pitchfork & crow

csa share – week 27 {november 22}

Welcome to the 27th week of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!

Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• German Butterball Potatoes
• Carrots
• Rutabaga
• Brussels Sprouts
• Red Ursa Kale
• Delicata Winter Squash
• Pie Pumpkin
• Garlic
• Popcorn
• Pears
• Onion
• Painted Mountain Corn Flour – grown, harvested, and milled by your farmers!
• Samples of Steel Bridge Coffee Beans! – Read more about this new Salem coffee-roasting business below.

Whoa, it’s the last week of the 2011 CSA season!  Together we’ve eaten our way through 27 weeks of seasonal vegetables and fruits.  That’s six months of local, organic food, and a whole season of supporting your local farmers!  We’re thoroughly grateful to everyone who joined us for our 2^nd year offering a CSA and we hope that you’re finishing the season inspired about local and seasonal vegetables and looking forward to the 2012 growing season.

As we officially wrap up the CSA this week I find I have a long list of topics I want to write about.  Below are a few them:

Surveys!

We wanted to be sure to thank those folks who took the time to return the CSA surveys from a few weeks back.  We tend to think you were all a little too nice to us, but we appreciate all of the feedback and will be taking your comments into consideration as we begin planning for next season in earnest.

Many folks had feelings, mostly positive, about the varied selection of products we’ve offered from other farms and businesses this season when we’ve wanted to make sure weekly shares were filled.  We appreciate being able to support other farms when we come up short and like to think that we’re helping to introduce you to some other local eating options.  That said, we want to make sure you know that we  plan to keep the focus on products from our farm, which we think is primarily why you joined the CSA in the first place.

Also, we’re using some of your kind words in our newly updated business plan!  Who better to speak to potential funders of our farm than you, our fantastic members?!  Many thanks for your support!

Corn Flour!

This week we’re including just shy of a pound of freshly milled corn flour for all your cornbread, johnny cake, and pancake needs!  We grew this corn using saved seed from last year’s crop of beautiful Painted Mountain flour corn.  Though the ears are often used as a decorative “Indian corn”, the ground corn makes lovely flour for eating too.  Jeff recently took the ingenious step of hooking our hand-powered grain mill up to the little Farmall Cub tractor to make the grinding go a little faster.  We’re excited to share this new product with you and hope you enjoy it too!  Check out Jeff’s Cornbread Fantastic recipe below.

Coffee!

Who roasts your coffee beans?  As Jeff and I have attempted to source our food locally over the years we’ve often come up against the caffeine question.  What’s the best option for a local caffeine source?  We probably drink more coffee than is prudent (a sticker on our coffee pot at home says “Pitchfork & Crow: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Caffeine!”).  We haven’t yet made the choice to give it up, so instead we purchase organic shade grown, fair trade coffee from the store.  We’d like to think coffee farmers are being compensated for growing coffee in an environmentally friendly way while supporting our coffee habit.

We’re excited to include free samples of Steel Bridge Coffee in your share this week.  Steel Bridge Coffee is a new business venture by our friend and neighbor Joseph Penner.  He’s passionate about coffee and bikes, and he’s bringing them together in a bicycle-delivered coffee roasting business!  You’re getting a taste of organic, fair trade coffee fresh-roasted in West Salem.  If you’re smitten, you’re in luck!  Joseph is taking orders for coffee beans by the pound, delivered by bike of course, on his website here: http://www.steelbridgecoffee.com/place-an-order.html.

Christmas Harvest!

The main CSA season is coming to an end but we’re not quite finished yet.  We’re hanging on to some lovely winter squash, an abundance of potatoes, and the greens are at their peak in the fields.  We’ve taken inventory and decided a Christmas Harvest is in order!  Look for an e-mail from us in December if you’re interested in ordering up some Christmas dinner veggies or want to re-supply your stores for the winter.

