THE BEET : VOLUME 12, ISSUE 12

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 THE BEET : VOLUME 12, ISSUE 12

L'Shana Tovah! CSA pickup times are, as always, Thursday, 5pm-7:30pm at PS 56 at Lewis and Gates

In this week’s BEET:

1. CSA FYIs

2. Windflower Farm News (Corn this week!)

3. Tomatoes: Preserved, baked, and in a salad. (Excited about this week's long-awaited corn delivery? Check out issue 8 of The Beet for a few corn recipes for your bounty.)

 

CSA FYIs

  • A la carte Milk not Jails order deadline Sunday, September 8th: Milk Not Jails will be offering THREE special monthly order a la carte order options this Fall to our CSA members. Make one-time orders of milk, cream, yogurt, butter, saurkraut, granola and more through their online order form. Deadline Sunday, September 8th at 8pm for delivery at the September 19 CSA pickup.

    CALENDAR OF SPECIAL MONTHLY ORDERS
    September: Order deadline Sept 8th / Deliveries the week of Sept 16
    October: Order deadline Oct 6 / Deliveries the week of Oct 14

    November: Order deadline Nov 3 / Deliveries the week of Nov 11

  • Lewis Waite Meat Share order deadline this Sunday Please place your meat share orders through their online order form by this Sunday, September 8th for delivery Thursday, September 12th.
  • PLEASE BRING PLASTIC BAGS!    Some of you must have a stash laying around somewhere. We have very few left on site and those extra bags really save the day when members forget to bring their own!

WINDFLOWER FARM NEWS

Delivery #13, Week of September 2, 2013
This week: corn at last! I’ve been as disappointed as I suspect you have that there has been no corn to help fill out our shares. Cathy Moses called today saying that they finally had corn for us, explaining that they had had difficulty establishing crops during the prolonged wet period in late spring and early summer. But now they are finally flush in corn, and she believes they will be for the next several weeks. Purchasing corn has always been at least partially about risk mitigation for us. It made sense to me that if we chose one or two crops that we would ask another farmer to produce for our CSA members, we’d reduce some of the risk related to crop losses that might be unique to our farm. We might have a hail storm, but, because hail storms are isolated and infrequent, it would be unlikely that one of our partner farms would also have hail. Asking the Moses Farm to produce corn for us seemed to me to be an effective way to spread the risk and help ensure that you’d get something in your share you find especially enjoyable. I still believe it to be a good strategy. The thing is, the rain this year was unusually damaging and widespread, and sometimes the risk in farming cannot be worked around. This week’s share will consist of sweet corn, tomatoes, Thai basil, red leaf lettuce, arugula, sweet peppers, edamame (if it’s ready) or green beans (if edamame is not ready), potatoes and onions (or cukes or squash). I hope you enjoy it. Next week you’ll be getting many of these items again, along with spinach and carrots. Your fruit will be peaches. Apple and pear season will be starting soon.

Best wishes,

Ted

 

 Recipes: Tomatoes: heirloom tomatoes

This week we are including a few recipes to help you get through the ample tomatoes we have been receiving recently. There is a simple heirloom salad that makes the most of the natural deliciousness of tomatoes by doing very little to them, a baked tomato dish, and perhaps most importantly, a recipe to help you preserve your tomatoes if you just can't eat them all before they turn.

 

Dried Tomatoes, Italian-Style

                                    --from Fancy Pantry by Helen Witty via CHCSA core member Ruth Katcher

Ingredients

4 lb ripe but not oversoft Italian tomatoes

salt

Distilled white vinegar

Olive oil

Sprigs of fresh or dried rosemary or tarragon, optional

  1. Rinse and dry the tomatoes.  Cut out the stem scar and the hard portion of core underneath. Halve the tomatoes if they’re small or quarter them if they’re large.
  2. Arrange the tomatoes, cut surface up, on drying racks (cake racks are fine). Sprinkle them lightly with salt.
  3. Place the racks in an oven; turn the heat control to 200 degrees and leave the tomatoes for 30 minutes. Reset the control for 140 degrees and leave the oven door ajar. Dry the tomatoes until they’re leathery, not hard, switching the shelf positions in the racks occasionally. When they’re about half dry, flatten the pieces with a spatula. The time required will depend on your oven, and the size of the pieces, but as a rule, the tomatoes will be ready in about 6-8 hours. The drying can be done in more than one session, if you like.
  4. Cool the tomatoes completely. Place them in a bowl and sprinkle them quickly with the vinegar. Toss the pieces rapidly to moisten them. Immediately empty the bowl onto a double layer of paper towels and pat the tomatoes thoroughly dry with more towels.
  5. Pack the tomatoes lightly into a clean jar, including a sprig or two of fresh rosemary or tarragon or a pinch or two of dried herbs if you wish. Pour in enough olive oil to cover the tomatoes generously, being sure no bits protrude. Cap the jar and shelve it at cool room temperature for at least a month before serving. After removing tomatoes from the jar, add more oil if necessary to keep the remaining tomatoes covered.

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Anchovy Vinaigrette

From Food and Wineheirloom salad

  1. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  2. 4 anchovies, minced
  3. 1 garlic clove, minced
  4. 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  5. 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
  6. 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  7. 2 large eggs
  8. 1 1/2 pounds assorted heirloom tomatoes—large ones sliced, small ones halved
  9. Fleur de sel
  10. Freshly ground pepper
  11. Flat-leaf parsley, for serving
  12. Marjoram leaves, for serving
  1. In a small skillet, combine the olive oil, anchovies, garlic and lemon zest.
  2. In a small bowl, toss the shallot with the vinegar and let stand for 10 minutes.
  3. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Turn the heat to low and, when the water is simmering, gently place the eggs in the water. Cook for 6 minutes, until lightly boiled. Have an ice bath ready near the stove. With a slotted spoon, plunge the eggs in the ice bath and let cool for 2 minutes. Peel the eggs.
  4. Arrange the tomatoes on 4 plates and season with fleur de sel and pepper. Scatter the shallot and vinegar over the tomatoes.
  5. Warm the anchovy dressing over moderate heat to a gentle simmer; pour over the tomatoes. Cut the eggs in half crosswise and place a half on each plate. Scatter the parsley and marjoram over the salad and serve at once.

Total Time: 30 minutes           Servings: 4

Suggested Pairing

Tangy, fresh tomatoes like the ones in this salad call for a vibrant white to match their acidity.

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes

From Eating Well

baked parm tomatoes

Ingredients

  • 4 tomatoes, halved horizontally
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 450° F.
  2. Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet. Top with Parmesan, oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil and bake until the tomatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Makes: 4 servings                  Active Time:

 

 

 

UncategorizedRachael Maingot