Week 20

Drum roll please...

Where does the season go?

A customer mentioned they were making a cabbage soup out of the Joy of Cooking.  We talked a little about it and I decided I would make it this past week.  She told me it was in the 75th anniversary edition, but I looked in my two older editions (yeah, I have a little cookbook problem, but there are worst vices) just for the fun of it as well.  They had a different version.  I love comparing different editions.  It is fun to see how the way we eat/what we want to eat has changed over the years.  We enjoyed it and it wouldn't surprise me if some of you still had the cabbage we gave you a few weeks ago so I will post the recipe at the end.

While making the chicken stock for the cabbage soup on Friday night something clicked in my brain and I realized that there was another soup recipe I meant to make this summer.  It is a Thai soup with pork stuffed cucumbers cooked in chicken broth.  Since we are pretty much done with cucumbers I went into a small panic, raced over to the farm and grabbed several cucumbers off of some essentially dead plants that I think were hit with a light frost.  They feel firm and the one I tasted was fine so I am going for it tonight.

One of the worst things about being too stubborn to buy produce is that I get a little crazed this time of year, trying to cook things "one last time" or in the case of the cucumber soup "one first time", before the autumn chill takes all the summer goodness away.  Not that I don't enjoy winter veggies.  I love them, but the thought of summer veggies not being available much longer makes them that much more desirable.

Today I did the Olympia market for part of the day so Kelly could get the garlic field ready for planting.  A customer told me that he likes to grill whole delicatas over a charcoal fire and then scoop out the seeds and puree it.  He compared it to babaganouj.  He didn't mention garlic, tahini or lemon but I think it might be delicious.  Now, I have a dish for my winter list!  There is always good food to be had and while I mourn the loss of summer it is fun to think about cooking new stuff as well.

I hope that you all had a chance to make all your summer favorites and also try a new thing or two.  I know that it can be hard to try new things when you are busy, but I also think it is a lot of fun and usually worth the stress.  Here we go, your last box.

Carrots
Leeks
Rutabagas or Turnips
Purple Potatoes
Head Lettuce 
Winter Squash - Spaghetti or Butternut, your choice
Garlic
Parsley - Large Only
Shallots - Large Only

Cabbage Soup, adapted slightly - Saute 2 small chopped leeks, 2 diced small onions, 2 tablespoons garlic in a soup pot until tender.  Add 6 cups mild broth, 2 sliced carrots, 1 teaspoon caraway seed, 2 small diced potatoes and bring to a boil.  Simmer until the potatoes are almost cooked.  Add 4 cups shredded green cabbage and simmer until cabbage is cooked.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in 1/4 cup chopped parsley and top with crumbled blue cheese.

Week 16

There are few things more beautiful than a sunny fall afternoon.  The warmth, the dryness in the air and a light breeze rustling the leaves all reminds me of growing up in New England.  I hope you all had a chance to enjoy the weekend.

We are still hauling squash.  Some years it is done in one push and others it is dragged out with a couple truck loads at the end of each day.  I don't know that one is really better than the other.  The nights have been mild and I am not worried about the squash but like any large project it is nice to just get it done.

Some of you seemed burdened by the cabbage you got last week.  I know, they look big and when you start shredding them they expand and take over your kitchen counter.  It breaks my heart just a little to think you don't love cabbage- it is such a wonderful vegetable and one of the few that I eat all year round and always enjoy.  I will include a couple recipes at the end because I have a feeling many of you still have the one you got last week rolling around your produce drawer!

We are starting off squash season with delicata squash.  It is the only winter squash we have eaten thus far and it was fantastic.  I just sliced it into "fries" and roasted them.

Delicata Squash
Broccoli
Sweet Peppers
Hot Pepper
Cucumbers
Cherry Tomatoes
Tomatoes
Radish
Kale
Lettuce-Large Only
Potatoes-Large Only

We like this red cabbage dish.  I usually use less clove and I often add a little extra lemon juice.  Sometimes I will add a bit of red wine vinegar and a tablespoon or so of sugar to make it more like  sweet and sour cabbage.

Red Cabbage with Cranberries

Cabbage and apples go great together.  In the dish below they are cooked but they are also great together raw in a slaw/chopped salad type of thing.

