Good Eats Newsletter - March 10, 2010

This Week's Vegetable Share Contains:
2 lbs Parsnips; 2 lbs Purple Top Turnips ; 1 lb Valentine Radish; 1 Bulb Garlic; 2 lbs Yellow Storage Onions plus...

Frozen Tomatoes
Bag of Shoots/Claytonia Mix


Localvore Offerings Include:
Elmore Mountain Flax Bread
VT Pasta Linguine
5 lbs Organic Rolled Oats


NOTE: Grove St, Adams Court and Shelburne members will receive their mushrooms this week!

Storage and Use Tips
Salad Mix - The salad greens mix this week is a combination of sunflower, radish and pea shoots, plus claytonia, chickweed, mizuna, ruby streaks mustard, and mixed brassicas.

Valentine Radishes - These Asian radishes have a distinctive bright pink interior with a white, green and pink skin. Sweet with just a hint of a radish bite, valentines are great in salads, slaw, or as crudités. You can add to soups or sauté thinly sliced or shredded in butter with a pinch of salt. Cook lightly without browning. Or slice and sprinkle with salt and serve raw with freshly toasted bread and butter for a tasty treat. Store these in the crisper drawer, loosely wrapped in a plastic bag.

Onions - PLEASE READ (if you haven't already)! - A percentage of our onions have a layer deep inside that is spoiled. This was caused by the excessively wet summer and the problem is that we usually cannot tell the bad ones from the outside. The rest of the onion is perfectly good. Just remove the spoiled scale and use the rest of the onion as you normally would. We are doing our absolute best to find the flawed ones and we are valuing the onions at half price. Though we hate to send out flawed onions, we also hate the thought of not sending any and wasting these. Thanks for your understanding - this is one of the challenges of farming in a variable climate.

VT Pasta Co. Linguine - Your fresh pasta may be kept in the freezer until you plan to use it. Then it may be taken out and kept in fridge or simply dropped into your boiling pasta water still frozen. It will keep for about a week in the fridge. To cook it, simply bring a pot of salted water to a boil, drop in your pasta, and wait for your water to return to the boil. When your cooking water reaches boiling again, your pasta is done and you may drain in a colander and add your favorite sauce.

"Special" or Replacement Items Left at Share Sites

This is not news to many of you who have been part of Good Eats for a while, but I thought it worth mentioning for the benefit of new members. Each week we may leave a few oddball items at a share site - a bag of oats perhaps, a dozen eggs, a piece of cheese, etc. In most cases, these items will have a sticker on them with the name of a share member. These are special items sent out to a specific member to replace something they didn't receive or in some cases it is a special order. When picking up your share, it's important to be careful to take one of each item on the pick up list but NOT to take any extra items left at the site. In nearly all cases these are for a specific share member at your site.

If you are expecting a special item and you are wondering whether we sent it, look beside your name on the names check off sheet. If we sent an item out for you, the word "special" should appear next to your name on the list.

Good Eats Meal Share Survey

Earlier today I sent out a survey asking for your feedback about a Good Eats Meal Share that would delivered prepared meals to members. If you haven't taken the survey, please do! We will be going through this survey thoroughly to determine what type of meal shares would be well received by our members. Your comments on these surveys are key in helping us make decisions!


Need Meats?

The Spring Meat Share delivers a selection of sustainably farmed, grass fed meats from Pete's and from other nearby farms that we know and love. Meat shares contain 3-6 cuts of meat each delivery and are delivered once a month All animals grown for the share are are raised on pasture (except the trout!) and many are raised organically. Grass fed meats contain a much higher vitamin concentration and much lower fat content than other meats.

Sign-up for the Spring Meat Share (3 Deliveries Remain: Apr 7, May 5, June 2)

You can order Pete's Pastured Chickens and have them delivered to you pick up site any week except a meat share week. Our chickens are raised on lots of pasture. Even as chicks in the barn, our little birds feast on sprouts and baby greens left from each days vegetable processing. They can't help but ingest loads of healthy, vitamin packed organic forage throughout their lives and this goodness is assimilated in their meat.

Minimum order is 3 chickens, and they are priced at only $3.75/lb.
Click here to visit our chicken page and download an order form.

Job Openings at Pete's Greens
We are still accepting applications for the the positions of wash-house manager and kitchen manager at the farm. Complete job descriptions for these positions may be found on our site on our job postings page.

