This Week’s Share
- Basil
- Carrot
- Cucumbers
- Fennel
- Garlic
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Onions
- Summer Squash
- Tomatoes, heirlooms & slicing
On Rotation
Melons, beans, sauce tomatoes (5 pounds) and eggplant are still all making the rounds.
Recipes
Italian Tomato and Bread Soup
Adapted from Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters
2 small onions, diced
4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt
2 pounds very ripe tomatoes
¼ pound basil
2 to 2 ½ cups bread crumbs
Reggiano Parmesan cheese
Saute the onions in about ½ cup o the olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and some salt and cook a few minutes more.
Core and chop the tomatoes. When the onions and garlic are done, remove and set aside one third o the mixture. Add the tomatoes to the remaining onion mixture, along with the basil stems (reserving the leaves), and cook for about 15 minutes to make a nice tomato sauce. Pass through a food mill or a fine mesh strainer to remove skins and seeds. Return sauce to pan.
Add the reserved onions and garlic to the tomato sauce. Over very low heat, stir in about 11/2 cups of the bread crumbs. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and let the soup site for 10 minutes. As the bread crumbs absorb liquid, the soup will slowly thicken. The dryness and density of the bread crumbs, the soupiness of the tomatoes, and your own personal preference will dictate how much bread to add. The denser the crumbs, the longer the soup takes to thicken and the less you will need. If you have very dense bread, make finer crumbs and cook the soup more slowly. If the soup thickens too much, thin it out with a little water.
Chop a handful of the reserved basil leaves and stir them into the soup, with a little more olive oil if you like, and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot or cold, garnished with a thread of olive oil, grated Parmesan, and a whole basil leaf if you wish.
Gingered Fennel with Garlic
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites by the Moosewood Collective
2 medium fennel bulbs
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
½ cup orange juice (or sherry)
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Thinly slice fennel and in a large skillet, sauté garlic, fennel and oil on medium-high heat for about 7 minutes (until the fennel is golden brown) while stirring frequently. If necessary, add a splash or two of water to prevent sticking. Add the ginger and orange juice, cover, lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes- until the fennel is tender. Sprinkle on salt, sugar and pepper to taste.
Squash and Kale Risotto
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites by the Moosewood Collective
4 ½ to 5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup minced onions
2-3 teaspoons olive oil
1½ cups Arborio rice
½ cups dry white wine (optional)
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups cubed squash (¾ to 1-inch cubes)
3 cups steamed and chopped kale, packed (about ½ pound before steaming)
1/8 to ¼ teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
Salt and ground pepper to taste
¼ cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy sauté pan and then sauté the squash until golden brown. Set aside.
Bring vegetable stock to a boil, and then reduce it to a simmer. In a heavy saucepan sauté onions and 2 teaspoons oil for about 5 minutes until softened, but not browned. Then add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon (to prevent breaking the grains) until well coated with oil. If using wine, add it to the rice and onions. When it is absorbed (this shouldn’t take too long), ladle in 2 ½ cups of the simmering stock, ½ cup at a time, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes between each addition until rice has absorbed the liquid. Add the steamed kale and sautéed squash and stir.
Continue adding ½ cup of broth every couple minutes for about 10 minutes and stir often until all stock has been added and the rice is tender yet firm. Add nutmeg, lemon peel, salt and pepper to taste. Remove the risotto from the heat stir in the cheese and serve immediately.
Beer Batter-Fried Kale
Adapted from JustVegetableRecipes.com
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons beer (not dark)
1 cup All-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Table salt
1/2 teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
Vegetable oil for deep-frying the kale leaves
8 medium sized Kale leaves; washed and cut to smaller size if necessary
Coarse salt for sprinkling the leaves
Lemon wedges
In a blender combine the beer, the flour, the table salt, and the pepper until the batter is smooth, transfer the batter to a bowl, and let it stand, covered, for 1 hour.
In a large deep skillet heat 1 inch of the oil until it reaches 360F. Dip each leaf into the batter, coating it thoroughly and knocking off the excess batter on the side of the bowl, and fry it in the oil for 30 seconds on each side, or until it is golden. Transfer the kale as it is fried to paper towels to drain and sprinkle it lightly with the coarse salt. Serve with the lemon wedges.
Field Notes
In addition to our weekly CSA harvest, we have been busy harvesting our storage onions. These are the onions that some of you joined us in planting back in late April. Now, over four months later, the onions have formed bulbs and the tops have started to dry indicating that they are reaching maturity. Storage onions require ideal curing conditions. When onions “cure” the leaves dry and shrivel and ultimately create a seal so that disease doesn’t make its way into the succulent onion. Ideal conditions for curing are temperatures in the 75-85 degree range and humidity at 65-70%. Once the skins and tops are dry, we’ll clip the tops off, clean the onions, and then bring them your way over the months to come.