Hello CSA members,
Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a good holiday, and has some time scheduled to take get out of the city heat and relax a little bit this weekend. Or last. According to farmer’s market managers both last weekend and this weekend are considered vacation weekends, and we should thus expect our sales to fall during both of those times. I try not to pay too much attention to this talk – it seems like every weekend there’s some reason things might be slow: Father’s Day, a strawberry festival, a road race, Memorial Day, school just got out, school’s not out yet, Labor Day, a harvest festival. There’s pretty much a reason every single week why customers might not show up.
Fortunately, last weekend (though other vendors said it was slow) was a good one for us, as we started selling veggies at a new location:
the Bronxville Farmer’s Market. Market is open from 8:30-1:00 on Saturdays, and we’re hoping to be there for the rest of the season. Come check out the market if you want to meet me and Mimi or buy some extra vegetables. Or a go-go pop, our new obsession made by a man in Cold Spring. He makes 80 flavors. Banana pudding is delicious. Here’s the market link:
http://www.bronxvillechamber.com/farmers-market/
Anyway, Mimi and I managed to get a small holiday in this week when
we made it to the beach for an afternoon. Barely. We planned to leave
at around 11:00, but somehow ended up reading about Canola oil for an
hour and a half (Fascinating, really. Did you know canola stands for
Canada Oil Low Acid? Neither did I), and then the car battery was dead
(because we literally had not driven it since June 9th, a fact that
shows you just how much we make it away from this place and how
desperately we needed a beach day), and then when we did get to the
beach (Squantz State Park) the fee was much higher than expected
(minor annoyance) because we had crossed the border into CT, where we
are not residents, and soon after we laid out our towels on the grass
in the shade of a tree we were descended upon by a mob of over-eager
high schoolers employed by the park service toting weed whackers and
mowers getting the park ready for the 4th, presumably. Trying to make
things a bit better I jumped at the chance to buy a treat when the ice
cream truck showed up, but Mimi stepped on a bee, got stung, couldn’t
walk, took two benadryl, and passed out for 3 hours. Our visions of a
blissful afternoon were partially salvaged at the end of the day, when
a kind woman who I let borrow our knife offered us two gigantic pieces
of watermelon. It was sweet.
Alright, your veggies…One time a previous CSA member scolded me for
writing run on sentences. I worked for a college, and she was an
English teacher at the same college, so I guess she had the right. I
told her it was stylistic.
Arugula (Light green in a bag)
Tatsoi (Dark green in a bag)
To this point we’ve only given you tatsoi as part of a larger spring
mix. We like it on its own though, so we thought we’d mix things up.
It makes great salad and can also be sauteed. If you don’t read the
newsletter, you might mistake it for spinach because of its similar
shape and color. They are both also slightly sweet. So if you do
mistake it for spinach, it’s probably not a bad thing, since the two
can be used similarly.
Lettuce (red or green head)
Basil (bag of fragant herb)
The basil came in heavier this week, so you’ll have enough to make
some pesto. Check the recipe below.
Oregano (Bunch of fragrant herb)
Add to a tomato sauce, or use to garnish a salad or another dish.
Remember, you can freeze or dry your herbs!!!
Summer Squash and/or Zucchini (green or yellow and oblong)
There are four possible summer squash you might receive from us, and
you will probably receive them all at some point during the season. We
are growing one variety of traditional zucchini, which is dark green
and has smooth skin. The other green variety you’ll see is called
Costata Romanesco. This is an Italian variety that has a better flavor
and texture than many other summer squash. The thin, deep yellow
variety we grow is called Golden Glory, and has a drier texture,
making it excellent for sauteing and roasting. Finally, the yellow
squash with a slightly crooked neck and a green bottom is called
Zephyr, and is also known for its nutty flavor.
Carrots
Yay!
Kale (Bunch of greens that doesn’t have multi-colored stems)
Chard (Bunch of greens with multi-colored stems and soft leaves)
Scallions (Onion-looking)
Romanesco (Crazy fractal patterned head, light green, tinted yellow or
red sometimes)
We always like to grow this one because it’s so much fun. It actually
tastes good, too! Romanesco is a variety of cauliflower, and can be
eaten just like it. I actually think cauliflower in general grows in
an approximate fractal pattern (a mathematical term to describe a
pattern that is repeating and self similar – I’m sure you can find all
kinds of cool stuff about this online), but the pointy nature of this
variety forces you to notice it. A lot of times people buy these at
market to just put on their kitchen table as a centerpiece. Ours
aren’t the prettiest this year, again, because of the heat.
Oregano Salad Dressing
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
1 tsp. Pepper
1 ½ tablespoon fresh basil, minced
2 cloves chopped garlic garlic
3/4 cup oil
Combine all ingredients, except oil in a jar. Let marinate in
refrigerator for 24 hours. Add oil and shake vigorously. Makes 1 1/2
cups.
Basil Pesto from www.101cookbooks.com
check out the website the blog for photos and commentary
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001570.html
1 large bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried
(we did this for you)
3 medium cloves of garlic
one small handful of raw pine nuts
roughly 3/4 cup Parmesan, loosely packed and FRESHLY GRATED
A few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
Start chopping the garlic along with about 1/3 of the basil leaves.
Once this is loosely chopped add more basil, chop some more, add the
rest of the basil, chop some more. I scrape and chop, gather and chop.
At this point the basil and garlic should be a very fine mince. Add
about half the pine nuts, chop. Add the rest of the pine nuts, chop.
Add half of the Parmesan, chop. Add the rest of the Parmesan, and
chop. In the end you want a chop so fine that you can press all the
ingredients into a basil “cake” – see the photo up above. Transfer the
pesto “cake” to a small bowl (not much bigger than the cake). Cover
with a bit of olive oil, it doesn’t take much, just a few tablespoons.
You can set this aside or place it in the refrigerator until you are
ready to use it. Just before serving give the pesto a quick stir to
incorporate some of the oil into the basil. She occasionally thins the
pesto with a splash of pasta water for more coverage, but for our
gnocchi this wasn’t necessary.
Makes about 1 cup.
Roasted Romanesco with Salsa Verde from http://thekitchykitchen.blogspot.com/
2 large romanesco heads (or cauliflower, if romanesco is tough to find).
5 tomatillos
1 poblano chili
4 garlic cloves
Hot Sauce
A handful of cilantro
1/4 cup grated parm
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Pre heat oven to 425 F. Clean the romanesco and slice into halves.
Break off the florets, slicing the big ones in half. Coat with olive
oil (2 tablespoons-1/4 cup, depending on how much romanesco you have)
and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pop in the oven for about 15
minutes, shake the pieces around, flipping them, and roast for another
10. You should think, “Oh crap I burnt it,” when you pull them out.
But try it, the more caramelized and crispy the better. Meanwhile,
peel and broil the tomatillos for about 5-10 minutes, or until charred
and juicy. Char the poblano over an open flame, then scrape off the
skin and deseed it. Chop it roughly and pop it, the tomatillos, the
garlic, cilantro, and hot sauce in a food processor. Pulse it and
taste for season. Drizzle it over the romanesco and top off with
grated parm. Enjoy!
