Recipe with tomatillos

Salsa verde

Ingredients: tomatillos, onion or scallion, garlic, hot pepper, cilantro, oregano, salt, water

Preparing: Dice the tomatillos and onion or scallion and mince the garlic and hot pepper. Saute these ingredients over medium heat with some fresh cilantro leaves, fresh or dried oregano, salt and 1 cup of water per 2 pounds of tomatillos. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until all ingredients are soft and then puree in food processor or blender.

Eating: A great salsa for tacos, burritos or meats. You can all of the ingredients to taste.

Dish history: We were just experimenting with some ripe tomatillos and had all of the fresh ingredients from the garden. We like it spicy, so kept in some seeds of the hot peppers.

Week 14 CSA basket

These cool nights are harkening fall. And our garden is, too. We are reaching the end of tomatoes and our cooler weather crops are readying themselves for harvest. Expect the following this week:

Corn, cantaloupe, tomatoes (last of the heirlooms), cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, scallions, tomatillos, eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, potatoes, beets, green beans, chard, leeks.

Make a salsa verde with those tomatillos, scallions and hot peppers.

Week 13 CSA basket

Expect the following in this lucky-number-13th week:

Corn, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cantaloupe, basil, parsley, scallions, eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, tomatillos, kale.
 
Many of you have been asking for your greens again, and rightfully so. During these peak summer bounty weeks, most farmers take a break from lettuce, kale and chard harvesting to focus on harvesting your other goodies. But we miss our salads, too! And next year we hope to grow it throughout the season (but the July and August heat will produce more bitter greens, so be forewarned).

Saving up

Our venture into farming and sustainable living requires us to preserve as much food as possible from our season. Boy, we have been busy. From freezing greens and corn, to pickling beans and squash, to canning peaches and tomato sauce, our deposito and deep freezer are full. Although preserving food for the winter and spring hunger gap is a lot of work, requires a lot of patience and dedication, and makes you sometimes forget to enjoy the the vegetables while they are fresh, it is so worth the effort, come March, when we have a hankering for greens pie or spaghetti bolognese and peachs 'n cream for dessert.

Week 12 CSA basket

Sorry for the delay in posting this week's produce. The summer bounty continues, full of corn, cukes and tomatoes. But this is the last week of summer squash and zucchini... the squash bugs have taken their toll and we pulled the plants this week.

Expect the following in your baskets:
Unlimited corn, cukes and hot peppers; tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil, scallions, zucchini and summer squash, sweet peppers, eggplant, space spinach, onions.

Recipe w/ corn

This is a recipe sent in by Colleen B, one of our CSA members:

Chilled or Hot Simple Corn Soup 

Ingredients:
•       5 ears of corn, shucked
•       1 medium onion, chopped
•       1 garlic clove, finely chopped
•       3 tablespoons unsalted butter
•       4 1/2 cups water or stock

Cut kernels from cobs with a sharp knife, then cut cobs into thirds. Cook onion and garlic in butter with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add corn and cobs, water, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes. Discard cobs, then purée corn mixture I used an immersion blender put you can also put batches in a blender until very smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Force soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.  (I like the texture of the corn so I don’t do this but you can.) Chill until cold, at least 1 hour. Thin with water if desired and season with salt.

I have had this soup  both hot and cold. Soup can be chilled up to 3 days.

Garnish:  I put a white fish on top of this soup. I also have put tomatoes, basil and garlic on top. Crab meat or lobster meat, also yummy; or chillies and cheese.

First eggs!

Our hens are 22 weeks old and have given us our first eggs! They laid a few in the nesting boxes we constructed, but some also have a secret spot... under the trench coat of the scarecrow we erected to scare away the hawks.

And what luck! The first egg we cracked to cook up had two yolks in it...

Preserving: Corn

 August is the month for fresh, sweet corn. But if you can only eat so many ears right off the stalk, consider preserving the rest. Just cut the corn kernels off of the cob and freeze. Each ear of corn yields about 1 cup of kernels. For best results, use a vacuum sealer or drinking straw to extract as much air as you can from the bag. Then think about how nice it will be to have a warm corn chowder or creamed corn come December...

Week 11 CSA basket

We have an abundance of tomatoes! Please consider taking a good deal of tomatoes (20-30 pounds) and canning them for yourself. This winter you'll appreciate opening up a jar of local, pesticide-free tomatoes that were preserved at their peak freshness, rather than buying those tomatoes that taste like nothing or using a can opener to open an aluminum can of tomatoes. Here are some instructions on how to preserve tomatoes from a post last year. This is also a good source. Email me if you'd like further details.

Expect the following in this week's basket:
Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini and squash, basil, parsley, scallions, beets, onions, peppers (sweet and hot).

Week 10 CSA basket

We're at the halfway point of the season... hard to believe.

And that means we are still in the middle of the summer bounty. Expect much of the same from last week:

Corn, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and summer squash, cucumbers, fennel, scallions, onions, basil, parsley, beets, carrots, kale and chard.

I hope you're eating your corn the night you receive it! And those tomatoes are going to keep on comin'... we'll post some recipe ideas, but there's really nothing better than slicing up those heirlooms and enjoying them with a tiny sprinkle of salt.

Recipe w/ green beans

Green beans in yogurt sauce

Ingredients: green beans, yogurt (best if Greek-style), sour cream, gorgonzola cheese, green peppers, s+p

Preparing: Steam or boil beans for 5 minutes then plunge in ice water to stop cooking. Chop to 2 or 3 inch lengths. Mix your sauce: yogurt, sour cream (in 2:1 ratio), gorgonzola cheese crumbles (to taste). Chop some green peppers for crunch. Toss green beans and raw peppers into sauce and s+p to taste.

Eating: You can eat this as a cold salad or warm it in the oven/on the stovetop.

Dish history: We had this just the other night, a creation of NBA. The version we tried had mango-flavored yogurt in it by mistake... we suggest using plain : ).