2011 CSA Week 15

I have already used the Fourth of July as an excuse for a foreshortened update; may I do the same for Labor Day? Our calendars are not attuned to such holidays, but the roads were quiet as I biked to and from the farm, the mail was not delivered, and the prevailing atmosphere was of a second consecutive Sunday. On the farm we performed the weekly pre-harvest and prepared for imminent days of undesired rain. It was a typical workday, so please consider reduced attention to this paragraph as my way of involving myself in the the three-day weekend. And if I'm eliding the fact that, as on the Fourth of July, I may have attended an after-work cookout and eaten a hamburger and played some clumsy ping-pong, and in so doing left myself with a deficit of time to spend in front of the computer, you'll forgive me. Look at that garlic!

The share this week:

Tomatoes

Sweet Peppers

Hot Peppers

Eggplant

Edamame

Tomatillos

Sweet Corn

Garlic

Mixed Herbs: Cilantro or Dill or Lemon Basil

You-Pick Husk Cherries

Notes about the food:

* You may have noticed that color has been creeping into the peppers. We began harvesting green peppers several weeks ago to lighten the load of each plant, and since then we have watched the remaining peppers become splotched, then streaked, then fully overtaken by color, and we are now able to offer red peppers alongside green, and those alongside yellow and orange. Purple is well represented too, and we are growing one variety of sweet pepper that is ripe when brown. It's not a color of the rainbow, but it's delicious, and I was pleased to recently overhear Joshua rightly ennoble its appearance by describing the coloration to a customer not as brown, but as mahogany. The following recipes, both from Gourmet, are a good way to try different varieties in one dish.

Roasted Peppers Stuffed with Cherry Tomatoes, Onion, and Basil

4 sweet bell peppers

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

3 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 and lightly oil a large shallow baking pan.

Halve peppers lengthwise and discard seeds and ribs. Arrange peppers, cut side up, in baking pan and lightly oil cut edges and stems. Halve tomatoes and chop onions and basil. Finely chop garlic and in a bowl toss with tomatoes, onion, basil, 2 tablespoons oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Divide mixture among peppers and roast in upper third of oven until peppers are tender, about 20 minutes.

Roasted Peppers, Onion, and Eggplant

3 large sweet peppers

2-3 small Italian eggplant, about 1 pound, halved lengthwise

2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large sweet onion, halved through root end and cut into 1/2-inch wedges

sea salt

Preheat oven to 400.

Place whole peppers in one third of an oiled, large 1-inch-deep baking pan. Brush cut sides of eggplants with 1/2 tablespoon oil and arrange next to peppers in pan. Toss onions with 1 tablespoon oil and place in remaining third of pan.

Roast vegetables, turning peppers occasionally, until skins of peppers blister on all sides, about 40 minutes. Transfer peppers to a bowl, cover, and let steam for 10 minutes. Continue roasting eggplant and onion until tender and browned, about 20 minutes more, and keep warm, covered.

Peel peppers and cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips, discarding stems and seeds. Season vegetables with sea salt and pepper. Serve eggplant topped with peppers and onion. Drizzle with remaining oil and season with sea salt.

* A CSA member sent us a recipe that makes prominent use of tomatillos. Well timed, because it also includes cilantro, an option among the herbs in this week's share:

Chicken with Tomatillo and Cilantro Sauce

1 pound tomatillos

3 serrano or jalapeno peppers

2 skinless chicken breasts, about 2 1/2 pounds

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Set broiler to medium-low. Place tomatillos in broiler and turn twice ever five minutes. Once the are blackened, remove from oven and puree in food processor until smooth. Set aside.

Set broiler to high. Broil chicken until brown, approximately 9 minutes, then turn and broil the other side.

Heat oil in pan and saute onion and garlic until golden and soft. Add tomatillo sauce and simmer 2 more minutes. Add cilantro and salt.

Place chicken in pan and simmer 20 minutes, until chicken in cooked through.

