Good Eats Newsletter - Mar 31, 2010
This Week's Vegetable Share Contains:
2 lbs Purple Adirondack Potatoes; 2 lbs Chiogga Beets; 2 lbs Rutabagas or Gilfeather Turnips; .5 lb Valentine Radishes, .25 lb Garlic plus….
Bag of Shoots/Mesclun Mix
Frozen Winter Squash Puree
Localvore Offerings Include:
Elmore Mountain Maple Oat Bread
1 Quart Sunflower Oil
Butterworks Yogurt
Pete's Musings
Ah - the joys of the tomato greenhouse in March. All is in perfect order, the willowy plants reaching their roots into the warm, moist soil and the stems and leaves reaching upward, more each day. It smells great, fecund and fresh, like life. The cukes line one wall-they are the most supercharged of all vegetables growing 6 inches a day once they get established. You must tend them almost like animals with near daily feeding and pruning. We have baby tomatoes, the fruit have set even without the help of the pollinating bumblebees that arrive later this week. The soil is 80 degrees thanks to warm water coursing through pipes a foot deep. That warmth drifts up through the plant leaves, providing perfect growing conditions. Pac choi, head lettuce, and basil line the edges of the bed-we'll be enjoying them in just a couple weeks. 80 degrees this Saturday - spring is here! ~ Pete
Summer Share Sign Up
As you all know by now, Summer sign-up is underway and the sign ups are rolling in. The Summer Share brings a pretty amazing assortment of produce over the course of the18 week share. This season brings to members virtually all types of veggies grown on the farm in that short time. And you get a free Pete's Greens T if you sign up by May 1st! Please visit the Summer Share page on our website for complete details and to download an order form.
Vegetable Only Share - Members receive the weekly share of Pete's organic vegetables. $504 for 18 weeks of deliveries ($28/week).
Localvore Share - The share you all are familiar with. Members receive the weekly share of vegetables plus a selection of locally produced staples. $792 for 18 weeks of deliveries ($44/week).
Interested in Splitting Your Summer Share?
If you would like to join for summer but would like to split your share with someone, please visit the Member's Seeking page on our website to see if there is someone there looking to split a share at your pick up location. If there isn't, let me know and I'll put a post on our website for you so others can see that you are looking for a share partner!
NOFA's Farm Share Program
For the third year, Pete's Greens has partnered with the Northeast Organic Farming Association's Farm Share Program. In 2008 and 2009, the program helped 40 limited income families gain access to fresh local produce through a Pete's Greens Good Eats share, and so far 9 families have been able to participate this year.
Eligible Farm Share recipients pay only 50% of the cost of a share. The other 50% comes from donations - 25% from Pete's Greens member donations and 25% from NOFA. (NOFA's funds are raised from their annual Share the Harvest Event in which participating restaurants pledge a portion of the day's sales to the program.) The number of Farm Share grants Pete's is able to offer each share period depends entirely on the number of donations we receive from you, our members. Please consider a donation to the Farm Share program when you sign up for your own share. Your donation will directly fund a portion of a share for someone, and lots of small donations really do make a difference.
Pa Pa Doodles Farm Featured on Seven Days
Eva Sollberger visited Deb Rosewolf aka The Egg Lady a week ago, and her video is now posted for your viewing on the Seven Days site. For a glimpse into where our Good Eats eggs come from, please check out the video! Deb has been working at Pete's Greens for a few years now. When she started at the farm Pete had his first flock of hens with which he intended to supply the eggs for Good Eats. Deb enjoyed the hens so much that she decided to bring them home to her farm and supply the eggs herself. It's been great for all involved. Deb is just starting a new flock of young hens so we won't see eggs for another couple weeks, but they'll be back soon.
Pete's Pastured Chicken
We still have some chicken for your dinner table!
We have quite a variety of sizes for you to choose from too, from 4 pounders to 7 lb birds suitable for a feast (or a week of chicken sandwiches!
Our chickens are raised on pasture and live a very happy chicken life. The forage they eat throughout their lives makes their meat far more nutritious than most chicken you will find on the market.
You can order chickens and have them delivered to your site any week that isn't a meat share delivery week. Minimum order is 3 birds and birds are priced at $3.75/lb.
Click here to visit our chicken page and download an order form.
Localvore Lore
Blair and Andrew have been inspired by all the maple sugaring happening in their neck of the woods lately and decided to tweak their Honey Oat bread for Good Eats members. So this week we have Elmore Mountain Maple Oat for you combining Butternut Mountain Farm maple syrup, Milaniase winter wheat and whole wheat flours, Michel Gaudreau's rolled oats, sea salt, and yeast. Should be yummy!
