Good Eats Weekly Newsletter - October 7, 2015

Localvore Members  & Regular Veggie Only Share Members take a LIGHT GREEN BAG   This week your bag will contain: Mesclun, Potatoes, Carrots, Napa Cabbage, Kale, Cauliflower, Onions, Peppers     And OUT of the bag: Acorn Squash     Localvore Offerings Include: Champlain Orchards Apple Pie Cabot Clothbound Cheddar Cheese from Jasper Hill           Half Veggie Only Members take a YELLOW BAG containing: Mesclun, Potatoes, Carrots, Peppers, Cauliflower, Leeks   And OUT of the bag: Acorn Squash     Tell your Friends about the Fall/Winter CSA Share!       The Fall/Winter Share starts on October 14th and goes through February 10th. If you refer a friend who decides to join the Fall/Winter CSA share, we will send you a special thank-you gift!   Learn more and sign up for our Fall/Winter share now!     Click here to read about the Fall/Winter Share

It's a Meat Week!   The Summer Share ends this week!     Can you believe it's already the last week of the summer CSA? Luckily, our fall share begins next week, so you don't have to miss a beat! You can sign up for the Winter Share now.   The fall/winter share looks a litle different from the summer share, because we live in Vermont! However, we are always finding new ways to grow and preserve our harvests, maintain diversity, and provide our members with the most delicious and wholesome foods all season long.   We'll send you greens almost every week (spinach, shoots salad mix, pac choi), root veggies (onions, carrots, potatoes, beets), squash, and frozen veggies we have preserved from summer harvests (broccoli, corn, peppers). Join now and keep eating wholesome foods while supporting your local economy.       Delivery times and locations are generally the same as the summer share. Click Here to Sign Up Now!   If you'd like to learn more, check out our Fall/Winter Share Description page, or send us an email.   Around the Farm   We are in the full swing of fall here at the farm. The leaves are changing and frost is imminent. We are covering our most sensitive crops with row covers to protect them from the freeze, and continuing to work on erecting the new greenhouses that will grow lots of greens this fall and winter.    Localvore Lore   This week's pantry items are a real treat for you at the end of the summer share season! You will receive an Apple Pie from Champlain Orchards, and Cabot Clothbound Cheddar Cheese that is aged in the Cellars at Jasper Hill.   ​Apple Pie from Champlain Orchards bakery is a real seasonal treat. These pies are made of their own ecologically grown apples, as well as other locally sourced ingredients.  Did you know that Champlain Orchards harvests over 80,000 bushels of apples in a season?   ​What better way to complement your mouth watering pie than a slice of Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, aged at Jasper Hill. This local collaboration brings together two local businesses with a cheese made with milk sourced exclusively from George Kempton's Peacham farm. This cheese is aged in cloth for 10 to 15 months                                                 Meat Share   This week's meat share contains a whole chicken from Pete's Greens, beef steak from McKnight Farm, and local hot dogs and bacon made by VT99 (also known as "PIG"), a collaborative endeavor between Pete's Greens and Jasper Hill. The pigs raised for these pork products are fed a highly nutritious diet containing organic veggies from our farm and whey from Jasper Hill's cheesemaking process. The hot dogs, pictured, have been kid-tested and approved! They do not have a casing, and are a bit longer than your average store-bought franks. Enjoy!   Storage and Use Tips    Mesclun is back! Eat in salads or wilted in a number of dishes. Store in your crisper drawer where they will keep for several days.   Acorn Squash - Squash store best at around 50 degrees, in a dark place. Each share will receive one squash this week. This will make a great side as a stuffed squash, or you can slice it up and roast it with butter and brown sugar. You can even puree it into a sauce to use over pasta.   Carrots- Store these carrots unwashed and loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Try 'em in a carrot and onion soup, stock, or roasted with potatoes as a yummy side.   Napa Cabbage- The flavor of Napa cabbage is somewhat milder and a bit sweeter than that of regular green cabbage. It is delicious raw or cooked, and can be substituted for regular cabbage in most recipes. It is extremely popular in China partly because of its versatility. In Korea it is pickled, salted, and flavored with ginger and chili peppers to make Korea's national dish kim chi. Store in a sealed plastic bag in your refrigerator.   Kale - Large shares will see a bunch of kale this week. As you know, kale is a super vegetable that's packed with vitamins and nutrients. Keep kale loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer. Strip the leaves from the stems and wash them well before chopping and cooking. Try a massaged kale salad or throw into any stir-fry our soup.   Cauliflower - Store wrapped in plastic in the crisper of the fridge. Should be okay for a few days, but will start to speckle and brown if not eaten right away. Have you every tried making a pizza crust out of cauliflower?!   Potatoes - This week's potatoes are Red Norlands, with tender red-tinted skins. While these guys are a lot less hardy than some of the winter storage potatoes to come, they are great boiled, sliced into coins and roasted, or fried.   Onions - The onions in the large share are nice and white all the way through, for the most part. But it's almost impossible to tell when grading them whether there is a soft part on the inside. If you see this on the inner layers of one of your onions, just remove this part and eat the rest.   