summer csa share – week 19 – pitchfork & crow

Welcome to the 19th week of the Pitchfork & Crow Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share:

Salad Mix – More lettuce mix this week. Keep an eye out for slugs that may have made it through the field washing process.
Leeks
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Napa Cabbage – One the wonderments of fall is the Napa Cabbage. Perfect for kimchi, salads, or sauteing! Again, keep an eye out for slugs as you prepare your Napa.
Poblano Peppers – the classic stuffing pepper for chile rellenos! Or just use them as you would any mildly spicy chile pepper.
Parsley – We’ve had good luck using this as a cooking green. We love the sweet stems with eggs in breakfast burritos. We also like to use parsley as the base for a creamy dressing, perfect match for this week’s salad mix.
Delicata Winter Squash – We like to cut these in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast them in the oven all on their own.
Tomatoes
French Breakfast Radishes
Eggplant – We’ve heard some delicious recipes from members including grilled eggplant with mozarella and tomatoes and eggplant dip!
Italian Plums

Winter CSA Sign-ups Happening: We’d like to give current CSA members a chance to join us for the Winter season before we open up the program to new members. You can read all about it on the Winter CSA page. Also, Click Here for photos of all our past winter shares. Please check this week’s member email for further details and a link to the sign-up form.

futzu and morning

Last week’s passing of the Autumnal Equinox means fall has officially arrived, even if it’s felt like fall for ages. The days have continued to warm up each afternoon, but the nights have been noticeably chillier. Our friends who farm nearby had their first few frosts this week, with the cold, clear nights around the full moon. We’ve dodged the frost thus far, but we’re watching the weather forecast. We’re hoping to eek out a little more summery goodness from the fields before a frost can damage the most fragile of the plants, such as basil and peppers.

This week we finally finished up the winter squash harvest. The butternuts, spaghetti, and black futzu (as seen in the photo above) squash are all now in harvest bins, waiting patiently for future CSA shares. This week we’ll be figuring out just where to put all of this squash for the longterm, but these things usually work out one way or another. Soon we’ll begin digging potatoes for storage and finishing up the apple harvest. This really is the harvest season!

We’ve been marking some other fallish items off the To Do list this week. Jeff has been preparing ground and sowing a winter cover crop of rye and clover in many empty field spaces. Soon it will be time to plant garlic and finish up field work for the season. Weren’t we just tilling in cover crop for our spring planting? Time does fly when you’re having fun. More of the same this week for us! And maybe a little preserving too. It’s time to get serious about our winter supplies of the summer bounty before it’s too late.

Enjoy the vegetables and we’ll see you next week!

Your farmers,
Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler

Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Vegetable Pot Pie

4 medium potatoes, preferably russet
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon light olive oil
1 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup finely chopped broccoli
2 tablespoons unbleached white flour
1/2 cup low-fat milk, rice milk, or soy milk
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, optional
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
9-inch prepared good-quality pie crust, preferably whole grain
1/2 cup whole-grain bread crumbs

Cook or microwave the potatoes in their skins until done. When cool enough to handle, peel. Dice two and mash the other two. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and carrot and sauté over medium heat until golden.

4. Add the broccoli along with a small amount of water. Cover and cook until the broccoli is tender but not overdone, 3 to 4 minutes.

5. Sprinkle the flour into the skillet, then pour in the milk, stirring constantly. Cook until the liquid thickens a bit, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the diced and mashed potatoes. Heat through gently. Stir in the parsley, if using, and season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and pat in.

6. Place the bread crumbs in a small mixing bowl. Drizzle with the remaining oil and stir until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Sprinkle evenly over the pie. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Let the pie stand for about 10 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.

From Epicurious via The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/veggie-pot-pie-355945

Grilled Asian-Style Salmon with Cabbage and Mint Slaw

1 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
4 6-ounce salmon fillets with skin
4 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Thinly slice enough mint to measure 2 tablespoonfuls. Place in bowl. Whisk in next 4 ingredients. Set dressing aside.

Place salmon in glass pie dish. Add 4 tablespoons dressing and turn to coat. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper. Marinate salmon 15 minutes. Grill fillets until barely opaque in center, about 4 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, toss sliced cabbage with remaining mint leaves and remaining dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide slaw among 4 plates. Place salmon atop slaw and serve.

From Epicurious via Bon Appétit, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/grilled-asian-style-salmon-with-cabbage-and-mint-slaw-108557

Tunisian Vegetable Salsa

4 large unpeeled garlic cloves
4 plum tomatoes (about 12 ounces total)
2 small whole unpeeled onions (1/2 pound total)
2 large red bell peppers
1 large poblano chile
1 Japanese eggplant (about 5 ounces)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh lemon juice, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare a grill to medium-high heat. thread garlic cloves onto a metal skewer. Put garlic skewer, tomatoes, onions, peppers, chile, and eggplant on grill rack. Grill, turning occasionally, until tender and lightly charred all over, 6-7 minutes for garlic and tomatoes; 10 minutes for eggplant; 15 minutes for peppers and chile; 20 minutes for onions. Place peppers and chile in a large bowl; cover with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes. Peel, seed, and coarsely chop peppers and chile. coarsely chop tomatoes and eggplant. Peel and coarsely chop onions. Pulse all vegetables in a food processor, along with oil, until puréed to desired consistency. transfer to a large bowl. season to taste with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

From Epicurious via Bon Appétit, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tunisian-vegetable-salsa-365692