Welcome to the 23rd share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2021 Summer CSA!  Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Lettuce Mix
• Curly Kale
• Celery
• Hakurei Salad Turnips – These Japanese salad turnips are a favorite. They’re delicious raw or roasted and you can eat the tops too. Also, some bunches have one or two stray purple radishes bunched in too.
• Strawberry Paw Potatoes
• Kohlrabi – You can eat kohlrabi raw shaved into salads or cut up into matchsticks, or roast it up with other root vegetables.
• Leeks
• Fresh Onions
• Poblano Peppers – Usually mild chiles, we’ve come across some fairly spicy fruits this year! I’m thinking of trying out this Poblano Corn Chowder this week.
• Low Heat Habanero Peppers – These “Numex Suave” habanero peppers have all the flavor but less of the spice.
• Candystick Dessert Delicata Squash
• Green Apples

And suddenly it’s November! We’re down to the final month of the Summer CSA and we’ve got a solid fall vegetable line-up headed your way. It’s time to start roasting roots, simmering soups, and upping your salad game. Here on the farm the shorter days mean there’s more time to spend in the kitchen prepping, cooking, and eating. Plus it’s definitely pie season now that we’ve got a steady supply of various pumpkins and squashes rolling through.

However, just because the days are getting ever shorter, doesn’t necessarily mean the To Do list is too. We’ve been appreciating the return of the rain, though we were thankful for a short reprieve this weekend so we could get some more potatoes out of the ground. We also spent an afternoon harvesting turnips and radishes for storage. Have I mentioned that the walk-in coolers are filling up? It’s a new game of Tetris in there each time we bring another stack of vegetables from the field. Although it means a lot of moving stacks to get to other stacks, we’re feeling good about the final weeks of the Summer CSA and the start of the Winter CSA. There will be root vegetables!

As we look ahead this week things will look much like the past week. We’ll be bringing in more roots including the last few beds of potatoes, more daikon radishes, plus beets and carrots if we can find the space. We’ve also been undertaking an onion rescue as we re-evaluate our onion storage methods and sort through them. This all has us thinking about future storage upgrades to help maintain proper conditions for various crops. It’s that time of year when storage is limited and we begin to think perhaps it’s finally time to do something about it. That sounds like a winter project though. Let’s get through November first.

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

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

.

Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Celery Soup

• 1 chopped head of celery
• 1 chopped large waxy potato
• 1 chopped medium onion
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• Salt
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup fresh dill
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Celery leaves
• Olive oil
• Flaky sea salt

Combine 1 chopped head of celery, 1 chopped large waxy potato, 1 chopped medium onion, and 1 stick unsalted butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat; season with salt.

Cook, stirring, until onion is tender, 8–10 minutes.

Add 3 cups low sodium chicken broth; simmer until potatoes are tender, 8–10 minutes. Purée in a blender with 1/4 cup fresh dill; strain. Stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream. Serve soup topped with celery leaves, olive oil, and flaky sea salt.

From Epicurious.com, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/celery-soup-51246210

Kohlrabi & Apple Salad with Creamy Mustard Dressing

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon coarse-grained mustard
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 bunches kohlrabi (about 2 pounds), bulbs peeled and cut into julienne strips, stems discarded, and the leaves reserved for another use
• 1 Granny Smith apple

In a bowl whisk the cream until it holds soft peaks and whisk in the lemon juice, the mustard, the parsley, the sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the kohlrabi strips and the apple, peeled, cored, and diced, and combine the salad well.

From Epicurious.com, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/kohlrabi-and-apple-salad-with-creamy-mustard-dressing-10693

Cider-Braised Chicken with Apples and Kale

• 4 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick; about 3 pounds)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon country-style Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 pink-skinned apples, cut into 1/2″ wedges
• 1/2 medium red onion, cut into 1/2″ wedges
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups fresh apple cider, divided
• 1 large or 2 small bunches curly kale (about 1 pound), stemmed, torn into pieces
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons tarragon leaves (optional)

Arrange rack in upper third of oven; preheat to 450°F. Season chicken all over with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper, then rub with 1/4 cup mustard, making sure to get mustard under skin.

Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large heatproof high-sided skillet or heavy braising pan over medium-high. Sear chicken, skin side down, until golden-brown, about 8 minutes. Turn chicken, then arrange apples and onion around chicken. Add wine and 1 cup cider, then transfer to oven and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°F, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1/2 cup cider, 1 Tbsp. oil, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a large pot over medium; add kale, cover, and cook until wilted. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until kale is tender, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, divide kale among plates.

Transfer chicken, apples, and onion to plates with a slotted spoon. Heat remaining liquid in skillet over high. Add cream and remaining 1 tsp. mustard and bring to a boil. Cook, whisking constantly, until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Spoon sauce alongside chicken and kale. Garnish with tarragon, if desired.

From Epicurious.com by Anna Stockwell, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cider-braised-chicken-with-apples-and-kale