Greetings!
The first week of the season has passed and we hope everyone was happy with their first share of 2014. Be sure to check your bag before you leave the stop, as it is the easiest way to make sure that all your contents are inside. The first few weeks of the year are the most crazy, and we hope there will be no mistakes the rest of the year, but it helps to check your bag before you leave to keep us in check.
Here is some information that you to keep in mind when coming to the pickups:
Payments: when making a payment, please include the email address on the account when writing the check. This makes it easier to find your account.
Bag Colors: When you pick up your bag, you may have noticed different bag colors. The green bag is for the small omnivore. The orange bag is for vegetarians. The brown bag is for large shares and the beige bag is for vegans. Be sure to know your color and if you are vegetarian share and someone tries to give you a green bag, that is your cue that someone may have grabbed the wrong share. Be sure to bring back the previous week's bag when picking up.
Classes: We host a lot of events and classes. Be sure to watch for our email invitations and if you see something you are interested in, sign up quickly as classes sell out. If you do not receive a confirmation email, your credit card may not have been accepted. Give us a call at 800-861-8582 if you are not sure. We may not be able to seat you if your payment did not go through. We accept Visa/MC and Paypal for classes.
Vegans: For folks looking to eat more vegan foods, look for our weekly blog post from our new vegan bloggers, Adam Rosen and Erin Huber. We know that cooking without any animal products can be a challenge, and we look forward to seeing what this dynamic duo cooks up for us.
Lastly, if you or someone you know would like to receive a copy of this weekly newsletter, simply input their email in the section to the right, or in the sidebar of our website.
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This week has been a bit of a challenge. Everyone seems to be late with their produce because spring was a month late and when it finally came, it was a rainy one. This has put everything behind. While many of our farmers planned on having produce for us, which we were counting on, everything we do at Fresh Fork Market is subject to the whims of Mother Nature. And in Ohio, she can be quite fickle. We have been scrambling, but we came up with a Mexican style bag. We are featuring our proprietary chorizo-one of our most popular meats. With it, we have Shagbark Corn Crackers. These are thick corn chips made from organic heirloom corn. You probably have black beans left from last week, so I see a taco salad or tostadas in my future.
In addition, there are some Asian style ingredients. The bok choy, garlic scapes and spinach would make a lovely stir fry and if you have the large or vegetarian bag, toss in that zucchini and broccoli.
As for the weather, you probably know how hard it has been on local farmers. Two years ago, strawberries came on hard in May. This year, we can't seem to get enough to go around. We already know that peaches are going to be scarce in Ohio-if there are any at all. It seems nice now, so why no fruit? Tree fruits start to bud very early. If the temperature drops below -20 degrees, we are in danger. This winter, we had day after day of double digit negative temperatures, and the buds on most tree fruits simply split. This means no flowers, which means no fruit.
Once the Polar Vortex moved off and we started to warm up, the soft fruits began to grow. We were then hit with some pretty drastic short freezes that hit other farmers pretty hard. One blackberry produce expects to lose 80-90 % of his crop this year.
It was so harsh, that some vineyards had to cut back their vines and give up on getting any grapes this year at all. So... that leads me into the winery tour. We usually have a winery tour every June. Unfortunately, with many of the wineries having such a tough time, we may be having to cancel. If we can put it together, we will be sending out the eblast this week. If you don't see anything, we may have to postpone to later in the year.
If you are like us, you can't wait to see the warm summer temperatures of July!
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Small Omnivore
1 # chorizo
1 bag corn crackers
1 head lettuce
1 bunch spinach
1 bunch garlic scapes
1 bunch cilantro
1 pint fresh salsa
1 sleeve bok choy
Vegetarian
no chorizo, add:
1 head broccoli
1 bunch beets with tops
1 bunch kale
2 zucchini
Small Vegan
same as small vegetarian
Large Omnivore
small omnivore plus:
1 quart strawberries
2 zucchini
1 head broccoli
1 # ground beef
1 bag mixed greens
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1 1/2 tablespoons sunflower oil, for stir-frying
1-2 chopped garlic scapes
1 pound bok choy, stalks cut diagonally and leaves cut across in 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces
Pinch of chili powder
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon honey
Salt to taste
1/4 cup water or chicken broth
Asian Sesame oil, to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)
Freshly ground black or white pepper, to taste
Heat wok and add oil. When oil is ready, add garlic and chili paste, chili powder or red pepper flakes if using and stir-fry briefly, for about 30 seconds, until the garlic is aromatic. Add the bok choy, adding the stalks first, and then the leaves. Stir in the soy sauce, sugar, and salt, and stir-fry on high heat for 1 minute.
