Good Eats Newsletter - June 26, 2013



Localvore Members 
& Regular Veggie Only Share Members
take a LIGHT GREEN BAG

This week your bag will contain:

Mesclun; Pac Choi; Rainbow Chard; Radishes; Radicchio; Baby Leeks; Zucchini; Dill; Potatoes; Carrots


Localvore Offerings Include:


Elmore Mountain Heritage Red Fife Wheat Bread
Golden Crops Organic Rolled Oats
Woods Market Garden Strawberries
Fat Rooster Farm Rhubarb



Small Veggie Only Members
take a YELLOW BAG containing:

Mesclun; Rainbow Chard; Radishes;
Zucchini; Dill; Potatoes; Carrots

It's a great time to be a Good Eats member - greens are very heavy this time of year. You're getting another large bag of mesclun this week! 

The new Barre delivery starts tomorrow!  Please email us if you would like to change to this new site and haven't already received a confirmation email.

Johnson members will now pick up on Thursday instead of Wednesday.


Good Eats CSA Update

How did the first week of the Spring Share go for you?

We had a pretty good pick up across all sites with just a few snafus.

Thank you to all of you for being careful with pick up!

I am hoping that instructions were clear and easy to follow.  Please let me know if you had any difficulties or have any questions.  Because so many are new this share and we have had new folks join us this week, I am posting the pick up instructions again below.

Hope you enjoyed the first week of your share!

We have room for more members this summer so if you have friends or family who you think may be interested in joining us, have them get in touch or send them to the website to explore.


Share Pick-Up Instructions! Please review.

Whether you are a seasoned CSA share member or new to Good Eats, it's important to review the pick-up instructions before you head out to pick up your share!

Clipboard #1,
Find your name on the Names List - Find your name on the pick-up list and check it off.  The first clipboard contains a list of all share members at your site. Note that only one name is listed for each share. If you can't find your name on the list, look for your share partner's name (only one of you is listed). Checking off your name lets us know who has picked up and is extremely helpful in solving any mysteries at the end of the day. If you can't find your name or your share partner's name, please don't take a share! Call or email us and we'll figure it out.

Check your share type on the Names  List. Share types are Localvore, Localvore Vegetarian, Veggie Only, Small Veggie Only, Pete's Pantry or Meat Share. If you are listed incorrectly or have questions, let us know.

Clipboard #2,
Pick-Up Instructions - Select your items by following the Pick-Up Instructions. These are posted on the second clipboard. Follow the specific item list/instructions to assemble your share. The top section of the pick up list describes what to select for the vegetable portion of the  share. The bottom section of the Pick-Up Instructions lists the localvore (non-vegetable) items that Localvore and Pete's Pantry members should select.

If you are sharing a share with someone - coordinate with your share-mate to make sure that you DON'T take double the amount of any items. All shares are packed and delivered to the sites are whole shares.

Please note that the first Meat Share pick up is not this week, it is the first Wednesday of every month starting July 3rd.



What To Do If You Have a Problem at Pick Up

Although we do our best to make sure that every delivery and pick-up goes smoothly, there are the occasional shortages and disappointments. Should you arrive at your pick-up site to find that your name (or share partner's name) is not on the list, one or more of your items are missing or that some of your produce is in unsatisfactory condition, please let us know right away!

Our goal is 100% satisfaction. If you email us (or call if you can not email) as soon as you discover the problem, we may be able to resolve it the same day or the following day. If you would like to receive an item that you missed at pick-up, you must contact us by Thursday morning.

If we have not heard from anyone, by Thursday afternoon our site hosts are instructed to donate leftover food, ensuring that they do not end up with bad food on their hands.

If we can not resolve your issue right away, email us to arrange a replacement or substitution.  These will generally come in the next week's delivery.


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.



