- · Lettuce
- · Fennel or radicchio
- · Leeks
- · Garlic
- · Sweet peppers
- · Hot peppers
- · Cherry tomatoes
- · Tomatoes; heirlooms
- · Broccoli or cauliflower
- · Apples
- · Basil
- · Eggplant
- · Kale or Swiss chard or collards
The weather remains temperate but the cool nights have convinced the summer crops to make seeds and stop producing fruits. That means beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini are all slowing down. Cucumbers and Zucchini are too few to give and the beans are just trickling in. Fall crops like the brassicas as pinched as they wait for fall rain. We are beginning to plan for next year , thinking about garlic and Walla Walla onions.
We are cleaning up the farm for the big harvest party next weekend, rain or shine. The weather is slated to turn to the normal fall wet, but we will hope that it holds off until Monday the 15th! Please come and join us on Sunday from 2- 6 pm for pizza making, farm tours (if desired) and cider pressing. We have a great line up of musicians and dancers to help make the afternoon complete. We still have vegetables until the end of October so don’t be one of those members that forgets to pick up last 2 weeks.
There is still time to sign up for the La Finquita team for the Virginia Garcia Wellness Walk on October 20th at 0900. Personal tours of the new Wellness Center by yours truly at the end of the 2 mile family friendly walk through Cornelius, OR. Sign-up on line at http://walkforwellness.virginiagarcia.org/wellness/participantpage.asp?fundid=1720&uid=3086&fkroledescid=3 . If you can not walk with me please consider donating to the walk, all of the proceeds will go directly to programming at the wellness center .
Hope to see you all at the farm next weekend.
Fennel and Red Pepper Salad
By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN
This is one of my favorite salads. I make it for buffets all the time because it never gets soggy — the longer the vegetables marinate, the tastier the salad is.
For the salad:
1 pound trimmed fennel bulbs, quartered and cut into very thin crosswise slices
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut in thin 2-inch slices
1 to 2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 ounce shaved Parmesan
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or champagne vinegar
1 small garlic clove, very finely minced or puréed
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. Toss with the salad and serve.
Yield: Serves six.
Advance preparation: This is a great keeper. The vegetables marinate in the dressing, and they don’t get soggy, just saturated and extremely tasty.
Nutritional information per serving: 137 calories; 11 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 4 milligrams cholesterol; 8 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 128 milligrams sodium (does not include salt added during cooking); 3 grams protein Cannelini Beans with Tarragon and Roasted Fennel || from Chef Jonathan Miller
I make some variation on this very often, as it can be made year round here. Some of you may recognize the flavor combination here from very similar recipes I’ve posted before in the Ladybug Postcard. I also made a version of this salad with raw fennel and grilled radicchio quarters and it worked very well. Kids love this bean salad because of its licorice overtones and the cheese.
1 c cannelini beans, soaked overnight in cold water
2 fennel bulbs, halved, cored, and thinly sliced crosswise
1 bunch tarragon, chopped
1/2 t fennel seeds, ground
4 T sherry vinegar
4 t Dijon
6 T creme fraiche
12 T olive oil
4 T parsley, chopped
8 oz Italian fontina, diced
Drain the beans and put into a pot with cold water to cover by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil, skim any foam off the top, then lower the heat, add a generous amount of salt the pot, cover, and simmer slowly until the beans are soft, but not mushy, about 45-60 minutes. Drain.
While the beans cook, heat the oven to 400 and toss the sliced fennel with some olive oil and salt. Roast until colored and softened, and sweet, about 25-30 minutes.
Combine 2 T of the chopped tarragon, the fennel seeds, sherry vinegar, Dijon, and creme fraiche in a bowl. Whisk well. Add the olive oil and continue whisking until emulsified.
When the beans are cooked and drained, fold in the dressing, mixing thoroughly, but gently. Stir in the roasted fennel, the parsley, the cheese, and the remaining chopped tarragon. Taste to make sure you like it, and serve room temperature.
Fennel, Orange & Caper Salad
Note from Julia: I made this and it’s REALLY good. It’s pictured above. In the photo, I used kalamata olives instead of the capers.
