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Early Winter Boxweek 1 |
Thank you
This is the final box of the 2007 Harvest Box season. Thank you so much for being part of our farm this year! We appreciate your support and your commitment to eating locally produced, organic food. We couldn't do it without you.
We will be mailing information about next year's box in February, and our weekly boxes will begin again in June.
Locavore
"The New Oxford American Dictionary chose locavore, a person who seeks out locally produced food, as its word of the year. The local foods movement is gaining momentum as people discover that the best-tasting and most sustainable choices are foods that are fresh, seasonal, and grown close to home. Some locavores draw inspiration from the 100-mile diet or from advocates of local eating like Barbara Kingsolver. Others just follow their taste buds to farmers' markets, community supported agriculture programs, and community gardens." (Margaret E. MacDonald, Western Organization of Resource Councils, Billings, MT)
Cabbage & Leeks
You can find a simple and delicious recipe for braised cabbage and leeks on our web site: Last Year's Newsletters, Early Winter Week 4.
Cipollini Onions
Cipollini Onions are a truly gourmet onion-fancy restaurants frequently identify them by name on the menu. They are extremely sweet and flavorful when roasted, baked, or sautéed (cook until slightly caramelized).
Gold Rush and Braeburn Apples
Gold Rush (yellow): We love their intense flavor, but it's too much for some people. We like fresh chunks of Gold Rush cut up in our morning oats. Also fabulous cooked.
Braeburn (red): Crisp and sweet, with a bit of tartness. They are a great dessert apple.
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Denison Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2007: Week 6
Need recipe ideas for Arugula or Asian Pears? Check out www.cookinglight.com for lots of ideas.
Keeper Onions
This week's onion selection from Persephone Farm is a "keeper" onion. Keeper onions are distinguished from "sweet" onions both by their good storage qualities and also by their stronger flavor. All the previous onions in your boxes have been sweet onions, which are milder and can be enjoyed both raw and cooked. Most people use keeper onions for cooking.
Collards are a very versatile green, with a distinctive flavor. I found the following recipe at the suggestion of Albany box member, Jan.
Greens in Peanut Sauce (From Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert)
1 medium onion (chopped) & 2-3 cloves garlic (minced)
In a large soup pot sauté in 1 Tbs. oil.
1 medium tomato (diced; optional)
Add and simmer 2-4 minutes.
1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp salt or to taste, 1/8 tsp ground clove (or 11/2 tsp curry powder)
Add, cook, and stir 2 minutes.
1 bunch collards or kale & 1/2 cup water
Add and steam until greens are soft but not mush. Avoid overcooking.
Stir occasionally to coat greens with the spices.
2-3 Tablespoons chunky peanut butter or almond butter & 1-2 tsp. hot water
Combine and add to greens at end of cooking time.
Butternut Squash: Here's my favorite Butternut Squash Soup recipe.
1. Peel and cube 1 medium butternut squash. (Peeling is optional. It will be pureed later. )
2. Cook for 25 minutes in 5 cups of water or stock.
3. Sauté 1 large chopped onion and 1 tsp dried thyme in 2 Tbs oil. Add to squash.
4. Cool and puree the squash and onions.
5. Melt 4 Tbs butter. Stir in 1/4 cup flour and cook 2 minutes. Add 3/4 cup cream (or non-dairy milk)
6. Add flour & cream mixture to soup. Add 1 tsp salt, & 1/2 tsp tamari.
7. Simmer 15 minutes, stir to prevent sticking.
8. Garnish with 1/2 cup sliced and toasted almonds and black pepper to taste.
Yellow Carrots
Carrots come in many sizes, shapes, and colors. Our favorite variety is the sweet crunchy orange variety that you have been getting nearly every week. However, for something different, we're including yellow carrots this week. They are not quite as sweet as the orange variety, but they make delicious roasted carrots. You can combine carrots and potatoes in a roasting pan with a bit of olive oil and salt for an easy dish.
Apples: Cameo and Rome
Cameos are a great apple for fresh eating. They are similar to the Gala apple, but have better texture and keep longer. Rome Apples (darker red skin, rounder shape, and pink blush on the flesh) are at their best cooked into applesauce or apple pie. Our kids really like applesauce from Rome apples-it's pink.
Denison
Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2007: Week 5
Winter Storm
What a welcome relief to wake up to calm weather this morning! We were fortunate during the storm to only lose a few of our cold frames. The plastic cover can whip like a sail and mangle the steel frame supports. It’s humbling to see the power of the wind. Today I’m looking out my office window onto the neighbors grass seed field that has become a lake since Saturday.
Persimmons
Freezing is not only a great way to preserve persimmons for later eating, but it makes a delicious “instant” dessert. Once your persimmons have become soft, you can freeze them whole. When you’re ready for a sweet treat, thaw just enough to eat with a spoon. It’s like instant sorbet. Thanks to Julia for this idea.
Other new persimmon ideas: use firm Fuyu persimmons as a sweet element in a sweet-sour stir fry…chunks of persimmon, water chestnuts, grated ginger, soy sauce stir-fried in peanut oil with your choice of protein and greenery….
Potatoes have fallen out of favor in recent years, I think due to the popularity of Lo-Carb diets. Historically, however, potatoes have been quite important in parts of the world. When Tom was in college in the mid-1970’s per capita potato consumption in many European countries was 4-5 pounds per day. Here’s an interesting nutritional note: If you got all your food calories from potatoes, you would also consume adequate protein and all vitamins except vitamin A and B12. But you would have to eat 12 pounds per day! Here’s a recipe that is particularly good with today’s Desiree potatoes.
Elizabeth’s Simple Potato Salad
- Finely
chop ½ a sweet onion, place in
bowl.
- Cover
onion with good olive oil and vinegar (I
use about 1/3 cup olive
oil & 3 Tbs vinegar. A mix of vinegars is good—try 2 Tbs mild rice
vinegar
or cider vinegar and 1 Tbs flavorful Balsamic vinegar, wine vinegar, or
sherry
vinegar).
- Cut
2 lbs. red potatoes into bite-sized chunks.
- Cover
potatoes with
water, add 1 tsp. salt. Boil for 10-15 minutes or until tender.
- Drain potatoes and add to onions. Stir gently. Cool 10 minutes. Taste and adjust salt, or add more oil or vinegar as needed. Serve warm. <>
I was given a recipe for Lasagna by a market customer (from Relish magazine). I really like the recipe introduction, so I will repeat it here, as it is relevant to today’s spaghetti squash. “Lasagna is the ultimate any time food—perfect for a party, a potluck or an evening at home. It is also a dish that lends itself to inexhaustible tweaking. Almost anything goes.” Spaghetti squash is really nice in lasagna. First, bake the squash whole (350 degrees for about an hour), then open it and scoop out the seeds. Try mixing cooked spaghetti squash with the ricotta cheese layer of your lasagna, and cooking as usual for lasagna.
Spaghetti squash also pairs well with cheese. It is less sweet than other winter squashes, and the long spaghetti-like strings keep a nice texture mixed with melted cheese. Try warm spaghetti squash mixed with grated jalapeno jack or sharp cheddar cheese. Greens tip of the week: chop Mizuna finely and add a handful to your bowl before adding hot, brothy soup.
Please return any empty tubs that you may have. Our on-farm supply is dwindling. On the week of your final box (next week for many of you), please bring bags or boxes and transfer your produce, leaving the box. Or bring the box back to the pick-up site before the following Tuesday. Thank you!
Denison
Farms Early Winter Harvest Box
2007: Week 4
Week 4: 1 bunch Kale, 2# carrots (Groundwork Organics),
2 Fennel, 1 Gold Bell pepper, 1 Gold Italian Pepper, 3# Butterball
Potatoes, 2
Sweet Onions (from Persephone Farm), 1 Delicata Squash, 4 Fuyu
Persimmons, 3# Cameo Apples (from Gala Springs)
Mystery greens in
last week’s
box
Perhaps you noticed a bunch of greens in last week’s
box that wasn’t mentioned in the What’s
in
the box list? Here’s what I should have said last week: Tat Soy
is a
lovely stir-fry green. Tat Soy
cooks quickly, so don’t overcook it. Or try it as
a wilted salad with a hot sweet & sour vinaigrette dressing. The
hot
dressing cooks the Tat Soy
just enough, leaving it still a little crunchy. I
generally put the stems into a long-cooking soup or stew.
Fennel
Fennel is one of my
favorite vegetables. It is in the same botanical family as celery,
carrots,
parsley, cumin, and other aromatic vegetables grown for their edible
roots,
stalks, or seeds. It’s aroma and flavor are reminiscent of anise or
licorice,
and it can be enjoyed both raw and cooked. It’s flavor becomes more
subtle with
cooking.
Preparing Fennel: Cut the leaf stalks from the bulb,
then slice the bulb thinly lengthwise or crosswise. The bulb part is
what most
people eat, and what most recipes refer to when the call for fennel.
You can
use the stalks as you would celery, avoiding the stringier outer
stalks, or
using them in soup stock. The frilly leaves are edible and make a nice
garnish
for potato salad or roasted vegetables.
Cooking with Fennel:
Baked:
Slice 2 fennel bulbs into ½ inch thick slices. Arrange in a
casserole dish.
Poke 2 cloves of sliced garlic amongst the fennel. Crumble ½ cup
blue cheese on
top. Cover and bake 20–30 minutes at 375 degrees.