Circus Smirkus, Vermont's award-winning international youth circus is back on the road with its 26th annual Big Top Tour! Twenty-seven stars, ages 11 to 18 are featured in this year's show Oz Incorporated, so grab your ruby slippers and click your heels together for some acrobatic thinking, highwire hearts, and courageous clowns. Catch their shows in Greensboro on June 29th, and again on August 17th and 18th, and in Montpelier on August 13-15. For tickets call 877-SMIRKUS or visit www.smirkus.org


Storage and Use Tips


Pac Choi, also known as bok choy, is a type of Chinese cabbage with a mild flavor. The leaves taste similar to Swiss chard and the stems (called ribs) are deliciously crispy and can be substituted for celery in recipes. Pac Choi is mild enough to be chopped up for a salad, particularly if you give it a quick wilt in a hot pan. It's also great in stir-fries. Store pac choi loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer.


Rainbow Chard 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.


You will get either French Breakfast or Easter Egg Radishes this week.  They're both gorgeous radishes that look great as-is on a crudite plate, and their beautiful color makes for artistic tartines, just with bread, butter, and salt.  Chop and top tacos with them for added crunch and zing.  Roasting will bring out their sweetness.  Toss both radishes and their greens into stir-fries and salads for a nice burst of flavor.


Radicchio is a member of the Chicories family along with endive and escarole. It resembles a small red lettuce but it specializes in bitterness adding a different dimension to salads.  It pairs really well with blue cheeses and apples and pears.  You can chop radicchio and add it to your salad for some color and added bite. It is also quite good brushed with olive oil and tossing on the grill. Keep unwashed radicchio in a perforated plastic bag in the crisper drawer for up to a week.
                                                                                         

These Baby Leeks are a precious commodity at the farm.  These are wintered-over from last year, seeded in the fall and therefore up and ready so early in the year.  Leeks are a relative of the onion.  They look like large scallions, and have a more subtle, mild flavor than our yellow onions.  They are often used in soups but they can be served as a dish on their own, or sliced raw into salads.  Store leeks dry and loosely wrapped in plastic in the refridgerator, but use them within a week or so.
    **We ran a bit short on the leeks so some members will be getting scallions.


The freshly harvested dill in the share today can be used right away or preserved for later use.  This is the part of the plant called dill weed, the feathery spring growth.  Later on in the season the seed heads of the dill plant will mature.  There are numerous methods for preserving dill.  The easiest is to simply hang the dill for several days in a warm dry place (attic perhaps).  You can dry it in your oven if your oven can operate at a low temp of 100°F.  You can also freeze the leaves in a plastic bag.  Dill perks up soups, salads, casseroles.  It pairs really well with cucumbers, potatoes, eggs, beets, fish, salads and salad dressings, tomatoes, yogurt.


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.

Renna and Kat preppingradishes for the share.
Below: the crew picking radishes this morning!


Localvore Lore

Elmore Mountain Bread made Heritage Red Fife Wheat Bread for you this week.  This bread is made with 60% Whole Wheat Red Fife, 40% Red Fife White Flour and our sourdough culture.  Here's what Andrew, owner and baker, had to say about this week's bread:


We are really excited about this bread!   We are able to get this special flour from Meunerie Milanaise.  Red Fife wheat is now being grown and milled in Quebec.  Here is a brief history of Red Fife.

"The wheat has high milling qualities and was known for making exceptional baked goods with extremely white flour. The distinctive plant can grow from three to five feet tall, unheard of among today’s quick maturing grains.  Most varieties of red spring wheat owe their ancestry to this particular grain, including the development of the cross-bred Marquis variety, a true Canadian success story that helped change the world.  However, the original wheat that started it all, “rooted” in Ukraine and transplanted to the New World in Canada, is still Red Fife. We hope that you’ll experience this rare taste of things the way they were meant to be by our ancestors."
 http://www.history.alberta.ca/ukrainianvillage/docs/redfifewheat_10.pdf

 

Localvores will receive a bag of Golden Crops 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.


It's strawberry season!  The Organic Strawberries are coming to you from Jon Satz at Woods Market Garden.  John grows organic flowers, fruits, and vegetables on his farm in Brandon, VT.  This farm has been around for a long time - they've been producing fresh food for over 100 years!  There is nothing better than fresh strawberries.  Enjoy them right out of the carton, on top of a salad, or in a recipe below.


