Pray For Rain. I actually wrote a song with that title a decade ago. Little did I know how much I’d be singing it in a future farming life. A local friend and fellow farmer, the owner of an organic hard cider apple orchard, has been counting days and she’s at 24 since the last rain in our neighborhood. Nevertheless, things grow! Here’s what’s in the box today:

Braised Escarole from Bon Appetit

Box 4, Madison, July 26

String Beans – Delicious Italian heirloom varieties. Cook briefly for the best flavor.

Pod Beans – These flat-podded green beans will grow up to be pink Vermont Cranberry soup beans. But right now they are terrific boiled briefly and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Salt and pepper. Thyme would be nice, too, or dill.

Bitter Summer Greens: Escarole and Radicchio – We in America don’t serve these as often as Europeans, but they are a special treat of summer heat. They can be added to salad, or lightly braised and enjoyed wilted. Escarole is often included in Italian white bean soup recipes. Because their leaves are tougher than salads we’re used to, I like them cooked. Here’s a great recipe from Bon Appetit, 1993:
Braised Escarole with Currants and Pine Nuts

3 tablespoons dried currants
2 tablespoons water
2 pounds escarole, halved lengthwise, cored, cut crosswise into 2-inch-wide strips
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Combine currants and water in small bowl. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain. Transfer currants to medium bowl.
Cook escarole in batches in large pot of boiling water just until wilted, about 2 minutes. Drain; cool under cold running water. Drain again; squeeze to remove excess water. Combine with currants.
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté just until beginning to color, about 2 minutes. Add escarole mixture and pine nuts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until escarole is heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cabbage – We’ve been waiting all summer for the cabbage to size up, because our most favorite ancestral recipe is for
Hungarian Cabbage and Noodles
Rinse and quarter cabbage. Shred or slice into thin strips. Saute in one stick butter for about 30 minutes, or until cabbage is soft and no longer green. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and try to allow the cabbage to stick to the pan every so often. It makes nice little bits of caramelized cabbage in the dish. Serve over wide egg noodles and fry up some Polish kielbasa or smoked sausage on the side. See if you don’t become addicted.

Garlic – Yippee! You never know what will be under there until you dig the garlic up, and it’s very thrilling this year. Huge and hot!

Sweet Onion – Our back porch harvest station boasts racks of curing onions this week, ready to pack up and store through the winter. But this sweet, undried onion is perfect for slicing onto hamburgers. Refrigerate.

New Potatoes – We had a few families out from Madison today, and the kids jumped into the garden hands-first to help us with the potato treasure hunt. And what a bounty! We’re sending you All Reds this week, and they really looked like rubies as we dug them out of the black dirt. Like the onion, these aren’t cured, so they have to be used quickly or refrigerated.

Carrots – Finally, the Science Fiction carrot mix has come into maturity, so we’ve got these crazy colors for you this week.

Mustard Greens – Spicy, hot and crisp, these greens are as fresh and healthy as it gets. Use sparingly in soups, rice dishes, or where ever you want a little kick.

Salad Greens with Lemon and Orange Gem Marigolds

Basil – Pesto Party!

Herbs – Flowering Dill, Parsley and Thyme. Try these in the goat cheese.

Goat Cheese – My friend Hilary makes this cheese daily from the milk of her small dairy goat flock. Yum. We use this like cream cheese on crackers, like ricotta in pasta, and like feta over salad.

What happened to the chocolate mint? Well, I’ve got loads of it growing here at Circle M, where we think mojitos are a summer staple. However, what you have that looks sort of minty in your box is actually Chocolate Eupatorium. In other words, purple Joe Pye weed, a lovely perennial that looks pretty next to my mint in the flower border. Today, as I was busy in the potatoes, I sent a WorkShare member to harvest the mint, and she mistook the perennial for the herb. Easy to do. I didn’t know the mistake had been made until I was helping a Member unload their box tonight. Oops! Hey, working together and learning is what CSA is all about. We’ll have more mint next week!