CSA Week 8
This week you MAY have corn, squash, cukes, greens, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, blueberries or peaches?
Eggplants, we grow A LOT of eggplants. I’ve always liked eggplant but I know that is is not everyone favorite. Here’s that request to try it again for the “first time”, without prejudice. Obviously, I am not espousing that advice for anything you might be allergic to! If you have a problem with nightshades, you already know egplants are not for you. Varieties we grow: Classic, Listata de Gandia, Applegreen, Round Mauve, Rosa Bianca, Bride, the Italian Prosperosa, and many Asian types like Little Fingers, Machiaw, Oriental Charm, Orient Express, and a few others.
There are not as many blueberries out there as we would like, BUT, we just started picking peaches…so we will stay in the fruit! Be super careful handling your peaches – they may feel firm, but they are generally picked ripe, so there is no tolerance for squeezing or dropping or packing hard veggies on top or even rough language. Do not taunt the peaches. LOL!
We are harvesting several kinds of corn right now (well, we always are): a lovely bi-color (butter and sugar) type and the amazing, all yellow Mirai. Mirai, pronounced me-rye, was developed (hybridized…not GMO) at Twin Gardens Farm in Harvard, IL and then introduced to Japanese growers. They named it Mirai which translates to “the future is coming” AND “taste”. It became the most popular corn grown in Japan and is growing in popularity in the US now, as a Japanese gourmet corn – which is funny because it was developed here. Cool right.?
Click here for the complete rundown on the eggplant varieties we grow.
Recipes
Baked eggplant
This recipe goes into every year’s eggplant letter…it’s simple, not slimy or greasy, and very tasty.
Slice thinly (the long way or the round way), lay on lightly greased baking sheet, thinly spread mayonnaise on top, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and pepper and bake in hot (400) oven for 10 mins, or until fork tender. If you’re a purist with garlic, omit the powder and mix minced garlic in with the mayonnaise. And, really, the garlic is not necessary at all, it is simply another excuse to put garlic on something. Everyone has time for this recipe!
I freeze eggplant made this way on a baking sheet and then package up after frozen…it is fabulous to have on hand in the winter to re-bake and serve with red sauce and pasta for a quick vegetarian meal. Baked Eggplant
Eggplant Pizza
Yep! It’s just what you are thinking 🙂
Slice eggplant the long way (1/2″ +), top with your favorite tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, whatever else you have laying about; bake 12 minutes at 400. Yummy!
Vegetale al Forno
This is one that appears in the boxletter yearly, by request, and contributed by member Lisa. It is always yummy…even better when you think you have overcooked it. My tips: don’t undercook. Also, I have been told if you omit the soy sauce and wine, use margarine and low fat, low salt cheese, it is not very flavorful (surprise!), 2. make substitutions wisely. I love to tweak a recipe with the best of them, but you have to substitute within reason. On a no or low sodium diet, try substituting potassium chloride. Not into butter fat? Use a nice olive oil. Skipping the soy sauce and the wine? At least use a really flavorful chicken or vegetable stock and try out the or coconut aminos. (Did I tell you about the time a member substituted water for chicken stock when making my lettuce soup recipe?)
On the bottom of a nice sized baking/serving dish place a layer of thin-sliced eggplant, on top of that a layer of thin-sliced zucchini, then a layer of sliced (or canned whole) tomatoes. Use plenty of vegetables. Layer it twice if you have enough room in the pan.
Then take a cup of red wine, mix it with half a cup of melted butter, about four tablespoons of soy sauce, pepper, garlic, oregano and basil. Pour it over the vegetables and top with a thick layer of grated Swiss cheese. Bake uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the dish. The cheese should be crusty on top, and the liquid should bubble. The vegetables should be incredibly tender. It should not be swimming in excess liquid.
This is a nice one dish meal or side dish with meat. I like this on a nice baguette.
A similar style dish, but WITHOUT all the fun booze and soy Summer Tian
Check out:
Zucchini Galette – King Arthur
Cream of Eggplant Soup
Baked Eggs in Tomato Cups
Eggplant with Tomato Coulis
Farm Dirt
We had a calf this week! It is always exciting to see a new baby and we are expecting 2 more soon. The pasture is a great place to butterfly watch and is aflutter with Monarchs, Spicebush, Anise and Tiger Swallowtails! Those are only the showstoppers; there are also Admirals, Painted Ladies, Fritillaries, Emperors, Sulphers, Coppers, Hairstreaks, Azures, Viceroy….. The cows don’t eat the milkweed or thistle, so those plants are there for our butterfly habitat. We will mow the pasture after the butterflies’ cycles are finished. Unlike the Barn Swallows which cut out of here the last week of August, the Monarch butterflies will hang around well into October.
GUESS WHAT? We expanded the cat family last week and now there are 4 in “Team Savannah”: Apollo, Titan, Orion, and Calypso. Everyone seems to be settling in quite nicely and it is nice to add new life into our home.
Everyone survived the hot weather right? We are New Englanders after all…the whole notion of the weatherman advising people to stay indoors is so silly! I’m talking about the general population here. I’m sure those who panic about the heat would lose their minds driving around out here and seeing everyone out haying and filling barn lofts when it is 95! LOL. The storms that blew through to end the heat did cause some damage, though. We lost the covering off one of our greenhouses and broke two tents at a market. OY! No one was hurt – which is the big thing.
I’m trying to think of what else cool happened on the farm this week, but I’m completely distracted with all the new babies!
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
Coming up: Peaches, eggplant, potatoes, lettuce…
