Refrigerator pickles and cucumber soup!

If you love pickles but want a simple option, refrigerator pickles are for you! Our friend Allaine says they taste just like the cucumbers her mother in law used to make and they are a big hit at potlucks all summer long! She suggests using less salt than listed and rinsing the cucumbers very well after salting.

Japanese Pickled Cucumber

By Sue Lau on May 21, 2002 on food.com

Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 10 mins
Servings: 4

Ingredients
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons salt ( to sprinkle)
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt


Directions

Place cucumbers in a bowl, sprinkle with salt, and let sit for 5-10 minutes.
Rinse cucumbers under cold water to remove salt.
Mix together rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve.
Pour over cucumbers.
Marinate cucumbers overnight in refrigerator in sealed container.

Photo by Peter Caswell

Lise's friend Marta is visiting today! They first met while in the Peace Corps in Bulgaria and so when we got talking cucumbers this morning they both immediately thought of one of their Bulgarian favorites- cucumber soup!

Tarator - Bulgarian Cold Cucumber Soup

By Nelka on May 15, 2003 on food.com

Prep Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 20 mins
Servings: 3-6

Ingredients
2 cucumbers (about 1 lb)
500 g plain yogurt (1 lb)
3 -4 garlic cloves
2 -3 tablespoons of crushed walnuts (optional)
1 bunch fresh dill
oil
salt
water (optional)

Directions
Cut the cucumbers into cubes and put them in a bowl. You may aslo grate them but it changes the look and the consistency.
Beat the yogurt with a fork until it gets liquid and pour it over the cucumbers.
Add the crushed garlic, the walnuts and the minced dill as well as salt and oil to taste.
If needed add some water to make the soup as liquid as you like but take care not to make it too "thin".
Put into the refrigerator to cool or add ice cubes.
Serve cold.

Week 6

Last week we focused on fall. Lise and I planted all of our fall brassicas in the field including kale, broccoli, cauliflower, collards, cabbages, and Brussels sprouts. The greenhouse is emptying out and for the first time this season we will not be filling it up again! We will continue to seed lettuce and a few other greens for the fall but the constant planting has slowed for the summer and is replaced by increasing harvests and lots of weeding. The recent rains have been great for our crops and for the weeds! We are paying particular attention to our fall carrots and beets, hoeing and weeding up a storm to give them the head start they need. While we are always looking ahead to be sure to set ourselves up for great harvests down the road, tomorrow is harvest day and there is plenty to look forward to in the short term. Peppers, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and more!

In the CSA:

• Green Peppers
• Eggplant- We have 3 varieties, all with a similar taste which can be used in any eggplant dish! Beatrice are large and bright purple (pictured right), Japanese eggplant are long and thin, and the Nadia are the tradition looking eggplant. There should be plenty to give each a try over the course of the season!
• Cucumbers 
• Carrots
• Cabbage-purple, mini green, and caraflex
• Fennel
• Summer squash 
• Zucchini
• Lettuce
• Carrots 
• Swiss Chard
• Kale- Toscano and Curly
• Arugula
• Yukina savoy
• Mustard Greens
• Red Russian Kale

CSA pick-your-own crops:

• Dragon Langerie Beans- A colorful snap bean. This week they are the perfect size for eating raw or lightly steamed

• Green Beans- A new planting is ready for picking this week.
• Sungold and Jasper Cherry Tomatoes- The first tomatoes of the season are here! Hurray! Sungold Tomatoes are a sweet, bright orange tomato, the Japers are a more traditional small red cherry tomato. There will be just a taste this week but more to come!
• Jalapeño Peppers- Time for spice!  If you like the flavor but want a little less heat, remove the seeds before adding to your meal.
• Sunflowers
• Basil- Genovese, Thai, and Lemon
• Other Herbs: Dill, Cilantro, Parsley

In the farm store:

Most of the same veggies, with the exception of eggplant and cherry tomatoes. We will likely have cherry tomatoes in the store on Saturday. Additional vegetables available in the store only will include scallions and maybe broccoli on Tuesday.

Marinated Zucchini Salad

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN from NY Times Recipes for Health

Raw zucchini can be a dull ingredient, but when it’s very thinly sliced it marinates beautifully, especially in lemon juice. I like to use a mixture of green and yellow squash here. Assemble this dish at least four hours before you wish to serve it, so that the squash has time to soften and soak up the lemony marinade.

