Fort Hill Farm CSA

Week 3 – June 22, 2010                                                                      Paul Bucciaglia

                                                                                                            18 Fort Hill Road

New Milford,  CT 06776

                                                                                                            860-210-7961

                                                                                                            forthillfarm@gmail.com

                                                                                                            www.forthillfarm.com

Farm News

This week is a great harvest, and we are really enjoying bringing in the veg.  Dry weather increases our work load because we have to move pipe, drag our travelling irrigation gun all over the farm, and run miles of drip tape to our thirsty fields.   But it sure does bring on the best in crops.  I think California growers have it pretty easy.  It stops raining there in April, and then the snow melt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains pours down into the Central valley, and they turn on the taps and start irrigating.  Nothing to it!  It’s been so dry that the pines have been scenting the air around the apprentice house, which made me think of those nice California growing conditions, which seem to have migrated east this year.  Most crops are putting on strong growth.  We should have summer squash soon, with the cukes a week or two later.  First sweet corn is starting to tassel, melons are starting to vine and hints of red have been sited in the greenhouse tomatoes.  And lots of spring greens for salads and sauté.  

Hope you enjoy the harvest. 

Paul, for Janine, Jake, Alice, Amanda, and Nate

CSA ANNOUNCEMENTS

-We are emailing a ‘jazzed up’ version of the newsletter to all primary shareholders.  It has an easy to use ‘forward’ button so you can send it along to others if you share a share.  If you are a primary shareholder, please make sure that forthillfarm@gmail.com is on your email contact list, so this ends up in your inbox.  Remember, everything we used to send by US post will now be sent to your email address. 

-Box Shareholders:  please carefully bend back the tabs on your box when opening, without ripping them.  Remove all leaves, etc, wash and air dry the box if necessary, and bring back to your drop site the next week.  Thanks for your cooperation!

-Pick Your Own at the farm:  Been a great run in the strawberry patch this year but the parties about over.  Snap peas coming in nicely, limit should be around a quart this week.  One bunch of basil available per share.  The Pick Your Own patch is open to all shareholders, once per week, Tues. and Thursday 2:30 to 6:30 PM and Sat. 8AM to noon.

               

Featured this week: 

Broccoli:  has done pretty well this spring despite all the hot and dry weather, which it is not crazy about. 

Spinach:  Great fresh for salads, wash the greens and then spin dry in a salad spinner, and either store them in the spinner or move to a clean, dry, covered bowl in the fridge.  Do not store salad or spinach for more than three days in the vented greens bag.

Snap peas:  I guess you can cook them, but I like to just eat them fresh. Store in fridge for up to 3 days.

Swiss Chard:  versatile cooking green, great sautéed with garlic and onions, or try recipe below.

Basil:  a nice bunch for pesto.  If you still have your garlic scapes, basil and scapes make a great pesto.

Also available: radishes, lettuce (red, butterhead, or romaine)

Potentially on the way:  beets with green, scallions, summer squash, salad mix, cilantro, escarole

Recipes, suggested by Janine McCormick

Swiss Chard Bruschetta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, By Janine McCormick

Extra Virgin Olive Oil                                                Sea Salt and Fresh ground black pepper to taste       

4 garlic cloves, chopped                                              1 Loaf French or Italian bread, cut into ¼ inch slices

1 bunch Swiss chard                                                   Fresh Mozzarella, sliced

6-8 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced        A couple TBSP fresh basil, chopped 

¼ cup dry white wine *optional                                 Fresh grated Parmesan Reggiano or Romano cheese

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

Heat 4-6 TBSP of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Sauté the chopped garlic and red pepper flakes until fragrant, about one minute (do not brown the garlic!).  Add the chard stems and sauté until they begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the chard leaves and wine, if using.  Continue to sauté until the chard is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.  Remove from the heat and toss in the sun-dried tomatoes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brush the bread with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.  Top the bread with fresh mozzarella and return to the oven to melt.  Top with the sautéed chard mixture, a sprinkle of fresh basil, and grated Parmesan or Romano cheese and enjoy!

