CSA Week 8
This week you MAY have corn, squash, peppers, eggplant, basil, blueberries, basil, and a few hot peppers (I believe we were aiming for serrano and jalapeno)
We are celebrating eggplants, and abundance of tomatoes and corn right now, break out the ratatouille recipes!
Hey, give eggplant a chance. Of course not if you are allergic (brother Allan?). It is SOOO pretty too! Keep your eye out for any color and shape 🙂
Recipes
Ratatouille!
Such a perfect time for this wonderful, aromatic, combination of all things in season! Here’s my super simplified version:
There are as many recipes for ratatouille as there are French chefs. I like to use different colored squashes for effect. I have also done a grilled version where you brush the sliced veggies with olive oil and grill for a few minutes. Then you chop the veggies and add to a bowl with your tomatoes, extra olive oil and seasoning and toss!. It isn’t necessary to peel this vegetable when it is young and tender, so the decision is yours. Bump it up with fresh parsley, basil, thyme, oregano…
Chop an onion and bell pepper, cube an eggplant, 2 zucchini or any other type of summer squash, and 2 tomatoes.
Heat about 3 Tb oil in a large frying pan. Sauté the onion and pepper until fragrant. Add eggplant and squashes and sauté to lightly brown. Season (this should include at least 2 cloves of minced garlic), cover and cook ~10 mins over medium heat. Add tomatoes and tsp. basil or lots more if it’s fresh, 1/4 tsp. thyme, and 1/4 tsp. oregano. Partly cover and cook another 5 mins or so. Great with Parmesan cheese and toasted bread.
This is a must make of you think you can’t cook or enjoy eggplant: Baked Eggplant SIMPLE
Zucchini Galette – King Arthur
From Member Paul, these turned out great!
https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/07/corn-fritters/
https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/perfect-blueberry-muffins/
Member Michelle sent me this:
Farm Dirt
This is a hastily slapped together letter, my apologies. Today, (Thursday is when I write the letter for the week), I ran downstairs to the smoke alarm. The kitchen was full of black, horrible smoke which was billowing our of the range. Some of you may remember I had to replace my 20 yo range at the height of covid, not convenient, or simple, you know if you had to do the same with any appliance the past 2 years. Well, the motherboard or something decided to meltdown, unprovoked, and burn the entire back of the unit, and adjacent cabinetry. We are so blessed that it occurred the time of day it did and that the ancient wood that clads our 1760’s kitchen wall did not alight. I just cannot imagine. I was able to extinguish the fire myself with a handy extinguisher, that left it’s tell tale thick powder coating on EVERYTHING. It seemed just as the smoke had cleared, someone stopped at the house to say some cows were out. Reid and I headed over to slow traffic and see what the issue was. Glenn joined us shortly and then, fortunately, Gerry was coming back from the other direction and stopped to open the gate. We no sooner got the ladies who decided they needed to be out in, when they were out again. Glenn, Reid and I stayed on patrol for most of an hour, until Gerry returned with a giant bucket of squash and such. A crew spent the remainder of the day re-fencing and trying to safe and secure the problem children. It was extra fun because it was hot.
No doubt it was a tough day. No one was hurt, just stuff, and that is a blessing. I am signing off now, and praying for rain; nothing scary or dangerous or dramatic, just some greatly needed water for the orchards, corn, and other things we do not, or cannot, irrigate.
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
Coming up: tomatoes? eggplant? peaches?