Souped: Fennel works
well in either a pureed soup or a chunky vegetable soup. It is
particularly
nice (and adds a very subtle flavor) in a pureed carrot or potato soup
(or even
potato-leek soup).
Potatoes
Last week, I noticed that carrots and potatoes
are starting to
accumulate in the trade boxes at some sites. I will assume that is
because
carrots and potatoes are starting to pile up in some of your kitchens?
Roasting
is a great way to cook any root vegetables, particularly carrots and
potatoes.
When I was in Ohio visiting my parents earlier this month, I found the
following recipe stuck on my mother’s refrigerator. Here’s a new twist
on the
standard roasted root recipe:
Sweet & Sour Winter Vegetables
4
cups raw diced root vegetables
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Tbs fresh
rosemary Salt & Pepper
2 Tbs Maple syrup
2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
¼ cup
chicken or vegetable broth
Toss Roots with oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
Roast at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes, stirring once or twice until
the
vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, combine syrup, vinegar, and broth.
Simmer
vigorously for 5 minutes to reduce volume. When vegetables are tender,
drizzle
the syrup-vinegar mixture over the roots and bake 5 more minutes.
Fuyu
Persimmons
If you
didn’t get last week’s box, please check last week’s newsletter (below)
for information about persimmons. Briefly, these are fuyu persimmons,
which can
be eaten when firm—but I think they’re best when they are starting to
soften
and are about as soft as a ripe peach.
Denison Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2007: Week 3
Twenty years ago arugula was virtually unknown, used more as a mysterious flavor in some of the most chic restaurants in the country. Now we have people asking for it every week at the Farmers Markets, and some people even seem addicted to its unique and spicy flavor. Some food cultures have been appreciating arugula for a long time. Years ago, Tom had an Iranian friend who planted some in his winter garden, along with cress and parsley for greens through the winter. If you enjoy the strong, peppery flavor of raw arugula, it makes a fine salad—I suggest the following
Balsamic-Garlic Vinaigrette (from Fields of Greens by Annie Somerville):
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
¼ cup olive oil.
Combine everything but the oil in a small bowl, then gradually whisk in the oil. With it’s strong flavor, arugula combines well with flavorful cheeses. For a complete arugula salad, I would add olives and crumbled goat cheese. For arugula sandwiches, layer arugula leaves with slices of sharp cheddar on your favorite sandwich bread. Tom prefers his arugula mellowed by a bit of cooking. As with many of the stronger flavored greens, cooking (or even just warming enough to wilt the greens) will make the flavors more mellow. Chef Intaba at Fireworks restaurant in Corvallis places arugula leaves on each plate before serving the entrée. The arugula gets slightly wilted by the heat of the entrée. At home, we will put a handful of finely chopped arugula into a bowl of brothy soup at the table. Or, arugula can be substituted for basil in your favorite pesto recipe.
Fuyu Persimmons
There are two major types of persimmons in the world, Astringent persimmons (like Hachiya types and our native North American persimmons) must be very soft before they are eaten, or else the water-soluble tannins in the flesh will make your mouth pucker. Non-astringent persimmons (like the Fuyu-types in today’s box) are usually eaten while still firm. I think they are best when they give slightly to pressure—you’re looking for the same softness as a ripe peach or mango. If the persimmons in your box have the hardness of an apple, you might consider adding them to your Thanksgiving centerpiece, and checking them every few days until they are starting to soften. We like to eat persimmons as a dessert fruit when they have the softness and texture of a ripe mango. We cut the persimmon like an apple, remove the tiny center core, and cut into about six wedges. They can be peeled if you wish. Persimmons can also be used in place of mangoes if you have a recipe for mango salsa, and I really like persimmon chunks in my morning oats. If you lose track of your persimmons and find them next week, they may be as soft as jelly (the way you would prefer Hachiya persimmons). In this state, you can spoon out the soft, sweet pulp and it as a lovely topping for vanilla ice cream or waffles.
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Denison Farms Early Winter Harvest Box 2007: Week 2
In the fall, our natural sweet cravings may shift from the fruits of summer to the rich, sweet “fruits” of autumn—the winter squashes. I’m currently reading a new book by Barbara Kingsolver (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) in which she chronicles her 12-month commitment to eat ONLY local food. She has a really funny chapter about winter squashes. In the fall, her local paper featured an entire page of winter squash recipes—all of which call for “1 can (15 oz) pumpkin.” Kingsolver jokes that every shopping list will have “1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin: for pie, and 1 giant winter squash: for doorstop”. What a shame if we have forgotten the ease with which these local delicacies can be turned into bread, muffins, pies, and soups! If you have any favorite or family recipe that calls for 1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin, I guarantee it will be better if you use fresh cooked, sweet, local winter squash. Substitute 2 cups of cooked, mashed squash for 1 can pumpkin.
For new members, or those who have misplaced previous newsletters, check our web site Week 20 for cooking instructions for your sunshine squash. Here’s a new recipe for pumpkin bread given to me by Sally, one of our Beaverton Market staffers. I have been making this recipe nearly every other day the past two weeks!
Pumpkin Bread
2 cups flour, 1/3 cup water, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/3 cup oil, ¼ tsp baking soda, 2 eggs, ½ tsp salt, ¼ cup maple syrup, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp vanilla, 1 cup mashed cooked winter squash, ½ cup walnuts or other nuts, ¼ cup raisins
Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together with nuts and raisins. Add dry to wet and stir just until blended. Spread into a greased and floured or sprayed loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 1 large loaf. Also can be made into muffins.
This Leek pie recipe that follows came from a Corvallis market customer years ago. It continues to be one of my very favorite recipes. Over the years, I have tried a wide variety of modifications, one of my favorites being to sauté cabbage (or carrots, or last week’s Bok Choy) along with the leeks. Then it becomes a mystery vegetable pie, and my kids love it!
Leek Pie
3 large leeks, cleaned and sliced into thin rings
2 Tbs. butter ½ lb. Crumbled Roquefort or grated gruyere cheese
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup plain yogurt or heavy cream
pie dough for a double crust pie
Sauté leek rings in butter on medium heat for 30 minutes. (Yes, 30 minutes. Cover or lower the heat if it seems to be getting too dry. You don’t want to brown the leeks, just let them “melt”). Add cheese, egg, and yogurt or cream. Pour into pie crust. Cover with top crust. Bake at 350o for 35-40 minutes.
To clean a leek: using a large, sharp knife, slice the leek lengthwise. Then rinse the leek halves under running water to rinse out any bits of dirt that have accumulated in between the leaves.
Leek storage: Leeks keep well in the refrigerator (Tom says that although everything is better when it’s fresh, leeks will keep more than 2 weeks in the fridge). Wrap lightly in a plastic bag to maintain moisture.
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Denison Farms Early
Winter Harvest Box 2007: Week 1
Week 1: 1 # Tomatoes, 1 or 2 Baby Bok Choy, 1
Onion (from Groundwork Organics), 1 bu Carrots (Groundwork Organics),
3# Butterball Potatoes, 1 Ripe Sweet Pepper, 1 Delicata squash, 1 clam
Raspberries or Strawberries, 3# Liberty Apples (from LaMancha Ranch
& Orchard)
Welcome
Welcome to our Early Winter
Harvest Box. The popularity of our winter box has been overwhelming.
We’re heartened to see how many people are really interested in eating
local produce, and willing to keep your food choices local! We
apologize for any late confirmations, but we got a bit behind in the
office. Returning members may recognize some of this winter’s recipes,
because I do have some favorites that I just have to repeat for the
benefit of the new members. If you’ve lost your favorite recipe from a
previous newsletter, you can view all previous newsletters on our web
site (from the home page, choose CSA Newsletters). The weekly
newsletter is usually posted the week AFTER your box, so don’t forget
to pick up a newsletter every week when you cross off your name.
On our farm right now we’re
picking the last of the sweet summer fruits. This
may be the final week for tomatoes, peppers, and berries. Our winter
crops look good—there is a lovely full stand of teenage cabbages next
to the driveway that I get to see every time I drive onto the farm. But
this time of year, there’s so little light (and warmth) that plants
grow very slowly. Root crops recognize the seasonal shift, and they
start storing sugars in their roots—which makes things like carrots
really sweet this time of year.
Since we have so many members
this winter, we’re going to need some help from our friends to fill the
boxes each week. We’re grateful that our farming friends can help us
keep your boxes interesting, and the produce we buy from them helps
support their families as well. Any of you who have been members with
us before are familiar with Gabe and Sophie at Groundwork Organics
because we have been cooperating with them ever since Gabe worked for
us years ago. Groundwork Organic farm is just north of Eugene along the
Willamette River. We had a crop failure in our fall carrots, but I
can’t live without my daily carrots. So, I’m thrilled that Gabe and
Sophie have lots of carrots at the moment. I ask for a few extra
bunches when we order carrots for your box for my personal supply.
David Landis and Anita Azaranko from La Mancha Ranch and Orchards are
also regular contributors to our fall and winter boxes. They grow many
kinds of apples, but they are best known for their Liberties. Liberty’s
are bursting with juicy, sweet-tart, old-fashioned apple flavor.
Liberties are great for fresh eating.
Nutty Delicata Bake
Most of the time, I simply bake
my squash and eat it plain or with a little butter, but I saw this
recipe in the newspaper from the Corvallis First Alternative Co-op last
year, and even though it sounded like an odd assortment of ingredients,
I tried it and loved it!
