Week 21- 1 more to go!

 

Hi everyone,
So we're down to the penultimate week of veggies! Hard to believe- but the freezing wind and rain and hail have made it a little easier to accept. :>) But despite the cold weather, we have some nice veggies for you this week.

Here's what's in your bags:
Leeks
Acorn Squash and/or Delicata Squash
Kale
Tomatoes
Kennebec White Potatoes
Green Peppers
Eggplant

Lots of great things to cook with these- here are a few ideas for the potatoes and leeks-
A classic Potato Leek Soup recipe:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/potato_leek_soup/

Or baked in a Potatoe Leel Gratin:
http://localfoods.about.com/od/winter/r/potleekgrati.htm

And a flexible recipe that can use the leeks, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes:
A Turkish vegetable casserole called Turlu Turlu. Sue made it and it was a big success. The flavors only got better with time!
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/turlu-turlu

Week 20- 2 more to go!

Hi everyone,
The season is really starting to wind down now. But the late fall veggies are some of my very favorites. I love potatoes, winter squash, carrots for roasting, leeks, cabbage, cauliflower... the list goes on. As I get all my onions cleaned and my garlic braided and my winter squash washed and stored, I feel secure and ready for another winter. I assume this satisfaction at stashing a bunch of food for the cold months is a feeling left over from a time when the grocery store wasn't just a short drive or walk away. But it is nice to know there's plenty of food in the house ready to be used for many meals with family and friends. It makes winter something to look forward to, really, instead of dreading it.

But enough philosophizing. In your bags this week you have:
Yellow potatoes
White onion
Garlic
Cooking (Pie) pumpkin
Kohlrabi or Cauliflower or Broccoli
Rainbow carrots (yellow, white, pink, orange and reddish- they're all carrots and all very tasty!)
Red or green cabbage
Tomatoes

If you're not sure about kohlrabi or what to do with it, check out this article. It has a bunch of recipes and cooking instructions- note the kohlrabi and celery root puree, if you still have your celeriac (aka celery root) from last week. 

 

And don't be shy about cooking that pumpkin!

Treat it just the same as any other winter squash- cut off the top, cut it in half (the skin isn't very tough so it cuts pretty easily) and scoop out the seeds. Feel free to save these for roasting, if you like. The I put the two halves cut-side down on a cookie sheet or broiler pan. Bake in the over for an hour or so at 350. Cook longer if you need to, it varies quite a bit. But the end goal is for the pumpkin to be quite soft when poked with a fork.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Then just scrape the soft flesh off the rind, whip with a fork in a bowl, and it's pumpkin puree, ready to cook with or freeze once it's cooled off. It freezes really well, so I usually cook my pumpkins right away and freeze it to use in pies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin cookies or pumpkin pancakes (my favorite!). You probably don't want to let it sit around until Thanksgiving. It might last, but pumpkins aren't usually the best keepers, so better use it before you lose it!

Happy Cooking, everyone!

Best,
Sarah
for Lucky Moon Farm

Lucky Moon CSA Week 18

Hey everyone-
Sorry for the lapse in posts. What with all the work it takes to grow your veggies, there hasn't been much time for anything else.

But in your bags this week:

Shallots (like onions, but fancier :>)
Beets
Delicata Winter Squash (cooks fast, and you can eat the skin- yum!)
Sweet Peppers
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Yellow Satina Potatoes
Beans or Cauliflower
Salad Mix
Eggplant

The Satina potatoes are just about my favorite- smooth, creamy, great for baking or mashing- they're great.

 And the Delicata squash are really nice. They have great flavor- you can cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and bake it in the oven at 350 for 20-30 mins until soft. Then a little butter and salt, and you've got a very tasty treat. 

I tried this new recipe the other day out of my Joy of Cooking book:
Cauliflower and Potato Curry- wow!

1) Cut a cauliflower head into florets and boil for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Peel and cut into 1/2 cubes two medium potatoes. Boil for 5 minutes in the cauliflower water, then drain and rinse under cold water to stop them from cooking. Set aside with the cauliflower.
2) Chop a medium onion and add to 1/4 cup of oil heating in a dutch oven or deep skillet with a lid. Saute the onions for a few minutes. Meanwhile, in a food processor, mince 1 peeled, cored, sliced apple, 3 cloves of garlic, 2 hot peppers and 1 Tbsp shredded ginger (or add powered ginger later). Add the minced mixture to the onions and cook until the onions are getting soft.
3) Add 3 Tbsp of curry powder, 1 tsp salt (ginger if you need to) and 1 Tbsp flour and continue sauté-ing for 3 minutes, stirring, to brown the curry and flour slightly.
4) Add 1 15 oz can of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of broth or water. Stir, then add the potatoes and cauliflower back to the dutch oven. Add 1 can of chickpeas. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes. Add more broth if it seems too dry. Add peas or spinach at the end if you'd like something green.
5) Serve over rice, sprinkled with golden raisins and chopped cashews. (optional)

