Good Eats Weekly Newsletter - March 29, 2017

NEW PICKUP LOCATION! 

110 Center Road, Essex Center
If you picked up at the Essex Resort, your pickup location has moved!


Localvore Members 
& Full Veggie Only Share Members
take a LIGHT GREEN BAG

This week your bag contains:
Mesclun Mix, Brassica Mix, Chard, Adirondack Red Potatoes, Orange Carrots, Yellow Onions,

And OUT of the Bag:
Frozen Stir Fry
Frozen Corn
Please, only take 1 of each



Half Veggie Members
take a YELLOW BAG containing:
Mesclun Mix, Brassica Mix, Orange Carrots, Adirondack Red Potatoes, Yellow Onions,

And OUT of the Bag:
Frozen Corn




Localvore / Pantry Offerings

Slowfire Bakery Bread
Tangletown or Axel's Eggs
Morningstar Farm King of the Early Beans

Around the Farm...

I spent some time in the gutter connect greenhouse - it's wonderful to be where it's warm and fresh and everything is green! 

Last week I visited some of our CSA sites. It's great to see them in person, and to see them in the context of how the CSAs are set up. We can always improve things, and I saw some changes I'd like to make, but if you have any suggestions, please let me know. I know we struggled with the really cold temps the last few weeks. Our greens are delicate and for things like kale, the briefest exposure to the cold is enough to freeze their delicate leaves. This week shouldn't be so bad - temperatures should be well above freezing.

With weather like this, it's really important to pick up your share during the advertised hours. I'll send our drivers out with extra thermal blankets to try and protect those outside sites.

Thanks!
~ Taylar

Storage and Use Tips 
Mesclun Mix: A fresh mix of claytonia, shoots, spinach, kupland cress, and a little bit of baby brassicas.
Brassica Mix: All shares are receiving a bunch of brassicas. I just learned that brassica is a species and includes common varieties such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, rutabaga, turnip, and some seeds used for canola oil and mustard. This brassica mix is Red Russian Kale and mustard greens. You can use it raw or you can cook it. I took this picture of your brassicas in the wild on Monday:
Adirondack Red Potatoes: We have a nice little potato mix this week of Adirondack Red, Gold, Red Norland, and Russet baby potatoes. These are small and perfect for roasting whole. With a tender skin, you can also boil and mash them all together to get a nice pinkish mashed potato.

Orange Carrots: These large orange carrots have a lof of kitchen functionality. In addition to munching on raw carrot sticks, here are a few more ideas:
  • Grate and add to stir fries and fried rice dishes
  • Grate and add to muffins or carrot cake
  • Grate on top of granola or muesli in the morning
  • Grate onto salads
  • Make carrot pickles
  • Make a classic carrot-raisin salad
  • Brown sugar-glazed carrots
  • Bake peanut butter carrot cookies
  • Add to banana bread
  • Juice with apples and limes
  • Roast with salt, pepper, rosemary, mash, and add to a homemade pasta sauce
Store carrots loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer. 

Frozen Stir Fry (large shares only) and Frozen Corn (both shares): For all our frozen veggies, let thaw on the counter or in the fridge or if you're in a rush, let submerge in warm water. Veggies come fresh from the field, chopped and frozen. Use the stir fry mix in a variety of dishes - as a stir fry, thrown into a stew, scrambled with eggs, or mixed into a pasta sauce. Corn is great for eating as a side dish, tossing onto a salad or nachos, baking into muffins, or any number of other dishes!


Need to Skip a Week?

If you're ever not able to pick up your share, please let us know at least one week in advance. We can either skip your share and give you credit, send it the next week, or donate it to the food pantry. It's up to you!

