fan to winnow beans, so maybe in the future we will grow more beans. For now, here is a mini stash of black beans so you can make some good rice and beans or chilli. the beans need to be removed from their pods and will store for a very long time sealed in an airtight glass jar. Look up cooking dried beans. Usually you soak them overnight before cooking and often boil with a little bouquet garni (?) which is onion with a bay leaf tacked to it with a couple whole cloves (chiodi, in Italian. it means nails). I believe adding salt to the water inhibits cooking so don't add salt until the beans are cooked.
A pumpkin. for decoration. definitely for seeds. if you're a purist, roast it, scoop the flesh into a food processor and puree. you can freeze in portions appropriate for pumpkin pies, muffins, cookies, etc. The very large orange ones are jack-o-lantern pumpkins and probably not the best eating quality.
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