Welcome to the 5^th week of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!

Here’s what’s in the share:

• Peas!  –snap peas or shelling peas
• Garlic Scapes – more garlicky goodness
• Fava Beans – see the recipes below for direction on how to prepare these yummy beans
• Spinach
• Red Iceburg Lettuce  – crunchy sandwich lettuce!
• Baby Carrots
• Salad Mix – leaf lettuce at its finest
• French Breakfast Radishes
• Strawberries – These beauties are from Fairfield Farm in south Corvallis: certified organic, delicious, and we picked them just for you!

Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  Generally I think of this as a mid-point in the summer season, but it certainly feels much more like the beginning of summer today.  Last Saturday’s drizzling rain was a stark reminder that we are still transitioning into real summer weather though.  I’ve got to admit, we’re ready to put this prolonged spring season behind us and move on to the more enjoyable part of the growing year.

This week we’re introducing a couple of new crops into the mix.  First off, we’ve got the season’s first peas to share with you.  They’re just getting started, so this week you’ll be choosing either snap peas or shelling peas.  Both are delicious, sweet tastes of the season to add to your sauté pan or to eat fresh from the box.

We’re also bringing you fava beans this week.  These are some of our overwintering champs which were planted last September and are finally ready to be enjoyed by you.  We love favas even though they take a little more effort to prepare because you need to shuck them and blanche them prior to accessing the beans themselves.  Once you taste that buttery bean you’ll know the work was worth it too.

This past week has been a continued planting frenzy at the farm in an effort to get fully caught up.  We’re closing in on the end of the major plantings and even getting back on track with successions of seed sowing too.  We purchased a belly mower for our little tractor this weekend, which should help us keep up with the mowing at the farm and hopefully we’ll have things in order by Sunday’s open house.

Here are the Open House details:

CSA Open house Sunday June 26, 2 – 5 pm

We hope you can make it out to Lebanon to visit your veggies and see the fields! We’ll have a little something to drink, a little something to eat, and tours galore!

Directions to farm from Salem:

Take I-5 south out of Salem towards Albany.  Take the Hwy 20/Santiam Hwy exit 233 toward Lebanon.  The farm is approximately 20 miles down Hwy 20 on the left side of the road between Tennessee School Rd and KGAL Rd.  It’s the first driveway after the sign for “The Foot Care Station”.  You’ll see a green barn and fruit stand just inside the gate and we’ll have a Pitchfork & Crow sign there too.  If you pass the Lebanon Auction Yard you’ve gone too far.

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We also have a couple of other farm visits scheduled this summer in case you can’t make it to this one. More information will be included in upcoming CSA newsletters

The dates for this season’s farm visits are:

June 20th – Farm Open House (2pm – 5pm)

August 21st– Potluck dinner at the farm (5pm – 8pm)

October 16th – Pumpkin Patch Open House (1pm – 4pm)

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Enjoy this week’s vegetables!

Your farmers,

Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler

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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Rye Flour Apple Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:

1 cup rye flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1.5 cups grated carrot
1.5 cup finely chopped apples
1.25 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
optional: 2 cups roasted hazelnuts, chopped – soak in milk for 15 minutes, drain

Frosting:

12 oz cream cheese
1 stick of butter
2.25 cup powdered sugar ..25 cup maple syrup

-Preheat oven to 350F

-Butter 2 9″ pans

-Whisk: flour, b. soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in apples/carrots.

-In large bowl, whisk sugar and oil until blended, add eggs. Gradually add

flour mixture.

-Spread a thin layer of hazelnuts on pan bottoms, fold in remaining

hazelnuts.

-Bake 40 minutes

Frosting-with electric mixture beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy.

Add powdered sugar and beat at low speed. Beat in maple syrup.

From Sarah Kleeger at Open Oak Farm

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Lemon- and Garlic-Roasted Chicken with Fava Beans, Radishes, and Pecorino

• 2 (3- to 4-pound) roasting chickens, necks and giblets removed and discarded, rinsed and patted dry
• 5 lemons, 2 cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices, 2 halved
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 heads garlic, halved with skins left on
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 bunches fresh oregano
• 8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup fresh fava beans*
• 2 cups radishes, thinly sliced (from 2 bunches)
• 2 cups loosely packed arugula leaves (from 2 bunches)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves (from 1 bunch)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (from 1 bunch)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed celery leaves (from 2 bunches celery)
• 1/2 cup Pecorino Toscano or other mild Italian sheep’s milk cheese (less than 6 ounces), coarsely grated

*If fresh fava beans are unavailable, fresh lima beans are a good substitute.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place chickens on rack set in large roasting pan. Starting at each cavity end, slide hand between skin and breast meat to loosen, being careful not to tear skin. Arrange lemon slices under skin to cover breast meat.

Season each cavity with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stuff each with halved lemons, garlic, rosemary, and oregano.

Flip wings of each chicken back and tuck under body. Using pastry brush, brush 3 tablespoons oil over skin of each chicken, then sprinkle each with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Tie legs together loosely with kitchen string.

Roast chickens, basting with pan juices every 15 minutes, until skins are crisp golden-brown and juices run clear when thighs are pierced, about 55 to 60 minutes. (Instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast should register 170°F.) Remove from oven, then remove lemons, herbs, and garlic from cavities and discard. Reserve pan drippings. Transfer chickens to carving board and tent with foil to keep warm.

In 2-quart pot of boiling water, blanch fresh fava beans 1 minute. Drain, then immediately transfer to medium bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Drain. Slip outer skin off each bean and discard skin; place beans in medium bowl. Add radishes, arugula, mint, parsley, celery leaves, and cheese, and toss to combine. Stir in lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Divide fava bean and radish salad among 10 plates. Carve chickens and arrange pieces atop each portion of salad. Spoon pan drippings over.
From Epicurious.com via Ryan Hardy, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lemon-and-Garlic-Roasted-Chicken-with-Fava-Beans-Radishes-and-Pecorino-237515

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Fava Bean Dip aka Fake Guacamole

Fava beans
1 tsp. olive oil
Garlic, 2 cloves, diced
Lime juice
Cilantro
Salt
Pepper
2 Tbsp. plain goat cheese

Blanche fava beans. Shell beans from the large pod. Peel off the second layer of skin, revealing a tiny, bright green bean.

In a food processor, combine beans, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lime juice and goat cheese. Add more water if needed to make it creamy.

Serve as a dip, or as filling between grilled corn tortillas.

From The Veg Table, Mary Altman

Also available here: http://www.culinate.com/user/marybethSF/recipes/the_veg_table/fava_bean_dip_aka_fake_guacamole