CSA Notes:

* We have been growing flowers on the farm, and although we have sold some at the farmstand and made them available to a few CSA members who have asked for cut flowers, they have mostly served to add beauty to our workplace. This week we'd like to invite all of you to cut a few stems while you are collecting your share. We'll provide scissors at the distribution stand-- If you're interested, ask us for details and we'll point you toward the flowers.

2011 CSA Week 12

It was raining when I woke this morning, and I knew rain was forecast throughout the day, but for 15 or 30 minutes after I ate breakfast the precipitation abated, and that was enough time for me to make the questionable decision to ride my bicycle to the farm. By the time I left in the afternoon the rainfall had been heavy for hours, and it was becoming heavier. I arrived home as saturated as if I'd been pedaling in a stream.

These wet and cool days are the most recent way this season has differentiated itself from 2010. Last year, hot weather persisted well into September, and we learned to work with crops that were frequently parched. Heat loving plants--tomatoes, eggplant, squash--thrived, while crops best suited for a cool autumn--broccoli, cauliflower and other brassicas--were nonexistent in the fall CSA shares. This year our summertime crops have been as slowed by the conditions as their cool weather counterparts have been invigorated, and we are learning to modify our expectations for each harvest accordingly. We are reminded that farming is a long-term project: each season is uncharted territory in which the lessons of the previous season are semi-applicable, and we work toward the day when our accumulated experience is enough to dispel the unknown that lies in each variable we encounter. Sometimes I'm not sure we'll reach that day: it is possible that for farmers and others who work within and against the conditions of the world success will always be short-term mastery and long-term apprenticeship. With that in mind, we'll apply each water-logged lesson of this August to this water-logged August, one harvest at a time. If nothing else, we're unlikely to be caught on our bicycle in another unseasonably cold downpour, at least not before September.

The share this week:

Mixed Beets
Summer Squash
Cucumbers

Yellow Wax or Purple Filet Beans
Tomatoes
Tomatillos
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Lemon Basil
Bunching Onions

Notes about the food:

* Please note that tomatoes are listed above with a deliberately vague lack of reference to whether the share will include heirloom varieties, cherry tomatoes, or red slicers. It is likely that you will receive some combination of two of those three possibilities, but we won't know for certain until we complete the harvest. The tomato plants have been affected by the wet, cool weather, and they are producing fruit more slowly than they might in sunnier conditions. As a result, we're not comfortable predicting whether we'll have enough of any given variety for a full share. Tomatoes will be ample, but we won't know anything more specific until shortly before distribution.

Please also note that tomatoes often split in the rain. When the plants receive an input of water that is faster than the fruit can accommodate, the tomatoes grow too quickly and develop seams that may tear if the tomato is left on the plant. We distribute tomatoes that have begun to crack but not cracked so fully that the wound is wet. As long as the cracks are still superficial and dry, the tomato will store well. If you select a tomato with a deeper split, plan to eat it soon.

A CSA member recommends the following recipe. It calls for plum tomatoes, but she uses whatever is ripe:

Linguine with Tomato-Almond Pesto (Pesto Trapenese)

3/4 cup slivered almonds
1 large handful fresh basil leaves
1 to 2 large garlic cloves
several sprinkles of sea salt
6 ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan
1/4 cup to 1/3 cup olive oil
1 pound linguine

In a large skillet, saute the almonds in a little olive oil until toasted. Let cool, then blend them in a food processor or blender until they are in coarse pieces--"The size of orzo." Scoop them out of the processor and set them aside.

Put the basil, garlic, and a few pinches of sea salt into the food processor and chop. Add the almonds back to the food processor (keeping them separate will keep them from getting too finely chopped as you get the basil and garlic to the right texture) with the tomatoes, cheese and olive oil and whirl briefly. Season it with freshly ground pepper.

