Summer Good Eats News
Next week June 13th is the last delivery of the Good Eats Spring Share.
It has gone by so quickly! I am in the throes of sign up, answering
member questions, uploading folks to the data base, doing data entry,
receiving payments and trying to make arrangments for a few new sites.
We do have some news...
NEW SHARE TYPE! We are introducing the Small Veggie Only Share for Summer.
Our Spring experiment with packing these smaller shares has gone well
so they will continue on. At $22/week these smaller shares are great
for small households.
NEW SITES!
St Johnsbury - Natural Provisions - Thursday delivery
Woodstock - FH Gillingham & Sons General Store - Thursday delivery, Veggie Only shares ONLY.
We are looking into sites in Middlebury, Jay Peak and Derby too.
If you have questions about summer or site suggestions, please email me! ~ Amy
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Cooking for Craftsbury Kids 2
We
were back at Craftsbury School last week for our second time cooking
lunch for the students there. Deb served our barbecued chicken with our
mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and pumpkin bread made with our squash
puree. Some of the kids loved the pumpkin bread so much that after
they had seconds they offered to clean up for thirds, and then they
skipped recess and swept the floor for fourths! Pete went to the
elementary school and had lunch with the kids there while they chatted
with him and asked him questions about the farm. Again, it was fun for us, and the kids really loved the connection. We
have one more
Craftsbury School lunch date before school ends. Next Monday we are
providing an all local salad bar. Over the Summer we'll work with the
school to determine how we'll participate on a regular basis in Fall.
Very exciting.
~ Amy
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June 20th - October 10th, 2012
(17 weeks of Vermont's finest eating)
Procrastinators the time to act is now!
Just one week left of the Spring share.
Have you signed up for Summer?
We must receive your sign-up and payment in by June 14th
to get you started with the first delivery June 20th.
FIVE Share Types for Summer:
Veggie Only - delivers a weekly delivery of fresh, organic veggies from the farm.
NEW! Small Veggie Only - delivers a smaller mix of weekly veggies.
Localvore Share - delivers the same fresh vegetables and wonderful local staples and artisan products to fill your pantry.
Pete's Pantry Share - just the localvore products, no veggies
Meat Share - delivers a monthly selection of local, pastured meats
with another healthy, local and delicious season of Good Eats!
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Storage and Use Tips
Vulcan Head Lettuce
- The big red leaf head lettuces this week are called Vulcan. They are
just gorgeous and will make wonderful tender salad this week.
Watercress
- (Veggie Only members) Eaten cooked or raw, watercress has a slight
peppery flavor. Try it in a classic British sandwich: butter and cream
cheese spread on two slices of bread with watercress in between. Liven
this simple sandwich up with thinly sliced radishes or cucumbers. This
is another in the superfood group. Watercress is a very powerful
antioxidant. A two year study published in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition in 2007 determined that eating watercress daily can
significantly reduce DNA damage to blood cells, which is considered to
be an important trigger in the development of cancer. It is brimming
with more than 15 essential vitamins and minerals. Gram for gram, it
contains more iron than spinach, more vitamin C than oranges and more
calcium than
milk.
Sunchokes
- (Localvore members) Sunchokes (aka Jerusalem Artichokes) are the
tuber of a perennial flower in the sunflower/aster family and are native
to North America. Sunchokes can be eaten raw or cooked in all the same
ways that you can cook potatoes. Scrub the tubers thoroughly with a
brush. Peeling can be difficult because of the knobbiness and is not
necessary, the peels are edible. Like potatoes the flesh will darken
with exposure to air so if serving them raw, dip in acidulated water.
Because of high levels of iron, stored cooked sunchokes will also turn
gray. This can be minimized by adding ¼ tsp cream of tartar or 1 TB
vinegar or lemon juice to the cooking water. They cook quickly and will
turn to mush so monitor carefully. Sunchokes should be stored in a cool,
dry place or in the
vegetable drawer wrapped in paper towels to absorb moisture and sealed
in a plastic bag.
Beets and Beet Greens
- (Localvore members) Hooray for the first round of beets! I just had
my first last week. I have been grating beets on my salads daily since
then and they have brightened up the salad world considerably. The
beets are still small, but they will size up quickly in the next couple
weeks in the field. Beet greens I have been tossing into any dishes I
am cooking or more often than not, tossing them in my yogurt, banana,
carrot, beet greens/chard smoothies. Try it, you won't be
disappointed. Do separate beet greens from the beets and store each
separately, loosely wrapped in a plastic bag.
Leeks
- Leeks belong to the allium family along with garlic, onions,
shallots, and scallions. Leeks feature a fragrant flavor that is
reminiscent of shallots but sweeter and more subtle than onions. Leeks
add a subtle touch to recipes without overpowering the other flavors
that are present. Leeks tend to collect dirt in between the tops of
their long leaves. It is important to wash between leaf folds to remove
dirt. To use, make thin slices across the leek from the base of the
white elongated bulb on up. These leeks are so tender that you can go
ahead and include most of the greens too. As leeks age, these outer
green leaves become tougher, but right now they are perfect. Store
wrapped in plastic in the fridge.