At Butterworks Farm, Jack and Annie Lazor milk a small herd of Jerseys, all of whom are born on the farm and are fed entirely organic feeds grown on the farm. Milk from Jersey cows is rich, with a high protein count and fat content and yogurt made from this milk is richer than others. The non fat yogurt produced by Butterworks is the only non fat yogurt on the market that does not contain milk thickeners like whey protein or dry milk. Their whole milk yogurt is made from just that, whole jersey milk straight from the cows, so the yogurt comes with cream on top and a butterfat content of 5%, the highest on the market. There will be a mix of yogurts at the sites this week - non fat plain, vanilla, and lemon and whole milk plain. The non fat vanilla and lemon are flavored with pure vanilla extract and natural lemon flavoring respectively, and both are sweetened with pure maple syrup.
The organic sunflower oil comes from John Williamson's State Line Farm in Shaftsbury, VT. This is a good all purpose mild flavored oil that you can use wherever a recipe calls for vegetable oil. We will send it in a plastic quart container, but we recommend transferring it to a glass container. If you will not use the oil quickly in your household, it's best to store it in the fridge. This is an unrefined product and it can spoil. In the fridge it will last indefinitely. It may get a little cloudy in your fridge but this is normal and the cloudiness will dissipate as it warms up. John and partner Steve Plummer did not start out with the intention to make sunflower oil for consumption but instead built Vermont's first on farm biodiesel facility pressing oilseeds grown on site to be used as bio fuel. But they are able to press the same seeds to create a very high quality oil for consumption, and we all are lucky beneficiaries.
Sunflower oil is high in vitamin E and oleic acid and is low in saturated fat, traits which make it a good choice of oil with cardiovascular benefits. Like many other vegetable oils however, the lack of saturated fats in the oil means that it can break down with high heat producing unhealthy compounds. After reading through many reports on oils and sunflower oil specifically, I think the take home message is that in general this is a very healthy oil selection, and great for a range of uses. But care should be used in not burning the oil (or most other vegetable oils) when cooking.
Recipes
Once again this week, Chef Bill Allen has sent along a couple of his recipe suggestions - Roasted Root Vegetables and a South American Butternut Bisque. Thanks Bill!
Roasted Root Vegetables
1 pound red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, washed well, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound Chiogga beets, tip and root top cut, washed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound rutabagas, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound turnips, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 red onions, skinned, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or thyme
1/2 cup sunflower or olive oil
8 garlic cloves, peeled
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 2 half sheet pans or cookie sheets in oven. Buy heating the pans first, it will prevent sticking of vegetables. Combine all remaining ingredients except garlic in very large bowl; toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Divide vegetable mixture between prepared sheets. Roast 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reverse positions of baking sheets for even cooking. Add 4 garlic cloves to each baking sheet. Continue to roast until all vegetables are tender and brown in spots, stirring and turning vegetables occasionally, about 30 minutes longer or until you can easily pierce the vegetables with a paring knife.
South American Butternut Bisque
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, peeled, seeded, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red chili, seeded, chopped
2 pounds winter squash peeled, cut into 1/2" cubes such as butternut or acorn
4 cups vegetable stock
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 bunch parsley or cilantro, washed and finely chopped
Saute onions, tomato, garlic, and hot peppers in the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until the onion is softened and the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. Stir in the squash and the stock and simmer. Reduce heat, stir in salt and sugar, then simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Turn of heat and stir in cilantro or parsley. Garnish with dollop of sour cream or yogurt.
Baked Chioggia Beet Chips
Here's a recipe for turning your pretty chiogga beets into beet chips. The beets need to be sliced thin, but not too thin! A thicker chip will hold up to a dip, which is a good thing. The trick with these chips is to take them out of the oven earlier than you think. They won't get crispy in the oven, they need to crisp as they cool, so start checking by taking a few out of the oven instead of peaking at them while they are still inside.
2 medium beets with stems trimmed to 1 inch
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon sunflower oil
Sea salt
Peel beets with a vegetable peeler, then slice thinly (but not too thinly) with mandolin or sharp knife, using stems as handles.
Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add beets, then remove pan from heat and let stand 15 minutes. Drain beets in a colander, discarding liquid, then let stand in colander 15 minutes more. Toss beets with oil and salt.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 225°F.
Line a shallow baking pan with nonstick liner, then arrange beet slices snugly in 1 layer. Bake beets until dry, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Immediately transfer chips to a rack to cool (chips will crisp as they cool).
Butternut Squash Bread
I like that this recipe calls for many ingredients you have recently received. And that it sounds rich and delicious!
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
1 1/4 cups butternut squash puree
1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sunfower oil
1/3 cup honey, maple syrup, or agave
1 teaspoon salt
7 cups all-purpose flour (or a mix of flours)
In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water; let stand for 5 minutes. Add squash, milk, eggs, oils, syrup and salt; mix well. Gradually add 3-1/2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Shape into three loaves; place in greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until tops are golden. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks.
