Share Number Eight
Hello Tuesday and Friday members! At last, I'm writing about this week's share. Thank you to the members that joined us for our impromptu work party and/or movie night this Thursday. I cannot tell a lie, movie night was awesome. The weather was perfect, the almost-full moon shone above, the canvas dropcloth was a perfect screen on the side of the barn, thanks to Meg and Emmanuel we had an awesome projector to show Back to the Future, thanks to my little brother, Will, we had great speakers that made us feel like we were in a theater. We even popped up some of our own popcorn. Not too shabby! We will have to do it again. White Barn Farm may need to invest in a projector!
So. . . . this week we had:
Eggplant. I made my first real eggplant dish of the year this week. It's surprising how far one eggplant can be stretched if it's sliced thin. I did the traditional approach: Sliced thin rounds, salted them and let them sit while I started boiling some water for pasta and getting a simple sauce going in olive oil: sliced garlic, diced zucchini, a few dried herbs - some red wine when it started to stick and then finally a can of diced tomatoes. When the eggplants had expressed a decent amount of liquid I squished them to release a little more (and I believe you are supposed to rinse them at this point - but I forgot/didn't). Next, the classic flour dredge, dip in beaten eggs, and final coat in bread crumbs (I had Panko breadcrumbs and seasoned them with S&P and fresh chopped basil). Those slices got fried on my griddle (to do more in one batch than a fry pan), prepared with a decent amount of olive oil. I put them on a cookie rack as they were finished so they would stay crispy. The lack of deep frying made them a little dry, however, so I decided they would need to go right into the sauce before serving. Meanwhile the sauce was going and pasta was cooking. When the pasta was done I just drained it, added the fried eggplant to the tomato sauce and then all of it together with the pasta and a little more olive oil and a pat of butter. Finish with basil and fresh grated parmigiano.
Green Peppers. Here they are. One is the usual dark green and the other flourescent green. The first pepps! I actually prefer ripe peppers, but it is true that there's nothing like the smell of onions and peppers frying. A wonderful friend of sausage or chicken cacciatore. They could certainly go on a salad - especially with feta, olives, cucumber. Actually, this week there are lots of ingredients perfect for a green curry. Green peppers, hot peppers, green beans, onions, zucchini, even diced eggplant could go in. Add some coconut milk and cilantro or basil and voila!
Hot Peppers. Jalafuego is the bigger dark green pepper and the light green is Hungarian Hot Wax (my favorite sliced in rings on nachos). Minced fine, the jalapeno can be pounded with fresh garlic and salt to make a spicy little paste for your green curry.
Basil - Thai or Italian. We didn't have enough of one or the other, so you could have either. I adore basil and I'm finding that although Thai is slightly different in aroma, it is great for pasta or potato salads, adding to eggs, and especially putting in a curry. The Thai has slightly purple stems, if you are trying to decide which you have.
Yukon Gold Potatoes. Still new potatoes, which should be stored in your fridge in a plastic bag. I made a corn/clam chowder with these this week - excellente! These make fantastic home fries, potato salads, and are great to try on the grill if you haven't tried that yet. A brief parcooking is usually necessary for the grill - you can boil them until before they've finished cooking, or throw in the oven for a bit (particularly if it's going to be on anyway), or you can microwave them for a few minutes. Whichever method, leave them whole during the parcooking, then slice them into chunks and toss with olive oil, some canola oil (to bring the smoke point up), salt, pepper, and fresh herbs (rosemary is awesome). Put those on the grill in a grill basket and toss them around every once in a while. When the cut sides are browned beautifully and they are fork tender, bon appetit!
Torpedo Onions. Perfect for that potato salad. Good for dicing up with roasted beets and goat cheese. Great raw or cooked. Try them grilled - you can cut the whole onion in half lengthwise and toss with oil, S&P. In that form, it should stay on the grill, but a grill basket may be safer.
Beets. you should know these by now. If you don't mind pink potato salad this could be a very cool addition. You can eat beets raw - they are nice grated, especially with carrots, ginger, and maybe some apple - for a non-traditional salad. You could just try grated beets on a green salad, as well.
the first Tomato. the crop is coming! tomato and mayo sandwich (with bacon and lettuce for a true meal). diced tomato on a salad. I've been enjoying making a little casserole out of leftover pasta. I'll spray the dish, throw in the pasta, maybe add a few splashes of half and half, then cover the top with a thinly sliced tomato. Finish with grated parmigiano and a few bread crumbs, cover with foil for 20 minutes in the oven (375) and then remove the foil for the last ten minutes. The crumbs and cheese almost make a gratin of the top layer of tomato. Quick lunch for the farm crew.
Green and Yellow Beans. a few beans. snap the ends and cook them up! these would be nice in that curry - just cooked right in the coconut milk broth. They are a pretty familiar side dish on their own - though this week's portion is pretty modest. They are great with potatoes - roasted in the oven or even with yellow curry home fries. I can picture a pasta salad with diced onion, peppers, tomatoes, basil, and blanched green beans.
3 heads Lettuce. Salad and sandwich city.
Zucchini and Yellow Squash. I find these to be so versatile. You can grill them all at once if you want. Leftover grilled veggies are super for a veggie wrap or quesadilla. One member last year made a lovely fresh herb and grilled veggie topping for bruschetta (try grilling slices of good bread, then grating a clove of garlic over its toasty rough surface, then adding olive oil and salt for a base to any bruschetta). Great for a fresh pasta or a cold pasta salad. One of our best roadside stand customers told me a great preparation today: Grate green and yellow squash in the cuisinart if you have one (a box grater works fine). Salt them and let sit so they can release their moisture. Meanwhile mince some garlic and get that going in a fry pan with some olive oil and a pinch of salt. Squeeze the excess moisture out of the shredded zucchini and add that to the pan before the garlic begins to brown. Add some black pepper and cook at medium-high to get some nice browning on the zucchini. yum! I put diced yellow squash in my corn/clam chowder with great results. My aunt told me her friend is going to make zucchini fritters with shredded zucchini - clam cake style. Good idea, I say. Whip up a spicy mayo for dipping. . .