Lucky Moon CSA Week 16

Hi everyone-
It really feels like fall now- I've been apple picking, I'm making loads of applesauce, and my living room is filling up with onions that need cleaning and garlic to be braided (and soon baskets of dry beans and crates of winter squash). It gets pretty crowded :>)

Here's what you have this week:
Tomatoes (starting to slow down a bit)
Cherry Tomatoes
Yellow Onion
Salad Mix
Cilantro
Baby Bok Choy
Beans
Sweet Peppers (even the long red wrinkly ones- they're an Italian heirloom frying pepper)
Summer Squash for some (we'll be doling it out as it comes in)

The bok choy and peppers would be nice in a stir fry together-

I stopped by Adam's Acres last weekend- it's a local organic apple orchard, and they have some really nice looking apples! They're located between Pompey and Jamesville off of Sweet Road.
Here's their website with better directions: Adam's Acres

An organic apple orchard is a real rarity these days, so if you get the chance, stop by and pick a peck! They need our support to stay open and operating.

Have a great week!
Sarah
for Lucky Moon Farm

Lucky Moon CSA Week 15!

 

 

Hi everyone,
Wow, Week 15 already! I've had a few people ask me how long the CSA will run, and we plan on a total of 22 weeks, so plenty more to come-

The summer squash and cucumbers are winding down, so there will only be a trickle of them from here on, but the tomatoes, peppers and beans are still doing great. And then all the heavy end-of-season stuff is still on it's way. Potatoes, onions, winter squash, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower, kale and leeks... lots of great things to look forward to.

This week you have:

Carrots
Summer Squash
Cucumbers
Mixed Basil
Salad Mix (making sure you wash the lettuce is especially a good idea this time of year- the caterpillars are out in force. They seem to know cooler temperatures are coming and they're in a race against time)
Beans
Onions- variety: Ailsa Craig- as close to a Vidalia as we can grow here!
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Green Cabbage (an early small-ish variety called Gonzales)
Sweet Corn

If you have a lot of cucumbers piling up, why not try making refrigerator pickles? You can make them in very small batches, and you don't have to worry about any water-bath canner or making sure they seal properly. It's really quite simple and not very time-consuming. Here's a recipe and instructions for a small batch of Dill Pickles (any of the cucumbers you've received in the CSA will work fine). And here's a nice one for Bread and Butter Pickles (my personal favorite :>)

I don't eat a lot of meat, but this recipe caught my eye as a tasty way to use cabbage and carrots:
Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce

And here's a tasty looking recipe for green beans, copied from The Pioneer Woman blog. If you like, she includes a lot more pictures, descriptions and commentary on her page-

Fresh Green Beans, One Way

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

 

Ingredients

• 1 pound Green Beans
• 2 Tablespoons Bacon Grease (can Substitute 1 Tablespoon Butter And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil)
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 cup Chopped Onion
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 1/2 cup Chopped Red Bell Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Kosher Salt (can Substitute Regular Table Salt; Use 1/4 To 1/2 Teaspoon)
• Ground Black Pepper To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Snap the stem ends of the green beans, or cut them off in a big bunch with a knife if you’d like. Just don’t tell Granny.

Melt bacon grease in a skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook for a minute. Then add green beans and cook for a minute until beans turn bright green.

Add the chicken broth, chopped red pepper, salt and black pepper. Turn heat to low and cover with a lid, leaving lid cracked to allow steam to escape. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until liquid evaporates and beans are fairly soft, yet still a bit crisp.

You can add more chicken broth during the cooking process, but don’t be afraid to let it all cook away so the onions and peppers can caramelize.

Have a wooden spoon handy to protect your fair share.

CSA Week 14

Hi everyone,
This has to be really quick because I'm off to teach my little sister how to make pie (an important life skill!) I'll try to post a few recipes on this entry tomorrow.
But here's a quick post to tell you what's in your bags:
Salad Mix
Summer Squash
Cucumbers (think cucumber salad or refrigerator pickles!)
White Onion
Garlic
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
1 Black Bell Pepper (treat it like a green pepper- it's just a more dramatic color)
A few hot peppers- either blocky dark green poblanos, long skinny red/orange/yellow Hotwax or short little red Jalapeno-type peppers
Russet Potatoes
Beans

So many options! Have fun trying new recipes!

Best,
Sarah VanNorstrand
for Lucky Moon Farm