The countdown is complete and it’s time to begin the third season of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!  We’re glad to have you join us for the next six months in eating local, seasonal vegetables.

Here’s what’s in the share:

• Green Garlic – young mild spring garlic
  
• Spinach
• Prize Choy  – just like bok choy
• Radishes – you know what to do with these, but don’t forget, the greens are also edible steamed, fried or simply raw!
• Salad Mix – a mix of three leaf lettuces
• Sunchokes – also known as Jerusalem Artichokes,
• Carrots – the variety is ‘Tonda di Pirigi’, a small sweet French heirloom that’s new to us

Welcome to the third season of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!  We’ve been busy planning for a fantastic season of local, seasonal, and organic vegetables.  Over the next 28 weeks we hope to introduce you to some new veggies, stock your kitchen with the standbys, and continue to build this community of vegetable enthusiasts.  Are you ready for the adventure?

We’re excited to welcome back returning members and to welcome many new members.  We’ve grown the CSA from 35 members last year to 50 members this year which is enough of a leap that we’ll be seeing quite a few new faces at the pick-ups.  We’re also happy to say that we’ve officially filled the CSA to our goal of 50 members.  We wholeheartedly appreciate your support and truly couldn’t do this without you.

Of course in addition to 28 weeks of tasty veggies, we’re already looking forward to the on-farm events.  We’ll host an early season tour and potluck in late June so you can visit the farm and see your vegetables growing in the fields.  In August we’ll invite you back out for another potluck in the height of the growing season and in October we’ll have the pumpkin patch and apple cider pressing day.  We love inviting members out to the farm and are excited to have even sparked some lasting friendships between members over farm potluck meals.

So, here we go!  In future newsletters we’ll give you updates on the growing season and goings-on at the farm as well as suggestions for how to tackle the less well-known veggies.  This week we’ve got some tasty ideas for radishes and sunchokes in the recipe section at the bottom of the page.  We hope you enjoy the veggies and we’ll see you here again next week!

Your farmers,

Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler

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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Sunchoke Soup with Crispy Chips & Rosemary

Serves 6

• 1 1/2-2 pounds of sunchokes
• 2 medium sized russet potatoes
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 small leeks (you might want to substitute green garlic here)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• sea salt & pepper
• olive oil
• butter
• for chips reserve one sunchoke and vegetable oil for frying.

1. When choosing sunchokes try to choose ones that aren’t super gnarly. You have to peel them and the more knots they have the harder they are to peel. It’s a tedious task and you don’t have to be perfect.  In this particular recipe I peeled them, though I am interested to see how the soup would be without peeling them. Since most of their nutritional content is in the skin. (Note: Here at Pitchfork & Crow we don’t peel our sunchokes.)
2. Peel and cube sunchokes into similar sizes and place into a bowl with water. You want to place them in water so they dont oxidize and turn brown. Do the same with the potatoes, peel and cube. Chop leeks, onions and garlic finely. In a soup pot add a tablespoon of butter and a drizzle of olive oil. Turn to medium heat and add your onions, leeks and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook till tender about 4 minutes. Add 2 sprigs of rosemary, a bay leaf and the cup of white wine. Allow the soup to return to a simmer and add the drained potatoes and sunchokes. Add enough water to cover the vegetables and turn the heat to med-high. Allow soup to simmer until potatoes and sunchokes are tender about 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on the water level and add more if necessary.
3. To make the sunchoke chips use a mandolin on the thinnest level and slice a whole sunchoke. In a medium saucepan heat vegetable oil, carefully lay the sunchokes into the oil. The addition of a few sprigs of fried rosemary is a nice touch. Watch for splattering. Don’t crowd the chips, once light browning occurs set on a bowl lined with a paper towel and season with salt. Right before soup is ready to be blended be sure to remove the bay leaf and rosemary sprigs. When potatoes are tender remove from the heat and using a hand held blender, blend until smooth. Add more salt and pepper to taste and a cup of heavy cream. Run the blender again until smooth. You can allow the soup to simmer on low heat or it can sit at room temperature until reheated before serving. Top with a drizzle of olive oil, sunchoke chips and fresh ground pepper.

From Food52, http://food52.com/recipes/15260_sunchoke_soup_with_crispy_chips_rosemary

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Sunchoke Latkes

Ingredients

	1	lb. sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes
	1	tsp. kosher salt or sea salt
	1	medium onion, peeled and finely diced
	2	eggs, beaten
	2	Tbsp. breadcrumbs or matzo meal
	~	Salt and pepper to taste
	~	Oil for frying (canola, soybean, or peanut oil works well)

From Culinate, via Ashely Griffin Gatland, http://www.culinate.com/search/q,ctype=recipe,q=sunchokes,stype=/36904

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Radish Butter

½ pound round red radishes, trimmed, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, completely softened
¼ teaspoon kosher salt, or ½ teaspoon Maldon salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper
About 24 thinly sliced rye toast points, toasted slices of French bread, water crackers, 2-inch celery sticks, endive leaves, or romaine heart halves

1. Put the radishes in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the radish is chopped into very fine dice, four or five 3-second pulses.

2. Transfer the contents to a length of cheesecloth or a double thickness of paper towels and wring out the excess liquid.

3. Transfer to a medium bowl and add 4 tablespoons of the butter.

4. With a rubber spatula, cream the radish and butter together, adding more butter 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together in a smooth, pliable mass.

5. Transfer the mixture to a 2-cup ramekin or bowl, sprinkle the salt and pepper over the top, and serve immediately. (The butter will keep, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

6. Remove it from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving to let it soften. Sprinkle the salt and freshly ground pepper over the radish butter before serving).

From The Splendid Table, http://www.publicradio.org/columns/splendid-table/recipes/app_radish_butter.html

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Green Garlic Pesto

1 bunch green garlic (3 to 5 stems)
1 cup raw walnuts, or nuts available in your market
1 to 2 oz. Hannah Bridge Heritage cheese from Ancient Heritage Dairy, or other hard, salty sheep’s-milk cheese
⅔ cup good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp. sea salt

1. Cut root ends of green garlic and discard. Cut into 1-inch lengths, discarding the tougher green portions on top.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, toast walnuts by cooking for about 7 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Place nuts and green garlic into a food processor and process on low until roughly chopped. Cut cheese into chunks, add to food processor, and process. In a steady stream while processor is running, add olive oil until desired consistency is reached.
4. Salt to taste. Keep in airtight container in refrigerator until ready to use.

From Culinate via Sarah Gilbert, http://www.culinate.com/recipes/collections/Contributors/sarah_gilbert/green_garlic_pesto