Week 9; August 13, 2015

What's in the box? 

medium share

medium share

 

  • sweet corn!
  • sweet onions
  • bell peppers (red for "eat like a farmer" shares)
  • cucumbers
  • zucchini / summer squash
  • new potatoes
  • broccoli
  • eggplant (large and medium)
  • celery
  • green beans (large and medium)
  • heirloom tomatoes / tomatoes
  • hot peppers (jalapeno and hungarian hot wax)

garlic for "eat like a farmer" shares

Notes on the box.

Hope you brought your muscles...  This is a heavy box!

If you can't eat your sweet corn right away, store it in the fridge.  Each day that passes makes it less sweet, so keep that in mind with your meal planning.  To freeze corn, I like to cut it off the cob, put it in a bag, and freeze it.  We don't bother with blanching. 

Sweet onions are uncured and are best stored in the fridge.  Good for frying, enjoying fresh in salads or burgers, or making into carmelized onions. 

New potatoes are unwashed because the skin is very thin and tender and was getting peeled off just from our sprayer during washing.  You are able to much gentler washing them at home. 

Eggplant is another veggie that is best when eaten fresh.  Bitterness develops as it is stored.  This is a nice small variety that holds its shape well through cooking.  Great for stir fries and curries.  Or see the recipe below for roasted veggies which is my new weekly plan of attack for easy instant meals.

I was just reading a bit about storing some of these summer veggies.  It seems that most (including cucumbers, eggplant, and summer squash) store the very best in a paper bag at warm refrigeration temperature or 45-55 F.  So if you have a cool basement or a wine chiller, that may be the best place to store these veggies!  I store them all in the crisper or the warmest part of the fridge. 

The hot peppers are pretty dang spicy.  Carefully remove the seeds unless you have a high heat tolerance.  The Hungarian Hot Wax are the long tapered ones.  Most are yellow, but there are a few red and orange ones out there.  Don't take a big chomp out of them or you might be hurting!  They aren't sweet peppers! 

Cheese Shares.

This week is a recipe that I'm working on for our own original cheese.  It is quite a tasty snacking cheese and also great for a grilled cheese sandwich.  It is yet unnamed, but we are thinking Perseid in honor of the meteor shower we have been enjoying at night.  A midnight snack of cheese and some stargazing?  Can't think of many better things to do! 

You know how sometimes the cheese or butter your see in the store is bright yellow or orange?  This is usually from added coloring like annatto.  It's trying to evoke what this cheese naturally has.  The intense yellow color of our cheese is because of the cows' 100% grass diet (this is different than dairy marketed as "pasture raised").  The cows give less milk eating all grass than they would if we were feeding them grain, but the milk and cheese is much better for us with high Omega 3s, healthy fats, and Vitamin K.  Here's an article that elaborates on these points.  I hope that you are enjoying the beauty and deliciousness that comes from our beautiful cows' milk! 

Recipes. 

Roasted Everything

Cut zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, onions, and bell peppers into slices.  Spread sliced veggies into a rimmed baking pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss gently to make sure all the veggies are coated in oil.  Roast in 450 degree oven for 10 min.  Remove from oven, flip veggies with a spatula and roast for 5- 10 more minutes until veggies are roasted to your liking.  Use these veggies to toss into cooked pasta, top a sandwich, have as a side dish,  top a pizza, or any other thing you can dream up.  Great thing to do to have veggies on hand for quick meals.  

Simple Potato Salad

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Wash and large dice your potatoes then add to the boiling water.  While potatoes are cooking, finely chop celery and sweet onion.  Mix a few big spoonfuls of mayo, a little vinegar, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Add celery and sweet onion.  Drain potatoes when they are tender but not mushy.  Mix cooled potatoes into dressing and veggies.  Chill or eat at room temperature.  The wonderful thing about really fresh veggies is that they don't need much dressing up.  The flavor of the veggies themselves is so great that you can keep it really simple. 

