Good Eats Weekly Newsletter - July 12, 2017

Having trouble viewing this message, please click here MUGS ARE HERE!! For the Summer CSA sign-up, we ran a special - sign up for one of our veggie shares, pay by June 9, and get a free Pete's Greens coffee mug. At most of the sites, mugs were delivered last week. The rest of the sites will be delivered this week. Please check the mugs to see if your name is on one! Mugs are individually labeled. Localvore Members  & Regular Veggie Only Share Members take a LIGHT GREEN BAG This week your bag contains: Mesclun, Dill, European Cucumber, Chard, Celery, Broccoli, Green Cabbage, Fresh Onions, and  Out of the Bag: Tomatoes Half Veggie Only Members take a YELLOW BAG containing: Romaine lettuce, Cilantro, Zucchini, Red Russian Kale, Celery, Fresh Onions, and Out of the Bag: Tomatoes Localvore Offerings Include: Tangletown Farm Eggs Cellars at Jasper Hill Harbison Pete's Greens Zesty Dill Pickles Around the Farm I'm really excited about the share this week! So much goodness is coming out of our fields. Onions! Broccoli! I was reading through comments from last summer's CSA survey. A lot of folks noted there were a lot of greens in the share. I've been trying to balance out this year's greens so as not to overload any share with too many greens. If you have comments about the frequency of greens in your share, let me know.  Survey respondents also brought up peas. I should address the lack of peas in the share last year and this year. Unfortunately we lost our pea crops two years in a row. It's a problem that Pete & Melissa are thinking about and one of the struggles farmers face. From what I understand, it's a combo of bugs and weather. We're growing other veggies, so we didn't buy-in any peas from other farmers. Hopefully they'll be back next year! ~Taylar Meet Our Crew! Meet Tobin Porter-Brown! This is Tobin's first season at Pete's Greens. Tobin mostly works in the greenhouses, but sometimes he'll hop on a tractor when it's needed. This morning I found him watering veggie starts. What brought you to Pete's Greens? I've been working on farms for the last decade - started off working at the Hampshire College Farm and then moved to Brookfield Farm (the third oldest running CSA in the country), both in western MA. I then moved to the North Shore above Boston to help manage a small market garde farm called Alprilla Farm. After that I had an exciting opportunity to start a farm at Amherst College, which my business partner and I called Book & Plow farm. This was an interesting set up because we were on Amherst College land and we were working with students, and most of the food went to the school. We expanded the farm from 4 acres to about 30 acres in four years. Ultimately there were some challenges with the infrastructure and set up that made us decide it would be better off as an educational school farm then a for-profit enterprise, so we transferred the farm over to Amherst College. I decided to move to Craftsbury to live with Annie Myers, a former Pete's Greens employee who now runs her own distribution business sourcing from Pete's Greens. I decided to work at Pete's Greens because I was really impressed with the level of innovation and year-round production in sustainable agriculture. What's your favorite veggie/ produce item to grow and why? I really love growing ginger because it feels like it's a crop that is so tropical and doesn't seem like it could grow here but it can in a greenhouse! I'm hoping to convince the farm to be able to grow some next year. What's your favorite veggie item to eat? My favorite vegetable is whatever is new in the season. I try to eat seasonally which means that I eat a lot of what is currently being harvested,for example by the end of the winter I have absolutely no interest in eating a potato but by midsummer, potatoes sound really good. Right now I'm excited that we have radicchio. I love taking a head of radicchio, cutting it up into quarters and coating it with lots of olive oil and salt before grilling it. Alternatively I like taking fine shreds of radicchio and adding them to a lacinato kale salad, again with lots of olive oil and salt. What do you like about working at PG? I really like the challenge of what Pete's Greens is doing. It's really unusual to be a farm at this scale, growing this many crops, experimenting with innovative and new growing techniques, and producing year round. It's not easy, so the reward of making it work feels that much greater. I love seeing the tangible results of working on a project. For example starting all the transplants in the greenhouse is very satisfying. I know each one of those plants will get planted, weeded, and finally harvested and eaten. I like the idea of starting the seed for that process and nurturing them in their early stages. Storage and Use Tips  Mesclun: This week's greens are a mix of lettuces, baby kale, baby mustard, and baby beet greens. The greens are pre-washed and ready to eat. Keep greens in your fridge and use within a week.  