Braised Green Cabbage with Apples

Squash and Dry Beans

Week 4

Last winter I decided I would spend some time looking through my collection of old cookbooks and pull out a few retro recipes for the farm share.  I always enjoy looking at them.  In addition to the recipes it is always a bit of a history lesson.  Ones from the two world wars are particularly interesting as is the commentary about homemaking and the rise of industrial agriculture and prepared foods after the wars.  One of my favorites is Cooking by the Garden Calendar, published in 1955 and written by Ruth A. Matson.  I bought it at a junk store in Maine the summer I met Kelly.  The June chapter is called Eat 'Em Young.  I know July is just around the corner but I really enjoy how the June chapter starts so I thought I would share it with you.

"Luckily, there's a spigot at the corner of the garage nearest the salad garden, so I can indulge myself in the supreme delight of pulling a radish or a carrot or a scallion and munching it while the cool of the moist earth still suffuses it.  There is a moment when the pleasures of eating and of growing merge into one splendid ecstasy.  

I feel it in myself as I've seen it on the faces of like-minded lovers of the good earth, watching the gleam of satisfaction as some ardent gardener gazes on the straight, well-weeded rows of young growth.  He bends unhurriedly to pull a Cherry Belle, turns it to contemplate its glorious scarlet from every angle, brushes off the clinging earth-absently wiping his hand on the side of his jeans-and at last bites into the crisp root.  At this moment his face is rapt.  It has the glow of contentment with the future which will bring countless other moments."

It is a little over the top but it rings true.  The sheen of a young red radish is almost iridescent when you pull it out of the ground and while I quickly grow tired of them the first few are amazing in their beauty and a welcome change from all the spring green.   Carrots are even better.  Sometimes, we even do a little dance.  We celebrate the arrival of each vegetable.

I am including a cabbage recipe at the end from a different cookbook and will occasionally share a recipe from my collection.  The main problem is that most of them look horrible!  Cook peas for 20 minutes.  Yikes.  Having people over for dinner, while then, just dress up your mushy peas with a white sauce.  There are a lot of recipes for vegetables in white sauce.  Not necessarily bad, but not particularly exciting.

What is exciting this week?  Zucchini, I can't get enough of it lately.  We had some Zucchini fritters last week with fried eggs on a night I was too tired to cook a big meal and they were delicious.  I will put a link to the recipe below.

Carrots
Mixed Zucchini/Summer Squash
Snow Peas
Raspberries
Lettuce
Broccoli
Cucumber
Cabbage
Kale-Large Only
Snap Peas-Large Only

Red Hot Slaw - We had this last night with dinner.  I use to make a wilted slaw with a hot dressing but it never was wilted enough by just pouring the dressing on it.  Tossing the cabbage in the skillet for 30 seconds until it softened a bit worked great.  I didn't add much salt and didn't actually measure anything.  We liked the lemon juice but I think cider vinegar would be good too.  

4 slices bacon
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
4 cups finely shredded cabbage

Cook 1 slice bacon until it curls.  Set aside.  Dice remaining bacon and cook until crisp.  Saute onion in bacon fat.  Add lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.  Combine with cabbage.  Heat thoroughly.  Put cabbage mixture in serving dish.  Garnish with bacon curl in center and lemon wedges around the outside.

The TIME Reader's Book of Recipes, 1949
Two hundred and thirty favorite recipes of the women who read TIME magazine



Zucchini Fritters

 I added carrots and scallions and they turned out great.  I loved that they were more vegetable than fritter and that you just cook them in a frying pan like a pancake instead of deep frying them.

Week 6

I read two good articles on certified organic products and vegetables recently. The first in the New York Times is fairly critical of the certified organic label.  The other in Mother Jones defends it.  I don't know how many of you make a point to buy products labeled organic but if you have never given a whole lot of thought to what the label means you will find the articles interesting.

New York Times article
Mother Jones article in response

Your box if filled with beautiful vegetables today although you might notice a little hail damage on your lettuce.  We have had some trouble growing nice lettuce this year.  It is not uncommon for us to have some downy mildew in our lettuce in the spring.  However, this year it was worse than usual.  Last Wednesday we officially ended the lettuce drought.  We started harvesting from a planting that looked beautiful.  The lettuces were big with no trace of mildew, had a great texture and good taste.  And then hail the size of marbles fell on us on Friday!  I am happy the damage wasn't worse.  It could have been devastating.