2 small or 1 large delicata squash, cut into ¾” chunks (3 cups of
squash chunks)
½ cup almonds or filberts, chopped coarsely
¼ cup chopped dried tomatoes soaked in oil
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients, stirring to
blend and to coat the vegetables with olive oil. Bake, covered in a 9 x
13” pan at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the cover. Stir to loosen
the bits from the bottom of the pan. Bake 10 additional minutes
uncovered. Serves 4.
***important note: I have written the recipe as it was in the
original source, but when I made this dish, I cooked it for about twice
as long as suggested here. My suggestion is to bake covered 20 – 40
minutes until the squash is tender (a knife passes easily through the
pieces), then stir and bake an additional 10-15 minutes uncovered.
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Denison
Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 22
Final Week of Summer Box
In this box:
½# salad mix, 1# Tomatoes, 1
bunch Kale, 1#
Onions (from Groundwork Organics), 1 bu Carrots (Groundwork), 3#
Butterball
Potatoes, 2# Sweet Potatoes, 1 clam Cherry Tomatoes (Eat the ripest
ones first,
the rest will ripen up on your kitchen counter), 3# Asian Pears (from
Gala
Springs Orchard)
End of the Season
This is officially the final box
of our
Summer Harvest Box season. Although many of you are continuing on with
our
Early Winter Season (which starts November 6th), I feel this
is the
appropriate time to thank you for your commitment to eat local, organic
produce
this season. We hope you have enjoyed watching the progression from
early- to
mid- to late-summer in your box and having a connection to our farm
(and
family). Thank you for choosing our
harvest
box this year.
Sweet Potatoes
Yes, it is possible to grow sweet
potatoes in the
Willamette Valley. It’s not easy, but it’s possible. The hardest thing
is that
sweet potatoes really like long, hot summers, and Corvallis just
doesn’t offer
quite enough heat for sweet potatoes to be really happy.
Our trick is to plant them as soon as the
soil has really warmed up (typically mid-June), and leave them in the
ground as
long as possible. We dug our sweet potatoes in a hurry a few weeks ago
as the
cold rains were starting to soak the farm and cool down the soil. Then
we put
all the (unwashed) sweet potatoes in ventilated crates and stacked them
in a
dry, heated room in our barn. We turned the heat up to 90 degrees for
exactly
one week to “cure” the tubers—sweeten them up, and harden the skins so
they
will keep. If stored well, they should keep for several months. I’m not
suggesting that you save these potatoes for that long, but it means
that we
should have sweet potatoes once or twice in the Early Winter boxes, and
hopefully all winter for our Corvallis Indoor Farmers Markets. Sweet
potatoes
should NEVER be refrigerated, as any temperature below 50 degrees will
cause
them to rot.
This summer was relatively cool
(even for Oregon), so a lot of our
sweet potatoes are small. Our family loves the little ones. We call
them “baby
bakers”. Here’s what we do with them: scrub the tubers and coat with a
little
olive oil or coconut oil. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or
until they
are really soft and the house starts to smell like sweet potatoes. Cool
just
enough so you can handle them, and serve. We eat them, skins and all,
with our
fingers, as you would a french fry.
Kale
There are lots of
varieties of Kale in the world. The bunch in your box today is Winter
Hardy
Kale—a new variety for us this year.
The seeds were given to us by our friend Steve West who grew
them in his
garden in South Corvallis. Steve says
that true to it’s name, it produces all winter no matter how cold it
gets.
Full-size kale leaves are usually cooked (although we put small tender
kale
leaves in our salad mix). For a simple preparation that enhances the
texture
and flavor of kale, coarsely chop the leaves (and stems) and steam or
saute for
4-5 minutes. If you’re sauteeing, add some chopped onion or garlic.
Then layer
into lasagne, stuff into an omelet, dollop on top of pizza (then bake
the
pizza), or simply dress with your favorite vinaigrette dressing and eat
your
greens.
Important notes
This is the final summer
Harvest Box.
Our Early Winter Box begins next Tues. 11/6.
Call
the farm if you have any questions.
If you have mailed in your application in
the past few days, it may not be processed yet.
We are still accepting members
for the winter season, but please call as soon as possible so we know
how many
boxes to plan for.
If you are extending your membership for only your vacation
credit weeks, let us know when you want your box(es).
Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week
21
In this box:
½# salad mix, ½#
spinach (Saturday) or 1 bunch
Beets (Midweek), 1 bunch radishes (from Groundwork Farm--
Radishes are excellent in a stir-fry, 1 bunch Mizuna (the most
mild-flavored green in the
mustard family) 3# Fingerling Potatoes, 1 piece SweetMeat squash, 1
basket
raspberries, 3# Liberty Apples (from LaMancha Ranch and Orchard in
Sweet Home)
Liberty is a crisp, juicy sweet-tart apple, and the perfect “lunchbox”
size.
Sweetmeat
Squash
Sweetmeat squash is an heirloom
winter squash variety—and they tend to
run really large. So as not to overwhelm anyone with a 10-pound squash,
we have
cut the squash down to a manageable size. Once cut, squash will keep in
the
refrigerator for up to a week. I know I told you last week about making
pie from
Sunshine squash. Well, I spoke too soon, because I made a pie from
sweetmeat
this week, and it was even better. It required no extra sweetening for
my
family. If you don’t feel like making a pie crust this week, here’s my
recipe
for Sweetmeat custard cups (it’s a standard pumpkin pie recipe that I
modified to
be dairy-free, without the piecrust).
Start by baking the squash until
soft (350
degrees for about an hour). Since the sweetmeat may be cut into an odd
shape,
you might cover the baking pan with foil to keep the moisture in. When
cool
enough to handle, scoop out the insides and mash. Take 2 cups of mashed
squash
meat. Add 1 can coconut milk, 2 beaten eggs, ½ teaspoon of salt,
1 tsp. cinnamon,
½ tsp. ginger, ¼ tsp. nutmeg or allspice, 1/8 tsp.
cloves. Pour the mixture into
lined muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
Potatoes
We don’t
actually eat many potatoes at our house, because our youngest son gets
a rash
from them. However, our older son really likes potatoes, and we have
some really
great varieties, so I’ve been cooking up potatoes for after school
snacks this
week. Now that the weather is cooler, it feels like potato weather—and
they are
so versatile. Boiled potatoes with butter, mashed potatoes, roasted
potatoes,
fried potatoes, pureed potato soup, chunky potato stew…..I will try to
let you
know which cooking method/recipe is best with each week’s potato
variety.
If
you end up with several week’s worth of potatoes in the refrigerator,
you can
always roast them together for a nice effect. Even if the potatoes have
very
different textures, roasting a mixture (and possibly topping with
grated cheese
when hot from the oven) will yield excellent results.
This week’s Banana potato
is a gourmet fingerling variety. They can be roasted (whole or chunked)
or used
in stews. However, their delicate and slightly nutty flavor is really
delicious
just steamed (over salted water for 12-15 minutes) and dressed with
butter.
Store
potatoes away from light—if exposed to light, they will turn green and
be
inedible.In a paper bag on the counter is fine for up to a week.
Refrigerate
for longer storage.
Denison
Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 20
In this box: ½# spinach, 2 baby bok choy, 1#
small Beefsteak
OR 1 bskt cherry, tomatoes, 1 Sunshine Squash, 2 Sweet Bell Peppers, 3#
White
Rose Potatoes (White Rose has a flaky texture like a russet, and is
good just
boiled in salted water then buttered, or roasted, baked, or hashed), 1
bskt
strawberries, 3# Liberty Apples (from LaMancha Ranch and Orchard in
Sweet Home)
Liberty is a crisp, juicy sweet-tart apple
Sunshine Squash
Sunshine squash is a
versatile and tasty winter squash. Sunshine can be baked or steamed,
then
mashed, souped, curried, or made into a lovely pie. If you know a lot
about
winter squash, you may recognize the shape of Sunshine—it looks like
the more
familiar green Kubocha or orange Amber Cup. However, in our taste
tests, we
find Sunshine sweeter and more moist than those other varieties.
Baking
instructions: cut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and bake
cut-side down
in a baking pan with about ½” of water at 350 degrees for about
an hour. Then
scoop out the insides when cool enough to handle, and follow your
favorite
squash recipe. We like to mash sunshine with coconut milk for a
slightly exotic
and sweet side dish. It’s practically like a dessert.
Sunshine squash can also
be steamed. For steaming, cut the squash in half, remove the seeds,
then cut
each half into thin sections. When cooked, the skin is soft enough to
be eaten,
so you don’t need to peel it.
Greens
Baby bok choy is a mild-flavored
green
that is great for stir-fry’s. I like to eat the crunchy white stems raw
(the
juicy texture reminds me of celery) while I prepare the leafy part for
a
stir-fry. Baby bok choy pairs nicely with spinach—you can combine them
in a
salad, or cook them together in any recipe. If you need a simple and
easy
greens recipe, here’s my all-time favorite recipe for all kinds of
greens:
Hot
and Sour Greens (from Andrew Weil, 8 Weeks to Optimum Health) 1 bunch
greens
(chard, collards, kale, spinach, tat soy, shungiku or bok choy), 2 tsp.
canola
oil, 2 cloves garlic, minced dash of red pepper flakes, ¼ tsp.
dry mustard, 2
Tbs. rice vinegar, 1 tsp. soy sauce, 1 tsp. brown sugar
Rinse and slice greens in
½ inch shreds.
