Good Eats Newsletter - June 12, 2013

This is the LAST Spring Delivery.  Thanks for supporting our farm and being part of Good Eats!

Localvore Members  & Regular Veggie Only Share Members take a LIGHT GREEN/TAN BAG This week your bag will contain: Braising Mix; Green Chard; Head Lettuce; Celery; Zucchini; Scallions; Garlic Chives; Potatoes; Carrots and OUT of the Bag Frozen Vegetables Localvore Offerings Include: Amir Hebib's Mushrooms Von Trapp Farmstead Oma Cheese Pa Pa Doodles Eggs Small Veggie Only Members take a YELLOW BAG containing: Braising Mix; Green Chard; Celery; Zucchini; Potatoes; Carrots

There is STILL TIME to get in on the first delivery of Summer Share next week. We need checks by the weekend to get you into the database. Sign-up NOW to secure your weekly deliveries of fresh, organic Vermont grown goodness and the localvore staples that the share brings. Please visit the Summer Share page for more info.

Thanks for joining us this Spring! Many thanks to all of you for being with us for the Spring share and giving us the opportunity to feed you and your families.  We really appreciate your support and hope you have all been very happy with the share.  We hope you will be back with us again either this Summer or in Fall/Winter.  Please share the news about Good Eats with friends, family, co-workers.  Word of mouth is the most powerful means of spreading news about Good Eats.  We need your help to reach new members. Later this week we'll be sending you all a simple end of share survey that we'd love for you to fill out.  We want to know how we did, what you liked, what you didn't so that we can improve for you all.  Please take a few minutes and tell us what you think when the survey comes your way.  Thank you!  ~ Amy and Sara Summer Share Begins Next week! If you are not yet signed up, please do so today or tomorrow and get your payment checks in the mail.  We'd hate for you to miss the first delivery.   We must receive your sign-up and payment by Saturday, June 15, in order to start you next week. We have added new pick up sites - 2 new Burlington sites and the Jay Country Store. We may be losing a few for the summer if membership is not strong enough to support them - Newport, Charlotte among those in question at the moment.  We'll notify those signed up for these sites with alternatives if we have to scratch a site.  If you haven't looked at the list of delivery sites lately check it out!   Good Eats Summer Share June 19th - October 9th, 2013 17 weeks of Vermont's finest eating!       Please get in touch with us if you'd need any changes made before the share starts next week.    Join now and be rewarded with another healthy, local and delicious season of Good Eats! Bag Feedback In our efforts to keep root veggies and onions dry, last week we tried packing them in a plastic bag inside the larger share bag.  We asked for your feedback. The response from nearly all who replied (and there were a lot of you - thank you!) was that a second bag is not necessary and is not good for our environment.  Most members remove all veggies from the share bag when they arrive home, allow roots and onions to dry, and stow things away in the fridge separately We are trying other solutions to keep things drier including fans in the coolers overnight and trying perforated bags at one site this week.  As always please share your feedback with us, good or bad, we always want to hear it. Pete's Greens Open Farm & Kingdom Farm and Food Days - August 17 & 18 - Save the Date! August 17 - Open Farms Day/Pete's Greens Annual Farm Party On Saturday, many farms and businesses will open their doors welcoming visitors.  We'll hold our Pete's Greens annual party with farm/wagon tours, food, and fun.  In addition the Center for an Agricultural Economy will be offering very special unique tours to some select businesses.  This will be a super fun day of exploration! August 18 High Mowing Seeds Field Days High Mowing's Field Days is an action packed day of workshops and tours followed by a NECI prepared local food feast.  This is always a well attended, very educational and fun day. Please save the date and join us! Storage and Use Tips Our Braising Mix is a mix of various brassica greens. They are great tossed in the saute pan with garlic and oil on their own, but are terrific added to many dishes.  I use this mix as salad as well - the leaves are heartier than some salad greens, but they taste great! The Green Chard is a mix of Curly Shard and Smooth Chard (you will receive one or the other).  Like other greens, it is packed with the vitamins and minerals that are so hard to get in quantity in other foods. Chard is best eaten cooked. You can use it as a substitute for many recipes that call for spinach or other greens.  For a quick side dish, try braising it one of two ways.  Put a little olive oil or butter, 2 cloves of minced garlic & hald od a minced onion in a saute pan and allow the garlic to cook a bit and soften.  Put in the chopped chard and cover tightly and let cook until wilted (if there's not enough moisture add a TB or so of water).  Once chard has just wilted, add a sprinkle of red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar or balsamic and black pepper and serve. Or, add a bit of vegetable oil to the pan.  