Zucchini or Summer Squash Cinnamon Pancakes

Veggies for breakfast!  In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.  Stir in 2 cups shredded zucchini/ summer squash.  Drop batter by the spoonful onto a hot greased griddle.  Cook for about 3 min or until centers start to firm up.  Flip the cakes over and cook for another 2 min or until the pancakes spring back when lightly pressed on top.  Serve with butter and honey or syrup.

Zucchini Corn Fritters

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 Tbsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 2 cups grated zucchini or summer squash
  • 1 1/2 cups corn kernels
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • oil for frying

in a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cumin, sugar, salt, and pepper.  In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and butter.  Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Stir in zucchini and corn and cheese.  mix well. 

Fill the bottom of a skillet with about 1/2 inch of oil.  Fry in batches, adding more oil as needed until fritters are puffy, crisp and golden brown, turning once.  Remove to drain on paper towels. 

Sweet Corn and Pistachio IceCream

Sweet Corn and Coconut Milk Popsicles

Sweet Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce

Sweet Corn and Zucchini Pie (savory)

Cucumber Salsa
 

On the Farm.

We are super happy to have Josh's dad and Rama's mom and dad visiting right now from Missouri and Texas!  Projects that we were unable to get to suddenly are getting done!  Things are getting fixed and cleaned up, rye is being harvested,  and the kids are having a ball.  We really wished we all lived closer.  Farming with family makes so much sense.  Someday they will realize how much nicer Wisconsin is during the summer than Missouri or Texas and our dreams of intergenerational farming will come true!   

Don't forget August 22 is a farm party here at Turnip Rock.  We will be eating as much watermelon as we can handle, climbing on hay bales and tractors, you-pick cherry tomato all you can eat buffet, cows, calves, sheep, pigs, chickens, and lots of FUN!  We will be grilling and we will have a potluck.  There may be an optional work time before hand if we can get it set up in time.   Come out starting at 3 and we will plan on eating at 5 or 6.  Come see where your food is coming from and meet your farmers!  We really love meeting our members and we hope to see you! 

Next week...  watermelons! 

turniprockcsa on instagram!

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potatoes, Zucchini, Corn, CucumberTurnip Rock Farmersummer roasted everything, zucchini corn fritters, summer squash cinnamon pancakes, simple potato saladComment
Week 8; August 6, 2015

What's in the box?  

lots of yum! 

lots of yum! 

  • Sweet onions
  • sweet corn
  • new potatoes
  • broccoli
  • bell peppers
  • carrots
  • cucmbers
  • zucchini / summer squash/ patty pan squash
  • heirloom tomatoes
  • salad mix (large and medium) 

Notes on the box.

Sweet corn.  Oh yes.  As soon as you get home, put a big pot of water on to boil.  Start shucking.  Salt the water.  Put the corn into the boiling water and cook for maybe 5 minutes.  Take the corn out of the water (tongs!)  roll ears directly onto a stick of butter and sprinkle with salt.  Eat at least 3 ears (or try to break Josh's record of 8 ears).  Now you are having the best Summer ever.  If you can't eat all your sweet corn right away in one sitting, it's okay to store it in your fridge.  But as it sits, the sugars turn to starch, so the fresher you eat it the better!  If you know you won't eat it all in a week (there's more coming!) sweet corn is super easy to freeze.  I just cut the kernels off the cob, put it in a freezer bag and freeze it.  I don't bother with blanching and the corn is just fine for soup, chili, cornbread, or just a side during the long fresh sweet cornless months. 

The new potatoes are unwashed.  The skin is so thin and tender that it was peeling right off with just the spray from washing.  You will be able to wash them more gently.   Otto gave the new potatoes the best reaction when we were eating them.  He stopped talking in the middle of supper and said, "whoa.  mom, these are like, high level good.  the best food good." I like to parboil them then roast them in the oven to finish.  With a lot of butter and salt and pepper.  They also make lovely potato salad. 

Bell peppers are great for snacking.  Craving potato chips?  Try some sliced bell pepper instead.  It's satisfying!  They are easy to freeze, too.  I cut out the core and seeds, dice them, and freeze them raw.  We add them to soup, stir fry, and sometimes we put some on top of a frozen pizza to make ourselves feel better about eating frozen pizza.  It's true, sometimes your farmers resort to frozen pizza... But it's okay because we snack on bell peppers, right?! 