2 lbs Purple Adirondack Potatoes; 2 lbs Chiogga Beets; 2 lbs Rutabagas or Gilfeather Turnips; .5 lb Valentine Radishes, .25 lb Garlic plus….
Bag of Shoots/Mesclun Mix
Frozen Winter Squash Puree
Localvore Offerings Include:
Elmore Mountain Maple Oat Bread
1 Quart Sunflower Oil
Butterworks Yogurt
Pete's Musings
Ah - the joys of the tomato greenhouse in March. All is in perfect order, the willowy plants reaching their roots into the warm, moist soil and the stems and leaves reaching upward, more each day. It smells great, fecund and fresh, like life. The cukes line one wall-they are the most supercharged of all vegetables growing 6 inches a day once they get established. You must tend them almost like animals with near daily feeding and pruning. We have baby tomatoes, the fruit have set even without the help of the pollinating bumblebees that arrive later this week. The soil is 80 degrees thanks to warm water coursing through pipes a foot deep. That warmth drifts up through the plant leaves, providing perfect growing conditions. Pac choi, head lettuce, and basil line the edges of the bed-we'll be enjoying them in just a couple weeks. 80 degrees this Saturday - spring is here! ~ Pete
Summer Share Sign Up
As you all know by now, Summer sign-up is underway and the sign ups are rolling in. The Summer Share brings a pretty amazing assortment of produce over the course of the18 week share. This season brings to members virtually all types of veggies grown on the farm in that short time. And you get a free Pete's Greens T if you sign up by May 1st! Please visit the Summer Share page on our website for complete details and to download an order form.
Vegetable Only Share - Members receive the weekly share of Pete's organic vegetables. $504 for 18 weeks of deliveries ($28/week).
Localvore Share - The share you all are familiar with. Members receive the weekly share of vegetables plus a selection of locally produced staples. $792 for 18 weeks of deliveries ($44/week).
Interested in Splitting Your Summer Share?
If you would like to join for summer but would like to split your share with someone, please visit the Member's Seeking page on our website to see if there is someone there looking to split a share at your pick up location. If there isn't, let me know and I'll put a post on our website for you so others can see that you are looking for a share partner!
NOFA's Farm Share Program
For the third year, Pete's Greens has partnered with the Northeast Organic Farming Association's Farm Share Program. In 2008 and 2009, the program helped 40 limited income families gain access to fresh local produce through a Pete's Greens Good Eats share, and so far 9 families have been able to participate this year.
Eligible Farm Share recipients pay only 50% of the cost of a share. The other 50% comes from donations - 25% from Pete's Greens member donations and 25% from NOFA. (NOFA's funds are raised from their annual Share the Harvest Event in which participating restaurants pledge a portion of the day's sales to the program.) The number of Farm Share grants Pete's is able to offer each share period depends entirely on the number of donations we receive from you, our members. Please consider a donation to the Farm Share program when you sign up for your own share. Your donation will directly fund a portion of a share for someone, and lots of small donations really do make a difference.
Pa Pa Doodles Farm Featured on Seven Days
Eva Sollberger visited Deb Rosewolf aka The Egg Lady a week ago, and her video is now posted for your viewing on the Seven Days site. For a glimpse into where our Good Eats eggs come from, please check out the video! Deb has been working at Pete's Greens for a few years now. When she started at the farm Pete had his first flock of hens with which he intended to supply the eggs for Good Eats. Deb enjoyed the hens so much that she decided to bring them home to her farm and supply the eggs herself. It's been great for all involved. Deb is just starting a new flock of young hens so we won't see eggs for another couple weeks, but they'll be back soon.Pete's Pastured Chicken
We still have some chicken for your dinner table!
We have quite a variety of sizes for you to choose from too, from 4 pounders to 7 lb birds suitable for a feast (or a week of chicken sandwiches!Our chickens are raised on pasture and live a very happy chicken life. The forage they eat throughout their lives makes their meat far more nutritious than most chicken you will find on the market.
You can order chickens and have them delivered to your site any week that isn't a meat share delivery week. Minimum order is 3 birds and birds are priced at $3.75/lb.
Click here to visit our chicken page and download an order form.
Localvore Lore
Blair and Andrew have been inspired by all the maple sugaring happening in their neck of the woods lately and decided to tweak their Honey Oat bread for Good Eats members. So this week we have Elmore Mountain Maple Oat for you combining Butternut Mountain Farm maple syrup, Milaniase winter wheat and whole wheat flours, Michel Gaudreau's rolled oats, sea salt, and yeast. Should be yummy!
