Week #19
• Carrots
• Parsley or cilantro
• Basil
• Tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Hot peppers
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Green beans
• Cabbage
• Potatoes
• Apples
• Onions!!
• Garlic
• celery
The farmers have returned from a long overdue vacation to Honduras. We had a great time with wonderful to spend time with Juvencio’s father who will celebrate his 90th birthday this coming November. His sisters and brothers and all the nieces and nephews were so welcoming to us and so generous with their time. We managed to see almost everyone of them and at least share a meal and some fun at either the beach or river.
Our flight home was delayed by ~24 hours due to weather in Houston. While we were sitting in the airport waiting on an extremely delayed and then cancelled flight we got word that someone left the gate open and the horse and goats were out and in our garden. This was very upsetting to say the least. Not only did Vincent have to spend his time and energy trying to corral a wild horse but our hard work was being destroyed by munching animals. To whom ever inadvertently left the gate unlocked, please consider your actions. When visiting the animals on our farm know that they are experts at escape and really watch your self and your children. We have been very open with our farm, allowing our members to walk around the farm, enjoy the orchard and interact with farm animals, but in return we need your extreme care and caution and consideration. One careless move and our hard work can be damaged or destroyed.
On a very positive note we would like to thank Vincent and Cata for keeping the plants alive, the weeds at bay and our animals alive and well. Without them the trip could not have been possible and your veggies would not have survived our absence. Many thanks to Diane, my sister and her family (Dan, Max and Zusse) for stepping in and running the harvest. I know this was a ton of work and with the extreme heat even more complicated to coordinate. I hope everyone will give a shout out to Diane when you see her as she did an amazing job. Thank you to the many volunteers who came over and helped harvest. You made a huge difference and we appreciate you! We got updates from Diane whenever we came into range of wifi and it sounded like the crews were great and efficient. Thank you one and all for chipping in when you could to make this community strong and vibrant.
The eclipse is coming! We have all heard the dire predictions of a huge influx of visitors to Oregon and traffic jams as people race to the path of totality! We understand you may not want to travel out to the farm unless it is in your plans. If you typically pick up on Sun/Mon you can pick up until Tuesday p.m. (8/22) without letting us know. On Wednesday 8/23 it is too late to pick up your veggies and those that are in the barn are for the Wed/Thursday group. Enjoy the eclipse and stay safe and dry.
Upcoming events:
• September 17 – canning party! We have tons of people signed up and a wait list. We will work hard to get everyone in to the festivities but we need your help. If you signed up and can not make it please update the list so I can let someone in from the waitlist. I will send out a list of “what to bring” as we get closer to the date. I am collecting recipes. If you have a great recipe for salsa or apple yumminess please let me know ASAP. Mary Kay and I will be trying to decide what to make this week!
• Harvest Festival – October 15 2-6 p.m. Call for contributions! We hope to have our Helvetia Alp Horns, Dancers, Marimba and our own blue grass players. If you have an idea for how to add to our festivities please do let me know.
It is time to start putting up tomatoes! I have been trying to play catch up on my canning. I have pickling cucumbers and tomatoes for purchase. Tomatoes are $1.50/pound and cucumbers for pickling are $1/pound. Please text me for availability. I have tomatoes today!! 503-568-5760.
Now, time to run out and start to harvest.
Here are some recipes to try this week:
Celery, Tomato, and Basil Salad
4 large tomatoes, sliced crosswise OR 1 clamshell mixed cherry tomatoes cut in half, or a mix
3-4 small purple onions or 1/2 larger onion sliced crosswise
4 stalks celery with leaves, thinly sliced crosswise, leaves torn
Small handful fresh basil, torn
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons champagne or sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
S & P to taste
In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, celery, celery leaves and basil; set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, and cream; to combine.
Season with salt and pepper. Pour over salad and toss to coat; serve immediately.
