Serenbe Farms
  CSA Newsletter and Recipes 4-6

June 9th, 2009
  Mark your calendar!  Our first CSA potluck is scheduled for Saturday, July 11th at 6 pm on the farm.  Join us for a delicious meal, a farm tour after dinner, games for kids, and an evening fire if the weather is nice.
Farm News and Recipes from Natalie
(recipes below)

kohlrabi, green garlic
Goofy girls: Super volunteer Stephanie Pearce and Paige and Natalie

Kohlrabi, fennel and celeriac oh my. 

These are some of the more interesting-looking vegetables found in the CSA share.  Celeriac, we'll talk about later.  But Kohlrabi and fennel - we can eat ...today!  If it were not for the CSA program, I would not know about these vegetables.  I did not grow up eating them and would not be adventurous enough to pick them up at the store.  So let me tell you about them now.   

kohlrabiIntroducing the Kohlrabi...
Kohlrabi, brakes down with Kohl = cabbage and rube or rabi (Swiss German) = turnip.  This cold loving member of the brassica (cabbage) family is low in calories, high in fiber, and a good source of several vitamins and minerals. The swollen stem of the kohlrabi is the part we eat. 

Until it is harvested, it balances on a tap root giving it a sputnik-like appearance.  They come in two colors: green and purple.  The flesh in both cases is white.  The results of a blind taste test Farmer Paige did, did not result in any significant taste difference between the two.  So rest assured - whichever you chose today, you're taking home a good one. 

The taste is very mild and thus quite versatile - throw it in with your potatoes for a variation of mashed potatoes.   Braise it, boil it, stuff it, slice it, steam it, julienne it, roast it, or saut� it.  But my favorite way to eat it: cut off the leaves to save for later (as a cooking green), peel off the skin and eat!  It crunches just like an apple and is very juicy and refreshing, just less sweet.  The sweetness comes with the cooking.  I roasted one up and was surprised at how sweet it became.  It went really well in an omelet - then again, what doesn't?

fennelIntroducing the Fennel...
Fennel is also crunchy and slightly sweet, and is popular in Mediterranean cuisine. It reminds me of hand on its side in the earth - with a few extra fingers.  The stalks are topped with feathery green leaves near which flowers grow and produce fennel seeds. The bulb, stalk, leaves and seeds are all edible. Fennel belongs to the Umbellifereae family and is therefore closely related to parsley, carrots, dill and coriander.  Fennel is high in vitamins A and E, calcium and potassium. 

An interesting side note: fennel plays a role in Greek mythology.  Hesiod writes of Prometheus (the one responsible for bringing fire to man):  "He hid fire, but that the noble son of Iapetus stole again for men from Zeus the counselor in a hollow fennel-stalk, so that Zeus who delights in thunder did not see it."  Yeah fennel!
 
To store fennel, trim the stalks at the bulb and store stalks and leaves with the bulb in a plastic bag. They will take up less room this way. When it is time to use the bulb be sure to rinse it well as soil can hide in some of the layers.
 
It has a mild anise-flavor to it which is problematic for me until I tried some of Farmer Brandon's fennel-carrot "miripoix" which is the ratio of 2 part diced onion, 1 part diced fennel and one part diced carrot.  Now traditionally, miripoix contains celery, and the beautiful thing about fennel, is that it can easily substitute for celery in any recipe.  Brandon saut�ed red onion in olive oil until soft, then added the carrots and fennel.  He let them simmer a while and added some white wine and salt: delicious!

If you are looking for more recipe ideas for these and other vegetables, I recommend the Simply Recipes blog.  Elise Bauer began the blog recording her family's recipes and the list has grown!   

Highlights:  We sampled our first cucumber of the year: they are on their way! On Friday we had the largest group of folks visiting the farm: 200 conventional farmers from the Farm Bureau. 

If you would like to get a guided tour of the farm, this coming Saturday at 10:00, Farmer Brandon will be giving a tour. 
This week's share:

1 bulb fennel
1 bunch collards
1 bulb/bunch kohlrabi
1 bunch green onions
1 bu broccoli or cauliflower
3 golden. zucchini or squash
1 head cabbage
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch basil
3 heads of lettuce
1 bunch Chinese cabbage or bok choi
1 cucumber!
Would you like to visit the farm on a day other than Tuesday?