Heat oil, stir-fry garlic and pepper flakes 1 minute.
Add greens
and mustard powder.
Stir to coat greens with garlic and oil.
Combine rice
vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar. Add to skillet.
Cook, covered, over medium heat
for about 5 minutes.
~I just realized, your sweet peppers would go very nicely
in this greens recipe. I would sauté the peppers first until
they are quite
soft and even starting to brown a bit before adding the garlic and
proceeding
with the recipe.
This is the 20th of 22 boxes.
If you are not continuing for Early Winter, your last box will be 10/30 (or 10/31 for Corvallis Wednesday pick-up).
Our Early Winter Box will begin Tuesday November 6th.
Winter Box Registration is included on the back of this newsletter.
If you have vacation credits, and you want to extend your summer membership for only your credit weeks, please send in a registration form indicating what weeks you want a box. If you are getting only the boxes for which you have credit, no membership fee is necessary, but we do need the registration form!
In this box: ½# Salad mix, 1 pint
Cherry Tomatoes, 1 cabbage, 1 bunch Carrots, 1 bunch Golden Chard, 1.5#
Parsnips (from Groundwork Organics), 1 bunch red scallions, (from
Groundwork Organics), 1 bskt gold raspberries, 3# Cameo
Apples from Gala Springs Orchard
Now it is truly October. The rains are more frequent, and the air is colder. On the farm, we’re anxiously watching the weather forecasts, and judging how much of a break we’ll have between rainstorms. There’s a lot to do this time of year, and the rain is not always helpful. October is the month when we need to plant our garlic, onions, and fava bean seeds for next spring. Our garlic seed has arrived, and the sooner we plant it, the more time it will have to grow before the really short days of winter arrive. If the ground is too wet, we have to plant by hand—which is messy and time-consuming.
This is also the time of year to harvest our long-season crops. On Wednesday, our crew took advantage of a break in the showers to harvest our sweet potato crop. They dug over 900 pounds of sweet potatoes, but a short rain shower made the field so slick that the truck got stuck. They had to pull it out of the mud with a tractor. (Sweet potatoes need to “cure” in a warm, dry place for a few weeks to achieve their maximum sweetness, so you won’t see them in your box until later this month). Winter squash is less messy, because the squash are on the ground surface instead of underground, but I saw the crew gently wiping the mud off each squash as they picked it up. We still have a lot of potatoes in the ground, and we hope we’ll have some dry breaks so we can drive our potato digger through the field and not dig them all up by hand.
And this box feels like a winter box: greens are back (Golden Chard is nice sautéed in olive oil and dressed with a splash of balsamic vinegar, or cooked any way you would cook spinach). I’ll talk more about greens next week, as we’ll likely put a bunch of greens in each of the next several boxes. And some of you may be very excited about parsnips (others may be wondering what those weird white carrots are doing in your box.). Parsnips are in the same family as carrots, celery, and parsley.
Parsnips are perhaps the sweetest root vegetable in this group, and they have a distinctive flavor. They can be enjoyed steamed, roasted, or sautéed. One of the simplest ways to enjoy parsnips is steamed until soft, then mashed with butter. I prefer to cut mine into slices or sticks and sauté in butter until browned (this tastes best with quite a bit of butter). They also grill or roast well. One cookbook suggests roasting French-fry sized pieces at 350 degrees until soft, yet firm, then brushing with butter and cinnamon. Serve warm. (I didn’t have a chance to try this, but I think the cinnamon would be nice).
<>
<>Your membership continues until the end of October.
<>Our Early Winter Box will begin Tuesday November 6th. Winter Box Registration is included on the back of this form.
<>The Cedar Hills—North Beaverton site is full
There are still plenty of spaces at our other Portland area sites. If you have vacation credits, and you want to extend your summer membership for only your credit weeks, please send in a registration form indicating what weeks you want a box. If you are getting only the boxes for which you have credit, no membership fee is necessary, but we do need the registration form!
My how we’ve grown
I remember our first year of Harvest Box—10 years ago. In those days, I was in the packing shed with Carson (then a baby) in a backpack, filling boxes on Tuesday afternoons. In our first year, we had fewer than 60 boxes, and two of us could pack boxes in a couple of hours. Now, we have nearly 300 boxes (serving almost 400 families), and it takes a crew of 6 people several hours to fill all the boxes (two people are needed for box washing alone). It’s a great scene; about 6 long tables are set up in the middle of the packing shed. Then the tables are filled with about 20 empty boxes. With a rhythm that reminds me of a choreographed dance, our packing crew fills box after box with the bounty of the week. On occasion, one item gets left out of a box, and we’re sorry if that has happened to you. Last week, we entirely forgot to put cherry tomatoes in any of the boxes on the Albany/Salem truck. Someone found the 25 flats of cherry tomatoes that we had set aside for the Harvest Boxes just before the Corvallis truck was scheduled to leave. We hurriedly put full flats on the truck—and we were still late to the drop-off.
In order to fill 300 boxes a week, it takes a substantial amount of produce. I was asking our farm manager what kind of potatoes we had for this week’s box, and I realized that we need roughly 900 pounds of potatoes (that’s about 40 of our Harvest Box totes full of potatoes) for one week of Harvest Box. Similarly, we need 25 flats of raspberries, strawberries, or cherry tomatoes each week that we put those items in the box. Sometimes the sheer volume of produce needed to fill the boxes is staggering, and we need to plan well to not run short. I really don’t know if we can pick enough strawberries for everyone this week—with the weather so cool, berries are ripening slowly. If we don’t have enough strawberries, we’ll try to put in raspberries.
Sweet Italian Peppers are at their best when sautéed in olive oil with sweet onions (or leeks) until they are quite soft, or even starting to brown. Then toss with pasta and add cheese for a light meal. They are also easy to roast, and make sweet chiles rellenos.
Some years, we have an excess of sweet peppers, and can put a large bag in each box. That is unlikely to happen this year. If you need to order a quantity to put in your freezer for the winter, call the farm to arrange a special order.
Important notes
- What
happens if you forget to pick up your box on Tuesday afternoon? You can still pick up your box! If
you’re
in Albany or Salem, unclaimed boxes will remain at the drop site until
at least
Wednesday at Noon. After that, they are donated to local families in
need. In
Corvallis, boxes return to the farm. You can call us to arrange a late
pick-up.
- The
Trade Box is intended for exchanges. If you take something out, please
put
something back in. That way even the last people to pick up their box
will have
some choice if they wish to trade.
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<>
Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 17
In this box:
1 bunch Carrots, ½# Sweet
Onions, 3# Purple
Viking potatoes (these make really
creamy mashed potatoes, or excellent potato salad), 2 Ripe
Bell Peppers, 1#
Heirloom Tomatoes, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 2 Sweet Dumpling Squash, 1
bskt Gold
Raspberries or Strawberries, 1.5# Canadice Grapes (from Reynolds Farm,
Corvallis)
Seasons change
This week I noticed
that our 16-year old barn cat has returned to her south-facing barn
window for
long naps during the day. She spent all summer hanging out at the front
door of
our house, ever hopeful that she might be invited inside some day. Now
that the
weather has turned cooler, she has returned to the sunny window in the
upstairs
of our barn.
On the farm, we are noticing that
the days are much shorter than
they were just a month ago. We need a light to setup for early morning
markets,
and the crew is going home by 8 PM because it is too dark to work in
the
fields. Peppers and tomatoes are ripening much more slowly, and our
fall
raspberries are starting to produce a nice crop. These Golden
Raspberries are
my favorite. I’m glad they are growing just outside the office door, so
I can
grab a quick handful when I need a sweet snack.
Now that there are fewer tomatoes
and peppers to pick, our
on-farm crew is catching up on weeding. Today they swarmed the leek
field for
the second time since the leeks were planted, hoeing the weeds by hand.
The
fields look so nice when they are freshly weeded, and you can see
nicely
cultivated soil between the young plants. We’ve also been removing
tired plants
from cucumber, pole bean, and strawberry cold frames and planting
spinach,
lettuce, and other greens for the winter. Speaking of winter,
Registration
Information for our Early Winter Harvest Box: Pick-up sites
will be the same as for the summer box, but drop-off times will
be a little different. If you have vacation credits, and you want to
extend
your summer membership for only your credit weeks, please send in a
registration form indicating what weeks you want a box.
Today’s delicata squash is the first of several varieties of winter squash that you will see in your boxes this fall. All of our winter squashes have yellow or orange flesh, which means they are rich in vitamin A. Winter squashes are also sweet, which makes them popular at our house. Delicata squash can be steamed or baked. To steam, cut in half lengthwise (this takes a large and sturdy knife). Then scoop out the seeds. Cut each half into ½” smile-shaped pieces, and steam over boiling water for 10 minutes or until tender. I like to serve my steamed delicata with a little butter, but I don’t usually add extra sweetening because they are so sweet. To bake, cut the squash in half and remove the seeds as for steaming, but then leave the halves intact. Place cut side down in a baking pan, add about ¼-inch of water, and bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, or until very soft.
