Good Eats Newsletter - April 21, 2010

This Week's Vegetable Share Contains:
2 lbs Orange Carrots; 2 lbs Russet Potatoes; 2 lbs Celeriac; 1 head Savoy Cabbage; Pac Choi; 1 Bunch of Herbs (ONE of the following: Thyme, Lemon Balm, Savory or Rosemary) plus...

1/2 lb Fresh Spinach

European Cucumber -or- Head Lettuce

Localvore Offerings Include:
Elmore Mountain Quebec Multigrain Bread

Champlain Orchards Empire Apples
VT Cranberry Co Balsamic Vinegar

Note - National Life members will receive their steel cut oats!

Pete's Musings
It's shaping up to be a great summer at Pete's Greens. We've taken advantage of the early spring to get a jump on crops and have peas up, potatoes in the ground, outside greens a week from
harvest, carrots coming up, etc. We're harvesting greenhouse cukes this week and greenhouse tomatoes will be ripening in about a month. Our new blueberry and rhubarb fields will be planted this week, and after last years failure we're scaling back but improving the methods for this year's ginger trial. Steve will spend the week working lime and manure into our new rented field that is slated for large plantings of onions and potatoes. Green and purple beans will be transplanted to a greenhouse later this week for a mid June harvest. We're firing on all cylinders and becoming better farmers every day. We hope you'll join us for the summer CSA share and visit us at the Montpelier farmers market and our improved farmstand in Craftsbury Village. ~Pete
Steve and Deb washing this week's super green spinach

Summer Share - 9 days left to get free T with Sign-Up

You will receive a colorful Pete's Greens t-shirt printed on an organic cotton T if we receive your sign up by May 1st.

The Summer Share begins on June 16th and runs through October 13th. This is an exciting share period spanning 18 prime weeks of the growing season.

Sign up for the Vegetable Only Share to ensure your weekly deliveries of Pete's diverse mix of super fresh organic vegetables.
Vegetable Only - $504 (avg. $28 a week)

Or sign up for the Vegetable/Localvore Share to receive the veggies and also a weekly selection of great organic and local pantry staples, all sourced very near the farm.

Vegetable/Localvore - $792 (avg. $44/week)


Meat Share available too, featuring 4 monthly deliveries of a selection of local, grass fed, and often organic meats.
Meat Share - $199 (avg. $50 a month)

Taking Meat Orders Now!
We have a small amount of meat available to share members and the order form is now on our website. We have a great assortment of our Bonnieview lamb, some Pete's Pastured Beef items, and some Yak sausage, and of course Pete's Pastured Chicken. The bulk order form is available on the website and the minimum meat order is $50. This is great opportunity to select a variety of meats for your freezer.

Because of our weekly CSA schedule, meat orders must be received on Wednesday to be packed Thursday or Friday for the following week's delivery. To avoid pick up errors we will not be delivering meat orders the week of May 5th. Email is best for getting forms to me, though mail will work too. If you cannot download the form please email me.

Pete's Pastured Chicken - Special Offer
Along with the meat order we have a special chicken offer for members. For a short time, you can stock up on our Pete's Pastured chicken at $3.50/lb. Minimum order is 5 birds, but this is a great price for extremely well raised birds. To take advantage of this price, please visit the bulk meat order page and download the meat order form. For more inf
o about our chickens, please visit the chicken page.

Welcome Bill Allen - our new Kitchen Manager!
We are thrilled to have Chef Bill Allen join us at the farm, bringing with him 30 years cooking experience. After growing up learning to cook in an Italian family that revered food, Bill spent 19 years in NYC honing his culinary skills. He made a point of learning to cook as many different cuisines as possible, working in kitchens specializing in Japanese, Italian, French, Pacific Rim, South African and down home comfort food. He even spent two years in the ice cream biz developing no fewer than 115 flavors for a NYC ice cream company, earning the title "Custard King" by NY's food cr
itics along the way.

Ready for a change of environment, Bill went on to several high end establishments in CT, Long Island and then southern California where he also worked on a couple of PBS cooking shows. But, missing his New England roots, Bill moved back east in 2000, this time to Vermont. He was a Fine Dining Chef Instructor at the New England Culinary Institute for 2 years. He then headed the kitchen at the restaurant “O” in Burlington. Since O he's worked for several high end catering companies and did a stint running the restaurant end of a resort in the Turks and Caicos.

Over time, and particularly while living in Vermont, Bill's passion for cooking locally and seasonally has grown. As a chef in our area, he enjoyed cooking with the wide array of vegetables grown on the farm and upon his return to VT from the islands he was excited to learn that we were looking for a kitchen manager. We are excited to be welcoming someone into the Pete's Greens kitchen with as much varied experience as Bill brings. In the months to come we will be developing new locavore products for the share and hopefully launching some version of a prepared food share! We welcome hearing from you about anything we create at the farm for the share. You can email Bill and me with questions or comments about recipes, a localvore offering, or food suggestions anytime.

Pete mentioned in Scientific American
In the article Breaking the Growth Habit in this month's Scientific American, author Bill McKibben insists that in order to slow the path of environmental damage we are on, society must break the habit of growth. Pete is mentioned in the article for the innovative moveable greenhouses he designed to grow food for the share year round. You can download a pdf of the article from the press page on our website.

Localvore Lore

Blair and Andrew have just returned from a vacation and just in time for this week's bread. This week from Elmore Mountain Bakery they are baking a special Quebec Multigrain bread made with Milanaise Winter Wheat, Milanaise Whole Wheat, Michele Goudreau's Cracked Grains, Sea Salt, and Sourdough.

Champlain Orchards
have sent along Empire apples this week. Empires are a cross between a Macintosh and Red Delicious. They are a great eating apple and are also excellent in salads and in sauces. Bill has used them in a muffin recipe this week. I've been putting them in my salads all winter and my kids plow through loads of them weekly. Great all around apple.