Sorry, we cannot skip a share or change pick-up sites after noon on Monday.
Localvore Lore

Slowfire Bakery made bread for us this week. Scott Medellin (below left) always describes his bread the best:
The bread for this week will be an Old World Italian Table Bread: a rustic table bread made to accompany cheese, stew, or whatever else is on the table! Featuring a high proportion of Italian baking favorites Durum and Emmer wheats (grown and milled in Maine), these lend an earthy sweetness and spiciness to the flavor and aroma. Golden in color and redolent of some time and space between harvest and the holidays, with a sweetness that looks forward to the oncoming spring...  
Jeannette Johnson from Morningstar Farm in Glover has been busy bringing over dry beans for us! Every spring we order dry beans to last us the next year - through the growing, drying, and sorting season. These King of the Early beans are a nice heirloom bean you can use in chilis, stew, or dressed up on their own to highlight the wonderful flavor and texture. One cup of dry beans will yield approximately 2 1/2 cups of cooked beans. You'll want to rinse these beauties before cooking. Lost most dry beans, they also need to soak before cooking. You can cover them with water and leave out overnight. Or, kyou can cover them with plenty of water, bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and let sit 2-3 hours. You'll want to cover them with 2 inches of fresh water and simmer, testing for doneness after an hour. Many believe that draining and rinsing the beans after the soaking step reduces flatulence. Others believe that adding a bit of baking soda while they cook has the same effect.
Lastly, you'll receive eggs from either Tangletown Farm or Axel's Eggs.


Recipes

Here are a couple recipes to help you stir up the creative culinary juices this week. You can find more recipes by searching our website and/or our blog

Greens and Bean Stew
You can make a real stew with more stock, or leave it thick and serve it piled up on toast.  It's good as a main course for dinner or with eggs for breakfast.  The same day you make it or a week later, it's delicious.

1 pound greens, stems removed and cleaned
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup (5 1/4 ounces) chopped carrots
1 cup (5 ounces) chopped celery
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) chopped leeks (can also sub onions)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
2 15-ounce cans (or about 3 3/4 cups) beans, drained and rinsed - or dried beans after cooking
2 cups (or more to taste) vegetable broth
1 cup pureed tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Bring medium pot of salted water to boil. Cook kale for one minute, then drain and squeeze out as much extra water as possible. Coarsely chop kale.

Wipe out medium pot to dry it, and heat olive oil over medium. Add carrots, celery, leeks and garlic and saute for 15 minutes.  Add wine (scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pot) and cook it until it reduced by three-fourths. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add kale and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaf. Add more broth if you’d like a thinner stew and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Serve as is drizzled with sherry vinegar. Or you can ladle the stew over thick piece of toasted country bread or baguette that has been rubbed lightly with half a clove of garlic, top that with a poached egg and a few drops of sherry vinegar and/or some grated cheese.
Brassicas Bowl
I came across this recipe and I love the combination of ingredients! We’ll forgive you if you use avocado… sometimes we need to look outside Vermont for our ingredients! I would be interested to try this with last week’s frozen broccoli, either instead of the broccolini or instead of the Brussels sprouts. Large share members could toss in their chard, too.

4 large eggs
1 bunch broccolini, trimmed
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
1 small shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
½ bunch brassica greens, stems removed, leaves torn into 2-inch pieces
8 ounces brussels sprouts, trimmed, thinly sliced lengthwise
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup unsalted, roasted sunflower seeds, divided
½ cup hummus
1 avocado, quartered lengthwise
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Crushed red pepper flakes (for serving)

Cook eggs in a large saucepan of boiling water for 7 minutes (whites will be set and yolks still slightly soft). Drain; transfer to a bowl of ice water and let sit until cool. Drain; peel eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 500°. Toss broccolini with 1 Tbsp. oil on a rimmed baking sheet and season with salt. Roast, turning occasionally, until crisp-tender and charred in spots, 8–10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
Whisk shallot, vinegar, mustard, and remaining 4 Tbsp. oil in a large bowl until emulsified; season with salt. Add kale and brussels sprouts and toss to coat; season with salt and pepper. Massage kale until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add roasted broccolini and 2 Tbsp. sunflower seeds; toss again.

