Week #22

  • Lettuce – it is back, small heads, not as tender as spring lettuce, but with a good dressing it should be delicious
  • Tomatoes – the heirlooms are in! Enjoy Brandywine, Hillbilly, Cherokee Purple and Rose de Berne; we love to slice them and add a dash of salt and chopped basil
  • Cherry tomatoes – the rouge chickens have found them and are eating them up faster than they can ripen. Attempts at fencing these birds in have failed so far but we plan to get their wings clipped ASAP
  • Hot peppers – the Serrano’s are really hot, the closer to the stem the hotter
  • Red and Green Bell peppers – all peppers start out green or light yellow and turn red or yellow. They are slowly ripening but nothing like the peppers we enjoyed last year
  • Cucumbers
  • Zucchini
  • Basil – remember you can always dry the basil or make pesto and freeze it
  • Eggplant – grill it, make eggplant parmesan or make Ratatouille, but don’t leave it behind
  • Beans – they seem to be taking a rest, a few for everyone, but even though we have 400 feet in beans they are low producing.
  • Onions – beautiful red onions this week “Red Bull” a nice keeper if you let the greens dry on it, or use it fresh
  • Garlic – it is almost cured, should last longer
  • Potatoes – we are trying to harvest them before the silly gophers get them all.
  • Blackberries – You Pick – time to put up jam, they are delicious and perfect, I picked 4 hallocks in 10 minutes! Ask us for the best spots to pick.
  • Bartlett pears – just harvested, need to be kept cool 30 – 40 degrees for 4 days (take them out this Wednesday and put them on your counter and should be able to eat when they are light yellow)
  • Tomatillos – see Dee’s great salsa recipe below.

We are busy weeding, wishing for rain to wash away the dust. The summer crops are generally doing well, but the cool nights are taking their toll. This cold sends the message to the curcubits (squash, cucumbers and the like to produce seeds and toughen up their skins). It is time to make cucumber soup and zucchini pesto, put up the tomatoes (I am canning sauce and drying them for fall and winter use).

Canning party this weekend, Saturday September 10 starts at 0900. Please see your email for a list of what to bring. There is a $15 participation fee to cover all the extras I need to purchase in addition to the produce we donate from the farm. Make plans for your small kids as you will need both hands to work on your recipe.

Mark your calendars for the Helvetia Cultural Fest on September 18th from 1-4 at the Alpaca farm just 3 miles from the farm. We are working to raise $1000 from our farm members alone. Please contribute what you can to the effort .

Other events to mark on your calendar are the Harvest festival set for 2-6 pm on October 16th, bring your friends and show off the farm.

Dee’s great pepper recipe

1 – 2 onions, chopped

1 – 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

2 – 5 peppers sweet or hot or stuffing, skins burned and peeled, then seeded and sliced

1 – 3 tomatoes chopped

olive oil and salt and pepper to taste

Put a small amount of oil in the pan and cook the onions until translucent.  Meanwhile prepare the peppers.  Add the peppers and the garlic and a few minutes later add the tomatoes.  Adjust seasoning.  Cook until the whole mixture is tender.  Serve with beans and rice or as a side dish with any of your favorites.

ZUCCHINI CARPACCIO
4 small zucchini (1 lb total)
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup pine nuts (1 oz) 1 (6-oz) piece Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano

Garnish: thinly sliced tips of 2 zucchini blossoms*; 4 fresh mint sprigs
Special equipment: a Japanese Benriner** or other adjustable-blade slicer
Cut zucchini diagonally into paper-thin slices with slicer. Arrange slices, overlapping slightly, in 1 layer on 4 plates.

Make stacks of mint leaves and cut crosswise into very thin slivers, then sprinkle over zucchini.

Whisk together oil and lemon juice in a small bowl, then drizzle over zucchini. Sprinkle with sea salt, pepper to taste, and pine nuts. Let stand 10 minutes to soften zucchini and allow flavors to develop.

