Week 3

Even during the busy season I find a bit of time to look at cookbooks and food blogs.  One blogger/cookbook writer who I like a lot is Andrea Nguyen.  She has written several Vietnamese cookbooks, but her blog is a bit more diverse in its recipes.  The other day I stumbled on an entry from 2017 that talked about Joyce Chen.  Chen, who was born in China, opened several restaurants in Boston in the 60's and 70's, had a cookbook, a cooking show briefly on PBS and a line of stir fry sauces.  Despite my New England upbringing and my childhood admiration for Julia Child, who filmed her cooking show on the same set as Chen, I had never heard of her.   Her story is interesting and I am excited to have a cookbook to keep my eye out for when I am in used bookstores.  My collection of cookbooks is bordering on absurd, but every time I pull one down thinking I should pass it on I change my mind.  I just love them and the history they contain.  I ended up making the recipe for Peking meat sauce noodles that Nguyen adapted from Chen's cookbook.  It was incredibly savory and great for this time of year.  I adapted it a bit myself and used frozen udon noodles mainly because I like any excuse to eat them.  I love how thick they are and I love the springy/chewy texture.  The recipe was great because it calls for both radishes and radish tops.

Lettuce
Carrots
Snap Peas
New Potatoes - These potatoes will not store for long.  They should be used soon.
Cucumber
Radishes - Radishes aren't just for salads.  They can be roasted or sauteed as well.
Strawberries - Large Only

Week 16 

With the equinox just around the corner and the ground littered with leaves it seems appropriate to start dishing out winter squash.  Your first squash will be a spaghetti squash.  There are people who think it tastes great with marinara.  I am not one of them, but the strands are fun and it makes a simple side dish when tossed with some garlic, herbs and butter.  It is also good tossed with butter, roasted kale, mushrooms and topped with a bit of Parmesan.  Because it has a mild flavor you can season it any way you like.  If you are looking for some  inspiration and recipe ideas  the Huffington Post has a couple dozen photos with recipe links you could check out.

We have only pulled spaghetti squash and some delicata (in your boxes soon, I promise) thus far but this week we hope to get the rest of it out of the field and into the barn.  Where it is all going to go I have no idea!  We didn't seed anymore than last year but after seeing how much space the spaghetti squash is taking up I am a little skeptical.

Carrots
Beets - If you haven't jumped on the beet chip bandwagon yet here is your chance.  Be careful, they are easy to burn.
Potatoes - We have been rubbing potatoes with oil, rolling them in course salt and rosemary and baking them right on the oven rack.  So good - I forgot how tasty a good baked potato can be.  I know what potatoes I would like to give you tomorrow but some of the varieties have a lot of bug damage so I am going to resist making promises about the variety but I find that even the waxy potatoes are great baked.
Lettuce
Turnips - These small Japanese white turnips star in a very nice short video in the Kitchen Vignettes segment on PBS.  It is only three minutes long and shows you how to make soba noodles with turnips and shitake mushrooms.  You can find the dancing turnip video here or if you would rather just check out the recipe it can be found here.
Cherry Tomatoes - last of the season!
Kohlrabi - We don't grow much kohlrabi because it isn't particularly popular but I think it tastes great.  We had a salad tonight for dinner with some shaved radishes, kohlrabi, carrots and the the lettuce that most of you will be getting.  I made a poppy seed dressing that I liked.  It was much lighter than the really sweet poppy seed dressing you can buy.  The whole salad was inspired by the recipe for a shaved turnip and radish salad from a beautiful cookbook I heard about on The Splendid Table radio show.
Spaghetti Squash
Zucchini - Large Only
Number Two Tomatoes - The slicing tomatoes haven't been looking great lately but summer is quickly coming to an end and we thought you might enjoy one last tomato even if it is a little on the ugly side.

A small share went home without any brussel sprouts last week.  It was one of the first boxes to be picked up.  Please let us know if it was you.

I am pleased with the boxes this week - lots of stuff I like to eat.  I hope you enjoy it too.

Carrots
Bok Choy 
Lettuce
Korean Daikon Radish - Do you ever eat banh mi, those delicious Vietnamese sandwiches?  Do you love the carrot and radish pickle that is on them?  Well, you now have a big ol' radish to make some of your own.  Like many Southeast Asian pickles it is eaten shortly after mixing.  It also makes a yummy side dish.  We had some last week with grilled salmon.  I will also include a link for a radish kimchi if you are feeling a bit more adventurous.
Butternut Squash 
Shallots - These would be good roasted with some butternut squash cubes!  They would also be good sliced and fried until crisp and then used as a garnish on your butternut squash soup.
Mixed Hot Peppers - If you don't think you can use all of these at once you can throw them in a Ziploc bag and put them in your freezer.  Then you can just pull one out when you need it this winter.


Diakon and Carrot Pickle

Put a half cup white vinegar in a pan and add 1/8 to 1/4 cup of sugar to it.  Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally and remove from heat once sugar has dissolved.

Cut one or two radishes and one or two carrots into matchsticks.

Slice up a red chile pepper and add it to the above veggies.  Use your own judgement on how much to use and if you should include the seeds.

Mix everything in a bowl with a bit of chopped cilantro.  If you are a speedy chopper and your vinegar mixture is still piping hot you may want to let a it cool just a little before you add it to the veggies.  Put in the fridge to chill and marinate.  I usually like to eat it within a day of making it.


Radish Kimchi