Peppers - Carmen peppers are in your share this week. These deep red sweet peppers have a wonderful flavor, and are great roasted, or atop a pizza or salad. Try them with a dash of vinegar with sauteed to balance the sweetness of the peppers.   Leeks - The small share this week will have leeks. These are a great substitute for onions in almost any recipe. Cut in half lengthwise then rinse the inner layers before chopping. Store whole in your fridge loosely wrapped for up to one week.     Veggie Storage and Use Tips are on our website too, so please bookmark the recipe and storage tip section.  I am sure you will find it useful.   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 you can skip your share delivery and you will retain a credit on your account toward the purchase of your next share.     Recipes     Glazed Squash   Vegetable oil, for baking sheets 3 acorn squashes (about 1 1/2 pounds each), halved, seeded, and sliced into 1-inch-thick crescents Coarse salt and ground pepper 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar   Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil, and brush with oil. Lay squash pieces on baking sheets. Season with salt and pepper; sprinkle squashes evenly with half the sugar. Roast until sugar has melted, about 5 minutes. Remove baking sheets from oven. Using tongs, turn over pieces. Season with salt and pepper; sprinkle evenly with remaining sugar. Roast until tender, about 20 minutes.   Stir Fried Napa Cabbage and Carrots   Here's a simple quick recipe that you could serve with brown rice. This is a basic stir fry into which you could sub in broccoli, garlic scapes, some cooked chicken or pork or beef, and garnish with scallions too. From the 75th Anniversary Edition of the Joy of Cooking.   Combine in small bowl: 2.5 TB tamari 1 tsp toasted sesame oil 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper   1 TB canola oil (or sunflower) 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 TB fresh ginger, peeled and minced 2 cups shredded carrots 1 medium Napa Cabbage, thinly sliced Minced parsley or cilantro   Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add and stir fry the garlic and ginger for a few seconds taking care not to allow the garlic to brown. Add the carrots and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add the cabbage and stir fry until tender, about 3 more minutes. Add the tamari mixture and heat through, stiring to coat the vegetables. Serve garnished with minced parsley or cilantro.     Massaged Kale Salad with Lemon-Soy Vinaigrette   This take on massaged kale salad uses an Asian-style vinaigrette.    1/2 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup water 1/4 cup dark sesame oil 6 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh 4 cloves garlic 1 bunch kale Combine all the dressing ingredients in a glass jar and shake well.  (The dressing can be made up to this point, transferred to an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.  Shake well before using.) Strip the kale leaves from the stems and discard the stems.  Chop the kale into small pieces. Put the kale in a large bowl and massage the dressing into the kale until the kale is wilted and limp.  Serve at once.     Cheddar Polenta with Braising Greens, Mushrooms and Bacon Serves 4   1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 4 tbsp. olive oil   2 cloves garlic   1/4 lb. bacon or pancetta, sliced   4 cups water   1-7/8 tbsp. salt   1 cup coarse cornmeal 3/4 cups grated white Cheddar cheese   1/4 cup butter   approx 1/2 bag frozen braising greens (qty to your liking) Salt and pepper, to taste 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese   Bring water and salt to boil. Slowly whisk in polenta and reduce heat. Cook , stirring often, until polenta thickens about 25 minutes. Stir in the grated Cheddar and the butter Cover and set aside.   In a large pan, heat the olive oil and sautee the garlic and bacon until lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5-6 minutes. Add the thawed braising greens. Stir together, turn heat to down to low, cover, and heat through.   Serve the greens over the polenta, garnished with ground pepper and olive oil.     Hot Dogs with Sriracha and Asian Slaw   Who said hot dogs weren’t a sophisticated grown-up food? Try this twist on the classic hot dog to tantalize your taste buds.   1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter 6 Tbsp vegetable oil 1 teaspoon toasted (dark) sesame oil 4 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (if seasoned rice vinegar is not available, add a teaspoon or two of sugar to regular rice vinegar) A sprinkle of salt A sprinkle of sugar 4 cups thinly sliced cabbage (Napa, green, purple, or a combination) 3/4 cup grated carrots 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional) 3 thinly sliced green onions 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds 4-6 hot dogs 4-6 buns Sriracha hot sauce Chinese mustard   Make the dressing for the cole slaw. Mix the peanut butter in a medium bowl with the vegetable oil and sesame oil until smooth. Whisk in the seasoned rice vinegar, then add salt and sugar to taste. In a large bowl, toss the sliced cabbage, grated carrots, cilantro, green onions and sesame seeds together. Don't mix in the dressing until you are ready to cook the hot dogs. Cook the hot dogs as you like (boil, grill or fry).  Toast the buns in a toaster or in the frying pan alongside the hot dogs or on the grill. To serve, spread some Chinese mustard on the bun. Put the hot dog in the bun, sprinkle with sriracha sauce, and top with coleslaw.