Swipe some hummus along the inside of each bowl with a spoon. Divide salad among bowls and add an avocado wedge and 2 reserved egg halves to each. Top with chives, sesame seeds, and remaining sunflower seeds; sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Recipe by Frankie Cox, Two Hands, NYC

Carrot Souffle

This recipe initially came from a shareholder. Her version below is more of a pudding than a souffle, sweet and delicious with maple, butter, cinnamon and vanilla. When Amy made this for Easter, she went much more savory. See the substitutions at the bottom of the recipe to make an Indian-inspired version. Serves 4-6.

2 lbs. carrots, peeled if you like, sliced, and steamed until very tender, then cooled somewhat
1/4 c maple syrup or maple sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1t vanilla
3 T melted butter
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 T whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 t baking powder

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 2-quart baking dish. Place carrots in blender with sugar or syrup, cinnamon, vanilla and melted butter. Puree until smooth. Pour into medium bowl and beat in eggs, flour, and baking powder. Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake about 1 hour or until top is golden brown and souffle has puffed slightly.

To make a savory version, cut the maple back to 2 tablespoons; add 1/2 tsp of ground ginger; replace the butter with sunflower or olive oil; get rid of the vanilla; and replace the 1/2 tsp cinnamon with 1 tsp garam masala (an Indian spice mixture available in most good spice sections, or make your own following a recipe.)

Indian Carrot and Yogurt Salad
* adapted from “Quick & Easy Indian Cooking” by Madhur Jaffrey

1 c. plain yogurt, beaten lightly with a fork
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated
½ tsp. sugar
salt & cayenne pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. sunflower, safflower, or canola oil
¼ tsp. whole cumin seeds (or ground if that’s all you’ve got)
¼ tsp. whole black or yellow mustard seeds
3 Tbsp. raisins

Mix yogurt, carrots, sugar, salt, & cayenne. In a small frying pan, heat oil over medium high heat.

Add cumin & mustard seeds.

Stir a few times & as soon as they start to pop add raisins.

Stir once & empty contents into yogurt-carrot mixture & mix.


Ruby Eggs on Slowfire Toast

2 farm fresh eggs, poached (as easy as cracking them into a pot of boiling water and fishing them out 2 to 3 minutes later)
1/2# of ruby red chard, lightly sauteed with butter and chopped leeks
4 slices of roasted red peppers
4 T of creamy mornay (recipe follows)
2 thick slices of Slowfire Farm bread

Assemble the Ruby Eggs: Divide and pile the wilted Ruby Chard on each slice of bread. Follow with poached eggs and the roasted peppers. Toast or broil lightly in the toaster oven or broiler until just heated through, but the yolk is still runny. Garnish lavishly with mornay and eat with gusto! Perfect with sparkling orange juice or hot black coffee.

Making the Mornay: Melt 2 T of butter. Add 2 T of flour and whisk over medium heat for 2 minutes. Lower heat and slowly pour 2 cups of heated milk (for thinner, lower fat sauce) or cream (for thicker, high fat sauce) while furiously whisking to avoid cooked lumps of goo. Let simmer for a minute or two and then add 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan or swiss cheese or sharp cheddar. I like to add some blue cheese as well for extra tang. Continue to stir and cook until thickened. Store in the fridge for several days and reheat with a few tablespoons of milk.

Alternative to Cream Sauce: This is a little untested, but a healthier option consists of simmering orange juice until a bit viscous, adding some salt and pepper, a bit of oil and fresh herbs.

Maple Baked Beans
If you like, use salt pork or even bacon for a yummy alternative or try molasses instead of maple for a dark color.

2 c dry beans
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c grade B maple syrup
2 tbsp molasses
1 onion, chopped fine
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter

Soak beans overnight. Drain soaking liquid, cover with fresh water, add baking soda and bring to a boil. Simmer 30 minutes, until getting tender but not falling apart. Drain off and reserve the cooking liquid. In an ovenproof casserole or a crockpot, combine the maple, molasses, onion and beans. Add enough bean liquid to cover. Bake in a slow 300F oven for about 6 hours or in the crockpot on low all day. In the last hour mix in the butter and salt. When ready, the beans will be melting tender and deep golden brown.
  

Comments

Popular Posts