Week #23
• Asian pears
• Apples
• Plums
• Tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Winter squash (spaghetti)
• Kale
• Green Beans
• Eggplant
• Onions
• Garlic
• Sweet peppers
• Parsley
• Thai basil
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Tomatillos
With storms and fires and earthquakes as well as political idiocy with the repeal of executive order DACA the news of our farm seems miniscule. Alas, with the turmoil around us we must give thanks to what we have TODAY. We have ash covered vegetables grown with care, we have friends and family and a community that has chosen to be together, gathering around seasonal, organic produce and the desire to know where our food is grown. Thank you to everyone for supporting us and this community and for choosing us to grow the food you feed your families.
Thank you also for your communication back to us about the farm and our ups and downs. I am sorry if my words of frustration made people feel unwelcome at the farm. We want you and your family to enjoy the place we have created. We will work together to make sure crops are safe from animals and people are safe from animals and we can all enjoy a little bit of farm life.
One of two signature events at La Finquita will take place next Saturday, September 16. The annual canning party is back and should be a great one! We will have a whole line up of recipes to work thru and some for all participants to take home. If you have signed up, even on the waitlist you are expected to be at the farm at 0900 (as close to that time as you can). If you missed out you may contact me by text or email and let me know you want to be on the waitlist and can check on Saturday to see if there is room. If you can arrive early I can always use an extra hand. Please see the “what to bring” attachment in your email. I will also have extra copies in the barn and you can take a copy or take a picture of the list. PLEASE BE SURE TO BRING AT LEAST ONE BOX OF HALF PINT JARS, as most of the recipes call for half pints. Also bring a dish to share as canning is hungry business and we have to eat to keep working!
The next event, our annual HARVEST FESTIVAL, is set for October 15th (a Sunday), mark your calendars and invite your friends, this is an event not to be missed. “Mexico en la piel” is confirmed, the Helvetia Alp Horns are invited. Our very own blue grass players are set and we may have marimba if we are lucky. If you want to perform or have a suggestion, please contact me immediately as I would love to include you.
A bit of political activism: please contact your MOC (member of congress) about the importance of passing legislation to make The Dream Act a reality.
Here are some recipes for this week:
Spaghetti Squash and Herbs (Martha Stewart)
• 1 spaghetti squash (about 4 pounds), halved lengthwise, seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 tablespoon packed light-brown sugar
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup blanched hazelnuts (1 ounce), toasted and coarsley chopped
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush cut sides of squash with oil, and sprinkle with sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Place squash, cut sides down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly on sheet on a wire rack, about 10 minutes.
2. Scrape squash with a fork to remove flesh in long strands. Place in a large bowl. Add oil, Parmesan, parsley, cilantro, hazelnuts, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Toss, and serve immediately
Ratatouille’s Ratatouille
As envisioned by Smitten Kitchen
v1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.
Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.
On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.
Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.
Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.
Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)
Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.
Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.
Monsieur Henny’s Eggplant Gratin
(from Patricia Wells’ At Home in
Provence)
2 Tbs olive oil
3 small (approx. 5 oz each) eggplants, or 1-2 larger ones
3 Tbs finely minced herbs, preferably rosemary, sage, thyme, basil
pinch dried oregano
salt to taste
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 lbs fresh tomatoes, cored and halved cross-wise
Preheat oven to 450.
Drizzle 1 Tbs of oil over bottom of 2 Qt gratin dish.
Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise (or in thirds if larger),
lightly score cut surface with a sharp knife, and place skin side
down in dish in a single layer.
Sprinkle with the herbs, salt, then with 1/2 the cheese.
Place the tomatoes cutside down in a single layer on top, brush with
remaining oil, and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake until veggies are very soft, almost falling apart, approx. 1
hour.
FRITTATA OF GREENS
New York Times, Martha Rose Schulman
INGREDIENTS
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• ½ to ¾ cup finely chopped blanched spinach, chard, kale or beet greens (to taste)
• 1 garlic clove, minced or pureed
• 1 tablespoon, tightly packed, freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
•
Nutritional Information
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PREPARATION
1. Beat the eggs and milk in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste. Beat in the greens, garlic and the Parmesan.
Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy, 8-inch nonstick omelet pan. Drop a bit of egg into the pan and if it sizzles and cooks at once, the pan is ready. Pour in the egg mixture, scraping in every last bit with a heat-proof rubber spatula. Swirl the pan to distribute the eggs and filling evenly over the surface. Shake the pan gently, tilting it slightly with one hand while lifting up the edges of the frittata with the spatula in your other hand, to let the eggs run underneath during the first few minutes of cooking. Once a few layers of egg have cooked during the first couple of minutes of cooking, turn the heat down to low, cover and cook 7 to 10 minutes, until the frittata is puffed and just about set. From time to time remove the lid and loosen the bottom of the omelet with a wooden or heat-proof rubber spatula, tilting the pan, so that the bottom doesn’t burn. It will however turn golden.
2. If the frittata is still runny on the top, wearing oven mitts, slide the frittata out onto a plate or even better, a saucepan lid that has a handle, reverse the pan over the plate or lid, and holding the two together, flip the plate or lid so that the frittata goes back into the pan on its not-quite-cooked side. Finish for no longer than a minute, then reverse onto a platter. Allow to cool to room temperature, and serve, or chill. Cut into 4 wedges to serve. The wedges pack well and are very portable.
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Tip
• Advance preparation: The blanched greens will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator and can be frozen. The frittata will keep for about 3 days in the refrigerator.