Elmwood Stock Report

Have You Signed Up Yet?

2012-01-17T11:37:00.000-08:00

Now is the time to secure your weekly produce share from Elmwood for the 2012 growing season. We continue to offer 3 share sizes to fit your household and your lifestyle with several pickup locations around Lexington and Central Kentucky. Elmwood Stock Farm's USDA Organic Certification gives you confidence that you are sourcing the healthiest and the best available from your local area.

If you sign up by April 1, you achieve the discounted pricing. Visit the CSA page of the farm's website to review program details and obtain the 2012 Signup Form.

It's Time to Talk Turkey!

2011-10-27T05:51:00.000-07:00

Turkey Talk!

At the farm we are now taking pre-orders for Elmwood Stock Farm's organic specialty breed turkeys. We take orders by phone or email prior to the holidays, and payment is made at pickup. Turkeys can be picked up the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving (Nov. 19th) at the downtown Lexington farmers market, or make arrangements to pickup at the farm on Friday or Monday (Nov. 18th or 21st). Shipping is also available within the Continental US. All of our turkeys are processed under USDA inspection and will be freshly frozen for food safety.

As one of only a few farms in the US to raise organic certified heritage breed turkeys, we are proud to have these special turkeys to offer. We appreciate your interest in serving a locally produced, organic turkey – you can taste the difference and you will know you are serving the best!

ALL TURKEYS at Elmwood Stock Farm in Scott County outside of Georgetown are Organic Certified free ranging turkeys that are raised outdoors on grass pasture. They are raised the old-fashioned way, on fresh green grass and clover pastures with wholesome grains, resulting in moist, flavorful turkey. Not only are Elmwood turkeys raised naturally, free from any synthetic inputs, flavor additives, or stimulants, but everything that every turkey eats is organically raised grain or grass pasture.

Pasture-based grass farming has recognizable health benefits resulting in a product with good saturated fats and high omega-3 fatty acids. The use of certified organic grain means our turkeys are more expensive to produce, but you can take comfort knowing no GMO grain and no synthetic chemicals are used in your food. Organic Certification ensures third party verification of our production practices and ultimately results in better health for you and your family this Thanksgiving season.

HERITAGE Breed -- A heritage turkey is not one particular breed, but made up of a group of breeds. At Elmwood, we care year-round for our own breeding flock in order to raise Bourbon Red (named after Bourbon County KY), Narragansett (the oldest known American turkey breed), and the Slate turkeys (also found on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste that promotes the survival of near-extinct foods).

Some characteristics that distinguish these very rare Heritage turkeys from the standard broad breasted variety are slower growth, more proportionate breasts to legs, and the ability to naturally breed. There is a better balance between the dark meat and white meat, which means roasting a bird to perfection is much easier, and the meat has a richer flavor. Heritage turkeys will never be as large as broad breasted turkeys though they eat certified organic grain for 28 to 30 weeks resulting in the healthiest, most flavorful, best turkey you will ever taste.

Heritage Breed Organic Turkey
Expected dressed weight: under 7 pounds - $69.00
Expected dressed weight: 7 – 8.9 pounds - $109.00
Expected dressed weight: 9 – 10.9 pounds - $129.00
Expected dressed weight: 11-13.9 pounds - $149.00
Expected dressed weight: 14-16.9 pounds - $169.00
Expected dressed weight: 17-18.9 pounds - $189.00

STANDARD Broad Breasted Breed – These broad breasted bronze turkeys are similar in size and shape to a supermarket purchased turkey, but the similarities end right there! Our turkeys are raised outdoors in our pastured system that provides a diet enriched by grasses, fresh air, adequate exercise, and sunlight. Our bronze feathered turkeys free-range on fresh green grass or clover pastures supplemented with wholesome organic grains, resulting in moist, flavorful turkey.

Standard Broad Breasted Bronze Organic Turkey
Expected dressed weight: 12 – 15 pounds - $109.00
Expected dressed weight: 17 - 20 pounds - $119.00
Expected dressed weight: 21 + pounds - $139.00

The costs of cheap food are hidden in healthcare, environmental cleanup, and dependence on pharmaceuticals. You might have heard the phrase “Visit the farm, not the (f)pharmacy,” to establish a personal path between good nutrition and good health. The many months to care for heritage turkeys and the use of certified organic grains for better animal health results in high production costs. The resulting high purchase price for specialty turkeys reflects the true costs of safe and wholesome food.

When Slow Food USA added American heritage turkeys to its Ark of Taste, it tremendously helped to spread the knowledge that eating these turkeys is necessary in order to support the maintaining of breeding birds and moving the breeds to lesser degrees of endangerment.

To learn more about Heritage Turkeys visit the website for the American Livestock Breeds Conservatory. As more is known about vanishing breeds of heritage livestock, efforts are underway to promote awareness and prevent the extinction of animals like Bourbon Red, Slate and Narragansett turkeys.

Week 22, Final Week of Summer CSA

2011-10-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

From the Farm

We want to give you our whole-hearted thanks for your commitment to Elmwood Stock Farm this year through the CSA program. Your partnership with the farm allows us to plan in advance of the season – and that plays out in so many different ways. Financially we are able to purchase seed, heat the greenhouses to grow the transplants, hire employees, and begin growing. During the season, we get to meet and talk with some of you, or exchange emails – many farmers never have the opportunity to interact with the people that eat the food they grow. On those very challenging days, it helps to know we are growing good food for real people that want and appreciate it.

We survey our membership each season to help us improve our CSA program. We know how it works from the growing side – it is your turn to tell us how it works from the eating side. The survey was sent by email already – if you need a paper copy, please let us know. We thank you in advance for your time and thoughts.

Elmwood Stock Farm will continue to attend the Saturday farmers market in downtown Lexington, outdoors in Cheapside Park, through Thanksgiving and we hope to see you there. We also attend the indoor market inside Victorian Square, downtown Lexington, each Saturday morning of the winter months (Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar). We will have some winter vegetables, pantry items like dried beans or garlic powder, jarred salsa and tomatoes, fresh eggs, and organic beef, chicken and turkey. We are also available if you want to place an order and then come by the farm to pickup. Contact us by email or phone.

We continue taking pre-orders for our Heritage breed and Broad Breasted breed Certified Organic Turkeys – contact us by email for oodles of information to help you decide if one of these special turkeys is the perfect fit for your holiday gathering or celebration.

Finally, as a current member of Elmwood’s CSA program, you will get first option for renewal for our 2012 season. We hope to finalize details for next season (dates, pickup sites, pricing) by the end of this year and we will alert you by email. Often people look to a CSA share as a holiday gift idea.

Thank you for the work on your part to pick up your share each week, make time to prepare healthy dishes from whole foods, and for sharing news about our program with friends and neighbors. Eat well!

In Your Share
Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share many not contain every item listed below.

Butternut Squash

Garlic – organic

Fresh Herbs - organic

Kale Greens –organic

Peppers - organic

Spaghetti Squash

Sweet Potatoes – organic

Tomatoes - organic

Cabbage - organic

Okra - organic

Recipes to Enjoy

Pasta with Autumn Squash, Prosciutto, Celery Leaves and Parmesan
recipe from Janet Fletcher’s Fresh From the Farmers’ Market, serves 4.

2 T unsalted butter
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 ounces prosciutto, minced
1 pound hard-shelled squash, peeled and diced in 1/3 inch cubes
½ pound tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ C coarsely chopped green celery leaves
1 pound dried orecciette, cavatelli or favorite pasta
2/3 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter with oil in a 12 inch skillet over moderate heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Add prosciutto and sauté 2 minutes. Add squash and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat seasonings. Add ½ C water. Cover and simmer gently until squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in celery leaves.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain pasta and return it to pot. Add sauce and cheese. Toss well, and then serve.

Sweet Potato Burritos
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing a recipe she adapted from allrecipes.com Though the original called for kidney beans, but she believes any bean will yield good results. For extra flavor, she suggests substituting salsa for the water when making the bean mixture. Yummy!

1 T vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 C cooked or canned black beans, drained
½ to 2 C water
3 T chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp prepared mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
Juice of one lime
4 C cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
12 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a medium skillet, and sauté onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash.

Gradually stir in water to desired consistency, and heat until warm. Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, and cayenne pepper. Stir limejuice into sweet potatoes. Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between the warm flour tortillas. Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style, and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven, and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Week 21, CSA

2011-09-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Seasonal Update

For some crops this has been one of the best growing seasons, and for others, one of the worst. We cannot complain about the rain, rain, rain we have had the last several weeks as drought conditions are so devastating, long-lasting, and costly in several ways. This has been one of the more wet spring and summer seasons, and October (one of the driest months of the year) will be starting off rainy as well. It is good for the groundwater to be recharged and ponds and streams to replenish going into winter.

Our mid season tomatoes produced well and there was an abundance during peak season. Lettuces and bell peppers were prolific after the late start, and early season summer squash was in the shares for 6 weeks. This is one of the farm’s best garlic crops ever!

You are aware of the cold, wet spring and the delay is some crops being planted – now we are seeing some residual effects. The eggplant and hot peppers were later going into the field and never seemed to latch onto their favorite growing conditions. Other long-growing-season crops such as Brussels sprouts and celeriac were affected early in their life cycle and only now do we see the effects in little or no production.

The recent change from hot to cold temperature came at least 4 weeks early this season putting the brakes on tomato and berry ripening. The later summer squash and zucchini plants were in stand-ing water after the big summer storm, cooked in 98° days, and the plants still surviving are now trying to produce squashes, it is just too cold for them to grow very fast with nights in the 40’s for the last couple of weeks.

Though several growers report it one of their worst years due to climatic challenges, at the farm we worked hard to balance the good results with the disappointing harvests and provide you a well-balanced share each week.

We survey our membership each season to help us improve our CSA program. We always appreciate your time in sharing your comments. A link to the online survey is being sent by email this week – if you need a paper copy mailed, just give us a call.

Finally, our Heritage breed and broad-breasted breed Certified Organic turkeys are sizing up nicely. Elmwood is one of just a few farms in the US that grow heritage breed turkeys that are also Certified Organic, making these holiday turkeys a very special item.

We keep the breeding stock hens and toms here year-round. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy recognizes some of our breeds as in danger of extinction. Most farms cannot afford the costs and upkeep of keeping heritage breed animals without a supporting source of income to offset the expenses, so Slow Food USA is helping to spread the word and promote heritage breed products as a food source. By creating demand for heritage foods, then farms can work to produce and maintain heritage breeds.

We take pre-orders for Elmwood turkeys either in person or though email. They are processed at a USDA inspected facility and will be ready for pickup the weekend prior to Thanksgiving or for December holidays. Just contact the farm and we’ll share more details with you on expected available sizes, the differences in taste and appearance dependent on heritage or broad-breasted breeds, and pricing.

In Your Share
Items in shares may vary depending on harvest day and share size. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Swiss Chard – organic

Celery – organic

Onion – organic

Sweet Peppers – organic

Spaghetti Squash

Sweet Potatoes – organic

Tomatoes - organic

Garlic - organic

Potatoes - organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe from the popular blog, smitten kitchen .com. She substituted skim milk and Swiss cheese and reports that it is a fabulous recipe used as an entrée. As written, serves 12.

¼ C (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 pounds Swiss chard, leaves and stems separated and both cut into 1-inch pieces
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 C heavy cream or whole milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T flour
2 pounds medium red-skinned sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick rounds
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ¼ C (about 5 ounces) coarsely grated Gruyére cheese

Prep greens: Cook onion in 2 T butter in a wide 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add chard stems, pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to moderately high and add chard leaves by large handfuls, stirring, until all greens are wilted. Season with salt and pepper then transfer greens to a colander to drain well and press out liquid with back of a large spoon.

Make sauce: Combine cream or milk and garlic in small saucepan; bring to simmer; keep warm. Melt 2 T butter in a medium heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, whisking, one minute, then slowly whisk in warm cream/milk and boil, whisking, one minute. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Assemble gratin: Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter deep 9×13 baking dish. Spread half of sweet potatoes in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, a quarter of the herbs and a ¼ C of the cheese. Distribute half of the greens mixture over the cheese, then sprinkle salt, pepper, a quarter of the herbs and ¼ C of the cheese over it. Pour half of béchamel sauce over the first two layers then continue with the remaining sweet potatoes, more salt, pepper, herbs and cheese and then the remaining greens, salt, pepper and herbs. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the gratin, pressing the vegetables slightly to ensure that they are as submerged as possible. Sprinkle with the last ¼ C of cheese.

Bake gratin for about 1 hour until golden and bubbly, and most of the liquid is absorbed. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Do ahead: You can make the entire gratin but not bake it up to a day in advance and keep it in the fridge. You can also make and bake the gratin and reheat it. Gratins reheat well, but they take almost as much time to gently heat through as they do to bake in the first place, especially deep ones like this.

Smoky Sweet Potato Soup
Martha Stewart recipe, serves 10.

3 T extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small leek, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced and rinsed well
1 tart green apple, peeled, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 celery stalk thinly sliced
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 in cubes
6 C chicken stock
1 medium canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ C salted pepitas (green hulled pumpkin seeds) you can substitute roasted seeds from your winter squashes; see recipe below

Heat oil in a large pot over medum heat. Cook garlic and leek until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add apple, celery, and ginger, and cook for 3 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and stock, and simmer until sweet potatoes are trender, about 15 minutes. Add chipotle chile.

Working in batches, transfer mixture to a blender, and puree until smooth, transfering soup to a large bowl as you work. You might also use a hand held soup blender. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with pepitas before serving.

Curry Roasted Pumpkin Seeds – this recipe can be used for any pumpkin or winter squash seeds.

Separate seeds from pulp.

For every 2 C of seeds, combine 3-4 T curry powder, 1 ½ C warm water, 1 T lemon juice, and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil to dissolve curry; add seeds. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Drain, place seeds on an oiled cookie sheet and bake in 250° F oven for 60-75 minutes or until dried out.

CSA News, Week 20

2011-09-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

What ARE you gonna eat?

As the 2011 CSA summer share season winds down, we wanted to take this opportunity to help you make good food choices for this fall and winter. (We have 2 more pickups for summer CSA after this one!)

Many of you have signed up for the Fall Shares, so we don’t have to worry about you all. The rest of you will be searching the shelves for produce to prepare the same great recipes that you enjoyed this summer. Some may even backslide into “store bought” eggs! Horrors! And who knows anything about those meats?

So we are here to help. At Elmwood we preserved some of the abundance in our freezer for consumption at the end of the season. Hopefully you did as well, either from your box or larger lot purchase at the farmers market. We will continue to have root crops, cooking greens, lettuce fixings, well into the fall, depending on when the frost or freezing temperatures arrive. Surely we will see you at the farmers market for these!

New this year, we have diced heirloom tomatoes in glass jars, processed one week when we had one of those flushes of growth talked about in last week’s newsletter. We had them professionally packed for you to enjoy in the off-season. And, no BPAs to worry about that is found some of the canned stuff, as we chose to use glass 32 oz jars. Plus, Elmwood salsa is back – both mild and hot in 16 oz jars. We can make a meal out of it, as nachos are quick and easy to prepare.

Take some time to think about the kind of cooking and types of recipes you like to use in shorter day seasons. Make the soups and stews with the best local organic ingredients we have. Relish in the diversity of those roasted root veggies.

Our commitment to you does not end with your last CSA pickup the first week of October. Your commitment to us does not have to end then either, as we will be at the Saturday morning farmers market in downtown Lexington all fall and winter. We strive to eat well-balanced meals year-round with products we grow on the farm. We want you to be able to do the same thing, which is one reason we started the Fall CSA and are still planting for end-of-year harvesting.

We really do worry about those of you that we don’t see for awhile. What are you eating? We will make every effort to be sure you have access all year. After all, we are partners with you in this operation, not just fair weather friends.

In Your Share

Half-Runner Green Beans - organic

Savoy Cabbage - organic

Garlic – organic

Leeks - organic

Okra - organic

Onion – organic

Pepper - organic

Raspberries - organic

Fresh Rosemary, Sage – organic

Sweet Potatoes – organic

Tomato – organic

Swiss Chard – organic

Radishes – organic

Acorn Squash

Recipes to Enjoy

Smoked Chile Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

A Bobby Flay recipe adapted and shared by a CSA member last fall. She suggested finding chipotle pepper puree in the Mexican food aisle of your local store, or you can puree whole chipotle peppers. Though thinly slicing the potatoes may take a little time, she said the result is well worth it!

2 C heavy cream

1 heaping T chipotle pepper puree

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/8” thick)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375°. Whisk together cream and chipotle puree until smooth. In a 9 x 9 inch casserole dish, arrange a layer of potatoes, drizzle with about 3 tablespoons of the cream mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue layering potatoes, cream, salt and pepper (you will have many layers). Cover and bake for 30 minutes; remove cover and continue baking 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cream has been absorbed, potatoes are cooked through, and the top is browned. Makes 4-6 servings.

Sweet Potato Wedges with Rosemary
from LocalHarvest.org, Lorna Sass, 2008

2 pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed
2 T olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp soy sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ T chopped fresh rosemary

Set two racks in middle section of oven. Line two lipped baking sheets or large, shallow roasting pans with foil. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Halve potatoes crosswise (no need to peel). Cut each piece in half lengthwise. Then cut each piece into wedges about 1/2-inch thick. Spread out on baking sheets.

In a small bowl, blend oil, chili powder, and soy sauce. Dribble half of oil mixture over each batch of sweet potatoes and toss to coat. Arrange wedges in one layer with a little space between them. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 12 minutes. Turn slices over. Reverse shelves for baking sheets. Continue roasting until potatoes are tender, 8 to 12 minutes more. Sprinkle with additional salt, if needed. To serve: Transfer potatoes to a platter and toss in rosemary. Serve hot.

Warm Roasted-Garlic Dressing
A Martha Stewart recipe that can be used on salads, but is wonderful tossed with oven roasted vegetables, makes about 1 Cup.

1 garlic head
1/3 C white wine vinegar
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2/3 C extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap garlic in foil. Roast until tender, about 1½ hours. Let cool slightly. Can be refrigerated in an airtight container overnight. Cut the head in half crosswise. Squeeze pulp into a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Whisk in vinegar and rosemary. Gradually add oil, whisking constantly. Use right away.

CSA News, Week 19

2011-09-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

What Is a Normal

Growing Season?

Did you notice the big change in the weather this past week? The plants sure did! Remembering the extended cool wet April and May that led to a hot and wet (for us) June, July, August, and now an abrupt cool wet Labor Day week, we know there is a dramatic effect on the plants that supply your food.

Every year it is “something” as is to be expected when growing over 60 kinds of vegetables each year (over 200 different varieties). Each has its own internal clock and growth habit. Often different varieties of the same crop behave differently to the same environmental condition. So, we have our target dates to plant and the subsequent predicted harvest dates. As you are probably are aware by now, this year’s big swings in weather has altered the plan.

Your boxes were a little light early in the season simply because we could not get into the fields to plant due to the rain and mud. Once we were able to work the ground the “early stuff” went out the same time as the “mid season stuff.” We packed the shares more fully because it all came ready together and we wanted to make sure you shared in the doubled-up harvesting.

Then the hot temperatures told the plants to grow like crazy. That caused the tomatoes to flush their growth and the fruits to ripen at the same time, rather than the normal first fruit first, and later fruit set later. Some cooler natured plants just bolted into flower, never fruiting, because they were so unhappy they just wanted it all to be over.

Now, the welcome cooler weather has settled in rather suddenly telling the same summer plants that their season is over. The cool season crops for fall are planted and should do well; depending on how much sun they see this month. So, hopefully you put some of those greens or tomatoes in the freezer to enjoy this winter. The boxes always look different each week, as it is the plants’ way of showing you that it is in fact “always something.”

We appreciate your interest in eating seasonally, and going with the flow as we all work through this particular growing season. Sometimes even we still wonder, what is an average growing season?

In Your Share
Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not contain each item listed below.

Swiss Chard – organic

Cucumber

Popcorn – organic
Find a deep yellow colored ear of popcorn, ready to shell off the cob and pop up for a family treat. Store at room temperature or in your pantry – the more dry your popcorn, the easier it will PoP! To prepare freshly grown corn, heat the oil in a covered pan at medium high. Then carefully add a few corn kernels to the oil, using care to not splash oil, and top with the lid. Listen for the kernels to begin popping. After a couple of minutes, shake the pan slightly across the burner to prevent any kernels from burning. When the popping stops, remove and enjoy.

Potatoes – organic

Raspberries - organic

Fresh Sage – organic

Stripetti Squash
Store this hard skin squash in your pantry until ready to use, as this item will keep for you for weeks with no need to refrigerate. Boil whole; or halve and bake with flesh side down in a little water until done; remove seeds. Fleck out strands with a fork. Not sure how to flavor or season? Try using your faavorite pasta recipe and substitute the stripetti squash for the angel hair or spaghetti or linguine. It has lower calories than pasta, and is a super-veggie for those who watch their gluten intake.

Tomato – organic

Garlic – organic

Leeks – organic

Pepper –organic

Recipes to Enjoy

Asian Chicken Salad Wraps
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this favorite recipe. She substituted Swiss chard for the greens! She mentioned that this recipe is heavenly, but also a little labor intensive.

1 T Soy Sauce
3 T Red Wine Vinegar
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 T Honey
1 scant T sesame oil
½ tsp red pepper flakes (less if you don't like spicy)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 ½ C cooked chicken, chopped
3 C torn romaine
1 C torn spinach
2 green onions, chopped
1 large carrot, shredded
2 Roma tomato, chopped
½ C red pepper, chopped
2 T cilantro, minced
6-8 tortillas

Combine dressing ingredients. Combine chopped chicken and rest of ingredients. Toss with dressing. Warm tortillas in sauté pan, spoon filling into tortilla. Serve immediately

Rosti
Recipe from Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert’s Simply in Season

3-4 T butter
4 C potatoes, shredded
½ tsp salt or more to taste
1-1½ C Colby or cheddar cheese

Melt butter in large frypan. Sauté potatoes with salt until cooked and slightly browned, stirring occasionally. Press potatoes into pan, allow to cook another minute, then flip and fry the other side. While bottom gets crisp, top with cheese. When melted, cut into wedges and serve. Serves 4.

Week 18, CSA

2011-09-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Poultry on Pasture

At Elmwood Stock Farm we employ several different production systems to supply you with the best eggs and meats for your nourishment. Each type of poultry has unique inherent capabilities and housing needs for the birds to prosper, be safe, and happy.

The “egg mobiles” look like a small A-frame structure, attached to a four-wheel wagon. There are many features within this structure specific for egg laying chickens. Along the sides, under the eve, are a series of boxes the hens can access to lay their eggs in a bed of wood shavings. A group of 300 hens share about 30 nest boxes, with some boxes filled with 15 or 20 eggs each day, while others are empty. We gather the eggs twice daily. The egg mobile also has a series of roosts under the roof where the birds go each evening to rest away from the watchful eye of the owls.

We use small flexible irrigation tubing, which snakes along the pasture behind the house from the nearby hose outlet to keep a reservoir of water full that is inside the egg mobile. The drinkers are gravity fed systems that have a trough of water for the birds to drink. As they drink the water from the trough it becomes lighter in weight, which causes the spring to raise it up slightly, which opens the valve to allow more water to flow into the trough.

Once per week or so, our 1950 International Harvester tractor pulls the egg mobile to a fresh location, and the electrified net fencing is replaced around the birds and their house to protect them from ground predators. This new area provides excellent grazing of clover, grass and small weeds, along with any unsuspecting insects that cannot fly away. The house provides protection from rain, shade from the sun, and a safe zone when a hawk comes to check out the chickens. In the winter, we have plastic sidewalls that drop down to ground level for additional weather protection.

The turkeys, when small, must also have lightweight flight netting over their heads, not to keep them in, but to keep aerial predators out. One year when we experienced a lot of predator pressure, we had to add fishing line in a spider web type pattern over the laying hens to protect them as well.

Organic feed is taken to the birds twice daily so the poultry can consumer it. We don’t leave feed grain out all the time or the beautiful songbirds will learn to come in and eat it!

As you can see, caring for poultry takes a lot of planning, twice daily “chores”, and special attention at critical times. At Elmwood we raise the meat and eggs with the natural behavior and characteristics of the birds in mind. We make sure they are safe, have plenty of wholesome pasture and grains to eat, and a secure place to lay their eggs. All this, without harming any wildlife that also wants to enjoy poultry or hen fruit for breakfast!

In Your Share

Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Celery – organic
Refrigerate as soon as possible to keep fresh. Wrap in a damp towel or place in a plastic bag and store in the hydrator drawer for up to 2 weeks. Like we advise on many of your veggies, use the freezer for long-term storage. Slice, then spread on a cookie sheet and place into the freezer. When all the chunks are frozen, pack them into any airtight container and return to the freezer. Celery pieces will be soft when thawed and best used in soups and stews, less so in salads.

Swiss Chard - organic

Cucumber

Garlic – organic

Kale Greens –organic

Fresh Thyme – organic

Onions–organic

Okra – organic

Potatoes – organic
Our first harvest of the season for gold potatoes is always a cheerful time, as everyone loves potatoes, right? Oven roast, bake, mash, boil, or panfry, this variety performs well prepared many different ways. We have rinsed field dirt and suggest refrigerating until ready to prepare. You may want to consider the kale and potato soup this week, a recipe included.

Acorn Squash
Search this blog for many recipes. Week 22, Oct 2009 is the most popular acorn squash recipe. Apricots, yummy!

Tomatoes – organic

Peppers – organic

Recipes to Enjoy

Chard Utopia
Recipe from Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert’s Simply in Season.

2 C onion, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp salt
1 T olive oil
2 ½ pounds Swiss chard, stemmed, finely chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 T flour
2 C feta cheese, crumbled
1 C cottage cheese
pepper, to taste
1 pound frozen phyllo pastry sheets, thawed
olive oil

In a large frypan, sauté onion, basil, oregano, and salt in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add chard and cook until wilted, 5-8 minutes. Sprinkle in garlic and flour, stir and cook over medium heat, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in cheeses and pepper.
Place a sheet of phyllo in an oiled 9 x 13 inch pan. Brush or lightly spray sheet with olive oil. Repeat 7 times. Spread half the filling evenly on top. Add 8 more sheets of oiled phyllo. Cover with the rest of the filling and follow with remaining sheets of phyllo, oiling each, including the top sheet. Tuck in the edges and bake uncovered in preheated oven at 375° until golden and crispy, 45 minutes. Serves 8-10.

Greens with Potatoes, a Deborah Madison recipe
4 boiling potatoes, about 1 pound
salt
1 to 2 pounds greens, trimmed and coarsely chopped
2 T extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
½ tsp red pepper flakes
2 tomatoes, if in season, peeled and diced

Cover the potatoes with cold water, add salt to taste, and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain, then peel and coarsely chop. Simmer the greens in a large skillet, until tender, then drain. You may need to do this in two batches. Return the skillet to the stove, add the oil, and heat with the garlic and pepper flakes. When you can smell the garlic, add the greens, potatoes, and tomatoes. Cook over medium heat, breaking up the potatoes with a fork and mashing them into the greens to make a kind of rough hash. Taste for salt and serve drizzled with olive oil over the top.

Portuguese Kale Soup
Thanks to a CSA member for this Rachel Ray recipe utilizing almost all CSA ingredients. She often doubles it and likes to freeze it for the winter (though it may be suitable for our weather this week).

1 T olive oil

1 T finely chopped garlic
½ C diced onions
½ diced turnip
½ C diced carrots
1 bunch kale, stemmed and roughly chopped
6 ounces chopped spicy Portuguese sausage, or chorizo
3 bay leaves
2 T chopped fresh parsley leaves (try using your celery leaf, very good substitute!)
2 T chopped fresh thyme leaves
6 C beef stock
1 C kidney beans
6 ounces diced tomatoes
10 ounces diced potatoes

In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, turnips and carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add the kale, sausage, bay leaves, parsley and thyme and mix well.

Add the

beef stock, beans and tomatoes. Bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium

saucepan, bring salted water to a boil and add the diced potatoes. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and add them to the soup.

Remove the bay leaves, serve hot. Serves 4.

Caramelized Onion and Apple Tart
Did you know that apples are ready at the markets and the orchards? Use your fresh onions and local apples for this savory dish, from Bravetart. com

1 favorite flaky pastry dough, ready to roll out (Bravetart has a recipe for homemade)
1 large onion
splash of oil or butter
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
a small handful of a salty cheese; Gruyere or a blue work quite well
1 apple

Halve and peel the onion, then cut it into thin slices. Use a splash of oil or butter and saute the onion slices on medium low heat until quite caramelized, thirty minutes or so. If you see the edges of the onion blackening before they’ve taken on much overall color, turn the heat down. When the onions have a rich caramel color, stir in the balsamic and shut off the heat. Season with salt and pepper and cool to room temperature. You can facilitate this process by transferring the onions to a plate and spreading them out to cool.

While the onions cool, roll the dough to about a 1/4” thickness in the shape of your choice. It’s a rustic sort of tart, so don’t worry about trimming the edges or making sure the shape is too precise. Roll. Transfer the dough to an ungreased sheet pan.
Refrigerate the rolled dough, no need to wrap, at least 15 minutes to give the gluten ample time to relax so it won’t shrink. Definitely chill the dough until the onions have cooled. Seriously. Putting hot or even warm onions on something made of butter can only lead to disaster. Wait.

When the onions have cooled, scatter them over the tart. Next, slice a whole apple as thinly as you can manage. You don’t need a mandolin or anything, just take your time and you’ll be able to get some pretty seriously thin slices. No need to core the apples, just slice straight through. You can easily pick the seeds out of the slices and keep the pretty starburst shape intact. Arrange as many or few apple slices on the tart as you like; I use six, but don’t hesitate to do more if you want!

Now sprinkle whatever cheese you’re using over the tart. Listen: this isn’t a pizza. It’s not even a flat quiche. Easy on the cheese, okay? You’re just wanting to add a few salty bites, the tart dough is incredibly rich and buttery, and big gobs of cheese will really make this a greasy, inelegant snack.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Check on the tart from time to time, if you notice any out of control air bubbles, pull the tart partway out of the oven and poke the bubble with a toothpick or a knife to release the steam. Put it back in the oven and carry on. Cool the tart for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving. The tart will remain wonderfully flakey even at room temperature several hours later so you can prepare ahead if needed. Enjoy!

Kale Winter Pasta, Heidi Swanson recipe
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing this kale recipe for those who don’t like cooked kale – it makes a delicious pesto-like sauce for pasta!