A note about our Potatoes
- It's the end of the storage season for crops that were harvested in
the Fall of 2011. At this time of year we are culling a higher
percentage of each crop as we pull it from storage, wash it, and sort
for you. Our potatoes seem to have experienced some cold in our new
cooler that we built last Fall, and in particular, the Nicola's (the
yellow potatoes) suffered. We work hard to sort the potatoes each week
and hope we are doing a good job for you all. I had an email from a
member last week whose potatoes weren't good when she cut into them. If
you experience this, please do let me know.
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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 Pantry, or you can skip your share delivery and you will retain
a credit on your account toward the purchase of your next share.
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Localvore Lore
We have Red Hen Bread this week and Randy is baking his Crosset Hill loaf: a humble loaf with an exciting story.
We
have been working with Ben Gleason of Bridport for 12 of the 30 years
that he's been growing wheat in Vermont and Tom Kenyon from Charlotte
for the last 4 years. This bread is the result of their hard work and
their willingness to collaborate with us. 35% of the flour in the
Crossett Hill is a stone-milled and sifted flour that Ben produces on
his new mill. The remaining wheat is grown at Aurora Farms in
Charlotte. Tom Kenyon began growing hard red winter wheat at our
request 6 years ago and, after experiencing two years of crop failure,
he has succeeded for the 3 consecutive crop years. His winter wheat is
milled into an unbleached wheat flour for us by Champlain Valley Mills
in Westport, NY. This bread, a classic pain de campagne (naturally
leavened French country bread), also has some whole rye flour. We are
surprised and delighted to find that the local wheat is very well suited
to this style of bread. It's my favorite loaf because of it's flavor
and versatility. Enjoy! ~ Randy
Harbison Cheese from Jasper Hill Farm in
Greensboro, VT is a bark-wrapped bloomy-rind cheese with woodsy, sweet,
herbal, and bright flavors. It is made with pasteurized cow's milk and
aged 3-6 weeks. They named their newest cheese after Anne Harbison, seen
by many to be the grandmother of Greensboro, VT. She's active in the
community, runs a bed and breakfast, and volunteers at the public
library, and has known the Kehler brothers since they were children. The
bark, cut from Jasper Hill Farm's woodlands holds the delicate cheese
together, provides flavor to the creamy paste, and allows for an ideal
presentation as
the centerpiece of a cheese plate. This is a delicious cheese that we
are eager to share with you
Localvores will also receive a 5 lb bag of Organic Rolled Oats from
organic grower Michel Gaudreau of Golden Crops Mill, across the border
in Quebec. Michel grows quite a few different grains on his farm and
mills grains for organic growers in his area. He has a great operation
in a beautiful setting surrounded by his fields. Michel's Golden Crops
Mill makes many organic grains available locally that we might not
otherwise have local access to and we are grateful for his commitment.
These are beautiful, clean organic rolled oats ideal for oatmeal,
granola, cookies, streusel toppings etc. See below for a solid granola
recipe or one for oatmeal.
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Meat Share
The Meat share this week begins with a big Pete's Pastured Chicken, large enough that it should provide a great meal and plenty of leftovers.
Next we have Mountain Foot Farm Trout
from Curt Sjolander in Wheelock, VT. What a treat to have trout again,
it's been since 2010! Curt grows brown trout (and vegetables) on his
farm in Wheelock, VT. These are brown trout that were alive and well
last Wednesday before they were caught and cleaned and brought to the
farm and frozen Thursday afternoon. It takes a long time for the trout
to reach a marketable size, and that is why there is often a long time
span between their appearance in the meat share. Though they are farm
raised and fed high protein commercial fish pellets, Curt's fish are
never medicated. They remain free
of any disease (they are tested) because of the low stocking density and
the cold, high quality fresh water Curt provides them with. Curt's fish
are a fine example of fish farmed in a sustainable way. The fish have
been descaled and cleaned, but the skin and bones remain. I have given a
simple baked trout recipe below.
We also have Greenfield Highland Beef
Sirloin Steaks this week. I am including my very favorite marinade
below for your grilling pleasure. At Greenfield Highland Beef, Janet and
Ray raise Scotch Highland Cattle, bred in the hills of Scotland for the
traits of hardiness, longevity, vigor and reproductive efficiency.
Highland Cattle are thrifty, slower growing and fiercely maternal, yet
docile. The breed is known for its healthful, lean, richly flavored
beef. The Highland Cattle’s ability to digest a variety of plants and
grasses make it a perfect choice for those who want to consume 100%
Grass Fed beef. Ray and Janet of Greenfield Highland Beef continue to
raise cattle on the same rugged
hillside farm where Ray’s parents, Carroll and Polly began these animals
in 1967.
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Recipes
Napa Cabbage Salad
There
are so many versions of Napa cabbage salad. This one from Gourmet
highlights the cilantro, and skips the mayo that many call for.
