Good Eats Newsletter - January 23rd, 2013




Brrrrr - COLD!  Members whose pick ups are outside -
try to get to your sites early this week
to save veggies from cold temps!
 
Localvore Members 
& Regular Veggie Only Share Members
take a LIGHT GREEN/TAN BAG
 
This week your bag will contain:
Greens, Mixed Potatoes, Gold Beets,
Purple Top Turnips, Celeriac,
Red or Green Kale, and Leeks
 
Plus out of the bag:
Frozen Squash Puree (in cooler)
 
Localvore/Pantry Offerings Include:
Butterworks Organic Black Beans
Butterworks Organic Wheatberries
Scholten Family Farms Weybridge Cheese
 
 
Small Veggie Only Members
take a YELLOW BAG
containing:
 
Greens, Mixed Potatoes, Gold Beets,
Purple Top Turnips, and Leeks
 
Plus out of the bag:
Frozen Squash Puree (in cooler) 
 
 
Sign-Up NOW for Spring Share!
 
There are only
3 MORE DELIVERIES after this week!
 
Sign-up now to secure your weekly deliveries of fresh, organic Vermont grown goodness and the localvore staples that the share brings.

The Spring Share is limited in space so sign up soon. 
 
If you sign up by Feb 1st, you will receive 2012 pricing!
 
Please visit the Spring Share page for more info.
 
Please visit our delivery page for a listing of Spring Share delivery sites.
 
Around the Farm
 

Todd and the ladies (Molly, Anners and Cori) picking your salad this week. 

 
 
 
 
 
Molly harvesting spinach
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Todd prepping leeks with Anners and Molly at the wash tank in the background.
 
Spring Share Sign-up Has Begun
17 weeks  - February 20th thru June 12th

Early Birds get 2012 Pricing - Sign up by Feb 1st!

The Spring Share begins in just 5 weeks! Sign-up now to secure your weekly deliveries of fresh, organic Vermont grown goodness and the localvore staples that the share brings.


We will continue to grow shoots and and winter salad greens through the early months of the share while also providing you with the diversity of storage crops you have come to expect. By April you can expect a wide variety of fresh spring greens, from mesclun and baby spinach and arugula to pac choi, chard and various varieties of Asian greens. Also in April, winter storage crops give way to fresh spring onions, baby beets, scallions, spring turnips and by May and June, many more vegetables are added to the list.  We'll continue to supply you with our frozen summer veggies too until the variety of crops increase later on in the shares.  As always, we will continue to bring you a variety of localvore items.

Please visit the Spring Share page for more info.

The Spring Share is limited in space so sign up early!  If you sign up by Feb 1st, you will receive 2012 pricing!

 
Please visit our delivery page for a listing of Spring Share delivery sites.


Email with questions or for more details visit our Spring Share page on our website.

 
 
Storage and Use Tips
 
Bins of Claytonia and Spinach picked fresh this week for Good Eats.
 
Greens Mix - Your baby greens this week include claytonia (left), spinach (right), and sunflower, pea, and radish shoots.  
 
Gold Beets - Gold beets are a beautiful, sweet root, and they're tough to grow.  They are a big gnarly-shaped and have some black spotting on the surface, but just give them a quick peel and they look perfect!
 
Purple Top Turnips - These are some of the most beautiful turnips we've grown, large and smooth and free of insect or worm damage.  We harvested them with a new mechanical harvester this fall, and despite Todd's tender loving care on the harvester (his job was to cushion their fall into our storage bins), they acquired some bruising in the process.  We're sorry to have affected their perfect complexion, but they still taste as good as ever!
 
Frozen Squash Puree - Squash puree is a staple of our winter diet here at Pete's, as good as the winter squash we had in storage, but with half the cooking work done for you!  This puree is super simple, no spices, sugar, or salt, ready for you to blend in whatever flavors suit your meal.  
 
Veggie Storage and Use Tips are our website too, so please bookmark the recipe and storage tip section. I am sure you will find it useful.
 
 
Localvore Lore
 
The Organic Wheat Berries and the Organic Black Turtle Beans this week are from Butterworks Farm. Jack Lazor grows several varieties of wheat on the farm and to make flour, dried wheat berries are ground in a mill. These are the same kind of wheat berries that were used to make the whole wheat pastry flour we sent out the first week of the share. Instead of grinding these wheat berries into flour however, you can cook with them. They make a great salad, pilaf, stuffing, casserole, salad garnish or substitute for rice. You can cook any kind of wheat berries. Softer wheat varieties may soften faster than hard varieties, but another factor in how quickly they soften is how dry the wheat berries are. Just like beans, if they have been sitting in your cupboard for 3 years they will probably take longer than those harvested 8 months ago.
 
To cook wheat berries, just put them in a pan of salted water with a ratio of 1 part wheat berries to 3 or 4 parts water. Bring them to a boil and simmer for 45-60 minutes until they are cooked and softened. Then drain. They might take a bit longer. Cooked wheat berries will keep in the fridge for 5-7 days and you can freeze them too.
 
The Butterworks Farm Black Turtle Beans are the result of prevailing over the elements here in Vermont where dry beans can be extremely hard to grow in our wet summers.  Dried beans need to sit in the field into fall, allowing pods to dry and beans to harden off for storage.  Weather at the end of the growing season is critical to our having local beans. Lots of rain in Fall and the beans mildew in the field.  When Butterworks has a good crop I tend to stock up so we will have them for all of you throughout the year.  I am thankful that each year Jack Lazor plants his beans again in hopes of a good harvest.  It's not an easy crop to grow and harvest correctly, and sorting beans is time consuming.  We are lucky he dedicates time, acreage and equipment to this task benefiting us all.

Black turtle bean have a dense, meaty texture and are very high in protein. They are an excellent choice for  soups and chilis, or to add to salads, or rice or to use in. It is common to keep the boiled water of these beans and consume it as a soup with other ingredients for seasoning (known as sopa negra, black soup), as a broth (caldo de frijol, bean broth) or to season or color other dishes.

Some tricks to cooking with them: Number one, some sort of pre-soak is required to cook beans and will significantly reduce cooking time. Cover with 2 inches of water and soak overnight or for 6-8 hours. Drain and cover with fresh water and simmer until beans are soft, about an hour. In warm conditions, refrigerate black beans while they soak to prevent fermentation. A quick-soak method involves covering beans with water, bring to a boil for 2 minutes and then remove from heat and let sit for 2 hours. Drain, cover with fresh water and simmer until soft, an hour or two depending on the softness you are seeking. The beans may prematurely break up with a quick-soak method. Use the overnight method for dishes where it is essential the beans stay whole, such as salads and relishes. Do not add salt or acidic ingredients such as lemon, vinegar, wine, and tomatoes until the beans are finished or nearly done cooking. Adding earlier can cause the beans to toughen. If additional water is needed during the cooking process, use boiling water rather than cold water.

 
This week's selected cheese is Scholten Family Farm Weybridge Cheese aged at The Cellars at Jasper Hill. Weybridge is a lactic‐set cheese with a delicate, bloomy rind. The lightly‐aged style is simply meant to showcase the Scholten’s distinctive Dutch Belt milk. A snack for two or garnish to a larger spread this full flavored creamy treat is one of the best. The white, edible mold rind imparts a subtle cave aroma and a mushroom character to the developing creamline beneath. The center is moist and airy with bright citrus notes and a savory ‘toasted’ finish. Weybridge’s clean, milky flavor makes it an ideal breakfast cheese, or companion to a flute of sparkling wine.
 
 
Changes to Your Delivery?
If you will be away some upcoming week, and need to make changes to your share delivery, let us know at least 1 week before the change.  You can have your share donated to the Food Pantry, or I can stop your share delivery and you will retain a credit on your account toward the purchase of your next share.
 
 
What To Do If You Have a Problem at Pick Up

Although we do our best to make sure that every delivery and pick-up goes smoothly, there are the occasional shortages and disappointments. Should you arrive at your pick-up site to find that your name (or share partner's name) is not on the list, one or more of your items are missing or that some of your produce is in unsatisfactory condition, please let us know right away!
 
Our goal is 100% satisfaction. If you email us (or call if you can't email) as soon as you discover the problem, we may be able to resolve it the same day or the following day. If you would like to receive an item that you missed at pick-up, you must contact us by Thursday morning.

If we have not heard from anyone, by Friday our site hosts are instructed to donate leftover food, ensuring that they do not end up with bad food on their hands.

If we can not resolve your issue right away, email us to arrange a replacement or substitution the following week.
 
 
Recipes
 
 
Roasted Turnips with Parmesan
Simple roasted roots.  You can't go wrong.
 
2 pounds turnips (about 4 medium), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1/2 ounce)
 
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, combine turnips, cayenne, nutmeg, and oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan and toss gently to combine. Arrange turnips in a single layer and roast until golden on both sides, 25 to 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
 
 
Turnip Hash with Kale
Perfect with eggs and coffee in the morning.  And adding bacon is a good idea too (when is it not?)
 
1/2 pound plum tomatoes
1/2 pound medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 pound potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 handful kale, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 6 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, smashed
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh thyme
 
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath; set aside. Score an X on the bottom of each tomato with a paring knife. Add tomatoes to the pot. Boil until skins are loosened, about 30 seconds; remove tomatoes with a slotted spoon (keeping water at a boil), and immediately plunge them into the ice bath. Drain, peel, and seed tomatoes, then coarsely chop flesh.
 
Add turnips to pot; boil until just tender when pierced with a fork, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the turnips to a colander to drain. Repeat process with potatoes. Add kale to pot, and boil until bright green and crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Drain in colander; set aside.
 
Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add onion, garlic, salt, red-pepper flakes, thyme, and reserved turnips and potatoes; spread evenly to cover bottom of skillet. Cook, without stirring, until vegetables begin to brown on bottom, about 15 minutes.
 
Add reserved tomatoes and kale to skillet. Stir once; cook until vegetables are very tender and browned, about 25 minutes. Serve hot.
 
 
 
Thai Winter Squash Soup
Having puree in hand makes this a super easy soup to put together and the soup is a flavor explosion (one of my favorites). In traditional Thai fashion, it combines sweet, sour and salty flavors and has a kick too. The lime and coconut both come through beautifully.
 
Vegetable oil
1 onion,
3 cloves garlic
2 thumb sized pieces of ginger
3-4 cups of winter squash or pumpkin puree
1 qt chicken or vegetable stock
3 TB Fish sauce
2.5 TB brown sugar (or maple syrup, or maple sugar)
2 TB Lime juice
1 can coconut milk
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
 
Puree the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor. Put a small amount of oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and stir for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Then add the pumpkin puree, stock, fish sauce, brown sugar or maple syrup, lime juice, and crushed red pepper and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Before serving, add the coconut milk. Taste the soup. You may want to add a fresh splash of lime just before serving.
 
 
 
Winter Squash Dip
There are so many ways to use your squash puree, this is just one option.  Serve with breadsticks for dipping, or glob onto hearty warm whole-wheat toast.
 
2# squash puree
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 scallions, white and pale-green parts only, sliced 1 inch thick
2 chipotle chiles (canned in adobo sauce)
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Paprika, for sprinkling
Roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), for garnish
 
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add scallions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes.  Combine squash, scallions and chipotles in a food processor, and pulse until smooth. Add remaining 6 tablespoons butter, the sour cream, cream cheese, Parmesan, and lemon juice, and pulse until just combined but not smooth. Season with salt and pepper.  Pour into a serving bowl. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Sprinkle with paprika, and garnish with pepitas.  Serve with breadsticks.
 
 
Celeriac Gratin
Everyone loves a creamy, cheesy dish in the winter, but sometimes potato gratin just isn't very interesting, it's just a basic comfort food.  This puts a whole new spin on that dish, since the flavor of the celeriac is as potent as that of the cheese.  Worth a try, even if your'e not sure it's for you.
 
Unsalted butter, for the dish
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 large bulb celeriac
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup freshly grated Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
 
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 1 1/2-quart gratin dish. Scatter leek slices over bottom of dish. Trim celeriac by cutting off bottom and top, then cutting off thick outer layer with a sharp knife. Cut into 1/4-inch slices, and then julienne. Arrange evenly in gratin dish. Sprinkle thyme leaves over celeriac.
 
In a small bowl, whisk together cream, mustard, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Pour over celeriac, and sprinkle with cheeses. Cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes.
 
Remove foil, and continue baking until top is brown and bubbly and cream is thickened and reduced, about 20 more minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, and serve.
 
 
Celeriac Slaw
This is so refreshing, it's good alongside anything rich.  Highly recommended alongside grilled cheese.
 
2 medium bulbs celeriac, (celery root), 1 1/2 to 2 pounds total
2 stalks celery
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, or 1 teaspoon dried
 
Peel celeriac with a paring knife. Cut into 1-inch-thick slices, then cut into very thin ribbons (use a mandoline if you have one), placing in cold water to prevent browning. Drain and blanch briefly in boiling salted water. Squeeze out water, and set aside.  Peel celery and slice on an angle as thinly as possible. Set aside.  In a blender or food processor, combine buttermilk, oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Process until smooth. Add capers and herbs, and process until coarsely chopped, about 5 seconds.  Combine celeriac and celery in a bowl, and toss with dressing.
 
 
Zesty Wheat Berry - Black Bean Chili
Make this chili! It's delicious. I put the beans in a bowl to soak last night, and cooked the wheat berries last night. I cooked the black beans for an hour this morning to soften them. And just now, I went into the kitchen and whipped up the rest in 20 minutes, with another 15 minutes to simmer it all to let the flavors meld. I didn't have the chipotle peppers but I am sure they'd be terrific, nor did I have avocado and cilantro. I did have some frozen hot peppers in freezer and added one. Top dressed with a bit of cheese and it's really good. From EatingWell March/April 2007. Makes 6 servings.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large yellow bell pepper,chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3-4 cups cooked black beans, rinsed (from about 1/2 lb dry)
4 cups diced tomatoes or tomato puree
1-2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 cups cooked wheat berries (from around 3/4 cup dry)
Juice of 1 lime
1 avocado, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes, chipotle to taste, broth and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.

Stir in cooked wheat berries and heat through, about 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat. Stir in lime juice. Garnish each bowl with avocado and cilantro.
 
 
Wheat Berry Salad
This is a basic recipe for a wheat berry salad from the Barefoot Contessa. I include it here as a starting point and hope that you will take all sorts of liberties with it and make it your own using ingredients you have on hand. You can swap scallions out for minced onions, leeks, or an onion/garlic combo. You can add some grated cabbage or turnip or radish for additional crunch.
 
1 cup wheat berries
Kosher salt
1 cup finely diced red onion (1 onion)
6 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar
3 scallions, minced, white and green parts
1/2 red bell pepper, small diced
1 carrot, small diced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
claytonia greens
 
Place the wheatberries and 3 cups of boiling salted water in a saucepan and cook, uncovered, over low heat for approximately 45-60 minutes, or until they are soft. Drain.

Saute the red onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the remaining 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, combine the warm wheatberries, sauteed onions, scallions, red bell pepper, carrot, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes for the wheatberries to absorb the sauce. Season, to taste, and serve at room temperature on top of a bed of claytonia greens if you wish.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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