1 pound medium or small zucchini, preferably a mix of green and yellow

Salt to taste

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, mint, chives, dill or a combination

1. Slice the squash as thinly as you can. Sprinkle with salt, preferably kosher salt, and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Rinse and drain on paper towels.

2. Mix together the lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Toss with the zucchini. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for four to six hours.

3. Remove from the refrigerator, and remove the garlic clove. Add the fresh herbs, and toss together. Taste, adjust seasoning and serve.

Yield: Serves four.

Advance preparation: This dish will keep for a day or two, but it is best served just after the herbs are added. The lemony zucchini will lose its flavor over time.

Week 5

Photo courtesy of Peter Caswell

While Melissa and I have been barely tolerating the recent heat and humidity out in the fields, many of our summer crops have been thriving under these conditions. Our cucumber, summer squash and zucchini plants are cranking out fruit at a rate that is challenging to keep up with (but believe me, it's a good type of challenge!). Some of our pepper plants have nearly full-sized green peppers and every time we turn around it seems like our tomato plants need another line of trellising. One of the most exciting sights this past week, though, was the appearance of baby watermelons. These will take a few more weeks to achieve full size (we grow smaller varieties of watermelon, so "full size" is much more manageable than what you're probably used to seeing in the grocery store) and ripeness, but they are really worth the wait!


Many thanks to Peter Caswell, who came by the farm on Saturday and took some lovely photos of our veggies (including the ones in this blog post).

In the CSA:
Cucumbers - We grow both pickling cukes and slicing (also called "salad") cukes. Pickling cucumbers tend to have thinner skins and fewer seeds, which make them more suited to pickling, but I also slice them up on salads.

• St. Valery carrots - Melissa tasted this heirloom variety for the first time last year while visiting some farms on the west coast. These carrots are quite sweet, but they are also known for storing really well. We grow another variety in the fall for winter storage, but if you do plan to store your St. Valery carrots for a while, we recommend storing them without the tops in a plastic bag in your refrigerator's vegetable crisper. They should keep for several months this way (if you have the willpower not to eat them before then!)
• Caraflex cabbage - This is our first time growing this type of cabbage based on the recommendation of another farmer friend. It has a unique conical shape and is known for a sweet and mild cabbage flavor.

  Caraflex cabbage. Photo courtesy of Peter Caswell

• Japanese Eggplant or Beets - Some mystery animal has taken a liking to our Japanese eggplants and hollowed out a significant percentage of the ripe fruit. For this reason, we don't have quite enough to offer all our CSA members this week, so you'll likely have the choice between an eggplant or another purple vegetable - beets!
• Fennel
• Summer squash - This week we've added Patty Pan squash to the mix. These summer squash are shaped like flying saucers!
• Zucchini
• Napa cabbage
• Mini green cabbage
• Lettuce
• Carrots (Nelson) - Nelson carrots are the same type of carrots you've already been enjoying so far this season.
• Scallions
• Kale- Toscano and Curly- Toscano kale is also called dinosaur kale because the texture looks like dinosaur skin!
• Arugula
• Yukina savoy
• Radishes
• Kohlrabi
• Baby bok choy

CSA pick-your-own crops: 

• Green Beans
• Basil
• Thai Basil
• Parsley

In the farm store:
Most of the same veggies, with the exception of eggplant and beets.


Multi Bean Salad

Green Beans are ready and for Melissa that means batches of Multi Bean Salad from her go-to cookbook: Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. Leftovers keep well for easy summer dinners. Melissa's favorite beans to use are dried pinto beans (they boil quickly with just an overnight soak), canned chick peas, and green beans of course!

Make this one day ahead of time. 6-8 servings.

From Moosewood: This recipe calls for 5 cups of cooked beans. Any kind of beans will do, but it’s extra nice if you use several different kinds and one of those is steamed whole green beans. If you are starting from scratch with dried beans, begin soaking them the night before. Don’t mix the different kinds of beans until after they are cooked, because cooking times vary. You don’t want them too crunchy or too mushy. Cook them in plenty of water (except green beans which should be cooked in as little water as possible) and test them periodically. How to gauge amounts: you can safely expect the amount of dried beans to double after they're soaked and cooked. You can marinate Hot Beans and cool, then chill them in marinade. They’ll really absorb the flavors this way.

