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 18

This week's box is exciting.  Spinach!!!  Delicata Squash!!!  Leeks!!!  I don't like to get too enthusiastic about delicata because there are so many delicious squashes out there and sometimes I feel like people only want delicatas.  But, to be fair, they are pretty darn good and easy to cut and cook.  One of our neighbors, who once told me that delicata squash changed her life, was chomping at the bit for one this year.  She had eaten a grilled cheese sandwich with butternut squash and quince compote at a restaurant and wanted to make her own version with delicata.  She used roasted rings of delicata, hot pepper jelly and gruyere cheese.  Sounds delicious.  I think some grilled onions (I love onions and gruyere together) or maybe some arugula or spinach would be good on it too.  I look forward to making my own version soon.  Last year when we visited Omaha I had an open faced sandwich with roasted squash, gravy and sharp cheddar.  Although I haven't tried to replicate it, it was great.

Kelly is in Omaha this weekend tossing the football with his nephews and taking afternoon naps.  After enjoying my trip last week, I am so happy he gets a chance to get away and relax as well.  Besides, it is fun to have the house and farm to myself for a few days.  Hopefully all of you who pick up on Monday show up tomorrow but not at the same time!

I had originally planned to give you some sort of root vegetable (turnip, rutabaga, diakon radish) but I think we will hold off until next week for a root veggie extravaganza!  Now that is exciting, right?  I know, root veggies don't elicit the same excitement as that first cucumber or first cherry tomato but they have their place in fall soups, mashes and stews.

Carrots 
Spinach
Leeks - You could use your leeks with potatoes or cauliflower in a soup, roast with your squash or bake with chicken.  They are easy to use and have a mellow onion flavor.  I have not tried the recipe below but I like chick pea pancakes and thought they looked interesting.  They also call for winter squash.
Delicata Squash-  You could roast your squash with the leeks and poblanos for a delicious enchilada or quesadilla filling.  They are good baked, roasted or steamed.
Poblano Peppers - These spicy peppers can be roasted and used with steak in tacos, chopped up and used in chili or in the classic Mexican dish chile rellenos.
Potatoes
Broccoli 
Lettuce - Large Only
Cauliflower - I know, you were begining to wonder if we grew any this year.  We lost a lot of our spring transplants during one of the heat spells earlier in the year but that planting has come and gone.  I really don't understand why we aren't knee deep in the stuff at this point.  Last year there was more cauliflower than we could fit in our walk-in and we planted a little extra this year.  Over the next two or three weeks everyone will get a head.  We had been holding off until we had a harvest large enough to get everyone in the same week but at this point it seems best to get the ball rolling.


Chickpea Pancakes with Leeks and Squash