Glazed Carrots With Pistachios and Thyme
Serves 4
1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into ½” slices on the bias Salt and pepper
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup pistachios, shelled and unsalted and toasted in the oven (10 min. at 350º F)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, picked from stems.
Cook carrots uncovered in 2″ of boiling water about 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and season with salt and pepper. Melt butter in skillet. over medium heat, stir in brown sugar and cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Add cooked carrots. Cook slowly until well glazed. Toss with roasted pistachios. Garnish with fresh thyme and serve.
Carrot Yogurt Soup adapted from Sunset’s Make-Ahead Cookbook
2 T cooking oil
1 large leek or onion, chopped (leek should be cut in half, cleaned and then white and light green parts chopped. The dark green parts can be tossed or used to make stock.)
1 garlic clove or 1 stalk green garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon each curry powder and flour
3 cups stock: chicken or vegetable
3 large or 6 medium carrots, scrubbed and sliced, (peeled if you like)
1 cup plain yogurt
cayenne pepper, ground
1/3 cup chopped, toasted salted peanuts
Heat oil in 3-4 quart pan over med. heat. When oil is hot, add onion, then garlic, stirring, until onion is soft. (About 10 minutes). Add curry powder and flour; continue to cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add broth and carrots. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender when pierced (15 to 20 minutes)
Blend with immersion blender, food processor or regular blender with 3/4 cup of the yogurt until pureed. Season to taste with S and P and cayenne (use sparingly!). Let cool; cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day or freeze for up for 4 months.) Thaw overnight or defrost in microwave.
To serve: Serve at room temperature or hot. Garnish with peanuts, yogurt, and if you like carrot curls you can make by using a vegetable peeler and ‘peeling’ long carrot curls from a carrot. Put these curls in a small bowl of ice water to help them stay curly and crunchy before you serve them in the soup.
Tomates Concassées
This is the French term for chopped, seeded, and peeled tomatoes, I think. Andy likes to make a fresh pasta sauce this time of year and call it “Tomates Concassées” because he read about it in a book years ago. He basically makes a ‘salsa’ but with the Italian red sauce ingredients, all raw but the onions and garlic and of course the noodles. I’ve seen him make it many times, below is my approximation:
3 pounds ripe tomatoes, any color
1 pound onions
3 garlic cloves
some olive oil
1 bunch of basil
juice from one large or two small lemons
salt and pepper to taste
1. Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Rinse the tomatoes, and make a 1-3 inch shallow slit in the bottom of each one. Lower the tomatoes, 2 or 3 at a time, depending on their size, into the boiling saucepan of water. They should only bathe for *5* seconds, no longer. Remove to a plate, rinse in cool water if you like. When all the tomatoes are done, remove peels and seeds, and roughly chop. (I personally admit to skipping the final cool rinse and fully admit to skipping the seed removal, no one has complained about my own sauce yet.)
2. Peel and chop onions and garlic. Saute the onions in a little oil over a medium heat in a wide largish soup pan for a few minutes, then add the garlic. Take care not to burn either. Remove from heat when both are soft and won’t be raw and crunchy in the sauce.
3. Wash and chop basil, then mix it with the cooled onion mixture, and the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Andy is very liberal with the pepper….) Toss with just cooked noodles, and eat.
GREEK SALAD SANDWICH Bon Appetit May 1995
12 ounces small tomatoes, cored, halved, thinly sliced
6 cups spinach leaves, stems trimmed
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced cucumber
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped pitted black brine-cured olives (such as Kalamata)
16 large fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, minced
4 5- to 6-inch-diameter pita bread rounds, toasted
Place tomato slices in strainer; drain 15 minutes. Combine tomatoes, spinach, cucumber, feta cheese, olives and basil in large bowl. Whisk 1/4 cup olive oil, 5 teaspoons lemon juice and minced garlic in small bowl to blend. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat.
Cut pita bread rounds in half crosswise. Divide salad mixture among 8 pita halves and serve.
Carrot Soufflé submitted by Kris K.