Cheese shares.

We got a couple of requests for more ricotta, so here ya go!  I also included a wedge of a cheese we named Circle of the Sun.  I am making it in larger wheels that will take quite a long time to age, but I couldn't resist making some in small wheels to be able to try it sooner.  It's a Gruyere or Comte style cheese with nutty sweetness.  Hopefully some of the larger wheels will be aged enough to get you some nice big chunks of it before the season is over!  If not, it will be really fabulous by next year!  

Recipes.  

Heirloom Tomato Tart with Ricotta and Basil

shumai siumai dumplings filled with broccoli and zucchini

Summer Vegetable Tian

Broccoli, White Bean, Ricotta "Meatballs"

On the farm. 

August is kind of the wall of the farming season marathon.  We've been running since March and we just have to keep going!  July and August have lots of lovely nicknames amongst vegetable farmers who all are looking pretty haggard and tired at this point in the season.  But the rewards are the great at this point, too.  Beautiful tomatoes, checking on melons daily, the nicest weather that anyone can remember, crashing into bed after very long exhausting days.  There's no way we could ever get everything done that needs to happen.  After each task is finished, 3 new ones have been written on the to do list.  Each task is marked with a star signaling it as a top priority.   There's a lot of pressure and a lot of stress.  But then there are lots of little things that bring us right into the moment and away from the worries, biting into a cucumber or sweet corn as it's being picked and is still cool from the morning air is so wonderful, especially if it's harvest is followed by a second pot of coffee at break time...   AND there's the super uplifting and encouraging emails and feedback we've been getting from our members.  What a difference that makes!  We love direct marketing because we love the connection to the people eating the food that we grow.  So much THANK YOU to our CSA members.  You all are THE BEST!  Thanks for that cup of water and cheering as we keep running! 

Remember to mark your calendars for farm events.  August 22 and September 26! 

Thanks to Dana for the wonderful pictures this week!

TomtoesTurnip Rock Farmer Comments
Week 7; July 30, 2015

What's in the box?

all shares have same items unless noted in smaller quantities for small shares

  • broccoli (large shares only)
  • sweet onions
  • green top carrots
  • head lettuce (large and medium)
  • summer squash/ zucchini/ patty pan squash
  • cucumbers
  • green beans
  • celery
  • bell peppers
  • heirloom tomatoes

eat like a farmer share bonus - garlic!


Notes on the box 

We just read an article about how cucumbers will keep better at room temperature.  I store ours in the fridge because I like them cold when I eat them, but if you'd like to store them on your counter, apparently that's the way to go! 

Remember to remove the tops from your carrots as soon as possible.  Then store them in a plastic bag. 

Heirloom tomatoes should be stored at room temperature.  Refrigeration changes the texture and makes them taste mealy.  If they are getting over ripe or you plan on cooking with them, you can put them in the fridge.  We try to send some that are less ripe and some that are ripe to eat when you get them so that you can have tomatoes throughout the week.  

The celery is probably unlike the stuff that you are used to from the store.  It's got a lot more flavor!  It's great chopped and put into salads or cooked in soups or stir fry.  The leaves can be used like you would an herb.  If your celery goes limp, soak in cold water and it will perk up again.  Store in a plastic bag in your fridge crisper (or wrap it in foil before storing).

Celery, bell peppers, and onion make up the "holy trinity of cajun cooking"  so now is a prefect time time try a gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee, or red beans and rice recipe! 

Cheese shares

This week we have feta and the Tomme.  This tomme is aged a bit longer than the last one you had, has a rind that was brushed and washed to keep mold from growing on the rind.  It is from later in the spring when the grass was really taking off.  You can see how much more yellow the cheese is because of the early spring grass (as opposed to the hay the cows were eating from the last tomme make).  The longer aging is making more nuttiness come through in the flavor. Yum!

Feta, cucumber, and tomato salad with a little balsamic vinegar?  YES. 