What goes better with strawberries than rhubarb?  We got this rhubarb from Jenn Meygesi at Fat Rooster Farm in South Royalton, VT.  They're a small family farm using organic practices to grow a variety of vegetables and raise heritage breeds of livestock.  If you haven't had rhubarb before you're in for a treat.  It needs to be cooked as it is extremely bitter when eaten raw.  It's best enjoyed in jams, chutneys, pies, or even in a drink recipe- rhubarb wine anyone?  I stumbled upon this website a few years ago and refer to it every spring when the rhubarb starts coming in and I need fresh ideas!


Recipes


Easy Pickled Radishes
A mandoline would be helpful in slicing these radishes very thin, but not necessary.  These would make an excellent addition to a salad!

1 bunch radishes, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of sea salt

Dressing:
1 tablespoon of tamari or shoyu
1 tablespoon of agave syrup or brown sugar
½ teaspoon of dark (toasted/roasted) sesame oil
A good pinch of chilli powder

Toss the radish slices with the sugar and salt and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Drain and gently squeeze the radishes, draining away the pickling mixture, then drizzle with the dressing.



Glazed Radishes

1 bunch radishes
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp white vinegar
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Cut radishes in half.  Combine all ingredients in a saucepan heated over medium-high heat.  Cook until the liquid evaporates and radishes are tender.



Stir-Fried Shanghai Pac Choy with Ginger
A quick, easy, delicious and nutritious way to enjoy your pack choi.

1 (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled
3/4 lb Shanghai bok choy or other baby bok choy (5 to 8 heads)
1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (preferably Shaoxing) or medium-dry Sherry
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

Cut half of ginger into very fine matchsticks (less than 1/8 inch thick; about 1 tablespoon) and reserve. Grate remaining ginger and squeeze pulp with your fingers to yield 1 teaspoon liquid, then discard pulp.

Trim 1/8 inch from bottom of each bok choy, then cut each head into quarters.

Whisk together ginger juice, chicken broth, rice wine, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt, and sugar in a small bowl until cornstarch is dissolved.

Heat wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Pour oil down side of wok, then swirl oil, tilting wok to coat sides. Add ginger matchsticks and stir-fry 5 seconds. Add bok choy and stir-fry until leaves are bright green and just limp, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir broth mixture, then pour into wok and stir-fry until vegetables are crisp-tender and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil, then stir to coat.



Dilly Potatoes
Nothing says summer to me quite like potato salad!

1 pound potatoes, cut into 1" pieces
1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
3 teaspoons dry vermouth or dry white wine
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup minced fresh dill

Cut the potatoes lengthwise into fourths and in a steamer set over boiling water steam them, covered, for 7 to 10 minutes, or until they are just tender. In a bowl whisk together the mustard, the vinegar, the vermouth, and salt to taste, add the oil in a stream, whisking, and whisk the dressing until it is emulsified. Add the potatoes while they are still warm to the dressing and toss them gently with the dressing, the dill, and pepper to taste until they are coated well. Let the potato mixture stand, tossing it occasionally, for 30 minutes and serve it at room temperature. The potato mixture may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Let the potato mixture return to room temperature before serving.



Granola
In honor of the oats this week I thought I'd share this recipe. I make this granola practically every week because everyone in my family eats it nearly every morning. One of my kids likes it dry, another with milk, and another with yogurt. I like to mix it with other cereals or fruit. We eat it for dessert on maple syrup sweetened yogurt. It's a solid, simple granola recipe. You can add as much as another three cups of various nuts or dried fruit without having to change the amounts of oil and sweetener. You can swap honey for maple syrup interchangeably and use other mild favored oils. Though the amounts given of sweetener and oil are what my fami ly enjoys, you can reduce the oil to 3/4 cup and the sweetener to 1 cup.

Mix everything together well. If your honey is solid, put the oil and honey in a small saucepan first and warm on the stove until it becomes liquid enough to mix with the other ingredients. Put all of this in two 9" x 13" pans or a large roasting pan. Put in a preheated 250 degree oven and bake for a total of 70-80 minutes, stirring the granola at 30 mins, 50 mins, 60 mins, and 70 mins taking care to rotate the granola that is on the sides and bottom to somewhere in the middle. It is done when it is golden brown. After it cools completely, store in a tightly sealed container.

