CSA Week 13, 2020

CSA Week 13

This week you MAY have apples, onion, lettuce, peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, Portuguese kale, acorn squash, cabbage? broccoli?

Paula Reds, Molly Delicious and now appearing the Redcorts!

The acorn squash has arrived. You will notice some scars on the dark green skin – that’s the hail damage you heard tell of a few weeks back. Naturally it will not present a problem on the inside 🙂
Well, last year it was Delicata squash packaged at Honeynut. This year it appears to be Portuguese kale packaged as Romanesco Cauliflower. Not sure what we are going to do about that other than to load you up with kale instead of cauliflower 😉 Don’t panic kale haters, if you like broccoli and spinach, give this a shot. It is very mild and sweet. I bet it would make epic kale crisps too!

As we approach Fall, we should be seeing broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, different apples, more potatoes and winter squashes. Let’s all hope for good weather with little drama.

Sausage- Stuffed Delicata Squash

Author: SimpleHealthyKitchen.com
Serves: 6-12 servings

• 3 medium Delicata squash ( about 1 lb. each), halved lengthwise and seeded
• 3 tsp. olive oil, divided (or coconut oil)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb. ground pork sausage ( or ground chicken sausage)
• ⅓ cup chopped onion (1 small)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups torn fresh kale, stems removed
• 1 small apple, diced
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves ( or1 tsp dried)
• ¼ cup dried cranberries(look for brands with no added sugar)
• ¼ cup toasted pecans, chopped
• Drizzle pure maple syrup (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Brush cut sides of squash with 1 tsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place
cup side up on a baking sheet. Roast until tender (about 25-30 mins.)
2. While squash is roasting, heat remaining 2 tsp olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add
sausage, onion, and garlic. Cook until sausage is browned and onion is translucent, stirring to break
sausage apart (approx.10 mins.) Add kale, apples, rosemary, thyme, sage and additional salt and pepper
if needed. Continue to cook until the kale turns bright green and becomes tender (approx. 5-8 minutes).
Stir in cranberries and cook for an additional 1 minute.
3. Spoon sausage mixture evenly into squash halves. And sprinkle with toasted pecans.
4. Optional step- preheat broiler and arrange stuffed squash halves on foil lined baking sheet . Drizzle with
maple syrup. Broil until the tops of stuffing and squash are golden brown (approx. 5 mins).

The recipe above is very much like what I throw together…I wanted to give you an actual recipe 🙂 Sub leeks for an onion, sub fresh or dry cubed bread (stuffing mix?) for the sausage, toss in some cheese like Gorgonzola, cottage or ricotta… the sky is the limit!
You can stuff squash that is not cooked and bake until the squash is done. I typically cover the baking dish with foil to keep moisture in, then uncover for 10 minutes to brown up a little.

ZsaZsa’s Kale Soup

In a 4 qt. + pot- Fry

• 1 onion coarsely chopped
• 1 chicken breast or thigh- cut into bite size pieces
• ¼ lb loose sausage broken up and stir fried
• 6” length of chorizo cut into bite size
• 1T minced garlic- put in last and fry very briefly
• 1 bunch washed kale, torn in pieces
• 1 can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
• 6 c. chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Use this recipe as a guide to customize your own soup -More chicken-more chorizo- pasta instead of beans…

 

Caldo Verde | Portuguese Kale Soup

leitesculinaria.com

•  1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 
   10 ounces chouriço, linguiça,or Spanish chorizo, sliced into 1/4-inch (6-mm) coins
•  1 large Spanish onion, diced
• 
   Kosher salt
• 
   2 garlic cloves, sliced; don’t be afraid to go for a third or fourth. The Portuguese love their garlic
• 
   6 medium potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 
   8 cups cold water, or half homemade chicken stock or canned chicken broth, and half water
• 
   1 pound kale or collard greens, stems removed, leaves cut into very, very thin slices
• 
   Freshly ground black or white pepper

This one is very traditional and you can click on the link to see how she makes it. i have seen other traditional recipes that emphasize an equal amount of potatoes to onions…so, as with everything, everyone has their own way of making it 😉

 

Busy Farmwife Anyslaw Dressing

Simple, simple, simple:
To 1/3 cup cider vinegar add 1/2 tsp kosher salt (sea salt would be good too), slowly whisk in 2/3 cup oil (something light, I use canola or safflower), and then add 1/2 tsp celery seed.

Yep, that’s it. I used this general recipe for any slaw, including the much coveted kohlrabi slaw. You can always add more salt to taste, and I often do. I have even substituted my Father’s favorite ‘No Salt’ when making this dressing with no ill effect. IF you like things tarter, add more vinegar… everyone knows I cook with the force, so the fact that I have written down a recipe with actual measurements is a huge achievement. And, yes, this is awesome with pulled pork or beef.

Also check out:

Stuffed winter squash

Apple-Filled Acorn Squash Rings with Curry Butter

Cabbage and Apples Braised in Cider ~ Cooks Illustrated

Kale Crunch (and a picture of kale;)

If you still have eggplant floating around and forgot what to do with it 😉 Baked Eggplant

I sat here and wrote a fairly thoughtful Farm Dirt section about garlic and such, only to lose it at the end of the night and oddly, WordPress autosave decided not to autosave every 10 minutes…it hadn’t autosaved for a couple hours 🙁

So I quit.