Zucchini 
Garlic
Green Cabbage
Head Lettuce
Carrots
Beets
Raspberries - maybe the last of the season
Snow Peas
Potatoes - Large Only
Choice of Herbs (Dill, Cilantro, Parsley or Basil) - Large Only

Cabbage Recipe

Curtido - El Salavadoran Cabbage Slaw

I heard a story about a food truck in Seattle that serves pupusas and it gave me some dinner inspiration the other day. With or with out the pupusas, the El Salvadoran "cole slaw" that is served with them is great.  Traditionally it is lightly fermented but I didn't have time for that.  Here is my quick version.  I used a bit more cumin and oregano than I wrote but Kelly thought the oregano was bit strong.

1/2 head green caggabe shredded
2 carrots grated
1 small onion or scallions finely chopped
1/2 cup apple cider or white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mexican oregano (regular oregano would be fine)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Mix everything in a large bowl.  If you don't have time to let it sit you can squeeze it a few times with your hands.  That will give it more of a traditional texture.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference.

Coming soon....

Cherry Tomatoes

Green Beans

Tropea Onions

Week 3

I am not sure that the weather fairy knows it is summer.  I thought we were on the same page for a couple days last week when we were able to weed like mad, eat lunch under the apple trees and end our days tired and dusty while grilling up chicken wings and eating a cold noodle salad.  Next thing I know I am changing into dry clothes at lunch and wishing we had remembered to grab the propane tank from the house so we could wrap our cold fingers around a hot cup of tea.  Please, weather fairy send us more summer days so I can put away my down vest for at least a month!

The boxes look good today.  Happy cooking and good eating to all of you.  Since June is unpredictable, here is a recipe for cold spring days and one for warm summer days below.  Both highlight cabbage, an often underrated vegetable.  Fresh cabbage can be surprisingly delicious.

Bok Choy -  We love bok choy and we want you to as well.  They can get a little stringy but I think we successfully harvested you all nice tender ones.  The easiest thing to do is to stir fry them.  Put the choy on its side and cut off the bottom.  You can then easily separate the leaves and wash them.  The stems take a little longer to cook than the leaves.  We also eat it raw.  You will see bok choy again in the fall.  We take a break from growing it in the summer.
Green Cabbage 
Carrots 
Scallions
Snap Peas
Cucumber - We grow these in an unheated greenhouse to get them early.  Field cukes should start picking in a couple weeks.
Strawberries - Small Share Only
Salad Mix - Large Share Only
Broccoli - Large Share Only

Slow Cooked Cabbage in Gobs of Butter

After reading this recipe it will come to no surprise to you that Kelly and I sometimes grow out of our summer pants in the winter

Small shares have a about a one and a third pound cabbage and large shares have a little over a two pound cabbage.

For every pound of cabbage melt three tablespoons of butter over low heat in a heavy bottomed pan.  Add some sliced onion if you have it and your cabbage which should be quartered, cored and cut into 1 inch strips.  Cook partially covered for two hours stirring occasionally.   Your cabbage was just harvested and will be much juicier than one you would buy in a store.  I sometimes remove the cover completely for a short period to let a bit of liquid evaporate.  By the end of the two hours the cabbage should be lightly caramelized and melt in your mouth.

Massaged Cabbage Salad

Massaged salads seem to be all the rage in our farmer circle.  The usually include cabbage or kale and sometimes both.

Cut the cabbage in half, cut out the core and thinly slice.  If you have some kale feel free to mix a bit of that in to, just remove the stems before your slice it.

Put the greens in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt.  Gently massage the salt into the cabbage until the cabbage has softened and released some of its juices.

Let rest for 15 minutes then drain off and extra liquid.  Make a little dressing with some lemon juice, olive oil and a little dijon.  If Kelly was making it he would add some maple syrup or honey to sweeten it a bit.  Add some shredded carrots or chopped parsley for a little color, a handful of raisons for additional sweetness if you would like, toss and serve.

See you later.