Recipes 

Have you grilled zucchini or summer squash, yet?  Try it!  Cut zukes and squash into long slices about 1/4 inch think, brush with olive oil, salt and pepper, and grill until tender.  serve hot and save some in the fridge to make grilled veggie sandwiches the next day. 

Summer Salad

  1. peel cucumber, cut in half and remove seeds, slice into half moons
  2. dice tomatoes
  3. sweet onion, diced finely (optional)
  4. mix veggies and drizzle with a small amount of balsamic vinegar and olive oil
  5. salt and pepper to taste

Summer's Bounty Enchilada Casserole (from Farm-fresh and Fast)

ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp canola oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, diced
  • 1 hot pepper, seeded and finely diced
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1 summer squash, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 2 cups enchilada sauce, divided
  • minced fresh cilantro
  • 2/3 cup crumbled feta or queso fresco
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 18 (6 inch) corn tortillas
  • 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
  • sour cream and salsa

directions

  1. heat oven to 450.  heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion, bell pepper, hot pepper and cook until slightly softened (about 5 min).  Add zucchini, squash, and garlic and cook for 4 more minutes.  Stir in the beans, rice, and tomatoes and cook until warm. 
  2. Transfer the pepper-zucchini mixture to a large bowl.  Mix in half of the enchilada sauce, the cilantro, and the feta.  Season with salt and pepper.
  3. to make the casserole, spread 1/2 of the enchalada sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.  layer 6 tortillas over the sauce.  spread half of the filling over the tortilla.  Repeat with another layer of 6 tortillas and the rest of the filling.  Add one more layer of tortillas on top.  Spread the remaining cup of enchilada sauce over the casserole.  Sprinkle the cheese on top.  Cover with foil and back for 20 min.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 min or until the cheese begins to brown.  Let cool 5 min before serving.  Garnish with sour cream and salsa. 

Super-Fresh Ratatouille

  • 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil, divided
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large or 2 small zucchini, chopped
  • 2-3 medium summer squash or patty pan squash, chopped
  • 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chopped fresh herb of your choice such as basil or oregano
  1. In a large pot with a  lid, heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook until soft.  Remove from heat.
  2. in a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 Tbsp oil and sautee zucchini and squash until browned (add extra oil if necessary) Add to the onion mixture
  3. Add remaining ingredients except herbs to the onion- squash mixture.  Return pot to heat, cover, and cook for 20-25 min stirring occasionally.
  4. Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning.  sprinkle in herbs and mix in. 
  5. Serve mixed into pasta, as a sandwich filling, or over creamy polenta as a main dish. 

Ground beef, Smoked Sausage, and Cabbage Jambalaya

suggested by members Susan and Rob.  In case you still have some cabbage!

Roasted Zucchini Tuna Melts (celery, zukes, onion)

Green Beans with Almond Pesto

On the Farm

Kelsie is heading off to grad school in Montana.  She makes beautiful pottery and has plans to make crocks and larger pieces.  Kelsie's positive outlook "If anything can go right, it will!", humor,  optimisim, and fun spirit will be missed.  Her willingness to step up and pitch in whenever and however needed will also be missed.  But the world needs more of Kelsie's amazing pottery!  Thank you so much for everything you have done and all you have shared with us, Kelsie!  Come back and visit anytime (and make it soon so that we have melons for you)!

We are excited to invite you to a party at the farm on August 22.  We will have a little optional work time before the party around and then we will be grilling and have games and a potluck.  We will start at 3 and have supper around 5 or 6. Bring your recipe for your dish... potlucks often become recipe swaps! 

 Our fall harvest party will be September 26. It'll be a potluck and we will have farm tours and music in the barn in the evening!  We hope that you can make it out to one or both of these events!  Bonfire at both events. 

Now, some beautiful photos by Dana

and now some more farm life...

Keep on rockin in the free world!

Next week...

  • more of the summer favorites PLUS...
  • field tomatoes
  • sweet corn!
  • new potatoes!
  • more broccoli

 

Cucumber, Tomtoes, Zucchini, cabbageTurnip Rock Farmersummer salad, Summer's Bounty Enchilada Casserole, RatatouilleComment