4 cloves of garlic, peeled

4 small shallots, peeled

1 small bunch of kale - 1/2 lb, stalks removed, washed well

1/3 C extra virgin olive oil

1/3 C goat cheese (or Parmesan), plus more for topping

2 T + hot pasta water

fine grain sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

fresh lemon juice - optional

12 oz dried penne pasta

fresh thyme - and thyme flowers

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the boiling water generously, and add the garlic and shallots. Boil for 2-3 minutes, stir in the kale and cook for another ten seconds. Don't overcook. Working quickly, use a slotted spoon or strainer to fish the greens, garlic, and shallots from the water. Use a food processor to puree the ingredients along with the olive oil and goat cheese. Add a couple tablespoons of hot pasta water if needed to thin things out. Then season with a touch of salt and plenty of black pepper. Taste. Depending on your goat cheese, you might need a little extra acidic oomph if your sauce is a bit flat. If so, add fresh lemon juice a bit at a time until you're happy with it the sauce. Set aside.

Reheat the pot of water and boil the pasta per package instructions. Drain and toss immediately with the green sauce. Serve topped with a few pinches of fresh thyme, and more crumbled cheese. Serves 4-6.

Week 17, CSA News

2011-08-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Certified Organic . . . The Best of the Best

We try to be clear in our newsletter each week of what is organic, and the few items that are not. Though we grow 5 vegetables that do not yet meet the criteria for certification, we do employ lots of the same earth friendly techniques. Let’s look at what we must do and who determines if we fulfill our obligations to achieve organic certification and use the word “organic” in referencing products.

Each year we submit our farm plan to Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA) which is accredited to administer the USDA Organic Certification production and labeling program. OEFFA staff evaluates our plan to verify we document the purchases of inputs that will not contaminate our fields or products, maintain and enhance the environment and farm ecosystems, and harvest and deliver items to you with assuredness they meet standards. An inspector is sent at least once a year to visually inspect the farm, look at records, and document we are following the plan submitted.

The farm plan is based upon “The Rule.” The rule is a comprehensive Federal regulation agreed upon in the mid 1990’s and fully implemented in 2002. The rule addresses everything from GMO exclusions, environmental stewardship, animal welfare, food processing, packaging, and labeling. The volume of record keeping, auditable activity logs, and worker training is a tremendous burden, especially since we produce such a wide variety of crops and livestock. But we feel that the benchmark of organic certification is worth the hours of time and extra effort.

Mac administers the Kentucky Dept. of Agriculture Organic Certification Program for KY farmers, which is why we use an out-of-state agency to prevent any conflict of interest. Earlier this year, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack appointed Mac to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), a 15-member board that oversees “The Rule” and makes recom-mendations to the Secretary and the administrative branch of the USDA National Organic Program. This board deals with international compatibility issues, new products being requested to be allowed, and general guidelines that give the 53 accreditation agencies (like OEFFA and KDA) the tools they need to effectively monitor the operations they certify as organic. Members of the board range from chemists to food manufacturing professionals, consumer advocates, livestock and crop professionals and certified organic farmers.

So rest assured when you see the logo, there is a tremendous degree of scrutiny from thoughtful caring individuals that you are consuming the best of the best!

In Your Share
Items in shares may vary depending on share size and harevst day. Each share may not contain every items listed below.

Sweet Basil–organic
This week find a little fresh basil to use in your favorite dishes, not enough to make pesto for the freezer. Basil can be stored in your refrigerator as long as there is an extra cushion of air to protect from below 40°. Keep in the bag and put into another container. If the leaves do dry, remove from the stems and use as dried basil all year long.

Swiss Chard–organic

Cucumber

Edamame – organic

Leeks - organic

Melon
We have enough of the small French cantaloupe type melons today for all shares. They are picked ripe and have a thin skin, so go ahead and cut up into a container for your refrigerator now. We like the size, taste, & growth habits of this variety, so probably will grow again next season. As you know we continue to try out melons looking for non-GMO varieties that grow well for us in Kentucky.

Onions–organic

Raspberries-organic

Tomatoes – organic
We have at least 4 different recipes for Tomato Pie on our web blog (also a Chard Pie recipe), just enter Pie in the search spot at the top of the screen. Scroll down. You can enjoy these like quiche, served hot or cold, for dinner or breakfast, or pack for your lunch!

Garlic – organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

African Pineapple Peanut Stew
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe she adapted from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

1 cup chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T vegetable or olive oil
1 bunch chard
2 cups undrained canned crushed pineapple
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 T Tabasco or hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup cilantro
chopped salt

Sauté onions and garlic in a saucepan in oil for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Slice greens into 1-inch thick slices. Add pineapple and its juice to onions and bring to a simmer. Stir in greens and simmer for 5 more minutes. Mix in peanut butter, Tabasco, cilantro and salt and simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve over couscous.

Tomato and Bread Salad

¼ lb Italian bread, torn into chunks (4 cups)
¼ cup olive oil
½ small red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 large tomatoes (1 ½ lbs), diced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar ½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced
¼ cup thinly sliced basil leaves

1. Toast bread on baking sheet in 350-degree oven for 5 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Cool onion and garlic over medium-high heat, 2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, then stir in tomatoes, vinegar, slat, and pepper.
4. Place bread in large bowl and toss with tomato mixture, cucumber, and basil.

Steamed Leeks with Ginger Sauce
Recipe from the editors of Cook’s Illustrated who researched and tested all the best recipes for leeks prior to recommending this one.

3 to 4 small to medium leeks
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
3 T soy sauce
1 T sugar

1. Trim the leeks about 2 inches beyond the point where the leaves start to darken. Trim the root end, keeping the base intact. (Did you know that the root ends can be dropped into oil and pan-fried similar to tiny French fries or okra? Very trendy these days.) Slit each leek lengthwise upward through the leaves, leaving the base intact. Rinse thoroughly to remove all traces of dirt.

2. Fill a large pot with enough water to come to a depth of 1 inch. Cover and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Arrange the leeks in a single layer in a steamer basket. When the water comes to a boil, carefully place the steamer basket with the leeks into the pot. Cover and steam until the leeks are tender and the tip of a knife inserted into the thickest part of a leek meets no resistance, 10 to 12 minutes.

3. While the leeks are steaming, whisk the ginger, soy sauce, and sugar together in a small bowl.

4. Place the leeks on a serving platter, drizzle the ginger sauce over the leeks, and serve hot or warm.

Cool Cucumber Spaghetti, a Bert Greene recipe, serves 4

4 cucumbers, each about 7 inches long
½ C plus 1 T red wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 large shallot, minced
2 T water
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 T chopped fresh dill

Peel the cucumbers, then scrape the flesh with a vegetable zester lengthwise to form long spaghetti-like strands. Place the strands in a colander; sprinkle them with 1 T vinegar, the salt, and ½ tsp sugar. Let stand 30 minutes.

Shake the colander to remove any excess liquid. Do not squeeze the cucumber strands. Transfer them to a bowl and add the shallot.

Combine the remaining 1/3 C vinegar, 1 ½ tsp sugar, and the water.

Pour the dressing over the cucumbers; add the pepper and 2 T dill. Toss lightly with two forks. Refrigerate, covered, 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 T dill.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Recipe from Sunny Season Flavors, serves 6

6 vine-ripened tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 T brown sugar
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 T olive oil
1 T torn basil leaves, to serve

Preheat the oven to 300°. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Halve the tomatoes horizontally and place, skin-side down, on the prepared tray. Add a piece of garlic to each half, sprinkle with the sugar and drizzle the vinegar and oil over the top. Season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 1 hour or until softened and lightly charred. Set aside to cool. Serve tomatoes at room temperature garnished with the torn basil.

CSA Week 16

2011-08-23T03:53:00.000-07:00

Thinking About Fall?

A few years ago, several CSA members asked Elmwood Stock Farm to consider offering a fall and winter CSA program. After discussion and evaluation of several factors including field rotation schedules for summer crops, expenses of production in winter months, and our own experiences in growing crops during fall and winter, we arrived at the decision to offer a Fall Season CSA. We do not expect all members to be interested in fall crops. But, for those folks who want to continue eating locally grown, healthy and nutritious vegetables, we are pleased to offer a seasonal eating option.

We grow items outside in our regular crop fields and in the ground inside the unheated high tunnel, and we have items in our cooler grown for storage into winter. With cold weather and much shorter day lengths, each vegetable will be slower to grow and cannot be harvested as often as we do in the summer. We offer one size share for the fall season that contains at least seven up to a dozen different types of vegetables – enough for two weeks of eating including some items to store for later in the winter. Items could be lettuce, cooking greens, crops like broccoli or cabbage, potatoes, winter squash, and other items such as root crops, herbs, or specialty greens. If we have a late freeze this fall, some warm weather summer vegetables will also be in the early shares.

During the Fall Season, we offer distribution in Lexington on Thursday afternoon or Saturday morning and at the farm on Friday afternoon, every two weeks, a total of five pickups over 10 weeks. The first pickup this fall is October 20-22. Visit the CSA page of our website to review a signup form – though it indicates the price good through August 1 ($275), shares are still available now in late August at that price – just print out and send in to the farm. Meat shares and Egg shares can also be added.

Which brings us to another fall food event, the Thanksgiving meal. One of the Fall CSA distributions is the weekend prior to Thanksgiving so you will be well stocked for your holiday cooking. The last outdoor farmers market is the Saturday before the holiday with seasonal veggies, eggs for your baking or puddings, and organic meats. It is also known as Turkey Pickup Day. We raise Heritage Breed Certified Organic Turkeys outdoors, and make them available for the holiday season. We’ll write more next week with details on breeds, sizes, pricing and how to pre-order.

In the meantime, pop any extra veggies in your freezer for later this fall or winter. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the fresh flavor on a dreary December day, and proud of yourself for the extra effort now.

In Your Share
Items in your share may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each item listed below may not be in every share.

Fresh Berries – organic

Savoy Cabbage – organic

Sweet Corn-organic

Cucumber

Garlic – organic

Onions–organic

Bell Pepper-organic

Stripetti Squash

Tomatoes – organic

Melon

Watermelon Radish – organic

Recipes to Enjoy

Our recipes this week are created by culinary experts who live and cook right here in the Bluegrass area. You can enjoy a little local flavor by reading more online, as most have a website with much to offer!

Tiny Tomato and Orzo Salad
Local celebrity chef, Brigitte Nguyen, appears regularly on television with Wellness Cooking to inspire and teach healthier eating. Her blog, Counting the Beans and Cooking the Books, includes lots of recipes, a simple tomato salad. Visit brigittenguyen dot com.

1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 tbsp olive oil, plus additional if desired
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup red grape tomatoes
1 cup yellow pear tomatoes
½ cup or 5 oz fresh mozzarella, diced (or purchase the small pearls)
¼ cup chopped or chiffonade basil

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook orzo to your desired doneness, 8-10 minutes for al dente. Drain in a colander and immediately transfer to a large bowl. Toss with olive oil while still warm and season with salt and pepper.
Any time you’re dressing a pasta salad, do so while the pasta is still warm, which will allow it to soak up the most flavor. Allow to cool.

Meanwhile, cut grape and pear tomatoes in half or quarters, depending on size. Toss tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil with the cooled orzo, adding extra olive oil if desired. Season heavily with salt and pepper and serve.

Spicy Thai Vegetable Slaw
This is a farm favorite recipe created by Vanessa Oliver. To get more of Vanessa’s culinary talents, you either have to signup for a cooking class at The Wholesome Chef dot come, or stop by Elmwood’s booth at the Saturday morning farmers market in downtown Lexington and visit with her.

1 head Savoy cabbage
4 medium radishes
1 cucumber
1 jalapeno
Dressing:
2 T spicy sesame oil
4 T cider vinegar
1 T honey
3 T smooth peanut butter
½ tsp chili paste
2 tsp grated ginger zest
juice from one lime
handful of peanuts

Cut the cabbage into shreds, cut the rest of the veggies intro strips. In a large bowl, mix dressing ingredients without the peanuts. Add the vegetables and peanuts, and let sit for about a half hour. Good cold or at room temperature. You can control the spiciness of this slaw by using just regular sesame oil, not adding the jalapeno and putting in a regular bell pepper instead, not adding chili paste. It’s a very flexible recipe, so experiment.

Probably Almost Mother’s Homemade Ketchup
Continuing our salute to local blogger friends and CSA members, we suggest you visit Savoring Kentucky dot com where there is way more information about using your tomatoes, onions, and peppers to make homemade ketchup. She has links to other recipes you may want to review, step-by-step photos of the process, tips on handy gadgets to make the process easy, and lots more!

Please note that this recipe has quite a few steps, none of them hard, but still – there are steps and processes. It may help to read all the way through before launching in.

In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, begin simmering:
8 quarts fresh tomato juice

Note the level of the juice as you begin. Simmer until reduced by half.including this one for As the tomato juice reduces, in a non-reactive heavy-bottomed saucepan, over medium-low heat, add a little bit of neutral oil (grapeseed, for example). Sauté these ingredients until soft:
2 small onions, chopped
1/2 of a sweet pepper, chopped

Add to the following ingredients to the onion-pepper mixture, and cook gently until reduced by half:
2 Tablespoons pickling spice
1 Tablespoon whole celery seed
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon whole allspice berries
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 cups vinegar (I used cider vinegar; distilled may work, too)
When both the tomato juice and the cider-spice-onion mixture are reduced by half, set a colander over a large bowl, and line the colander with heavy cheesecloth or a very clean piece of old tee shirt or other soft fabric, about 10 inches square. Gather up the spices inside the cloth, and tie the corner together to make a packet. Note the level of the reduced tomato juice in its stock pot, and add both the cider and the spice packet to the reduced tomato juice. Continue simmering until the combined mixture reduced to the level noted — the level of half the tomato juice.
Now add sugar to taste. You add the sugar last, according to the recipe, “to prevent scorching and ruining your day’s work.” If the tomatoes are highly acid, you may want the higher amounts of sugar. For regular acid-y garden tomatoes, this recipe suggest the following:
1 pound brown sugar (2 cups, more or less)
Up to 2 cups white sugar

Cook again until well integrated and as thick as you want. Homemade ketchup will be like a thin sauce, not a thick paste. Keep tasting and adjusting, particularly checking for salt, until the ketchup tastes just as you want. Remember that cold foods, as your ketchup will be when you use it, need a touch more sweetness than you think when you are tasting them warm.
This amount of juice and add-ins will make about 7 pints of ketchup.

Berry Reduction for Favorite Berry Ice Cream
This recipe is borrowed from the blog of one of our favorite local pastry chefs. Enjoy her writing, recipes and learn where to go when you want to skip the work and just enjoy her tasty creations visit Bravetart dot com.

To make the creamiest fruit ice cream, don’t use raw fruit. Fresh fruit contains a good deal of water, which will freeze into icy crystals. By using a homemade berry reduction, that water is gently removed, leaving behind a concentrated fresh-berry flavor. This means no pesky ice crystals in the ice cream.

18 oz blueberries, blackberries, raspberries (frozen work well too)
8 ½ ounces sugar
the zest of 1 lemon or 1 small orange (optional)
a few drops of orange or rose flower water (also optional)
¼ tsp salt

Blitz the berries and sugar together in the bowl of a food processor, or do it by hand by smashing them together with a fork/potato masher. Cover and macerate for one hour. After the hour has passed, place the berries and juice in a medium sauce pot and turn the heat to medium low. When the mixture begins to bubble, turn the heat down to low. Maintain the barest simmer, you should only see very occasional bubbles. Simmer until the mixture reduces by about half. Reducing the mixture on low heat helps preserve the fresh berry taste. When the liquid has sufficiently reduced, whisk in the citrus zest, flower water, and salt. Store refrigerated for about a week, or freeze indefinitely.

CSA Newsletter, Week 15

2011-08-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Communing with Mother Nature

Our relationship with Mother Nature is the compelling motivation to care for this land and produce food for you. In past weeks, we have briefly described the intricacies of soil microbes, fungi, and minerals. We have briefly discussed the fascinating diversity of the insect world, and the wildlife that call the farm home. We have portrayed the frustration of relentless rain and the death of drought. Planning and preparing for the range of environmental conditions Mother Nature may send our way is the job of farming. Manipulating the ecosystem to efficiently harvest healthy food is the work of farming. Being in a position to see, feel, touch, smell and taste the bounty is the joy of farming.

This past Saturday Mother Nature came calling. She unleashed a torrential storm so violent that it laid over two 150-year-old trees, dozens of younger trees, and twisted limbs and branches off of countless others. Crops that stood tall and proud, now are bent or broken, lying on the ground. Some are resilient and will continue growing and producing, others compromised enough to be economically considered a total loss. Shorter plants like sweet potatoes are just disturbed for a few days, other taller plants like sweet corn, peppers, and tomatoes are blown over or the leaves stripped off that will cause sunburn on any existing fruit. Some of these we will just have to wait and see if they can bounce back as it is too late in the season to replant. One of the greenhouses suffered damage and electrical power was knocked out to the entire farm for about 30 hours.

The cattle and sheep, laying hens and broiler chickens are a little wind-blown, but happy to have cooler temperatures the weather front brought in. The turkey trailer flipped over and the young turkeys freaked out, but we found them safe and sound huddled together in the corner of the field. Several fences are down from fallen trees, but are shored up temporarily until we have more time to properly repair. Several electric fences are already running off battery systems, so the loss of power did not affect those areas helping to keep livestock safely where we want them.

In spite of the adjustment to our workload and schedule, the livestock are secure and thriving. Most of the crops will weather the storm and your boxes will show the stamina of the plants.

Last Thursday and Friday nights we saw one of the brightest fullest moons in awhile; it was so large and orange just before dawn on Friday it could have been mistaken for the rising sun. Just a day later, Mother Nature spoke loudly in a different voice reminding us to pay attention to her more subtle message of providing our nourishment while enjoying the beauty of her artistry.

In Your Share

Items in shares may vary depending on share size and harvest day. Every share may not contain each item listed below.

Fresh Berries – organic

Sweet Corn-organic

Cucumber

Edamame – organic
These fresh soybeans are podding up and ready to eat! Do not use the shell beans raw. Rinse the pods and put into boiling, salted water. Cook 5-8 minutes. After draining water, you may salt or season as desired. Pop beans out of the pod into your mouth for a healthy snack. Refrigerate.

Okra- organic

Yellow Onion – organic

Bell Pepper-organic

Acorn Squash
Find your first fall season squash of the year, no need to refrigerate, it stays fresh in the pantry or basement for several months if desired.

Tomatoes – organic
Depending on your situation, you may find yourself with too many tomatoes, or possibly wanting more. If you take the time to put some in the freezer now, you may find them useful for sauce or soup this winter. For best results, put whole tomatoes in boiling water, remove with slotted spoon and put into ice water to stop the cooking. When cool, remove the skin and pop whole or chopped tomatoes into a freezer bag.

If you find yourself wanting more, we have #2 tomatoes by the boxful at a very discounted price – just call or email the farm to arrange for an order.

Garlic – organic

Recipes to Enjoy

Fresh Summer Salsa
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing her recipe, she reports, “My kids and husband eat my fresh summer salsa as fast as I can make it! Too yummy not to share the recipe! “ Serve with a bag of tortilla chips.

Dice the following and add to a medium size bowl:
4-5 ripe medium to large tomatoes
½ onion
1/3 large green pepper

Stir in:
1 spoonful minced garlic
2 spoonfuls of diced jalapeno peppers & juice (pickled) (more of less depending how spicy you like it)
Splash of white vinegar
1 T extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt to taste

Corn and Tomato Salad Recipe
Our thanks to another CSA member for sharing one of her favorite summer recipes!

4 ears fresh corn husked and removed from the cob or one bag of frozen organic corn, thawed
1 pint baby tomatoes, cut in half
3 T fresh chopped basil leaves
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

Mix tomato halves with corn kernels in a bowl. Add the basil and remaining ingredients, mix gently until well combined and let sit to marinate for a few minutes at room temperature.

Okra Fritters

We are sharing a recipe from a few years back as it became a favorite. Originally given to us be a CSA member, she even brought a sample for us straight from her kitchen. You owe it to yourself to try fried okra at least once this summer, it has an original flavor that is satisfying and can’t be duplicated.

2 C vegetable oil

½ C all-purpose flour

coarse salt and ground pepper

2 C okra, coarsely chopped (can use frozen, sliced)

½ C yellow onion, diced (about ½ small onion)

1 large egg

¼ C butter

In a large, heavy skillet, heat oil over medium. In a medium bowl, combine flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add okra and onion and toss to coat.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg and buttermilk. Add to okra mixture and stir just until combined.

In two batches, drop batter in 2 tablespoonful mounds into oil. With a small spatula or butter knife, gently flatten each mound and fry until golden, about 4 minutes per side, flipping once (adjust heat if browning too quickly). Drain on paper towels. Season with salt and serve warm. Makes about 10.

Benedictine Finger Sandwiches
Though we have shared recipes for Benedictine before, this one comes from Entertaining with Bluegrass Winners. Recipe as written makes 24 small sandwiches.

1 ½ large cucumbers, seeded and chopped
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 green onions, white part only, finely chopped
a drop of green food coloring (optional)
2-3 T mayonnaise
6-7 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
salt and pepper to taste
2 loaves of very thin white or wheat bread

Using a paper towel, squeeze most of the water from cucumber pieces. Combine cucumbers, cream cheese, onions, food color, and mayonnaise with electric mixer. Add bacon and salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare slices of very thin bread by removing crusts. Spread Benedictine mixture on brad. Cover with second slice and cut diagonally to make two triangular sandwiches. Store in airtight container in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash
Recipe from 101 Cookbooks dot com

1 small (2 lb.) acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeded

1 T clarified butter or olive oil

1 C milk

1 egg plus 2 egg whites

½ C fresh corn kernels (or more if you like)

¼ tsp anise seed, chopped

¼ C chopped scallions (or use regular onion)

a tiny pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

¼ tsp fine grain sea salt

1/3 C grated white cheddar cheese
another ¼ C chopped scallions for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees with a rack in the middle.

Rub the orange flesh of the squash with the butter/oil. Place cut side up on a baking sheet. You will want it to sit flat (and not tip), if you are having trouble just level out the bottom using a knife. If the squash is tilting on the pan, the filling will run out - bad news. Cover the squash with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until the squash starts to get tender.

In a bowl combine the milk, eggs, corn, anise seed, scallions, nutmeg, and salt. Fill each of the squash bowls 3/4 full (you may have extra filling which you can put in a buttered ramekin and bake alongside your squash). Carefully transfer the squash back to the oven without spilling (tricky!). Continue baking uncovered for another 30 - 50 minutes, or until the squash is fully cooked through, and the pudding has set. The amount of time it takes can vary wildly depending on the squash and oven.

At the last minute sprinkle with cheese and finish with a flash under the broiler to brown the cheese. Keep an eye on things, you can go from melted cheese to burnt and inedible in a flash. Serve hot sprinkled with the remaining scallions.

Week 14, CSA

2011-08-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

Good Stuff Behind the Local Food Movement

Most of you know that our farm is not open to the public, as we don’t have an on-farm store. We are not organized to offer tours of the farm, don’t have adequate parking lots & restrooms for school groups and u-pick. Maybe one day in the future, but not right now as all of our efforts are needed in growing good organic food in a sustainable manner.

However, this past week, we hosted a tour for university researchers and educators from around the country. As part of the Sustainable Agriculture Educators Association annual meeting held at the University of Kentucky, we opened the gate for about 1 hour to share our sustainability philosophy with many of them. We barely finished loading that day’s CSA boxes on the truck for delivery before they arrived, then we could take a few minutes to tell our story. These brief encounters with knowledgeable professionals are one of our ways of giving back for all the help we have received over the years to develop the sustainable organic system of farming we employ.

Kentucky has much to offer as a vibrant organic and sustainable agriculture community. UK, Kentucky State University in Frankfort, and Berea College all have certified organic acreage for research and demonstration purposes. Each of them has strong student programs as part of their mission. Diversification dollars available to producers through the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the Governor’s Office of Agriculture Policy have spurred not only infrastructure growth for farmers, but expanded the conversation about sustainable development of the local food movement.

At the researcher/educator’s dinner program last week, it was obvious that Kentucky has something special going on as local chefs prepared a Kentucky Proud meal with food stations bursting with dishes of local flavor. Guests saw the leadership from the universities, state government, & non-profit groups sharing the podium declaring continued commitment of resources to further the cause of consuming locally grown foods.

What really got their attention was the reading of a short story by Wendell Berry. He graciously stayed at the podium fielding questions from the audience about specific aspects of developing local food economies. One guest at the dinner said it best, “Guess you folks got to get it right when you know you have to answer face to face with Wendell Berry!”

We thank you, our CSA members, for your support of the local food movement. Your partnership with the farm is an important piece that allows us to provide this food for you, your family and friends.

In Your Share

Items in shares may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Fresh Berries – organic

Cabbage – organic
Prepare cabbage by cutting the head first into quarters, then diagonally across the wedge. Cut into thin slices for tossing raw into salads, or cut into thicker slices for steaming or boiling. Steam cabbage for 5-7 minutes, top with butter, a pinch of salt and pepper and some grated cheese. Over cooking will result in too strong of an odor and flavor. Cabbage is great sautéed and stir-fried with other veggies.

Sweet Corn – organic

Garlic – organic

Leeks - organic

Related to onions, leeks can be cooked whole on the grill, steamed, braised, or baked. They have a mild flavor and sweeten when cooked. Store refrigerated, leeks will keep for two weeks; can be substituted for onions in recipes for a different flavor.

Yellow Onions – organic

Red Bell Pepper – organic

Tomatoes – organic

Collard Greens – organic

Fennel - organic

Fennel is known to aid in digestion, cure poor eyesight, help a nervous condition, and even repel insects. Refrigerate realizing that the anise aroma will spread throughout your fridge, store in closed containers. Fennel is quite popular as a fresh herb seasoning for fish along with lemon. Visit our online blog, entering fennel in the search space to see several recipes.

Recipes to Enjoy

Fresh Tomato Pie
“The New Southern Garden Cookbook: Enjoying the Best From Homegrown Gardens, Farmers’ Markets, Roadside Stands, and CSA Farm Boxes,” by Sheri Castle. Makes: 1 pie, or 8 servings.

One 9-inch deep-dish pie shell
1 ½ pounds large sun-ripened tomatoes (peeling is optional)
½ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
¼ C lightly packed basil leaves, coarsely chopped
½ C crisp bacon pieces (optional)
¼ tsp celery salt or celery seed
¾ C high-quality mayonnaise
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 ¼ C grated Asiago cheese, divided
½ tsp ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/3 C crushed Saltine cracker crumbs

1. Bake and cool the pie shell.

2. When ready to bake the pie, heat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Use a serrated knife to cut the tomatoes into ¼ -inch-thick slices. Cover a wire rack with several layers of paper towels and set the rack over the sink to catch the drips. Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on the rack. Sprinkle them with the salt and let drain for at least 10 minutes. Pat the tomatoes dry with fresh paper towels.

4. Arrange half of the tomatoes over the bottom of the pie shell. Scatter the basil and bacon, if using, over the first layer of tomatoes, and arrange the rest of the tomatoes on top.

5. Stir together the celery salt, mayonnaise, lemon zest and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir in ¾ C of the cheese, and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mayonnaise mixture over the tomatoes.

6. Toss together the remaining ½ C of cheese and the cracker crumbs in a small bowl; sprinkle over the top of the pie.

7. Bake until the top of the pie is nicely browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool to room temperature before serving.

Scalloped Tomatoes
Here is an easy-to-prepare Southern recipe for those of you craving the flavors you grew up eating before we were told not to eat our fats. Nutritionists now say that not all fats are the same and your body actually needs good fats for true health. Use organic, pasture raised pork bacon if you can find it, and your favorite tomatoes.

4 slices bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 small onion, chopped
¼ cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

3 medium tomatoes, sliced ¼-inch thick

1. In small bowl in the microwave, cook bacon, covered, on High 3 to 4 minutes until crisp. Remove bacon; set aside.

2. Discard all but 1 tbsp fat. To fat remaining, in bowl, add onion. Cook, covered, 1 minute.

3. Stir in breadcrumbs. Cook 2 ½ to 3 ½ minutes until brown and crisp, stirring often during cooking.

4. Around edge of 9-inch pie plate, arrange tomato slices overlapping. Sprinkle crumbs and bacon on tomatoes. Cook on High 3 to 4 minutes until heated through.

Fresh Tomato Sauce for Pasta
Our thanks to Wash House Herb Farm in Scott County for sharing this tasty recipe – special since it does not require cooking. Serves 2.

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped, use more if you like it
¼ C fresh basil, chopped
¼ C extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, cover and let set for about an hour. Do not cook. Serve over hot pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy.

Cherry Tomatoes in Oil & Vinegar

Wash House Herb Farm

Mix together and marinate overnight:
¼ C olive oil
2-3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T minced garlic
1 T chopped fresh basil or other favorite herb
salt and pepper to taste
2 pounds cherry type tomatoes

Fresh Cabbage Slaw
Recipe from Barbara Boltjes. We’ve tried this with both savoy cabbage and green cabbage, interchanging the radishes for kohlrabi, or whatever we have on hand that day. It is very versatile.

2 C shredded cabbage
½ C shredded carrot
½ C sliced green onion
1/3 C sliced radishes
¼ C chopped fresh cilantro
¼ C coarsely chopped peanuts (optional)
¼ C rice vinegar

Add vinegar to all other ingredients; toss.

CSA, Week 13

2011-08-01T12:15:00.001-07:00

Yes, these are Yummy Beet Cupcakes!

What Does it Take?

Wow! Haven’t the veggies been out of this world this year! One of the main reasons we hear about why you all like the CSA program is you have tried to grow it yourself. Between the bugs, weeds, and watering, it is hard to grow this stuff. So, let’s look at the equipment we use to make it happen.

Seeds come in all sizes from tiny turnips to big beans. For starting seeds in the greenhouse, we can use our vacuum seeder. It sucks the seeds into a small hole, in a pattern the same as the tray holding the soil mix. We push a button, releasing the vacuum, allowing the seeds to drop into one of 220 or 253 1” by 1” squares in the tray. Unfortunately, long skinny seeds like lettuce or chard (which looks like asteroids) won’t work with the vacuum and must be carefully placed individually into those little squares by hand.

John also has several planters that can plant rows of seeds directly into the soil. In order for this to work, the plant cover and soil must be strategically prepared to accept the seeds and provide nutrients and water for it to grow. A different machine allows the crew to ride behind the tractor dropping the transplants from the greenhouse into a cup, which then opens at the precise time to place the roots into the soil at the proper spacing. This can be done through strips of mulch, previously laid out, to control weeds and conserve moisture, or directly into bare soil.