The Marinade:

• 1/2 cup vinegar (cider or wine)
• 3/4 cup mixed olive and safflower oils
• 1/2-1 tsp salt
• lots of fresh black pepper
• a few dashes of marjoram or oregano
• 1/2tsp basil
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tbs red wine
• rind and juice from 1/2 a large lemon

Pour marinade over these and gently mix:

5 cups of cooked beans
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup finely minced red onion (optional)
freshly chopped parsley

Week 4

On Monday mornings Lise and I take a field walk. We plan the harvest for the week as well as scout what needs to be done to plan for the following week and beyond. This morning it was no surprise that summer squash and zucchini are in abundance; cucumbers and green beans are almost ready so we have them to look forward to in the coming weeks! During our field walk we also assess what we need to do to make each crop its best (and occasionally, what to do to save it!). We look at potential challenges, make our to-do list for the week, and then get to work! This morning that included mowing, weed whacking, seeding greens, carrots and beets, and preparing ground for our fall brassicas. Before we knew it it was time for lunch. Good thing it’s only Monday, we have plenty more left to do!

During the field walks we take note of what is going well on the farm, but it's dinner time when we really appreciate it!   Everyone here at Barrett’s Mill Farm loves eating vegetables.  I eat most veggies plain and simple either in salad or as a quick sauté with olive oil and salt. I find it delicious, but if you are wondering where that great smell is coming from in the evening look no further than the Holdorf-Conroy house, where more ambitious meals are the norm. A favorite that we all agree is well worth the time in the kitchen are Summer Rolls (see recipe below). They take some chopping but there isn’t much cooking so the house stays cool and the fresh summer flavors can not be beat! We will let you know what we are up to in the kitchen this summer, both simple and elaborate. Feel free to email us recipes if you come across one you love to make with farm produce!

In the CSA:

• Summer squash 
• Zucchini
• Napa cabbage- This is the main ingredient in kimchi and goes great in stir fry.
• Mini green cabbage
• Lettuce
• Carrots
• Beets
• Swiss chard
• Scallions
• Curly kale
• Arugula
• Mustard greens
• Yukina savoy - Looks like little green lollipops! Great in salads and lightly cooked.
• Red Russian kale
• French breakfast radishes
• Kohlrabi- This crunchy vegetable shredded in salads and coleslaw!

CSA pick-your-own crops:

• Basil
• Thai Basil
• Parsley

In the Store: 

Most CSA crops will be available in the store. In addition, we will have salad turnips and broccoli available in the store.

Coming Soon: 

Cucumbers, Green Beans, Sunflowers, and Japanese eggplant!

RECIPE

Vegetable Summer Rolls
Gourmet | May 2001
http://www.epicurious.com/

Makes 4 rolls but we always at least double the recipe so everyone can eat their fill!

Ingredients

For peanut sauce

3 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 small garlic clove, minced

3/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon tomato paste

3/4 teaspoon sugar


For summer rolls

1 ounce bean thread noodles (cellophane noodles)

1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar

4 (8-inch) rice-paper rounds, plus additional in case some tear

2 red-leaf lettuce leaves, ribs cut out and discarded and leaves halved

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (preferably Thai)

1/2 cup thinly sliced Napa cabbage

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (optional- when we don’t have it we use extra thai basil)

1/3 cup coarsely shredded carrot (1 medium)

(Lise suggests chopped scallions, kohlrabi or radishes as tasty additions!)


Preparation

Make sauce:

Cook onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes in oil in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until pale golden, about 4 minutes. Whisk in remaining sauce ingredients. Simmer, whisking, 1 minute, then cool.

Make summer rolls:

Cover noodles with boiling-hot water and soak 15 minutes, then drain well in a sieve. Pat dry between paper towels and toss with vinegar and salt to taste.


Put a double thickness of paper towel on a work surface and fill a shallow baking pan with warm water. Soak 1 rice-paper round (make sure there are no holes) in warm water until pliable, 30 seconds to 1 minute, then transfer to paper towels.

Arrange 1 piece of lettuce on bottom half of soaked rice paper, folding or tearing to fit and leaving a 1-inch border along edge. Spread one fourth of peanut sauce over lettuce and top with one fourth each of mint, basil, cabbage, and noodles. Roll up rice paper tightly around filling and, after rolling halfway, arrange one fourth of cilantro and carrot along crease. Then fold in sides and continue rolling. Transfer summer roll to a plate and cover with dampened paper towels.

Make 3 more rolls in same manner. Serve rolls halved on the diagonal.

Summer rolls may be made 6 hours ahead and chilled, wrapped in dampened paper towels in a sealed plastic bag. Bring rolls to room temperature before halving and serving.

Zucchini and Summer Squash!

Our zucchini and summer squash plants really exploded in the past two days - just in time for Fourth of July grilling festivities! We will have them available in the store starting today.