CSA Newsletter and Recipes 4-28
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Our last fall CSA share is tentatively scheduled for December 8th.
Next year: We have lots of interest for our 2010 CSA program. We'll open up early registration to current members on December 1st. You'll have until January 15th to reserve your spot with a deposit until we open up the shares to the public. Registration forms will be emailed as soon as details are confirmed.
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Farm News From Paige--
Hi there CSA members!
We're finally in the midst of fall. The real fall, none of that monsoon, hot then frigid type of fall weather, we're in the thick of the real thing. This season makes me happy with falling leaves, bright colors, cool mornings, and warm afternoons. Alongside the weather comes the crops that adore such temperatures and day length changes. Finally we're delving into our fall brassica patch with gusto, chopping a few of the first heads of cabbage and
broccoli and admiring all those heads that are soon to be picked. Our next round of carrots is growing with speed, hopefully in time for next weeks' harvest. With the past sunny and dry week the head lettuces too are gaining heft...we'll have a bounty in a couple of weeks.
Things are quieting down around here. With our reduced harvests from the fall rains, we're making sure that we give you, our CSA members, the bulk of the harvest. We've not attended a farmers market in November, and are only selling teeny amounts of bumper crop items to the Farmhouse and the Hil. I'll be excited when we feel like there is a bounty of produce again, but have learned from these strange weather patterns this year. This winter we'll be erecting unheated greenhouses for production so that we overcome the wet field syndrome next spring and fall.
Interns Natalie and Brandon have said their goodbyes. Natalie just left the farm last week. She'll be traveling in China for a month and then beginning her own farm operation. Tell friends in the Winston Salem area to look out for her new operation! Now it's just Justin and me on the farm and we're beginning to take more time for projects. Yesterday we successfully (with the help of last year's interns MK and Andrew) added another layer of plastic to our greenhouse. Our top layer of greenhouse plastic was destroyed in the hail storms last February. We removed the hole-filled top layer and replaced it with a brand new $400 piece of plastic. We use a blower fan to inflate the two layers with warm air from inside the greenhouse. This prevents condensation in the greenhouse and creates a buffer of insulation.
In today's newsletter I'm going to highlight one of my favorites in the share this week: the glorious sunchoke -- laughably dubbed "the musical root".
Sunchokes/Jerusalem artichoke basics
The sunchoke (or sunroot, Jerusalem artichoke, earth apple) is native to the Eastern and Midwestern US. You may have noticed them on the farm outside of our market shed. They are very impressive in appearance, a relative of the sunflower. They grow to be 6-14 feet tall (we grew some of the tallest ones I'd ever seen this year!) and bear lovely yellow daisy-like flowers in the
late summer/early winter.
Sunchoke cultivation/growing/harvesting
To grow the sunchoke, we plant one of the small tubers (making sure it has at least one 'eye') 3 inches deep into the soil in late fall or early spring. Around March, the first shoot emerges and grows with speed. The sunchoke requires little in the way of fertility, but deep, well drained soils produce the best results. As a grower, I have to be careful of where we plant these crops as they are very invasive. Last year's patch required diligent weeding to destroy all of the shoots from tubers we missed digging last fall. To harvest, we use a gardening fork to pry the mass of tubers out from the plant. The majority of the tubers grow just around the base of the plant, intermixed with slender roots. We search the soil carefully around the periphery of the plant...sometimes we find huge tubers a foot or so away from the plants. Washing these sunchokes proves to be an arduous task. We soak them, spray them, and scrub them to make sure they're as clean as possible for your consumption. We'll be digging sunchokes all winter long and they'll continue to become sweeter as the frost converts starches to sugars in the roots. We typically can harvest about 5-10 lbs of sunchokes per plant!
Preparing sunchokes
Don't bother trying to peel these gnarly roots. Scrub them thoroughly in your sink with a small brush. Pop off the 'apendages' of the roots to clean out the tight spots that retain our soil. The skin is very thin and is entirely edible.
Sunchokes can be eaten raw in salads but are best cooked or marinated, puréed, or prepared au gratin. Shred, slice, or julienne sunchokes and add to salads and slaws. Sunchokes can be cooked by boiling or steaming and served as a side dish with poultry or roasted meats, and they can be served as a substitute for water chestnuts and potatoes. Add sunchokes to soups, stews, crepes, and fritters. Sunchokes go well with butter, cinnamon, cloves, cream, mint, mustard, nut oils, nutmeg, onion, roasted meats, and vinaigrette.
Nutrition
Sunchokes are very rich in inulin, a carbohydrate linked
with good intestinal health due to its prebiotic (bacteria promoting)
properties. These health benefits come at a price; the food can have a
potent wind-producing effect (hence the name "musical root").
