Week 3

 
Lise drives the basket weeder over bean plants.

Lise drives the basket weeder over bean plants.

 

We are entering a part of the farm season when I feel like I get to be more creative in the kitchen. I'm in no way suggesting that fancy salads or grilled asparagus or just plain strawberries aren't exciting - I just always feel like I've turned a corner in the season once carrots are available. It seems like the culinary possibilities are endless! In honor of the widening array of ingredients, this week I'm skipping news from the fields and just including 3 recipe ideas for what to do with fennel, kohlrabi, bok choi, scallions and carrots!

In the CSA this week:

  • Carrots - We always breath a sigh of relief when the carrots start coming in - for us it means the season is going well.
  • Purple scallions - These beautiful scallions add some nice color to dishes when served raw, though they tend to lose their distinct purple color when cooked.
  • Fennel - The bulbs are small, but pack a strong anise flavor. The fronds are edible and make a nice garnish for salads.
  • Beets - mostly Red Ace, but we may throw in some Chiooggia bunches to mix things up!
  • Kohlrabi
  • Curly Kale
  • Lettuce
  • Bok Choy
  • Arugula
  • Red Russian Kale
  • Radishes

CSA PYO:

  • Peas: sugar snap, snow and shelling.
  • Strawberries - They peaked early and are starting to fade a little, but we'll have a few more strawberries this week
  • Herbs: choose from cilantro, dill, parsley, and basil
  • Yarrow flowers

In the Farm Store this week:

Everything in the CSA this week will likely be available in the farm store. We'll have some additional greens varieties, including Salanova lettuce mix, a blend of Red Russian kale and Yukina Savoy, and Toscano kale. We'll also have some Happy Rich broccolini.

 

Kolhrabi Carrot Fritters with Avocado Cream Sauce

by: a Couple Cooks

Serves: 8 fritters

  • 2 kohlrabi
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne
  • ½ cup grapeseed or vegetable oil (enough for ¼-inch depth in a large skillet)
  • ½ avocado
  • ¼ cup plain yogurt
  • ½ lemon
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Green onions (for garnish)

What To Do

  1. Cut the leaves off the kohlrabi and peel the bulb. Peel 1 carrot. Shred the vegetables in a food processor, or by hand using a grater. Squeeze the shredded vegetables in a tea cloth (or with your hands) to remove moisture, then add to a medium bowl with 1 egg, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon cayenne. Mix to combine.
  2. Place ½ cup oil in a large skillet (enough for ¼-inch depth). Heat the oil over medium high heat, then place small patties of the fritter mixture into the oil. Fry on one side until browned, then fry on the other side. Remove and place on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain excess oil.
  3. In a small bowl, mix ½ avocado, ¼ cup plain yogurt, juice from ½ lemon, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt to make the avocado cream (or blend the ingredients together in a food processor).
  4. Serve fritters with avocado cream and sliced green onions.

 

Potstickers - adapted from the Uncommon Gourmet

I look forward to the first carrots of the season every year, because then I start making this recipe! It takes a little work, but if you get an assembly line going with some friends or family, it’s fun!

  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • pepper to taste
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 cup chopped bok choi
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium sized carrot, coarsely grated
  • ¼ cup water chestnuts
  • 1 ½ tsp finely grated ginger
  • 1 package wonton wrappers

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, pepper, sugar and sesame oil. Mix and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over high heat in a wok or large skillet. Add bok choi, scallions, carrots, water chestnuts and ginger and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture and stir fry for 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

Preheat the oven to 400F and grease a large baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle of a wonton skin. Fold over to form a triangle. Slightly dampen the outer edges with water and press the edges with a fork to seal. Place the potsticker on the baking sheet and repeat with remaining wonton skins.

Brush the tops of the potstickers with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until browned and crisp around edges. Serve immediately with soy sauce on the side for dipping.

 

Chickpea, fennel and citrus salad

from Bon Apetit, March 2013

  • 1 grapefruit
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (rinsed, coarsely chopped)
  • 1 thinly sliced fennel bulb and stalks
  • A handful of fennel fronds

Cut peel and pith from 1 grapefruit and 1 lemon; cut between membranes to release segments. Squeeze juice from membranes into a medium bowl; whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss in citrus, one 15-ounce can chickpeas (rinsed, coarsely chopped), 1 thinly sliced fennel bulb and stalks, and a handful of fennel fronds.

Week 2

 
Our bins could not contain the chioggia beet harvest today!

Our bins could not contain the chioggia beet harvest today!

It was great to see all of our CSA members out at the farm last week along with new and returning farm store customers. We love it when the farm is full of people sharing their cooking plans and vegetable enthusiasm! CSA and Barrett’s Bucks Memberships are now full for the 2015 season. We are so grateful for the financial sustainability and encouragement that selling all of our memberships gives to our enterprise. We will continue to have our farm stand open to the public with plenty of veggies to choose from each week. We will be posting a form for our 2016 membership wait list on our website soon. In the meantime, if you'd like to be added to the list email me at melissa@barrettsmillfarm.com.  