Applecheek Farm Effort a Success

Exciting news just in this morning from Rocio Clark at Applecheek Farm. Through the generous donations of 150 neighbors and members of the community surrounding the farm, plus a large grant from the Freeman Foundation, the farm has been conserved for future generations. To all of you who contributed, the Clarks and the VT Land Trust send a big thank you!

Localvore Lore
This week Elmore Mountain Bakery has baked their Quebec Flax Seed Bread, made with organic Milanaise Winter Wheat, Milanaise Whole Wheat, Milanaise Rye, Quebec Flax, Sea Salt and Sourdough.

Tim made the trip just over the border in Quebec this week to bring back grains for Good Eats. In Compton Quebec, Michel Gaudreau mills organic grains grown on his farm and other farms nearby. He mills oats, flax, spelt, rye, barley and numerous other grains. (The flax in the bread this week comes from Michel's). The organic rolled oats in the share this week are grown near his farm. I bet my household goes through 150-200 lbs of these oats a year. I am not kidding. Between oatmeal which probably fulfills 15% of my son's whole diet, and granola which everyone else in the house eats for breakfast, we go through an awful lot of oats. I feel good knowing that these are grown so well and so locally. If you don't use oats a lot, here are links to a couple solid recipes posted last year.
Classic Oatmeal
Granola - our household recipe

Back by popular demand, we have linguine from VT Pasta company. We sent this pasta out last share period and it received very high ratings from members. VT Pasta is a very new venture for Ted Fecteau of Barre. Ted is committed to making a great tasting fresh local pasta. The linguine in the share is a 50/50 mix of Ben Gleason's whole wheat flour and Aurora Farm's white flour. The other ingredients in the pasta are water and local Waitsfield eggs. A very small amount of organic rice flour is used to dust the pasta to keep it from sticking (this will account for the gritty texture to the uncooked pasta). See Storage and Use Tips above for cooking instructions. The container the pasta is packaged in looks like plastic but in fact is made of corn and is completely compostable. We really look forward to your feedback on the pasta. Do you like the 50/50 mix? Would you prefer a whole wheat pasta? Other comments? Please share your feedback.
You can pick up Ted's pasta at the Capitol City Farmers Market or at LACE in Barre.

Recipes


Winter Vegetable Tart
This recipe was brought to my attention by share member Stacy Fraser who has been making it over and over again all winter using lots of different combinations of roots and things she has received in the share. It's very adaptable, you could use really any root veg combo, you could throw in some frozen red peppers and experiment with different cheeses. It's from the Edible Green Mountains website where you can find lots of great recipes (including one for Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel Sauce which has nothing to do with this week's share ingredients and which I now can't get off my mind). If you haven't got a go to recipe for pie crust, try this one I posted to the blog Nov. 24th. It's pretty dependable.

1 pound butternut squash (1 small), peeled, seeded and diced into 1⁄2-inch cubes2 beets, peeled and diced into 1⁄2-inch cubes
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 onion, halved and cut into slivers
1 red bell pepper, diced (optional)
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
pie crust for one 9- or 10-inch pie
1⁄2 pound Fontina cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a large shallow roast- ing pan or half sheet pan.
In a large bowl, combine the squash, beets, mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, if using, and garlic. Add the olive oil, rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat well. Transfer to the pan and arrange in a shallow (preferably single) layer.

Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned, stirring or shaking the pan occasionally for even cooking. Remove the vegetables from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 375°F.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the pastry on the bak- ing sheet. Sprinkle the cheese over the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border around the edge. Arrange the roasted vegetables on top of the cheese. Fold the dough up to partially cover the filling and crimp to seal the edges.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until the crust is golden. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

Linguine with Garlic and Oil
With this one, olive oil is the primary flavor, so use a good quality oil. Be careful not to overcook the garlic. There are times when an oil-based sauce is not thin enough to coat your pasta. In this case, add more oil or a bit of pasta-cooking water. From Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Cookbook. Serves 2.

Salt
1/6 cup extra virgin olive oil, or more as needed
1 tablespoons minced garlic
1 small dried red chiles, or to taste, or hot red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
1/2 pound linguine (or spaghetti, or any other pasta)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves (optional)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put the oil, garlic, the chiles if you're using them, and a pinch of salt in a small skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat. Let the garlic sizzle a bit, shaking the pan occasionally, just until it turns golden, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat if the pasta isn't ready.