Onions: Fresh summer onions are here! You get both the bulb and the green onion stem on top. The onions have been cleaned but some may have a layer of skin you want to peel off before eating. Fresh onions are a little sweeter and milder than our storage onions, which spend more time in the ground. The flesh is thinner and you may prefer to use these raw (sliced on a burger, in salsas and salads). I just read about a method for storing that I haven't heard about: reusable mesh produce bags are the best option; if you don't have any, roll spring onions in a just-slightly-damp kitchen towel, secure with a rubber band, and store in the crisper drawer for up to one and a half weeks.  Broccoli (full shares): Broccoli florets this week! I love it. These beautiful little florets are ready to eat. Broccoli is such a delight in the summer, and I'm told it's America's favorite vegetable. Raw broccoli requires circulation so wrap it loosely in a damp paper towel and refrigerate. Try to use within 2 - 3 days. Try broccoli raw in a salad, steamed, or sauteed with garlic. The stems are full of rich nutrients so you can eat the whole thing.  Dill (full shares): It may be a less common herb, but dill is a flavorful addition to fish, vegetables like potatoes and cucumbers, yogurt, and eggs, and goes well with cheese. It also perks up soups, salads, and casseroles. Full share members receive a bunch of dill. Store it in a damp paper towel inside a plastic bag or to preserve it, you can dry it or wash it, chop it, dry it, then freeze it.  Cilantro (half shares): Try making a fresh salsa with the tomatoes and onions in your share this week! Tasty and refreshing. Cilantro is a key ingredient in South American cooking. Chard (full shares) is a delicious nutritious green, high in Vitamins A, K, and C.  The beautifully colored stems are why it's called rainbow chard!  Chard works great as a spinach substitute but needs to be cooked down a bit longer.  It also works well in soups and stews, or sauteed as a side. I personally love it in the morning with my eggs - sauteed with olive oil. Cabbage (full shares): You're receiving one of two types of cabbage: The pointed cabbage in your bags this week is Arrowhead, an early summer cabbage, mellower in flavor than storage cabbages, and can be used in all kinds of ways. The round head of cabbage is a green cabbage. Arrowhead cabbage is most similar to green cabbage, but you can use in many other cabbage recipes too.  It's pretty versatile.  Make slaw, your favorite cabbage dish, or quarter it and drizzle olive oil on it, sprinkle with salt, and grill it.  Add a little teriyaki sauce if you like. Yum. Zucchini (half shares): This time of year, tender zukes are a great treat. Store unwashed in the crisper. Use in a few days. Try grating them, and saute lightly in butter. Or eat them raw in salads. Shred them and mix into muffins or other baked goods. The possibilities are endless! Kale, Red Russian (half share): Red Russian kale is a green kale with purple stems and while these leaves are tender enough to eat raw, cooking adds a sweetness and tenderness that makes these greens just as versatile as chard. Store in your crisper drawer loosely wrapped in plastic.  Tomatoes: Tomatoes are out of your veggie bags and in a separate paper bag. Please, only take 1 bag of tomatoes! You'll receive either a bag of red tomatoes or pink tomatoes, and a few of you will have red tomatoes with a couple small pink ones. Each bag is about 1 pound. Store tomatoes at room temperature - never in the fridge.  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 Shelf or you can skip your share delivery and you will retain a credit on your account toward the purchase of your next share. Sorry, we cannot make changes to the week's delivery after 9 am on Monday. Localvore Lore Fresh eggs this week from Tangletown Farm in Glover! Eggs are great in the summer - scrambled with fresh greens and herbs, pickled to dress a salad, hard boiled and made into a sandwich, or hard boiled and added to any picnic's potato salad! Harbison Cheese from Jasper Hill Farm has consistently taken home top honors in national and international competitions over the last four years. This cheese is named for Anne Harbison, affectionately known as the grandmother of Greensboro. Along with breathtaking views, traditions and people are part of what makes Vermont's working landscape special; Jasper Hill is proud to honor Ms. Harbison's contribution with this cheese. Harbison is a soft-ripened cheese with a rustic, bloomy rind. Young cheeses are wrapped in strips of spruce cambium, the tree's inner bark layer, harvested from the woodlands of Jasper Hill. The spoonable texture begins to develop in the Cellar's vaults, though the paste continues to soften on the way to market. Harbison is woodsy and sweet, balanced with lemon, mustard, and vegetal flavors. If the bark has fused with the outer rind, leave the bark intact and spoon out portions from the top. Don't be afraid of the greenish bluish mold on the outside- this is normal and can be peeled off or eaten around. Enjoy! Made with our own farm-grown cucumbers, these Pete's Greens Zesty Freezer Pickles are sweet and sour and are great eaten right out of the container or added to a sandwich. They are a freezer pickle and we are sending them out frozen so you may need to thaw a bit more in order to enjoy, or you can put right back in the freezer for a later date (use within 6 months).  