Sunchokes also contain vitamin C, phosphorus and potassium
and are a very good source of iron.
Storage of sunchokes
Sunchokes will keep for up to a month if stored properly. Handle sunchokes with care as they will bruise easily. Raw sunchokes should be stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area away from light. They may also be stored in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator, wrapped in paper towels to absorb humidity, and sealed in a plastic bag or a glass jar. I've had great luck pickling them; seasoning defnitely improves the pickles' flavor!
Thanks for reading! Enjoy these fall shares!
Paige
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This week's share:
1.5-2 lbs sweet potatoes
1 bu radish
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch green peanuts
1 1/4 lb Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)
1 bu arugula (or pea tips)
1 bu dill
2 small bulbs garlic (delicious hardneck variety: chesnok red)
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Sunchoke Bisque with Crispy Bacon
Recipe by Chef Didier Ageorges, Chalk Hill Estate, Santa Rosa /insidebayarea.com
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, minced
2 pounds of peeled and diced sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes)
1 quart chicken or veggie stock
3 tablespoons whipping cream
Salt and white pepper, to taste
4 slices smoked bacon, chopped and fried
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped chives or parsley
In
a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions
and cook gently until translucent, but not browned. Add the sunchokes
and chicken stock and simmer until the sunchokes are tender when
pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
Using
a hand blender or a food processor, blend the sunchoke and onion
mixture with the cream until smooth. Season to taste with salt and
white pepper. Return soup to stove to keep warm, but do not allow the
soup to boil.
Serve soup in warmed bowls. Sprinkle each serving with bacon and chives (or parsley).
Serves 4.
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Radishes Three Ways
1. Radishes with butter
Slice radishes. Get creative...spirals, quarter lenthwise, etc.
Whip butter with chopped chives or parsley or dill and add a sprinkle of salt (if you like salt as much as I do)
Dip the radishes in the butter.
2. Radishes with salt
Very simple. Slice radishes. Sprinkle a little sea salt on top.
3. Radishes with hummus
This has been Justin's favorite way of consumption lately.
Garlic Lemon Hummus
Ingredients
1 T lemon zest
2 cloves garlic
2 T tahini (sesame paste)
2-4 T lemon juice
1/4 c olive oil
1 can garbanzo beans (or 1/2 cup dried garbanzos rehydrated)
3 sprigs parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
Method
Add first 3 ingredients into food processor. Blend thoroughly. Add garbanzo beans, lemon juice and blend again. Add olive oil and or water until desired consistency is reached. Finely dice parsley and add with salt and pepper. Blend one last time.
The radishes are super dipped in the hummus. Great and healthy snack or appetizer!
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Sweet Potato Pie!
1. The Crust: All Butter Crust for Sweet and Savory Pies (Pâte Brisée)
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 to 8 Tbsp ice water
Method
Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer
for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become
thoroughly chilled. Dough is ready to shape.
Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse
to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles
coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a
time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch
some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the
dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.
Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean
surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form
the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of
butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow
the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the
discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour,
and up to 2 days.
Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at
room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to
make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly
floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you
roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface
below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to
keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate.
Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides
of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to
within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.
Add filling to the pie.
Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto
the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds
firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4
inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under
the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges
using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the
pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can
escape.
2. The Filling
2 large sweet potatoes
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 cup light cream or half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
Chill pastry until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400F. Put sweet potatoes on a large baking sheet.
Pierce them deeply with a paring knife several times. Bake until tender
throughout (check with a paring knife), about 1 hour. Set aside to
cool. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a food
processor and process until smooth. Dump the puree into a medium-sized
bowl. Return 1 1/2 cups of the puree to the food processor. Don't worry
if you come up a little short. If you have extra, save it for another
use.
On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the pastry into a
12-inch circle with a floured rolling pin. Invert the pastry over a
9-inch standard pie pan, center, and peel off the paper. Tuck the
pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the edges into
an upstanding ridge. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes, then remove.
Cover the shell with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans to weight
it. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and beans, and
prick the bottom of the crust with a fork several times. Lower the oven
temperature to 375F and continue to bake 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and
allow to cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 350F. Add sugars, eggs, and egg yolk
to the food processor and process with the sweet potato puree until
smooth. Add the cream, vanilla, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt
and process again until smooth. Carefully pour the filling into the
cooled pie shell.
Place pie in the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes, then
rotate the pie 180 degrees, so that the part that faced the back of the
oven now faces forward. Continue to bake until the center is set and
the edge has risen slightly, 15 to 20 minutes.
Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool. Serve barely warm
or at room temperature. Or cover with loosely tented aluminum foil,
refrigerate, and serve cold.
Serves 8 to 10.
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