2012 CSA Sign-Ups!

Many folks have been curious about our plans for next year.  We’ve only just begun to solidify our CSA program thoughts for 2012, but do know that we’re looking forward to the third season of the CSA!  We’ll be sending out details in December and you can begin signing up then with payments accepted after the start of the new year.  Also, current members will have a spot next year if you’d like one.  We ask that you let us know as soon as possible if you’d like to sign up again, so we can plan for filling other share spots.

Thanks Again!

That’s all folks!  We can’t thank you enough for your support during this year.  The spring and summer had their challenges and we appreciate everyone for sticking with us and bolstering our attitudes throughout!  We farm for you and wouldn’t have it any other way.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, hopefully starring delicious local food!

Enjoy this week’s vegetables and see you next year!

Your farmers,

Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler

 .

Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

 

Looking for Brussels sprouts or rutabaga inspiration?  Check out our website!

Pumpkin Puree

For use in pumpkin pie or pumpkin soup etc.

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium pumpkin or 2 small sugar pumpkins (about 8 pounds total)

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with the oil. Remove and discard pumpkin stem. Cut pumpkin in half and scrape out seeds and pulp. Discard pulp and rinse seeds well; set seeds aside to use for Pumpkin Soup.
• Place pumpkin, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Cook until pumpkin is tender (a knife goes through the skin easily), about 20 to 40 minutes, depending on size. Set aside to cool.
• When cool enough to handle, scrape pumpkin flesh from skin and place in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
• Spread pumpkin in an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake (anywhere from 350 to 400 degrees will work) until pumpkin is drier and thick, 30 to 40 minutes. When cool, transfer to a storage container and refrigerate until ready to use.

From culinate.com via Keri Fisher, http://www.culinate.com/recipes/collections/Contributors/Keri+Fisher/pumpkin_puree

.

If you came to the Pumpkin Patch event at the farm, you might have tried my version of these pumpkin pie bars!

Shortbread Pumpkin Bars

Hazelnut Shortbread:

1/2 cup (50 grams) raw unpeeled hazelnuts
1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar
>1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pumpkin Filling:

2 large eggs
1 – 15 ounce can (425 grams) pure pumpkin (2 cups) (but you know you should just bake your pie pumpkin instead!)
3/4 cup (165 grams) light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) heavy cream

Garnish: (optional)

1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

Pumpkin Bars: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of a lightly buttered 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking pan with a 22 inch (56 cm) long piece of aluminum foil that has been buttered and floured.

Hazelnut Shortbread: Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until brown and fragrant and the skins are starting to peel. Remove from oven, place the hot hazelnuts in a clean dish towel, roll it up, and let the nuts ‘steam’ for about five minutes. Then briskly rub the nuts to remove most of their skins. Set aside to let the nuts cool and then coarsely chop.

Place the chopped hazelnuts, flour, and salt in the bowl of your food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process the mixture until the hazelnuts are finely ground.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2 – 3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until a soft dough forms. Press the dough evenly and firmly onto the bottom of the foil-lined pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the shortbread is set and beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Pumpkin Filling: Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the pumpkin, sugar, vanilla extract, spices, and salt and whisk to combine. Gradually stir in the cream. Pour the filling over the pre baked crust and bake for about 30 – 35 minutes, or until the filling is set in the center. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Run a knife around the inside edges of the pan. Lift the pumpkin bars from the pan by holding onto the edges of the aluminum foil. Place on a cutting board, peel back the aluminum foil, and cut into 32 bars. The bars can be covered and refrigerated up to three days. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Garnish: Whip the cream with the sugar until stiff peaks form. Place the whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with an open star tip and pipe a small rosette of cream on top of each pumpkin bar.

Makes 32 pumpkin bars.

From JoyofBaking.com via Rodgers, Rick. Autumn Gatherings. William Morrow. New York: 2008., http://www.joyofbaking.com/barsandsquares/PumpkinBars.html

.