Sesame Broccoli Salad, From Recipes from America’s Small Farms

 

1 ½ pounds broccoli                                                    2 TBSP toasted sesame oil     

2 TBSP soy sauce or tamari                                        2 TBSP honey

2 TBSP rice wine vinegar                                           ½ cup toasted sesame seeds

Slice 1 ½ pounds of broccoli and cook (steam or blanch) until crisp tender.  Drain well and allow to cool.

Whisk together the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and honey in a large bowl.  Toast ½ cup sesame seeds in a heavy skillet; let cool.  Mix the broccoli and half the sesame seeds into the dressing.  Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes to 2 hours, tossing occasionally.  Transfer the broccoli to a platter, pour the dressing over, and sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds.

Caesar Salad, from allrecipes.com

 

1 head Romaine lettuce                                              1 egg

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil                                         1 lemon, juiced

3 TBSP red wine vinegar                                            Freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce                                          ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

½ tsp salt                                                                     1 ½ cups garlic croutons

¼ TBSP ground mustard                                            1 (2 oz.) can anchovy filets

1 clove crushed garlic

Clean lettuce and spin dry in a salad spinner.  In a bowl or jar combine oil, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, mustard, garlic, and lemon juice.  Whisk until well blended.

Coddle egg by heating 3 cups of water to boiling.  Drop in egg, still in its’ shell, and let stand for 1 minute.  Remove egg from water and let cool.  Once cooled, crack open and whisk into the dressing until thoroughly blended.

Mash the desired amount of anchovies and whisk into dressing.  If desired, set aside a few for garnish. 

Tear cleaned romaine leaves into a large salad bowl.  Pour dressing over top and toss lightly.  Add the grated cheese, croutons, and fresh ground black pepper, toss.  Serve immediately.

Fort Hill Farm CSA

Week 2 – June 15, 2010                                                                      Paul Bucciaglia

                                                                                                            18 Fort Hill Road

New Milford,  CT 06776

                                                                                                            860-210-7961

                                                                                                            forthillfarm@gmail.com

                                                                                                            www.forthillfarm.com

Farm News

June is always a hectic month for the farm.  We still have plenty of planting to do, a task that will occupy us right into early September when we seed the last of the fall salad greens.  And the 13 acres we have planted is always crying for attention.  The recent rains brought much needed moisture to our crops, but the combination of moisture, sun and heat has set the weed machine in motion.  The long days bring on some incredible growth, and sometimes what looks like a few weeds in the lettuce turns into a jungle that threatens to bring down the whole crop overnight.  We’re also keeping our eyes peeled for insect and disease pests, irrigating when necessary, mulching the tomato and pepper rows, and, of course, picking and packing the spring crops! 

Hope you enjoy the harvest. 

Paul, for Janine, Jake, Alice, Amanda, and Nate

CSA ANNOUNCEMENTS

-Please be sure to read the newsletter each week!   This is our way to communicate with you, our members.  We are emailing a copy to each shareholder, we post it each Tuesday on our web site, and if you prefer, paper copies of newsletters are available at your distribution site.  

-More recipes, plus produce storage and processing info, available at www.forthillfarm, just click on the “Recipes” tab for a veritable cornucopia of information. 

-Pick Your Own at the farm:  still some good strawberries out there although you have to work a little harder and make sure to pick only firm berries.  Hard to predict limits as it is highly weather dependant, but 2 quarts per share is a good bet, extra quarts available supply permitting.  Snap peas starting to come in, limit one pint per share.  The Pick Your Own patch is open to all shareholders, once per week, Tues. and Thursday 2:30 to 6:30 PM and Sat. 8AM to noon.

               

Featured this week: 

Chinese Cabbage:  versatile green that can be used in salad and stir fry, see recipe below.  Store for up to two weeks in the fridge.

Spinach and Salad mix:  Janine is our official greens seeder, and after a couple of years of adjustments we are getting some really nice cut leaf crops from the high density seeder we bought a few years ago.  For both spinach and salad mix, wash the greens and then spin dry in a salad spinner, and either store them in the spinner or move to a clean, dry, covered bowl in the fridge.  Do not store salad or spinach for more than three days in the vented greens bag.

Kohlrabi:  give this one a try!  I like to just peel them, slice ‘em up and eat them, or you can sauté or steam it as well.  We have the regular green and a fancy purple varieties.  Leaves can be sautéed if you like but the peeled and sliced bulb is the main event on this crop.  Store in fridge in a loose plastic bag for up to two weeks.