2 bulbs fennel
1 Tablespoon cabers, drained
1 Tablespoon dill or chervil, fresh, chopped
Dresssing
1/2 orange, seeded
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sugar (I often omit this)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons olive oil
Trim the stalks from the fennel, cut the bulb in half lengthwise; then cut crosswise into very thin slices. Place in a large bowl with the capers and the dill.. Make the dressing. Cut the quarter orange in small pieces and place in the work bowl of a food processor with the vinegar, mustard, sugar and salt. .Process until smooth. With the motor running slowly, pour in the olive oil. Pour over the fennel, toss well and serve
Cauliflower and Fennel Gratin || from Chef Jonathan Miller
Not for the dieting crowd, here is a delicious gratin. Use any kind of quality melting cheese. I used gruyere because that’s what I had leftover, but a manchego or fontina would be great here, too. Notice that before I had a chance to take a photo, the dish was gone. That’s how good it is. I also used purple cauliflower, but any kind is fine. A smaller gratin dish is all that’s necessary here. This is a small dish. (Photo by Jonathan Miller.)
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 fennel bulb, halved lengthwise, cored, then sliced thinly crosswise
olive oil
3/4 c half and half
1/2 c almonds, toasted
1 onion, chopped
butter
2 T flour
1 c milk
3/4 c grated cheese (gruyere, fontina, manchego)
nutmeg
smoked paprika
Heat the oven to 400. Toss the cauliflower and fennel in a sheet pan with some olive oil and salt. Roast until beginning to color and tender, about 20-25 minutes.
Heat a couple tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan and saute the onion until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Toss with the cauliflower and fennel.
Heat the half and half until very hot, but not boiling. Chop the almonds and add to the half and half. Put into a blender and blend until finely chopped. Allow the half and half and almonds to steep for 10 minutes. Strain, pressing hard on the chopped nuts. You’ll have substantially less half and half than you started with, but don’t worry about that. Discard the almonds.
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan and add the flour. Stir constantly until the roux turns nutty brown. Whisk in the milk and infused half and half all at once, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and is very smooth, just a few minutes. Remove from heat and add the cheese and some salt. Grate some nutmeg into it and taste to make sure you like it. Toss with the cauliflower mixture and scrape everything into a small gratin dish. Sprinkle with some smoked paprika and a little more cheese. Bake for 20 minutes at 400. Serve warm. Delicious!
FENNEL VINAIGRETTE DRESSING
| 1/2 cup 1/2 cup 1/4 cup 1 clove pinch pinch
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olive oil green leaf fennel leaves lemon juice garlic, peeled salt sugar
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In a small saucepan, heat oil, fennel leaves, lemon juice, crushed garlic and salt and sugar. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
Ellen Ecker Ogden, From: The Cook’s Garden catalog
Tomato and Sweet Pepper Salad adapted from The Vegetable Market Cookbook by Robert Budwig
3 sweet peppers
4 ripe tomatoes
1/4 preserved lemon (or 2 teaspoons grated zest with some of the lemon’s juice)
2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed pinch sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 t black pepper
Grill or roast peppers, remove skins, cut into small cubes and set aside. Blanch tomatoes for 15-20 seconds in boiling water. Drain and remove skins and stems. Cut in half and remove seeds. Cut into small cubes. Rinse the preserved lemon under running water and remove the pulp. Cut the rind into fine dice. Arrange peppers, tomatoes and lemon in a dish. Mix remaining ingredients to make a dressing and pour over the salad. Mix well
Sweet Pepper and Lentil Soup
inspired by a recipe in Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook by Hensperger and Kaufmann
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, or 2 leeks, chopped
3-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon freshly purchased paprika or smoked paprika
1-3 sweet peppers, depending on their size, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup dried brown or black lentils, picked over and rinsed
5 cups broth or water
S & P to taste (at least an entire teaspoon of salt for this one)
1-2 Tablespoons champagne or sherry or rice vinegar to finish the soup
Cook the onion in 1 Tablespoon oil over medium heat in a skillet until the onion/leeks begin to soften. Stir in paprika and allow it to cook for about a minute more. Add the chopped sweet pepper and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until everything begins to soften. Scrape all this into a slow cooker. Add the lentils and broth (or water) and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low until the lentils are completely soft, 7-9 hours. Season the soup with S & P (more salt if you used water, less if you used purchased broth), and last Tablespoon olive oil. Stir in 1 Tablespoon of one of the vinegars, adding more if needed. Serve hot.