Jeff’s Cornbread Fantastic

First: Turn the oven on to 400 degrees, put ½ stick butter into a cast iron skillet and put it in the oven to heat up

Second: While the skillet is heating up, mix 2 cups of corn meal with ½ cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt

Third: Once the dry ingredients are mixed, crack an egg into the mix and add 1 cup milk, stir with a fork until all the flour is wet, then add about 1/3-1/2 cup more of milk and stir: you want the mixture to slide out of the mixing bowl into the hot skillet

Fourth: by now the oven is pre-heated, the butter is melted and the skillet is hot. Take the skillet out of the oven and pour the melted butter into the mix, stir the butter into the mix quickly and transfer the cornmeal mix into the cast iron skillet and put it in the oven. I use a rubber spatula to get the cornmeal mix into the skillet and smooth it out.

Fifth: Set the timer for twenty minutes. when the twenty minutes is up, take the skillet out of the oven and rub butter on the top of the cornbread, coating the top with a thin layer of melted butter, turn the oven to broil and stick the cornbread back into the oven to brown the top of the cornbread. This may take just a minute! Take it out once the cornbread is browned on top and cut into pie shaped slices.

If you have some Southern blood in you, this is especially good when it is cold crumbled up in buttermilk.

From your farmer’s test kitchen!

 

November 22, 2011 at 10:58 pm 2 comments

csa share – week 26 {november 15}

Welcome to the 26th week of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!

Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Potatoes – fingerlings!
• Broccoli or Cauliflower
• Kohlrabi or Turnips
• Carrots
• Sweet Green Peppers
• Cabbages
• Hokkaido Blue Winter Squash – With flakier flesh than many other varieties, this might be your new favorite squash!
• Red Chili Beans!
• Arugula & Spinach
• Garlic

As you probably know, we’re wrapping up our third year of farming, each year having been in a new location.  While we’re grateful for the opportunities past landowners have given us to manage their properties, we’re also somewhat relieved to be making plans for our second year at the Lebanon farm.  After a full season here we feel as though we’re just now getting to know the soil and microclimate.  We’ve experienced a seasons’ worth of storms, we’ve seen crops both fail miserably and overwhelmingly thrive, and we’ve dealt with pests and predators.  It’s been a year of learning, but we’re happy to know where we stand and how to begin improving yields.

Choosing to farm here for another season has allowed us to focus more energy on planning for next year and discussing our long term plans.  We spent more time than we’d have liked searching for a new location this past summer and we briefly wondered if we’d even be farming next year.  We tried to be flexible and seriously considered every possibility that came our way.  In the end, we had a hard time compromising our vision of our future farm and our landlord offered to extend our lease, letting us put the decision off a little longer.

Ideally we would purchase a farm in the near future.  We believe our farm has the best chance of succeeding if we can find it a permanent home.  The land we are currently farming is for sale and I believe we would buy it if we could line-up financing.  Unfortunately, as you are all too aware, this is a tough time to secure a loan.  Our predicament is complicated by the fact that we’re trying to buy a small farm with no house, which instantly ups the initial down payment most banks want.  Though we’ve saved a down payment, unfortunately it’s just not enough at this point.

As we head into the winter months and our work shifts more and more indoors, we’ll be further investigating our options for financing.  We’ll also be solidifying our plans for the upcoming season at the Lebanon farm.  In the midst of our transitions we continue to be thankful for your support!  You are our community and we appreciate helping to feed you!  We hope you’ll stick with us as we continue on this journey.

Enjoy this week’s vegetables!

Your farmers,

Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler

 .

Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

 

Squash Ravioli

2 medium autumn squash, such as acorn, butternut, delicata, or even pumpkin (about 4 cups roasted squash flesh total)
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp. dried thyme (optional)
~ Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten in a small bowl
1 package wonton wrappers (about 50 wrappers)
~ Flour for dusting
1 stick (8 Tbsp.) butter
1 large handful fresh young sage leaves
½ cup chicken or vegetable stock

