Good Eats Weekly Newsletter - February 27, 2019

Hi folks - Apologies for the tardiness of this week's newsletter. We lost the power for a few hours due to our hurrican-force winds so I'm scrambling to get back on track! Tomorrow is predicted to be pretty darn cold. Please pick up from outdoor sites early! We do our best to protect your veggies but sometimes our Mother Nature has other ideas. - Taylar
A note about reusing packaging: Please bring clean cardboard egg containers back to your site! We'll return them to our egg producers for re-use. And, while we can't reuse your plastic bags, our friends at the Montpelier Food Shelf can, and will! If you return your CLEAN plastic bags to your site, we'll get them to Montpelier. Thanks!

In Your Share This Week:

FANCY/ LOCALVORE (PURPLE)

Salad Turnips, Parsley, Black Radish, Radicchio, Yellow Onions, Celeriac, Green Savoy Cabbage, and
Out of the Bag:
Frozen Cauliflower

EVERYDAY STANDARD (YELLOW)

Mesclun, Radicchio, Black Radishes, Celeriac, Green Savoy Cabbage, and
Out of the Bag:
Frozen Cauliflower

Pantry/ Localvore Items


Slowfire Bakery Bread: The theme for this week's pantry share seems to be "young men making it in Vermont's food production world." Slowfire Bakery is run by Scott Medellin, a young baker based in Jeffersonville. He bakes his sourdoughs like this malt country in a wood-fired oven with regionally sourced, organic grains.
Sweet Rowen Farmstead Cheddar: Made in small batches with milk from his heritage lineback breed, this mild cheddar from our friend Paul Lisai down the road is a great melting cheddar, perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches or nachos -- and also is delicious for snacking on! Paul is a young farmer in his mid-30's with his small herd topping out around 65 head. He's been farming for about 10 or so years, with a stint here at Pete's Greens while he was at Sterling College, getting his dairy farm off the ground.
Eggs: Eggs this week from either Axel Mckenzie in Greensboro (at 14, one of our youngest producers in the share) or Ben Butterfield of Besteyfield Farm in Hinesburg. We'll be rotating some of Ben's eggs back into our egg mix. Ben uses ethical, smart, and conscientious practices to raise his hens, resulting in yummy eggs. Ben is a fairly new farmer but has already been "scaling up" his operations. He started his business at the Intervale Center in Burlington before expandng over to Hinesburg.
Cheese Share From Sweet Rowen Farmstead in West Glover (or Albany, depending on who you are) comes Mountain Ash, a bloomy rind cow's milk cheese made with a layer of food grade ash. The rind is completely edible and you'd be missing out if you didn't enjoy it!
Hub, one of the carrot farmers Pete met in the Netherlands
Mr. Nobel's first bulb harvester

Pete's Travel Notes

Last week I took a really interesting trip to Europe to learn about winter carrot harvesting. It's common in central Europe to heavily mulch carrots with straw in the fall and dig them all winter. I've long wanted to experiment with this method as the quality of carrots stored in the soil is exceptional. It would work well in VT in years that we have consistent snow cover (hard to imagine we ever don't this winter!), but in years in which the snow melts and we then get below zero temps, the tops of the carrots would freeze even with a heavy straw mulch. So we'll probably dabble in this method but unlikely as it's too risky to store a large amount of carrots this way. 

I was also looking into different types of carrot harvesters. The harvester we currently use is called a top lifter. It harvests one row at a time. Last year we grew 25 acres of carrots on which we planted 25 million carrot seeds on 121 miles of row! It takes forever to harvest them one row at a time and often in the fall we're racing rain, snow, and mud. We'd like to find a more efficient harvest method. In Europe many farms use harvesters that are called share lifters, they act like a potato digger. I learned a lot watching them in action. 

I also visited some companies that make harvest equipment. At Nobel in the Netherlands, where they make carrot and bulb harvesters, I happened to meet the founder on the factory floor. This is a big place, maybe 3 acres of factory; they send equipment all over the world. Old man Nobel stops in a couple times a month to look things over. The story is that back in the 50's as a kid he worked in a flower bulb warehouse. One day he accidentally tipped over a pallet of flower bulbs that were separated by color. The colors got mixed and his boss made him buy the bulbs. He planted them and when harvest time came decided to build a harvest machine to cut the labor. That launched his company. 
More to come as we explore new options for growing and harvesting our famous carrots!
~Pete
How we harvest carrots now
Above: a video showing how we harvest carrots now
Below: a video showing winter carrot harvest
video

Storage Tips and Recipes

Every week we'll send you snapshots of veggies in your share. You can always find more recipes and storage info on our blog and website.
Mesclun: A mix of spinach, sorrel, shoots, cress, and baby kale.
Radicchio:  A member of the Chicories family along with endive and escarole, radicchio resembles a small red lettuce. Like all the members of this family, the leaves have some bitterness. You can chop radicchio and add it to your salad for some color and extra flavor. It is also quite good brushed with olive oil before tossing on the grill. Try adding some to risotto. Keep unwashed radicchio in a perforated plastic bag in the crisper drawer for up to a week.
Salad Turnips: These fresh baby turnips can be eaten raw or cooked. Raw they have a texture similar to a radish, but are not so sharp. Or slice, dice, or quarter them and saute with butter or oil. Cook until just tender and still a little crisp. Just a little salt or maybe a little bit of vinegar is all they need. Cooked with butter and given a slight drizzle of honey and even picky little eaters may gobble them up. Don't forget the greens! Turnip greens are tender and flavorful. Chop and saute with the turnips for a side dish, or cook up with other greens, or by themselves. I often chop them and toss them into pasta sauces.
Black RadishBlack radishes are firmer, drier, and stronger than other radishes - this is a very different radish from your red/pink globes! You can eat these raw or cooked but they are bitter when eaten raw. Try shredding them to add to a salad, slaw, or relish (peeled or unpeeled), or peel and slice thin, then salt and drain and mix with sour cream as a spread for chewy rye bread. Or, blend minced radish with creamy cheese, smoked fish, or pate. Cooked black radishes taste like turnips but with less reliable cooking time. You can add them to soups, stews, braises, or stir-fries, or chop finely and add to ground raw meat. Wrap unwashed, topped radishes in newspaper or perforated plastic and refrigerate. Don't let them get moist or they will mold. Their taste mellows as they store and are fine for grating and shredding even after months of storage. I recommend scrubbing them before eating, especially if you keep the peel on.
Celeriac: Celeriac, also called celery root, is a vegetable that cleans up well. Once you peel away its gnarled outer layer, you find a sparkling-white interior with a clean, refreshing taste that has wide appeal. Once prepared, it shows no signs of its humble past. Store unwashed celeriac in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, where it will keep for several weeks. Soak celeriac briefly in warm water and then scrub it with a stiff brush. Take a thin slice off the top and bottom and peel it with a sharp paring knife or a sturdy vegetable peeler. A few deep crevices will remain; leave them, or slice them out. Remove the core if it seems pithy or hollow. Like apples, celeriac will darken if exposed to the air for too long. If you don’t plan to cook it immediately, submerge the celeriac in a bowl of water with lemon juice squeezed in.

Recipes

Radicchio is a little different taste for many folks. Here are a few recipes to try it out... it's a little bitter so a nice sweet dressing may help the flavor if it's too strong!
Risotto con radicchio
Serves: 4‑6
1 head radicchio plus extra greens if desired
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
6‑7 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dry white wine (or red is great with the radicchio)
1/2 cup freshly grated Italian Parmesan


Radicchio-Cabbage Slaw with Honey
Cabbage and radicchio get the sweet-treatment, thanks to honey. This should be a quick dish!
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
1 medium head napa cabbage (about 1 pound), halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips
2 small heads radicchio (about 8 ounces), halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips
Whisk together honey, vinegar, and salt in a small bowl. Add oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until well blended. Season with pepper. Toss together cabbage and radicchio in a large bowl. Add dressing; toss to combine. Cover, and refrigerate at least 5 minutes. Just before serving, toss again.
Slaw can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 day.

Treviso Radicchio Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette
Aged pecorino Toscano cheese is fairly hard; young pecorino Toscano is softer and milder. You can use good-quality provolone cheese instead, if you like.
8 thin slices pancetta (about 4 ounces)
3 heads Treviso radicchio (about 1 1/2 pounds), quartered lengthwise
1/2 cup walnut oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup champagne vinegar
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 ounces shaved young pecorino
Toscano cheese
Heat a medium skillet over medium-low heat; arrange pancetta in skillet in a single layer. Cook, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 12 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Break into 1-inch pieces.
Put radicchio in a large bowl. Add oil to skillet; heat over medium heat. Add shallots; immediately remove skillet from heat. Whisk in vinegar, walnuts, salt, and pepper; pour over radicchio. Toss well. Top with pancetta and cheese.
Bandh Gobhi Ki Sabzi (Buttered Smothered Cabbage)
Here's a traditional cabbage dish that will be great using the Savoy cabbage.
1 savoy cabbage (1-3/4 to 2 lbs)
2 Tbl ghee, butter or oil
1-1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp ground asafoetida (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 Tbl minced ginger root or 1/2 tsp dry
1 8 oz can tomato sauce or 1 cup chopped fresh ripe tomato (1 large)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper or 1-2 seeded and minced green chilies
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup hot water
1-2 Tbl coarsely chopped fresh coriander leaves or 1 Tbl dry (optional)
Cut the cabbage into quarters, and core out the stem from each quarter. Shred the cabbage into 1/2-inch thick shreds. Heat the oil over med-high heat in a large heavy-bottomed pan. When the oil is hot, add cumin. When cumin turns dark brown (10-15 sec), add asafoetida (if using it), and immediately add the shredded cabbage. Sprinkle turmeric over the cabbage and sauté, turning and tossing rapidly until cabbage is wilted (about 5 min).
Add ginger, tomato (sauce), and chilies or red pepper, and continue cooking for an additional 5 min. Add salt and water. Reduce heat to med-low and cook the cabbage, covered, until it is tender and the water is absorbed into the vegetables (about 20 min). Check and stir often while it is cooking to prevent burning. Fold in coriander leaves, check for salt, and serve.
Scalloped Celeriac and Potatoes

Serves 6
butter for greasing the baking dish
1 pound celeriac, peeled, halved, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
1 pound baking potatoes, peeled, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grated Gruyère or domestic Swiss cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups chicken, beef, or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons butter
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish with butter.
Place the celeriac and potatoes in alternating layers in the baking dish, seasoning every few layers with salt and pepper. At about the halfway point, add 1/3 cup cheese in an even layer; sprinkle with the thyme. Continue with the celeriac and potatoes, until you have used all of your slices (don’t go all the way to the top edge; leave a little room to allow the liquid to boil).
Pour the stock over the celeriac and potatoes. Dot with butter. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 15 minutes more. Sprinkle the remaining 2/3 cup cheese over the top layer, add several grindings of fresh pepper, and bake until the cheese turns golden, about 15 minutes.
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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Sorry, no changes to the week's delivery after 8 am on Monday of that week.
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Questions? Contact Taylar, goodeats@petesgreens.com

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