That is the easy part – other than working around the rains, maintaining the equipment in sound condition, providing water, and keeping the crop charts accurate.

Those little seeds or transplants are placed in soil containing tens of millions of weed seeds, left from years gone by. The ones that are awakened by movement in tillage and warming temperatures are also competing for space to grow. To manage this competition, John has implements for tillage along the rows to carefully unearth the weeds between the rows. Those implements are designed to “work” very closely to the tiny vegetable rows without damaging them. This equipment is set specifically to match the row width and bed shaping capabilities of each planter or transplanter. There is often a fair bit of old fashioned hoeing between the individual vegetable plants.

All of this must be choreographed around the weather, size of the produce plants, irrigation schedules, and available daylight hours to get it done. Those of you that grow a garden will know how good it feels when you get it all right.

In Your Share

Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not have each items listed below.

Beets – organic

Fresh Berries – organic

Celery – organic

We get mixed reviews on the celery each season, so our goal this year is to provide a super great description so your usage will meet expectations. This is nothing like celery purchased in the supermarket! Think of it as an herb. You want to use the leaves, you want to use the stalks also (but first they must be finely chopped). It is very flavorful, not bland and watery, and a little goes a long way.

Commodity celery is hilled up with sandy soil to blanch the stalks & crown white, most in the US is grown in California where the soil is conducive to this. Here, the sunshine gives color to the stalks and causes it to be much more fibrous. Chop finely or use a processor if eating fresh in egg, tuna or chicken salad. Wrap to store in the refrigerator. Like many members, you just might find that fresh celery is a favorite!

Swiss Chard – organic

Sweet Corn – organic

Oregano & Thyme – organic

Green Onions – organic

Green Bell Pepper – organic

Summer Squash

Tomatoes – organic
Your shares have included red slicing tomatoes (both heirloom and hybrid) along with black, pink, striped, and gold heirloom tomatoes. They are known to be uglier, tastier, more sweet due to less acid, ripen quickly, have thinner skins, are prone to cracking and can make the most delicious dishes! To speed up ripening, close tomatoes up in a bag where the natural ethylene will be trapped (you have heard this for peaches). To slow ripening, refrigerate, but know that flavor may be affected by refrigeration.

Recipes to Enjoy

Very Versatile Creole Squash
Our thanks to Chef Lisa for sharing one of her special recipes offered just for this week’s CSA harvest. Lisa has been the Sous Chef at Holly Hill Inn in Midway since Ouita and Chris Michel opened the restaurant. Lisa also has been an Elmwood CSA member since we started the program, and we always enjoy her tasty original recipes!

1 medium onion or large green onions, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
3-4 cloves garlic
4 C peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes
¾ T fresh thyme, chopped
¾ T fresh oregano, chopped
1 ½ tsp Worstershire sauce
hot sauce, as much as desired
salt/black pepper
1 bay leaf, if desired
3-4 C summer squash, chopped

Options: Can include cabbage, eggplant, cooked chicken or sausage, blanched kohlrabi; any combination of favorite vegetables or meats.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, sauté onion until it turns translucent. Add celery and pepper and cook until soft. Add garlic, tomatoes, herbs, and sauces. Add squash or any other optional items.

Cook 15 minutes. Serve.

Black Bean and Chard Enchiladas
Our thanks to a CSA member who adapted this recipe from one found in Weight Watchers magazine. She says it is pretty spicy as written, but can be made milder by using another cheese, reducing or eliminating the cumin, and choosing a milder salsa.

3 C chard (about ½ pound or 1 bunch)
¼ C chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 C black beans
½ C pepper jack cheese, grated
1 tsp ground cumin, or to taste
8 corn tortillas
¾ jar salsa verde, or your favorite salsa

Wash chard, trim stems, and cut into ribbons. Place in skillet over medium heat and wilt with water clinging to leaves. When wilted, remove to plate and set aside.

Spray pan with cooking spray or coat with a little oil. Add onions and garlic to pan and cook until softened. If desired, dice chard stems and add to pan with onions; this adds a little extra crunch and nutrition, and eliminates waste. Stir in beans, cumin, half of cheese and salt to taste. Remove to plate with chard. Pour salsa in pan and bring to simmer. Dip a tortilla in salsa, turning to coat. Place on another plate or work surface, fill with about 1/8 of chard and bean mixture being careful not to overfill, roll up, and set aside. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Return enchiladas to pan, spoon additional salsa over top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and simmer until cheese melts. Let stand about 5 minutes. Yummy!

Beet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Many Beet Cake recipes can be found online, some use cooked beets, some raw like this one. This recipe originally in New York Times Magazine, adapted from Kathryn “Katzie” Guy-Hamilton at the Breslin.

Cupcakes:

12 ounces butter

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoon salt

4 eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups shredded red or purple beets (in season try yellow for a corn-like flavor)

½ cup orange juice

½ cup toasted chopped hazelnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, spices and sugar on high speed for six minutes until fluffy and pale.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, stopping to scrape down after each egg. Add the vanilla extract.

3. In a separate bowl, stir the orange juice into the shredded beets that have been squeezed of most of their juice. (Save the juice for sorbet, a cocktail, what have you.) Mix until combined, then stir in the nuts. Using a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

4. Scoop into paper-lined cupcake tins, or spray muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray and scoop batter directly into tins.

5. Bake for 20 minutes until brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool before frosting and adorn with toasted hazelnuts. (Toast your nuts slowly at a low temperature for even toasting from inside out.) Makes 12 cupcakes.

Cream-Cheese Frosting:

12 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

8 ounces butter, softened

8 ounces confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest of a quarter orange

1. To keep it smooth and dense, paddle your cream cheese in the bowl of standing mixer on medium speed until smooth.

2. Put the cream cheese in a separate bowl. Add the butter to the mixer and mix on medium speed until smooth. Now add the cream cheese back into the butter, being sure to avoid “whipping” the mixture. Add the confectioner’s sugar, salt, vanilla and orange. Paddle until smooth.

CSA News, Week 12

2011-07-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

What's In a Name?

Often we are asked questions at the farmers market about organic, or what does sustainably grown mean, or what is all-natural? Does grass fed mean no grain was fed, but aren’t weed seeds considered grain? There are many terms in food marketing to describe production principles, sometimes even willful intention to confuse the public and throw the scent off your understanding. So let’s try to clear some of this up.

Organic is owned by the USDA and denotes a strict set of guidelines, that are overseen by a 15 member Board, administered by a certification agency, with third party inspections for verification. This is a thorough and tedious process that involves verification of every input and an audit process. Only producers, stores or products that are certified organic can legally use the word as a descriptor.

Sustainably Grown- This means the farm or processor decides what they consider sustainable and make you think it is almost organic. Who knows?

Natural- USDA allows food products to use this term for meats when nothing was added to the product after it was harvested. There is no oversight about how the animal was raised with regard to antibiotics, genetically modified grains, hormones, or animal welfare issues.

Cage Free, Free Range, Free Roaming are terms for laying hens that are loose in a ‘house’ that often contains thousands if not tens of thousands of birds that share an egg laying box with other hens but never go outside nor have space to exhibit their “chickenness” as Joel Salatin would say.

Pastured Poultry- Layers, broilers or turkeys that have access to pasture and consume plants, insects, and can scratch in the dirt for dusting or can exhibit their chickenness.

Grass Fed- There is an American Grassfed Association that is wrestling with growers and consumers about any grain in the diet. The issue for cattle and sheep is when feeding grain, it changes the pH of the digestive system, therefore altering the fatty acids in the meat in a way that tends to be less healthy for us to consume.

Locally Grown- For large grocery stores this generally means an eight-hour truck drive from the distribution center, not sure about the farm location.

Certified Angus Beef means the animal was all or mostly black and meets a certain meat quality standard. This gives a consistency in the marketplace, but says nothing about how the animals were raised.

“Organic” is the gold standard of truth in labeling for food merchandising. And we are proud to bring it to you weekly.

In Your Share
Items in shares may vary depending on share size and harvest day. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Green Beans – organic
This variety of stringless green bean is good for many different preparation techniques. You only need to break away the stem end, and break into desired length pieces. You can blanch in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, then move into an ice bath to stop the cooking and use in a green bean salad. You can steam or sauté and serve with favorite seasonings. Or, you can cover with water, add an onion, pepper, or ham hock and simmer on the stove for an hour or more. Season well with black pepper. To store for several days, open the plastic bag to the cool air in your fridge.

Blackberries– organic

Sweet Corn -organic
This week’s bicolor white and yellow corn is very flavorful. Some of the ears are short due to such varied weather conditions during pollination.

Garlic - organic

Kale Greens – organic

Green Lettuce – organic

Tomatoes - organic

Okra – organic
Find a pint of okra this week ready to fry. Just slice off the stem, continue cutting into bite-sized pieces, douse in seasoned corn meal, then pan fry in a little oil or your favorite cooking fat. Yummy!

Recipes to Enjoy

Kale and Angel Hair Pasta
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe.

½ box of angel hair pasta, cooked al dente
½ C pasta water, reserved
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion
5 cloves of garlic (yes, you need lots of garlic)
a big bunch of kale (you can use as much or as little as you'd like, depending on your level of comfort with kale, I used all our kale from our share), chopped with the tough stems removed
¼ C or so of dry white wine
1 lemon
Kosher salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
½ C (more or less, to taste) Parmesan cheese (the real stuff please)
3 T butter (it can't be all health and no fun, after all) bacon or sausage (optional, if you have rabid carnivores in the house)

If using bacon or sausage, cook it first. Place to the side on a plate while you complete the dish, and use the same pan to cook the onion. Cook the onion on medium heat in a bit of olive oil [not necessary if you are working off bacon fat or sausage renderings] until translucent. Add the garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Add the kale, squeezing the lemon juice overit. Season with salt, pepper, and a bit of nutmeg. Cook for several minutes, and then add the wine. Allow kale to cook for 5-10 minutes, until it is tender but not mushy. Toss kale mixture with pasta, pasta water, and cheese [and, if using, meat]. Season to taste and serve. Serves 4.

Fresh Tomato Sauce for Pasta
Our thanks to Sue at Wash House Herb Farm in Stamping Ground for sharing one of her culinary secrets.

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped more if you like it
¼ C fresh basil, chopped
¼ C extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, cover and let set for an hour. Do not cook. Serve over hot pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, serves 2.

CSA News, Week 11

2011-07-18T13:45:00.001-07:00

The Wild Life at Elmwood Stock Farm

To produce the fruits, vegetables, and meats for your weekly share, we employ numerous tactics to co-exist with the wonderful world of nature that also call Elmwood Stock Farm home. Some examples will show how we have adapted to their demands while others will show their adaptation to us.

In the still of the night we can hear the chorus of the colony of tree frogs that live in the berry patch, which has the benefit of keeping any stray insect from damaging the plants or berries.

Our rotational grazing and cropping systems have the benefit of fostering nesting sites for small mammals to rear their young. Many of these are vegetarians. Were it not for the diverse grasses and “weeds” in the pastures and fencerows to provide their food, they might try to eat your produce. Each spring, we set out scarecrows (made by CSA members this year at the open farm day) and live traps. When we do catch a groundhog, rabbit, or squirrel, etc., they are humanely transported to safe haven on the other side of Elkhorn Creek. John uses some of the electric net fencing around the sweet corn to keep out the raccoons. If not, you would never get any!

We go to great expense to keep the carnivorous critters out of the poultry. The electric netting repels all ground predators. The wildlife are just like our domesticated animals, they only have to touch it once to be scared enough to never get near it again. We hear coyotes quite often and get a good chuckle when one experiences a hot wire for the first time. It howls, and then the whole pack howls and scampers away.

For us to enjoy the beautiful birds of prey we use netting over the top of small poultry so these raptors seek their meals from other wildlife, not our birds. Did you know the body temperature of vultures is so hot that none of the bacteria can survive which is how they can eat what they do?

The songbirds are glorious enjoyment for us. We hear these insect eating creatures more than we see them. In the winter we often find their nests made from the baling twine, sheep wool, tomato twine and the like. Often while operating equipment in the fields, the barn and tree swallows swoop and dive all around eating the insects stirred up from the equipment like little jet pilots. Each species has its own niche, and the types of insects they consume.

As you can see, we recognize the need to manage crops and livestock to coexist with Mother Nature. Otherwise, we would not be able to enjoy them.

In Your Share

Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Broccoli – organic

Cabbage – organic

Sweet Corn
Find the first ears of the season, a white super sweet variety. The first planting this spring was slowed by the weeks of cold and rain in April-May and looked like miniatures.

Unfortunately nothing was harvestable, so on to patch number 2! Refrigerate unshucked to keep fresh.

Cucumber

Green Lettuce – organic

It is week to week on the lettuces during hot temperatures. Enjoy it while you can.

Bell Pepper - organic

Tomatoes - organic
We are harvesting from a couple of different tomato plantings now, whatever is ripening really, as we have been anticipating the yummy flavorful goodness. Some of the Sungolds are probably ready to eat as the small ones ripen fast, your larger tomatoes may take a day or so – leave out and do not refrigerate for best flavor. All tomatoes this year are certified organic, other than the one early harvested variety: the small red-yellow stripe, Tigerella that we wrote about last week – in the transition to certified organic.

Zucchini

Watermelon – organic

We have a handful of small personal sized watermelons ready – some are red flesh, some are yellow flesh, larger shares have one or the other.

Recipes to Enjoy

Martha Stewart’s Zippy Toppings for Corn on the Cob, each recipe makes enough seasoning for 8 ears of corn, something new to try rather than our favorite of slathering with butter.

Southwest Spice

2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground toasted cumin
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
½ tsp coarse salt

Brush just cooked corn with olive oil, sprinkle with spices.

Lime Zest

1 T finely grated lime zest, from 2 limes
2 tsp coarse salt

Brush just cooked corn corn with olive oil, sprinkle with zest mixture.

Brown Butter Summer Squash “Linguine” recipe from Susie Middleton’s Fast Fresh and Green. Serves 3 to 4.

1 ½ pound yellow squash or green zucchini
2 T unsalted butter
2 T finely chopped almonds or hazelnuts
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp chopped fresh herb, tarragon or parsley
½ lemon

Wash and dry the squash and trim off the ends. Using a julienne peeler, peel the squash lengthwise all the way around, dropping the strips into a bowl. Continue peeling until you reach the seed core. Discard the core and peel the other squash in the same fashion. Toss the squash strips and separate any that are clumping.

In a sauté pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the almonds and swirl the butter around in the pan. Cook the butter until it reaches a nutty brown color (the almonds should be light brown by then), about 2 minutes. The color turns quickly so keep an eye on it – it will be more flavorful if you take it beyond a very light brown, but you don’t want it to turn black.

Immediately add the squash and salt. Toss the squash gently with tongs until lit is well coated with the butter. Continue cooking just until the squash becomes slightly limp, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in half the chopped herbs, and squeeze a little of the lemon over the squash and toss. Taste and add more lemon, if desired. Transfer the squash to a serving dish and garnish with the remaining herbs.

Fish Tacos with Fresh Cabbage, recipe from Simply in Season by Marty Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. Makes 8 small tacos.

¼ C plain yogurt
¼ C mayonnaise

1 ½ T lime juice
¼ tsp each ground cumin, dried oregano, dried dill

Whisk these items together in a small bow to make a sauce. Set aside.

4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground red pepper (optional)

Combine these 3 ingredients together in a small bowl.

1 ½ pounds mild white fish filets, rinsed, patted dry and cut into 1 inch pieces
8 corn tortillas
2 C cabbage, thinly sliced

Dip fish in the spice mixture to lightly coat. Heat 1 T oil in a large fry pan over medium heat. Sauté fish pieces in a single layer until lightly browned, about 1 minute per side for pieces ½ inch thick. Drain on paper towel. Sprinkle with salt.

Warm tortillas in microwave under a damp cloth, or in oven wrapped in foil, to soften. Fold ¼ C cabbage, 1/8 of the fish, and 1 T sauce inside each tortilla and serve with lime.

To grill fish, rather than fry, rub spice mixture over whole fish fillets before grilling.

Simple Roasted Broccoli, From Asparagus to Zucchini

1 head broccoli, large stem and medium stems removed and reserved for another use
1 ½ T olive oil
½ tsp garlic salt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp ground black pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Break broccoli head into medium florets and toss with remaining ingredients. Arrange in single layer on baking sheet. Bake 18-22 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through the cooking time. Remove from oven when broccoli is a deep green color with some darkened spots. Makes 4 servings.

Spicy Cucumber Salad, From Asparagus to Zucchini

2 large cucumbers
1 T white vinegar or rice wine vinegar
2 T sesame oil
½ tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 T sugar
1 hot pepper

Peel the cucumbers, cut lengthwise in two, and scrape out the seeds. Cut cucumbers crosswise into half moons. Whisk the remaining ingredients together and toss with the cucumbers to coat them. You can control how hot the dish becomes by removing the seeds and pulp of the hot pepper, or just use one or two small slices. If you don’t have a hot pepper on hand, use hot red pepper flakes, or a sprinkle of hot pepper sauce. Makes 4 servings.

Week 10, CSA News

2011-07-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

From the Kitchen . . .

One of the most fun AND one of the most challenging aspects of subscribing to a CSA is trying to figure out how to prepare that one item that is new to you. Or, wishing you had a new, easy way to prepare a favorite item.

Elmwood’s own Vanessa Oliver has joined the culinary team at The Wholesome Chef in Lexington to offer a series of cooking classes this summer. One class offered on July 21 by Vanessa is titled: “What is THAT?” Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My CSA Basket. Many of you will recognize Vanessa’s familiar face from the Saturday morning farmers market where she helps all of us to learn to prepare and enjoy those beet greens, kohlrabi, Napa cabbage, Daikon radish and more.

Chef-Owner of The Wholesome Chef, Carolyn Gilles, has put together a wonderful selection of cooking classes featuring healthy and whole-some dishes sourced from locally grown foods. Learn more about Carolyn and her culinary team at TheWholesomeChef.Com or phone (859) 379-2192. You can register for classes online (including Vanessa’s class on loving your CSA) but don’t dally as class sizes are limited.

In Your Share . . .
Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not contain every item listed below.

Broccoli – organic

Swiss Chard - organic

Cucumber

Fresh Garlic – organic
So far this season you have had the green garlic, similar to a green onion, and garlic scapes. We now are harvesting the whole garlic bulbs and included a whole head in your share today. Garlic plants are dug from the ground, tied onto sticks, and hung into the barn to dry. We have not yet cleaned it for you as we will later in the season, so you get the whole head today, a little soil and all. You can store this garlic at room temp-erature or in your pantry and allow drying. It should be flavorful and tender – a nice treat!

Green Lettuce and Salad Mix – organic
This year we are pleased to be able to continue including lettuces in your shares this far along into the hot part of the sea-son. When the air and soil temperatures are too warm, the lettuce seed will not germinate. These were planted a little while back, some have been irrigated, and some benefited from rainfall at just the right time. We try to choose lettuces that are in their prime before the heads start making a flower and the taste becomes bitter. The key to keeping your lettuces and other greens fresh is moving to refrigeration as soon as you can; store in a sealed container in the fridge, and include a paper towel to absorb any excess moisture in-side the container.If you tire of fresh salads, use your greens in a smoothie, and don’t be afraid to add to a stir-fry or pasta dish – watch closely as lettuce will cook quickly!

Swiss Chard – organic
Your Rainbow Swiss Chard will continue to grow well even in hot weather. This makes it available here in KY in the summer when spinach just cannot grow in the heat. It is more like spinach than kale as the leaves will wilt or cook down fast and it will take on the flavors of other foods when prepared together. Enjoy prepared many ways and refrigerate to store.

Tigerella Tomatoes
Find a handful of the small salad tomatoes today, Tigerella variety. Though organically grown, the cropping area of these plants is in the 3-year transition to being Certified Organic, so they are not yet certifiable. Do not refrigerate for best flavor and a little more ripening that may be needed for one or two. Enjoy.

Yellow Squash - organic

Red Beets with Tops – organic

Patty Pan Squash

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Sarah’s Stuffed Squash
We’ve enjoyed this yummy dish a couple of times this season prepared by Elmwood’s farm chef, Sarah. Our thanks to her for feeding all of us at the farm a nutritious and wholesome meal each midday and for sharing this favorite recipe

3-4 yellow squash, cut in half
½ medium onion , peeled and chopped
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and chopped
3-4 small salad tomatoes, chopped
olive oil
1 T fresh chopped or ½ T dried favorite herbs (Sarah uses fresh basil and oregano)
stale bread, processed into crumbs

1. Cut squash in half. Scoop out seeds. Set aside.

2. Cover bottom of sauté or fry pan with olive oil and sauté onions and garlic in oil. Add tomatoes at the end to just heat. Stir in herbs. Add this mixture to bread crumbs. Should be moist. If not moist enough, can add water or broth or wine (Cook’s choice!).

3. Stuff squash and place in baking dish. Cover with foil and cook at 350° for 1 hour. For softer squash, put water in bottom of pan and it will steam squash while it cooks.

Green Smoothie, recipe shared by Vanessa Oliver
1-2 cups greens (start with 1 cup if new to you, can use spinach, beet tops, kale, be creative)
1 frozen banana
1 cup almond milk
1/ 2 tsp maple syrup

Put all ingredients in your blender. Vanessa has also added strawberries, strawberry jam, and blueberries with success!

Green Pastitsio
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing another of her favorites using Swiss chard. The recipe as written can be strong with a minty flavor, so she often substitutes another favorite herb such as fresh basil.

1 pound pasta
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced or chopped
1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped
1 large or 2 medium bundles chard, stemmed and chopped
1/4 cup fresh dill leaves
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
Freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup crumbled feta
1 cup freshly shredded or grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF. Heat the water to a boil for pasta, salt the water, and undercook the pasta by about 2 minutes.

While the water comes to a boil, heat the EVOO in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add the garlic and onions. Soften for a few minutes, then stir in the chard to wilt. Add the dill, mint, parsley and black pepper. Reduce the heat to a simmer and keep the greens warm.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a saucepot over medium to medium-high heat. As soon as the butter melts, add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, to taste. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened.

Drain the pasta and place it back in the hot pot. Stir it together with the greens and feta to combine; taste to adjust the seasoning.

Place the pasta in a casserole dish and top with the béchamel sauce you just made, and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Bake in the oven until bubbly and brown, 20 min-utes, or cool and cover and store for a make-ahead meal.

Pasta with Broccoli and Ginger
We’ve shared this farm favorite recipe before, but had a recent request for a pasta and broccoli dish. This recipe makes use of your entire broccoli head including the stem.

1 bunch broccoli (1 ½ lbs)
1½ cups chicken broth, divided
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1/8 to ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
½ tsp salt
1 lb fusilli, rotelle or radiatore pasta, cooked according to package directions

1. Cut broccoli florets from stem. Trim to small florets.
2. Peel and slice stems. Process sliced stems and ½ cup broth in food processor until very fine.
3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add ginger, garlic, and red pepper. Cook 15 seconds.
5. Stir in pureed broccoli mixture, florets, remaining 1 cup broth and salt.
6. Boil, stirring occasionally, just until broccoli is tender, 5 to 8 minutes.
7. Toss with pasta.

CSA News with a Bang! 4th of July, Week 9

2011-07-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

From the Farm . . .

Let’s take this 4th of July holiday week to look around the farm and give you a crop update. After the agonizing late start, the warm dry spell gave us time to get all the transplants out of the greenhouses and into their blocks of rows in the field. John has developed some good weed control techniques to help the direct seeded crops off to a vigorous start. We were fortunate to receive several good soaking rains in late June. The irrigation water we delivered gave the young plants enough water to establish and grown, but there is nothing like several inches of rain to promote plant growth.

Cecil was able to cut, rake, and roll the first cutting of hay around the farm. That dry spell allowed the alfalfa, clover, and grasses to cure properly before being baled, which will deliver the protein and energy to the cattle and sheep through the winter.

The grass finished beeves and the cowherd are making their third trip in their rotational grazing scheme. Pastures are vibrant and lush for this time of year. With multiple grazings and one clipping, weed pressure seems to be diminishing each year, with a few exceptions of course. We had a good turkey hatch and those of you that pickup here at the farm will see them go out to pasture this week in the new and improved turkey trailer. Eggs are prolific and the broiler chickens quite content with their clover.

John will be running the combine to harvest the “small grains,” i.e. wheat, barley, and oats. These crops not only provide grains for us to cook and eat, but make excellent livestock feed, control weeds by smothering them out, control soil erosion, and return nutrients back to the soil.

The garlic has been dug and is now hanging in the barn to cure. The kids have been looking for berries ripe enough to eat, but most of our black-berry crop should be ready mid to late July. You are seeing new items ready each week including cucumbers, summer squashes, peppers, cabbages, and onions. Tomatoes, green beans, and sweet corn did not ripen by the 4th of July this season, but they are not far off now. We are looking forward to the melons and new potatoes later this month also. Winter squash and pumpkins have been planted, along with several fall items that take a longer growing season.

In Your Share . . .
Items in shares may vary depending on share size and harvest day. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Broccoli - organic
This favorite veggie is a great source of phyto-nutrients that protect against disease and pro-mote health. The leaves and stalk, along with the florets, are packed full of Vits. A and C, beta-carotenes, folates, and even omega 3’s. Steam, sauté, bake, or raw, refrig-erate before preparing.

Cucumber

Daikon Radish – organic
The Japanese Daikon radish is relatively mild in flavor due to its slower growth in cooler times of the year. Daikon is great in a cold salad or slaw and is easily grated. It can be sautéed or steamed on its own, but often is added to soups, stews, or oven-roasted to include in a root veggie mash. Refrigerate.

Kale Greens - organic

Romaine or Butterhead Lettuce - organic

Yellow Onion – organic
These onions over wintered so should be very flavorful. Store in the pantry to let dry, or use within the week.

Green Bell Pepper - organic

Purple Top White Globe Turnips – organic
Store refrigerated until ready to use; oven-roast with sweeter vegetables or try a new recipe below. For other recipes on Elmwood’s blog – enter “turnips” into the search feature at the top to bring up several tasty tried and true options.

Napa Cabbage - organic
Full of antioxidants, Vit. C and carotene, your Napa cabbage can be used in the same manner as the more familiar round head. Pull away the outer leaves used to protect the inner creamy white ribs & leaf. Low in calories and high in folic acid, this cabbage is one of the healthiest of the leafy greens. Can be stored refrigerated several weeks.

Salad Mix - organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Kayla’s Seasonal Stir-Fry
Each workday all the farm crew gathers for a mid-day meal prepared by Elmwood’s farm chef, Sarah, and assistant, Kayla. We all eat the organic bounty of the farm freshly prepared; for some of us it may be the first time trying a kohlrabi or Daikon or turnip, but the farm’s “test kitchen” puts out some delicious and tasty meals and we often find we do like something that we always though we didn’t. It is amazing to find the change when it is prepared a new way.

Below is an easy recipe shared by our assistant farm chef, Kayla. She interchanges all of the chopped veggies depending on what is harvested that day, but always uses onion and some type of fresh greens.

1 to 2 onions, peeled and chopped in smallish pieces
2-3 turnips, peeled and chopped in smallish pieces
1 Daikon radish, chopped in smallish pieces
1-2 bell peppers, seeds and center removed, cut up
1 head broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
1 bunch kale greens, remove stem ends, then slice leaves into thick ribbons

Cover bottom of sauté or fry pan with olive oil and turn up to high. Add onions and let caramelize a few minutes. Turn down to low and add a little salt and pepper. Add in other chopped vegetables (not the kale). Stir around the pan and allow all the vegetables to cook well, about 30 minutes.

Then add the kale greens and let cook down. Once veggies and the kale are cooked, add a small amount of salt and pepper. Add soy sauce or other stir-fry sauce to your liking, stirring around all the veggies. Serve warm.

We’ve been known to enjoy the leftovers stuffed in a tortilla wrap the next day – it makes a healthy cold lunch when you are on the go but still want to eat well.

Greens in Peanut Sauce
Adapted from Marty Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert’s Simply in Season. Can be served as a side dish, or served over polenta as a main course; can substitute curry powder for the spices for a different take altogether.

1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 bunch kale or collard greens, stems cut away, tear into pieces if desired, or can use whole leaves
½ C water
2-3 T chunky peanut butter
1-2 tsp hot water

In a large soup pot with 1T oil, sauté onion and garlic about 2 minutes. Stir in spices and cook 2 minutes more. Add greens and the ½ C water and steam until the greens are soft but not mushy. Avoid overcooking. Stir occasionally to coat greens with the spices.

Meanwhile, combine peanut butter with ½ tsp hot water, and add to greens towards end of cooking time. Serves 4-6.

Herbed Broccoli Sandwich
Another Lind and Hockman-Wert recipe that can be easily adapted to however many people are eating and however much broccoli you have on hand.

2 C broccoli, finely chopped
½ C onion, finely chopped
few dashes each of dried basil, thyme, pepper
½ tsp salt
4-6 slices French bread
¾ C shredded cheese

In large fry pan, sauté broccoli and onion in 2 T oil until broccoli is bright green. Mix in spices.

Top bread with vegetable mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top and broil in oven until cheese melted. Serve immediately.

Farmer’s Cabbage and Mushroom Pie
A rustic, delicious pie from Angelic Organics Kitchen. Use either your Napa cabbage or your small size cabbage from last week if you still have it. Optional to add crispy bacon to top of pie if desired.

2 unbaked 9 inch piecrusts
2 T olive oil
½ C chopped onion (about 1 medium)
1 ½ C chopped mushrooms
1 tsp fresh or ½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp lemon juice
2 C chopped cabbage
4 ounces farmer’s cheese or softened cream cheese
salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced

Place one of the piecrusts into the bottom of a pie pan, making sure to leave at least ½ inch of dough hanging over the edge. Refrigerate both top and bottom crust until you are ready to use.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, thyme, and lemon juice. Add the cabbage; cook until tender 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.

Layer half the cabbage mixture in the piecrust. Add a layer of sliced eggs. Top with remaining cabbage mixture.

Moisten the overhanging edge of piecrust with water. Cover the pie with the top crust, sealing the edges with your fingers. Bake until crust is browned on top, 30 to 40 minutes.

CSA News, Week 8

2011-06-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

Soul of the Soil

Last week we described the geologic weathering of the limestone bedrock and the physical characteristics of the soil here at Elmwood Stock Farm. The biological activity within the soil is the heart of all the production on the farm.

The complex array of microorganisms that colonizes the soil determines the productive capacity of that soil. It is estimated there are 10-15 thousand species of bacteria and 20-25 thousand species of fungi each with their own requirements with respect to pH, temperature, moisture, etc. As these organisms multiply, vast quantities of nutrients are consumed and released back into the soil. Flashback to high school biology of mitochondria and the Krebs cycle. Leaves photosynthesize nutrients to feed the roots and this jungle of life beneath the surface we see.

The mycorrhizal fungi that act as the tollgate for nutrients in and out of the roots depend on the microbes as a reservoir of these nutrients. Our job as farmers is to optimize the diversity and overall capacity of this ecosystem to maximize plant growth.

Much like the diversity we know to live in the rain forests around the world, an equally complex environment lives within the soil. Along with the microbes are nematodes, single cell organisms, insects, and earthworms. Larger, more complex organisms have a higher carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N). The bacteria and fungi have a C:N ratio of 1:1, which is really juicy. When an organism that has a C:N ration of 5:1 consumes bacteria, it must eat five of them to meet its demand for carbon, which leaves 4 units of nitrogen for the mycorrhizae to feed the plant. This is known as the soil food web, which is continually being altered. Different plants have differing nutrient requirements and provide you with diverse nutrition for a balanced diet.

As we manage the fields through cultivation, planting, and crop rotation, every consideration is to culture this activity beneath the surface. It is the essence of being organic farmers, as we would never introduce pesticides, salt or petroleum based fertilizers into this ecosystem, which would compromise the productive capacity of the soil. The more diverse an ecosystem is, the more stable it is. Here at Elmwood, this diversity that is encouraged with a steady mix and rotation of food crops, forage crops and livestock, is the soul of our soil, and we strive to improve it as we produce your fruits, vegetables, meat and eggs.
In Your Share
Items in shares may vary depending on share size and harvest day. Every share may not contain each item listed below.

Red Beets - organic
The rain has helped the early beets to size up nicely this week. Consider oven roasting this week and adding to fresh salads. A popular beet and feta recipe is below.

Green Cabbage– organic
The first cabbage of the season is a new variety that makes a very small head. With the 2 inches of rain in the last 24 hours, many of the heads are starting to split – you may have seen this in tomatoes, melons or other ball-like produce items – the inside grows faster than the outside and splits the outer layer or skin. Cabbage will keep quite awhile for you refrigerated.

Cucumber

Red Leaf Lettuce- organic

English Garden Peas – organic
We did all the work for you on these peas! Well, not the cooking, but you only need to steam, sauté, or boil for just 2-3 minutes – enjoy with salt, pepper, or butter. Refrigerate and use soon.

Yellow Squash and Green Zucchini
Find some tender green zucchini this harvest. You can prepare with the yellow squash, or use on its own. Enjoy raw in dips, grated into salads, steamed, fried, sautéed, stir-fry, baked in casseroles, or try some zucchini bread.

Lacinato Kale – organic
Try the very popular recipe for Kale Chips, easy to find several versions with an internet search.

Baby Leeks – organic

Salad Mix – organic

Recipes to Enjoy

Salad Mix with Beets and Feta
adapted from Rock Spring Farm

Wash, dry, and tear your lettuce ready for salad toppings. Plan ahead to roast beets in advance.

2 tsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbs. olive or nut oil
1 lb roasted red beets
3 cups salad mix
1/4 lb feta cheese, crumbled

Whisk together the vinegar and oil to make vinaigrette. Add salt to taste. Slice the beets thinly and toss with a little bit of the vinaigrette. Combine the greens with the vinaigrette, and arrange over the beet slices. Crumble feta on top.

To Roast Beets:

Scrub beets and trim tops to 1 inch (leaving a little stem prevents the bleeding common with red beets). Place in foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly. Oven roast 350-400 degrees or put on grill for 30 minutes – 1 hour depending on size of beets. Beets are done when can be easily pierced with a fork. Let cool and remove skins.

Coleslaw
Julie Rosso recipe of Silver Palate Cookbooks

3 T apple cider vinegar
1 T plus 1 tsp sugar
3 T sour cream
1 ½ C shredded cabbage
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a mixing bowl, combine the vinegar, sugar and sour cream and mix until smooth. Add the cabbage and toss to coat well. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend before serving.

Red Curry Beef, serves 4
We are bringing back this recipe again after a special request. Our thanks to a CSA membe a couple of years back who shared this versatile and tasty recipe. She reported, “I have found this to be the best way I can use large quantities and wide varieties of greens. Amazingly, our 7 and 10 year-old kids even love it! I have also added other veggies thinly sliced.”

2 T canola oil
1½ T red curry paste
1T soy sauce
1T sugar
1 lb. ground beef
¼ C coconut milk
6 scallions, thinly sliced
5 oz. baby spinach (I also use Swiss chard, turnip greens, other root tops, etc.)
Zest and juice of ½ lime
½ C shredded fresh basil
½ C crushed unsalted peanuts

In skillet over medium heat, combine oil, curry paste, soy sauce & sugar. Cook about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add beef and sauté until cooked through. Stir in coconut milk and reduce to a simmer. Mix in scallions and spinach until just wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in limejuice & zest and basil. Serve over cooked rice, garnished with peanuts, or drain juices and serve in tortillas.

Squash Fritters
recipe from Sue McCoy

3 T vegetable oil, divided
1 egg, beaten
2/3 C milk
½ C self-rising cornmeal
1 C packed grated yellow squash or zucchini
2 T grated onion
2 T sour cream
2 T finely shredded Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
prepared salsa

Combine 2 T oil, egg, milk, cornmeal, squash, onion, sour cream, cheese, cayenne, salt and black pepper; mix well. Add additional milk for a thinner consistency or another tablespoon of cornmeal if batter is too runny.

Heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Spoon ¼ C batter per fritter into skillet. Cook until golden, about 4 minutes on first side and 2 minutes on second side. Repeat, with remaining batter.

Serve with salsa. Serves 4 as an entrée, 8 as a side.

CSA News, Week 7

2011-06-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

Soil: Where it all begins . . .

Let’s explore the ground we grow your food from. The predominant soil at Elmwood is named Maury Silt Loam, which lays over a Karst geologic structure. The properties of each of these formations have unique physical, chemical, and biologic characteristics and are the foundation of our productivity.

Karst topography describes the geologic weathering of the various layers of limestone. Rather than evolve into a series of tributaries, streams, and rivers, the rainwater drained through a series of fractures in the rock layers forming depressions, which drains away the rains into a series of underground streams. Most of our depressions are covered with soil, which we pasture, or crop.

After an exceptionally large rain event a couple of years ago, one of these sink holes suddenly opened up into a 15 foot wide hole over 40 feet deep. Another notable sinkhole is one surrounded by old trees that have a cave opening about 20 feet wide and 6 to 8 feet high.

Our topsoil is described as a silt loam. If you picture a complicated ven diagram with sand, silt, clay at each corner of the triangle, the mixture of these particles changes the deeper you dig with more clay the deeper you go. Clay particles (the smallest) are flat platelets, silt (middle size) is powder like, and sand (the largest) is pebbles. Combined, they create microstructures that allow tiny channels and pockets for water, roots, air and microbes to live. Each of these particles also has unique chemical properties related to ion exchange of plant nutrients like calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and more.

USDA has mapped all the soils in the state with their structural and chemical properties described in detail. This information is used by engineers and farmers in decision-making.

How we manage the plants and tillage practices has a dramatic effect on the organic matter component of soil life. We grow certain cover crops to incorporate into the soil to add vast amounts of organic matter. In general, most plants have an equal amount of root mass that mirrors the shape and struc-ture of the above ground part. When a plant is cut or trimmed, an equal amount of roots die because there is less photosynthesis potential to support all the roots. This root loss helps feed more organic matter into the soil, and forms channels and pockets for air, water, insects, microbes, etc.

As we consider all this in producing your produce, it is fascinating to think about the geologic time it took to be like this. Look closely at the road cuts going down towards the Kentucky River, and see the layers of rock. Some flaky, some solid, cracks that go up and down, layers turned sideways. It all supports one of the keys to growing good food, the soil.

In Your Share . . .
Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not contain every item listed below.

Carrots - organic
Enjoy the first harvest of sweet, crunchy carrots. Use the tops for juicing or making stock.

Swiss Chard– organic
Any thing that you might do with spinach, you can try with Rainbow Swiss Chard.

Cucumber–New this week!

Kohlrabi – organic
You can use the leaves of your kohlrabi as you would kale or collard greens: steam, sauté, juice, use in soups, quiches, wraps, or chop finely for cole slaw. The ball-like kohlrabi itself will keep well for you when refrigerated.

Red Leaf & Red Oakleaf Lettuces - organic

Green Zucchini – New!

Green Garlic – organic
Mustard Greens and either Green Curly Kale or Red Russian

Kale – organic
For optimum health, we are all advised to eat our greens, everyday. Steam, sauté, bake in a casserole or lasagna, blend in a smoothie, finely chop for a salad, add to zucchini bread, make kale chips, and just imagine the possibilities!

English Shell-Out Peas – organic

Shell the green peas out before preparing. Lightly blanch or steam, then enjoy in a cold salad or with your favorite seasoning.

Salad Mix – organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Sweet and Savory Kale Greens

We shared this recipe in a prior season, but had a request for it just last week, so thought we’d include it again as it might just become your favorite too! Our thanks to a CSA member who first shared it with us. You can use most any cooking green, just remember that the more tender chard, beet greens and spinach will cook faster than kale, collard, turnip, kohlrabi or mustard greens.

2 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T Dijon mustard
4 tsp white sugar
1 T cider vinegar
1 ½ C chicken broth
4 C stemmed, torn and rinsed kale
¼ C dried cranberries
salt and pepper to taste
¼ C sliced almonds

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard, sugar, vinegar, and chicken stock, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the kale, cover, and cook 5 minutes until wilted. Stir in the dried cranberries, and continue boiling, uncovered, until the liquid has reduced by about half, and the cranberries have softened, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with sliced almonds before serving.

Zucchini-Lettuce Salad

2 cups shredded lettuce
½ cup shredded zucchini
½ cup sliced ripe olives
1/3 cup chopped red onion
½ cup Italian salad dressing
¼ cup shredded Parmesan

Combine veggies. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with cheese. Makes 4 servings.

Swiss Chard Bruschetta

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz Swiss chard, coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)
2 Tbsp water
Salt and pepper
6 slices French bread, cut diagonally ¾-inch thick
2 oz. garlic-and-herb feta cheese (used Asia go)

In small bowl, combine 1 Tbsp oil and vinegar. Set aside.

In large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp oil and stir fry chard over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add water and cook 2 minutes more. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

To serve, divide chard among pieces of toast. Drizzle with oil-and-vinegar mixture. Top with arugula and cheese. Toast under broiler in oven until cheese melted. Serve immediately. Makes 6 side-dish servings.

Greens and Goat Cheese Scramble
This and the following recipe are both from Bert Greene.

6 eggs
¼ C heavy or whipping cream
2 T butter
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled or chopped
½ C fresh greens, chopped in ribbons, stems removed
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Beat the eggs with the cream.

Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet over low heat. Pour in the eggs and cook, uncovered, whisking frequently, until they are velvety, about 25 minutes. Eggs can be removed from the heat to hold, or to keep from cooking too quickly. Stir in the cheese and greens. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Serves 2 to 3 for brunch.

Green Quills
At the farm, we have made a similar version of this recipe for years, preparing the stems of chard first then adding the leaves when Bert adds the fresh herb. To prepare leaves, roll them cigar-like and cut in ½ inch section, resulting in ribbons. It is nice to offer you his more complete recipe to follow.

3 T unsalted butter
2 shallots or green onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound stems from fresh greens (best is Swiss Chard, but any stems you remove from greens can be used – cut into pieces ½ inch wide and no more than 2 inches long)
½ C chicken or vegetable stock
3 T chopped fresh parsley or favorite fresh herb
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in the shallots; cook 1 minute. Stir in the garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the chard stems, tossing well to coat with the mixture. Stir in the broth. Cook, covered, until tender, 15 minutes.

Remove the cover and raise the heat. Stir in the fresh herb. Cook over medium heat, tossing constantly until all the excel liquid has evaporated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4 as a side dish.

Week 6, CSA

2011-06-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Water: Too much – not enough – just right

Remember the record setting rainfall in April? It was not only the most, but fell over so many days, our soil did not dry out enough to “work” (we wrote about this in an earlier newsletter). However, no one at Elmwood Stock Farm said “I wish it would quit,” because we know that once it stops, it might be for a really long time.

We are blessed with a farm that has Maury silt loam soil. It possesses many quality traits, one of which is that it is moderately well drained. This means the structure of sand, silt, and clay particles combined with the soil food web of microbes and insects, provides a series of channels and cavities to hold water as well as roots but drains away excess water rather quickly. The root hairs have a symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi partnership that captures nutrients from the soil and sends them into the roots to be carried up to the leaves and fruit with the water. Though manipulating the soil under wet conditions disrupts this structure and microbial activity, soils high in organic matter can tolerate a little wet handling and even foot traffic. Now that it has dried out, that same organic matter in the soil is holding water for the root hairs to capture as we irrigate.

When planning what crops go in which fields, there is usually no need to plan on irrigation for fast maturing spring vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and peas because spring rains are enough to provide all their needs. However, this year, many of these plants went out after the five-week deluge, and the only water they have had is from our pump, filters and pipe system utilizing either Elkhorn Creek or the municipal water we purchase. We use a trickle irrigation tape under four foot mulch strips for the mid summer crops. We have a hose and overhead reel system, called a traveler, for shorter season crops. This device uses its own water pressure to walk itself the length of the field spraying water some 120’ wide swath as it goes. It can get quite tricky managing soil moisture that is optimum for plant growth, yet allowing opportunity to cultivate and harvest your produce.

We are fortunate to have access to Elkhorn Creek and the old mill dams that established the 5-8 foot deep pool of flat water to draw from. The pipes go under the highway through the culverts and we have trenched a main trunk line to feed water to the crop fields well away from the creek. Right now the pumps are running 24 hours daily to water existing crops with highly efficient drip lines and to establish new crops with overhead water to ensure a strong supply of produce to nourish you and your family. This is why we never said, “…Wish it would quit raining.”

In Your Share
Items in share may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Red Beets - organic
The first beets of the season! Remove the roots from the stems and use the greens either raw in a fresh green salad, or cook with your kale. Beets are known to be good for anemia, your heart and circulation. They also contain notable amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium & phosphorus.

Refrigerate for storage; the root will keep for several weeks, the greens should be used within a few days. Recipes can be found on our online web blog, and included here.

Kale Greens Bunch – organic

Kohlrabi – organic
The round, ball-like item with just a few leaves coming out is kohlrabi. It contains a lot of fiber and is high in Vits. A and C. You do want to peel the outer tough skin, then either plan to enjoy raw or cook. Kids, especially, seem to like the raw, sweet kohlrabi sticks – but you can also add to fresh green salads or coleslaw.

Try sautéing in a little butter or olive oil then eating as a side dish topped with black pepper or other seasonings. The kohlrabi has an unexpected sweetness that you really have to try to appreciate! It has a short season and is only available here in the spring and fall.

Green Butterhead and Red Leaf Lettuces - organic

Sugar Snap Peas – organic
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve harvested 2 plantings of peas, and now the third is ready as wellsugar snaps to resemble a shell-out pea, and you can enjoy them either way. Some of the pods are starting to dry from the hot conditions in the field, so you can shell those peas out. For the others, just snap off the stem from each end, and eat the whole pea and pod.

Steam or sauté just a few minutes for the most nutrition and a crispy texture. Find a new recipe included.

Yellow Squash
First of the year – Enjoy!

Garlic Scapes – organic
This will be the last week on the garlic scapes this season. Use this special veggie in any manner you would use garlic cloves, chop finely or use a processor. Store refrigerated for several weeks.

Salad Mix – organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing both of the next two recipes. She adapted from some ideas found online and reports, “The lettuce wraps recipe may seem imposing with such a long list of ingredients, but it came together quickly and really was simple to prepare.”

1 lb ground chicken breast
2 t minced ginger
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 T rice or red wine vinegar
½ c pine nuts or chopped peanuts
2 t Asian chili pepper sauce
2 T minced garlic
8 oz. water chestnuts, finely chopped
1 T soy sauce
1 bunch green onions
¼ c hoisin sauce
2 t sesame oil
Lettuce leaves such as butterhead or Bibb

Cook chicken in large skillet over medium heat, stirring often to break up. Add onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin, ginger, vinegar and chili sauce. Cook until meat is crumbled and brown. Add water chestnuts, pine nuts or peanuts, and green onions. Cook until onions wilt, about 2 minutes. Stir in sesame oil. Cool slightly.

Assemble by scooping a small amount of chicken mixture into a lettuce leaf and rolling leaf around filling burrito style.

Asian Sugar Snap Peas

1 lb. sugar snap peas
¼ C soy sauce
¼ t sesame oil
a few drops Asian chili sauce
½ t packed brown sugar
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 T sesame seeds, toasted

Wash and trim peas. Combine remaining ingredients, except sesame seeds, and toss with peas. Pour mixture onto a foil lined baking sheet and broil 3 minutes, or until peas are tender. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Whole Beet Skillet
Recipe from Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert

4-6 medium or 3 large beets with fresh greens
1-2 T butter
1-2 T lemon juice
1-2 tsp ginger root, peeled and minced
1-2 tsp honey

Cut greens off beets, leaving about 1 inch of greens on beets. Place beets in large saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beets are tender when pricked with fork, 15-30 minutes, depending on size.
While beets are cooking, remove stem from beet greens. Chop stems in 1inch pieces. Chop greens separately.
Drain the cooked beets and rinse with cold water. When beets have cooled enough to handle, slip peels off with fingers. Cut beets in slices.

In saucepan sauté stems in 1-2 T butter until tender. Add greens and sauté until bright green and just tender. Add sliced beets and heat through. Stir in other ingredients and serve immediately. Serves 2-4.

Crock Pot Chicken Broth
Our thanks to a CSA member who shared this recipe, originally her mother’s. Her directions are well suited to those with a busy lifestyle and may be of use to CSA members with an Elmwood chicken share.

Every time I cook an Elmwood chicken, I throw the bones and unused bits, such as the backbone, in a plastic bag in the freezer. At the same time, I also add any leftover veg--that half an onion, pepper, tomato, leek, or parsley that has been languishing in the bottom of the fridge--in another bag. When the bags are full, I pull out my slow cooker, dump the bags out frozen and all), cover with water, and add a bay leaf or two, peppercorns, and a bit of Kosher salt. Flip the switch to high for as long as you want (usually 6-8 hours does the trick), and go about your business. If you are so inclined, skim off any crud that appears on the top, but it isn't the end of the world if you have better things to do. (I usually do.) When the broth is ready, let it cool, strain it (twice, and maybe even a third time for good measure), and put it in plastic containers overnight in the fridge. Skim off any fat the next morning, close tightly, and freeze. You will end up with at least 2 1/2 quarts of stock, or, about $8-10 worth, which, of course, has cost you nothing but your freezer leftovers.

CSA News Week 5

2011-06-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

Animal, Vegetable, Insect??

Just like the animal kingdom, the insect world has herbivores and carnivores. At the farm, we minimize vegetable robbing pest problems by using crop rotation, interplanting species, soil building . . . basic tenets of organic production. Some of your produce is particularly inviting to specific insects, and we use those plants as indicators for activity elsewhere on the farm. Some insects chew, some have a pointy snout to pierce and suck, some lay eggs inside a plant leaf and hatchlings eat their way out. Adults eat little compared to all their babies.

In a healthy organic system, we have less herbivores (predatory insects) to deal with. With a diversified mixture of plant species, along with various stages of plant maturity, the carnivores (beneficial insects) can find their niche in this environment. The insect-eating beneficial creatures also chew, pierce and suck, and lay eggs inside their prey. One of our favorites is a tiny brachonid wasp that lays her eggs one at a time in adult aphids. When the egg hatches, the tiny wasp eats the aphid insides out leaving a dried mummified aphid shell. Another favorite is the green lacewing. She lays her eggs atop a hairlike structure because her babies aggressively eat the first bugs they find, so she hides them from each other.

We know when to expect certain pests on produce throughout the growing season. We are constantly watching for signs of activity, as your vegetables are being grown, harvested and washed. The beneficial insects are also adjusting as the availability of their food source increases and decreases. There are many decisions regarding what is the threshold level of damage to the plants that can be tolerated.

If it appears the pests will overpopulate the ability of the beneficials to restrict damage, certified organic farmers have access to an arsenal of inputs.

* Purchase beneficial insect eggs to equalize the population.

* Pheromone traps to confuse pests, or attract beneficial adults to stimulate mating activity.

* Spray plant or insect based com-pounds that target specific pests at a specific stage of maturity. Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT) is a common example as it only affects a class of loopers, common in broccoli and cabbage, by infecting the looper with a virus that erodes the lining of its stomach after ingestion.

Managing all of this is not only challenging, it is fascinating to watch the balance of nature in action.

In Your Share . . .
Items in shares may vary depending on harvest day and share size. Every share may not have each item listed below.

Butterhead Lettuces and Oak Leaf Lettuce - organic
The butterhead lettuces (both a green and a red variety) are in the same family as Bibb lettuce with very tender leaves. Remember that the more color in your vegetables, the more nutrition in each bite – your red oak leaf is high in potassium and calcium.

Kale, Collards, and Turnip Greens Bunch – organic
Fresh greens are one of the healthiest items in your share this time of year. Kale contains calcium, iron, Vits. A and C, and is said to offer protection from both macular degeneration and colon cancer. Turnip greens, like many others, are high in calcium and Vit. A.

There are many choices for preparation:
(1) the old KY standard recipes of simmering on the back of the stove for a couple of hours seasoning with bacon grease, peppers, or an onion for extra flavor;
(2) steam until wilted and serve sprinkled with vinegar;
(3) sauté with garlic or onion until tender.

With any recipe, remove any thick stems by tearing the stalks out of the leaves. And be sure to cook your greens long enough to ensure they are cooked through and tender.

Sugar Snap Peas – organic
The entire pod and peas inside are edible. Our hot temperatures make this week’s harvest a little sweeter – moisture evaporates resulting in the sugars becoming more concentrated; the peas are more flavorful then earlier when we had lots of rainfall. You are familiar with this already in berries and cantaloupes. To prepare, break any stem end away and any developing string also. This variety is a string less type, but we have learned in hot, dry weather it does try to produce a string along one side that should be removed for a better eating experience.

Steam or sauté/stir fry, and try not to overcook or the texture can become a little mushy. Store refrigerated in a closed container and use fairly soon as they will lose crispness over time. Sugar snap peas can be frozen after blanching.

Spinach – organic

Purple Top White Turnips – organic
Find the first bulb turnips of the season, tender and not very spicy as they get later on with all the heat. You can peel and eat raw (the texture is like an apple) as a snack or sliced with a dip; peel, cube, cover with olive oil and oven-roast at 400° for 30-45 minutes; or boil or steam then enjoy with black pepper and a little butter. Finally, you can enjoy grated on top of a lettuce or spinach salad. Refrigerate and the turnip roots will keep for you up to a month if desired.

Garlic Scapes – organic
A garlic scape is the center stalk of a hard neck garlic plant. Use this special veggie in any manner you would use garlic cloves. Chop finely or use a processor. The flower head is also edible. You can make pesto; chop in salads; or sauté similar to green onions. Store refrigerated or in water in a vase.

Salad Mix – organic

Recipes To Enjoy . . .

Pasta with Lettuce and Peas
Adapted from Mark Bittman

2 T butter
1 lb pasta (shells work well)
1 green garlic or garlic scape, minced
½ C organic broth or dry white wine
2 C fresh or frozen peas (break ends and check for strings if using sugar snaps)
6 - 8 oz lettuce
2 - 3 T bacon bits
1 C grated Parmesan

Cook pasta; drain, reserving some cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper; cook about 1 minute.

Add peas, lettuce, and stock or wine to skillet and cook until peas turn bright green and lettuce is wilted, about 5 minutes (If lettuce is very young and tender, wait to add it until the last minute or so of cooking).

Add pasta to pan and continue cooking and stirring until everything is just heated through, adding extra stock or some reserved cooking liquid if needed to moisten.

Toss with Parmesan cheese, garnish with bacon bits, adjust seasoning to taste and serve.

Summer Vegetable Risotto
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this wonderful recipe, her tips are included within. With these quantities, it can serve 1 as a main or 2 as a side.

¾ C Arborio rice
2¼ C chicken broth
½ C dry white wine
few handfuls of asparagus, the tough parts removed and chopped into small pieces
few handfuls of fresh sugar snap peas
fresh herbs, whatever you have
½ bulb of fennel and some fennel fronds
½ an onion
green garlic
black pepper
a few handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese
2 T butter

Sauté the asparagus and sugar snap peas in the butter for 3-4 minutes until tender but still crisp. (Use less butter or substitute olive oil if you are feeling virtuous. I never am.)
Remove vegetables and set aside.

Heat the broth in another pan until it is simmering--keep at a low simmer while you proceed.

Sauté onion, green garlic, and fennel on medium-high heat until translucent. Add the rice and cook for 3 more minutes. Add the wine and stir until absorbed. Continue to cook the risotto by adding ½ C of the hot broth to the rice and stirring constantly (this is the temperamental part) until absorbed. Continue to add the hot broth; ½ C at a time, in the same manner, until the broth is gone and the rice is cooked. (Start tasting at 15 minutes--depending on your stovetop, the rice could be done at 15, 18, or 21 minutes.) Stir in cheese, black pepper, vegetables, and fresh herbs.

Serve immediately with a crisp Riesling and a simple salad.

Sweet Spicy Turnips
Serves 4, from recipezaar . com

1 T brown sugar
2 tsp butter melted
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 dash ground allspice
3 turnips peeled and each cut into 6 wedges (6 ounces each)
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400° F. Combine first 7 ingredients in a jelly roll pan or shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray, toss to coat. Bake for 35 minutes or until tender, stirring every 10 minutes.

Oh Sunny Day! Week 4, CSA

2011-05-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, we did get the potatoes planted this month. Maybe a little late, but they are starting to poke through the soil and look pretty good.

Old-timer experiential knowledge is to plant your seed potatoes on Good Friday for a nice crop of early new potatoes. As you can imagine, with heavy rains and super wet fields, not a good idea. Even if it was possible to plow a furrow or pull the planter through the field, the cold wet soil would just cause the seed potatoes to rot before they had a chance to grow. Later is definitely better than not at all.

Week 4, CSA, From the Farm . . .

Our current weather indicates that summer is here already! After such a long, cold spring, we are due some drier, warmer days, and many of your vegetable crops are ready. The beans, cucumbers, squashes, melons, corn, potatoes, peppers, and especially tomatoes need sunshine. It seems like we can almost see them growing right before our eyes! The asparagus and spinach are slowing down as we change to a summer-like season. You have several new items this week in your share. As long as the weather cooperates, you will start to see more variety each week as many of the early crops begin to catch up.

In Your Share . . .

Items in your shares may vary depending on share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Asparagus
We are glad to include some asparagus for its final week of harvest.

Herbs: Fresh Tarragon and Oregano – organic
Find a couple of sprigs of fresh herbs to mince and enjoy with your fresh peas. You can also add to a fresh green lettuce or spinach salad, or top an asparagus quiche, sauté, or frittata. Each matches well with the flavor of peas; store in water in a flower vase in the fridge.

Sugar Snap Peas – organic
The entire pod and peas inside are edible and you can enjoy fresh peas many ways:

1) raw,

2) lightly blanch & plunge into an ice bath to stop the cooking and add to salads,

3) steam and add a little butter, or

4) use in a quick stir-fry.

This variety we are harvesting today is a stringless type, so you can eat the whole pod. Only in hot, dry weather does this pea plant produce a string that needs to be removed prior to use.

Salad Mix – organic
Find a mix of several varieties of green and red lettuces. Nothing spicy is in your salad mix today. We have rinsed field dirt off with cool water that also helps to bring down the temperature of the greens - this is a key to keeping things fresher longer. However, you should always wash your produce items before eating as nothing is boxed for you “ready to eat”.
You may find that a salad spinner is a very helpful kitchen gadget to have on hand. Salad dressing tends to slide off of wet lettuce, and excess water in your storage container may contribute to items not storing as long. With care, your lettuces will easily keep fresh a week or more if desired.

Spinach – organic

Supermarkets fool us into thinking that fresh spinach can be grown year round everywhere! This cool weather crop does well in KY during spring and fall, and our many days of cool weather this spring helped the seeds to germinate and plants to thrive. The heat will slow it down, so enjoy it for another week as we see how this favorite holds up into June.

Strawberries – organic

Butterhead Lettuce - organic
The full lettuce heads have not yet sized up, so only the larger shares have an extra head today. Next week, all shares will have plenty of lettuce or salad greens. The green butterhead is a Boston type lettuce, the butterheads are in same family as KY Bibb lettuce.

Red Kale and Green Mustard Bunch – organic
Find a bundle of cooking greens today including the Flat Leafed Red Kale and the Curly Leafed Green Mustard. For a quick sauté or light steaming, tear or cut away any thick stems, otherwise the stems can remain and cook along with the leaves in a simmering recipe. The mustard has a little spiciness while the kale is less strong and a smoother flavor.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Asparagus & Green Garlic Sauté
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe. This is a nice way to use any green garlic still in the refrigerator from last week.

Wash and cut up 2-5 stalks green garlic, sliced finely as far up as you find tender. Prepare 1 bunch of asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces, remove stem ends or peel away outer skin if stem ends are a little tough.

Sauté garlic greens in a little olive oil until golden. Add asparagus and cook over medium heat until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. When tender and ready to eat, sprinkle shredded Parmesan cheese on top. So yummy!

Variation: You can use the same recipe with green beans too!

Parmesan Asparagus Roll-Ups
Recipe from Taste of Home

12 spears fresh asparagus
2 sheets phyllo dough (18” x 14”)
4 tsp olive oil
¼ C grated Parmesan cheese
dash pepper

Cut asparagus into 4 inch lengths. In a large saucepan, bring ½ inch water to a boil. Add asparagus, cover and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and immediately place in ice water to stop cooking. Drain and pat dry.

Stack both sheets of phyllo dough on a work surface. Cut the stack in half lengthwise, then widthwise into thirds. Separate pieces and brush with some of the oil. Sprinkle each with 1 tsp cheese. Place one asparagus spear along one side of each piece of phyllo dough. Sprinkle lightly with pepper; roll up tightly.

Place seam side down on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with oil. Bake at 400° for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy as a snack or appetizer.

Chicken Stir-Fry With Sugar Snap Peas and Spinach

recipe adapted from Simply in Season by Marty Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert

This recipe suggests a pound of chicken cut into cubes. You can use leftovers from your organic Elmwood hen, or substitute turkey, salmon or even tofu. Make your own organic chicken stock or vegetable stock from your green garlic leaves, asparagus ends, kale stems and any other leftover veggies. Add water, seasonings and simmer. When finished, strain, then refrigerate until ready to use.

3 T light soy sauce
2 T brown sugar

1 T sesame oil
1 T sesame seeds
1 T cornstarch
2 tsp ginger root, peeled and minced
1 ½ tsp minced fresh garlic (any green garlic left?)
½ tsp crushed dried chilies (or Tabasco sauce); optional
1 pound boneless chicken, cut into cubes
olive oil
1 C sugar snap peas
1 bunch fresh spinach
12 ounces fettuccine or spaghetti or soba or rice noodles, already cooked

Whisk together first 8 ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

In large fry pan over medium-high heat, sauté chicken in a small amount of olive oil until meat is cooked through. Add peas and spinach to pan. Add soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens, 3 minutes.

Mix in cooked pasta noodles and serve immediately.

Strawberry Bread
recipe adapted from Simply in Season by Marty Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert, makes 1 loaf

1 C flour
½ C whole wheat flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

1 ¼ C strawberries, mashed
¾ C sugar
2/3 C oil
2 eggs

Mix rest of ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir in dry ingredient mix until just combined. (Do not over-mix or your bread will be tough).
Pour into greased 8 inch loaf pan and bake in a preheated over at 350° F until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour.

CSA, Week 3

2011-05-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Spring Lettuces alongside a Buffer Strip

From the Farm . . .

Many of you have been with us for several years, cooking up your weekly box of produce and learning to “eat with the seasons.” After a few seasons, you probably have a fairly good idea of when certain vegetables become ready, how many weeks you can expect to enjoy your favorites like asparagus and strawberries, and more or less the quantity of items to expect in your boxes. Sure, things change slightly from year to year, but generally seasonality is somewhat predictable. Until this season!

Rain, cold, rain, wind, rain, rain, rain. Unless you have been traveling a great deal lately, you are very aware of the record setting rainfall we have had in Central KY this spring. With wet, water-laden soils, we could not plant seeds, nor transplant crops from the greenhouse into the fields. As a result, many spring items are several weeks late, you saw when here at the farm tour.

Running tractors over soupy fields, marching feet up and down the muddy rows, using a hand tool or fingers to push a seed or small plant into wet soil – all of these things result in compacted soil. Such soil will not support microbial or plant life whenever it dries out – in fact, the soil structure would be devastated for the rest of the season. No capillary action, no water-holding capacity, no friability, basically an anaerobic condition.

How, you might ask, would one hurt the soil by working in it when yet? Think about scooping up some wet soil in your hand, compressing it tightly, more or less resulting in a mud ball. As the water is excluded, the ball will hold its form. The water you pushed out was in the place of air normally in soil. The airways found in soil structure are essential in allowing air and moisture, microbial life, and even plant roots to move through the soil. When you compact or compress wet soil, you close up those passageways. Then, when we get a dry or sunny afternoon, compacted soil will dry out quickly resulting in a brick-like situation. Think about making pottery, compress the water out so it dries hard. Not a good farming practice, but it has been known to happen to even the most conscientious grower. If it does, later in the season, when trying to cultivate or plow, you will find yourself “stirring marbles” due to the brick-like particles you created when your soil was too wet to work.

The freeze-thaw cycle of Kentucky winters is the “reset” button to help any mistakes in soil treatment the prior season. Most winters it helps to rejuvenate soil structure.

Another challenge is the lack of sunshine. Most of the time when it is raining, it is not sunny. Any sunny day helps all the plants quite a bit, but the color tones of the greens and lettuces show the low levels of sunshine this season so far.

Some farms have not experienced as much rainfall. Some other CSAs delayed the start of their distribution due to the challenging growing season. Elmwood did not delay, as we did not want you to miss out on any asparagus and strawberries. Many of the transplants are out, spring spinach, lettuce and peas look good, the potatoes were finally planted last week, and the first three of your four successive tomato crops have been transplanted. And, we are weeding as fast as we can!

In Your Share . . .

Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Asparagus

Garlic Greens – organic

Your green garlic can be used in anything calling for garlic cloves, fresh garlic, minced garlic, or dried garlic. Finely chop as far up the stalk as desired, you can even use the roots.

Spinach – organic

This week’s spinach is the first harvest from the new plants. Enjoy raw fresh, use in one of the recipes in this newsletter, add to a quick pasta dish, use in soup, or lightly wilt and eat as a side dish with your favorite seasoning.

Strawberries – organic

Salad Mix – organic
Find a mix of several lettuce varieties, tender and small leaved, ready for a light spring salad. We are happy to see some lettuces growing after being delayed for many weeks.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Spinach Asparagus Frittata
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe. She likes the idea of a frittata as you don’t have to have a piecrust on hand that you do need for quiche. She adapted an online recipe by adding the garlic greens and changing the process slightly. The result speaks for itelf, Wow!

8 eggs room temperature

salt

pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic greens, finely chopped

1 lb asparagus chopped into 1 inch pieces

3 cups baby spinach

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated

Whisk eggs and add in salt and pepper to taste; set aside. Heat olive oil on medium heat in an ovenproof pan. Add in onion and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes. Add in asparagus and cook for additional 5 minutes. Add spinach and sauté until wilted.

Add eggs and stir around until they pull away from the sides of the pan. Add cheese, place pan in oven to broil on low until the eggs are set. Plate immediately and add additional grated Parmesan if desired.

Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes
Adapted from Cooking Light magazine, our thanks to a CSA member for sharing one of her favorite ways to enjoy spring asparagus.

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
2 t olive oil
1 ½ c halved grape tomatoes
½ t jarred fresh garlic OR 1-2 green garlic, minced
2 T balsamic vinegar
¼ t salt
3 T crumbled goat cheese
½ t black pepper

Cook asparagus in boiling water 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and garlic and cook until tomatoes begin to soften, 3 - 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar, cook another 1 - 3 minutes until tomatoes begin to break down and vinegar reduces. Stir in salt. Pour over asparagus and sprinkle with cheese and pepper. Yield: 4 servings

Strawberry Asparagus Salad

Thanks to a friend of the farm for sharing this yummy seasonal recipe she pulled off the web. She adapted with a slightly different dressing, so we’ve included both options for you. As written, makes 4 servings; you can reduce amount of asparagus and berries depending on your share size.

2 C asparagus, cut in pieces and blanched
2 C strawberries, sliced (about 1 pint)

#1 Dressing:

¼ C lemon juice
2 T vegetable oil
2 T honey

#2 Dressing:

2 T balsamic vinegar;
juice from half a lemon
1 T honey
olive oil to taste
black pepper to taste, a lot is good!

Toss the asparagus and strawberries together in a bowl. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients and mix well. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Chill before serving.

Spinach and Chickpeas
This winning recipe is shared by a CSA member

2 15-oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 lb. spinach, washed
1 T olive oil
½ C tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced (use your green garlic)
½ t ground cumin
Pinch red pepper flakes
½ t smoked paprika
1 ½ T red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Wilt spinach in large skillet or saucepan until just tender. Remove to a colander to drain well.

Heat olive oil over medium heat, add garlic and spices, and cook a minute or so until fragrant. Add chickpeas and tomato sauce and cook, stirring, until hot and chickpeas have absorbed the flavors. Season with salt and pepper.

Add spinach and vinegar and cook until hot. If mixture seems too dry, add a little more tomato sauce or water.

Adjust seasonings if necessary and serve tapas-style with crusty bread or toasted pitas. Although good immediately, this dish is best at room temperature after the flavors have had some time to mingle.

Week 2, CSA

2011-05-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Items in the shares may vary depending on your share size and day of harvest. All shares during the week may not have the exact same items.

Asparagus

Heirloom Black Beans – organic
Our organic beans are a farm favorite and we are learning more each year on growing dried beans. Popular in Italian, Mediterrean, Latin American, and Caribbean cuisine, your beans can be used in soups, stews, salads, or wraps and burritoes. You can soak in water overnight – remove any pod, chaf, or debris before cooking.

Garlic Greens – organic
Several recipes are out and about for using the spring garlic greens. Find a new recipe below. Remember that the garlic can be used in anything calling for garlic cloves or anything calling for green onions, you will just have garlic flavor rather than onion flavor. Also you can chop and freeze to use later on in a sauté, soup, or to make green garlic pesto.

Fresh Herb: Sage – organic
The aromatic Sage is one of the most popular fresh-cut herbs. Sage has a long history dating to the Romans. It is associated with immortality and mental sharpness, and even Charlemagne had it grown in his royal gardens for its benefits to the human body.The leaves are chopped and eaten fresh in salads, topping pasta, with meats, or with cheese. Dried it can be used many ways and will be stronger in flavor. Keep refrigerated rolled in a damp paper towel or in a small glass in water, in the fridge if you can. Fry sage leaves lightly in butter and enjoy the resulting butter-sage sauce over pasta. Use when preparing your dried beans this week as a nice complementary flavor.

Over wintered Spinach – organic
Enjoy this tender leaved red-stemmed spinach that does well in cold weather. Once it warms up, we won’t see this variety again until the fall season. Eat raw as salad, use in a soup or sauté, or add to pasta or a pizza.

Strawberries – organic
All shares have strawberries today. These are picked at full ripeness and have nice flavor. Warm temperatures the end of last week pushed many berries to ripen, but two days of cold, wet has slowed them again. We’ll have more as the days warm up.

Radishes – organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Asparagus with Green Garlic
This recipe adapted from original in New York Times – one tip is knowing when you sauté or roast asparagus in hot olive oil, the asparagus will have a much more concentrated flavor than it would if steamed or blanched. Add the garlic to the pan once the asparagus is just about done, so that the garlic cooks only long enough to soften and sweeten.

1-2 small bulb green garlic
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 to 1 ½ pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 2-inch lengths
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 T chopped flat-leaf parsley or favorite herb

Remove any thick skins from each clove, and cut the garlic into thin slices.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy skillet. Add the asparagus and salt to taste. Sauté until the asparagus is tender and the skin has shriveled slightly, about five minutes. Add the garlic, and continue to sauté for another minute until the garlic is translucent. Adjust salt, add the pepper and parsley, and serve. Quantities can be adjusted depending on amount of asparagus on hand. Recipe as is serves 4.

Basic Black Bean Soup
Soak your beans overnight in approximately 4 Cups of water to be ready to prepare

1 C black beans
4 C water for soaking
2 C water

After soaking beans do not discard soaking water, rather put all the beans and soaking water into a pot. Add additional water and simmer gently for one hour. Salt and pepper to taste.

During this time you can add one or any number of these items: diced onion, tomato, garlic greens, spinach, chiles, cilantro, lime juice, ground cumin, carrot, celery, bay leaf, sage or whatever spices you prefer. Serves 4. Stores well refrigerated.

Asparagus, Garlic & Chicken Pasta
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe she served last week. She reports even her teenager liked it! Serve with green salad topped with assorted radishes, finishing with strawberries for dessert!! Perfect!!

3 cups dry penne pasta
1 T olive oil
½ Vidalia onion, thinly sliced wedges
2 garlic greens, thinly sliced whites, some green
½ C chicken broth
1 bunch asparagus
2 chicken breasts, cooked, and thinly sliced
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
black pepper to taste
2 oz. cream cheese, light is fine
2 T. grated Parmesan

Cook penne according to package directions, drain when done. Put 1 T olive oil in large sauté pan, sauté onion, garlic greens, and dried red pepper flakes until softened. Snap tough ends from bottom of asparagus spears. Snap spears into pieces the size of the penne. Add asparagus to sautéed onions. Add a little of the chicken broth to lightly steam asparagus. When the asparagus starts to soften a little, add the chicken and the rest of the chicken broth. Stir in salt, pepper, cream cheese and grated Parmesan. When the cream cheese is melted, stir in drained pasta and mix well. If you didn't have cooked chicken breasts, you could begin by sautéing your chicken breasts in the olive oil until done, placing them
aside to cool for slicing, and continuing with the sautéing of the onion, garlic greens and dried red pepper flakes in the same pan.

New Season! Week 1 CSA Distribution

2011-05-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 2011 season of Elmwood Stock Farm’s Community Supported Agriculture program. Our goal is to provide you clean, tasty, beautiful, special, high quality fresh foods. We hope you enjoy eating fresh from the farm and have fun with the experience of sometimes trying new things!

Our 22-week season is focused on the months of the year that vegetables flourish when grown in Central Kentucky. You start off with asparagus and spring greens; move to hot weather tomatoes, corn, and beans; then wind down in the fall with root crops and winter squashes. This is the normal production cycle. However, this spring the record setting rainfall has delayed production of many spring items.

Crops that were already in the ground when the rains became heavy are what we can harvest: garlic and spinach planted last fall; asparagus that lasts several years once established; strawberries and herbs that will grow out in the spring once planted the year prior. We also have a few dried storage items like corn and beans.

Items we usually start seeing in May such as lettuces, salad mix, and cooking greens were both transplanted and direct sown (again) into the fields during the last 2 weeks when we had a few dry days here and there. Normally these plants are transferred from the greenhouses into the fields 3 to 4 weeks earlier than now!

So, the good news is that we have not had a crop failure, just experiencing delays. You will see the results of delayed planting with later-than-average harvests of greens, broccoli and cabbage, and maybe even tomatoes. We really didn’t want to postpone the start of your season or you would miss out on the asparagus, spinach and strawberries, several of your favorites. As many of you already know, we’ll make up for less diversity now with bountiful baskets in a few weeks as soon as the crops have time to grow!

In Your Share
As always, items in your share may vary depending on share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Asparagus
If you have never had fresh asparagus, you are in for a treat. You will want to remove the rough end that grows right under ground level. Shorter stalks may not have to be trimmed if the ends are tender. Or you may want to lightly peel away the outer skin at the bottom of the stalk. Enjoy boiled, steamed, sautéed, baked, or roasted. To store, put the cut ends in water in a drinking glass or small bowl. Or wrap in a wet paper towel and place inside a container in your refrigerator.

Heirloom White Corn Meal – organic
This heirloom variety of white corn grinds up into a beautiful white meal once the ears are dried and shelled. Store in the freezer as no preserva-tives are added. Find a wonderful recipe below.

Garlic Greens - organic
Resembling a green onion, the delicate green garlic is enjoyed only in the spring before the plant’s energy is put into making a bulb under the ground. Use all of the white and as much of the green you find tender - as you would a green onion – several inches up the stalk. Use in any recipe that calls for garlic: sauté in olive oil, chop in salad or pasta, make pesto, or add to soups.

Over wintered Spinach – organic
Seeds are planted in the fall and we see a little plant growth in Oct to Nov. Often the roots will survive winter to start growing earlier in the spring than any new plantings will. Enjoy spinach salad, or steam lightly. Spinach that has been through the spring frosts will have great flavor.

Fresh Oregano & Thyme – organic
You can use fresh, or hang to dry. Remove the leaves from the stem before chopping.

Radishes – organic
This week’s share includes a harvest of Easter Egg Radishes – pink, red, and white skins. The tops are edible if desired, but most people focus on the bulb. You can enjoy raw grated, sliced into bite-size pieces on a fresh green salad, or added to vinegar and water for quick pickling.

Strawberries – organic
Yeh! Yeh! These do not need much description, just a few the very first harvest (we have not even had any yet!)

Recipes to Enjoy

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

adapted from smittenkitchen.com, Thanks to a CSA member for trying outand sharing this yummy recipe

1 pizza crust of your choice
½ lb. asparagus
¼ c grated Parmesan
½ lb. shredded mozzarella
2 t olive oil
½ t coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to highest temperature. Preheating a pizza stone or pan will help to ensure a crispy crust. Holding a single asparagus spear by its tough end, lay it flat on a cutting board and using a vegetable peeler, create long shavings of asparagus by drawing the peeler from the base to the top of the stalk. Repeat with remaining stalks. Discard tough ends.

Toss peelings with olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Sprinkle pizza dough with Parmesan, then mozzarella. Pile asparagus on top. Bake pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, or until edges are browned, the cheese is bubbly and the asparagus might be lightly charred.

Optional: Add red pepper flakes to asparagus mixture, sprinkle with chopped scallions or your green garlic after baking and/or squeeze a lemon over top. For a quick fix, omit cheeses and top a frozen cheese pizza with asparagus mixture.

Green Garlic Soup
adapted from a James Peterson recipe

1 ½ pounds garlic greens
2 T butter
3 ½ C broth
½ C heavy cream (optional, for creamy soup)
salt and pepper to taste

Cut most of flat leaves away, leaving inch or so of dark
green above the white portion. Cut off roots and discard. Cut into pieces to fit into deep skillet with butter and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

Add stock and bring to simmer over high heat. Turn heat down to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes more. Use hand blender in pan to puree, or carefully puree in blender for 1 minute.

Work through strainer into a clean pot with the back of a ladle. Add cream, if desired, bring to a simmer and season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 4 servings.

Corn Bread Recipe
Our thanks to Jennifer Gleason at Sunflower Sundries for sharing this tasty recipe using freshly ground white cornmeal. She also grows, grinds, and sells an Heirloom variety of cornmeal along with her jams and mustards. You should have enough in your share to make this recipe twice.

Mix together:

1 C organic cornmeal
1 C flour
½ C sugar
3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda

In separate bowl, mix together:

4 eggs, beaten slightly
1 ½ C yogurt or sour cream or buttermilk or cottage cheese (something white, any of these are good)
2 T melted butter (use from the 4 T melted in skillet, see below)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Melt 4 T butter in medium cast iron skillet in oven (use 2 T above and leave 2 T in hot skillet)
3. Mix wet and dry ingredients together briefly, pour into hot skillet with melted butter and bake for 25 min.
4. Check with toothpick to come out clean.

Drip Drop Drip Drop

2011-05-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

CSA Member Farm Tour for today has been Cancelled.

Look for your email with details on the new day. Hopefully sunnier skies will come our way and make for a more pleasant afternoon at the farm next time. Stay warm and dry!

Thinking Spring??

2011-02-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

With the sun shining bright on a cold February day, dare our thoughts turn to spring? At the farm we have finalized the details of the upcoming 2011 CSA Season and are now taking signups. We still offer three vegetable share sizes (mini, regular, and robust) along with egg shares, and beef or poultry shares. Details should be posted on our website soon or contact us right away to have the 2011 CSA signup emailed to you!

Talkin' Turkey

2010-10-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

Our Heritage breed and broad-breasted breed Certified Organic turkeys are sizing up nicely. Elmwood is one of just a few farms in the US that grow heritage breed turkeys that are also Certified Organic, making these holiday turkeys a very special item. We keep the breeding stock hens and toms here year-round and hatch out our own heritage breed poults from the eggs the hens lay.

To reserve your own Certified Organic Elmwood turkey OR receive many more details to make an educated decision, contact the farm by email. Use the Contact Us at Elmwood Stock Farm.

Week 22, Final CSA Distribution for Summer Season

2010-10-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

From the Farm . . .

By establishing a relationship with Elmwood through your commitment to share in its production, you are an extremely important partner in the farm and in your local community food system. Thank you for the work on your part to pick up your share each week, make time to prepare healthy dishes from whole foods, and sharing news about our program with friends and neighbors.

We want to give you our whole-hearted thanks for your commitment to Elmwood Stock Farm this year. Your partnership with the farm allows us to make plans in advance of the season of how much to grow, how much seed to purchase, how many employees to hire, and organize a true business plan for the farm. We will continue to work as hard as we can to grow good food, choose tasty varieties, negotiate chal-lenging weather, and get items to you as clean and fresh as we can!

We survey our CSA membership each season to help us improve our CSA program. Some things we cannot change (like a warmer climate to grow olives or figs in KY), but we always appreciate your time in sharing your comments. A survey is being sent by email this week – if you need a paper copy mailed, please let us know.

In Your Share . . .

Acorn Squash

Bok Choy – organic

Butternut Squash

Celery - organic
We are excited to have the celery ready for harvest this week – its fresh vibrant taste puts to shame the more bland supermarket celery that travels cross-country to reach us in Kentucky. West Coast celery plants are hilled with sandy soil, blanching the stalks white, while local celery is grown without the hilling – it results in a more green and flavorful vegetable. Taste it whpreparing to realize you may not need as much in some recipes to get an excellent flavorful result. It really adds to tuna, egg, or chicken salads when used raw – use the tenderer inner stalks, and save the outer stalks for your cooked recipes, as they are not tender since exposed to sunlight and should be cooked. Oven-roast with meats or braise as a side dish- see Joy of Cooking. Leaves can be chopped for use as a fresh herb – in any recipe using parsley, your celery leaf will work great! Refrigerate and keep for up to two weeks.

Cooking Greens: Curly Kale or Lacinato Black Dinosaur Kale, and / or Turnip Greens – organic
Enjoy your fresh cooking greens prepared one of several methods: steam and top with vinegar, sauté or stir fry in olive oil, or steam to use in a frittata or lasagna. As last week, remove any large stalks by folding the leaf in half, and cutting or stripping out the thick portion of the stalk. Refrigerate.

Butterhead Lettuce – organic
Find a small head of the tender butterhead lettuce, similar to Bibb lettuce. We had hoped to have more for you before the summer season ended, but the days of heat and dryness prevented a bountiful lettuce patch. Wash and refrigerate to enjoy one small salad.

Red Onion and Yellow Onion – organic

Bell Pepper

Hot Banana Peppers - organic

Swiss Chard – organic
The Rainbow Swiss Chard is still yummy this time of the year. Use as you would spinach in quiches, pies, lasagna, for wraps, or in soups. You can also sauté with your onions for a quick and easy side dish.

Garlic - organic

Raspberries – organic

Golden Globe Turnips - organic

Tatsoi – organic
Enjoy this Asian green (with dark green round spoon shaped leaves) either sautéed or steamed. Often the leaves can also be enjoyed in a green salad, similar to spicy arugula greens. Refrigerate to store.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Swiss Chard & Bok Choy in Apricot Sauce with Red Peppers and Cranberries
Thanks to a CSA member for this recipe that uses most any type of fall green.

1 bunch of Swiss chard
1 head of bok choy
2 T of olive oil
1 C of apricot juice
2-3 T dried cranberries
5-6 dried apricots, cut into 1/4” pieces
1/3 of red bell pepper, seeds & white removed, finely diced
½ T of potato starch, dissolved in 2 T of water

Simmer juice with dried fruit in a small pan until reduced by half. Stir in peppers for 30 seconds, then starch; stir for 1 minute; remove from heat. Sauce can be covered and set aside for 30 minutes or more, adding some water or juice if needed to thin.
Wash greens thoroughly. Remove leaves from the stems; roughly chop and set aside. Trim away the base of the stems, then cut stems into ¼” wide pieces; stir-fry stem pieces in a wok with olive oil until soft. Add wet leaves, cover to steam for 3-5 minutes, stirring once. Remove cover, add sauce, mix & reheat thoroughly and serve.

Gingery Butternut Squash Soup from Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert’s Simply In Season

2 onions, chopped
2 T fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 apples, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes, approx. 2 C
4 C chicken or vegetable broth

In a large soup pot, sauté onion and ginger in 1 T oil until onion is translucent. Add other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash and apples are tender. Puree in blender until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley (optional) and serve.

Cider-Glazed Turnips & Apples with Sage & Bacon
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe from Fine Cooking, October 2004: Braising turnips transforms them into translucent, buttery, tender morsels. Be sure to peel them or the turnip will be tough and taste bitter. This dish is a perfect accompaniment to roast lamb or pork. Serves four to six.

1 ½ lb. small purple-top white or golden turnips
4 slices bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
2 T unsalted butter
1 C apple cider
2 tsp granulated sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large firm, sweet apple such as Pink Lady or Braeburn
2 tsp chopped fresh sage

Peel the turnips and cut them in half lengthwise. Cut each half into wedges 1 inch thick at the widest point. Put the bacon pieces in a large skillet and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.

Pour off the bacon fat from the pan and set the pan back on the burner. Add the butter and, when it's melted, add the turnips, apple cider, sugar, and 1-1 ½ tsp salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover the pan with the lid slightly askew, reduce the heat to medium high, and cook at a steady boil, shaking the pan occasionally, until the turnips are just tender but not soft (a pairing knife should enter a turnip with just a little resistance), 8-10 min.

Meanwhile, peel and core the apple and cut it into ½ inch slices. Uncover the pan, add the sliced apples and sage, and continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced to a sticky glaze, 2 to 3 minutes. The turnips should be soft and the apples should be crisp-tender. (If not, add a few tablespoons of water and continue to cook for another 1-2 min. Toss in the cooked bacon and season to taste with black pepper and more salt if necessary.

Week 21, CSA

2010-09-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Items in your share may vary depending on share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Acorn Squash
This hard-shelled winter squash is one of the most recognizable along with being very easy to prepare. Most recipes call for halving, deseeding, and baking the squash until done. Then, you can mash, puree, incorporate into soups, eat the squash directly from the shell – and you can go either sweet or savory with your flavorings.

Bok Choy – organic
We are glad to have more seasonal temperatures the last couple of weeks so that some of the fast growing greens are ready to harvest for you before your summer season ends. Store bok choy refrigerated until ready to prepare. Know that the white stems are as tasty as the leaves and you should eat both parts when preparing. Find a new recipe below.

Cucumber

Eggplant
This week you have most of the ingredients to prepare ratatouille and there are hundreds of different recipes. Find a couple of winners on this site for Roasted Ratatouille Salad and Squash and Sausage Ratatouille.

Greens Mixture: Curly Kale, Lacinato Black Dinosaur Kale, Turnip Greens – organic
We suggest preparing all three of these fresh cooking greens together – either steam and top with vinegar, sauté or stir fry in olive oil, or steam lightly to use in a frittata or lasagna. Remove any large stalks by folding the leaf in half, and cutting or stripping out the thick portion of the stalk. If you are preparing Southern style greens with a longer cooking time, your stalks will cook until tender and you can leave intact. Store refrigerated.

Okra - organic

Yellow Onion – organic

Bell Pepper, Green

Yellow Squash

Green Zucchini

Raspberries - organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Grilled Vegetables with Chipotle Dressing recipe adapted from original in Bon Appetite Magazine

¼ C orange juice
1 T finely chopped canned chipotle chilies, (or more if desiring spicy dish)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/3 C olive oil
3 plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
1 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut length-wise into ¼ inch-thick slices
1 medium-size yellow squash, trimmed, cut lengthwise into ¼ inch-thick slices
1 small eggplant, trimmed, cut lengthwise into ¼ inch-thick slices
1 red or yellow onion, cut into 1/3 inch-thick slices
½ acorn, delicata, or butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/3 inch cubes

Whisk first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Add oil and whisk until well blended. Season dressing with salt and pepper.

Warm grill to medium-high heat. Place all vegetables on 2 large baking sheets. Brush vegetables with ¼ C dressing. Grill vegetables until tender and beginning to brown, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes for tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and onion and 15 minutes for winter squash.

Arrange all grilled vegetables on platter, separating grilled onion slices into rings. Drizzle remaining dressing over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Sesame Red Curry Chicken with Bok Choy & Sweet Coconut Rice
Our thanks to a CSA member for this yummy recipe she shared using bok choy. She bakes in the oven for 2 hours at 325°F rather than using crock pot. Also, you can substitute firm tofu for chicken if desired.

4 C chopped bok choy (one med-large head, I never measure)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper
1/2 C chicken broth (reduced sodium is fine)
1/2 C sake (rice wine)
2 tsp sesame oil
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 T red curry paste
¼ - ½ C sweetened flaked coconut
2 C jasmine rice
2 (14 oz) cans coconut milk (lite is fine, too)
¼ C fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

1. Arrange bok choy and red pepper in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Season chicken breasts all over with salt and pepper and place on top of bok choy and peppers.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together broth, sake, sesame oil, ginger, and curry paste.
4. Pour mixture over chicken.
5. Cook Low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
6. Cook rice in coconut milk.
7. In a small skillet toast coconut flakes, 5-8 minutes.
8. Stir toasted coconut into cooked rice, set aside.

Spoon rice onto a serving platter, or individual bowls, and top with chicken, vegetables and sauce from crock pot. Garnish with cilantro.

Amaranth Stuffed Acorn Squash
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this squash recipe she created the last time shares contained acorn squash. It’s a great way to include more amaranth in our diets!

1 acorn squash
2 T butter
2 T brown sugar
½ C amaranth
1 ½ C water
1 onion
2 ribs celery
2 T agave nectar
¼ C pine nuts
¼ C golden raisins

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Cut the acorn squash in half and remove seeds. Put 1 T butter and brown sugar in each half of the squash and bake until squash is easily pierced with a fork.

While squash is cooking, dice the onion and celery and bring the water to a boil. Add amaranth, onion and celery to boiling water, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until amaranth has absorbed most of the water. Remove from heat.

While amaranth is cooking, toast pine nuts in a skillet over high heat or in the oven. Fold the agave nectar, toasted pine nuts and raisins in the amaranth and stuff into cooked squash. Enjoy.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcake Recipe
from Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook by Audrey Alsterburg & Wanda Urbanowicz. Yields 9 large cupcakes or 20 standard cupcakes.

1 ½ C brown sugar
1/4 C melted butter
3/4 C vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ C buttermilk
2 C grated zucchini
1 C chocolate chips
2 C unbleached flour
1 C cocoa, sifted
½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp allspice
1 ½ tsp cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease large muffin pans and line with muffin cups.
In a medium bowl mix together the sugar, butter and oil. Beat in eggs, one at a time until well incorporated. Stir in vanilla, buttermilk, zucchini and chocolate chips.

In a separate bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients. Add the liquid ingredients and mix until well combined. Spoon batter into large muffin pans. Bake in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack. Don't overcook them or you will lose all the moist goodness - you want them to look almost done in the oven - they will continue to cook for a few minutes after you pull them from the oven from the residual heat. Use favorite icing to top if desired.

CSA, Week 20

2010-09-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Stringless Green Beans – organic
Store refrigerated until ready to prepare, we have one more planting of fresh string beans ready this week. The protein in beans builds body mass, as does the protein in meat, but does not add cholesterol or saturated fat. Beans also strengthen your kidneys and adrenal glands resulting in overall better health.

Cucumber

Fresh Herb, Sage – organic

Yellow Onion – organic

Bell Pepper, Green

Bell Pepper, Italian Sweet – organic
These sweet red or dark brown or green peppers seem to be producing better than their first cousins, the larger red and yellow bell peppers. Use as you would any red bell: sliced fresh, or roasting and removing the skin for the sweet flavor of “roasted red bells.” Can be frozen.

Raspberries – organic

Spaghetti Squash

Yellow Squash or Patty Pan Squash or Green Zucchini

Swiss Chard - organic

Tomato, Heirloom – organic

Okra – organic
Okra can be easily frozen for use later on in soups, gumbo, or even frying. Wash and let dry. Remove only the stem end and either freeze whole pieces, or go ahead and slice into bite sized pieces. Lie out on a baking sheet and let freeze individually, then scoop up frozen pieces and store in a sealed container in your freezer. Only take out the amount you need when ready to prepare.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Sage Roasted Squash
From Asparagus to Zucchini recipe.

4 medium sized yellow squash and/or zucchini
2 T olive oil
2 T chopped fresh sage
1 T minced garlic
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 350°F. Cut squash and zucchini into 1-inch dice, toss with other ingredients, and roast until tender, 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Oven Zucchini Chips
Recipe from Entertaining with Bluegrass Winners, can use yellow squash and/or green zucchini

¼ C fine bread crumbs or panko flakes
½ C fresh Parmesan cheese
3 T milk
¼ tsp seasoned salt
¼ tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 ½ small zucchini or squash, sliced ¼-inch thick

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place milk in shallow bowl, dip zucchini slices in milk; then dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place slices on ovenproof wire rack coated with cooking spray. Place rack on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until browned and crisp. Do not turn. Serve immediately, serves 6.

Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp and Scallions
A tasty recipe found online and shared by a friend of the farm.

1 Spaghetti Squash, halved and seeded
1 cup water
1 Tablespoons butter
4 scallions, chopped or 1 small onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons flour
2 cups milk (not skim)
about 20 frozen cooked shrimp, thawed

Heat oven to 400° F. Pour water into a roasting pan. Place the squash halves, cut side down, into the pan (slightly raised if possible). Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake approximately 45 minutes, until tender. After the squash cools slightly, take a fork and gently scoop out the flesh. It will come out in medium-length strands, resembling spaghetti.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, stirring until fragrant and the butter is lightly browned. Stir the flour into the butter and onions; allow to cook ~30 seconds. Stir milk into the pan. Lower heat to medium. Allow the sauce to boil gently until thickened. The sauce should be thicker than milk, thinner than a cream sauce. Add the thawed shrimp, allow to warm through. Stir the sauce into ~4 cups Spaghetti Squash.

Spaghetti Squash with Butter and Herbs,
another easy recipe found online and shared by a friend of the farm.

1 Spaghetti Squash, halved and seeded
1 cup water
1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) butter
1/2 cup chopped herbs – sage is a nice mix with spaghetti squash, but any favorite soft herb will work
salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Heat oven to 400° F. Pour water into a roasting pan. Place the squash halves, cut side down, into the pan (slightly raised if possible). Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake approximately 45 minutes, until tender. After the squash cools slightly, take a fork and gently scoop out the flesh. It will come out in medium-length strands, resembling spaghetti.

Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat, until lightly browned and nutty. Remove from heat. Add herbs. Stir into Spaghetti Squash. Finish with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Sicilian-Style Roasted Vegetables with Balsamic Syrup
Vegetarian Times, January 2010, serves 8

1 lb green beans, trimmed
1 large bell pepper, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick strips
2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 C balsamic vinegar
1/4 C fresh orange juice
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss green beans and bell pepper strips with oil, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Spread in single layer on baking sheet, and roast 20 to 25 minutes, or until vegetables are crisp-tender and beginning to brown, stirring occasionally.

2. Bring vinegar to a boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer 5 to 7 minutes, or until vinegar is thick and syrupy, stirring occasionally.

3. Toss green bean mixture with orange juice, lemon juice, and orange zest in large bowl. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Transfer to serving dish, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar syrup.

Okra Goulash
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing one of his favorite okra recipes, originally from Mary Robinson of Montevallo, Alabama.

4 slices bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups sliced fresh okra
1 ½ cups corn cut from cob (about 3 ears)
4 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp; remove bacon, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon, and set aside.

Cook onion in drippings over medium heat, stirring constantly, until tender. Add okra, and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add corn and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

CSA News, Week 19

2010-09-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Items in shares may vary depending on share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Butternut Squash
The butternut is one of the most popular and most recognized of all the hard-skinned fall squashes. It will store very well for you (several months) at room temperature and is very versatile in that it can be substituted for most any other winter squash in recipes.

Butternut squash, like other winter squash, boasts 10 times the amount of vitamin A content of its summer squash relations, and is also an excellent source of potassium and fiber. Butternut squash is easy to steam, bake, roast, boil, and mash. Butternut squash is often the real ingredient in canned “pumpkin” pie filling, as it has excellent sweetness and consistency. Add small amounts to breads, muffins, cookies, and pancake batter for seasonal sweetness and color.

Cucumber
A brand new planting of cucumbers is ready to go – thanks to irrigation once again. Refrigerate.

Eggplant

Red Onion and Yellow Onion – organic

Bell Peppers

Jalapeno Hot Peppers – organic
Find a handful of hot jalapeno peppers this week, you may want to use fresh, freeze for later in the year, or slice and add to vinegar for a quick pickle. Capsaicin produces the pungency of hot peppers. This substance is soluble in milk but not water. Most of the intensity of a hot pepper resides in its seeds and inner ribs, so remove these to reduce heat, but retain them in cooking for the full blast. For greatest safety, wear rubber gloves while chopping and handling them. Do not touch eyes, nose, or mouth.

To freeze bell peppers or hot peppers: Wash and dry peppers, cut into bite-size pieces and place in an airtight container or zip-lock freezer bag. Peppers will soften when thawed, so take out only the amount you need and replace the rest in the freezer.

Radishes – organic
This week’s harvest offers some of the fall planted radishes. Several varieties are ready including the Easter Egg (round red, rose, and white) along with the heirloom White Icicle Radish (long tapered white). Refrigerate prior to use; know that you can use the leaves in a stir-fry or mixed with the kale greens; and enjoy the radish root either as a snack, sliced on sandwiches, or in the salad recipe found below.

Raspberries – organic
The fall bearing red raspberries have lowered their production of ripe berries from when we had such hot temperatures. As we shared with you earlier in the year, ripe berries appeared a full month earlier than we normally expect them. So, we may see them ending earlier than usual as well. As you know, they do not store for very long and are one of the most perishable fruits grown – so enjoy quickly. Find a new recipe below.

Yellow Squash or Patty Pan Squash or Green Zucchini

Tomatoes, Heirloom – organic
We are still harvesting a handful of tomatoes several times weekly, but this late in the season most of the plants have succumbed to all the heat and dryness. We find the flavor has intensified, though, and most of the slicing and salad tomatoes still have a wonderful taste. Store at room temperature.

Sweet Basil – organic

Garlic - organic

Kale Greens - organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Angel Hair Pasta with Tomatoes, Garlic, and Basil
adapted from The New York Times

1 lb. angel hair pasta
4-5 tomatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Marinate tomatoes in olive oil, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper for 4-6 hours. Boil angel hair in salted water until al dente. Drain, then toss with tomato mixture and as much Parmesan as desired.

Sautéed Yellow and Green Zucchini
Adapted from a 101.cookbooks dot com recipe. If you decide to double the recipe, divide and cook the zucchini in two pans. If you crowd the squash too much, it steams rather than browns, and loses too much structure, which isn't what you're after.

2 T extra virgin olive oil
5 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
fine grain sea salt
2 medium zucchini, sliced into ¼-inch thick coins
a good handful of dill, chopped
¼ C toasted almond slices

In your largest skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and cook until it starts to take on a hint of color. Stir in the onion and a big pinch of salt, and cook until it starts to soften, a couple minutes. Add the zucchini, stir to get it coated with a bit of oil, and arrange the coins in as much of a single layer as your pan permits. Dial the heat up a bit if needed, add another pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally until the zucchini browns - ten minutes or so. Remove from heat and fold in the dill and almonds before serving. Taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serves 2 - 4.

Fire & Ice
Recipe adapted from Hamilton Hill Inn, a small restaurant that was open in downtown Georgetown during the 1980’s. This recipe works well with whatever items happen to be in season. Gets better if marinated overnight and will keep for several days.

4-5 small or 2-3 medium tomatoes, diced into bite-sized chunks
2 larger cucumbers, peeled & seeded if desired, cut into bite-sized chunks
1-2 onions, diced or sliced thinly
1 pepper, seeded –sliced into bite-sized pieces
handful of radishes –diced into bite-sized pieces

Dressing:
¾ cup vinegar
¼ cup water
1 ½ tsp celery seed
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 T sugar
little dry mustard

Mix dressing together and put in saucepan on stove. Bring to a boil. Prepare veggies and mix together in serving bowl. Pour hot dressing over top, stir, refrigerate, and allow to marinate at least 1 hour.

Berry Bombs
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this wonderful recipe for a special treat. She has used both raspberries and blackberries with success. It is dairy and gluten free because of the type of chips and butter. NOTE: She recommends using a "silpat" sheet which is a silicone like baking pad, great substitute for wax paper, can be used for no stick baking as well- very, heat tolerant and easy to clean. Available online many places.

½ pint raspberries
½ C "tropical source" semi sweet chocolate chips (good foods coop)
1 T Earth Balance margarine (good foods coop)
1 T Grand Marnier (not good foods coop)
3 T water

Put the silpat sheet on a baking sheet. Make separate mounds of berries, about 1 T or more for each mound, on the silpat sheet.

Melt margarine and chocolate chips over low heat in a saucepan, whisk, add liqueur and water. Carefully drizzle by tablespoon over each mound of raspberries.

Refrigerate the bombs on the pan for a while, maybe a few hours or more, until stiff enough to lift off with a spatula, or with your fingers if you are in a hurry.

Megabombs
Variation of Berry Bombs, recipe above.

Before covering berries with chocolate sauce mixture, top each mound of raspberries with about 1 T of unsalted creamy peanut butter (good foods coop).

Week 18, CSA

2010-09-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

From the Farm . . .

Your summer CSA season runs for 22 weeks. After this box, you have four more weeks with your last distribution the week of October 4th. If you are interested in our Fall/Winter CSA season, we have a few shares available and can send you the signup details by email. During the Fall CSA (October, November, and December) we harvest and distribute every-other-week, 5 times over 10 weeks.

Please just contact the farm for more information as we will not be posting our fall season signup online. If you already signed up for fall along with your summer share, we will be contacting you soon to verify pickup location options.

Another option to continue with fall vegetables is to visit us at the Lexington Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.

We are set up outdoors in Cheapside Park through Thanksgiving, then move inside Victorian Square Shoppes on Saturday mornings during the winter. Though our Fall CSA shares will get the first items harvested, whenever we have plenty of product, we will take the extra to the market along with our eggs, beef, and poultry (both chicken and turkey).

Our Heritage breed and broad-breasted breed Certified Organic turkeys are sizing up nicely. Elmwood is one of just a few farms in the US that grow heritage breed turkeys that are also Certified Organic, making these holiday turkeys a very special item. We keep the breeding stock hens and toms here year-round and hatch out our own heritage breed poults from the eggs the hens lay.

Some of the heritage breeds we raise: Bourbon Red (named for Bourbon County, KY and first recognized in 1909), Slate, Royal Palm, and Narragansett are recognized by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) as breeds in danger of extinction.

As ALBC describes, “These breeds are threatened because agriculture has changed. Modern food production now favors the use of a few highly specialized breeds selected for maximum output in a controlled environment. Many traditional livestock breeds have lost popularity and are threatened with extinction.” Of the four breeds we have at Elmwood, two have moved from the “critical” list to either “threatened” or “watch” during the past six years.

As most farms cannot afford the costs and upkeep of keeping heritage breed animals without a supporting source of income to offset the expenses, Slow Food USA is helping to spread the word and promote heritage breed products as a food source. By creating demand for heritage foods, then farms can work to produce and maintain heritage breeds. Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste is described as a “catalogue of over 200 delicious foods in danger of extinction. By promoting and eating Ark products, we help ensure they remain in production and on our plates.”

We do take pre-orders for Elmwood turkeys either in person or though email. They are processed at KY’s small USDA inspected facility outside Bowling Green and will be ready for pickup the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. Just contact the farm (best by email) and we’ll share more details with you on expected available sizes, the differences in taste and appearance dependent on heritage or broad-breasted breeds, and pricing.

In Your Share . . .

Items in shares may vary depending on harvest day and your share size. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Acorn Squash

Stringless Green Beans - organic

Sweet Corn

This planting of sweet corn offers very few ears to harvest – and it is the last planting for the season. High temperatures during pollination and extremely dry growing conditions have resulted in less than desirable ears. But we did make the decision to include some in your shares rather than just let it all go to the birds. You may want to cut from the cob rather than eat roasting ears – it will sweeten when pan fried – or pop into a freezer bag to enjoy this winter.

Okra - organic

Red Onion and Yellow Onion – organic

Sweet Potatoes – organic

This first harvest includes all sizes of potatoes as we dug out one row and distributed them directly into your share boxes. Later on this month, when the vines begin to die back, we’ll dig the entire crop, cure them for several days to harden the skin, and then store for use later on. One of the most nutritious veggies, fresh sweet potatoes are very delicate with tender skins – they develop more sweetness over time, so the longer you keep them, the sweeter they will be. Do not refrigerate, just store at room temperature.

Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic

Swiss Chard – organic

Garlic – organic

Raspberries - organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Okra Fritters
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this new recipe. She also brought a sample for us straight from her kitchen, still warm – YUMMY!

2 C vegetable oil
½ C all-purpose flour
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 C okra, coarsely chopped (can use frozen, sliced)
½ C yellow onion, diced (about ½ small onion)
1 large egg
¼ C butter

In a large, heavy skillet, heat oil over medium. In a medium bowl, combine flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add okra and onion and toss to coat. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and buttermilk. Add to okra mixture and stir just until combined. In two batches, drop batter in 2 tablespoonful mounds into oil. With a small spatula or butter knife, gently flatten each mound and fry until golden, about 4 minutes per side, flipping once (adjust heat if browning too quickly). Drain on paper towels. Season with salt and serve warm. Makes about 10.

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

from Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert’s Simply In Season. You have several ingredients in your share this week and the amounts can adjust depending on how many quesadillas you want to make.

1 ½ C onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1½ tsp each dried basil, marjoram, chili powder
1½ tsp ground cumin (optional)
pinch of ground red pepper to taste
4 C sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
8 tortillas
1 C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Sauté onion and garlic in large fry pan in 1 T oil until translucent. Add herbs and spices and cook another minute. Add sweet potatoes and heat through, frequently stirring to prevent sticking. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread about ½ C filling and 2 T cheese on half of each tortilla, leaving a ½ inch border on the sides. Fold tortilla in half and place on oiled baking sheets. Brush tops with oil and bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees until brown, about 15-20 minutes. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Variation: Use shredded raw sweet potatoes, sautéing with onions and garlic in fry pan until soft.

Thai-Spiced Acorn Squash Soup
Adapted from cookbooks 101 website. Serves 6.

2 acorn squash
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1 teaspoon (or more) red Thai curry paste
water or stock (amount to your preference)
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt (or to taste)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the oven racks in the middle.

Carefully cut each squash into halves and remove any seeds. Slather each piece of squash with butter, sprinkle generously with salt, place on a baking sheet skin sides down, and place in the oven. Roast for about an hour or until the squash is tender throughout.

When the squash are cool enough to handle, scoop it into a large pot over medium high heat. Add the coconut milk and curry paste and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and puree with a hand blender, you should have a very thick base at this point. Now add water a cup at a time pureeing between additions until the soup is the consistency you prefer - a light vegetable stock would work here as well. Bring up to a simmer again and add the salt. (Add more curry paste if you like, but keep in mind that different Thai curry pastes have differing strengths. Start with a teaspoon to start and then build from there until the soup has a level of spiciness and flavor that works for your palette.)

CSA, Week 17

2010-08-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Items in your share may vary depending on harvest day and your share size. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Stringless Green Beans – organic
The next round of beans are ready – it’s amazing what lower temperatures and several inches of overhead-irrigated water can do!

Garlic – organic
You have had both the hard neck garlic and soft neck garlic heads so far this season – today your share includes the soft-neck. If we left the stalk of the garlic plant attached, it can be twisted or braided into the hanging ristras popular as a kitchen decorative item. As you try to tell them apart, know that heads of our soft-neck variety are a little whiter skinned and the shapes of the cloves are less uniform than the hard-neck variety. The soft-neck will store longer for you, but either one keeps for several weeks in your pantry, or at room temperature. Just break off a clove when ready to use.

Fresh Herb Bunch: Oregano and Thyme – organic

Red Onion and Yellow Onion – organic

Bell Pepper

Hot Pepper – organic
Dark green chiles are Jalapenos – Yellow longer peppers are known as Hot Banana or Hungarian Wax Chiles. Store refrigerated and use care when cutting and remov-ing seeds from hot peppers – wearing gloves is recommended.

Raspberries – organic

Spaghetti Squash
Like any of the hard-shelled fall or winter squashes, the spaghetti squash will store for you at room temperature for several weeks. The idea of “winter squash” is that it stores into the winter months allowing you to have a fresh vegetable at a time of year when we are prevented from growing squashes due to frigid weather.
There are many recipes online using squashes, but you can always bake, steam, or roast and serve topped with your favorite seasonings.

Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic

Small Green Cabbage – organic

Lacinato / Dinosaur Kale Greens – organic

Okra - organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Cabbage Latkes
Recipe from The Washington Post and adapted from original in Nechama Cohen’s Enlitened Kosher Cooking. The author suggests accompaniments of sour cream and applesauce. Recipe makes 12 pancakes, enough for 4 side-dish servings and can be doubled easily.

2 cups thinly shredded cabbage
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 small onion or 1 scallion, finely chopped
1 ½ T whole-wheat flour
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ T cooking oil, or more as needed

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the cabbage in a large bowl. Add the eggs, onion and flour, mixing just until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (There will not be much liquid.)

Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray oil. Add 1 T oil and heat over medium-high heat. Working in batches of 4 to 6 at a time, drop enough mixture (about 2 T) to form pancakes that are 1 ½ inches wide into the hot oil. Cook the latkes for 3 to 4 minutes, being careful not to move them around until a nice bottom crust has formed. Turn over and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until browned and crisp.

Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. Wipe out the skillet between batches and add oil as needed for the remaining latkes. Serve warm.

Moldavian Stuffed Chiles
This unusual take on stuffed bell peppers comes from The Whole Chile Pepper Book by Dave DeWitt and Nancy Gerlach. We varied the vegetable ingredients when testing to use fresh items we had on hand, and pulled some peas from the freezer. Serves 4 as a vegetarian entrée.

3 yellow wax chiles, stems and seeds removed, chopped (USE CARE when handling membrane and seeds of hot peppers, rubber gloves are recommended)
4 bell peppers, tops cut off, seeds removed
1 large onion, chopped
1 C chopped cabbage
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
½ C cauliflower, broken into flowerets
½ C green peas
3 T olive oil
1 C sour cream
1 T chopped dill or favorite herb
1 C grated cheddar cheese

Parboil the bell peppers for 3 minutes. Remove and drain. Sauté the hot wax chiles and the vegetables in the olive oil until soft but still slightly crisp. Stir in the sour cream and fresh herb.

Stuff the peppers with the vegetable mixture, top with grated cheese, and place in a baking dish with a cup of water. Bake for 15 minutes until hot and the cheese has melted.

Tomato Salsa

1 ½ lbs ripe tomato
2-3 fresh jalapeno chilies stemmed
½ small onion
4 cloves garlic
¼ C water
1/3 C cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cider vinegar

Heat broiler. Lay whole tomatoes and jalapenos out on broiler pan and broil for about 6 minutes. Flip over and do other side. May develop char spots. Set aside and cool.

Turn oven down to 425°. Separate onions into rings and place on baking sheet with whole peeled cloves of garlic. Roast in oven until browned and wilted, 15 minutes.

Place tomatoes, chiles, and onions in a food processor and pulse several times. Add cilantro, salt, and vinegar and pulse to right consistency.

Red Tomato Rice

Vegetable oil
2 C rice
2 C Tomato salsa (see above recipe)
1 ½ C chicken broth
1 tsp salt
½ C cilantro

Heat oil to medium-high and add rice. Cook until it starts to brown. Add salsa and stir one minute. Add broth and salt. Bring to a boil, turn down to low and cover tightly. Cook for about 25 minutes. Let stand off heat for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve

Heirloom Tomato Salad on Grilled Bruschetta
Our thanks to a friend of the farm for sharing this Bobby Flay recipe.

2 pounds assorted heirloom tomatoes, diced
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 T red wine vinegar
¼ C plus 2 T extra virgin olive oil
½ C packed basil leaves, thinly sliced or ¼ C oregano or thyme leaves, minced
salt and fresh black pepper
4 ½-inch thick slices ciabatta bread

Put the tomatoes, onion, garlic, vinegar ¼ C of olive oil and the fresh herb in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

Heat a grill pan over high heat (or a grill to high). Grill the bread on each side until slightly charred, about 30 seconds per side. Remove from the grill and brush the tops with the remaining 2 T of olive oil. Mound the bread with the tomato mixture and some of the juices and serve immediately.

Week 16, CSA News

2010-08-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

From the Farm . . .

It has come to our attention that we would be remiss to not give you a report on the current growing conditions at Elmwood. With such scattered pop-up showers and storms over the past month, we realize that many of you may not know of the exceptional dryness we have been experiencing at the farm along with the high temperatures. From speaking each week with other farmers at the farmers market, we are surprised to learn of some areas of the region (and even our own county) not lacking in rain-fall and in fact, hoping that they don’t get anymore rain soon.

Unfortunately, we received only six-tenths of an inch when others got inches during the past 2 weeks, and this past Saturday morning when it rained on our market booth 3 times, the farm received only one brief shower-just enough to dampen the dust.

Some of your crops are irrigated from the day they are transplanted with a drip irrigation system that utilizes less water by trickling it directly to the plants’ roots underneath mulch that prevents the water from evaporating.

Other crops like potatoes, beets, radishes, and corn are being irrigated with our overhead traveling circular water gun – it is more mobile and less permanent that the drip under mulch system – and it can water crops that are planted in dirt as it moves down the rows next to the crop, but it uses more water – so we have it available to use if needed like now, but some years won’t need to, like last season.

Unlike recent dry years (2007 and 2008), this season’s super high temperatures create undue stress on plants as they try to pull more water through their roots to stay cool. Just like people, the plants will feel the high temperatures and begin to “wilt.” In fact, one problem for many growers across the area is the lack of fruit set on vegetable crops. When it is extremely hot, a plant will either drop its blooms, or not even produce blooms that eventually grow into tomatoes or peppers or pumpkins.

Another concern with high temperatures is the inability to get fall season crop seeds to germinate.

A news report came out this week announcing that the six time winner (and 2-time defending champion) of the largest pumpkin at the Kentucky State Fair would not be able to compete this year. With a goal of besting his 929 ½ pound Grand Prize Champion pumpkin of last year, Frank Mudd’s entry for this year finally succumbed to the high heat and died on the vine at only 430 pounds.

The ideal temperature for growing pumpkins is 85°, but watermelons actually prefer closer to 90 degrees. Frank luckily also had a watermelon vine planted, and took home the KY State Fair grand winner blue ribbon with a 224 ¼ pound watermelon.

In Your Share . . .
Items in the shares may vary depending on share size and harvest day. Every share may not have every item listed below.

Acorn Squash
One of the most popular hard squashes, the acorn stores very well for you – no need to refrigerate.

Eggplant
It is not our plan to give you eggplant three weeks in a row any year of the CSA program. Well, why then this year, you ask? This is one of those times you get to “share in the bounty” as we have an abundance of eggplant and your next round of yellow squash and zucchini is just ready to bloom and not quite ready yet. Also, many of you really enjoy eating it at least once weekly. Our farm chef, Sarah, shares her secret special eggplant recipe (that the farm crew happily eats as a sandwich spread because they don’t realize it is eggplant). You might want to try it.

Lacinato / Dinosaur Kale Greens – organic

Red and Yellow Cipollini Onions – organic
These pungent, deliciously sweet onions should be the stars of a meal. A favorite of chefs every-where, these flat onions will store a little while for you if you need them to. Find a recipe below, or sauté with fresh herbs and 2-3 T butter on low heat for 20 minutes or so until they begin to brown and caramelize.

Raspberries – organic

Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic

Cabbage – organic

Garlic – organic

Okra – organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Sarah’s Special Eggplant Dip

2 eggplant
juice of 2 lemons, squeezed
¾ C Italian breadcrumbs
¼ C extra virgin olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ C feta cheese
handful pecan pieces
2 T minced parsley

Pierce holes in eggplant and broil whole for 1 hour.

When smashed down and done, remove from oven and let cool. Scoop pulp out into bowl.

Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Add enough breadcrumbs to soak up some of the moisture, depending on how liquidy you want your final product.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Serve with favorite bread, pita chips, or crackers. Store refrigerated.

They Won't Know Raspberry Coffee Cake
Our thanks to a CSA member who shared this recipe she likes from the website food.com. She describes it as SUPER delicious and easy – it gets great reviews and 5 stars! And, they won't know it is low fat . . .

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened raspberry (fresh or frozen, if using frozen do not thaw)
1 tablespoon sliced almonds

GLAZE
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon nonfat milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a bowl, combine the flour sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Combine the egg, yogurt, butter, and vanilla: add to dry ingredients just until moistened.

Spoon two-thirds of the batter into an 8-in round baking pan (a pie or cake pan work great for this) coated with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine the brown sugar and raspberries; sprinkle over batter.

Spoon the remaining batter over the top.

Sprinkle with almonds.

Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched and is golden brown.

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

In a small bowl, combine the glaze ingredients and drizzle over coffee cake.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cipollini with Bay Leaf and Golden Raisins
recipe serves 4, from July 2008 issue of Gourmet, can be adapted for other favorite fresh herbs

¼ C golden raisins
1 T sugar
1 T unsalted butter
¾ lb cipollini onions, peeled
1/3 C dry white wine
½ fresh or dried bay leaf

Soak raisins in hot water until ready to use. Cut out a 10 inch round of parchment paper. Heat sugar in center of 10 inch skillet over medium heat until it starts to melt. Cook, tilting skillet occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until golden brown. Stir in butter, then add onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Add wine, bay leaf, ¼ tsp each of salt and pepper, and drained raisins. Reduce heat to low, cover with parchment and lid. Gently simmer, shaking skillet occasionally, until onions are tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove lid and parchment, then simmer, stirring occasionally until liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 3 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Serve warm or at room temperature.

CSA, Week 15

2010-08-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Items in the shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Stringless Green Beans – organic
Your beans are growing fast with all the heat. If you store in the plastic unopened bag, you may see some rusting color appear on the beans with a lack of airf. Sometimes it cooks out and some-times it won’t, but either way it will not affect the flavor or nutrtional benefits of fresh green beans. You only need to snap off the ends – this variety adapts well to a quick saute or blanching for green bean salad.

Eggplant
Eggplant is very low in calories as it is mostly water. It will absorb a lot of oil (if your recipe calls for it) so keep this in mind when considering your preparation. Your eggplant will store well refrigerated, though it prefers the warmest area of your fridge. Use within a week or so, and feel free to peel prior to cooking as most bitterness if found in the skin.

Garlic – organic

Fresh Herb, Sage – organic
Your fresh bundle can be used with the spaghetti squash and a butter or cream sauce. You can hang up to dry; or you can pan fry the sage leaves (see 8/18/08 on Elmwood’s recipe blog); or add to the leek chip recipe below.

Leeks – organic
Related to onions, leeks have a mild flavor and sweeten when cooked. Store refrigerated, they will keep for 2 weeks. Find a soup recipe on the Elmwood blog 8/20/07 and a snack recipe below.

Red Onion and Yellow Onion – organic

Raspberries – organic

Spaghetti Squash
Store this hard skin squash in your pantry until ready to use, as this item will keep for you for weeks. Boil whole; or halve and bake with flesh side down in a little water until done; remove seeds, then enjoy with a little butter, fresh pesto, or your favorite pasta sauce. Find a recipe below.

Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic

Swiss Chard - organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Stuffed Chard
From Elmwood’s farm kitchen, this recipe can use cabbage, kale, or chard leaves, and any of your favorite meats.

15 large chard leaves with stems removed and reserved
2 medium onions, chopped
2 TBS butter
2 C chicken stock
2 TBS lemon juice
1-2 TBS olive oil

Meat Filling
1 ¼ lbs ground beef, veal or turkey
¼ lbs ground pork
1 large clove garlic, chopped
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
¼ C parsley
1 tsp each fresh oregano and thyme
½ tsp Tabasco sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg beaten
¼ C milk

Mix the meat filling ingredients together until well combined and set aside.
Immerse the chard leaves, 4 or 5 at a time, in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes or until limp. Remove and drain. Repeat until all the leaves are done.

Lay chard leaves out flat. Mound several rounded TBS of the meat filling on the center of each leave. Fold sides of leaf over center, and then fold top and bottom down. Roll each leaf into a compact bundle.

Finely chop reserved chard stems. In a large heavy pot, melt 2 TBS butter. Sauté the chopped onions and chard stems about 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Lay chard bundles on top of sautéed vegetables, add chicken stock and sprinkle with lemon juice. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Drizzle 1-2 TBS olive oil over the bundles. Simmer over low heat until filling is done, about 35 minutes. Garnish bundles with fresh lemon slices and fresh yogurt or sour cream.

Spaghetti Squash and Shrimp or Scallops
This recipe was such a hit, we have included it again this season. Our thanks to a CSA member who shared this great recipe last summer! She was thrilled that her whole family really enjoyed this one-dish meal.

1 med. spaghetti squash (about 3 lbs.)
¼ C olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
½ pound shrimp, shelled and cleaned (or scallops)
2 T lemon juice
1 ½ T fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 sm. tomatoes, chopped
1 lg. bunch watercress or ½ bag spinach, washed
¼ C toasted pine nuts (optional)
1 C crumbled Feta or grated Parmesan cheese

Cut squash lengthwise; bake face down on oiled cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until easily pierced by fork. Cool; scoop out insides. Heat oil and sauté garlic. Add shrimp, lemon juice, and spices. Sauté, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and watercress or spinach and cook 1 minute longer until vegetables are wilted. Add pine nuts and cheese and toss with squash. Serve heaped in squash shells or individual casseroles. Makes 2 generous servings.

Fried Eggplant Salad
from Greene on Greens

1 large eggplant or 2 small (about 1 ½ pounds)
salt
½ C olive oil, approximately
1 medium onion, halved, thinly sliced; or green onions
1 large clove garlic, minced
juice of 2 lemons
salt and freshly ground pepper
chopped fresh parsley
lemon wedges

Cut the stem from the eggplant and slice it in half lengthwise. Cut each half into ¼ inch thick slices. Place the slices in a colander, sprinkle them with salt, and let stand 30 minutes. Brush the eggplant with paper towels to remove the salt; pat dry.

Heat 2 T of the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add enough eggplant slices to cover the bottom. Sprinkle lightly with more oil, and sauté until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Continue to sauté the eggplant slices, adding more oil as needed.

Pour off all but 2 tsp of oil from skillet. Add the onion; cook over medium-low heat 1 minute. Add the garlic; cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Place one fourth of the eggplant in the bottom of a deep, narrow serving bowl. Sprinkle with the juice of ½ lemon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Top with one fourth of the onion mixture. Continue to layer, squeezing lemon juice over each successive layer of eggplant, until all ingredients are used up. End with the onion mixture. Chill well. Serve garnished with parsley and lemon wedges. Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Leek Chips
A Mollie Katzen recipe – reminds you of the old fashioned homemade French-fried onions atop the green bean casserole. A great snack!

1 T extra virgin olive oil
2-3 medium sized leeks (1 ½” inch diameter)
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 250°. Line a large baking tray with foil and coat with the oil.
Remove and discard the dark green leaves from the leeks. Slice off about ¼ inch from the root end as well. (You want the white and pale green portions only.) Use a very sharp knife to cut the leeks into ¼ inch slices, then transfer them to a large bowl of cold water. Use your fingers and thumb to separate the slices into rings, then swish the pieces around vigorously to remove any grit that might be tucked in between the layers. With your hands or a large slotted spoon, lift the leek rings out of the water and transfer them to a colander in the sink. Drain thoroughly, then pat dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels.

Distribute the leek rings onto the prepared baking tray and toss to coat with the oil. Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp. Some rings may be ready to remove at 30 minutes, others may take up to 60 minutes or longer – just remove them as they are done.

Transfer the finished chips to a plate, season to taste with a few dashes of salt and pepper and serve at room temperature. Store in a covered container. They will keep for a week or longer, but taste best within a few hours of being made.

CSA News, Week 14

2010-08-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Items may vary in your share depending on share size and your harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.

White Half Runner Green Beans – organic
This most popular of all of the string beans, your half runner beans offer the most “beany” flavor, but come with a price. You do need to remove the string from each bean and then break into bite-sized pieces before cooking. Start by break-ing the end and pulling down the length of the bean until the string is removed at the other end. Repeat the process up the otherside of the bean. Then, when breaking into pieces, remove any string piece that you might have missed the first time. A little time now will result in a delicious result later on. Refrigerate.

Sweet Corn
Though we thought last week was your last corn for a while, we had a few more of the smaller ears available for today. You may recall these are the second ear off of the plant and will not be as long or as full as the earlier harvest. However, you’ve told us you would rather have the small ears than no corn at all! Enjoy this extra surprise in today’s shares.

Eggplant

Sweet Onion – organic

Italian Sweet Pepper – organic
Your cone shaped green pepper is sweet, similar in flavor to a mild red or green bell pepper. Use as you would any sweet pepper, or mix with the hot in making a salsa.

Assorted Hot Peppers – organic
Find just a handful of hot peppers including jalapeno and hot banana. Use caution when cutting, remembering the seeds and interior membrane is the hottest. Refrigerate.

Raspberries – organic

Tomatoes, Heirloom and Slicing - organic

Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic
Today’s shares contain the Garden Peach (light yellow skin with peach-like texture), Black Plum, and the popular Sungold.

Watermelon

Garlic – organic

Leeks - organic

Okra - organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .
For several years we have had someone at the farm in charge of feeding all of us a nutritious home-cooked meal each day at noon. Several people have held this position, and you have seen many of their recipes in your newsletters over the seasons – including the tried and true selections included today!

Tomato Salsa
1 ½ lbs ripe tomato
2-3 fresh jalapeno chilies, stemmed
½ small onion
4 cloves garlic
¼ C water
1/3 C cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cider vinegar

Heat broiler. Lay whole tomatoes and jalapenos out on broiler pan and broil for about 6 minutes. Flip over and do other side. May develop char spots. Set aside and cool.
Turn oven down to 425. Separate onions into rings and place on baking sheet with whole peeled cloves of garlic. Roast in oven until browned and wilted. 15 minutes.
Place in a food processor and pulse to right consistency. Add cilantro, salt, and vinegar.

Fruit Salsa

1 C diced cantaloupe
1C diced watermelon
1 C peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber
4 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
½ C chopped red onion
¼ C fresh lime juice
3 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1-1 ½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper

Stir together in a bowl; cover and chill for 1 hour. Eat on tortilla chips.

Green Bean Salad

1½ lbs green beans
A handful of Sungold tomatoes
1 small sweet or red onion chopped
½ C lemon vinaigrette
Feta cheese

Cook green beans in boiling salted water for about 8 minutes if using snap beans, longer if using half-runner beans – just make sure tender. Drain and plunge into ice water to stop cooking process. Drain and pat dry. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Add chopped onion, tomatoes, vinaigrette and top with feta cheese.

Lemon Vinaigrette
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
3 TBS white wine vinegar
1 TBS Dijon mustard
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
½ C olive oil

Cajun Succotash

Sauté diced onion and minced garlic. Add corn cut off the cob and okra sliced in bite-sized pieces. Finish with diced tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. To freeze, cut all fresh ingredients (except tomatoes) and put in plastic bag. Add tomatoes when ready to cook later.

Eggplant Casserole

1 eggplant, peeled and chopped
4 slices bread, torn
1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, separated
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cover eggplant with water in saucepan. Cook egg-plant in boiling water for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Mash eggplant and set aside.

Combine bread and milk. Let stand 10 minutes.
Cook onion and garlic in butter in a large skillet over
medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until tender. Add eggplant, egg yolks, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into eggplant mixture. Pour into well-greased 1 ½-quart baking dish and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until set. Serve immediately.

Classic Southern-Style Green Beans
This recipe is from Ronni Lundy’s Butter Beans to
Blackberries. In her narrative, she says” I’ll wager
just about anything that slow-cooked is the only
way we’ll be asking for them in heaven, with a pan
of cornbread, a platter of fresh sliced garden –warm
tomatoes, and a chilled bowl of cucumbers and
onions on the side.”

2 pounds beans
water
¼ pound salt pork
salt

Snap beans into pieces about 1 inch long. Discard any with blemishes. Rinse in very cold water and drain. Put beans in a large, heavy pot with a lid, and just cover with water. Add the salt pork, using your hand to bury it down in the beans. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, turn down the heat, and simmer for 1 hour.

After the hour, add salt if needed (depending on how briny the pork is). Half-cover and simmer for another hour or so, until the beans are very tender and saturated with the seasoning, and the water has boiled down to a bit of rich pot likker. These beans are even better warmed up the second day. Don’t let the water boil completely boil away, so add more if needed during your preparation.

Week 13, CSA

2010-08-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

From the Farm . . .

When we first started transitioning from a traditional Kentucky beef cattle and burley tobacco farm to a more diversified farming system in the early 1990’s, farmers markets (specifically Lexington Farmers Market) were busy and thriving with an abundance of truck farmers and a supportive customer base. However, one did not see as much promotion of “Buy Local” in supermarkets and restaurants as we see today. Restaurants imported specialty foods from Europe (like cheese, mushrooms and chocolates) and our groceries promoted convenience over freshness and flavor.

Over the past decade, we have started to see people becoming reacquainted with locally grown foods they may remember eating as a child at the home of a grandparent. Now people are beginning to seek out Kentucky based value-added products (jams, jellies, cheeses, sausages, salsas, and much more) or even learning how to process their own. Issues surrounding food safety and food security give people motivation to get to know their local farmers, purchase a CSA share, seek out certified organic products, and know more about production practices of how their food is grown.

Finally, it seems there is also a resurgence of community as people come together in canning or freezing parties at local church kitchens, organize potluck dinners in their neighborhood with food from their own gardens, or request local farm foods at their wedding and birthday celebrations. The existence of the internet and use of websites and food blogs for people to post or search for favorite recipes has opened up the secrets of food presser-vation and fresh food preparation to all of us. It is not as hard to “Buy Local” as it once was and for this we can all be Kentucky Proud!

Many of you are already aware of many local activities and resources in our Central Kentucky area that focus on this topic. A few that Elmwood feels fortu-nate to be a part of recently are listed here:

Take the Eat Local Challenge during the month of August – you can signup and get helpful information from Good Foods Market and Café in Lexington.

Visit Kentucky Green TV, an internet based television station to learn more on sustainability and visit one or two of the Elmwood farmers.

Local Lexington based web site that promotes, educates, and helps us find all local things to satisfy our taste buds. Enjoy the delicious photos of Savoring Kentucky, along with tried and true recipes, and sometimes some really nice tributes to local farms.

In Your Share . . .
Items in your shares may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Stringless Green Beans – organic

Savoy Cabbage – organic
You may recall that the savory cabbage is a little sweeter than traditional green. It will also store for you very well in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.

Sweet Corn
The last harvest for several weeks – Enjoy!

Garlic – organic
Your garlic head has been air-dried and cured and will store at room temperature.

Yellow Onion – organic

Bell Pepper

Raspberries – organic
Ripening very fast due to the heat, eat these soon!

Tomatoes, Heirloom and Slicing - organic

Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic

Watermelon

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Summer Succotash with Bacon and Garlic Croutons
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe. She reports that it is “TO DIE FOR” and that she used frozen lima beans as fresh are not in season yet. Original recipe was in Gourmet magazine, but this also appeared on the Smitten Kitchen food blog site. Makes 4-6 servings.

1 pound fresh or frozen baby lima beans
1/4 pound bacon (about 4 slices)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 pound cherry tomatoes halved, or other tomatoes chopped
Fresh kernels from 4 ears corn
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
1/4 cup packed small fresh basil leaves (optional)

In a small saucepan of boiling salted water cook shelled beans over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. In a sieve drain beans and rinse under cold running water to stop cooking. Set aside.

In a skillet cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels and crumble. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat from skillet. Add oil to bacon fat in skillet and cook onion over moderate heat, stirring, until just softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, corn, and vinegar and cook, stirring, until tomatoes just begin to lose their shape. Remove skillet from heat and gently stir in cooked beans and half of bacon. Cool succotash to room temperature and gently stir in basil and salt, pepper and additional sherry vinegar to taste. Toss with croutons (below, if using) and sprinkle with remaining bacon before serving.

Garlic Croutons

1 garlic clove, peeled and halved
1 round loaf crusty bread
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt

Cut three 1-inch-thick slices from middle of loaf and brush bread with oil. Lightly oil a well-seasoned ridged grill pan and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Grill bread until golden brown on both sides. Alternately, you can run toasts under the broiler for a minute. Remove from heat and immediately rub bread both sides with cut side of garlic and sprinkle with salt. Cut into cubes and toss into succotash.

Corn Cob Jelly
Though this old-time recipe may seem a bit of a novelty, if you are intent on using “everything” in your share this week, this fits the bill. People say it reminds them of honey.

12 corn cobs, kernels removed
4 cups water
1 box pectin (such as Sure-Jell)
4 cups sugar

Place corn cobs in large pot and add 4 cups water. Bring to boil and cook 10 minutes. Remove cobs and drain liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. You should have 3 cups; if not, add water to equal three cups. Return liquid to pot and add pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil. Add sugar, bring back to boil and boil for one full minute. Skim foam and pour into hot jars (I use half pint size), top with sterile lids and rings.

Tomato and Smoked Mozzarella Pasta
Thanks to a friend of the farm for this tasty, yet simple quick pasta recipe. You can customize by using different colors and varieties of tomatoes; adding cooked chicken or shrimp; and changing the type of cheese, perhaps provolone. Serve immediately.

Penne pasta
4 cups chopped tomatoes
8 oz smoked mozzarella, diced
½ cup chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients except pasta in large bowl. Toss with pasta and serve.

Country Green Beans
recipe from Entertaining with Bluegrass Winners – recipe can be adapted using oil rather than bacon grease and leaving out the bacon

2-3 pounds fresh green beans
3-4 slices uncooked bacon
1 heaping T bacon drippings
1 large onion, chopped
1 heaping T sugar
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Pop off ends of beans and break into bite-sized pieces. Rinse in cold water. Place in large pan with just enough water to cover. Cut bacon into pieces and add to beans with rest of ingredients. Bring beans to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 ½ hours, adding a little water if necessary. Serves 6 to 8, improves as leftovers.

Week 12, CSA

2010-07-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Share items may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not have every item listed below.

Stringless Green Beans – organic
These stringless snap beans, the most popular variety it seems, only need the ends removed, then either use whole or break into bite sized pieces prior to cooking. Refrigerate to store.

Blackberries and / or Raspberries – organic
The berries are very ripe and ready to enjoy. We do our best to harvest them as ripe as possible to ensure the best flavor, but know that we still have to cool them and get them to you safely prior to one or two becoming over ripe. Rinse before eating, store refrigerated.

We should tell you that the red raspberries grown at Elmwood are the fall-bearing varieties. We expect them to begin production late August and continue until frost. This hot year, we see that some berry plants have already begun ripening – not having seen this before, we do not know if the plants will continue the rest of the summer, or stop early since they started early. For now, enjoy and we’ll keep you posted on the production.

Sweet Corn
Yeh! More sweet corn is ready for harvest. This super sweet white variety has been the best tasting so far this season according to the taste testers here at the farm (all self-appointed to this job, of course).

Sweet Onion – organic
You are probably familiar with the name brand of sweet onion, Vidalia, only grown in Georgia. Any farm can grow the same variety, but cannot call them Vidalia unless they are grown in Vidalia County, Georgia (or the surrounding counties) as stipulated by law. Our sweet onions are tasty this season. They have not been “cured” for long time storage, but you probably will not want to refrigerate either unless you have pieces left over after cleaning and slicing.

All-Blue Potatoes – organic
Contrary to popular belief, potatoes are not fattening on their own, it’s the butter and cream. High in Vit. B, potatoes are mostly starch with a little protein, sugars, and random other vitamins and minerals.

Find some All-Blue potatoes with a deep blue skin and the same color flesh inside. They keep the color after cooking, have outstanding flavor, and moist texture. Most popular preparations include baking, boiling, and potato salad. Store refrigerated.

Summer Squash

Tomatoes, Heirloom and Yellow Slicing - organic

Tomatoes, Heirloom Salad – organic
We continue with the small salad tomatoes as our early first crop wanes and the mid-season crop begins to be ready for harvest. We still see Tigerella and Black Plum varieties, along with Chadwick Cherry, Gold Nugget, Green Zebra, and the Peach Tomato. Enjoy whole, halved, chunked in salads, as a snack, or put on a kebab for the grill. Store at room temperature.

Watermelon
Today’s melon is the old fashioned variety of Sugar Baby, an icebox seeded red watermelon. Once you cut into it, refrigerate, but it is not necessary when still whole and uncut. It does live up to its name and seems as sweet as sugar this season.

Specialty Asian Melon
The greenish skin Asian melon is a small variety with a creamish to light greenish color flesh inside. The Asian melons are never as sweet as a traditional Southern canteloupe, but do offer an outstanding eating experience. Try mixing with other melon or berries for a fresh salad. Cut into slices or cubes and refrigerate in a covered container to keep.

Okra - organic
Several of you have been asking for fresh okra this season. Store refrigerated until ready to prepare. You only need to remove the stem, then toss in seasoned corn meal and lightly pan fry in your favorite cooking oil. Eat as a snack or serve as a side vegetable. Okra can also be stewed with corn and tomatoes.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

All-In-One-Pot Using My CSA Share
Our thanks to a CSA member for this recipe she describes as “probably not all that original, but it was easy, forgiving, and used up a lot of my CSA odds and ends. It’s a keeper!”

¼ C chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 C green beans, tip and tailed
2 ears corn, cut into 1" disks
1 lb rope sausage, cut into 1" chunks
3 red potatoes, partially cooked in the microwave and cut lengthwise into wedges

In a small pan, sauté red onion and garlic in a little oil. In your 3-quart Dutch oven, combine green beans, corn, sausage, potatoes and onion/garlic mixture. Pour 1 C water over the mixture and salt/pepper to taste. Cook on medium-low heat for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Serve with homemade bread.

New Potatoes in White Wine
from Bert Greene

1¼ pound small potatoes
4 T unsalted butter
2/3 C dry white wine
3 T chopped fresh parsley (or other favorite herb)
1 T chopped fresh dill
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut away a small strip of peel around each potato with a vegetable peeler to give a candy-striped look. Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until barely tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.

Melt 2 T of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes and roll them in the skillet until a light crust forms, but do not let them brown. Add the wine; raise the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the wine is reduced and the sauce is fairly thick, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, the parsley and the dill. Stir gently to coat the potatoes with the herbs. Serves 4.

Cream of Squash Soup
Our thanks to a CSA member who has shared several successful recipes and this has turned into one of her favorites. This soup could also be made with zucchini or broccoli.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

1½ pounds yellow summer squash
2 T butter
1 medium onion, sliced
¼ lemon, sliced, seeds removed
¼ C flour
6 C chicken, turkey or vegetable broth
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
3 to 4 grinds of fresh nutmeg or dash of ground nutmeg
1 C heavy cream or fat-free half-and-half

Wash and trim squash. Slice, reserving 8 very thin slices for garnish. In a large saucepan, melt butter; gently sauté onion and lemon. Sprinkle with flour and cook slowly, stirring, until flour is absorbed. Add chicken broth gradually, then sliced squash, salt and pepper. Simmer for 1 hour. Puree soup in blender or food processor. Add nutmeg. To heat, stir in cream with a wire whisk and cook over low heat. Do not allow to boil. Garnish cream of squash soup with reserved squash slices. Squash soup serves 4-6.

Melon Smoothie
recipe adapted from Fresh Start by Julee Rosso. Serves 1

¼ fresh melon, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)
2 T plain yogurt
1 T honey
juice of ½ lime
sprig of mint for garnish, if desired

Process all of the ingredients, except the mint, in a blender until smooth. Garnish with the mint sprig and serve immediately.

CSA News, Week 11

2010-07-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

From the Farm . . .

With this being the eleventh week of our harvest and distribution for the summer season, you are halfway through the 22 weeks. Compared to other recent growing seasons, this first half has been as good as one could ask with plenty of sunshine, rainfall, and mostly healthy plants. We are seeing things ripening earlier than ever, plants growing faster then normal due to long hot days. High temperatures during the night increase plant growth as well. Some plants are not setting very many blooms due to the high heat resulting in not enough harvestable fruits (specialty peppers and green beans come to mind).

As is necessary when attempting to grow vegetables, we run irrigation to many of the crops which requires monitoring on the amount of water the plants receive, switching from one block of rows to the next after the appropriate amount of time, cleaning filters, and trying to not let the pipes and water lines get run over with the mower. We have only had to irrigate a couple of fields with the overhead traveling gun irrigator in order to get seeds to germinate on some of your later season root crops; we are seeding some of the fall crops in the greenhouse as transplants are a better way to ensure plant viability and establishment - just much more time consuming and costly to produce than direct seeding. But, we can get a head start on the weeds and a larger plant can better protect itself against strong predatory insect populations or wind-blown plant diseases that are both prevalent this time of the summer.

Everyone is putting in long days right now with all of the harvesting and a little planting and weeding. We are well fed at noon each day, and we appreciate knowing that the items we grow are being eaten and enjoyed by lots of you – thank you for your feedback in the email comments and conversations from time to time at the farmers markets.

NOTE: If you are interested in a box of “canning” tomatoes to can, make salsa, put into the freezer, tomato juice, etc. please let us know soon. We have the #2 tomatoes with nicks, cracks, and a spot here or there that we can make ready for you. You will want to get them right before you are ready to process, so call or email and we can set you up.

In Your Share . . .
Items in the shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Blackberries – organic
The berries are very ripe and ready to enjoy either with your breakfast, for a snack, or possibly in a cobbler tonight! Store refrigerated and rinse prior to eating.

To freeze, wash and let dry on a paper towel. Lay out on a baking sheet and put the entire pan in your freezer. Once the berries are frozen, gather them up into a container or bag – later on you can remove only the amount you need as they are individually frozen rather than in one mass.

Cauliflower - organic
The last few heads of the season, remove the outer leaves, obviously sunburned by the hot temperatures. Refrigerate until ready to use, and as we told you before – the creamy color is from sunshine and high heat, fall cauliflower will be whiter when the days and nights are cooler.

Sweet Corn

Cucumber

Eggplant

Melon
We have several varieties of melons planted, and they seem to be ripening a little at a time. Today’s harvest includes Pixie, Sugar Baby, and Napoli – some similar to canteloupes others are water melons. Flavor is tasty, but not as sweet as a really dry year (the wonderful rainfall over the past week directly affects melon sweetness).

Red Onion - organic

Green Bell Pepper

Raspberries – organic
Store refrigerated and rinse prior to eating. We should tell you that the red raspberries grown at Elmwood are the fall-bearing varieties. We expect them to begin production late August and continue until frost. This hot year, we see that some berry plants have already begun ripening – not having seen this before, we do not know if the plants will continue the rest of the summer, or stop early since they started early. For now, enjoy and we’ll keep you posted on production.

Retono de Repollo – organic
A new item this year, you can prepare as you might Brussel Sprouts or cooked cabbage. These baby cabbage heads are tender and sweet – find a recipe below.

Tomatoes, Red Slicing - organic
We really sorted through our red tomatoes to try to only include good ones in the shares. With the early blight set into the plants, the leaves have shriveled up resulting in more of the tomatoes being exposed to the sun. This causes sunburn and uneven ripening, both of which result in tomatoes with yellowng, or that will be whitish and unripe inside. We tried to cull those out during our harvest, and find that most of the better quality tomatoes are just not super ripe and ready to eat today. We did inlcude those as they will be really nice tomatoes, but be sure to let them ripen out at room temperature for a day or two prior to use. Try to not ever store your tomatoes in the refrigerator if possible.

Tomatoes, Heirloom – organic
Your share includes some more of the small salad varieties: Tigrella and BlackPlum. Also find some of the sweetest tomatoes on the farm – Sungold. And one or two of the large heirloom slicing tomatoes – varieties right now include Cherokee Purple, Pink Rose, or Arkansas Traveler. These are all quite fragile and will ripen up for you. In general they have less acidity than red tomatoes, wonderful flavor, and often will become your favorite for just slicing and eating.

Stringless Green Beans
We have a handful ready today though many of the beans are still flowering and just producing tiny little beans, another week or so before the full bean set is ready to harvest. These stringless snap beans only need the ends removed, then either use whole or break into bite sized pieces prior to cooking. Refrigerate to store.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Summer Panzanella
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing one of her favorite summer recipes. Found on Smittenkitchen dot com, she says, “I leave out the capers, I like the beer bread from Liquor Barn, and I usually use apple cider vinegar instead of champagne vinegar. It’s really good!”

3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (I like to use a combination of purple or yellow or orange, to nicely colorize the dish)
1/2 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained

For the vinaigrette :
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1/3 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.

2. For the vinaigrette, whisk together the ingredients.

3. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper.

4. Serve immediately, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

Green Bean Pate’

½ lb fresh green beans, trimmed
1 T oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 hard boiled eggs
3 TBS finely chopped basil
1 tsp lemon rind
Mayonnaise
Seasoned salt and pepper

Cook beans until tender by boiling or steaming them. In skillet, heat oil. Add onion and sauté until softened. Cool.

In a food processor grind green beans, eggs, onions, lemon rind and basil until roughly pureed. Remove from bowl and add enough mayo to hold mixture together. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Chill and serve with Melba toast or crackers.

Cucumber Salad

3 medium cucumbers
1 tsp salt
2/3 C white vinegar
½ C sugar
1 tsp dill or chervil
1/8 tsp pepper

Salt thinly sliced cucumbers and let stand at least 1 hour with a weight to release liquid. Pour on vinegar and seasonings.

Tomatoes: Peeled, Seeded, and Juiced – Fresh Tomato Pulp
from Julia Child

To peel tomatoes, drop them into a large pan of rapidly boiling water and time the boil for exactly 10 seconds. Cut out the core, then peel then skin down from it. To seed and juice them, halve crosswise and gently squeeze to dislodge jelly and juice, poking out remaining seeds with your fingers. They are then usually chopped or diced into “fresh tomato pulp.”

Fresh Tomato Sauce
Julia Child

For about 2 ½ C, sauté ½ C minced onions in 2 T olive oil, and when tender stir in 4 C fresh tomato pulp (see above) or half fresh and half canned Italian plum tomatoes. Season with a pinch of thyme, a bay leaf, 2 large cloves of pureed garlic, and if you wish, both a pinch of saffron threads and ¼ tsp dried orange peel. Salt lightly and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

Retono de Repollo with Tomato and Onion

Caramelize 2 small onions and keep warm in a pan.

Cut baby cabbages in half and using another pan, quickly fry in sesame oil - should only take a minute! Take cabbage out and put on top of onions.

Add a bit more oil to your open pan and throw in 6-8 of your black plum and/or tigerella tomatoes (halved or quartered) and stir-fry quickly. Add to onion-cabbage mixture. Add a bit of salt and top with soy sauce. Serve warm.

Week, 10, CSA News

2010-07-12T11:04:00.001-07:00

In your Share . . .
Items in shares may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not have every item listed below.

Blackberries – organic

Savoy Cabbage – organic
The Savoy cabbage is one of our most popular varieties. You can use as you might any green cabbage – oven roasted, steamed, braised, raw in cole slaws, etc. Store refrigerated and remove the outer leaves before coring and preparing. It will keep very well for you refrigerated, so you can save for several weeks if desired.

Cauliflower - organic
Enough heads for all shares this week. As we mentioned before, with such hot temperatures and sunshine during most of its growth in June, your heads will be creamier in color than the stark white we expect to see in the fall crop. Refrigerate prior to use.

Cucumber
We’re still harvesting this first round of cucumbers, though we’ll probably have a break before the next planting is ready to go. Refrigerate and know that a high percent of cucumber is water, so you will want to use within the week. Find a new recipe below.

Fresh Garlic - organic
You can store in your refrigerator, or dry it yourself in your pantry, garage, or porch – just hang up and protect from rain & damp conditions. Garlic will keep for you dried for many months – and you’ll be happy you have it when the summer growing season is over.

Yellow Onions - organic
These all-purpose yellow onions were harvested shortly after we got a brief rain at the farm during the night. They have not been dried and “cured” like you might expect when you see a bulb onion (what it is called without the green leafy tops). Use within the week if you find yours very fresh and a little moist. Or you can begin the drying process by storing like the garlic in a dry and undamp location like the pantry or garage.

Green Bell Pepper

All-Red Potatoes –organic
These Cranberry All-Red potatoes are one of the farm favorites – a good all-purpose potato with a red / white interior. They are moist and high in starch and best when steamed, sauteed or au gratin. Refrigerate.

Tomatoes, Red Slicing
We purposelly chose to include ripe and not-yet- ripe tomatoes for you today. Set out on the counter to ripen over the next several days.

Tomatoes, Heirloom – organic
Your share includes some more of the small salad varieties: Tigrella and Black Plum. These are grown in our unheated high tunnel that allows us to get plants out earlier than normal KY weather allows. We hope for earlier harvesting as a result also. With a nice growing spring, our field tomatoes are also starting to ripen. Your share includes a slicing tomato also this week. We’ll offer more on varieties in a later letter, but know that they are fragile, have less acidity than red tomatoes, and best enjoyed fresh! Find a new recipe on the back.

Eggplant
The first harvest of the season finds a handful of the traditional black globe eggplant ready. Refrigerate prior to use and find several recipes at our web blog.

Sweet Corn
Our next patch of sweet corn is ready for harvest today. This Super Sweet White variety is almost as popular as the Bi-Color we started with this season. As always, leave in the husk and refrigerate until ready to prepare to keep your sweetness intact and the ears as fresh as possible.

Patty Pan Squashes
You might steam or lightly saute your little squashes. Enjoy raw with dip or skewered for the grill. Use fairly soon as babies do not keep as well as big squash.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Tomato Feta Salad
Recipe and comments from Rona Roberts – learn more about local foods at her website Savoring Kentucky

1. Wash, core, chop into tablespoon-sized chunks, and put in a medium size bowl:

3 pounds sweet, fully ripe summer tomatoes. Three pounds will be about two giant pink Brandywine or other heirloom types, or four-five mid-sized round tomatoes. Mixed colors are nice.

2. Crumble into the bowl:

2 ounces good feta, or more, or less, depending on your taste

3. Add:

1 Tablespoon good quality balsamic vinegar1 teaspoon sea salt

4. Stir together. Taste. Adjust the seasonings, and add any additional vegetables or aromatic seasonings you want to try. Sit down with a bowl and spoon — this salad is juicy — and enjoy.

Tips on each key ingredient as this salad is a good as the quality of its basic ingredients:

Tomatoes: Use completely ripe, flavorful varieties from your garden or local farmers’ market. Heirloom pink and yellow types work well in this salad because their natural sweetness contrasts beautifully with the feta’s salty bite.

Feta: Make your own, or use locally made cheese like Bluegrass Chevre's
delicious goat milk feta, or buy good quality organic feta.

Salt: Crunchy Celtic Gray Sea Salt crystals add texture; any good sea salt works well.

Balsamic Vinegar: I like Cavalli Balsamic Seasoning, which is fairly sweet. Many other balsamic vinegars will work beautifully here.

Benedictine
As you may know, the original recipes was developed in Louisville by Jennie Benedict. Growing up in Kentucky, when folks move away, they are surprised to learn that this popular creamy spread used for sandwiches or as a dip is not known in other parts of the country. The version below makes quite a bit, you can reduce to meet your needs if desired Keeps very well refrigerated. Yield: 3-3 ½ cups.

1 ½# cream cheese, softened to room temperature
4-6 cucumbers, depending on size; peeled, seeded, pureed
1 med yellow onion, grated
1 tsp salt
(1-2 T mayo, optional)
5-7 drops hot sauce (suggest Crystal)

Peel, seed, crude chop cucumber. Puree. Strain through cheesecloth. Gently squeeze out all possible liquid.

Return to rinsed and dried food processor with remaining ingredients (mayo is traditionally, but it is suggested here to forgo it). (Salt and hot sauce can be adjusted for diet or taste).

Cabbage with Indian Spices
Recipe from Farmer John’s Cookbook

3 T vegetable oil
2 C minced onion
1 ½ tsp minced ginger
1 green hot chile pepper, cut in half lengthwise
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
pinch tumeric
3 T water
1 large fresh tomato, peeled and chopped
½ tsp salt

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, ginger and chile pepper; sauté, stirring often, until the onion is browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in the cabbage. Add the coriander, cayenne, and tumeric and mix well. Add the water, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the tomato and salt; stir to combine. Cover and cook until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the hot chile pepper before serving.

Garlic Paste
12 large garlic cloves, peeled, cut in half lengthwise
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
½ tsp salt
½ cup olive oil
pepper

Heat halved garlic cloves, thyme, bay, salt and oil in small saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbles start to rise to surface. Reduce heat to low and cook until garlic is soft, about 30 minutes. Cool completely. Strain, reserving oil. Discard herbs and transfer garlic to small bowl. Mash garlic with 1 T garlic oil until paste forms.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Suggested use includes rubbing meat or fish with oil before roasting or grilling. Use paste on meats or fish before oven cooking to give flavorful crust.

Sautéed Cabbage
from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa, she writes that
Martha Stewart taught her this delicious dish

1 small head of cabbage, including outer leaves
2 T unsalted butter
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Cut the cabbage in half and, with the cut-side down,
slice it as thinly as possible around the core, as
though you were making coleslaw. Discard the core.

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, salt, and pepper and sauté for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and begins to brown. Finish with another sprinkling of kosher salt. Serve hot. Serves 6.

CSA News, Week 9

2010-07-05T13:41:00.001-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Share items may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Blackberries – organic
Surprise! Like many things this season, this crop is ready the earliest ever – first week of July. Enjoy fresh and store refrigerated.

Cucumber

Fresh Green Garlic - organic
These small garlic heads can be used as you would any garlic. They have not been dried as our later offerings will be – so your choice is to store refrigerated, or to air dry yourself by hanging in the pantry or out on the counter.

Yellow Onions - organic
These all-purpose yellow onions are more from our over-wintered crop. We start our own onions from seeds in the the fall of the year and transplant out when appropriately sized. We then mulch and tend to them over the winter, remove the mulch, weed, water and tend to them in the spring. Once the seed heads start and the tops begin to die back, we can begin harvesting organic onions.

Onions are known as antioxidants, are said to remove heavy metals from the human body, lower cholesterol, and help kidney function. Store in your pantry.

Yellow Summer Squash and Green Zucchini
You can use your summer squashes along with onions, tomatoes, and garlic in an easy pasta dish. Or, make a cheesy dip and slice into pieces for dipping raw. Find new recipes below. Store refrigerated.

Tomatoes, Red
Yeh! They are ready!

Tomatoes, Heirloom - organic

Broccoli Florets – organic
Broccoli harvest is trailing off for the spring crop; after the center large head is cut, the plants often produce smaller side shoots that we can har-vest as florets. The smaller pieces will not keep as long, so try to use within several days. Broccoli salad is really nice this time of the year, or add to a quick stir-fry, or make a fresh garlic dip and enjoy as a snack or holiday party appetizer.

Cauliflower – organic
The first cauliflower heads are starting to size up. With such hot temperatures and sun-shine during its growth in June, your heads will be more creamy in color than the white we expect to see in the fall crop. Cauliflower will keep fresh for you longer than expected when refrigerated.

Sweet Corn
As we mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the corn we planted with the intent to harvest this week was ready early, so with this week’s shares we find ourselves in between corn plantings.

Folks may not realize that each corn plant produces only one, and at most, two ears of any size and predictability. We went through many rows looking for the second ears and did find some, but not enough for all size shares. The second ears are often shorter in length than the primary ear, some-times the entire ear will not be filled out with full kernels (a pollination issue), and sometimes there just might not be a second ear at all. So, hopefully you will appreciate a handful of smallish ears rather than no ears at all!

Kale Greens – organic
Find a small bunch of greens this week – perhaps enough to stirfry or steam. We also hear great reports from people making kale chips – review the Mollie Katzen recipe for Kale Crunch we included in the 7-12-07 post on our web blog.

Baby Melon
The baby canteloupe-type melon is truly personal sized.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Poached Salmon with Corn & White Wine Butter Sauce
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe from Food and Wine magazine and the website. She used some items from her CSA share and some from her own garden and tells us that the resulting dish is delicious!

medium zucchini (1 1/2 pounds), coarsely shredded
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium shallots—2 finely chopped, 1 halved
Freshly ground pepper
2 3/4 cups dry white wine
1 cup fresh corn kernels
2 lemon thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
Four 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil leaves

1. Set a colander over a bowl. Add the zucchini to the colander and toss with 1 teaspoon of salt. Let stand for 20 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini dry.
2. In a large, nonreactive skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped shallots and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the corn and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook until the corn is tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and keep warm.
3. In a large, nonreactive saucepan, combine 2 cups of the wine with the thyme, bay leaf, the halved shallot and 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Season the salmon with salt, add the fillets to the saucepan and cook at a bare simmer over low heat, turning once, about 6 minutes. Transfer the salmon to a plate and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the poaching liquid.
4. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of wine to the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Season with salt. Stir the basil into the vegetables and transfer to plates. Nestle the salmon into the vegetables, top with the butter sauce and serve.

Disappearing Zucchini Orzo
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this tasty Barbara Kingsolver recipe. She reports that it is wonderful served warm, room temperature, or cold as a salad direct from the refrigerator.

¾ lb pkg orzo pasta
1 chopped onion and/or garlic to taste
3 large zucchini
olive oil
Herbs of your choice (thyme and oregano were recommended)
¼ cup grated Parmesan or any hard yellow cheese

Cook orzo according to package directions. For more flavor, replace water with your favorite stock. Shred zucchini and sauté briefly with chopped onion and garlic until lightly golden. Add spices to zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and then remove from heat. Combine with cheese and cooked orzo, salt to taste, serve hot, cool or at room temperature.

Squash Patties
Recipe from cookbook of Little Rock Farmers Market

2 yellow squash
2 T flour
1 onion
3 T cornmeal
½ tsp salt
1 egg
3 T sugar

Grate squash and onion. Add egg followed by dry ingredients. Mix well. Drop by heaping tablespoons into hot skillet with small amount of oil. Fry until golden brown.

Farmers Market Greek Salad
Recipe from Fresh From the Farmers’ Market by Janet Fletcher; serves 4 as salads or 2 as main course

1 pound mixed tomatoes in different colors and sizes
¼ onion, sliced paper thin
1 or 2 cucumbers, about ½ pound total weight, thinly sliced
2 ounces feta cheese, preferably Greek or Bulgarian
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 kalamata olives
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T white wine vinegar
1 large clove garlic, minced to a paste with salt

Core and halve the large tomatoes through the stem, then lay cut side down and slice into half-rounds. Halve the cherry tomatoes if using. Arrange the large tomatoes on a platter, alternating the colors attractively. Top with onion, then with cucumber rounds. Sprinkle the halved cherry tomatoes on top of the cucumbers. Dot the surface with small clumps of cheese. Tear basil leaves into small pieces and scatter over all. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the olives around the edge of the platter.
In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, wine vinegar and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and pour over salad just before serving.

Week 8, CSA News

2010-06-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .
Items in your share may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Each share may not have every item listed below.

Sweet Corn
This is the earliest first harvest we can remem-ber. Enjoy! Refrigerate in the husks to keep fresh.

You are loaded up this week with the corn. Both the first two plantings are ready to harvest at the same time – possibly a result of our warm temperatures speeding things along. We will have a week without corn, so enjoy it now while there is an abundance.

Cucumber

Leeks – organic
These little leeks can be cooked whole; steamed, braised, or baked. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, but wrap lightly to avoid aroma spreading to other foods. Popular in soup recipes, leeks also offer a complimentary flavor to many meat dishes. Substitute for onions in recipes for a slight flavor change. Leeks and onions are cousins, but leeks actually belong to the lily family. Leeks are milder than onions but also sweeten when they’re cooked. Smaller leeks like in your share are more tender and have better flavor than larger ones.

New Potatoes – organic
Find a pound or so from the first row of the new potatoes dug this past weekend. This variety, Caribe, used to be one of our most popular – it is early to size up, has nice flavor, and the skin color is somewhere between a red and a blue potato.
The last two years, it has still been great to eat, but not so pretty to look at, so we’ll have to get back to testing out some new, early varieties. Store refrigerated.

Yellow Summer Squash

Green Tomatoes
This week find the first of the season’s tomatoes. Green tomatoes are most popular lightly breaded and either pan-fried or oven roasted. Serve with a special sauce, eat on sandwhiches like a BLT, and/or sprinkle with Worstershire sauce. Whatever your favorite, know that the ripe tomatoes can’t be too much farther away. Find recipes below.

You can substitute a green tomato for tomatillo when making green salsas (not as tart), or make chutney or relish.

Cabbage, Green – organic

Beets - organic
Though all shares had beets last week, we know from your responses that they are quite popular. Store the beetroot refrigerated for a couple of weeks, but use your greens fairly soon. They are your only leafy green this week – think quiche, lasagna, stir-fry, or use in place of lettuce on an oven-toasted sandwich.

Fresh Green Garlic - organic
These small garlic heads can be used as you would any garlic. They have not been dried as our later offerings will be – so your choice is to store refrigerated, or to air dry yourself by hanging in the pantry or out on the counter.

Cipollini Onions – organic
It is very special treat this week with a few of the specialty Cipollini onions ready for harvest. We know that once you have them, you will appreciate their special flavor compared to a traditional onion. Not as sweet as a “candy” type, these Italian onions are excellent cooked whole in liquid; they retain the juicy goodness until you cut or bite into them. We suggest the Gourmet magazine recipe found in the 8/18/08 newsletter on our web blog; or visit epicurious.com. You will want to use these in a special recipe so you can enjoy their flavor. Right now, the onions are being harvested fresh and you will want to store refrigerated and/or use soon.

Heirloom Tomatoes – organic
Find a small container of the first ripe tomatoes of the season. We start the seeds of these small varieties in January to transplant later and grow in the soil in our unheated high tunnel. The smaller tomatoes usually ripen quicker than larger ones and it is nice to have a taste this early in the season.

Broccoli Florets – organic
Broccoli harvest is trailing off for the spring crop; after the center large head is cut, the plants often produce smaller side shoots that we can harvest as florets. The smaller pieces will not keep as long, so try to use within several days. Broccoli salad is really nice this time of the year, or add to a quick stir-fry, or make a fresh garlic dip and enjoy as a snack or holiday party appetizer.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Cucumber Salad
3 medium cucumbers
1 tsp salt
2/3 C white vinegar
½ C sugar
1 tsp dill or chervil
1/8 tsp pepper

Salt think sliced cucumbers and let stand at least 1 hour with a weight to release liquid. Pour on vinegar and seasonings.

Braised Leeks
a Julee Rosso recipe for the microwave

1 pound leeks, cut in half lengthwise
2 tsp chicken or vegetable broth
2 T brown sugar

Put the leeks in a glass dish and add the broth. Cover tightly and microwave on high 6 to 8 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with the brown sugar, cover, turning back a corner to vent. Microwave for 2 minutes on high. Toss to coat and serve immediately.

Creamy Leek, Potato, and Sour Cream Chive Soup
recipe from From Asparagus to Zucchini

3 T butter
2-3 leeks, thinly sliced, about 4 C total
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 pound potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced
4 C chicken stock
½ - 1 C sour cream
4 T chopped fresh chives, divided
salt and pepper

Melt butter in pot over medium-low. Add leeks and tarragon; cover and cook slowly, 15-20 minutes. Add potatoes and stock; bring to simmer, cover and cook until tender, 10-15 minutes. Puree mixture. Return puree to pot; stir in sour cream and 2 T chives. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle each serving with additional chives. Makes 6 servings.

Quick Fix, Fried Green Tomatoes

This is a fast and simple way to make Southern style fried green tomatoes.

Wash and slice tomatoes in ¼ inch slices.

Put cornmeal in a bowl; dredge each slice in meal, covering both sides.

Heat ½ inch depth of your favorite cooking oil on medium in a heavy iron skillet.

Gently lay tomato slices in pan covering bottom but not overlapping. Cook until brown and turn once, browning the other side. Watch carefully as they cook quickly.

Drain on paper towel. Serve warm; sprinkle with Worcestershire Sauce.

Herbed Green Tomatoes
This recipe takes more a little more time than the one above because it calls for draining the tomatoes before frying and adding a few more ingredients.

Wash and slice tomatoes in ¼ inch slices.

Sprinkle slices with salt and drain 30-60 minutes

Mix the following in a bowl:

¼ cup cornmeal
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp all purpose flour
¾ tsp garlic salt
½ tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp black pepper

Beat an egg. Dip each slice in egg, then flour mixture covering both sides.

Heat ½ inch depth of cooking oil on medium in a heavy iron skillet.

Gently lay tomato slices in pan covering bottom but not overlapping. Cook until brown and turn once, browning the other side. Watch carefully as they cook quickly.

Drain on paper towel. Serve warm or room temperature.

CSA Newsletter, Week 7

2010-06-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

In Your Share
Shares may vary depending on your harvest day and your share size. Every share may not have every item listed below.

Beets - organic
Refrigerate for storage; the beet root will keep for several weeks, the greens should be used within a few days. Several recipes can be found on our online web blog along with a recipe for the green tops in our 6-7-10 newsletter.

Cucumber
Enjoy the first of the season, refrigerate.

Fresh Green Garlic - organic
You have had garlic several ways so far this spring. Our harvest of the entire heads is starting and you have the very first! Use your garlic as you would any dried head – just know that it is fresh from the soil, not yet dried in our barn – the next step.

You can store in your refrigerator, or dry it yourself in your pantry, garage, or porch – just hang up and protect from rain & damp conditions.

Fresh Herb Bunch: Sage, French Tarragon, Thyme - organic
You can use fresh, or hang to dry. Remove the leaves from the stem before chopping. Store refrigerated to keep fresh wrapped in a damp paper towel, or if stem length allows, put into water as you would fresh flowers.

Kale Bunch: Curly Green Kale and Flat Leaf Red Kale – organic
We wrote quite a bit about your fresh greens in our 5-31-10 news-letter. You can find several recipes for heavy greens on our web blog and in past newsletters. This bunch will keep longest for you in the refrig-erator and is very for-giving if it wilts down abit during storage. Add to soups or pasta to enhance the flavor of all the other ingredients, or remove the heavy stems and enjoy either steamed or sauteed.

Onions, Green – organic
Enjoy these green onions, one of the most challenging to grow organically. This is because we can’t just purchase the “onion sets” found in your local farm store or garden center since they were not organically grown and may even be from GMO seed. We start our own onions from seeds, some in the the fall of the year like the garlic. We plant it, mulch and tend to it over the winter, remove the mulch, weed, water and tend to it all spring – then we can begin harvesting organic onions. There are just one or two farms around the Eastern part of the US that grow organic onion sets and onion transplants. But, the cost is just too prohibitive for green onions since there is such little yield from one plant.

Refrigerate and enjoy as much of the white and green as you find desirable. Slice into quiche, stir-fry, use in any recipe that calls for fresh onion, and even chop lightly and top a green salad.

Green Zucchini Squash

Broccoli - organic

Cabbage, Green – organic

Patty Pan Summer Squash

Heirloom Tomatoes, Yellow Cherry– organic

Purple Top White Globe Turnips – organic

Recipes to Enjoy

Sweet and Savory Kale Greens
Thanks to a CSA member who shared this recipe last season. The greens do cook down quite a bit, but it has become a farm favorite recipe. You can use your green onions, garlic, kale, and/or any other greens you may have in the fridge.

2 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T Dijon mustard
4 tsp white sugar
1 T cider vinegar
1 ½ C chicken broth
4 C stemmed, torn and rinsed kale
¼ C dried cranberries
salt and pepper to taste
¼ C sliced almonds

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard, sugar, vinegar, and chicken stock, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the kale, cover, and cook 5 minutes until wilted.

Stir in the dried cranberries, and continue boiling, uncovered, until the liquid has reduced by about half, and the cranberries have softened, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with sliced almonds before serving.

Roasted Turnips, Onions and Apples
adapted from an internet recipe created by Tammy Donroe. You can always omit the apple if not readily available, and add in beets or garlic for a little different flavor.

1 large white turnip, peeled and chopped into ¾-inch cubes
2-3 green onions, cleaned and sliced into wedges
1 large tart apple (like Cortland, Granny Smith, or Macoun; not McIntosh as they will saucify), peeled, sides cut off the core and sliced into ¼-inch half-moons
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme or sage
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°F. Dump all the ingredients onto a sheet pan and combine with your hands until everything is coated in oil. Don’t forget the salt and pepper. Roast 20-25 minutes, until vegetables start to take on some color. Flip them with a spatula and roast 20-25 minutes more, until the onions are on their way toward burning but not quite there, yet. Serves 4.

Zucchini Bread
recipe makes 1 loaf of bread

1 C all purpose flour
1 C whole-wheat flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 egg
¼ C vegetable oil
½ C sugar
1 C grated zucchini, skin on
½ C milk

In one bowl combine first 7 ingredients and set aside. In another bowl, beat egg. Add oil, sugar, zucchini and milk. Blend well. Add to dry ingredients, stir just until moist. Spoon in greased loaf pan. Cook at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick or knife stuck in pulls out clean.

Grilled Zucchini Spears with Fresh Herbs
Recipe from Martha Stewart Living, original calls for mint, but we find our favorite fresh herb works just as well. Serves 4.

2 large zucchini, halved and cut into spears
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 – 2 T small fresh herb leaves
garnish with larger herb leaves

Heat grill to high. Drizzle zucchini with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Grill zucchini, turning often, until cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a platter. Drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with herb leaves. Garnish with herb sprigs.

Ginger Lemon Broccoli

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp minced garlic
¼ tsp grated fresh ginger
¼ tsp lemon peel
1 head fresh broccoli or broccoli florets

Whisk oil, lemon juice, salt, garlic, ginger, and lemon peel in small bowl. Set aside.

Cook 1 head broccoli, cut into florets, in 6 cups boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain. Toss with dressing.

Week 6, CSA News

2010-06-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

From the Farm . . .

Usually by this time in the “late spring–almost summer” season, we are dealing with too much heat and not enough rain, or continuously drizzly days with not enough sunshine. Not this season. This year’s spring season seems to be somewhat balanced without a really late freeze, but rather we have enjoyed consistent rainfall combined with good sunshine and warmth that our summer crops really love.

We started harvesting squash this week, soon to be followed by cucumbers, onions, garlic and beans. Sweet corn, potatoes, and the early tomatoes are coming along nicely, also peppers and eggplant. Later items that need a long growing season, like Brussels sprouts and celery, have been transplanted and their water irrigation lines are set up. We are putting more time into our perennial herb beds and flower production this year including edibles and cut flowers bouquets.

Good weather does bring the need for lots of work resulting in long, long days. While the farm crew tries to take at least one day off weekly, the farm itself does not –vegetables continue to ripen and are ready for harvest, the soil may be in prime condition for planting, the grasses are ready to be cut for hay, and the weeds keep growing. We have between 10 and 18 folks working at the farm each day depending on whether we are harvesting and packing CSA shares that day. At any given time, some of us may be planting, transplanting, mulching and weeding crops. Some are busy harvesting or washing; some counting out, sorting, and packing CSA boxes; some tending to animals or weed-eating around their electric fences; mowing and baling hay; hooking up the irrigation; stringing the tomatoes; loading the farmers market truck; turning the compost; mowing the pastures; and the list seems to go on.

One of the most important jobs at the farm is in the kitchen where our favorite farm chef prepares all of us a home cooked lunch each day using as many ingredients as possible grown here at the farm. We feel very fortunate to have freshly prepared organic food ready for us after a morning of hard, hot work and refuel us to go back out for more. We use the farm kitchen as a testing opportunity for new varieties of vegetables and as a place to utilize the not-so-perfect items that may get harvested but don’t pass our quality inspection during cleaning, sorting, and packing boxes. There’s nothing that goes into your CSA box that we haven’t tried ourselves. And, just like you, we often are surprised to find a new favorite vegetable!

In Your Share
Share items may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Every share may not have every item listed below.

Broccoli – organic

Cabbage, Green – organic
Your early head of green cabbage will keep several weeks when refrigerated. Fresh cabbage is sweet, juicy and more moisture content than fall crops. Cabbage contains Vit. E, calcium, more Vit. C than oranges, and many minerals.

Garlic Scapes - organic
Garlic scapes are the center stalks of the hard neck garlic plant. Early in the season, you had the green garlic leaves and last week the green garlic whole plant. Scapes can be enjoyed in many dishes while we wait for the bulbs to fill out into cloves underground. Use as you would use garlic cloves. Chop finely or use a processsor since some stalks can be fibrous. The heads are also edible. You can make pesto; chop in salads; or sauté similar to green onions. Store refrigerated or in water in a vase; can be finely chopped, then frozen.

Lettuce Head - organic
Our harvest this week is from all three lettuce beds, cutting our last heads that have not yet been affected by the heat. As a result, your share contains any one of nine varie-ties – probably the last whole head for a while. Find a new dressing recipe below.

Onions, Yellow – organic
Find a couple of onions from our first harvest of the year. Though these are a yellow variety of traditional bulb onions, they have not been dried and cured as your later storage onions will be. Just store in the pantry and use within a couple of weeks.

Summer Squash, Yellow and Green Zucchini
One of the most versatile summer vegetables, the squash can be enjoyed raw when sliced small, or cooked in many ways. When squash is harvested smaller, the skin is tender and it is unnecessary to peel. Also, the seeds are smaller and easier to digest. When harvested fresh, the flavor is strongest before the squash loses moisture through natural evaporation. Just remove the stem end before preparing and store refrigerated.

Fennel – organic
The long stalks with hairy fern-like leaves are your fresh fennel bulbs and fronds. It has a long history as a popular item grown in ancient Greece. Fennel is known to aid in digestion, cure poor eyesight, help a nervous condition, and even repel insects. Store refrigerated and realize that the anise aroma will spread throughout your fridge. You can separate the leaves from the bulb to store if you want to keep in closed containers. Fennel is quite popular as a fresh herb seasoning with baked or broiled fish along with lemon.

If you think you don’t like fennel, try this tip from Two Small Farms in California: chop like celery and cook with onion when you’re starting a chili or spaghetti sauce. There will be no anise flavor at all and you will have used up the fennel.

Edible Flowers - organic

Recipes to Enjoy

Garlic Scape Pesto
This recipe is shared by a member who found it on the internet when researching garlic scapes.

1 C garlic scapes (about 7-8), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼ inch slices
1/3 C walnuts
¾ C olive oil
¼ - ½ C grated parmigiano
½ tsp salt
black pepper to taste

Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an airtight container in the refrigerator. For ½ pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 Tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta along with 2 Tablespoons of the pasta water and stir until pasta is well coated.

Caesar Dressing with Garlic Scapes
A member shared this recipe and reports, “If you enjoy the stinky, pungent Caesar dressing at a certain Down-Under restaurant, you'll love this. Substitute a good handful of chopped garlic scapes and a few flower heads in place of the chopped garlic to put those scapes to good use.”

1 C eggs, beaten
1 ¼ oz crushed fresh garlic (or substitute a handful of chopped garlic scapes--the tender ends--and some flower heads)
3 ½ oz grated Parmesan cheese
2 2/3 T red wine vinegar or rice vinegar
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T salt
1 T black pepper
1 T dry mustard
1 ½ oz anchovy paste or 1 can of drained anchovies
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ C olive oil (vary the amount of olive oil to change consistency to your preference)

Throw all the ingredients in a blender and pulverize. Will keep about 1 week refrigerated. Makes 1 quart or so, depending on how much olive oil you use.

Roasted Squash & Fennel with Thyme
Our thanks to a CSA member for this versatile recipe. Use your favorite fresh herb! Makes 4 servings, about 2/3 cup each.

2 small summer squash (about 12 ounces)
1½ C sliced fennel bulb (about 1 small bulb), plus 1 T chopped fennel fronds, divided
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T chopped fresh thyme
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
¼ C thinly sliced garlic

Preheat oven to 450°F. Quarter squash lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Combine the squash with sliced fennel, oil, thyme, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread the mixture evenly on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and roast until the vegetables are tender and the fennel is beginning to brown, about 5 minutes more. Stir in fennel fronds and serve.

Week 5, CSA

2010-06-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

In Your Share . . .

Items in your share may vary depending on your share size and harvest day. Every share may not have every item listed below.

Red Beets with Tops – organic

Find a handful of the first beets of the season. Remove the beet roots from the stems and use the beet greens either raw in a fresh green salad, or cook with your Swiss chard or mixed green bunch. The red color can be a little intense, but know that you are consuming a blood tonic that is good for anemia, your heart and circulation. Beets also contain notable amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium and phosphorus.

Refrigerate for storage; the beet root will keep for several weeks, the greens should be used within a few days. Several recipes can be found on our online web blog along with a recipe below for the green tops.

Broccoli – organic

Broccoli is one of the most popular green vegetables. Some varieties are true green, some more blue, and some will show a hint of the yellow flowers earlier than others – high heat causes this which makes our window to grow spring broccoli in KY vary from year to year. Last season it was not the heat, but the ongoing rains giving us challenges on harvesting perfect heads.

Broccoli contains Vit. A, mosof it found in the leaves – so throw them in with your mixed greens or chard. Steam, stir-fry, oven roast, or eat raw as a healthy snack with a garlic dip. You can use the entire stalk, not just the florets – store in the coldest part of your refrigerator. Find a recipe below.

Green Garlic – organic

Today’s harvest includees the entire plant of green garlic. The bulbs are fresh, not yet dried as you will receive later in the season, so we recommend you refrigerate for storing. You can use the entire bulb (including the roots) and at this young stage it may not yet be separated into cloves. Use the stalk as far up as it is tender, just as you did last month.

Garlic is well-known for its nutritional and med-icinal properties. It helps stabilize blood sugar levels, lowers fever, eliminates toxins from the body, and stimulates your metabolism.

Lettuce Heads - organic

Varieties in your share this week include the popular Green Leaf, the fluffy red Summercrisp, and a Red Romaine, Outredgeous, in the larger shares.

Swiss Chard– organic

Many of you love when the Rainbow Swiss Chard is ready. The colors are so bright (hence a variety name of “Bright Lights”) to make preparing a good-for-you vegetable more fun. Chard is high in Vit. A, E, and C along with calcium and iron. Chard does not contain as much oxalic acid as spinach, resulting in your body absorbing more minerals during digestion.

You can enjoy the entire leaf including the whole stalk. You can prepare any way that you would use spinach. Easy recipes include stir-fry, steaming, or sautéing. You can also enjoy raw, but most people enjoy using as a cooked green. Find a recipe below. Refrigerate to store.

Sugar Snap Peas – organic

Similar to last week, you can eat the entire pod and peas with this type. Break the ends and if a string has developed, pull it off from end to end. Steam or sauté/stir fry. You can also blanch for 1-2 minutes in boiling water, cool in iced water, and then enjoy in a cold salad, or pop in a freezer bag to use later.

Greens: Mustard and Turnip – organic

The season for these spring greens is quickly ending – enjoy one more bunch this week. You may not see the cool weather greens again until the fall season.

Fresh Herbs: Sage and Thyme – organic

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Pasta with Broccoli and Ginger

1 bunch broccoli

1½ C chicken or vegetable broth, divided

2 T olive oil

1 T minced fresh ginger

1 tsp minced garlic

1/8 to ¼ tsp crushed red pepper

½ tsp salt

1 lb fusilli, rotelle or radiatore pasta, cooked according to package directions

Cut broccoli florets from stem. Trim to small florets. Peel and slice stems. Process sliced stems and ½ C broth in food processor until very fine.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic, and red pepper. Cook 15 seconds. Stir in pureed broccoli mixture, florets, remaining 1 C broth and salt. Boil, stirring occasionally, just until broccoli is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Toss with pasta.

Simply Greens

Our thanks to a friend of the farm for adapting this recipe from an original found on the website: SimplyRecipes.com. She uses a combination of beet greens, Swiss Chard, and the tops of whatever other root vegetables she happens to have on hand. Serves 4.

1 pound greens

1 strip of thick cut bacon, chopped (or a tablespoon of bacon fat)

¼ C chopped onion

1 large garlic clove, minced

¾ C of water

1 T granulated sugar

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/6 C of cider vinegar

Wash the greens in a sink filled with cold water. Drain greens and wash a second time. Drain greens and cut away any heavy stems. Cut leaves into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

In a large skillet or 3-qt saucepan, cook bacon until lightly browned on medium heat (or heat 1 Tbsp of bacon fat). Add onions, cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and start to brown. Stir in garlic. Add water to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any particles from bottom of pan. Stir in sugar and red pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Add the greens, gently toss in the onion mixture so the greens are well coated. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5-15 minutes until the greens are tender. Stir in vinegar. (For kale, turnip, mustard, or collard greens continue cooking additional 20 to 25 minutes or until desired tenderness.) Serves 4.

Greens with Miso Sauce

Recipe from Farmer John’s Cookbook

1 bunch radish, turnip, or other greens

1 T miso paste (found in refrigerated section of most health food stores and many supermarkets; start with a light-colored variety for a mild, sweet flavor if new to you)

1 T peanut oil

sugar

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 C hot cooked rice

Bring 2 C water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the greens and boil for 1 minute. Drain the greens in a colander and run cool water over them to stop the cooking. Let drain again, then gently squeeze out any excess water with your hands. Transfer the greens to a cutting board. Chop finely and set aside.

Put the miso paste in a small bowl. Stir in 2 T water, then add a little more water so that the miso is thinned just enough to stir into other ingredients.

Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped greens; cook, stirring, until they are tender and heated through. Add the thinned miso paste. Add sugar to taste; stir the ingredients until thoroughly combined. Remove from heat; stir in the toasted sesame oil. Serve over rice.

Limed Sugar Snaps

Recipe from Entertaining with Bluegrass Winners

1 ½ pounds sugar snap peas

salt for water

2 T butter

1 T lime juice

Wash and remove ends and any strings on peas. Blanch peas in boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and cover with ice. After cooled, place peas on paper towels to dry.

Melt butter in pan. Add peas to pan and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté peas until warm. Pour lime juice over peas and serve immediately. Serves 6-8.