CSA Week 5
Things you MAY have in your box/bag this week: cucumbers, summer squash, chard or kale or lettuce, corn? blueberries? If you did not see any fennel last week you should have it this week. Bear with me folks and remember I write this letter on Thursday or the week with the CSA week starting on Saturdays – lots can happen, or not happen in a matter of days on the farm. I guarantee that some of you who pick up later in the week will get something in your bag that may have not even been on my radar. It will all work out 🙂
The blueberries are in, but sporadically – Some of you saw them last week and you all should see them for quite a few weeks in the future.
To recap the cucumber situation as printed last week: With all the varieties of cucumbers we grow, it’s not that outrageous to wonder what’s what. After all, the squashes and cukes are all cucurbits and share many characteristics! Naturally we grow the regular slicing cucumber, but we also grow the Kirby or pickling cuke, as well as Persian, which are very smooth skinned and almost seedless, and Lemon, which are round, yellow, tennis-ball-lookin’ things. Those are the ones people sometimes think are squash, or baby melons…also cucurbits!!!
Lemon, Diva, slicing and pickling cukes
Recipes
If you got corn, we hope you will eat it the same day you got it…the day it was picked. Our corn only needs to be steamed a few minutes for perfection. OR, eat it raw, it’s so sweet. The natural sugars in the corn convert to starch starting the moment the eat is broken off the stalk. It’s funny, we always say “picking corn” and the guys from Jamaica use the term “breaking corn”…this is one case where their vernacular seems slightly more accurate 😉 The loud crunching-snapping sound the corn makes as it is broken off the stalk definitely sounds like breaking and not the inaudible sound of picking tomatoes or blueberries.
A customer told me about a microwaving corn video…last year I posted the recommended video with super hokey narration – it actually seemed kind of spoofy PSA, but it was not, LOL. Anyway, here’s a super short and sweet version I found elsewhere. Oh, and it works!
If you are not using the corn immediately, we find it holds better to husk it and store in the fridge.
For Taco Tuesday (yes, we often have tacos or some iteration on Tuesdays) I made summer squash quesadillas (LOL), cucumbers in vinegar and a chickpea-Kale salad. Hopefully by week 5 we have all established I cook with The Force and you can too! I will sketch out what I did below, but it was not complicated and you should sub whatever you have (within reason for spices, cheese, etc. Remember, I am often cooking for five to seven people who EAT, so I cooked 17 or 18 of the 6″ flour tortillas size for the five I had for dinner Tuesday 😉 And if you have tortillas on hand, use what you got! Yes, use peppers and garlic or whatever you have when cooing the squash 🙂 Oh, and by all means, use the same skillet for prepping the squash and cooking the quesadillas!
Summer Squash Quesadillas
- 6″ flour tortillas
- oil for cooking
- 3-5 summer squash depending on size and mouths to feed (figure one small one/person or a medium/two persons
- 2 tsp Adobo seasoning – again gauge salt per squash (make your own: salt, garlic, black pepper, oregano, turmeric – lots of small companies make this)
- 1-2 Tb yummy Sofrito cooking base (actually too many things to list, but some tomato paste, chili powder, garlic, cliantro, onion…close enough)
- smoked paprika
- 1/2-1 cup crumbly cheese – I used my homemade ricotta
- shredded cheddar or mozzarella
- additional condiments? Alex’s ugly, salsa, salsa verde, sour cream….
Wash squash, trim ends, slice thin. For small squash try halving the long way before slicing half moons and for larger squash quarter the long way and then slice. Sprinkle with Adobo seasoning or salt. Heat oil in skillet, cook squash until tender and lightly browning. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and stir in Sofrito sauce and remove from heat. Scrape the skillet contents into a bowl and add ricotta or other crumbly cheese of choice. Taste and adjust seasoning. Wipe out skillet with paper towel (you know, kind of). I used a little spray oil in the pan and then lay down a tortilla, add filling on one half, top with shredded cheese, fold tortilla over, make another one in the same pan if you have room. Flip the over when browning lightly on the bottom. Since the filling is hot, you the only thing you are trying to achieve is to toast the tortilla and melt the cheese inside.
Cut them in half or thirds, serve up with your favorite additions! Everyone was happy and no one missed the meat. The smoked paprika added a nice complexity. You could always grill the squash and then cut up for filling if that is your thing 🙂
From member Jordan: Hi! I thought this recipe might be useful to anyone looking to use up some summer squash in a delicious way. I have been using an InstantPot for a lot of my cooking because it doesn’t heat up my kitchen on hot days.
Zucchini & Summer Squash Soup
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ pounds any combination of zucchini and summer squash (2-3 large), halved and sliced ¼ inch thick
- 2/3 cup vegetable stock/low sodium broth
- 1 ½ cups water
Stovetop directions:
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until softened, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and 1 ½ cups of water and bring to a simmer; cook until the zucchini is very soft, about 10 minutes.
- Working in 2 batches, puree the soup in a blender until it’s silky-smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan and season with salt and pepper. Alternatively, blend in the pot with a stick blender and season to taste with salt and pepper.
InstantPot directions:
- Place butter, olive oil, chopped onion, chopped garlic clove, slice zucchini, vegetable stock, and water into the instant pot. Cook on high/manual for 3 minutes and quick release the steam.
- Puree the soup with a stick blender or in batches in a tabletop blender until silky smooth and return to the pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve it either hot or chilled, with suggested garnishes of drizzled olive oil, extra julienned zucchini, or a spoon of crème fraiche/sour cream.
Cucumber Drink
Member Alicia found this recipe at www.chowhound.com.
- 1 1/4 cups peeled, seeded, roughly chopped cucumbers 2 c cold water
- 1 c crushed ice 1/3 cup lime juice
- 1/2 cup sugar (I used simple syrup, which worked well, too) pinch salt, if desired
Place all ingredients in blender and blend well. Can be enjoyed as is, or filter through a fine sieve if you want a beverage without the pulp.
*I’m ready for this with a splash of gin, soda and squeeze of lime!
Eat more salad 🙂
Farm Dirt
I think we will see the tomatoes starting to come in for real and I think there will be peppers soon! This week the fall crop of tomatoes was planted, all the winter squash is in the ground and we are seeding the last crop of brassicas.
We’d love for you to come out to the New Braintree farm to harvest your own! It is great when members experience the harvest for themselves and it is part of understanding the labor involved with our local food supply. If you have children, it is a timeless lesson to have them pick a head of lettuce, pull a beet, pick berries, eat an ear of corn raw, standing in the field…. Not only does one understand how something grows, but one gains perspective on the labor costs of harvest. Actually, it is a perspective many adults are missing too – so if you’ve never picked a tomato or bean, put that on your CSA bucket list. Check out our directions and other things to do page
Glenn spotted a deer in one field and then a coyote in another – pretty awesome. We had one of the Bluejay fledglings taken away by a Sharp-Shinned Hawk this morning and that was pretty tough. Meanwhile, we have Chimney Swifts in our chimney (duh) and periodically one can hear the wing-beats of the parents descend to the next and the young chirping away to get fed. Then the parents leave and all is quiet again. I am going to try to record it, but it is not that easy because I’d have to hang out for 15-30 minutes waiting for them to come… but we will see or hear.
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
Chimney Swift (Wikipedia)