2. If using fresh pasta, toss in the boiling water and when it just begins to boil again, it's done. Drain it, reserving a bit of the cooking water. Reheat the garlic and oil mixture briefly if necessary. Dress the pasta with the sauce, adding a little more oil or some of the cooking water if it seems dry. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then toss with the parsley if you're using it.

Fast Tomato Sauce
Here's another from Mark Bittman's great book. The recipe calls for canned tomatoes but you can use the frozen ones in your share. Just run each frozen tomato under hot water and the skins will slip from them. Core the tomatoes as needed and then follow the recipe below.

3 Tbs olive oil or butter
1 med onion, chopped
1 24-32 oz can tomatoes drained and chopped
salt and fresh ground pepper
Freshly grated parmesan or other cheese

Heat olive oil in 12" skillet over med-high heat. Add onions and stir 2-3 minutes or until soft. Add tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break up and the mixture comes together, thickening about 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Immediately toss with your hot just cooked pasta, garnish with cheese as you desire.

Parsnip Patties
From the cookbook Laurel's Kitchen. Makes 12 patties. This is a great recipe, especially with the walnuts.

4 cups parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
1 onion, minced
1 Tb oil
1 tsp dried tarragon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 cups whole grain bread crumbs

Steam parsnips until tender - 10 to 15 minutes. While parsnips are cooking, saute onion in oil. Add tarragon.
Mash parsnips with potato masher (a few lumps are OK). Stir onion into mashed parsnips with egg, salt and walnuts. Preheat oven to 350°F. Form parsnip mixture into patties, using 1/3 cup for each. Spread half the bread crumbs on a greased baking sheet and place patties on crumbs. Press remaining crumbs on top. Bake for 20 minutes.

Parsnip and Turnip Soup
From the website toomanychefs.com

1 onion, peeled and diced fine

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 parsnips, peeled and diced into 1" pieces

1 carrot, peeled and diced into 1" pieces

2 turnips, peeled and diced into 1" cubes

1 stalk celery, cut into 1" pieces

1 large potato, peeled and diced into 1" cubes

4 cups vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

In a dutch oven or soup pot, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the garlic, celery, and onion and sautee for about 60 seconds. Add the rest of the vegetables, cover, and sautee over medium-high heat stirring fairly frequently until the vegetables soften up and are easily pierced by a sharp knife, about seven-ten minutes. Add the stock and cook for 20 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring and scraping the bottom to get any vegetable fond that has stuck to the bottom into the soup.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Blend with an immersion blender and serve.

Oatmeal Wheat Bread
Here's a great stand by recipe for an oatmeal wheat bread the whole family will like. Some reviewers substituted ¼ molasses for 1/4 cup of the honey. Others just added 1/4 cup molasses for the added flavor. Great reviews all around. From Gourmet Oct 2005.

2 cups whole milk
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats plus additional for topping
1/2 cup warm water (105-115°F)
2 tablespoons active dry yeast (from 3 packages)
1/2 cup mild honey
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus additional for buttering pans
3 cups stone-ground whole-wheat flour
About 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
Vegetable oil for oiling bowl
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Special equipment: 2 (8- by 4-inch) loaf pans

Heat milk in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan over low heat until hot but not boiling, then remove pan from heat and stir in oats. Let stand, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cooled to warm.

Stir together water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon honey in a small bowl; let stand until foamy, 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.) Stir yeast mixture, melted butter, and remaining honey into cooled oatmeal.

Stir together whole-wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour, and salt in a large bowl. Add oat mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead with floured hands, adding just enough of remaining unbleached flour to keep from sticking, until dough is smooth, soft, and elastic, about 10 minutes (dough will be slightly sticky). Form dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel; let rise at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Lightly butter loaf pans. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times to remove air. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a loaf, then place 1 loaf in each buttered pan, seam side down, tucking ends gently to fit. Cover loaf pans loosely with a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly brush tops of loaves with some of egg wash and sprinkle with oats, then bake until bread is golden and loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 35 to 40 minutes. (Remove 1 loaf from pan to test for doneness. Run a knife around edge of pan to loosen.)

Remove bread from pans and transfer to a rack to cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.

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