~ Vegetable oil, for roasting

1. Roast the squash: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put a little vegetable oil on a baking sheet. Halve the squash and discard the seeds. Place the halves cut side down on the oiled sheet and bake for 45 minutes to 1½ hours, depending on squash size (and whether you could halve them), until flesh is soft and slightly caramelized. If you’re making the dish over two nights, let the squash cool, then remove the flesh and store in the fridge overnight.
2. Make the filling: Put the cooled flesh in a large bowl and crush it (with your fingers or a fork) until there are no large lumps remaining. Sprinkle the ½ cup grated cheese, nutmeg, thyme (if using), salt, and pepper over the squash and mix it all together evenly.
3. Assemble the ravioli: Lightly dust two baking sheets with flour. Place a single wonton wrapper on a wooden cutting board and dollop about 2 teaspoons of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Using a pastry brush, brush a bit of the egg wash along the four edges of the wrapper around the filling. Place another wrapper over the first and carefully seal the edges, making sure no air pockets remain. (If you like, use a glass or a cookie cutter to cut the edges off the ravioli so that you have circular ravioli instead of square ones.) Place the finished raviolo on the flour-dusted baking sheet. Repeat until all the wonton wrappers are gone; you should have about 2 cups of filling left over (see Note).
4. Cook the ravioli: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the ravioli in batches, about 6 to 8 at a time; they will float when done, about 3 to 5 minutes total. Scoop the ravioli out of water with a skimmer and drain them briefly on a clean dishtowel, then layer them with a little olive oil drizzled in between the layers.
5. Make the sauce: While the ravioli are cooking, melt the butter in a pan over medium to medium-low heat until the butter starts to brown. Add the sage leaves and cook for a few minutes (don’t let the butter burn!) and then add the stock. Simmer the sauce to reduce it while the ravioli finish cooking.
6. Since the ravioli are big and will be covered in a rich butter sauce, don’t serve more than a few ravioli per person. Place 3 to 5 ravioli on a plate and pour some of the butter-sage sauce over them. Pass the remaining grated cheese at the table.

From Culinate via Caroline Cummins, http://www.culinate.com/recipes/collections/Culinate+Kitchen/Vegetarian+Main+Dishes/squash_ravioli

.

Kohlrabi & Potato Gratin

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
2 cups half-and-half
2 medium potatoes, peeled
1 to 2 kohlrabi, peeled (or turnips!)
1 cup grated Gruyere or extra sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a baking dish. Crush the garlic clove into a fine paste with the side of a knife and combine it in a saucepan with the milk and cream. Slice potatoes into 3/16-inch thick rounds. Cut kohlrabi in half and then slice into rounds of the same thickness as the potatoes.

Bring the cream mixture to a simmer. Place potato and kohlrabi slices in alternating layers in the baking dish, sprinkling each layer with some of the cheese, the milk and cream mixture, salt, pepper and nutmeg. There should be two layers of potatoes and two layers of kohlrabi. Reserve ¼ of the cheese to sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 1 hour or more, until the top is golden brown and the vegetables are easily penetrated with a paring knife.

Serves 6 to 8.

From Green Earth Institute, http://www.greenearthinstitute.org/recipes/kohlrabi/kohlrabi_potato_gratin.html

.

Turnips with Greens

4 cups peeled turnip matchsticks
2 cups quartered and thinly sliced onions
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano (1 ½ to 2 teaspoons dried)
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
8 cups rinsed, stemmed, and sliced greens (chard, kale, collards, turnip greens, cabbage)
Chopped fresh parsely or chives

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a baking sheet.

Place the turnips and onions in a bowl and toss them with 4 tablespoons of the olive oil and the oregano. Spread evenly on the baking sheet and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the ends of the turnip matchsticks are golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In a nonreactive pan, cook the garlic in the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil just until soft. Add the crushed red pepper, if using, and the greens. Cook, stirring often, for about 15 minutes, until the greens are tender. Remove from the heat.

Serve the greens in a large shallow serving bowl or on a plate, topped with the roasted turnips and onions. Garnish with chopped parsely or chives

Serves 4

Total Time: 1 hour

Moosewood Restaurant: New Classics, The Moosewood Collective

November 16, 2011 at 12:04 am Leave a comment