The balsamic vinegar in the share today is a little treasure. This is fantastic balsamic made right here in Vermont by Bob Lesnikowski, owner of Vt Cranberry Company. Along with being the sole cranberry grower in Vermont, Bob is a winemaker at Boyden Valley Winery. He brings to vinegar making the same high standards he adheres to for making wine. Each time he has a batch we try to secure enough for our Good Eats members!

Balsamic Vinegar, a traditional Italian delicacy is a delectable condiment made from wine grapes. We grow the Frontenac variety of wine grape. My balsamic vinegar is made from the Frontenac grape that is used for Boyden Valley Winery' s Ice wine. Once the ice wine is pressed, the remaining juice is used to make vinegar. I ferment and then acetify some of the juice and then the rest is reduced to 40 % of the volume. The reduction is blended with the vinegar and then barrel aged for 2 years. This balsamic is dense, supple and slightly sweet. Perfect for summer grilling or salads. ~Bob

Recipes

Balsamic Rosemary Chicken

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 lemons, juiced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
2 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary, stripped and roughly chopped
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 whole chicken, quartered

Whisk all ingredients together in bowl. Combine the chicken and balsamic mixture in a large plastic bag and toss well. Let marinate for at least 2 hours or up to 12.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove chicken from the bag and arrange the chicken pieces on a large greased baking dish. Roast until the chicken is just cooked through, about 1 hour. If your chicken browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the remaining cooking time.

This is also a great dish on your outdoor grill but make sure you have burners on low or the sugars in the vinegar will caramelized and burn.

Carrot & Apple Muffins

1.25 cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup carrots, peeled and grated
2 apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup milk
¼ cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 12-cup standard muffin tin or use muffin papers. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, combine carrots, apples, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Add half the carrot mixture to the flour mixture, stir until blended then add the rest pf the carrot mixture. Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Serve warm.

Potato, Celeriac & Zucchini Casserole

2 lbs. celeriac;, peeled, halved, thinly sliced
2 lbs. russet potatoes, thinly sliced
1 bag frozen zucchini, defrosted, pressed to remove excess water
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups grated Gruyère cheese
2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 cup whipping cream

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish.

Arrange 1/3 of celery root slices in dish. Top with 1/3 of potato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then 1/4 tsp. nutmeg. Top with half of onion slices, half of garlic, then all zucchini, then half of cheese. Repeat layering 1 more time.

Bring broth and cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Pour over vegetables. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Cover baking dish with foil. Bake casserole 1 hour. Remove foil. Bake until vegetables are very tender and liquid bubbles thickly and is slightly absorbed, about 55 minutes longer. Let sit 15 minutes.

Steamed Greens with Sesame-Ginger Sauce

.5 lb. pac choi, washed, drain and halved or quartered, dependent on size
1 lb. savoy cabbage, sliced on a bias ¼ inch thick
.5 lb. spinach
½ cup water
½ cups soy sauce
2 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. ginger finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup vinegar ( anything but balsamic)
¼ cup sesame seeds, lightly toasted

In a large bowl make an ice bath large enough to hold the steamed greens. In a large saucepan, bring a small amount of water to a boil. Add greens and steam until they are wilted. Using tongs, remove the greens and plunge in ice bath. Drain from ice bath and place on clean towels to dry. In another bowl, combine soy, sesame oil, honey, ginger, garlic and vinegar and whisk until well incorporated. Drizzle on amount of dressing as is to your liking and toss. Top with toasted sesame seeds.

Twice Baked Potatoes With Savory Green Sauce
Share member Lisa Scagliotti recently sent me a great cookbook which some of you may already use. It's called from the Cook's Garden and is written by Ellen Ecker Ogden. For any of you who have used the Cook's Garden seeds and leafed through the pages of the seed catalog, the book will be familiar as all of the illustration is done by Mary Azarian. The recipes are seasonal and use much that can be grown in our climate. And so here is a baked potato recipe, in which you can use this week's russets and fresh greens, and a bit of last week's horseradish! Thanks Lisa!

6 large baking potatoes, scrubbed, patted dry, and poked several times with a fork
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup milk or half-and-half
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

SAVORY GREEN SAUCE
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream
1 teaspoon freshly grated horseradish root, or use prepared horseradish
2 cups mixed cooking greens and herbs, such as a combination of fresh spinach, young kale, or mustard greens

Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450°F.
Place the potatoes on a baking sheet. Bake until the potatoes are tender, about 1 hour. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, and scoop out the flesh into a bowl, leaving potato-skin shells. Mash the potato flesh with the butter and milk, and season with the salt and pepper. Refill the shells and, if necessary, return to the oven to keep warm.
In the meantime, make the sauce. Fit a food processor with the metal blade. With the machine running, drop the garlic through the feed tube to mince the garlic. Add the yogurt and horseradish and pulse to combine. Add the greens and process until the greens are pureed. Serve the potatoes hot, with the sauce passed on the side.

Celeriac Remoulade
Here's another from the Cook's Garden recipe. If you look up celeriac you often find a remoulade recipe, but I don't think I have put one in for nearly a year. In honor of the book and the celeriac in the share this week, I thought it might be nice for you all to be reminded of the option. This is like a cole slaw, but with a zesty celeriac twist.

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp Parsley, finely minced

2 tbsp Tarragon, finely minced

1 Garlic clove, finely minced

2 Sweet pickles (opt'l.) finely chopped

2 Young celeriac knobs (around 2 to 2.5 cups) coarsely grated

In a medium size bowl, mix together all ingredients but celeriac. Add
 celeriac; toss until completely coated. Cover and chill until ready to
 serve.

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