In the Box 4: Madison
Farm friends! Please accept my apologies for the late list – we find ourselves this week long on work and short on workers. Some weeks are just like that! We’re on the cusp of summer eating here with this box – just now enjoying the baby leaves and fruits of every good thing that will take us through ‘til fall.
This little mom came out of our woodpile with 4 little chicks she’d hatched this week. So cute!
Sorrel to Plant – This piquant plant is a little dynamo and if you plant it somewhere you can reach easily, I recommend chewing a tiny leaf of it whenever you go by. The leaves are so tart I can only take a little bite, but it is hard to resist nibbling when I see it. Like lemons, sorrel is high in vitamin C and chewing it raw is supposed to soothe an upset stomach. Though not widely used here, in Russian, Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish cuisine sorrel is used often in soups. In Africa, it’s cooked with greens. I like to ribbon a few leaves over salad, sautes and pasta. See a great recipe below. Plant it and water it though the hot months, and you’ll find this perennial herb will be one of the first things up in the spring.
Herb Bouquet: Pineapple Sage is the biggest stalk you have this week, with leaves slightly pink tinged and a bit fuzzy. And what a smell! For those of you not that sure of cooking with herbs yet, just pull a leaf off and add it to a glass of iced tea. If you feel adventurous, dice the leaves and sprinkle over fruit, or add to sugar cookie dough. Wonderful added to a marinade for grilled pork chops.Oregano Buds are stalks of oregano on the verge of flowering – but those buds taste as good as the leaves! We used this in a red pasta sauce tonight and it really gave it an extra shot of flavor. Chocolate Mint is the serrated leave with a burgundy square stem. All mints have square stems, which is pretty cool, but this mint is really the best of all. Sweet and mild enough to chew straight! The Bronze Fennel and Dill look almost exactly alike – ferny – but they taste quite different and one is darker in color. Use the dill with a vinaigrette over the swiss chard this week and try the fennel chopped over fish or potato salad. The Rosemary is a twig that looks like a pine bough. Sooooo amazing with fried potatoes! The chives are just a nice basic addition, or cheerful garnish, over egg omelets, baked potatoes, salads.
Basil – Oh, the start of pesto season is greeted with such joy in our house! There are lots of great ways to use basil, and many of them go nicely in the same meal. For dinner tonight we enjoyed a bruschetta appetizer to our pesto pasta dinner and we used basil in both. For the bruschetta, I chop two tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves and a handful of basil leaves. Then I add a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. This mix sits while I slice a baguette diagonally and brush one side with olive oil. The slices are laid on a baking sheet and toasted for a few minutes, then removed so we can spoon the tomato mixture on top. Yum! See below for the pesto.
Arugula – I love arugula raw – as a salad, in a salad, or garnishing a pizza or pasta. But some of our members have asked about cooked arugula and many chefs do cook it – try substituting it for spinach or wild greens in a recipe. I found this terrific bread salad with arugula on the web and it uses the greens wilted. I love bread salad and the next time I get into town I’ll get a baguette and try it.
Baby Curly Kale – When we lived in Chicago our neighbors were members of a CSA that apparently put kale in every box – because we usually had it passed on to us! For that reason, we include those tougher greens only a few times each season so people can enjoy them in moderation. We hate for our members to get sick of anything! But these baby kale bunches are a true treat we beg you to try in a unique recipe for Kale Chips passed onto us by our good friend Bryan. I found a web page with gorgeous pictures of them and detailed instructions. But basically, all you’ll do is preheat your oven to 400, rinse the kale, toss it well in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of rice wine vinegar, lay on a parchment covered baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then roast for 5 minutes, flip and roast another 5 minutes. Then allow to cool and eat.
New Potatoes – These little beauties are a mix of Red Gold and Adirondack Red potatoes. Wash gently and eat with the brilliant skins on. The insides are colored either gold or red – mix for a lovely potato salad.
Baby Swiss Chard – Chard, like kale, is a rather firm cooking green when it gets large, but this first picking is tender, succulent and so flavorful. We haven’t bothered to cook it, since it’s so soft and sweet – wash, chop leaves and stem all together, and toss with a light dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and dill. Local Farm Member Becky enjoyed her bunch last week cooked up with eggs for breakfast. DO try the stems! They taste like baby beets. And so pretty…
Broccoli – Oh, this poor little broccoli! When the heads bolted in the spring heat, we cut them off in the hopes of encouraging side shoots so we could bring you at least a few bites before the fall crop. This is all we’ve got so far! If the weather stays relatively mild, we’ll see lots of side shoots which make great broccoli spears with tender stems. But for now, this is it.
Salad Mix with Nasturtiums, Sage Blossoms and Calendula Petals – We’ve tilled in all but this last row of the late-planted salad mix. The weather is too hot for salad now, but this was in the shade of the potatoes so it’s held on a bit longer. The red leaves are radicchio, so if you don’t enjoy the more bitter “greens,” you can pull them out and have a more mild mix.
Flower Bouquet: Butterfly Bush and Black Eyed Susan
Sorrel and Goat Cheese Quiche
This recipe comes from the Luna Circle Farm newsletter.
2-3 cups sorrel, coarsely chopped
a few scallions, chopped
3-4 ounces goat cheese (chevre)
3 eggs
1½ cups milk
¼ teaspoon salt
Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread goat cheese (or any strong flavored cheese) in the bottom of a piecrust. Cover with chopped sorrel and scallions. Beat eggs, salt and milk together. Pour over greens. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Circle M Basic Pesto
Basil – as much as you’ve got
Olive Oil
Walnuts
Garlic
Shaved Parmesan Cheese
Lemon Juice
If you’ve ever been out to the farm during a meal, you already know how I cook, so you’ll understand this recipe quite well. “Pesto” comes from the same root as mortar and pestle, so it really can be just any few greens or herbs mashed up together with olive oil. We use a food processor here but otherwise follow that basic idea. Wash basil gently then pick leaves off and throw in a food processor. The smaller stems are fine to use. We don’t like to waste any basil! Add the washed leaves of any other herb or green you are in the mood for – arugula, chickweed, spinach and lemon balm have all been used in my kitchen. Add a few cloves of garlic – just peeled. Add a cup or so of walnuts, a 1/2 cup or so of Parmesan cheese, a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Blend. Add more olive oil to create the consistency you want – thick for a sandwich spread, thin for a pasta sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste
Chris said,
July 21, 2010 @ 8:51 am
Hi,
I’m looking to purchase a half hog in the fall. Do you have an idea when this might be available?
Thanks,
Chris