Add the water or chicken broth, cover the wok and simmer for about 2 - 3 minutes, until the leaves are dark green and the stalks are tender but not too soft.
Remove the wok from the heat. Stir in the sesame oil and season with pepper to taste. Serves 3 - 4
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1 lb chorizo
2 cup black beans prepared (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup dried beans before cooking)
1 large onion
4-6 corn tortillas
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
6 eggs
1/2 cup salsa
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup crumbled or shredded cheese (queso fresco is authentic, but cheddar, jack, or others are just as good- for a tang try the goat gouda).
Prepare black beans. Soak for 8 hours, drain, add fresh water and boil until tender ( 1-2 hours). Cool with cold running water or overnight in fridge. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Fry the chorizo with the onion in heavy skillet until cooked. Drain off the fat and add prepared beans. Arrange tortillas on a baking sheet and top with about a thrid of a cup of the bean mixture each. put in warm oven to keep hot.
Heat oil in heavy skillet and fry eggs until whites are cooked, but yolk is still runny. Top each tortilla with one egg, salsa (drain some liquid if using a liquidy salsa), avocado slices and cheese. |
Here is a recipe that can help you sneak some veggies into the meal for those who hate veggies!
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups of honey
1.5-2 cups fresh spinach (not frozen)
3/4 cup of sunflower oil, applesauce, or yogurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups flour, sifted with
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
frosting
1 8oz package cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 TBS whole milk (add more if consistency if too thick)
Preheat oven to 350° Get out your blender! Add eggs, vanilla, sugar, lemon juice, and spinach to the blender and blend until smooth. Next, pop the top off that hole in the blender lid and slowly pour in the oil while the blender is on a low setting- you don't want spinach goop on your ceiling! In adding the oil this way, you're basically making an emulsion, which I think makes a really smooth, silky batter.
Sift together your dry ingredients and add them directly to the blender about a 1/4 cup at a time. (Again through that little whole in the lid.) Pulse to "mix". Grease pan of your choice, line with parchment (parchment is your friend!), lightly grease top of parchment, then pour in batter. Bake in 2 rounds (8-9") or one 9x13" rectangle for 30 minutes. Be sure to check with a toothpick after about 20-25 minutes. When done, remove from pans and let cool on wire racks for at least an hour. Whip-up your frosting, slather, and serve!
Adapted from MomWhat's4Dinner.com
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This recipe comes from one of my favorite Akron customers. She is an excellent cook, and I trust any recipe she sends me. (this recipe will make 2/3 servings -uses one scape bunch)
1/2 lb pasta cooked drained/ reserve the water
2 tablespoons oil
1 bunch garlic scapes chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 cloves minced garlic
1 lemon- zest some outer skin and then squeeze out the juice
1 cup shredded hard cheese (parmesan/ asiago or similar)
1 cut up tomato
Heat oil to medium heat/ add scapes and cook until bright green: 2-3 minutes. Add garlic cooking until fragrant: 1-2 minutes. Add butter and lemon juice cook until melted. Add pasta, cheese, tomato, lemon zest cooking until warm. Season with salt&pepper to taste. (if dry use reserved water to gain correct texture)
This recipe was adapted from food repulick.com.
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Garlic Scapes
When garlic is growing in the field, it puts off a long shoot. If this stem is left on, the garlic will spend all its energy on trying to produce seeds. If it is cut off, it will put all that energy into the bulb. So farmers cut off the top part of the stem, which is called a scape. This scape has a strong garlic flavor. It can be chopped and added to dishes, roasted whole or even grilled. Popular with our customers is a garlicky pesto made from the scapes. 7 things to do with scapes
Bok Choy
Bok Choy is a type of Chinese cabbage. Some folks this week may receive other varieties, like pak choy or tatsoi. They are all similar and come from the same basic type of plant. They are great in a peppery summer salad or used in a stir fry. They come from the same genus as cabbage, broccoli and the like.
Chorizo Chorizo is a type of sausage that originated in Spain. It traveled to the new world and is a staple of Mexico as well. The Spanish varieties are smoked, while the Mexican versions are not. Ours is not smoked and comes in bulk. It can be a little spicy, but not too over the top. Customers tell me their kids love it. We have this made for us, using a proprietary recipe and it's very popular with our customers. It is great in tacos and burritos or my favorite, Heuvos Rancheros.
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