Although any pretty much any carrot will work, big Chantenay carrots are great here. Chantenay become sweeter and seem to be tenderer as they get larger, and for slow cooking, as in this recipe, they are perfect. The nuts added at the end add crunchy contrast to the tender vegetables, and the nutty flavor adds depth to the dish.
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This is the final delivery of our weekly CSA shares for the 2013 season. It is time for us to look back on another year of crop successes and failures—the delicious and bountiful blueberry crop; the fire in the apple orchard; the first tasty little pears; the stressfully late strawberry crop; the beautiful cauliflower, broccoli, beans, and carrots;
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This dressing goes with the Filet Beans, Radish, and Butter Leaf Salad, but will go with lots of other things as well. Salads and light slaws will pair with this, but this will also be good with cold shrimp and cold smoked or cured salmon as well as chicken dishes.
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Serve this unlikely seeming combo as a tapa, appetizer, or side with grilled shrimp or chicken. The cauliflower will be a little sweet to contrast with the green grassy, sometimes spicy padrons, and the vinegar in the marinade will add piquancy to the whole. Use large crystal salt for an added layer of crunch. These would be good with a glass of chilled sherry. If you want to dress this up a bit, use the Charred Scallion Sauce on the website.
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Slow cooking the Romano beans brings out the sweetness of the bean and leaves them meltingly tender without getting that furry feeling that over cooking these beans in water can yield. The scallions add the bass line to this dish, and the sweetness of the fennel adds top end. Once this dish gets going, resist the urge to stir it, or even open it, for at least 30 minutes.
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We have prepared all the strawberry beds for next year’s crop, and this week we start planting the strawberries themselves. The lack of rain has made this task go perfectly smoothly, but it has thrown a wrench into our cover cropping. We try to conserve water as much as possible, and most years we time the planting of as many of our cover crops as possible to correspond with fall rain storms.
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This recipe involves cooking tomatoes, onions, and garlic down to a jam-like consistency and tossing blanched broccoli in the sauce to coat. The recipe may make more than you need for the broccoli, and if that is the case, just freeze the remainder and use it on pasta, other vegetables or use it coat roasted chicken, fish, or shrimp.
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This is a variation of the traditional eggplant babaganoush where pomegranate molasses is added in to lend sweetness and depth. Much of the flavor of good babaganoush comes from charring the eggplant. Here, turning the pumpkin skin down to finish the cooking caramelizes it and lends that smoky quality to the puree.
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I took some time this week to look into the FDA’s Proposed Regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act. Food Safety is of vital importance to us, as it is to all farmers, of course. It’s the Modernization part that I’m concerned about. I’ll be making my comments to the FDA this week and I hope you will also comment (see links below).
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Another version of a “pesto using” cilantro, with a South West flair underscored by the use of spices and pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and pine nuts. Romano, Dry Monterey Jack, or Cotija cheese are appropriate for this dish as they are less pungent than Parmesan, although some Cotija can have quite a “barnyard” aroma. This pesto was devised to go with the Collards, Butternut Squash, and South West Cilantro Pesto recipe. Besides vegetables, try this on grilled pork chops, chicken, shrimp and fish.
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This salad is amenable to any of several dressings; Balsamic, Maple, Apple Balsamic, Cilantro, Cinnamon Cilantro, or even Traditional Blue Cheese or Lighter Blue Cheese Dressing. Any of these will work, but here the recipe is set up with Cilantro Cinnamon Vinaigrette
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You could view this as a pasta dish, with the collards standing in for the noodles, and the squash as part of the sauce, such as the potatoes in a traditional Pasto alla Genovese, and serve it on its own, or use it as a side dish.
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October is always a super busy month on our farm and while there is still plenty to be done, it feels like we can finally pause long enough to catch our breath. All of the field prep for next year’s strawberry field is finished and we are just waiting for it to dry out enough to have the beds listed up (we pre-irrigate the field so that the extra-tall beds will hold their shape when they are formed). Every year our strawberry field gets extra attention, but this year we went all out.
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This is a dish with lots of flavor, and while filling, it will not weigh you down. The apple adds an unexpected lightness and sweetness that plays well with the squash and makes an excellent foil for the earthiness of the other ingredients. Feel free to leave it out if it seems discordant to you. This basic recipe is a good starting point for playing with your food. Try different types of squash. Experiment with whatever leftover grains you might have. Switch the greens around as well as the mushrooms.
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I took a break from the farm last week to chaperone our daughter’s 7th grade class on a field trip to the Catalina Island Marine Institute. It was an amazing week full of snorkeling, kayaking, tidepooling, hiking, and learning about oceanography. If children in your life ever have a chance to attend this program I recommend doing anything you can to make it happen! (And alas, no, we did not see the oar fish–we were in the next cove over.)
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This salad uses a dressing of Date Molasses, which is a thick syrup made of dates that has a tangy sweetness to it. The kabocha croutons can be made ahead. Be sure to use the green kabocha as it is drier than the orange.
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This dressing was designed for the Spinach Kabocha Squash and Dates salad, but will work with other spinach salads as well as salads with Little Gem or Romaine lettuces. If you have nut oils on hand, it is nice to match the oil with the nuts if you are using them in a salad. This dressing would also be a good sauce on chicken or grilled lamb chops.
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If Dr. Seuss designed a food, I’m sure it would have been what we know as Winter Squash. From dull and stolid looking to wildly shaped and brightly colored, winter squash run the gamut. Like Dr. Seuss books, winter squash also yield a treat when you open them, a warm-colored flesh and a mellow flavor–sometimes mild and nutty, sometimes sweet.
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Allioli, or Alioli (Catalan and Spanish) is Spain’s answer to the French garlic mayonnaise called “aioli”. Originally just pounded garlic and oil, typically it is made with egg yolk now. Here, I cheat and use jarred mayonnaise. Version 2 is a lower cholesterol version with bigger flavor based on a sherry vinaigrette. Allioli is used with fish, seafood, potato dishes, or grilled dishes.
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This dish was inspired by a recipe from Maria Helms Sinskey. Use this as a side, on toasts as a starter, or to stuff Portobello mushrooms for a light supper.
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Thanks to all of you who came out to see us on Saturday at our Harvest Fair and Pumpkin Patch! It was great to see so many CSA members there. (We’ll have some pictures to post next week.)
This time of year the farm is in transition. Those of you who were here Saturday saw that we have many fields co
ming out of food crops and ready to plant into the winter cover crops.
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