2 lbs of carrots cut
1/4 cup sugar
2 TBS flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, softened
Place carrots in salted water in saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes until tender. Drain. Puree carrots with 1/4 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, and vanilla in food processor. Add 3 eggs, intermittently, blend after adding each egg. Add butter and mix thoroughly. Lightly grease 1 ½ quart soufflé dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve immediately. Enjoy!!
Julia’s Quinoa Salad: an All Purpose Recipe
(a quinoa plug: it’s a whole grain that’s fairly high in protein. My family is always a bit lacking in protein, so I often look for places I can add more. -julia) I start by taking one package (or one pound) of quinoa from Trader Joes: I dump it in the rice cooker, and add water (1 part quinoa to two parts
water.) Cook as you would rice. In my rice cooker, the quinoa acts a little differently and spouts wildly so I drape a tea towel over it so the counter doesn’t get so messy. this may not be a problem in your kitchen with your rice cooker. you can of course also cook the quinoa as the package directs with other methods.
I let the cooked quinoa cool off and then put it in a big bowl. Now the sky is the limit for what to add to it to make it into a ‘salad’. What I put in last night: olive oil and lemon juice, diced avocado, sliced kalamata (pitted of course) olives, chopped onions, chopped basil, grated parmesan cheese, diced cooked beets, grated raw carrots. And S & P.
I now have a healthy, high fiber, decent protein lunch/dinner/breakfast (I like savory breakfasts!) that’s filled with vegetables. I also used up some odds and ends in the fridge: 1/3 jar olives, 3 carrots, half a bunch of basil (Ok, that was on the counter), 3 small onions, etc.
Other addtions? any leftover cooked meat, chopped, smoked salmon, other herbs, pesto, just look in YOUR fridge! oh: you can use brown rice, white rice, couscous, etc. instead of the quinoa.
Carrot Mint Salad
I love mint. I love carrots. Here’s the result of another Tour du Fridge. This was actually at a restaurant I worked at. – Chef Andrew Cohen
1 lb. Carrots
2 T lemon juice
4 T fruity olive oil
S&P
1/2 shallot, minced
A pinch each of powdered cumin and caraway or A largish pinch of ras el hanout
2 T fresh mint, minced
Peel the carrots and use a mandolin to shred medium, or use a grater and grate the carrots coarse. If carrots are tender, proceed. If not, quickly blanch the carrots just long enough to render them tender, then plunge in ice water to stop the cooking and refresh the carrots.
Make dressing; add the spices to the lemon juice, along with the shallot. Allow the flavors to bloom for a few minutes. Whisk in the olive oil. Toss carrots with the dressing. Add the mint just before service. If you wanted something a little creamier, you could add in a little plain yogurt to the dressing.
Carote all Giudia
Braised Carrots, Jewish Style
Adapted from Cucina Ebraica by Joyce Goldstein
Serves 4
¼ cup olive oil or rendered goose or duck fat
1.5 pounds carrots, any color, peeled and thinly sliced
¼ cup water
6 Tablespoons raisins, plumped in water or sweet wine
3 Tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
S & P to taste
Dash of vinegar or sugar to taste, optional
Warm the oil (or fat) in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the carrots and saute until well coated with fat, 5-8 minutes. Add the water and cover the pan. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
Add the raisins with their liquid, and the pine nuts. Season with S & P. Add a little vinegar or sugar, or both. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Chocolate Chip Carrot Cake adapted from Recipes from a Kitchen Garden by Shepherd & Raboff
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 ½ cups flour (I use half whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon allspice
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup water
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 cups shredded carrots
¾ cup chopped nuts
¾ cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. (I use my standing mixer for this recipe!) Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift dry ingredients together. (if using whole wheat flour mix thoroughly but don’t sift); add to creamed mixture alternately with water and vanilla. Fold in carrots, nuts, and chips. Pour/smooth into greased and floured 9×13 inch pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Cool and top with dusted powdered sugar or a citrus glaze or a cream cheese frosting.