Week 15 Red mustard!
You may have these things in your box: red mustard, corn, tomatoes, peaches? apples, peppers, onion, hot peppers, lettuce, cabbage as a choice? Hakurei turnips? Shunkyo radishes? Potatoes? Winter squash?
The corn MAY be a butter and sugar or the all yellow Merai. If you are new to Merai, don’t be turned off by it’s rugged, intense yellow ear. It is one the most amazing Japanese gourmet varieties, full of sugar and flavor. Apples this week are likely Macs and Cortland. Looks like we are good on lettuce and peppers AND tomatoes. WOW, talk about a nice run on tomatoes for the CSA. The winter squash is ripening up and a small variety may show in your box this week. Look for Canival, Acorn, Sweet Dumpling, Delicata or perhaps a Sunshine.
Red Mustard. If you have some bunch of unidentified greens (purples?) in your box/bag, it is Giant Red Mustard. We include a baby version of this in most of our mesclun mixes, so it is not completely foreign, but it is a little different and fun to try. Yes, you can eat it raw, or you can enjoy it in anything that calls for bitter greens (though they re not really bitter, nor is chard…much maligned our yummy greens are ?)
Hard to say what will appear in the boxes, I don’t expect any surprises, meaning anything you have not seen already, but as always, let me know if you are unsure about something.
We grow several varieties of cabbage: green, red, savoy (crinkled leaves), red savoy, and Chinese (Napa). They can all be treated the same – great in slaws, stir-fry, salads, soups, etc. If you are new to our farm, you will find that even the cabbage is sweet and delicious! I never fail to be disappointed with cabbage I buy at the supermarket (I have not had to do so for a few years). I love me a good coleslaw, so consider grating everything in this week’s box into an epic slaw. I am only half kidding. I would not use soft fruits, corn, eggplant or lettuce, but any cabbage, kohlrabi, carrots, turnips, radishes, celeriac, beets, even apples, would be delightful.
At least one more week for most of you :)…Monday people this is only week 14. :^0
Recipes
Must cover the mustard here. You could always remove the stems and heavy ribs and toss it with your lettuce. Taste it first, because some like the peppery bite to it and others do not. Cooking these greens will soften the flavor. But, I love the flavor, so I am going to jack it up!
Sautéed Mustard Greens
Wash the greens, remove any thick stems (this mustard is pretty young, so the stems are not tough, don’t worry about the ribs). Roughly chop leaves and leave clinging water on the leaves Heat 1-2 TB olive oil, add 2-3 whole cloves garlic (If you love garlic, you’ll want to mince the garlic) and a pinch or two of red pepper flakes (do you like mustard? Then also add 1 Tb mustard seed). Stir around a few minutes and when garlic starts to turn brown, discard it (if you went minced, don’t brown it), add mustard, sauté, cover and cook an additional minute or until tender. Stir from time to time to prevent sticking. Serve as a side, great with meats and fish.
Not sure about sautéed mustard greens? Omit the red pepper and optional mustard seeds from recipe above, sauté greens for 2 minutes, add ¼ cup chix stock and braise for another 10 minutes.
Still no? Make pesto. Yeah, you heard me, whir up the greens (stems removed) with or without your favorite nuts, some silky oil, garlic, parmesan, salt, and toss it with your pasta. So simple.
Grilled Potato Slices with Salt and Vinegar ~ MS Living, June 2009
From member India who kindly sent me this recipe ?
- 1 lb potatoes, cut lengthwise into ¼ inch slices
- 2 cups vinegar
- 2 Tb olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp coarse salt +
- ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
Bring potatoes and vinegar to a boil in medium saucepan (taters should be covered). Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until just fork tender, about 5 minutes. Let potatoes cool in vinegar for 30 mins. Drain well and gently toss with oil, salt, and pepper.
Preheat grill to med-high. Grill taters in a single layer until browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes/side. Sprinkle with more salt as desired. *Holy potato slices falling through the grill alert Batman!
ON the Blog: search cabbage and pork
Farm Dirt:
Hey Stillman’s Farm visitors, tag us on social media @stillmansfarm #stillmansfarm Please? Also, visiting the farm as part of your CSA experience is a wonderful thing to write a review on Facebook, Yelp, Google+.
Speaking of visiting the farm, stay tuned for gleaning. Looks like sometime in early October we are gonna get hit. What’s gleaning? That involves going through the fields and gathering up all that was left behind the main harvest. For us it means not letting any of the tender crops go to waste by getting killed by a hard frost or freeze; think tomatoes, peppers, squashes, bean, not broccoli, cauliflower, kale and other cole crops which will tolerate the cold. Most likely this message will come out via Facebook.
I’ve been busy overhauling the website to fix some dumb glitches that were annoying us all last year. Believe it or not, we will start signups for next season soon. If you happen by the site, well, just take it with a grain of salt, and maybe an apple ? Meanwhile, Still Life Farm (Curt & Halley Stillman) Winter CSA will be starting end of October! They are still taking new members, so check it out at StillLifeFarm.com.
As for me, this season has FLOWN by – I have no idea where it went! I hope you have been able to relax enough during this CSA season to enjoy the produce we have lovingly grown for you.