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated peeled ginger
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or sub in 1 TB sesame oil if you have it)
1 fresh serrano chile, finely chopped, with seeds (or a jalapeño, or some hot sauce)
1 head Napa cabbage (1 1/2 pounds), cored and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
1 bunch scallions, sliced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
*optional - 1/4 cup toasted almonds
*optional adds for color - grated carrots or beets
Whisk together vinegar, sugar, ginger, oil, chile, and 1/2 teaspoon
salt. Add remaining ingredients and toss well. Let stand, tossing
occasionally, 10 minutes.
Leek and Watercress Soup
8 oz Watercress - approx (reserve a few leaves for garnishing) - you
could sub in some mustard greens here to augment if you don't have
enough Watercress.
4 oz butter
5 leeks, washed and chopped
4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 pints stock (veg or chicken will do)
4 heaped tablespoons crème fraîche
salt and freshly milled black pepper
First of all melt the butter in a large thick-based saucepan, then add
the prepared leeks, potato and watercress and stir them around so that
they're coated with the melted butter.
Next
sprinkle in some salt then cover with a lid and let the vegetables
sweat over a very gentle heat for about 20 minutes, giving the mixture a
good stir about halfway through.
After
that, add the stock, bring everything up to simmering point and simmer,
covered, for about 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are quite
tender. Then remove the pan from the heat and when it's cooled a little
liquidise the soup – you'll need to do this in batches.
Then
return it all to the saucepan, swirl in three tablespoons of crème
fraîche, season to taste and reheat very gently. Then serve in hot soup
bowls and garnish each one with a little extra crème fraîche and some
watercress leaves.
Stir-Fried Bok Choi with Cilantro and Roasted Peanuts
A quick easy yummy side.
4 Tablespoons whole roasted peanuts
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
pinch of salt
1 large bunch of bok choi
2 Tablespoons peanut oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
4 teaspoons minced ginger
2 Tablespoons Tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed in 3 Tablespoons water
(this step is skip-able if don't want to use cortnstarch)
1 cup chopped cilantro
Fry the peanuts, pepper flakes pinch salt in 1 teaspoon peanut oil for about 1 minute. Set aside.
Slice
the stems off of 1 bunch of bok choi, and cut them into ½ inch pieces.
Leave the leaves whole, or if they are very large cut in half
crosswise. Heat the other tablespoon oil until very hot then add the
onion and ginger and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the bok choi
stems and leaves and stir-fry until wilted and glossy. Then add the soy
sauce and cornstarch mixture and cilantro and stir-fry for another
minute. Add the peanut mixture and serve warm.
Lemon and Herb Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes
This
one has been adapted slightly from a recipe in Andrea Chessman's
Serving Up the Harvest. This is a simple and tasty way to get to know
this vegetable a bit better.
1 lb Sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes)
1.5 TB olive oil
1 garlic clove
a light sprinkling of parsley or basil
zest of a 1/4 lemon
coarse or kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 500F and lightly grease a shallow roasting pan with oil.
Scrub the sunchokes well or peel them. Cut off the irregular knobs to
make reasonably regular shapes. Cut the sunchokes into 1-inch pieces.
Combine sunchokes with the oil in a large bowl and toss to coat. Arrange
in a single layer in the prepared pan.
Roast for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally for even
cooking. While the sunchokes roast, combine the basil, garlic, and lemon
zest in a mini food processor or on your cutting board and finely chop.
Sprinkle the lemon-herb mixture over the sunchokes and continue to
roast for about 5 more minutes. The sunchokes should be well browned and
tender, and the garlic should be fragrant but not burned.
Transfer the chokes to a serving bowl or platter. Sprinkle with salt and serve at once.
Grilled or Broiled Whole Trout with Herbs and Bacon
This
is a great, tasty and simple way to cook your fish. If you don't have a
handful of fresh herbs, you could also put some lemon slices in the
fish.
2 whole trout
1/2 cup fresh herbs such as tarragon, thyme, marjoram, etc.
olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 pound bacon
Rinse fish and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper inside and out.
Place fresh herbs inside cavity of fish. Lightly oil both sides of fish.
Wrap seasoned, oiled fish with bacon mummy style, leaving head and tail
exposed.
Place fish under the broiler (or on the grill, covered). Cook
undisturbed for 3-4 minutes, taking care not to burn the bacon (move to a
lower rack if necessary). Turn and continue to cok. Turn again if
necessary. The fish is done when the bacon is crisp and there are no
longer any traces of blood in the body cavity. No more than 12-15
minutes and could be a good bit less in a hot oven.
Place fish onto platter and serve immediately.
Citrus Herb Marinade
This
is the standard steak marinade in our house, it only takes about 3
minutes to throw together. Citrus really works well to tenderize a piece
of meat and this marinade never disappoints. It is quick to prepare and
substitutions work out just fine. You can prepare it ahead of time and
it can sit in the fridge for up to a week. Marinate beef in this for 2
hours or better yet 24 for an incredibly full flavaored & tender steaks.
Combine and then place with steaks in a ziplock bag or other sealed container.
1/4 cup sunflower oil or olive oil
1.5 TB lemon juice
1.5 TB orange juice
1/3 c parsley (if you have onb hand)
1.5 tsp dried thyme
1 crumbled bay leaf
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 - 1/2 tsp black pepper
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