At Butterworks Farm, Jack and Annie Lazor milk a small herd of Jerseys, all of whom are born on the farm and are fed entirely organic feeds grown on the farm. Milk from Jersey cows is rich, with a high protein count and fat content and yogurt made from this milk is richer than others. The non fat yogurt produced by Butterworks is the only non fat yogurt on the market that does not contain milk thickeners like whey protein or dry milk. Their whole milk yogurt is made from just that, whole jersey milk straight from the cows, so the yogurt comes with cream on top and a butterfat content of 5%, the highest on the market. There will be a mix of yogurts at the sites this week - non fat plain, vanilla, and lemon and whole milk plain. The non fat vanilla and lemon are flavored with pure vanilla extract and natural lemon flavoring respectively, and both are sweetened with pure maple syrup.
The organic sunflower oil comes from John Williamson's State Line Farm in Shaftsbury, VT. This is a good all purpose mild flavored oil that you can use wherever a recipe calls for vegetable oil. We will send it in a plastic quart container, but we recommend transferring it to a glass container. If you will not use the oil quickly in your household, it's best to store it in the fridge. This is an unrefined product and it can spoil. In the fridge it will last indefinitely. It may get a little cloudy in your fridge but this is normal and the cloudiness will dissipate as it warms up. John and partner Steve Plummer did not start out with the intention to make sunflower oil for consumption but instead built Vermont's first on farm biodiesel facility pressing oilseeds grown on site to be used as bio fuel. But they are able to press the same seeds to create a very high quality oil for consumption, and we all are lucky beneficiaries.
Sunflower oil is high in vitamin E and oleic acid and is low in saturated fat, traits which make it a good choice of oil with cardiovascular benefits. Like many other vegetable oils however, the lack of saturated fats in the oil means that it can break down with high heat producing unhealthy compounds. After reading through many reports on oils and sunflower oil specifically, I think the take home message is that in general this is a very healthy oil selection, and great for a range of uses. But care should be used in not burning the oil (or most other vegetable oils) when cooking.
Recipes
Once again this week, Chef Bill Allen has sent along a couple of his recipe suggestions - Roasted Root Vegetables and a South American Butternut Bisque. Thanks Bill!
Roasted Root Vegetables
1 pound red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, washed well, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound Chiogga beets, tip and root top cut, washed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound rutabagas, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound turnips, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 red onions, skinned, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or thyme
1/2 cup sunflower or olive oil
8 garlic cloves, peeled
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 2 half sheet pans or cookie sheets in oven. Buy heating the pans first, it will prevent sticking of vegetables. Combine all remaining ingredients except garlic in very large bowl; toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Divide vegetable mixture between prepared sheets. Roast 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reverse positions of baking sheets for even cooking. Add 4 garlic cloves to each baking sheet. Continue to roast until all vegetables are tender and brown in spots, stirring and turning vegetables occasionally, about 30 minutes longer or until you can easily pierce the vegetables with a paring knife.
South American Butternut Bisque
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, peeled, seeded, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red chili, seeded, chopped
2 pounds winter squash peeled, cut into 1/2" cubes such as butternut or acorn
4 cups vegetable stock
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 bunch parsley or cilantro, washed and finely chopped
Saute onions, tomato, garlic, and hot peppers in the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until the onion is softened and the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. Stir in the squash and the stock and simmer. Reduce heat, stir in salt and sugar, then simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Turn of heat and stir in cilantro or parsley. Garnish with dollop of sour cream or yogurt.
Baked Chioggia Beet Chips
Here's a recipe for turning your pretty chiogga beets into beet chips. The beets need to be sliced thin, but not too thin! A thicker chip will hold up to a dip, which is a good thing. The trick with these chips is to take them out of the oven earlier than you think. They won't get crispy in the oven, they need to crisp as they cool, so start checking by taking a few out of the oven instead of peaking at them while they are still inside.
2 medium beets with stems trimmed to 1 inch
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon sunflower oil
Sea salt
Peel beets with a vegetable peeler, then slice thinly (but not too thinly) with mandolin or sharp knife, using stems as handles.
Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add beets, then remove pan from heat and let stand 15 minutes. Drain beets in a colander, discarding liquid, then let stand in colander 15 minutes more. Toss beets with oil and salt.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 225°F.
Line a shallow baking pan with nonstick liner, then arrange beet slices snugly in 1 layer. Bake beets until dry, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Immediately transfer chips to a rack to cool (chips will crisp as they cool).
Butternut Squash Bread
I like that this recipe calls for many ingredients you have recently received. And that it sounds rich and delicious!
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
1 1/4 cups butternut squash puree
1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sunfower oil
1/3 cup honey, maple syrup, or agave
1 teaspoon salt
7 cups all-purpose flour (or a mix of flours)
In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water; let stand for 5 minutes. Add squash, milk, eggs, oils, syrup and salt; mix well. Gradually add 3-1/2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Shape into three loaves; place in greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until tops are golden. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks.
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