You have options:

Visit the farm at 10 am this Saturday to tour the farm with Brandon.

Contact Paige at info@serenbefarms.com to let her know you're coming out and visit M-F during work hours.

Volunteer on Wednesday afternoons or Tuesday mornings.  Please contact Paige first so she knows to expect you.
Links
www.serenbefarms.com

www.georgiaorganics.org
www.slowfoodatlanta.org
Pasta a la Kohlrabi

Marinade Ingredients:
� cup canola oil
� cup white rice vinegar
� cup low sodium soy sauce
1 � Tbls sugar
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tbls peanut butter
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Salad Ingredients:
12 oz thin spaghetti
Snow peas, 20 or so
1 red pepper, sliced thin
4 carrots, slivered
1 small Kohlrabi, diced
3 oz green onions, cut thin
� cup sesame seeds
2-3 chicken breasts, grilled

Directions:
Blend all marinade ingredients together.

Cook noodles, drain and add marinade to cover.

Add vegetables, chicken and other ingredients to noodles and toss.

Chill in fridge to bring out flavors and serve cold.

Parsley
Salad
Dressing
(for all that
lettuce!)

Ingredients:
� cup salad oil
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
3 scallions, finely chopped
� teaspoon salt
� teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sour cream (or fresh plain yogurt)

Combine all ingredients except sour cream in food processor, blender or bowl and mix well. With machine running (or using whisk if preparing by hand), slowly add sour cream, blending thoroughly. Refrigerate in an airtight jar. Makes about 1 cup.

Fish a la parsley

12 fish fillets
2 cups milk
1 bunch onions
12 fresh mushrooms
1 green pepper
8 T butter
2 T flour
1 pint heavy cream
� t white pepper
� t paprika
� c chopped fresh parsley

Poach fillets in 1 cup milk until tender and set aside.  Cook onion, mushroom, and green pepper in 2 t butter until tender.  Make white sauce with 4 T butter, 2 T flour, 1 cup milk, and 1 pint cream.  Flake fillets.  Put onions, mushrooms and green pepper in a well-greased casserole, then add flaked fillets and white sauce.  Dot with remaining butter, sprinkle with pepper, paprika, and parsley.  Place under the broiler until the top is a golden brown.  A delightful dish with a velvet touch!
Roasted kohlrabi
Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Serves 4 (smallish servings since roasted vegetables shrink so much)

1 1/2 pounds fresh kohlrabi, ends trimmed, thick green skin sliced off with a knife, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic (optional, to my taste)
Salt
Good vinegar

Set oven to 450F. Toss the diced kohlrabi with olive oil, garlic and salt in a bowl. (This can be done on the pan but you'll likely use more oil.) Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and put into oven (it needn't be fully preheated) and roast for 30 - 34 minutes, stirring every five minutes started after about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with a good vinegar (probably at the table so the kohlrabi don't get squishy).

Fennel Salad (for those who like licorice ;)
Dressing:
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons olive oil

Salad:
1 head lettuce, chopped
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 orange, peeled and segmented
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
Whisk together the sugar, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, basil, and olive oil in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves; set aside. Toss the salad greens, sliced fennel, orange, onion, almonds, and cranberries in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to serve.

Roasted Fennel (adapted from the Simply Recipe Blog)
Dressing:
One or more bulbs of fennel
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare fennel, trim off the stems (the green stalk with the fronds), slice the bulb in half length-wise, put the cut side down and cut into 1/2 " slices.  Do not trim off the base!  You want to keep it in tact so it holds the layers of fennel together. 

Rub both sides of fennel slices with olive oil, enough to coat.  Line a baking dish with parchment paper, aluminum foil, or a silpat mat.  Place fennel slices in baking dish in a single layer.  Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, enough to coat.  You can sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, but I thought it was plenty flavorful without them.  Cook for 40 min or so, until the fennel is quite tender, golden brown and beginning to caramelize.