Stuffed squash is easy: Prepare delicata as if for baking. Place cut side up in a baking dish, stuff with your favorite meat or vegetarian or seasoned rice filling, and bake until the filling is done and the squash is tender. While you’re at it, you can cut the top out of your peppers, take out the seeds, and stuff them with the same filling. Bake it all in the same dish, and there’s a one-dish dinner for the family.
Tip of the week: you can eat the skin of delicata squash (and of most winter squashes!). When cooked, the skins are tender.
Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 16
In this box: ½# salad mix, ½# spinach
(from Groundwork
Organics), 1 bunch carrots, 2# Russian Banana Fingerling potatoes
(wouldn’t
these be lovely roasted whole...), ½# Sweet Pimento Peppers,
3#
tomatoes, ¾# Romano Beans 1 basket Japanese
plums or French Petite Prunes
Salsa
Our abundance of tomatoes
continues. Tomato
plants are really amazing. Many of the tomatoes we grow are called
indeterminate.
That means the plants keep growing up, and keep making tomatoes at the
top of
the plant. Some of our plants have been producing tomatoes since early
June,
and they’re still growing. The plants are taller than I am. The
earliest and
latest tomatoes on a plant are smaller than the ones in the middle, but
the
later tomatoes that have seen a lot of sun during their ripening are
very
sweet!
This week I’ve been thinking
about salsa, so I started looking through
my cookbook collection. I was surprised that many of my older, classic
cookbooks (Joy of Cooking, for example) don’t even mention salsa! I did
find
that salsa sales in the U.S. surpassed ketchup sales about 15 years
ago.
So,
what makes a salsa? In my own mind, I think of salsa as any variation
of a
fresh tomato-based condiment to enliven anything from eggs to baked
potatoes,
to pasta or rice, to chips. Salsa is a great way to add color and
nutrition to
your meals. My salsas are chunky because I chop everything by hand, but
I’ve
seen some smooth salsas as well that have been prepared in a food
processor.
Many familiar salsas are spicy, but I prefer mine on the sweet and
pungent
side. I use tomatoes and sweet peppers for sweetness, onions or garlic
for
pungency, a handful of greenery (basil, cilantro, or parsley) for
interest, and
a touch of salt to enhance the flavors. The quantities can vary
depending on
what you have on hand. If you want a spicy salsa, just add one finely
diced
jalapeno pepper.
Here’s a quick dinner idea from
Simply in Season by Mary Beth
Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert—Much like a salsa, you don’t even cook
the
sauce!
2 pounds tomatoes (chopped, seeded, and drained)
½ cup fresh basil (chopped)
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Combine and let stand
at room temperature 1-2 hours.
1 pound whole wheat pasta shells or
ziti.
Combine hot pasta and sauce. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese or feta cheese. Serve immediately.
Pimento
peppers
Yes, these are the kind of
peppers you find pickled and stuffed inside
olives. When fresh, pimentos are much like a sweet bell pepper, but
their flesh
is thicker and juicier. These would be
great roasted with the Russian Banana potatoes. Just cut peppers into
chunks,
take out the seeds, and add to a roasting pan with scrubbed potatoes, a
touch
of salt and olive oil. Roast at 350 degrees until potatoes are tender.
Prunes
and Plums
Some boxes have Japanese Purple
Plums (larger) and some have French
Petite Prunes. The petite prunes tend to get slightly wrinkled when
they are at
their peak. Don’t worry if yours are wrinkled at the stem end. I think
the wrinkled
ones are the sweetest.
Good Job!
I have noticed that nearly all the boxes are returning to the farm clean. Thank you! It saves our on-farm crew a lot of time if they just have to give the boxes a quick rinse before filling them again the next week. If you have been accumulating boxes at your house, please bring them back soon. We’re running short on our box supply. Thanks.
Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 15
In this box:
1 Lettuce, 1 bunch Basil, 1 or 2
Eggplants (from
Groundwork Organics), 3# tomatoes, 1
basket pink grape or mini Roma tomatoes, 2 Red Bell peppers, 1# Sweet
Onions, 1#
Summer Squash, 3# Pears: Bartlett or Abate Fatel (from Gala Springs
Orchard)
These
are a few of my favorite things
One of the things I like about
being a small
farmer in the Willamette Valley is the other farmers that have become
our
friends over the years. We have developed a community of farming
friends who
cooperate with each other in a lot of ways. You may have noticed we
occasionally include produce from some other organic growers in your
box. These
other farmers are our friends. Some have worked on our farm before
striking out
on their own (Jamie at Springhill Farm, Gabe at Groundwork Organics),
and some
are friends that we have met because we sell at the same Farmer’s
Markets (like
Shane Baker from Gala Springs Orchard—Tom sees him in Beaverton every
Saturday). We benefit from our cooperation in many ways, from having a
more
interesting Harvest Box to co-purchasing supplies like strawberry
baskets or
seed potatoes to save freight costs.
Some other farming friends of
ours are the
Wood family. They used to grow vegetables, particularly melons, on
their farm
near Jefferson. About 10 years ago, they transitioned their farm to
growing
eggs and meat. Now they have lamb, pork, beef, and eggs, and they even
make
soap from their own lard! We see them
every Saturday at the Corvallis Farmers Market. At the end of the day,
they
take all our trimmings (carrot tops, cauliflower leaves, lettuce
trimmings) and
take it home for their pigs. We feel happy that someone is using our
compost,
and “Ben the Boar” is very happy with the fresh produce!
Recipe of the week:
- Put eggplant into a colander set over a large bowl, toss with 1 Tbs. salt. Top with a plate weighted down with several large cans, let drain for 1 hour. Rinse eggplant and pat dry with paper towels. Heat 2 Tbs. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add one-third of the eggplant and cook until golden brown, 7-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggplant to a bowl. Repeat with oil and remaining eggplant.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add remaining oil, onions, and anchovies; cook until soft, 14-15 minutes. Add tomatoes and celery and increase heat to medium, cook until tomatoes release their juices, 5-6 minutes. Add vinegar, sugar, and tomato paste, cook until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Add cooked eggplant, raisins, pine nuts, capers, olives, roasted peppers, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until hot. Transfer to a plate, let cool slightly. Top with basil and parsley. Serve at room temperature. Serves 6. From Savoir, September 2007. Adapted from A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking by Nancy Harmon Jenkins (Morrow, 2007).
Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 14
Inspiration
It is the end of August, and I’m walking around the farm today to get inspiration for the newsletter. Here’s what I see:
- The
raspberry bushes that produced so many raspberries in June, and then
grew
into an impenetrable thicket have now been tamed, pruned, and
trellised.
Amongst the leaves, I find ripening raspberries to eat. Soon we will
have
plenty again as some of our raspberries are varieties that fruit in the
fall.
- Along the driveway where we grew lettuce earlier this year, the ground has been rototilled and planted to young cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli plants. These young plants grow incredibly fast—I think they double in size every week! Only a few weeks ago, they were tiny tender seedlings, and now the plants have grown to touch each other, and they are each showing their individual characteristics. The plants that will be purple cabbages are dark greenish-purple; the cauliflower leaves are starting to turn upwards in a bowl-shape, even though the creamy white cauliflower which will hide inside won’t form for another two months.
- The
heirloom tomato plants look very tired. They have been producing fruits
since
June, and are nearing the end of their productive life. Fortunately for
us,
tomatoes that ripen on older plants are sweeter and more flavorful than
early
in the season when the plants are more lush. This is probably the last
week
when we’ll have enough heirloom tomatoes the boxes.
- Our winter leeks were recently transplanted. Leeks are one of the slowest growing plants. When the seed (about the size of a poppy seed) sprouts, it sends up a green shoot about the size of a hair. We tend these seedlings for about 8 weeks in the greenhouse, watering them twice a day, and giving them a “haircut” when they are tall enough to fall over. (We literally cut them off with scissors, and they keep growing just like your lawn grass). When the seedlings are about the size of a pencil, we can transplant them to the field. Then we have to keep the weeds at bay, because weeds grow way faster than leeks. The best way to keep weeds out of leeks is hand hoeing. Fortunately we have an excellent crew of farmworkers, and they make quick work of the weeds, descending on the leek field as a group and working together to uncover the leeks from the weeds. Our crew seem to enjoy the work of hoeing—it is far less tiring for them than picking melons, which they are also doing a lot of this time of year.
Recipe of the week: pick up some basil and local goat cheese, or wait until next week for more basil in the box
- Cook
pasta according to package directions,
omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place in a
large bowl.
- Add goat cheese, basil, salt, and pepper. Stir until well blended.
- While
pasta cooks, heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high
heat. Add garlic
and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add
tomatoes and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add
broth and cook 1 minute.
- Add tomato mixture to pasta. Toss gently to combine. (4 servings).
Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 13
Corn
I can’t believe summer is waning. The mornings are feeling delightfully cool, our kids are going back to school in a week, and we haven’t even put corn in the box yet. Well, here’s the corn! We all love corn, but it takes a lot of space to grow a lot of corn, and we are a small farm (30 acres total). Tom didn’t get any corn planted on our farm this year because he filled all our land up with things like tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, melons, and potatoes, which produce more per acre than corn. Fortunately, our friends Gabe and Sophie at Groundwork Organics do have a lot of land, and they agreed to sell us some corn for this week’s box (Elizabeth sort of needed to beg, because they didn’t really have too much extra corn either).