Cook your linguine until it is al dente and could use another minute of cooking time. Reserve one cup of pasta cooking water and drain the rest. Immediately toss the hot linguine with the pesto and mix quickly so that it drinks the sauce up a bit. Add more pasta water if needed. Serve this lukewarm, or at room temperature.

The recipe for this risotto was in a Sunday section of the Wall Street Journal that was given to me because its cover story was about Iceland:

Tomato Risotto

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced small
1 tablespoon salt, plus extra for seasoning
4-6 cups water
1 pound juicy, ripe tomatoes
2 stalks celery
2 cups Carnaroli or arborio rice
4 tablespoons basil, chopped medium-fine
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Set a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Swirl in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Sweat onions until translucent, about 5 minutes.

In another pot, bring water to a simmer.

While water heats up and onions cook, juice tomatoes and celery. If you don't have a juicer, pulse tomatoes and celery in a food processor or blender until liquefied. Push through fine mesh strainer, reserving juice and discarding solids.

Turn onion pot's heat up to medium-high and stir rice into the sauteed onions. Toast 2 minutes, or until grains are hot and opaque.

Deglaze pot with 2 cups simmering water. Stir until liquid is absorbed and season with 2 teaspoons salt. Adjust heat to keep risotto at a steady simmer. Add another 1-2 cups water and continue to stir often.

Once liquid is absorbed, add another 1-2 cups water and continue to stir regularly.

When rice has cooked for about 15 minutes, or once it is five minutes shy of al dente, stir in tomato juice. Cook, while stirring, 4 additional minutes, or until risotto is creamy and rice is al dente.

Quickly stir in 4 tablespoons olive oil, basil and parmesan. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Taste and season with salt, if needed.

In a small bowl, mix cherry tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Garnish risotto with tomato mixture. Serve immediately.

* The preferred use for tomatillos at Dover Farm is to make salsa. I posted a similar recipe last year, but it is worth repeating. The recipe is a template--experiment with proportions and ingredients (roasted garlic is a good addition, for example). The key is to roast the tomatillos in a dry skillet, in their skins, to maximize their flavor.

Salsa Verde

1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 Jalapeno peppers or 2 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
salt to taste

Roast tomatillos, in their papery skins, in a dry skillet until skins brown, 5-7 minutes. Remove skins. Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers, and sugar in a food processor or blender and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.

2011 CSA Week 10

Jonathan is probably sitting in a thermal spring overlooking the North Sea right now, so I'll be filling in this week but he'll be back again soon. We steadily are winding our way toward the center of our season, and the fields are full to bursting. My eye is on our tomatoes, our peppers, and our eggplant as they become heavy with fruit and begin to blush. At this time of the year we start to see a pernicious pest that camouflages itself seamlessly with our blossoming tomato plants. They're called tomato horn worms, and immature they're about the length and width of your index finger. Given half a chance, they'll devastate a crop, eating the the fresh young leaves with impunity because the alkaloids in nightshades make them unpalatable to most would be predators. This is the moment when an organic system really has a chance to shine- the carefully tended ecosystem on the farm moves to regulate itself. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs all along the backs of the caterpillars, riddling them with tiny white passengers which will hatch and devour their host, saving our tomatoes in the bargain! Thanks nature.

This weeks share will include:

• Winterbor Kale
• Rainbow Chard
• Cucumbers
• Squash or Zucchini
• Red Torpedo Onions
• Oregano
• Fennel
• Tomatillos
• Sweet Peppers
• Yellow Wax Beans
• a few Hot Peppers
• and a modest pint of You-Pick Raspberries
  

Green Gazpacho
(from Vegweb.com)
Ingredients:

2 cucumbers
2 large green peppers
one bunch of onions
5 tomatillos
2-3 stalks celery
1-2 jalapenos or serranos
1 large handful cilantro
2 or 3 cloves garlic
2 slices white bread (can be either stale or a little toasted)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoon white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Suitable for a raw diet depending on what kind of bread you use.