10 cups oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup sesame seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sunflower oil
1 cup honey
1/2 cup maple syrup



Old Fashioned Oatmeal
This is just the basic how to cook recipe. There are endless possibilities of what you might add to your oatmeal including honey, maple sugar or syrup, dried fruits, frozen berries, sliced apples or melons, etc. You can go totally dairy free, omitting butter and replacing all the milk with water, or add just as much of those as you like.

2 cups dry rolled oats
3.5 to 3.75 cups water/milk (1.5 cups milk/2+ cups water is good)
1/4 tsp salt
1 TB butter (optional)

Place oats, milk, water and salt in a med ium saucepan and stir to combine. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Stir, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for five to 10 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and oats have softened to a porridge. Stir in butter. Divide into bowls and garnish with dried fruit and sweetener of your choice.



Roasted Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam
I first tried this amazing jam at a food swap and was blown away by how good it was!  It's super easy to make and a little goes a long way.  It makes about 3 half pint jars.  This recipe comes from my local friend who blogs here.  Check out her CSA Share Rescue for some great ideas on all your veggies!

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb
1/2 pound strawberries
1 cup sugar

Trim and chop rhubarb into 1" pieces.  Toss the rhubarb with strawberries and sugar.  Put into a 11X17' baking dish and roast for half an hour at 400 degrees.  Once the dish comes out of the oven, mash it all up with a potato masher and let it cool.  It will thicken as it cools.  Store in the refrigerator for a few weeks.



Grilled Radicchio with Balsamic Glaze
This recipe comes from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian." It would be delicious sprinkled with some blue cheese.

1 lb Radicchio, cored and quartered
1 TB sunflower oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 TB honey
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your grill to a moderately high heat. Brush the radicchio with the oil, taking care to keep the wedges in tact. Stir the honey into the vinegar and set aside. Place the radicchio wedges on the grill, cut sides down. Grill for a minute or two, then turn and brush (or drizzle) with the vinegar mixture. Cook until just starting to crisp and char around the edges, another couple of minutes. Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature. Sprinkle with blue cheese, if desired.



Leek, Potato and Zucchini Pancakes
Serve these savory pancakes alongside a lightly dressed green salad.

½ lb potatoes
Salt
1-2 large leek, sliced crosswise into 1/8-inch-wide pieces (to make about 4 cups), and thoroughly rinsed
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Black pepper
2 tablespoons canola or olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place potato on a small pan and bake until tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour. Let cool. Peel, discarding the skin, and shred the potato on the large holes of a box grater. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add leeks and cook until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Strain. Place the leeks in a dishtowel and twist firmly and repeatedly to remove excess moisture; the leeks will shrink greatly. Set aside.

Place zucchini in a bowl and sprinkle lightly with salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. Place the zucchini in a dishtowel and twist firmly and repeatedly to remove excess moisture. The zucchini will shrink greatly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the potato, leeks, zucchini, egg, flour, cheese and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well. In a large skillet over medium heat, add oil and heat until shimmering. Measure 1/4 cup of the leek and potato mixture and form into a patty about 2/3 of an inch thick. Repeat with the remainder of the mixture.
Working in batches, if necessary, fry the cakes, flattening them with a spatula, until they are golden brown on each side, 4 to 5 minutes a side.  Serve with green salad and enjoy!



Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble
You can't go wrong with a crumble to enjoy your rhubarb and strawberries!  If you don't have hazelnuts feel free to substitute walnuts or skip the nuts altogether.

3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
Large pinch of salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup husked hazelnuts, toasted , coarsely chopped
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or skip if you don't have)
1 pound strawberries, hulled, halved (about 4 cups)
12 ounces rhubarb (preferably bright red), ends trimmed, stalks cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces

Combine flour, 2/3 cup sugar, and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Add butter. Rub in with fingertips until mixture sticks together in clumps. Mix in oats and nuts. (This step can be done 1 day ahead; cover and chill).

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 11 x 7 x 2- inch glass baking dish. Place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; whisk to blend well. Add strawberries and rhubarb to sugar in bowl; toss to coat well. Scrape fruit filling into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle oat topping evenly over filling.

Bake crumble until filling bubbles thickly and topping is crisp, about 45 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Spoon warm crumble into bowls.


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