Add the clove of minced garlic.  Then add the chopped chard and cover and let cook until wilted.  Then sprinkle with rice vinegar and a few drops of toasted sesame oil and maybe a teeny bit of soy if you want stronger flavor.  This week's Lettuce is a variety of lettuces.   You will receive either Red Vulcan, Red Oak, Panisse, Salanova, or Romaine. The Celery is beautiful this week.  It doesn't need much of an introduction - just enjoy!  There is still quite a bit of leafy stuff at the top though.  Save this for future use!  Though you may not use it this week for fresh eating or whatever dish you are making, celery leaves make a great flavorful addition to soups so chop tops and then freeze in plastic bags for use at a later time.  Zucchini, usually a summer staple, is coming to you again this week!  Zucchini can also be eaten raw, sliced or shredded in a cold salad, as well as lightly cooked in hot salads, as in Thai or Vietnamese recipes.  This week I've included a dessert recipe using your zucchini. Scallions, often referred to as green onions, are a young onion with a small, white tip and a bright green, tall stem.  You can use the whole thing in a recipe but I usually chop off the very bottom of the bulb, and then keep chopping up the stem until the chopped parts become less moist/crisp and more fibrous/leafy.  The remaining parts make an excellent addition to soups or salads bringing a mild onion flavor and nice hint of color. Garlic Chives have a delicate garlic flavor and are used often in Chinese dishes.  Chop these up and add to soups or salads.  Don't forget about the purple flowers - they are edible and add great color to a salad! This week's Frozen Veggies are for the large share members only and it's a grab bag (take one)!  There is a mix of veggies available at your site - you may see corn, shredded zucchini, jalapeno peppers, cayenne peppers, cauliflower and rhubarb.  Take one frozen item and enjoy.  See past newsletters if you need help figuring out what to do with them, but I bet by now you're pretty well versed in our frozen veggies! 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 I'm happy that we got in one more delivery of Amir's Oyster and Shiitake Mushrooms!  Mushrooms are so temperamental and weather dependent that we never know for sure whether they will work out when we schedule them.  Amir started growing mushrooms in a mushroom house behind his home in Colchester in 2005.  He grows shiitakes and oysters (little clusters of trumpet shaped mushrooms) and sells them to restaurants and markets in our area as well as at the Burlington Farmers Market.  You can eat the whole mushroom stems and all.  Many recipes call for discarding the stems of shiitakes because they are tougher and take longer to cook.  However you should be fine using these because they are so fresh (picked this morning!).  You be the judge, but do allow longer cooking time for the stems.  The shiitakes have a deeper flavor, and are more hearty, enough so that they can be used in place of ground beef in some recipes. We have a special treat for you on this last week of the share - Von Trapp Farmstead Oma Cheese.  This distinctive washed-rind/Tomme style organic unpasteurized cows milk cheese is aged at the Cellars at Jasper Hill for 60-90 days.  Oma balances slightly pungent and sweet flavors.  The semi-soft buttery paste is surrounded by an earthy rind which is thin and mild for the style.  This cheese is made in Waitsfield on a 40-cow family farm.  The Von Trapps are committed to making the highest quality cheese with the best milk possible, using traditional methods of small-scale production, continually striving to improve.  I had a sample of this cheese last week at the Waterbury Farmer's Market and it was outstanding! Pa Pa Doodles hens are also sending you a little love on this last week of the share.  Enjoy! Recipes Green Chard with Ginger This is a simple, slightly spicy side dish or snack.  Try adding just a little tamari or miso to the pan if you have any left, but make sure not to add  more salt if you do! 1 bunch green chard 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger 2 sliced jalapenos Coarse salt and ground pepper Directions Separate stems and leaves from Swiss chard. Chop leaves and dice stems small. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add chard stems, minced peeled fresh ginger, and jalapeno slices; cook until stems soften, 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add chard leaves, cover, and cook until wilted, 3 minutes. Uncover and cook until tender, 4 minutes. Chive Blossom Butter This makes some beautiful and tasty butter!  This is a great basic recipe that you can add any herbs to. Take a stick of Unsalted Butter softened add Chopped Chive Flowers (use the fresh ones that have just opened up) and some of the leaves. (Do Not use the flower stems too tough) Dash of fresh ground Sea Salt Dash of Fresh ground Pepper Mix well.  Spread onto plastic wrap into a log; twist ends like a tootsie roll and roll over a counter top till smooth.  Refrigerate or freeze overnight till good and firm.  Slice the log to form disks.  