Just before serving, use a vegetable peeler to shave cheese to taste over zucchini, then sprinkle with zucchini blossoms and mint.

*Available at specialty produce markets and some supermarkets.
**Available at Asian markets, some cookware shops, and Uwajimaya (800-899-1928).

Gourmet
March 2003

ZUCCHINI POTATO LEMON-THYME MASH
1 3/4 pounds zucchini (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes such as Yukon Gold
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh lemon thyme
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Cut zucchini crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. In a large saucepan cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches and simmer, covered, until tender, about 35 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a colander and reserve cooking water. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and put in a large bowl. Add lemon thyme, butter, and salt and pepper to taste and with a potato masher coarsely mash. Keep mash warm, covered.

Bring cooking water to a boil and simmer zucchini until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain zucchini well in colander and coarsely mash into potatoes. Mash may be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely before being chilled, covered. Reheat mash before serving.

Zucchini Pesto

Lyn–this is the one that was in the Oregonian–it’s quite good! Pretty tasty straight up, but seems like it would be great on crostini or pizza, or w/chicken or fish, for instance…
 
1/2 c olive oil
1 large shallot chopped (I used a sweet onion)
6 garlic cloves
3 Tbs toasted blanched almond slivers
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 ” dice
1 c basil leaves
@tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste.
 
Sauté garlic and onions in 1Tbs oil until softened, not browned. Transfer to blender or processor and blend with remaining ingredients (except oil) until smooth. Gradually add in oil with blender running until smooth and creamy. Season w/S&P to taste.
 
Apparently keeps several days in fridge or freezes well

Deadwood Awesome Soup

 

Dice and sauté in olive oil in a kettle the following:

Onions

Garlic (peel and leave the cloves whole)

Lots of zucchini (good time to use up your baseball bat zucchinis)

Red peppers

Hot peppers if you want it spicy

 

Add some veggie or chicken broth (enough so that it doesn’t stick when cooked; maybe a cup or so)

Add some herbs. I like: thyme (a couple of tablespoons), basil (lots), rosemary, fennel, parsley (lots)

Add greens if you like. I added chopped chard in my last batch.

Throw in some chopped tomatoes (I add several big ones)

Add some black pepper to taste

Add nutritional yeast if you like it (I add 1/8-1/4 cup). It makes it kind of buttery

Cook it up so that the veggies are soft enough to puree. It doesn’t take long after sautéing.

 

Let it cool, then puree in a blender. Add more broth if it’s too thick. I like it sort of thick, but pourable.

Serve hot or cold (it’s great to drink cold out of a glass jar for lunch on the go), and  can be frozen for winter enjoyment.

 

 

I was going to name it Deadwood Killer Soup, but that sounded a bit too morbid.

Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake
From The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook

Instead of apples, try using any not too juicy fruit, such as
pears, pineapple, papaya, mango, blackberries or raspberries.

Crumb Topping
½ C light brown sugar
½ C unbleached all purpose flour
½ tsp cinnamon
4 Tbles chilled butter
¼ C finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Cake
1 C butter, at room temperature
2 C sugar
6 eggs
Grated zest of 2 lemons
4 C unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
2 tsps baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 C sour cream
2 C diced granny smith and/or Fuji apples (1 inch dice) (peeled if
desired)

To make the topping: Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in
a small bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the
texture is coarse. Stir in the walnuts, if desired. Set aside.
To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10
inch angel food cake pan.
Put the butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer
until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light in color and
fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Add the lemon zest and beat
again.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and slat in a
mixing bowl. Stir to mix. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture,
alternately with the sour cream. Beat until smooth.
Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the
apples evenly over the batter, then spoon the remaining batter over
the apples, spreading it evenly.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 1 hour
and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted
to the center of the cake. Let the cake cool on a rack for 45 minutes before removing it
from the pan.. Serves 8 to 10

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