Chop all veggies coarsely and add to blender. Blend with remaining ingredients until very smooth. Chill well. I like to blend again right before I serve if it separates a little in the fridge. If its too thick, thin with a little water to your deserved consistency.

Garnish with cilantro, chopped scallions, minced jalapeños or green bell peppers, lime zest, or whatever green ingredients you like!

Preparation time: 10 minutes plus chilling time

DILLY BEANS (from cooks.com)

2 lbs green beans
1-2 hot peppers (according to your heat preference)
2 cloves garlic, whole and peeled
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)
1 head dill (or 1/2 tsp. dill weed)
5 cups distilled vinegar
1/2 cup pickling salt
5 cups water

Prepare jars for canning. Wash and trim beans at ends. Do not snap beans.
Bring vinegar, salt and water to a boil.
In the bottom each hot sterilized jar, put the garlic cloves, mustard seed, and dill.
Pack jars with fresh green beans, packed lengthwise.
Do not snap beans.
Process for 20 minute.

Zucchini Date Nuthins
(from vegweb.com)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup raw whole oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 1/4 cups zucchini or summer squash, shredded
2/3 cup dates, soaked in water 1 hour and chopped
1/2 cup chocolate optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners. In large bowl, mix whole wheat flour, oats, baking powder and soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt with a fork.

2. In a separate bowl, stir together applesauce, olive oil, milk, and agave nectar with a wooden spoon until well blended. Pour over dry ingredients and mix together.

3. Add the shredded zucchini, dates, and chocolate/carob chips, if using to batter and stir with wooden spoon until all ingredients are well combined.

4. Pour into prepared muffin tin and bake 12-15 minutes. Serve with applesauce spooned on top.

Mmmmmm, good!

Makes: 1 dozen muffins, Preparation time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 15 minutes

CSA Week 14

The rain broke after four full days, as you know. I was surprised that night to wake to the sight of moonlight through my window and to the sound of insects instead of the sound of water falling from the sky. Those were four days of November transplanted to late August, and now that they're over they have been replaced (as you also know) with a dry, baking heat that we expect to continue until Friday. When it is raining it is hard to think of anything but the rain, and when it is hot it is hard to think of anything but the heat, but the contrast between these two consecutive periods of weather reminds me that though we cannot often see beyond the horizon of our present condition, moments are replaced often and easily. This is as true of the weather as it is of the mornings I wake with a headache and a stiff body and am immediately consumed by thoughts of my own mild discomfort. They are conditions that will pass, and once gone will feel as distant and unknowable as a cold and blustery August day from a hot and dry vantage point that is only one day later. May we no time soon be subject to the sort of personal or meteorological calamity that gives permanence to our discomforts and finally teaches us how fleeting they have always been.

Was that a downcast paragraph? This isn't downcast: Here is what's in the share this week:

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
Heirloom Tomatoes
Eggplant
Edamame
Mizuna
Husk Cherries
Tomatillos
Carrots
Scallions
Hot Peppers
Cilantro
Sweet Corn
You-Pick Snap Peas (optional)

*We did not grow the corn that is offered in this week's share. Because it uses a lot of space for a relatively scant yield, corn is a tricky crop for small-scale farmers. Each corn plant, planted at 1-foot intervals the length of a bed, will grow to be nearly eight feet tall and will produce only one ear of corn. The plant feeds heavily from the soil to attain its height, and it offers little in return. A single ear of corn sells for very little money, which means that a full bed of corn will use far more of the farm's resources (soil fertility, human labor, etc.) than it is worth. For these reasons, and because it is our first year planning a crop schedule for a CSA, we decided not to grow our own corn. That said, in the CSA model the value of a crop is more than its direct monetary worth: Each distinct crop that we grow adds diversity to the CSA as a whole, and enhances the experience of the subscribers. And because corn is something that we feel it is safe to assume people like to eat during the summer, we decided to buy corn from another local farm and offer it in three weeks worth of CSA shares, beginning this week and continuing for the two weeks that follow. We placed inquiries with several local farms, and we decided to order our corn from Volante Farms in Needham. What you need to know about this corn is that unlike everything we grow ourselves (that is, everything else in the CSA shares) it has not been grown using organic methods. The difficulties I mentioned with corn are slightly (and only slightly) abated by the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. They skip some of the steps of soil building and weed management that require so much time on an organic farm, and therefore allow the farmer a slightly improved (again--only slightly) profit on his crop. For this reason it was easier for us to source corn from a grower using non-organic methods--they devote more acreage to the crop and grow far more corn than most organic farmers in the area, and they therefore had some to sell to us.