Serve on Baked Potatoes, Bread, Steamed Veggies etc Warm Mushroom Salad with Hazelnuts This recipe is adapated from the Smitten Kitchen blog.  If you don't have hazelnuts feel free to use walnuts, another nut, or skip entirely.  The dressing will make a lot but will keep nicely in the fridge for about a week. 1/2 cup hazelnuts 2 tablespoons finely diced shallots 3 tablespoons sherry or a white wine vinegar 9 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 6 ounces salad greens such as frisé, arugula or a mix of your choice A handful of mixed fresh herbs (optional) such as chives, tarragon 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or a couple pinches of dried 1/4 cup sliced shallots 1/4 pound pecorino (Goin loves di Grotta, and we did too, but Romano would also work) or Parmesan-Reggiano or another hard, sharp cheese Preheat the oven to 375°F. Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes, rolling them around once or twice to make sure they toast evenly. Rub nuts in a dish towel to remove skins then let cool. Chop the hazelnuts coarsely. Whisk the shallots, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a bowl and let sit for five minutes (this will soften and almost pickle the shallots), before whisking in 5 tablespoons olive oil. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter until the butter foams. Add the mushrooms, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Sauté the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, until they’re softened but not limp (your cooking time will depend on the type of mushrooms you used).  Transfer mushrooms to a plate. Spread salad greens on a plate. Sprinkle fresh herbs on top, if using. Spoon hot mushrooms over the salad greens. Pour three-quarters of the vinaigrette in the sauté pan and swirl it in the pan until heated. Season it with 1/4 teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour over salad and toss carefully. Adjust to taste — you may need more salt, pepper, vinaigrette or even more sherry vinegar. Sprinkle with hazelnuts. Serve immediately. Sauteed Chard with Onions Here's another basic chard recipe.  Feel free to swap in your braising mix, add your mushrooms or some chopped celery to kick this up a notch. 1 bunch green Swiss chard 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced Handful of Garlic Chives, finely chopped Cut stems and center ribs from chard, discarding any tough portions, then cut stems and ribs crosswise into 2-inch pieces. Stack chard leaves and roll up lengthwise into cylinders. Cut cylinders crosswise to make 1-inch-wide strips. Heat oil and butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook onions and garlic with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, covered, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Add chard stems and ribs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until stems are just tender, about 10 minutes. Add chard leaves in batches, stirring until wilted before adding next batch, and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl. Seared Scallions with Poached Eggs Have you tried poaching an egg in the microwave?  I decided to try it out before including in the newsletter and it worked great. 2 bunches scallions 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 large eggs Mince 1 whole scallion, transfer to a bowl, and whisk in 2 tablespoons oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set scallion sauce aside. Put the remaining scallions on a plate. Drizzle with remaining oil and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat a large cast-iron grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Cook scallions, turning occasionally, until tender and slightly charred, about 5 minutes. Divide scallions between plates. Pour 1/2 cup water into each of two 8-ounce microwave-safe coffee cups. Crack 1 egg into each cup, making sure it's completely submerged. Cover each with a saucer. Microwave 1 egg on high until white is set but yolk is runny, about 1 minute (cooking time will vary depending on microwave). Uncover; using a slotted spoon, transfer egg to top of 1 serving of scallions. Dress with half of the scallion sauce. Repeat with remaining egg and sauce; serve. Zucchini Chocolate Crinkles The zucchini almost disappears in these delicious chocolatey cookies!  1 stick butter 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate 2 cups sugar 1 cup grated zucchini 4 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup chocolate chips 2 cups chopped pecans In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring constantly.  Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the sugar, zucchini, eggs, and vanilla.  Mix well to blend.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.  Stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until well blended.  Add the chocolate chips and mix well.  Chill the batter until firm, at least 4 hours or up to  overnight. Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Grease 2 baking sheets.  Form the batter into walnut-sized balls and roll each cookie in the chopped nuts.  Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes, until the tops of the cookies look dry.  Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.