Week #14, 2017
• Lettuce – huge heads of “concept” and “red sails”
• Green onions
• Garlic
• Beets or carrots
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Basil
• Cilantro or dill or parsley
• Cabbage (make sure to try the roasted cabbage recipe it is delicious!)
• Broccoli or cauliflower
• Beans or peas (still trickling in)
• Chard or kale
Never a dull moment on the farm. Juvencio and I are trying to stay ahead of the on slot of weeds. The weeks seem to grow 3 – 5 inches a day and are setting seeds!! Vincent has done a super job on the onions (weeding them twice) and now they are due again! The onions are really beginning to bulb and are looking good. We had hoped to harvest them before taking off to Honduras, but that seems unlikely now. We will send out the word if we can get them out of the ground prior to departure and call on all hands on deck.
We harvested the first few tomatoes this week, just enough for us to taste, but they are coming to your share soon. By the end of the month we should have both cherry and standard size tomatoes ready for you to taste. The peppers are also in bloom and setting fruit. It is such an exciting time of year as we shift into summer and fall, broccoli will end for a while and night shades (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and potatoes )will rule the roost. As we pull out the old broccoli we will transplant the fall brassicas (cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower) and the overwintering varieties. We carefully plan crop rotations so as to give the plants the nutrients they need and ensure the pests don’t get the better of us.
At this time of year the share may seem too large for your family so we suggest you peek at our recipe files and remember to; eat salad every day, roast your cabbage or make slaw, try our favorite zucchini dish, and eat a cucumber a day to keep the doctor away!
We should have tomatoes and red currants next week and possibly some early apples and fresh onions. We appreciate our subscribers helping with the harvest at least twice over the season. Your help makes our work easier and gets you more veggies.
I have officially placed the canning party on the calendar. This is an annual event, open to subscribers that is a ton of work but a lot of fun. Mary Kay, a long time member and chef has generously given of her time for years to help me pull this event off. She and I choose the recipes based on excess farm produce, and what has been successful in the past and participants help prepare the recipes. We typically prepare about 13 recipes over the course of the day. Participants work on that one recipe with other members and take that recipe from start to finish (canned product). Every participant family gets at least one of each canned item, usually it is about 20 jars of canned produce to take home for their own pantry. It is an all day event , but totally worth it. For more details and photos go to : on our website. Sign up early as space is limited to 20. I will send out a detailed list of what to bring as the time approaches. As we begin gathering suggestions for recipes, please do share your favorites with me so I can consider adding them this year.
My note would not be complete if I did not recap some of the political news of the week. Many successes at the state level. Cover all kids passed- all children will be covered by health insurance no matter where they were born. Reproductive rights also passed, where insurers must cover all types of birth control and reproductive services. A huge transportation bill also passed, which has many compromises but something for every corner of the state. Many other important issues also got covered as our state legislature closed out the 2017 session. On a national level we are still in the fight of a life
time to save Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare). Please do stay engaged as failure to safeguard affordable healthcare will mean that 22 million people go uninsured. Join my activism group and get weekly updates. Just send me an email to: lynjuve@msn.com
Time to stop yapping and get working.
Some recipes to enjoy this week
Zucchini Trifolati
Sautéed Zucchini
The secret to this fabulous cooking technique is the long slow cooking which infuses all the flavors. Vegetables cooked this way make great pasta sauce or you can serve them as crostini. Try mushrooms with garlic and mint.
2 pounds Zucchini
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
chili pepper (or herbs)
Salt
Cover the bottom of a large sauté pan with olive oil. Add the sliced garlic and chile peppers to the pan; NOW turn on the heat. Slice the zucchini into thin slices and add to the golden garlic, salt and cover the pan. The salt will bring out the liquid in the zucchini and they will stew in their own juices and infuse with the garlic. Let them over cook. It is a pleasant surprise.
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
Sesame Cabbage
1/2 cup raw sesame seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1 dried red chili
1 head Cabbage, chopped
3/4 cup water
1 tsp salt
“Popu”
1 1/2 tbsp oil (olive, sesame, canola, etc.)
1 dried red chili, cracked
1 pinch fenugreek
1/4 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp cumin seed
Dry roast sesame seeds and dried red chili in a pan over medium heat. Stir often until majority seeds are brown. Remove from heat and cool. Once cool, grind in a food processor or blender with 1/2 tsp of salt. Excess ground sesame can be stored in the refrigerator for further use. To cook cabbage over medium heat, add chopped cabbage to 3/4 cup boiling water + 1 tsp salt. Cook until cabbage is desired texture. Once cooked, drain excess liquid. Add 1/4-1/2 cup ground sesame. Turn off heat.Prepare the “popu” in a separate pan by combing all ingredients, heating over medium heat, and waiting for mustard seeds to crackle. Once ready, add to cabbage, stir and heat over low heat for 1 minute. The “popu” can be prepared when the cabbage is nearly finished.
Cabbage and Potato Pancakes (from Simplicity – from a Monastery Kitchen)
1/2 head small green cabbage
4 large potatoes, peeled and grated
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
3/4 c milk
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
a small bunch of parsley, chopped
8 TBS vegetable or olive oil
1. Quarter the cabbage and steam it for about 6-7 minutes. Drain and chop the cabbage finely.
2. Place chopped cabbage, grated potatoes, and chopped onion in a big bowl. Mash them thoroughly with a masher and mix them well with a spatula.
3. In a separate deep bowl beat the eggs. Add the milk and beat some more. Add the cabbage-potato-onion mixture. Add some salt and pepper and the chopped parsley. Mix all the ingredients together until thoroughly blended. Refrigerate 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 250. To make the pancakes use a crepe pan or nonstick skillet. In the pan heat about 1 tablespoon of oil (each time) to low-med and pour in about one eighth of the potato mixture. Flatten the mixture evenly with a spatula and cook over medium heat until the pancake turns brown at the bottom. Turn the pancake over carefully and continue cooking the other side. When the pancake is done, slide it carefully onto an ovenproof platter. Repeat the process until all the pancakes are done. Keep the pancakes in the warm oven until ready to serve.
ANDY’S FAVORITE CABBAGE
Sliced green cabbage
sliced onion (red, green or white)
olive oil
salt
pepper
white wine
Sauté the onion and cabbage in oil, then add wine, salt and pepper. This is a magnificent
Creamy Dill Sauce
Farmer John’s Cookbook
Great on egg salad, or tossed with cucumbers, or as a sauce for fish or crab cakes.
Serves about ¾ cup
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or sherry wine vinegar
½ teaspoon minced shallots
¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt plus more to taste
Freshly ground pepper
1 egg yolk
¼ cup sour cream
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
Lemon juice
1. Combine the oil, vinegar, shallot, mustard, pinch of salt, and pepper to taste in a large jar. Cover tightly and shake the jar vigorously until the oil and vinegar have thickened.
2. Beat the egg yolk with the sour cream in a separate bowl until well combined.
3. If you’re using a food processor: Process the yolk and sour cream for 30 seconds and then add the vinaigrette in a very thin stream in about three additions, letting the sauce thicken before each addition. If you’re making the dressing by hand: Using a good whisk, beat the yolk and sour cream, then add the vinaigrette and scant tablespoon at a time, whisking thoroughly after each addition, until the vinaigrette is fully combined with the egg yolk and sour cream.
4. Once you’ve incorporated the last of the vinaigrette and the sauce is very thick thin it with either the lemon juice (1 or 2 teaspoons) or by vigorously stirring in 1 tablespoon of water.
5. Stir in the dill and add salt and pepper to taste.