So: The corn is not organically grown, but we are happy to be supporting a local business, and we're proud to be able to offer corn this year from Volante. If you are uncomfortable with the contradictory growing methods the corn represents, don't feel obliged to take it. Like I said, the corn is a bonus that we wanted to offer to any of our members who want it. It is likely that with a year of experience under our belt we'll try to incorporate corn into our crop plan in the future. Until then, we're interested in any feedback you have about this issue. Please feel free to leave a comment on this blog post or send an email to doverfarmcsa@gmail.com.

*I mentioned last week that we were offering husk cherries as a you-pick item. The plants are producing so well, though, that we decided this week to pick them ourselves to ensure that everyone in the CSA gets a pint. They're packaged for you in shell that is like a paper lantern. Remove this and you'll find the ripe yellow cherry itself. They're sweet, with a flavor a little unlike anything else we grow. Eat them as they are, add them to salads, use them for jam, or try them in this pie:

Husk Cherry Pie

2 1/2 - 3 cups husk cherries
2/3 cup brown sugar
4 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp butter

Place the husk cherries in an unbaked pie shell. Stir together the brown sugar and 1 Tbsp of the flour. Put this evenly over the husk cherries and sprinkle everything with water. Stir together the 3 Tbsp sugar and the remaining 3 Tbsp flour. Cut in the butter until it is crumbly, and place on top of pie. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then turn down to 375 and bake another 25-28 minutes.

*You may have more experience with them than I do, but the only thing I know to do with Tomatillos is make salsa. That said, they make some of the best salsa I've ever had.

Salsa Verde

1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped onion
chopped garlic to taste
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp sugar
2 hot peppers
salt to taste

Begin by heating the tomatillos whole in a skillet until their papery husks have blackened and the fruit is soft. Puree with the remaining ingredients. Easy!

*This eggplant recipe was sent to me from Austin, Texas. It originally appeared in the Austin Chronicle.

Caribbean Griddled Aubergine

5 Tbsp olive oil, plus 2 Tbsp to brush on eggplant
3 sweet peppers, deseeded and diced
3 sticks of celery, diced
1 cup butternut squash, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large eggplants, cut into rounds about 1/2 inch thick
1 hot pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
3 Tbsp tomato Puree
3 Tbsp tamarind paste
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley leaves, to garnish

Preheat oven to 350. Heat oil in a large saucepan and add the peppers, celery, squash, and garlic, cooking until almost soft (about 10 minutes). Meanwhile, brush the eggplant with oil and fry very quickly in another pan, on both sides, to brown.

Add the chile, tomato puree, tamarind paste, and sugar to the softening diced vegetables along with 4-5 Tbsp of water and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste, and add more tamarind or sugar as necessary to get a good sweet and sour balance. Put eggplant in an ovenproof dish. Top with dollops of the suace and cover with foil or a lid. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the eggplants are tender. Served garnished with the cilantro or parsley.

*This has been a lot. There's barely room to mention the mizuna. It's an asian-style green with a spicy, mustardy taste, great in salads and on sandwiches, and a great addition to any stir-fry.

*I'm temporarily out of current photos of our produce, so this is what you get: