Red Springs Family Farm
November 11, 2010 week 24
Lettuce Broccoli Peppers Garlic
Baby Bok Choy Misato Rose Radishes Sweet Potatoes
Herb bag: Arugula Mizuna Parsley Dill
Amazing weather! It was 20 degrees first thing in the morning on those two or three really cold days. Now it’s warming up so nice during the day ~ t-shirt weather again, but still frosty cold each night. The garden has barely noticed the change. We have enough food to keep those of you interested going into December, or whenever the weather actually freezes the garden down.
Beautiful blueberry chutney, jams, and jellies are now available from Hidden Springs! Place orders through us and Brinna will deliver at Thursday pick ups. All variety of preserves are in ½ pints, chutney is $6/each, and jams (chunky) and jellies (not chunky) are $5 each.
Also remember Kenny’s Cheese as you do your Christmas shopping. Kenny’s offers some sweet gift packages – look at their website for details: www.kennysfarmhousecheese.com. We would also consider making another cheese order/delivery if you all express enough interest.
Check out the Misato Rose Radishes this week. They are beauties. Here’s the Fedco catalog description: “Fine tasting and good looking, with plenty of spiciness, a rich sweet vegetable undertones and no harsh sharpness.” Again – the greens are edible, and interestingly enough, not as prickly as a lot of radish greens. They would nicely complement your bok choys in a stir fry.
Sweet Potato, Broccoli, and Tomato Stew Serves 4
2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1 28-ounce can stewed tomatoes
2 cups cooked/canned garbanzo beans, drained 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water
3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cubed 1 medium head broccoli, cut into large chunks
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1. Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion; cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
2. Add the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, stock, and sweet potatoes. Simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes. Add the broccoli, cover, and simmer until the sweet potatoes and broccoli are tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Next week, we anticipate MORE broccoli, more salad greens, some beautiful kale and mustards, cilantro, maybe celery, and another sweet selection from the storage crops. This really is the final pepper delivery – and we mean it this time! We’re on the fence about making a delivery sometime the week of Thanksgiving. If you have a preference, let us know. We’re so grateful to have this abundance now. Thank you for enjoying it with us.
Your gardeners, Paul, Coree, Lulah and Levon
(Farm Humor) An old farmer wins the lottery. A reporter interviews him about his new-found fortune, asking “Well, sir, what do you intend to do with your millions?” The farmer replies, “ I reckon I’ll just keep farming until it’s all gone!”
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Newsletters, extension weeks 22/23
Red Springs Family Farm
October 28, 2010 week 22
Lettuce Collards Sweet Peppers
Garlic Eggplant Baby Bok Choy
Arugula Mizuna Green Tomatoes
Radishes Parsley Sweet Potatoes
What beautiful sparkling Autumn days! The gardens look better than they have all year. We’re grateful to have made it through, and encourage you to enjoy what we consider the BEST time of the 2010 gardening year.
Levon Augustus arrived with a good loud yell. Our midwife called it a “precipitous” labor, which mostly means he came too fast for her to get here from Hendersonville to catch him. Paul has sharpened his skills as a baby catcher, once again. Levon seems to have approved of the situation and has proven to be a really good baby, sleeping plenty, eating well, and growing from 7 lb 10 oz to 8 lb 3 oz in one short week. Lulah loves to kiss his soft head and is growing skilled at holding his wobbly newborn-ness. She is a proud big sister.
Paul is still hard at work putting the gardens to bed for the season. It’s a relief to have crops in the ground that will just stay for awhile. Still to come this season: broccoli, rose heart radishes, red turnips, more kale kale kale, mustards, and beautiful Chinese cabbage. Looks like we’ll have a harder frost tonight and tomorrow. We can kiss the eggplant and green tomatoes good-bye. Paul and Wilson harvested the peppers in their entirety yesterday, and the harvest was abundant, so we’ll try to keep enough of them fresh to last another week or two. If you know any other people who love greens and aren’t getting enough, please send them our way.
We’ve finally succeeded in growing radishes! To store them, separate radishes from their greens. Store the radishes in a plastic bag in the fridge. Eat the greens within 1-2 days of their harvest. Radish greens are delicious to eat, but they don't 'hang out' for long.
Arugula and Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, quartered 1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cups whole milk 5 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup packed chopped arugula leaves
Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain. Return potatoes to pot. Stir over low heat until excess moisture evaporates. Add butter; mash potatoes until smooth. Bring milk to simmer in saucepan. Remove from heat. Add goat cheese; whisk until melted. Add milk mixture to potatoes; whisk until smooth. Stir in arugula. Season with salt and pepper.
Radish Salad
1 bunch fresh radishes 2-3 very sweet carrots 2 bunches arugula
salt and pepper to taste E.V. olive oil 2 Tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
Trim the radishes and slice them thinly. Peel carrots and cut them on the diagonal into very thin slices. Snap off tough stems from the arugula. Gather the arugula into a bunch and cut it crosswise into strips. Arrange the arugula on a platter. Scatter the sliced radishes and carrots over the arugula. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with enough olive oil to lightly moisten the vegetables. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over the salad.
Enjoy your veggies ~ best regards Paul, Coree, Lulah and Levon Entwistle
Red Springs Family Farm
November 4, 2010 week 23
Lettuce Broccoli Peppers
Garlic Giant Lettucey Chinese Cabbage
Arugula Mizuna Radishes
Chives Cilantro Butternut
Well, it looks like November is going to begin acting like late Autumn ought to act. We’re anticipating a real freeze this weekend and actually taking precautions to cover the less hardy of the hardy garden.
Enjoy your broccoli – it’s been a long time coming, but there are rewards for those who wait! We’re thrilled to see these beautiful heads emerge from the toil of the desperately long and hot summer. The outer leaves are good to eat as well.
And, this is the season of the Chinese Cabbages that take over the town. Fortunately, these beauties are multi-purpose. The leaves and thick white stems are GREAT mixed with lettuce and other fixings in salad. AND, they make a very nice stir-fry or stew green as well. Here’s a couple nice recipes:
Choi with Gingery Butter
2 medium choi (1/2 or less of your cabbage), sliced crosswise into 1-inch strips
6 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon grated or finely chopped fresh ginger 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro salt & freshly ground black pepper
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the choi; cook until the choi is tender but still crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the choi in a colander and immediately run under cold water. Drain well.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and choi; cook, stirring constantly, until the choi is well coated and heated through.
3. Remove the skillet from heat. Stir in the cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Coleslaw with Cilantro and Chives
(we thought this might be a winner with Chinese cabbage substituted for a head of cabbage)
4 to 6 cups shredded cabbage 1/4 cup minced cilantro
1/4 cup chopped chives 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1. Toss the cabbage, cilantro, and chives in a large bowl or container; refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour or overnight.
2. When ready to serve, mix the oil, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl until well combined. Pour the dressing over the chilled cabbage mixture. Mix well just before serving.
Other important news: Hidden Springs has more blueberry goodness for us. Blueberry Preserves and Jellies ($5/half pint) and Blueberry Chutney ($6/half pint). Let us know what you would like and Brinna will have it next week.
Thanks for your good veggie eating! We hope to see you soon. Paul, Coree, Lulah, and Levon
“To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.” (I. Newton)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
newsletter catch up!
Wow - we got behind on posting these...
Red Springs Family Farm
September 30, 2010 week 19
Lettuce Tomatoes Sweet Peppers
Eggplant Garlic Sweet Potatoes
Acorn Squash Yokatta Na & Daikon Greens
Basil, Arugula, & Chives Hot peppers and Okra, choice
What a beautiful week. We’re so happy to be able to work in the garden without watering it with our sweat. The garden is due another rain, but it is so encouraging to see the greens finally thriving as they ought to in Fall. In the morning, if one looks closely, the intelligence of plant forms reveals itself. The soil all around the plants and the paths through the garden are dry, but the morning dew is funneled down the leaves to the stem and into the ground right at the base of the plant. Isn’t that fantastic?
New cooking greens for you this week are Yokatta Na (you might remember it from Spring – dark green oval leaves with nice thick edible stems) and Daikon Greens. The Daikons are thinnings from a hearty row of daikon radishes. The sun had been a little too hot for too long on the row by the time we got it picked, so some of the greens wilted abit. Soak them in cold water and they may perk back up abit. Otherwise, throw them straight into the wok and enjoy them wilted. You can use these greens together, steamed or stir-fried, or separate them to explore the different flavors and textures. You could use either of these greens, or both, in this recipe, which has been waiting since the early weeks of the season to finally be printed…
Yokatta Na Delight (from the Davis household)
2 heads Yokatta Na with stems, thinly sliced 1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 Garlic scapes (or cloves), thinly sliced
3 Green onions (or chives?), thinly sliced 1 Red pepper (at least), thinly sliced
2 Skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2" strips 1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
Heat olive oil in frying pan over med/high heat. When hot add ginger. Garlic, and green onions. Stir fry 2 mins.
Add red pepper and chicken and cook until chicken is done.
Add yokatta na, soy sauce, sesame oil and salt to taste.
Serves nicely over basmati rice. It would be also good with chick peas instead of chicken.
The sweet potatoes are almost ready to eat now. Keep them warm, dry, and dark and they will last a long time, probably all winter, and continue to get sweeter by the day. We haven’t sampled ours this week, but we hate to keep them back from you any longer. A slow bake is the best way to enhance the sweetness. This variety of sweet potato has been grown in Macon County and this region for well over 100 years. Some slips were passed to friends of ours who has shared them freely ever since. They are well adapted and very successful here. It was a good year for them – enjoy your sweets!
Another new flavor in your basket this week is Arugula. It’s in the herb bag with the basil and chives. It’s the salad herb that bites back. We love it and hope you do too. Primarily, arugula is a salad green, but if you have a notion, all sorts of other uses are possible. In Italy, they throw it on pizza, right on top at the end, so it gets a little mellower and somewhat crispy. It also mixes well into lasagna, just a thin layer on top of each layer of noodles. And, if you really want a taste bud thrill, there’s this one:
Arugula Pesto (from the Angelic Organics Kitchen)
In this recipe, the strong, peppery snap of mature arugula finds its counterpart in Asiago cheese. Blended to creamy smoothness with garlic, olive oil, and toasted pine nuts, this vibrant pesto will make something brilliant of a basic pasta meal. You can also try it tossed with roasted potatoes or steamed vegetables. If you plan to freeze it, don’t add the cheese until after the pesto has thawed. Makes about 1 1/2 cups
1/4 cup pine nuts 2 cups mature arugula
1/2 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 clove garlic, smashed
Salt freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Toast the pine nuts in a dry, heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) over high heat until they start to brown in spots and become fragrant. Transfer the nuts to a dish to cool.
3. Combine the arugula, Asiago cheese, oil, garlic, and pine nuts in a blender or food processor; process until thoroughly combined and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Next week, October 7, is week 20 – the end of our projected “main season”. We hope to make a seasonal report, summarizing our experiences with the garden and the land this year, and also give you a survey to fill out and return to us, so that we can learn from your experiences of the season as well. Your feedback is invaluable to us, especially as we plan ahead for future seasons.
If you ordered cheese, it will be here at next week’s pick up.
Picking greens is a more time consuming task than we had remembered from Spring, so we are short on time today. Enjoy the harvest and we’ll see you next week!
Your gardeners,
Paul, Coree, Lulah, and the little mysterious Entwistle
Go With Muddy Feet
When you hear dirty story
Wash your ears.
When you see ugly stuff
Wash your eyes.
When you get bad thoughts
Wash your mind.
And
Keep your feet muddy.
-Nanao Sakaki
Red Springs Family Farm
October 7, 2010 week 20
State of the Farm Report
Lettuce Sweet Peppers Eggplant
Garlic Mustard & Kale Potatoes
Pumpkin Green Tomatoes
Mizuna, Arugula, & Green Onions
Hot peppers and Okra, choice
As this is Week # 20 and technically the end of our main season, we will make a “State of the Farm” Report. We will be emailing a season’s end survey to each of you. Your feedback means a lot to us. Your comments will help shape our future garden plans. We hope you will continue to share veggies with us this Fall and next Spring.
Before delving into the details, it is important to make some general statements, primarily of gratitude, to the people who have helped make this season possible. This includes you, shareholder-veggie-eater, as well as Coree’s nearby family who graciously and generously support us with their time and energy and willingness to help Lulah make it through long days of Mom and Dad’s work. We are also extremely grateful to our good friend Wilson who has made the trip down to our home each Wednesday, all season, to work with us, doing whatever needs to be done, and helping the extremely busy harvest day happen with much greater ease. As Coree’s belly has grown rounder, and the crops heavier, we have relied on him, and he has come through for us. He, as well as a couple other friends who have given hours of their mornings and afternoons for the cultivation, weeding, and care of our gardens have been life-savers.
This season, we found the limit. We wanted to grow the CSA, and succeeded. Had the weather been co-operative, we could have supported about 40 families from this land for the duration of the season. As it was, we were pushed to allow our numbers to fluctuate in order to better serve. We will not try to grow more than forty veggie shares from our current location. Besides the realities of finding enough space for potatoes, sweet corn, and lettuce, we also found the limitations of our work energy. As Coree’s work potential declined through the season, the weight of the manual labor fell squarely onto Paul, and it was a load. We realized at some point that we would have had less work later if we had more help earlier. Some crops did not receive the mulch they needed to stay weed-free throughout the season. Mulching is a heavy and hot job, and goes slowly alone. Timely cultivation of un-mulched rows is another crucial job that was often difficult to keep up with as a one man show. Sometimes maintaining the planting and harvesting schedule was nearly all that could be done. So, we have learned that we cannot do another season without MORE help. Many of our farmer friends welcome interns, young people looking to learn the crafts of gardening and farming in exchange for the season’s experience, room and board. Next season, we will be joining that club.
Now, for specifics. There’s really too many details to delve in a double sided page, but we’ll try. It was a good year to be diversified. Had we been green bean growers, we’d be in deep trouble now. We’re grateful the season gave as much as it did. We were pleased with basic crops – tomatoes, lettuces, garlic, basil, and potatoes all came through well.
Our spring greens suffered some, first from the flood, then from the heat. Cucumbers and green beans were what we missed the most this season. Those of you who have been with us for awhile can attest that we are fond of these fruits! Our timing wasn’t perfect for summer squash in either of our plantings, but we enjoyed what we got of those.
We finally succeeded in planting enough sweet peppers, and almost enough eggplant (some of our second planting succumbed to the early heat as well) for the season. We grew more tomatillos this year than ever before, and for completely unknown reasons, they failed to thrive.
And OKRA – well – we’d never really grown okra in enough quantity to consider before this year. The Star of David okra has reached nine feet tall in the field now and is finally slowing down. We know now that it’s a winner, and will learn how to modulate production to meet seasonal demand without overwhelming you. Meanwhile, it will likely take a chainsaw to get the stuff out of the field!
Halona muskmelons rocked our world this summer after two years of ho-hum results. We will be growing them again. We wish they were not a hybrid, and so we will continue to grow some heirlooms along with them. Watermelons were one of the crops that needed an extra hand to keep weed free, and they also suffered from excess rain and heat. We were pleased to give them as long as we did and look forward to seeing your feedback about their quantities and qualities.
It was a moderate year for sweet corn, not the best, not the worst. It was a tough year all around for caterpillars and the corn had it’s share of ear worms. We ran out of room altogether for our rainbow field corn, which pains us. The seed will keep and we’ll try again next year.
Planting the fall crops felt like a gamble in 100 degree grasshopper-ridden heat, and it was. Several areas needed re-seeding, and some more time and space intensive crops, like broccoli, could not be sprouted and tended in time to repair the damage. Still, the greens have come through and there’s a beautiful garden-full growing now. We hope to share more with you as Autumn progresses.
Lulah has grown like the weeds (or should I say, like the okra?) and thoroughly enjoyed the company of your children at the Farmer’s Market Pavilion. She dabbled with planting her own garden this year and learned to pitch compost from the tractor bucket with her pint-sized shovel. Our children are the most important crop to tend.
Here’s a recipe for you this week:
Fried Green Tomatoes with Crispy Cornmeal Crust Serves 4 to 6
1/2 cup milk, or 1 egg beaten with 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup cornmeal or flour, or a combination
1 1/4 teaspoons salt plus more to taste 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
mild-flavored vegetable oil 4 large firm green tomatoes, cored, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1. Line a plate with paper towels.
2. Put the milk or the egg-water mixture in a shallow bowl; set aside. Put the cornmeal or flour in another small, shallow bowl and stir in the salt and pepper.
3. Fill a large skillet 1/4-inch deep with oil. Heat over high heat until the oil just begins to smoke, about 3 minutes.
4. Dip each tomato slice into the liquid, then into the cornmeal or flour. Carefully place the tomato slices in the oil and cook until golden and soft (but not mushy), 3 to 4 minutes on each side (working in batches as necessary). Adjust the heat as necessary to prevent burning.
5. Transfer the fried tomatoes to the paper towel– lined plate to drain. Season with more salt to taste. Serve immediately.
Thanks so much for participating in our farm this year. We hope to see you soon.
The Entwistles
Season Extention...
Red Springs Family Farm
October 14, 2010 week 21
Lettuce Sweet Peppers Garlic Mustard
Turnip Greens Potatoes Arugula Mizuna Radishes Green Onion Sweet Potatoes
One cold snap was all it took. The leaves have changed and the canopy is rapidly thinning. Our fingers were wet and cold this morning during harvest and the early light through the trees has turned from green to yellow.
It’s all-you-can-eat greens time! We hope you know how much we appreciate those of you who appreciate these greens. The gardens are beautiful right now, and we will endeavor to bring in more abundant dark leafy greens as our family time allows. There are some stunning collards and kale and even a few heads of broccoli looking promising out there.
The turnip greens are thinnings of the RED turnip patch, so they look like radishes, but the real radishes are in the herb bag with the arugula, mizuna, and green onions. Some folks may not believe us, but those radish greens are really good to eat too! The mustards are listed in our seed catalog as “Pink Lettucy Mustard Gene Pool”. Last year they were much more pink, but much less prolific; they are a breeder’s work in progress. The description reads: “terrific salad fixings, mild but with just enough tang to keep you interested.” We’ve found that they just need to be wilted for a satisfying cooked green. A topping of garlicky seasoned olive oil suites them well.
Here’s a few tips for excessive amounts of greens:
Greens Tacos
You could use more or less of any one of these ingredients. Serves 2-3
3/4 pounds greens, cleaned and sliced into approximate 1 inch pieces
2 chopped garlic cloves, or whatever you have on hand (onion, green onion...)
2 teaspoons cooking oil Pinch red pepper flakes or cayenne
2 Tablespoons cream cheese 4-6 small corn tortillas or 2-3 larger flour ones
Heat the oil and add the garlic, having the greens ready to go, and cook garlic for about 30 seconds. Then add greens and cook until bright green and wilted, add red pepper (and salt and black pepper if you like). Take off heat and stir in cream cheese. Heat tortillas, divide filling among them. Eat and enjoy.
Quick Greens (less than 10 minutes from start to finish)
Wash any type of greens that can be cooked (kale, radish greens, mustards, chard, spinach, etc.).
Saute with olive oil and garlic until wilted. Transfer to serving platter and add cracked black pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Easy yet delicious!
Take left-over greens, sauté them with onions, garlic, mushrooms and sliced sweet peppers, and freeze them in proportions to make a couple of omelets. Thaw them overnight (or in the microwave) and you’ve got a fresh green omelet anytime in the winter!
Enjoy! We’ll keep you posted…
The Entwistles
For my kingdom Thou gav’st me Nature,
Power to feel and delight in her wonders;
Thou sendest me, not as a stranger,
But as one who is privileged to search
Deep in the heart of a friend.
(Goethe, from Faust)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
week #17
Red Springs Family Farm
September 16, 2010 week 17
Lettuce Tomatoes Eggplant
Sweet Dumpling squash Potatoes
Roma Beans Garlic Sweet Peppers
Basil & Chives Hot peppers and Okra, if you like
It’s been a very busy but quite pleasant week on the homestead. Last weekend’s rain was just about the most agreeable one we’ve had all year. When it poured, it was brief and not so severe a pounding as we’ve experienced before. It was just enough rain to give everything a boost. The one piece of excitement that accompanied the nice rain came with the brief electrical storm on Saturday. We had just gotten off the phone, and unplugged the modem, when lightning struck near enough to the house to literally shock our telephone, sending a burst of light and smoke through the phone and throwing the receiver off the hook and across the room. We had heard stories about that happening, but never actually seen it! So, it was a quiet weekend, knowing the phone would not, could not, ring, until the phone company sent a repair guy Monday morning.
The last cheese order of the season is DUE. Since it is the last one we anticipate making for awhile, we’re cracking it open. You can order whatever cheese you want this month. To view the full selection, go to Kenny’s website: www.kennyscheese.com. To list briefly, there are Cheddars, Bleus, Monterey Jack, Colby, Goudas, Havarti, Gruyure (Norwood), Tomme, Brie, Asiago, and Swiss, with variations on several of those themes. The prices we offer tend to be comparable to the web store prices, sometimes a little better. Most can be had for $10/lb or less, with some exceptions. Inquire as needed. We need your orders no later than next Thursday, for October 7 delivery.
It’s also time to start thinking about storage crops. There are three more deliveries (after today) remaining in our main season. We hope to be back, after taking a break for our New Arrival, with at least some greens and the like, but it would be best to order your storage crops sooner rather than later. We can offer an assortment of winter squashes (butternuts and acorns primarily, with limited Tennessee pumpkins available), white potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Everything is $1 per lb. This means about $25 per half bushel, and $50 per bushel basket full. To see exactly how big those quantities are, ask at pick up.
The winter squash coming your way today are Sweet Dumplings, and they are ready to eat now. They are slightly blemished specimens picked up at Long Hungry Creek Farm (just downstream from us) so they won’t keep as well as most. Our tomato supply was also augmented from Long Hungry today. We’re grateful to be in a neighborhood where we can share abundances like this.
One of the tricks to eating locally and seasonally is to continually regard the gluts of the season as good fortune, even when we are overwhelmed by their quantity (sweet peppers and okra this year). Seasonal eating also keeps us aware of what a real treat foods like sweet corn and watermelons are. They are not the same when they come from California or Florida in April or November. This year, though not every year, green beans have been a rare delight. Enjoy!
Here’s a couple of nice simple ways to prepare winter squashes:
Oven Roasted Squash with garlic and parsley
Choose a favorite winter squash – butternut, acorn, whatever it may be – and peel and seed it. Cut into 1-inch chunks and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the chunks evenly on baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, until tender throughout and lightly browned, stirring occasionally with a spatula to prevent burning.
Peel and chop very fine a few cloves of garlic and sauté in olive oil for just a minute, being careful not to brown. Toss the squash with the garlic and a handful of chopped parsley, taste and adjust the seasoning, and serve.
Winter Squash Puree
2 lbs winter squash of choice 6 sage leaves
Salt and pepper ¼ lb unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic ¾ cup milk
Preheat oven to 400. Cut the squashes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, season the flesh with salt and pepper, and fill the cavities with the garlic cloves, peeled, and the sage leaves. Place the squashes skin side down, in a shallow ovenproof dish, and add just enough water to barely cover the bottom, to prevent burning. Bake for abut 45 minutes, or until completely tender. Allow to cool. Remove and discard the garlic and sage.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter in the milk over a low flame. Scoop the squash flesh out of the skin and put through a food mill or a ricer. Whisk in the milk and butter to give a soft texture to the puree. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Sweet potatoes came out of the ground yesterday. It’s a beautiful crop this year and we’ll cure them briefly (give them a little chance to sweeten up) before sending them out to you.
In the next few weeks, you can expect to see more beautiful lettuce, as well as cooking greens, more squashes, including lovely butternuts and Tennessee pumpkins. Also look for fresh cowpeas, sweet potatoes, and more green onions.
The Entwistles are heading out for a last minute family vacation this weekend. It is no small deal to leave the chickens and turkeys and farm cat behind, and it marks a definite turn of season in that we cannot leave until all the Fall transplanting is done. We’ll still be scrambling to finish it all up tomorrow, but with luck, we’ll make it toward the mountains by Saturday afternoon. Wish us luck! We’ll be back to harvest cowpeas and see you next week.
Eat well and be well.
Your gardeners,
Paul and Coree
PS – Hidden Springs Orchard will be bringing us pints of little kiwis ($3 each). These are a GREAT seasonal fruit and we hope you’ll take full advantage of the opportunity to enjoy them.
"So here are the questions you could ask... Does this food build or destroy topsoil? Does it use only ambient sun and rainfall, or does it require fossil soil, fossil fuel, fossil water, and drained wetlands, damaged rivers? Could you walk to where it grows, or does it come to you on a path slick with petroleum?" - The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability by Lierre Keith
September 16, 2010 week 17
Lettuce Tomatoes Eggplant
Sweet Dumpling squash Potatoes
Roma Beans Garlic Sweet Peppers
Basil & Chives Hot peppers and Okra, if you like
It’s been a very busy but quite pleasant week on the homestead. Last weekend’s rain was just about the most agreeable one we’ve had all year. When it poured, it was brief and not so severe a pounding as we’ve experienced before. It was just enough rain to give everything a boost. The one piece of excitement that accompanied the nice rain came with the brief electrical storm on Saturday. We had just gotten off the phone, and unplugged the modem, when lightning struck near enough to the house to literally shock our telephone, sending a burst of light and smoke through the phone and throwing the receiver off the hook and across the room. We had heard stories about that happening, but never actually seen it! So, it was a quiet weekend, knowing the phone would not, could not, ring, until the phone company sent a repair guy Monday morning.
The last cheese order of the season is DUE. Since it is the last one we anticipate making for awhile, we’re cracking it open. You can order whatever cheese you want this month. To view the full selection, go to Kenny’s website: www.kennyscheese.com. To list briefly, there are Cheddars, Bleus, Monterey Jack, Colby, Goudas, Havarti, Gruyure (Norwood), Tomme, Brie, Asiago, and Swiss, with variations on several of those themes. The prices we offer tend to be comparable to the web store prices, sometimes a little better. Most can be had for $10/lb or less, with some exceptions. Inquire as needed. We need your orders no later than next Thursday, for October 7 delivery.
It’s also time to start thinking about storage crops. There are three more deliveries (after today) remaining in our main season. We hope to be back, after taking a break for our New Arrival, with at least some greens and the like, but it would be best to order your storage crops sooner rather than later. We can offer an assortment of winter squashes (butternuts and acorns primarily, with limited Tennessee pumpkins available), white potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Everything is $1 per lb. This means about $25 per half bushel, and $50 per bushel basket full. To see exactly how big those quantities are, ask at pick up.
The winter squash coming your way today are Sweet Dumplings, and they are ready to eat now. They are slightly blemished specimens picked up at Long Hungry Creek Farm (just downstream from us) so they won’t keep as well as most. Our tomato supply was also augmented from Long Hungry today. We’re grateful to be in a neighborhood where we can share abundances like this.
One of the tricks to eating locally and seasonally is to continually regard the gluts of the season as good fortune, even when we are overwhelmed by their quantity (sweet peppers and okra this year). Seasonal eating also keeps us aware of what a real treat foods like sweet corn and watermelons are. They are not the same when they come from California or Florida in April or November. This year, though not every year, green beans have been a rare delight. Enjoy!
Here’s a couple of nice simple ways to prepare winter squashes:
Oven Roasted Squash with garlic and parsley
Choose a favorite winter squash – butternut, acorn, whatever it may be – and peel and seed it. Cut into 1-inch chunks and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the chunks evenly on baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, until tender throughout and lightly browned, stirring occasionally with a spatula to prevent burning.
Peel and chop very fine a few cloves of garlic and sauté in olive oil for just a minute, being careful not to brown. Toss the squash with the garlic and a handful of chopped parsley, taste and adjust the seasoning, and serve.
Winter Squash Puree
2 lbs winter squash of choice 6 sage leaves
Salt and pepper ¼ lb unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic ¾ cup milk
Preheat oven to 400. Cut the squashes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, season the flesh with salt and pepper, and fill the cavities with the garlic cloves, peeled, and the sage leaves. Place the squashes skin side down, in a shallow ovenproof dish, and add just enough water to barely cover the bottom, to prevent burning. Bake for abut 45 minutes, or until completely tender. Allow to cool. Remove and discard the garlic and sage.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter in the milk over a low flame. Scoop the squash flesh out of the skin and put through a food mill or a ricer. Whisk in the milk and butter to give a soft texture to the puree. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Sweet potatoes came out of the ground yesterday. It’s a beautiful crop this year and we’ll cure them briefly (give them a little chance to sweeten up) before sending them out to you.
In the next few weeks, you can expect to see more beautiful lettuce, as well as cooking greens, more squashes, including lovely butternuts and Tennessee pumpkins. Also look for fresh cowpeas, sweet potatoes, and more green onions.
The Entwistles are heading out for a last minute family vacation this weekend. It is no small deal to leave the chickens and turkeys and farm cat behind, and it marks a definite turn of season in that we cannot leave until all the Fall transplanting is done. We’ll still be scrambling to finish it all up tomorrow, but with luck, we’ll make it toward the mountains by Saturday afternoon. Wish us luck! We’ll be back to harvest cowpeas and see you next week.
Eat well and be well.
Your gardeners,
Paul and Coree
PS – Hidden Springs Orchard will be bringing us pints of little kiwis ($3 each). These are a GREAT seasonal fruit and we hope you’ll take full advantage of the opportunity to enjoy them.
"So here are the questions you could ask... Does this food build or destroy topsoil? Does it use only ambient sun and rainfall, or does it require fossil soil, fossil fuel, fossil water, and drained wetlands, damaged rivers? Could you walk to where it grows, or does it come to you on a path slick with petroleum?" - The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability by Lierre Keith
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Chocolate Beet Cake
Ok - Coree confesses - we've not made the time to make this cake yet, but a friend of mine did and said it was great.
Here it is:
Chocolate Beet Cake
oil and flour for preparing pan
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup mild-flavored vegetable oil, divided
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 cups pureed cooked beets (3 medium beets)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
powdered sugar
1) preheat oven to 375. Lightly coat a 10 cup bundt pan or tube pan with oil and dust it with flour.
2) Partially fill the bottom of a double boiler with water and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to a simmer. Put the chocolate and 1/4 cup of the oil in the top of the double boiler. heat just until the chocolate melts; remove from heat and stir until well combined.
3) combine the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly beat in the remaining 3/4 cup oil chocolate mixture, beets, and vanilla.
4) Sift eh all purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour int o a large bowl. Stir in the baking soda and salt. Gently stir the flour mixture into the egg and chocolate mixture just until flour is mixed in. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
5) Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.
6) Carefully remove the cake from the pan and let cool on the rack. When completely cool, dust with powdered sugar.
Here it is:
Chocolate Beet Cake
oil and flour for preparing pan
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup mild-flavored vegetable oil, divided
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 cups pureed cooked beets (3 medium beets)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
powdered sugar
1) preheat oven to 375. Lightly coat a 10 cup bundt pan or tube pan with oil and dust it with flour.
2) Partially fill the bottom of a double boiler with water and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to a simmer. Put the chocolate and 1/4 cup of the oil in the top of the double boiler. heat just until the chocolate melts; remove from heat and stir until well combined.
3) combine the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly beat in the remaining 3/4 cup oil chocolate mixture, beets, and vanilla.
4) Sift eh all purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour int o a large bowl. Stir in the baking soda and salt. Gently stir the flour mixture into the egg and chocolate mixture just until flour is mixed in. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
5) Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.
6) Carefully remove the cake from the pan and let cool on the rack. When completely cool, dust with powdered sugar.
week #16
Red Springs Family Farm
September 9, 2010 week 16
Lettuce Tomatoes Eggplant Acorn squash
Potatoes Garlic Peppers Beets
Basil & Green Onions Cantaloupes, as available
Hot peppers and Okra, if you like
We’re making okra optional this week because we know that you, like us, may be just about okra-d out. The peppers have made themselves somewhat more reasonable with the cool snap this week, too. They’re just gathering themselves up to make more. If you’re feeling pepper-d out, too, please remember to freeze your sweet peppers. They work great for pizzas, omelets, and pasta sauces in the winter. Just wash them thoroughly, cut them into the size you like, and store them in a labeled zip lock or freezer box. Break off the amount you want, whenever you want it, after fresh pepper season is long gone.
Autumn is certainly fast approaching. This week’s weather has been so crisp and comfortable. It’s been awhile since it was so pleasant to work outdoors. We’re grateful. The creek is cold now, though it doesn’t bother Lulah in the least, and we’ve been fortunate to find some perfectly ripe paw-paws floating downstream from an over-hanging tree. The paw-paw is the closest thing to a tropical fruit we have in Tennessee. We hope you’ve had a change to try one. We wish we could find enough to share – ask around the Saturday farmer’s market if you’re curious.
Dark, succulent cooking greens are growing strong, and we hope to be able to give you all a bundle soon. Herbs are experiencing a resurgence of growth, too. The winter squash are getting more delightful by the day. If you want to hold onto your acorns, keep them dark and dry, not too cold, and they’ll keep and maybe even get sweeter, for several months. Butternuts keep all winter if held at a steady temperature with not too much direct light. We hope to dig sweet potatoes this weekend or next. The rewards of seeing through a season of CSA changes can be so sweet. If you haven’t had these sweet potatoes before, you’ll soon understand.
Until we have the sweets, there are the beets! These are the last of them for the season. Some of the roots have taken on a funny hourglass shape. We suspect the great fluctuations in temperature and moisture have something to do with it. Here are Alice Waters excellent instructions for basic beets to be prepared for a salad:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the beets thoroughly and put them in a baking pan with a splash of water. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they can be easily pierced through with a sharp knife. Uncover and allow to cool.
Peel the beets and cut off their tops and the bottom tails. Cut them in halves or quarters, depending on their size; sprinkle generously with vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Add a pinch of sugar if the beets are at all bitter. Do not add any oil until the beets have sat for about ½ an hour and have had a chance to absorb the flavor of the vinegar. The beets will never be as good if the oil is added too soon. The vinegar brightens and accentuates the beet flavor; the oil should be added sparingly, for balance only. Adjust the seasoning. Prepared this way, the beets are ready to be combined with other ingredients in salads. A few suggestions:
Beets, sherry vinegar, orange zest, and tarragon, with the option of some crushed garlic.
Beets, balsamic vinegar, shallots and toasted walnuts.
Beets, white wine vinegar, and chives; with smoked fish, cultured cream and lemon juice.
If that seems nice and all but doesn’t sound like anything your kids will eat, go look at the blogsite for the chocolate beet cake recipe. There’s not enough room to post it here. They’ll never know what hit ‘em. Yum.
If you’re tired of making pesto, we hope you’re freezing or drying your basil. If that doesn’t even appeal to you, we can thank Angelic Organics up in Chicago for this recipe, too:
Basil-Garlic Cream Cheese
The possibilities for this classic, creamy dip-spread-sauce are endless. You can even stir it into warm tomato soup. Vary the texture and flavor by changing the amount of olive oil or by using the oil from preserved sun-dried tomatoes or anchovies, or experiment with using cottage cheese, ricotta, or yogurt cheese in place of the cream cheese. It’s fresh basil—you can’t go wrong.
Makes 1 1/3 cups
8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh chives 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
Stir all the ingredients in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth. (You can also do this in your food processor.) Transfer the herbed cheese to a small dish and put it in the refrigerator to let the flavors develop for about 1 hour.
As for eggplant, you may want to know some storage tips: Eggplant prefers to be kept at about 50° F, which is warmer than most refrigerators and cooler than most kitchen counters. Wrap unwashed eggplant in a towel (not in plastic) to absorb any moisture and keep it in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator. Used within a week, it should still be fresh and mild.
Broiled Eggplant (from The Real Dirt on Vegetables)
oil for greasing the baking sheet mayonnaise
eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch slices freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup)
1. Preheat the broiler. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. Spread mayonnaise sparingly on both sides of each eggplant slice, then dip the slices in the grated Parmesan cheese, thoroughly coating both sides.
3. Arrange the slices in a single layer on the oiled baking sheet and place under the broiler until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the slices and broil until golden brown and crunchy on top and the eggplant is soft, about 3 minutes more.
Acorn squashes this week are Paydon’s Heirloom. They are the golden delicious of the acorns. For a decadent treat, try them stuffed: cut off the top, or cut in half, scrape out the seeds, and add apples or pears, walnuts, butter, a few raisins, more butter, and cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake them in a medium hot oven until the squash is nice and soft and maybe drizzle some honey on top after they’re done. They’re also nice JUST baked and topped with butter, salt and pepper. These are the simple tastes of fall.
Thank you for eating with us ~ Have a great weekend.
Paul, Coree, and Lulah Entwistle
September 9, 2010 week 16
Lettuce Tomatoes Eggplant Acorn squash
Potatoes Garlic Peppers Beets
Basil & Green Onions Cantaloupes, as available
Hot peppers and Okra, if you like
We’re making okra optional this week because we know that you, like us, may be just about okra-d out. The peppers have made themselves somewhat more reasonable with the cool snap this week, too. They’re just gathering themselves up to make more. If you’re feeling pepper-d out, too, please remember to freeze your sweet peppers. They work great for pizzas, omelets, and pasta sauces in the winter. Just wash them thoroughly, cut them into the size you like, and store them in a labeled zip lock or freezer box. Break off the amount you want, whenever you want it, after fresh pepper season is long gone.
Autumn is certainly fast approaching. This week’s weather has been so crisp and comfortable. It’s been awhile since it was so pleasant to work outdoors. We’re grateful. The creek is cold now, though it doesn’t bother Lulah in the least, and we’ve been fortunate to find some perfectly ripe paw-paws floating downstream from an over-hanging tree. The paw-paw is the closest thing to a tropical fruit we have in Tennessee. We hope you’ve had a change to try one. We wish we could find enough to share – ask around the Saturday farmer’s market if you’re curious.
Dark, succulent cooking greens are growing strong, and we hope to be able to give you all a bundle soon. Herbs are experiencing a resurgence of growth, too. The winter squash are getting more delightful by the day. If you want to hold onto your acorns, keep them dark and dry, not too cold, and they’ll keep and maybe even get sweeter, for several months. Butternuts keep all winter if held at a steady temperature with not too much direct light. We hope to dig sweet potatoes this weekend or next. The rewards of seeing through a season of CSA changes can be so sweet. If you haven’t had these sweet potatoes before, you’ll soon understand.
Until we have the sweets, there are the beets! These are the last of them for the season. Some of the roots have taken on a funny hourglass shape. We suspect the great fluctuations in temperature and moisture have something to do with it. Here are Alice Waters excellent instructions for basic beets to be prepared for a salad:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the beets thoroughly and put them in a baking pan with a splash of water. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they can be easily pierced through with a sharp knife. Uncover and allow to cool.
Peel the beets and cut off their tops and the bottom tails. Cut them in halves or quarters, depending on their size; sprinkle generously with vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Add a pinch of sugar if the beets are at all bitter. Do not add any oil until the beets have sat for about ½ an hour and have had a chance to absorb the flavor of the vinegar. The beets will never be as good if the oil is added too soon. The vinegar brightens and accentuates the beet flavor; the oil should be added sparingly, for balance only. Adjust the seasoning. Prepared this way, the beets are ready to be combined with other ingredients in salads. A few suggestions:
Beets, sherry vinegar, orange zest, and tarragon, with the option of some crushed garlic.
Beets, balsamic vinegar, shallots and toasted walnuts.
Beets, white wine vinegar, and chives; with smoked fish, cultured cream and lemon juice.
If that seems nice and all but doesn’t sound like anything your kids will eat, go look at the blogsite for the chocolate beet cake recipe. There’s not enough room to post it here. They’ll never know what hit ‘em. Yum.
If you’re tired of making pesto, we hope you’re freezing or drying your basil. If that doesn’t even appeal to you, we can thank Angelic Organics up in Chicago for this recipe, too:
Basil-Garlic Cream Cheese
The possibilities for this classic, creamy dip-spread-sauce are endless. You can even stir it into warm tomato soup. Vary the texture and flavor by changing the amount of olive oil or by using the oil from preserved sun-dried tomatoes or anchovies, or experiment with using cottage cheese, ricotta, or yogurt cheese in place of the cream cheese. It’s fresh basil—you can’t go wrong.
Makes 1 1/3 cups
8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh chives 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
Stir all the ingredients in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth. (You can also do this in your food processor.) Transfer the herbed cheese to a small dish and put it in the refrigerator to let the flavors develop for about 1 hour.
As for eggplant, you may want to know some storage tips: Eggplant prefers to be kept at about 50° F, which is warmer than most refrigerators and cooler than most kitchen counters. Wrap unwashed eggplant in a towel (not in plastic) to absorb any moisture and keep it in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator. Used within a week, it should still be fresh and mild.
Broiled Eggplant (from The Real Dirt on Vegetables)
oil for greasing the baking sheet mayonnaise
eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch slices freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup)
1. Preheat the broiler. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. Spread mayonnaise sparingly on both sides of each eggplant slice, then dip the slices in the grated Parmesan cheese, thoroughly coating both sides.
3. Arrange the slices in a single layer on the oiled baking sheet and place under the broiler until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the slices and broil until golden brown and crunchy on top and the eggplant is soft, about 3 minutes more.
Acorn squashes this week are Paydon’s Heirloom. They are the golden delicious of the acorns. For a decadent treat, try them stuffed: cut off the top, or cut in half, scrape out the seeds, and add apples or pears, walnuts, butter, a few raisins, more butter, and cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake them in a medium hot oven until the squash is nice and soft and maybe drizzle some honey on top after they’re done. They’re also nice JUST baked and topped with butter, salt and pepper. These are the simple tastes of fall.
Thank you for eating with us ~ Have a great weekend.
Paul, Coree, and Lulah Entwistle
Thursday, September 2, 2010
week #15
Red Springs Family Farm
September 2, 2010 week 15
Lettuce Peppers Eggplant
Garlic Potatoes Okra
Tomatoes Tromboncini Basil &Chives
Cantaloupes, as available Hot peppers, by choice
It seems strange to say, but it’s hard to really ever see it coming, this change in season. This year has been especially extreme of course, but it happens each year, and almost always in September. One week, the garden looks green and feels like summer, and over the course of a few days, the summer crops melt into the ground and are gone. This week we saw the end of cucumbers and summer squash from our gardens. Paul began tearing them out to plant more fall crops in their place. It’s good to see things turning over for the new season. We’ve seen the first red and purple leaves on the sweet gum trees and a few red tinges in the dogwoods, too. Black walnuts are always first to jettison their yellow leaves, and in wind gusts, they fly around our hollow.
So much work has been done, so much still to do around here. We covered all the fall transplants with remay to protect them from the ravenous grasshoppers before the last flood, and have been working our way through the rows, uncovering them, cleaning out the weeds and loosening the rain-packed soil so that they can grow more and better. The squash and cukes are being pulled out and later, faster fall plantings sown, with hopes of a gentle rain Friday night to tuck them in. Okra has to be picked every other day to keep it from becoming really too big. The plants are towering over everything else in the garden now, and still producing a profusion of beautiful yellow hibiscus-like flowers each day. A good piece of the upper garden is ready to be mowed, now that the winter squash have been pulled from the field and watermelons are finished. The eggplant will appreciate the breathing room. Very soon it will be time to dig the sweet potatoes and sow cover crops for fall and winter.
These unusual summer squashes are Tromboncini. At this stage, they are good and tender, zucchini-like, stir-fried or roasted, tossed with olive oil, garlic, and herbs. Our neighbor grows them for both summer and winter squash, but they are most delicious at the summer squash stage. Later in the season they become good keepers (though not as tasty as our favorite acorns and butternuts) and grow into some zany contortions, too.
A couple of nice recipes for this week’s fare:
Sautéed Peppers and Pears (off the line)
4 medium fresh red or yellow peppers, cored, seeded, and cut to 1/4-inch strips
3 medium firm-ripe pears or Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut to 1/4-in-thick slices
3/4 cup (3 oz.) shredded jack or Munster cheese 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
In a 12- to 14-inch frying pan, combine peppers and 2 tablespoons of the butter; stir over medium heat until peppers begin to get limp, 7 to 10 minutes. Add remaining tablespoon of butter and fruit. Cook uncovered, stirring often, until fruit is soft and tender when pierced, 5 to 7 minutes longer. Pour into dish and immediately sprinkle with cheese. Serves 6. (NOTE: If you’re using our pears, only cook them until warmed through – they won’t last 7 minutes in the heat.)
And this is a wonderful eggplant dish from 108 Recipes:
Sesame Noodles with Roasted Eggplant
1 large (or 2 small) eggplant 2 cloves garlic
The Marinade:
½ c. dark sesame oil ½ c. soy sauce
¼ c. balsamic vinegar 3 T. brown sugar
½ t. salt 1 t. hot chili oil
1 bunch scallions ¼ c. chopped cilantro, plus leaves for garnish
3 cloves garlic, pressed 2 T. freshly grated ginger root
1 12 oz. Package Japanese soba noodles 1/3 c. toasted sesame seeds
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, and place the pieces flat side up in an oiled baking dish. Peel the garlic, slice it thinly, and stuff it into the eggplant flesh. Brush the eggplant with olive oil. Bake uncovered at 375 for 45 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft but not mushy.
Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients, except the ginger and garlic. Boil the noodles according to package direction – al dente, not too soft. Divide the marinade into two. Pour one half of it over the noodles and toss well.
Add the ginger and garlic tot eh other half of the marinade. When the eggplant is done and is cool enough to handle, peel it and cut or tear it into narrow strips. Place the strips in the ginger and garlic marinade so they are entirely covered.
For best results, the two main parts of the salad should now be covered and refrigerated, overnight if possible. Two hours before serving, combine them. Add the sesame seeds, and garnish with whole cilantro leaves.
As with all dishes that contain acidic marinades, use glass, ceramic, or stainless steel mixing bowls to prepare and to store this salad. In the unlikely case that there is some left over, it does keep well for several days.
If you are overwhelmed with the okra, put it up for winter. Don’t miss the great benefits of Vitamin K, Vitamin C, folates, and fiber that these pods provide. Here are a couple of preservation tips:
Freezing: Wash. Remove the stems at the end of the seed cells, being careful not to expose the seed cell. Water blanch small pods 3 minutes and large pods 4 minutes. Cool promptly and drain. Leave whole or slice crosswise. Package, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal, label and freeze.
To freeze for frying: Wash and remove stems. Blanch small pods 3 minutes and large pods 4 minutes. Cool promptly and drain. Slice crosswise and dredge with meal or flour. Spread in a single layer on shallow trays. Place in freezer just long enough to freeze firm. Package quickly leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal, label and freeze.
There’s something about this time of year and purple foods. The eggplants are glowing purple globes in the garden, and the red/purple lettuce leaves seem especially vibrant. They contrast well with the red and yellow peppers. We hope to clean out the last bed of beets next week, adding another shade of purple to the show. The first batch of acorn squashes is ready for you too, but they are yellow, not purple. We’ll keep spinning the color wheel. Enjoy your food!
Yours, the Entwistles
“Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature” ~ Michael Faraday, 1849
September 2, 2010 week 15
Lettuce Peppers Eggplant
Garlic Potatoes Okra
Tomatoes Tromboncini Basil &Chives
Cantaloupes, as available Hot peppers, by choice
It seems strange to say, but it’s hard to really ever see it coming, this change in season. This year has been especially extreme of course, but it happens each year, and almost always in September. One week, the garden looks green and feels like summer, and over the course of a few days, the summer crops melt into the ground and are gone. This week we saw the end of cucumbers and summer squash from our gardens. Paul began tearing them out to plant more fall crops in their place. It’s good to see things turning over for the new season. We’ve seen the first red and purple leaves on the sweet gum trees and a few red tinges in the dogwoods, too. Black walnuts are always first to jettison their yellow leaves, and in wind gusts, they fly around our hollow.
So much work has been done, so much still to do around here. We covered all the fall transplants with remay to protect them from the ravenous grasshoppers before the last flood, and have been working our way through the rows, uncovering them, cleaning out the weeds and loosening the rain-packed soil so that they can grow more and better. The squash and cukes are being pulled out and later, faster fall plantings sown, with hopes of a gentle rain Friday night to tuck them in. Okra has to be picked every other day to keep it from becoming really too big. The plants are towering over everything else in the garden now, and still producing a profusion of beautiful yellow hibiscus-like flowers each day. A good piece of the upper garden is ready to be mowed, now that the winter squash have been pulled from the field and watermelons are finished. The eggplant will appreciate the breathing room. Very soon it will be time to dig the sweet potatoes and sow cover crops for fall and winter.
These unusual summer squashes are Tromboncini. At this stage, they are good and tender, zucchini-like, stir-fried or roasted, tossed with olive oil, garlic, and herbs. Our neighbor grows them for both summer and winter squash, but they are most delicious at the summer squash stage. Later in the season they become good keepers (though not as tasty as our favorite acorns and butternuts) and grow into some zany contortions, too.
A couple of nice recipes for this week’s fare:
Sautéed Peppers and Pears (off the line)
4 medium fresh red or yellow peppers, cored, seeded, and cut to 1/4-inch strips
3 medium firm-ripe pears or Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut to 1/4-in-thick slices
3/4 cup (3 oz.) shredded jack or Munster cheese 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
In a 12- to 14-inch frying pan, combine peppers and 2 tablespoons of the butter; stir over medium heat until peppers begin to get limp, 7 to 10 minutes. Add remaining tablespoon of butter and fruit. Cook uncovered, stirring often, until fruit is soft and tender when pierced, 5 to 7 minutes longer. Pour into dish and immediately sprinkle with cheese. Serves 6. (NOTE: If you’re using our pears, only cook them until warmed through – they won’t last 7 minutes in the heat.)
And this is a wonderful eggplant dish from 108 Recipes:
Sesame Noodles with Roasted Eggplant
1 large (or 2 small) eggplant 2 cloves garlic
The Marinade:
½ c. dark sesame oil ½ c. soy sauce
¼ c. balsamic vinegar 3 T. brown sugar
½ t. salt 1 t. hot chili oil
1 bunch scallions ¼ c. chopped cilantro, plus leaves for garnish
3 cloves garlic, pressed 2 T. freshly grated ginger root
1 12 oz. Package Japanese soba noodles 1/3 c. toasted sesame seeds
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, and place the pieces flat side up in an oiled baking dish. Peel the garlic, slice it thinly, and stuff it into the eggplant flesh. Brush the eggplant with olive oil. Bake uncovered at 375 for 45 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft but not mushy.
Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients, except the ginger and garlic. Boil the noodles according to package direction – al dente, not too soft. Divide the marinade into two. Pour one half of it over the noodles and toss well.
Add the ginger and garlic tot eh other half of the marinade. When the eggplant is done and is cool enough to handle, peel it and cut or tear it into narrow strips. Place the strips in the ginger and garlic marinade so they are entirely covered.
For best results, the two main parts of the salad should now be covered and refrigerated, overnight if possible. Two hours before serving, combine them. Add the sesame seeds, and garnish with whole cilantro leaves.
As with all dishes that contain acidic marinades, use glass, ceramic, or stainless steel mixing bowls to prepare and to store this salad. In the unlikely case that there is some left over, it does keep well for several days.
If you are overwhelmed with the okra, put it up for winter. Don’t miss the great benefits of Vitamin K, Vitamin C, folates, and fiber that these pods provide. Here are a couple of preservation tips:
Freezing: Wash. Remove the stems at the end of the seed cells, being careful not to expose the seed cell. Water blanch small pods 3 minutes and large pods 4 minutes. Cool promptly and drain. Leave whole or slice crosswise. Package, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal, label and freeze.
To freeze for frying: Wash and remove stems. Blanch small pods 3 minutes and large pods 4 minutes. Cool promptly and drain. Slice crosswise and dredge with meal or flour. Spread in a single layer on shallow trays. Place in freezer just long enough to freeze firm. Package quickly leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal, label and freeze.
There’s something about this time of year and purple foods. The eggplants are glowing purple globes in the garden, and the red/purple lettuce leaves seem especially vibrant. They contrast well with the red and yellow peppers. We hope to clean out the last bed of beets next week, adding another shade of purple to the show. The first batch of acorn squashes is ready for you too, but they are yellow, not purple. We’ll keep spinning the color wheel. Enjoy your food!
Yours, the Entwistles
“Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature” ~ Michael Faraday, 1849
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