Those members who have been with us for a while have heard us talk about Gabe and Sophie before, but for our newer members, here’s a short introduction. Gabe started working for Tom 10 years ago and after learning from us for a few years, he bought some land and started his own organic farm in Junction City. We have remained close over the years and cooperate on many things from sharing equipment to helping market each other’s produce. You have seen a few items from Gabe and Sophie this year, including their baby leeks last week, and we hope to get eggplant soon.
Melons
Back in the 1970’s when Tom was first starting to farm, people used to call him The Melon Man because he grew more melons than anything else. Back then, the melons coming from California weren’t very good, and most people thought you couldn’t grow melons in the Willamette Valley. When people get their first taste of a truly picked-ripe melon, it can make quite an impression. Now there are a lot more melons grown in the Willamette Valley, and California is also producing a better product, so melons aren’t as big a part of our farm as they used to be.
Tom still enjoys finding novel melon varieties that are different from what everyone else grows. There are so many different kinds of melons in the world that have never made it into wholesale produce distribution. Two examples are in your box today: the Sweet Diamond, which has glossy, jewel-like flesh; and the Margarita Melon with its sweet, clean taste is a local favorite.
Our melons are picked ripe, and ready to eat. Please don’t wait until they feel soft! If you’re not going to eat your melons in the next day, refrigerate them until you are ready to eat.
Nine More Boxes: Though August is drawing to a close, we still have two more months of Harvest Boxes in this season. Your box will continue until October 31st for a total of 22 weeks. We’ll have Early Winter Box information available by mid-September. We will print all the registration information in the newsletter as soon as it is available.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 12
Heirloom Tomatoes
Our plan this week is to have enough heirloom tomatoes to give everyone a sampling of several varieties. There are an overwhelming number of very unique tomatoes, and Tom spends a lot of time every winter looking through seed catalogs and on the Internet trying to find varieties that we think will grow well here and taste good. My suggestion for enjoying these heirlooms? Cut them all up and arrange on a platter. Add a tiny sprinkle of salt, a dash of balsamic vinegar, and/or a light drizzle of olive oil, and have a tomato tasting. Enjoy the variety of flavors, textures, and colors, and let us know your favorites next week!
Tomato Tart
I have been seeing lots of variations of tomato pie recipes this summer. I can’t put my hands on my favorite one right now, but I made a delicious tomato tart last week without really following a recipe. Directions follow. Most tomato pies call for a single piecrust. I prefer a vegetable oil-based “pat-in-the-pan” piecrust rather than a flaky, rolled crust made with shortening, as the crumbly texture of an oil-based crust is the perfect complement to this savory pie. Various recipes then add layer of grated hard cheese or crumbled feta or chevre, a layer or two of tomato slices, topped with chopped basil and garlic, and baked for 25- 30 minutes at 350 degrees. (I guess that makes it like an upside down pizza with the cheese below the tomatoes). I made a tomato tart last week without cheese (because our family is dairy-free) and didn’t miss the cheese at all! I prepared an oil-based piecrust, and filled it with a single layer of sliced tomatoes, then dotted the top of the tomatoes with a mixture of one large clove of crushed garlic and a handful of chopped basil.
Here are a couple more recipes for the abundance of beefsteak tomatoes this time of year:
Baked Parmesan tomatoes- From Eating Well (Aug/Sept 2006)
Halve tomatoes horizontally; transfer to a baking sheet cut-side up. Top with Parmesan cheese, oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and bake in a 450oF oven until the tomatoes are tender, about 15 minutes for small tomatoes, slightly longer for larger ones.
Roasted garlic and tomato salad (From my kitchen, inspired by Cooking with Caprial) (Roasted garlic instructions from From Asparagus to Zucchini)
Roast 1 head of garlic: Heat oven to 300 degrees. Cut ¼ - ½ inch off top of garlic head to expose tips of cloves. Lay garlic head cut-side up in a small baking dish. Drizzle ½ Tbs. olive oil over the top; sprinkle on some pepper. Roast until soft, fragrant, and lightly browned, about 45 minutes. Cool completely. Squeeze cloves from the base and use a fork to dislodge flesh from skin.
- Cut 4 or 5 tomatoes into wedges and place in a large bowl. Coarsely chop roasted garlic and toss with tomatoes.
- Combine
2 Tbs. red wine or balsamic vinegar with 6 Tbs. olive oil. Toss with
garlic and
tomatoes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature before serving.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 11
In this box: 1 Red Butter Lettuce, 1# Carrots, 1 head
Cauliflower or Broccoli, 1.5# White Zucchini, 2# White Rose or Russet
Potato, 1
pint sungold cherry tomatoes, 3# BeefsteakTomatoes, 2 Red Peppers, 1
Yellow Watermelon
Cauliflower or
Broccoli
Here’s a trick to avoid
overcooking cauliflower or broccoli. Tom
learned this technique from his mother. Find a small steamer or
saucepan with a
tight-fitting lid. Add ¼” of water to the bottom of the pan, and
place
cauliflower or broccoli florets in a steamer or directly into the pot.
Cover
and place over high heat until the water comes to a full boil and steam
comes
out from under the lid. Then turn the heat OFF and leave the pan on the
hot
burner for 5 minutes. (This timing works great on our electric stove,
because
the burner stays hot enough to keep a light steam going for the
5-minute
cooking time. On a gas stove, you may need to leave the gas on extra
low for 5
minutes.) Serve immediately, or plunge into ice water to quickly stop
the
cooking process if you want to eat it later.
French White
Zucchini
Zucchini seems to be the darling
vegetable of the
summer. I say this because every time I pick up a cooking magazine,
there are
great zucchini recipes. Here are a couple of new ones that would be
great with
this week’s French White Zucchini:
Sauteed Zucchini,
Cherry Tomatoes, Olives,
and Basil
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, 1
¼ to 1 ½ pounds zucchini (cut into ½
-inch thick slices), 2 large garlic cloves (sliced), 1 ½
teaspoons chopped fresh
rosemary, 2 cups small cherry tomatoes (halved), 1/3 cup halved pitted
Kalamata
olives, ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil, 1 tablespoon balsamic
vinegar
Heat oil
in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, garlic, and
rosemary.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute until zucchini is just tender,
about 5
minutes. Add tomatoes and olives. Saute until tomatoes just begin to
soften,
about 2 minutes. Mix in basil and vinegar. Season vegetables to taste
with salt
and pepper. Transferto a bowl. Makes 6 servings. From Bon Appetit, September
2007.
Mannie’s Cold Zucchini Salad (From Asparagus to Zucchini, Madison Area CSA
Coalition)
Zucchini, canola oil, minced garlic,
red wine vinegar
Slice zucchini into thin strips lengthwise.
Fry lightly in hot oil until soft throughout. Transfer zucchini to a
bowl; salt
lightly. Discard most of the oil in the pan. Add generous amounts of
garlic and
sauté lightly. Add ¼ inch of red wine vinegar to the pan
and bring to a quick
boil. Toss sauce with squash. Cover and refrigerate; serve in a few
hours.
Makes any number of servings.
"What about the plastic fruit boxes and paperboard berry baskets?"
Many people
have been asking if they can return the plastic
clams and berry baskets. The answer is: maybe. We
are always happy when things can be re-used. However, only
clean plastic and paperboard berry baskets are useful to us. If you
think your
baskets are clean enough that you wouldn’t mind receiving them back
refilled,
then you can bring them back and we will reuse them.
Otherwise, please recycle them.
Stay tuned for updates in the future, as the Food Safety
Division at the
Oregon Dept of Agriculture is currently working on new regulations for
farmers.
We expect more limited reuse of containers with the new rules.
Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 10
In this box: 1 Lettuce, 1# Carrots, 1 Bunch Basil, 1.5#
Broccoli, 2# Red Potatoes, ½# Shallots, either 1 pint Mini-Roma
Tomatoes
(these mini-romas will be best in
a few days when their color is a deeper red—then they’re great for
cooking. Very
intense flavor!) or 1 pint Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, 2# Beefsteak
Tomatoes, 1 Guava
Watermelon
Broccoli
Have you ever thought of roasting
broccoli? It’s one of my
new favorite things. It’s hard to overcook broccoli by this method,
because the
outside of the stalks remain firm even when the insides are tender. And
the
floret portion becomes crispy and sweet. Here’s my technique: Preheat
oven to
350 degrees. Cut broccoli into individual “trees”. Peel and cut stems
into
similar-sized pieces. Coat lightly with olive oil. Here’s a trick: put
cut up
broccoli into a large bowl. Pour a small amount of olive oil (2-3 Tbs.) and a light sprinkle of salt over
the top and mix gently to coat all pieces. Then spread broccoli 1-layer
deep in
a roasting pan. The alternate method for oiling the broccoli is to
spread
pieces in a roasting pan first, and drizzle with olive oil, then shake
the pan
to distribute the oil, but I find that this leaves most of the olive
oil
coating the pan, not the broccoli. Roast at 350 degrees for about 20-25
minutes, shaking after 10 and 15 minutes to make sure nothing burns.
They’re
done when the stems pierce easily with a sharp knife.
Basil, basil, and
more
basil
What to do besides
pesto? Well, at our house, we could eat pesto once a
week, so that’s not a big problem. But here are some additional ideas
if your
family is getting tired of pesto:
- Chop basil leaves and stems into soups and
stews.
- Layer basil leaves in a sandwich with sliced tomatoes and cheese.
- Make
pesto (recipe follows), and use pesto as a layer in lasagna, a stuffing
for
omelets, or a nutritious addition to mashed potatoes or mac n’ cheese.
- Add
torn basil leaves to a green salad.
- Make Basil butter: Mix together ½ cup softened butter, 1 minced shallot, 2 Tbs. fresh minced basil, 1 tsp. lemon juice (optional). From Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. <>
Blend in a food processor until finely chopped: 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds, pine nuts, or some of each. 1 clove chopped garlic.
Then add: 1 bunch (about 2 cups) chopped basil leaves and tender stems. 1/2 tsp salt.
When finely chopped, slowly add: 1/2-2/3 cup olive oil.
Mix gently into 1# cooked pasta. (Optional: add ½ cup grated Parmesan).
Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette:
Process in a blender or food processor until finely mixed. Best if left to marinate overnight. This makes a strongly-flavored salad dressing. Try it on a tomato salad, on steamed broccoli, or as a low-fat alternative to pesto on pasta.
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Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 9
In this box: 1 Lettuce, ½# Salad Mix, 1 Red Pepper, 1
1/2# Summer Squash, 1 head Green Cabbage, 1 Red Onion (forgotten in last
week’s box), 2# Purple Viking
Potatoes, 2#
Beefsteak Tomatoes, 2 pints Strawberries
This time of year is so busy on
the farm that I barely have time to cook and eat the explosion of
produce that is ripe right now. I bring in armloads of tomatoes, but
the only ones that get eaten are the cherry tomatoes that I can grab as
I pass through the kitchen on the way somewhere else. However, if I did
have the time to cook this week, this is what I would do……
More ideas for summer squash: (my
two favorite recipes appeared in the Week 7 newsletter, available on
the web site)
- Substitute zucchini for grated potato in a potato pancake recipe.
- Grill zucchini halves or skewer and grill chunks of zucchini (anything on a skewer is popular with my kids!).
- Grate or thinly slice zucchini and dress with lemon juice, olive oil, one clove of smashed garlic, and capers.
- Grate and freeze in a zip-lock bag for winter cakes and muffins.
- Add a layer of zucchini slices to a lasagna casserole.
- Sauté zucchini (with or without onion, pepper & cabbage) until just tender (larger chunks maintain better texture). Gently mix with vinaigrette dressing and serve at room temperature. Make a simple casserole: Layer squash slices alternately with onion slices, bread crumbs, (and optional cheese). Repeat for a total of 3 layers. Top with butter. Cook at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.
- If you’re feeling like cooking something more complicated, try:
Double Chocolate Zucchini
Cake (From Asparagus to
Zucchini, Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition)
¾ cup oil
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
½ cup sour milk or buttermilk
3 Tbs. cocoa or carob powder
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. each cinnamon and cloves
2 ½ cups flour
1 small bag of chocolate or carob chips
Heat oven to 350
degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan. Mix all ingredients and bake 30-35
minutes. Makes 16 servings. Summer squash is
approximately 94 % water, very low in calories, and a great source of
vitamins A and C, potassium, and calcium. Stores
best in a plastic bag or hydrator drawer in refrigerator up to a week.
In this box:
1 Romaine lettuce, 1# Romano Beans
(yellow or
green), 1 red onion, 1 bunch Carrots, 2# Beefsteak tomatoes, 1 pint
grape
tomatoes, 1 pint strawberries, 1 pint blueberries (from Nature’s
Fountain).
I’ve got to
tell you about these pole beans. We grow these green and
yellow Italian Pole Beans on 6-foot high wire trellises in covered hoop
houses.
Even though the rows are 5 feet apart, the vines grow so fast that we
have to
go through the houses every week with a machete just to keep the paths
between
the rows open. Our oldest son, who will be 10 next month, has been
reading the Harry
Potter books this summer. Near the end of the first book, there is a
magical
plant that grows so fast that it ensnares people who happen to fall on
it. Walking
through the bean house makes that seem almost believable.
Since we don’t have
enough beans to give everyone a large portion each week, I thought it
would be
nice to include beans two weeks in a row. Your box will have either
yellow or
green beans. Either color can be used in all the same recipes. Here’s
one of my
favorites:
Green Beans with
Red Onion and Mustard Seed Vinaigrette
3 Tbs. olive
oil
2 Tbs. yellow mustard seeds
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup red-wine
vinegar
1 lb. green beans
- Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in a heavy
skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Cook 2 Tbs.
mustard
seeds, stirring, until they pop and are 1 shade darker, about 2
minutes.
Transfer to a large bowl.
- Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in a cleaned skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook 1/2 red onion stirring, until golden brown (8-10 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup red-wine vinegar, then add to mustard seed and oil in large bowl.
- Have ready a large bowl of ice and cold
water. Cook 1 lb. green beans in a pot of boiling salted water until
crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and plunge into ice water, then
drain
well.
- Toss beans with vinaigrette and salt and pepper to taste. Cover
and
chill 12-24 hours in refrigerator. Serve at room temperature or
chilled. Serves
6. (modified from Gourmet, Aug. 2001)
Need a new idea for carrots? Try these easy Glazed Carrots with Mustard and Honey. My kids really like them, even cold for lunch the next day. The recipe comes from Deborah Madison Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. 1 bunch carrots, scrubbed, 2 Tbs butter, 1 Tbs honey, 2 tsp. Stone ground or Dijon mustard, Salt & freshly milled pepper, Chopped parsley (optional), Cut carrots into 3-inch lengths; halve or quarter the thicker ends so that they’ll cook evenly. Steam or boil until nearly tender (3-5 minutes). In a medium skillet, melt the butter with the honey, then stir in the mustard. Drain and add carrots and season with salt and plenty of pepper. Cook over medium heat for several minutes, until well coated and bubbling (or even a bit browned), then toss with chopped parsley and serve.
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Denison
Farms
Harvest Box 2007: Week 7
Italian Romano Beans
If you’re new to our box this
year, you may not recognize the long, flat, green (or yellow) bean-like
vegetables in your box. They are Italian Romano Beans. We’ve been
growing Romano for several years, because we really like the flavor,
even raw. We continually have customers ask us what to do with
them. My answer? "Anything you can do
with a green bean, you can do with an Italian Romano Bean.”
Our kids really like when I make Twice-Cooked
Green Beans: snap beans into 2-inch pieces and steam for 3
minutes, then add to a hot sauté pan with olive oil (and maybe a
crushed clove of garlic), and sauté until browned (about 5 minutes).
Add salt to taste.
Yellow Straightneck Summer Squash
I have two recipes to share with
you that are just perfect with this Yellow summer squash. The first was
created just last week by the brother of one of my friends at a family
gathering. It’s a lovely and rather unusual pairing of raw summer
squash, the rich sweet-tart flavor of balsamic vinegar, and
sharp-on-the-tongue aged Italian cheese (or salty Italian meats if you
prefer). The straightneck summer squash can be used in any recipe you
might use zucchini, but we think the flavor is sweeter, which makes it
really nice for this raw salad, or try Quick-fried zucchini flavored
with garlic and lime:
Doug’s Summer Squash Salad
Essential Ingredients:
1# small summer squash, very thinly sliced.
¼ sweet onion, finely diced.
1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved.
½ can pitted black olives.
Optional ingredients:
Aged Italian Cheese (Asiago, Parmesan, Romano), thinly shaved or grated.
Prociutto or Pepperoni, thinly sliced
Dressing:
¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
(optional: 1 Tbs mustard in
dressing)
Mix all together and eat chilled.
The zucchini may leach out liquid if it sits for a while, but excess
liquid can be drained off.
Quick-Fried Zucchini with Toasted
Garlic and Lime
1 lb. zucchini cut in ½ inch pieces
1 scant tsp. salt 1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 Tbs. lime juice
Generous ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper
½ tsp. dried oregano
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
In a colander, toss the cut zucchini with salt; let
stand over a plate or in the sink for half an hour. Rinse and dry
zucchini.
About 15 minutes before serving, heat the butter and
oil over low heat in a skillet large enough to hold the zucchini in a
single layer.
Add the garlic, stir until light brown, about 3
minutes. Do not burn garlic. Scoop the garlic into a fine-mesh sieve
set over a small bowl, then scrape the strained butter mixture back
into the pan; set garlic aside. Raise the heat to medium-high.
Add zucchini to the pan and fry, stirring frequently, for
8-10 minutes, until browned and tender but still a little crunchy.
Remove from the heat. Add lime juice and toasted garlic
and toss thoroughly.
Sprinkle with pepper, oregano, and parsley, then mix.
Taste for salt, and season if necessary. Serve in a warm
dish.
From Kitchen Gardening magazine,
“Mexican Ways with Zucchini”, #14, p. 28.
Denison Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 6
<In this box:
½# salad mix, ½# spinach, 2 cucumbers, 1 red onion, 2# summer squash, 1# Gold Roma tomatoes, 1 pint mixed cherry & grape tomatoes, ½ pt gold raspberries
Gold Roma Tomatoes
This week
brings the first installment of heirloom tomatoes of this season. Tom
spent many hours last summer and fall absorbed in seed catalogs and
searching the Web for interesting and good-tasting heirloom and
specialty tomatoes that he thought might grow well in our climate.
There are hundreds of these special tomatoes, and they come in all
sizes, shapes, colors, flavors, and textures. This week we have an
abundance of Gold Romas. Although traditional Red Roma tomatoes can be
somewhat dry and are best used for making thick tomato sauces, the Gold
Romas have great flavor and are delicious for salads,
cooking, or eating out of hand. I like them just sliced, and drizzled
with a bit of olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Roasted Romas
have an intense flavor like dried tomatoes.
Here’s a
quick and easy recipe: Roasted Roma Tomatoes
- Cut roma tomatoes in half lengthwise.
- Place on parchment
paper on a baking sheet. (The parchment paper is not essential, but
makes
clean-up easier).
- Roast slowly in a 250o oven for 2-3 hours. Check after 2 hours and remove any pieces that are browning. Larger pieces will take longer to roast. Tomatoes are done when they are fully soft, but before they have become burned. When cool, add to your favorite pesto or pasta salad recipe (maybe with some red onion, spinach and cucumber...).
- Refrigerate and use within a week, or store in a zip-lock in the freezer.
Summer Heat
July is
here, and we’re
into full summer heat on the farm.
Tom’s major tasks these days involve trying to keep our vegetables from
getting
too hot. Raspberries and strawberries can become sunburned (the side of
the
fruits toward the sun bleaches white), tomatoes develop green
shoulders, and
young newly-transplanted seedlings wilt in the afternoons. We keep
overhead
sprinklers watering our raspberries so the berries stay cool from
evaporation.
Our farm crew starts work early
in the
cool of the morning, and they try to pick all the berries and tomatoes
in our
hoop houses before mid-morning, partly for their benefit, and partly to
keep
the berries in the best condition for you—they go into our 33-degree
cooler as
soon as they are picked. In the afternoon, our crew might choose cooler
tasks
like cleaning garlic in the shade or washing carrots, lettuce, or
potatoes.
Today,
Tom was preparing a sprayer full of suspended limestone to spray as a
whitewash
on our hoop houses and provide a bit of shade from the summer sun. In
the fall,
it washes off in the rain and serves as an organic fertilizer to the
soil.
Produce storage tip of the week:
Berries are our most perishable
crop. They should be
refrigerated (or eaten) as soon as possible.
Strawberries $30/flat
Denison
Farms Harvest Box 2007: Week 5
In this box
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Those of you who came to our farm party got a chance to see our passive solar hoop houses that protect our tomato plants from frost in the spring and rain in the summer, and hasten the ripening of fruits by using any sunshine to warm the soil and air well above outside temperatures. Even a few minutes of sunshine on a cold day in April or May can make a huge difference in the temperature, and tomatoes are basically a tropical fruit. They like it warm!
Though still small (as the first fruits on a plant often are), our beefsteaks are mild-flavored and meaty. Beefsteak tomatoes are classically used for slicing (as in sandwiches or burgers), or for quick tomato sauces (they cook down into a thick, sweet sauce—especially if you add some sautéed sweet onion or shallots).
Garlic Whistles
The long, skinny, green things in your box are called garlic whistles, or garlic tops. You can cook them any way you might cook asparagus: steam, sauté, roast, grill, or stew. I find the flavor mellow, like a roasted garlic flavor rather than sharp or hot like a clove of garlic. One of my friends likes them best chopped finely, steamed for 2-3 minutes, then used as a pizza topping—add to the pizza before baking.
Garlic whistles are only available for a short time during early summer. They won’t appear at the market again until next June. Truly a seasonal delight!
Cherries
We thought the birds had eaten all of our cherries this year, as we didn’t get our bird netting up, and there’s really no other way to prevent the birds from eating cherries. The birds did eat about 98% of our early varieties, because they ripen in early June before there is much other ripe fruit in the area. However, we have a few trees of this later variety (Lapin), and now the birds have moved on, perhaps to our neighbor’s blueberries, and we feel lucky to have a few cherries to share with you.
Storage suggestions
- While
the spinach, lettuce, and
salad mix are rinsed at the farm, we recommend a final rinse at home. I
like to
dunk my greens in a large bowl of cold water, then dry them in a salad
spinner.
If you don’t have a salad spinner, you can gently shake off excess
water, then
place a folded paper towel in the bottom of a large container, put the
greens
on top, and seal with a lid. The excess water will drain onto the paper
towel.
You don’t want spinach or salad greens sitting in water, or they will
not keep
well.
- Save space in your fridge (and
preparation time in your kitchen) by rinsing your produce as soon as
you get
home, and composting the greens from carrots and other roots right
away.
Carrots will keep better without their tops, as the greens will draw
moisture
out of the roots, so your carrots will be crisper if the tops are
removed and
they are scrubbed as soon as you get home. Then they’re ready to eat!
- Celery
will quickly become limp if it is exposed to the air. I store mine in
the
fridge in a long plastic bag with the end folded over.
- Once
produce has started
to wilt, it is hard to bring back crispness. Produce will keep best if
you
quickly get your green vegetables into the refrigerator, and protect
them from
drying out—like in a vegetable crisper or plastic bag (fridge air is
not humid
enough to keep produce from wilting).
- One final note: Never refrigerate tomatoes. Tomatoes are a tropical fruit, and fridge temperatures will kill the flavor.
In this box:
<>
Raspberries
I can’t tell you how excited Tom is to have raspberries growing on our farm. Back in the mid-1970’s, when Tom was studying Agriculture at Cornell University and first thinking of farming as a career, he dreamed about being a raspberry grower. It’s taken nearly 30 years to make it happen, but here we are with a plentitude of raspberries this summer. Last spring, after hours and hours of researching the best raspberries for our climate, soil, and growing conditions, Tom chose 4 varieties and planted about 3/4 of an acre of raspberries. This is our first real harvest year of berries. Many of our organic farming friends have tried growing raspberries, but have been unsuccessful at keeping them alive for more than a year or two—they’re just too susceptible to diseases (and weeds) that are hard to control with organic methods.
Our golden raspberries (in some boxes this week, and some of you will get yours another week) are usually grown as a fall-bearing raspberry. Generally, you mow the canes in the late fall, and they regrow and bear fruit the following fall. We decided to try fruiting them in the early summer by not removing last year’s canes. I think the golden raspberries are perhaps my favorite variety. They are the ones I pick for snacking when I’m out walking around the farm. Even though their color is novel, if you close your eyes, you may find them indistinguishable from a red raspberry. I think they have a slightly aromatic note to their flavor—a perfume-like sweetness that lingers in my mouth after I eat the berry.
Summer Squash
Now that summer is officially here, it’s time for Summer Squash. We’re growing several different varieties, and I’m not sure what is in your box this week. We hope to give you a good assortment of the different varieties during the summer so you can taste them all. In addition to the dark green and golden zucchini, we are growing Zephyr, which is a green-tipped yellow straightneck, and French White which is pale green in color (I guess the seed catalog’s didn’t think French Pale sounded as good as French White). Tom used to sell zucchini to Safeway in the 1980’s so he has seen and eaten a lot of zucchini. He thinks the flavor and texture of French White and Zephyr are superior to green zucchini, and they look interesting too. Summer is grilling season, and summer squash are great on the grill!
Green Shallots can be eaten either raw or cooked. If used raw, I suggest dicing and marinating in salad dressing for 15 minutes before serving, as their raw flavor can be a bit sharp. Cooking brings out the sweet and flavorful nature of shallots. Try them in a stir-fry, grilled, or roasted. Roasting makes both shallots and zucchini extra-sweet.
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Even though the tomatoes in your box may not be very large, they are a beefsteak variety. The first fruits from Beefsteak plants are often small in size. These tomatoes have a very mild flavor, and make a nice tomato sauce. If you still have your fava beans from last week, you can try simmering the tomatoes, garlic, and shallots, then adding blanched & peeled fava beans and some basil 3 minutes before serving. If you don’t have any fava beans left, the sauce would be fine without them.
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In this box:
Fava Beans
Fava Beans may be a new item for some of you, and I think they need a bit of introduction to be fully appreciated. Fava Beans are a staple vegetable in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Every year, we have some people call the farm to make special orders for a hundred pounds of Fava Beans to freeze for their family’s meals for the year.
In the past few years, Fava Beans have seen a surge in popularity in this country, and I’ve seen articles in several cooking magazines and also The Oregonian featuring Fava Beans. Here’s my suggestion for your beans: First you must shell the bean out of the pod and remove the inner skin from each bean. This is easiest if you score the pod with a sharp knife. (Cut deeply enough to score the inner bean, and it will be easier to pop out of its skin after blanching). Then blanch the beans (submerge 2 minutes in boiling water, then plunge into icy water to cool quickly). When cool, you can slip the outer skin off the bean, and you are left with a tender, slightly sweet bean that needs only the slightest additional cooking before eating.
Fava Beans pair particularly well with garlic, lemon juice or tamari, sweet onions, and olive oil. They can also be simmered for 5 minutes in a tomato sauce and served over rice or pasta. Personally, I like to pop the blanched beans out of their skins directly into my mouth without any further cooking or adornment.
Fava Bean Sauté: Blanch and remove skins from 2# Fava Beans. Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in a frypan. Sauté 1 or more cloves garlic and ½ sliced sweet onion until soft. Add 2 cups shredded greens (spinach or beet greens) and 1 tsp. tamari, sauté for 3 minutes or until the greens are wilted. Add blanched Fava Beans. Cover and cook 3 more minutes.