In the CSA this week:

  • Chioggia beets- This Italian heirloom beet variety is a bright red with white rings inside. Cook any way you would other beets and beet greens.
  • Kohlrabi- A truly purple vegetable. The interior of a kohlrabi is crisp and juicy- great for salads or coleslaw.
  • Curly and Toscano Kale
  • Scallions
  • Lettuce- Varieties include the favorite standby Panisee and a great crop of Red Rosie, a red romaine we grow a few times a season.
  • Bok Choy
  • Salanova lettuce mix
  • Arugula
  • Mustard Greens- Spice your salad with this green with a kick or sautee it for a more mild flavor. 
  • Baby bok choy

CSA PYO:

  • Peas: sugar snap, snow and shelling. The whole pod may be eaten for snap pea and snow peas but as the name suggests be sure to peel the outside off of shelling peas. As always they will labeled at the beginning of the row of plants.
  • Strawberries
  • Herbs: choose from cilantro, dill, parsley, and basil! Flavor for all your spring dishes!
  • Sweet William and Yarrow flowers

In the Farm Store this week:

Everything in the CSA this week will likely be available in the farm store. Quantities of all three varieties of peas may be limited. In addition to the CSA crops we will have some radishes and salad turnips for sale and some additional varieties of greens including red Russian kale. 

AVOCADO AND BEET SALAD WITH CITRUS VINAIGRETTE

Adapted from ''The Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook'' (HarperCollins, 1999) by the New York Times

6 medium red or golden beets

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon, plus 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large shallot, finely diced

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 tablespoon chopped chervil, plus sprigs for garnish (we have parsley at the farm which may make a good substitute)

1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon orange zest

2 firm, ripe avocados.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim and wash beets, and put them in a baking dish. Add a splash of water, and cover tightly. Roast 45 to 60 minutes, until tender.

2. Let beets cool, then peel and cut into wedges. Place in bowl, and season with salt and pepper; add red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon olive oil, and toss gently.

3. Combine shallots with white wine vinegar, lemon and orange juices and pinch of salt. Macerate 15 minutes. Whisk in 3/4 cup olive oil, and stir in chervil and zest. Adjust seasonings.

4. Cut avocados in half lengthwise, and remove pits. Leaving skin intact, cut avocados lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Scoop out slices with a large spoon, and arrange on a platter or individual dishes. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange beets on top, and drizzle with shallot mixture. Garnish with chervil sprigs.

 
 

Week 1 for the CSA!

 
 

It's been a busy past couple of weeks leading up to the start of the CSA. With the dry weather throughout the month of May, a lot of the time that would normally be spent planting and weeding was instead spent setting up and running irrigation. Melissa probably spent 50 hours over the course of the month making sure we had irrigation running on all of our crops. To put that in perspective, that's roughly the same amount of time it would have taken to weed about 12 beds of beets and carrots or plant about 30 beds of lettuce! Thanks to Melissa's efforts, our vegetable plants have survived and are thriving, but we are playing a little bit of catch-up with many of our other farm chores.

Though we were sad to see the end of our asparagus and rhubarb season on Saturday, we were consoled by the knowledge that we will have a little more time freed up for other tasks this week. Some of that time will be taken up with planting and weeding, but some of that will also be devoted to harvesting some new crops!

This week in the CSA:

  • Lettuce - We'll have red and green leaf as well as oakleaf varieties available this week. The regular leaf varieties are crisper, the oakleaf a little softer (like a butterhead lettuce).
  • Red Ace Beets - It is still early in the season, so the beets are on the smaller side, but they are the perfect size to roast or boil and slice on top of your salad! The greens are edible too, and right now they are particularly lush. Cook beet greens like you would Swiss chard. They are tasty simply sauteed in olive oil with a little salt and lemon juice or garlic.
  • Scallions
  • Radishes
  • Salanova lettuce mix - This cut lettuce mix has become a favorite in the store. It is a little crisper than mesclun mix and tends to keep longer.
  • Arugula
  • Red Russian Kale
  • Baby Bok Choi - More tender than full-grown bok choi, these baby heads can be grilled, sauteed, steamed or just eaten raw in a salad (see the bok choi and strawberry salad recipe below).
  • Tatsoi - This Asian green has a mild flavor and is delicious mixed in with other greens in salads or added to your sitr-fry.
  • Mustard greens - This spicy green can be eaten raw or cooked. When cooked it takes on a milder flavor.
  • Maybe spinach - The unusually hot and dry weather in May was hard on this crop. We will find out Tuesday morning whether enough survived our spring drought to make the harvest worthwhile.

CSA pick-your-own crops:

  • Strawberries - Four varieties are ripe now: Earliglow, Brunswick, Sparkle and Chandler
  • Sugar Snap Peas - You can sautee or stir fry these sweet peas - if they make it back to your kitchen without getting eaten!
  • Dill
  • Sweet William flowers

In the store:

Because it is early in our beet season, there will be no beets in the store this week. They will be available in the store very soon though! Also, we will have a limited amount of strawberries in the store on Tuesday and Thursday, but on Saturday we will have a larger amount. All other crops listed above for the CSA will be available in the store.

Bok Choi and Strawberry Salad

This recipe was in the recent Boston Globe article which we were featured in!

Dressing

  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • ½ tsp Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • ¼ cup olive oil

Salad

  • 2 heads bok choi or 2 bunches baby bok choi
  • ½ lb strawberries
  • 3 scallions
  • 1/3 cup roasted whole almonds, chopped

In a bowl, whisk the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in ¼ cup of oil. If the flavor is too sharp, whisk in a little more oil. Taste for seasoning and add more oil, salt, and pepper, if you like. Cut the bok choi crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Coarsely chop the darker green strips. Rinse well and dry in a salad spinner. In a salad bowl, combine the bok choi, strawberries, and scallions. Add the dressing and toss lightly. Sprinkle with almonds.