Garlic scapes:  putting together a CSA share in the spring is tough, because I end up breaking my “no more than one weird vegetable a week rule” quite a bit.   But give the scapes a chance, and you will be pleasantly surprised.  These are the flowers of our hard neck garlic, and they are quite delicious lightly steamed and sautéed with spring greens.  The whole thing is edible, although I usually trim off the very thin ‘whip’ at the tip of the scape.  Then chop up the stem and the flower bulb and use as you would garlic.  Makes a great pesto over pasta, see recipes at www.forthillfarm.com.  Will store for weeks in your fridge crisper.

Potentially on the way:   lettuce, radishes, garlic scapes, Swiss chard, escarole

Recipes, suggested by Janine McCormick

Spinach and Scape Frittata, Adapted from dakotagarlic.com

3 TBSP olive oil                                               10 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (1/2 lb.) chopped raw spinach                1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 TBSP. chopped parsley or basil                    1/2 cup finely chopped garlic scapes
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2.  In a large bowl mix all ingredients except olive oil and garlic scapes.
3.  Heat oil in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet on the stove. Add the garlic scapes and sauté until tender on medium heat for about five minutes.
4.  Pour egg mixture in skillet with garlic scapes and cook over low for three minutes.
5. Place in oven and bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until top is set.
6. Cut into wedges and serve.

 

Potato and Kohlrabi Gratin, Recipe by Eberhard Muller

3 oz. Sliced bacon, sliced crosswise into thin strips     2 cups heavy cream

2 TBSP crème fraiche or sour cream                           ½ garlic clove, minced

½ tsp minced thyme                                                     Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

4 large Yukon Gold potatoes                                       2 medium kohlrabi, peeled

Preheat oven to 300.  Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish. 

In a small skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until barely crisp, about 4 minutes.  Drain on paper towels, and then transfer to a large bowl.  Stir in the heavy cream, crème fraiche, garlic and thyme.  Season the cream generously with salt and pepper.

Using a mandolin, thinly slice the potatoes and kohlrabi, then add to the cream and toss to mix.  Spread the potatoes, kohlrabi, and cream in an even layer in the prepared baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.  Increase the oven temperature to 325 and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes longer, or until the potatoes are tender and the top is browned.  Let the gratin stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Hoisin Pork with Chinese Cabbage, by Tony Rosenfeld, Fine Cooking, adapted by Janine McCormick

1 lb. Pork Tenderloin, cut into ¼ inch strips about 3 inches long

1 tsp. kosher salt, more to taste                                    3 TBSP hoisin sauce

2 TBSP soy sauce                                                        1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

3 TBSP canola or peanut oil                                        2 tsp minced garlic

6 cup Chinese Cabbage cut into 1 ½ inch pieces         1 red bell pepper, cored, sliced into 3 inch lengths

¼ cup thinly sliced scallions, green part only

In a large bowl, season the pork with ½ tsp. of the salt.  In a small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and vinegar.

Heat 2 TBSP of the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat until simmering hot.  Add the pork and cook, until it browns and loses most of its raw appearance, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a plate.

Add the remaining 1 TBSP of oil to the skillet.  Add the garlic, once it begins to sizzle, add the cabbage and pepper.  Sprinkle with remaining ½ tsp. salt and cook, stirring, until the cabbage starts to wilt, about 2 minutes.

Add the hoisin mixture, the pork, half of the scallions and cook, tossing, until heated through, about 1 minute.  Let sit for 2 minutes off the heat, the cabbage will exude some liquid and form a rich broth, toss well again and serve sprinkled with remaining scallions.

 

 

Fort Hill Farm CSA

 

*To blanch, drop trimmed (but uncut) broccoli raab into boiling salted water. After two minutes (even if the water hasn’t returned to a boil), drain and refresh under cold water.

Put the oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and starts to sizzle slightly, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low if the garlic starts to brown. Stir in the lemon zest, 1/4 tsp. salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Raise the heat to medium high and add the broccoli raab, turning to thoroughly coat in the oil and spices. Turn frequently, until it is heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, sprinkle lemon juice over the broccoli raab, toss again, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

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