I will try to recapture some of it, but it is definitely less inspired, I know you get it.  🙂

My mind was on garlic. It will be time to plant the seed garlic soon and, of course, we save out the best bulbs from this year’s crop to plant the cloves for next year’s harvest. There’s a lot of labor involved in the planting, growing and harvesting of garlic. After harvest it gets hung up or spread out in the greenhouses to cure, then we all take turns struggling to cut the stiff necks off and peeling/rubbing off the outer layer or papers to clean them up. There is equipment for all of this, but here at the farm, we still use a lot of actual humans. We like humans 🙂 We could replace a few humans with machines…there’s all sorts of garlic brushers and sorters out there, anywhere from 15k to sky’s the limit. I was just reading an article in the India Times here about  imported garlic being treated with bleach and methyl bromide and honestly, I don’t know if it is all true. I did do a quick search and the topic is covered on many “healthy eating” sites. I will leave it to you to research it yourself if interested. You can most readily recognize  imported garlic by it’s lack of any roots or frass attached on the bottom. They have special knives that leave a concave base, done in order to remove any soil as necessitated by the USDA import regulation. We also grow a very large garlic variety called Musik…but you’ll still see roots and soil, in spite of our cleaning efforts 😉 Last year, roughly 60% of garlic sold in the US was imported, whereas ten year prior, it was predominantly from California. The main reason is because the growers in this country are all under the same regulations about what chemicals they can use pre and post harvest.  More reason to continue to eat as locally as possible; hyper local, regionally local, and yes, in our country local.

We have not bought a garlic brusher yet, but we did invest in a potato digger years ago when our chief human potato digger was retiring. It was paid for in a year. What’s funny is the guys still have not attached the digger to the tractor this season. Any potatoes you have seen so far have been laboriously had dug and plucked from the soil. Molly and Rupert worry about damaging the skin on the early potatoes and it is true, new potatoes are more likely to be bruised or damaged. pretty soon the main harvest of taters will begin and they will be piled in large 20 bushel bins and stored away to feed us through the winter and early spring. Heaven knows we were so happy to have them to put in the produce bags and sustain us during the lockdown. Yeah potatoes!

 

Eat well,

Geneviève Stillman   

P.S.

We have never actually had kittens on the farm before. Historically, every cat that has been dropped off or brought home, has been spayed or neutered ASAP, regardless of whether that animal is staying on with us. BUT, seven years ago, I got Glenn as Savannah cat to serve as a therapy animal. It was such a good fit that the following year, we got another one. They are indoor cats, complete with actual trees in the house and a catio off the porch. If they go out, it is suited up in snazzy harness-jackets and they have a great time. Anyway, returning members may recall we lost all our old-timers last Spring. The Bear at 22, Fezziwig at 17, and Flint (who was not that old at 14, but had struggled with vestibular disease for month). this left a gaping hold in our lives and the household seemed empty. We decided to get another couple Savannahs! One from CA and another from MD. Well, Calypso and Orion are now the proud parents of six spotted kitties and the timing couldn’t be better.

Calypso is a Savannah-Bob and Orion is a F5 Savannah. Three of the kittens have mamma’s hard bobcat ears and they all have papa’s spots! Below is a picture of Orion kitten-sitting at three weeks while mom eats and goes out for a bit.

Two more weeks of CSA extension option!

CSA is going so awesome, why not keep things rolling until Still Life Farm winter CSA begins!!! Add two more weeks to your 16!! (we are on week 10 this week) We are offering an extension to current CSA members of an additional two weeks for $60. That way you will have your winter squash, Brussels sprouts, apples and other fall crops. It’s simple, just complete your purchase for 2 more weeks and we will keep you on your existing list. These two weeks will blend seamlessly filling the gap between our Summer CSA and Still Life Farm’s Winter CSA.

With all the payroll increases, we are increasing the regular 16-week, CSA price to $500…

This is still far more competitive, price-wise, than many other area CSAs, especially when one considers the variety (including fruit) and value of what we so enjoy providing to you.

Since it is almost time to start signing up for next year, we are offering some bundle options. Curt and Halley Stillman, at Still Life farm, still have a few spots open for their wonderful Winter CSA (5 deliveries, once a month) More here

Here are the bundle options:

• 2 week CSA extension + 2021 16-week CSA for $476 (early discount of 15% off both the 16-week CSA and the two week CSA extension (that’s $75 off CSA and $9 off the two extra bags :))
• 2 week CSA extension + Winter CSA for  $350
• 2 week CSA extension + Winter CSA + 2021 16-week CSA for $766 ($290 for Winter CSA + early discount of 15% off both the 16-week CSA and the two week CSA extension (that’s $75 off CSA and $9 off the two extra bags :))
• Just interested in the Winter CSA right now? Then sign up directly with Curt and Halley for ease. Still Life Farm Winter CSAl

Coupon 15OFFCSA will be automatically applied at checkout for 2 weeks + Summer CSA (with or without Winter CSA)
Coupon 15OFFEXTRA will be automatically applied at checkout for 2 weeks + Winter CSA

Woot!

Don’t want any more CSA bags this year and not ready to sign up for next year? No worries! We will still be offering our 15% off discount to returning members through November. The early sign up discount offer will go out to members later in October. Also, you can always sign up for Still Life farm Winter CSA or Stillman Quality Meats meat bucks whenever…we just wanted to offer a special deal for right now. The special bundle offer expires October 10.