Once open keep refrigerated and eat within 3 weeks. Recipes Find more recipes by searching our website or looking through past newsletters here. Broccoli Slaw I love a nice cold, broccoli salad in the summertime.  I know many folks like to add bacon to their broccoli salads - that would be a great addition here. 2 heads of broccoli (more or less - adjust the mayo and buttermilk to how much broccoli you have) 1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted 1/3 cup dried cranberries 2/3 small red onion, finely chopped 1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken 1/3 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar Trim broccoli and chop it by hand into smaller pieces, you can use the stem, or not, to your preference. Toss the broccoli with the almonds, cranberries and most of the red onion in a large bowl. Meanwhile, whisk the buttermilk, mayo, vinegar, sugar and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a smaller bowl. Pour the dressing over the broccoli (if you’ve skipped the stems, you might not want it use it all) and toss it well. Season well with salt and pepper to taste. This slaw should keep up to a week in the fridge. Dilled Cucumber, Tomato and Celery Salad 1/3 cup water 1 tablespoon dill seed 1 tablespoon honey 1/3 cup buttermilk salad dressing and seasoning mix 2 cups mayonnaise 1 cup buttermilk 1 1/3 cups milk 1 cup white vinegar 2 large cucumbers, quartered and thinly sliced 3 tomatoes, cubed 2 stalks celery, chopped 1/2 onion, sliced and quartered 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon salt Fresh Dill Place water and dill seed in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes. Whisk in honey and salad dressing mix, then pour mixture into a large bowl. Whisk in mayonnaise, buttermilk, milk, and vinegar until smooth. Place cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, onion, garlic, salt, and fresh dill into a separate bowl, and pour half of the dressing onto the vegetables; toss well. Cover, and refrigerate salad for at least 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate remaining dressing for future use. Dilled Potato and Pickled Cucumber Salad From Bon Appétit August 2004.  3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt 1 hothouse cucumbers, very thinly sliced 1/4 cup plus 1.5 tablespoons chopped fresh dill 1.5 pounds Nicola potatoes, unpeeled Additional coarse kosher salt 1/2 cup very thinly sliced white onion or scallions 4 radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced 3/8 cup mayonnaise Small radishes with green tops Stir vinegar and 2 teaspoons coarse salt in small bowl until salt dissolves. Place cucumbers and 1/4 cup dill in sealed container. Add vinegar mixture; seal bag. Turn several times to coat. Refrigerate overnight, turning bag occasionally. Pour cucumber mixture into large sieve set over bowl. Drain at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours. Discard brine. Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain. Cool potatoes completely. Peel potatoes; quarter lengthwise. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place potatoes in large bowl; sprinkle generously with coarse salt and pepper. Add drained cucumbers, onion, sliced radishes, and remaining 1.5 tablespoons dill; toss to blend. Let stand 1 hour. Stir mayonnaise into salad. Season generously with salt and pepper, if desired. Mini Frittatas with Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Goat Cheese These little frittatas are delicious and a good way to get some veggies into the kids too! The original recipe comes from Does Leap Farm, and I came to it by way of Tracey Medeiros Dishing Up Vermont Cookbook. 1.25 cups grated zucchini Salt 2 eggs 1/4 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup grated cheddar 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 1/8 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 1/4 cup goat cheese (around 2 ounces) crumbled (parm or feta good too!) 1/4 cup seeded minced tomato 1.5 TB fresh basil Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly oil and flour a mini muffin tin; set aside. Place zucchini in a colander and sprinkle lightly with salt. Place colander in a bowl and set aside to drain about 15 minutes. Place salted zucchini between layers of clean tea towel or paper towel and gently press down to remove excess water. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl. Add zucchini, flour, cheddar cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Spoon mixture into each muffin cup, just even with the rim, and sprinkle with the crumbled goat cheese. Bake in the oven until the edges are crisp and brown and frittatas are set, about 12 minutes. Carefully remove from oven and evenly top with tomatoes and basil. Return to oven and bake until tomatoes have heated through, about 1 minute. Simple Baked Arrowhead Cabbage  Here's a nice, easy side dish that showcases these lovely cabbages. 1 Arrowhead Cabbage, cut in two lengthwise Olive oil Salt Pepper Chopped Scallions Grated Parmesan Place the cabbage halved on a baking sheet or in a glass baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped scallions. Roast for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven, sprinkle with grated parm and return to oven to bake a few more minutes until cheese is lightly browned. The result was very light and lovely without any of the heaviness sometimes associated with cabbage. The best description of the taste I can come up with is buttery crunch — not at all tough, but a velvety texture. Mild, sweet, delicious. Provençal Zucchini and Swiss Chard Tart Pie pastry 1 crust 1 lb Swiss chard Salt to taste 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, finely chopped 2 pounds zucchini, cut in small dice (1/4 to 1/3 inch)  2 to 3 large garlic cloves (to taste), minced 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped  1 to 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (to taste)  2 oz Gruyère cheese or aged cheddar cheese grated (1/2 cup, tightly packed)  3 large eggs, beaten Freshly ground pepper Bring a large pot of water to a boil while you stem the greens, and wash them. If the ribs are wide, wash and dice them, then set aside. When the water reaches a rolling boil, add a generous amount of salt and the chard leaves. Blanch for one minute, until just tender. Drain and cool quickly in several changes of fresh water. Squeeze out excess water and chop. Set aside. Heat oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet, and add the onion and diced chard stems, if using. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Stir in the zucchini. Season to taste with salt, and cook, stirring, until just tender and still bright green, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, thyme and rosemary, and cook with the zucchini and onion until the garlic is fragrant, about one or two minutes. Stir in the greens, toss everything together, and remove from the heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste), the zucchini mixture, and the Gruyère. Mix everything together, add pepper, taste once more and adjust seasoning. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 10-inch tart pan. Roll out two-thirds of the dough and line the pan, with the edges of the dough overhanging. Freeze the remaining dough. Fill the lined pan with the zucchini mixture. Pinch the edges of the dough along the rim of the pan. Place in the oven and bake 50 minutes, until set and beginning to color. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving (preferably longer). This can also be served at room temperature. Caesar Salad I can't wait to try this recipe- it’s a hearty, healthy take on Caesar salad, from scratch! I think this would make the perfect simple meal when paired with a cut of meat or fish. The dressing is made right in a large bowl before adding the other ingredients. Try it with kale or Romaine! For the croutons: 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided 1 (1/2 pound) loaf brioche bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 teaspoon coarse salt, divided 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided For the salad: 2 cloves garlic 4 anchovy fillets, preferably salt-cured, soaked if salted; or 2 teaspoons anchovy paste 1/3 teaspoon coarse salt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 large egg yolk 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for garnish, if desired 3 heads kale, washed, dried, stems removed, leaves cut into 1/4-inch strips - or a head of Romaine Croutons: In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon butter over medium heat. Working in batches, add one-third of the bread cubes, one-third of the salt, and one-third of the pepper; toss to coat. Cook until golden. Remove from skillet and set aside. Repeat process twice with remaining oil, butter, bread, salt, and pepper. Salad: Place the garlic, anchovy fillets, salt, and pepper in a large wooden salad bowl. Using two dinner forks or a muddler, mash to form a paste. Using one fork, whisk in lemon juice, mustard, and egg yolk. While whisking, drizzle in olive oil and continue to whisk until emulsified. Add 1/2 cup grated cheese; set aside. Add kale to bowl along with croutons and toss well. If desired, garnish with additional cheese. Serve immediately.