Week 19! We’re knocking on fall’s door, get ready to start enjoying winter squash for the season!
Regular Share
-Spaghetti Squash
-Parsnips
-Tomatoes
-Onions
-Peppers
-Choice: Arugula OR Lettuce
-Choice: Kale OR Bok Choi OR Collards
Large Share Additions
-Eggplant
-Cauliflower
-Beets
Fruit
-Pears & Apples
Peaches are at their peak right now. Just look at these.
Last week I bought a case of peaches from our Farm Stand. I froze a few packages of sliced peaches to make some pies and ice cream to enjoy this winter when summer seems far away.
Then, I saw this recipe for “Simple Peach Cake” on the Savour Magazine’s website and I had to try it. I pretty much followed the recipe, except I cut down on the sugar by about a 1/3 and I used all the butter called for, but I would maybe dial it back next time to 4 tablespoons.
It was very easy but not in a ‘quick bread’ way, and perfectly highlights the perfect peaches we have right now. It is delicious and pretty photogenic, simple and rustic.
Simple Peach Cake from Savour Serves 8
This year almost all the farms in the area had a growing problem with basil, there was a weird bacteria, or something like that that made the basil look horrible and not grow. Basically no one got a basil crop, (every year something fails). That means no one has basil pesto.
Honestly, that is fine with me. I’m not a huge basil fan in anything other than using a few leaves on a pizza.
I do love pesto and make pesto out of just about any green, kale, chard, parsley, and today I used some collards. If you are bummed over the lack of basil for pesto this year, maybe try this recipe.
Here is a very simple recipe. You can substitute any green you have for the collards if you like. You can freeze this or keep it in the refrigerator for a week or so.
Collards and Toasted Pecan Pesto
½ small bunch collard greens, center ribs and stems removed
Kosher salt
½ cup olive oil
1 garlic clove
¼ cup toasted pecans
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
Cook collard greens in a medium pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain, let cool.
Blend greens, oil, garlic clove, pecans, vinegar, Parmesan, and red pepper flakes in a food processor until a coarse purée forms; season with salt and pepper and enjoy on pasta, or vegetables or bread.
It’s week 18 and we dodged the freezing weather! Enjoy a few more summer crops as we transition into fall.
Regular Share
-Tomatoes
-Peppers
-Onions
-Potatoes
-Choice: Kale OR Collards OR Chard
-Choice: Beets OR Hakurei Turnips
-Choice: Lettuce Or Braising Mix OR Arugula
Large Share
-Broccoli
-Double Potatoes
-Spaghetti Squash
Fruit Share
-Peaches
Mark your calendars for October 5th for Red Wagon Farm’s annual End of Season Harvest Celebration.
It’s always a great time to gather and celebrate the end of the year together.
Every year I make a vegetarian chili using vegetables from our farm. CSA memebers often ask how I make the chili, so this year I remembered to take some photos to document the process.
A little planning is necessary because the vegetables are ripe and plentiful a few weeks before the event so I want to capture the flavor of the season at it’s peak. I have been chopping and freezing all week.
I make 10 gallons of chili every year, that is finish/cooked.
I start with tomato seconds. I have a machine I got off craigslist that removes seeds and peels from tomatoes. Cool huh?
I freeze about 7 gallons of these crushed tomatoes. I will probably only use 5 or 6 gallons, but I want to have extra in case the chili is too thick.
We don’t grow corn at Red Wagon, mostly because other farms do such a great job of growing corn. We do sell it at the farm stand and the corn is at it’s peak right now so I wanted to freeze some for the chili. I froze about 1 1/2 gallons of corn for the chili.
I blanch it and remove the kernels from the cobs and freeze it. I like to put a few bags away for my personal use too. We love to have ‘fresh frozen’ corn on Thanksgiving. The corn is so sweet right now it smelled like cake batter.
Next I diced up some bell peppers and froze those as well. Raw peppers freeze beautifully. I froze about 1/1/2 gallons of bell peppers.
…and a few roasted chili peppers went into the freezer for the chili. I clean these by removing the charred peels and seeds and stems so they are easy to use when I finally make the chili.
I’ll update this post as I add more ingredients and cook the chili. I still need onions, garlic and beans, oh, and I’ll probably roast some winter squash to add in right at the end too. But, those ingredients don’t need to be prepared before hand, or more than a day or two to let the flavors blend. So I’ll be doing the rest closer to the Event.
Hope you all can make it.
Week 17, and this week we hope to bring you a bountiful pickup full of goodness, such as shisito peppers…
Regular Share
-Tomatoes
-Onions
-Jalapeno
-Choice: Kale OR Collards OR Chard
-Choice: Cherry Tomatoes OR Eggplant
-Choice: Bell Pepper OR Shishitos
-Choice: Roasted Chilies OR Greens
-Choice: Beans OR Zucchini and Cucumber
-Choice: Cilantro OR Parsley
Large Share
-Beans AND Zucchini AND Cucumber
-Melon
Fruit Share
-Peaches
During the rush of the Friday harvest, I am usually on team kale, where we weigh out the restaurant orders and bunch the various types of kale in the field. This Friday, however, I was sent to the peppers on the southwest corner of the farm.
Despite the cool weather, the peppers have finally started to ripen. There assorted types of bell peppers of all colors – purple, white, yellow, orange, and green. There are the salsa-lovers favorites, jalapeños and chilies like Anaheims and Poblanos. Then, there are a number of red peppers, whose appearance says “hot and spicy,” but are really the sweetest pepper you can imagine.
Picking peppers is similar to the kale, when you’re searching for the biggest and most beautiful. There is a certain amount of self-restraint that one must employ to be sure that next week’s harvest isn’t picked before its prime, no matter how enticing the little pepper-jewels are. The pepper plants are rigid and fragile and quite susceptible to breaking easily. The plants themselves are still covered with blossoms. I was surprised by the amount of bees buzzing around, which is always a welcome sight and sound.
Now, with the peppers and tomatoes in full swing, it’s time to concoct sweet and spicy salsas. Perfect for snacking on a late summer evening.
This week one of your choices will be roasted chilies. We roast the chilies at the Farm right before driving to the CSA pick-up and bag the chilies at the pick-up. The chilies will still be hot and will look like this when you get them.
The chilies are fairly mild, I would say not even medium hot. But very flavorful. To prepare them you just need to remove the charred skin, stem, and seed them. Like so.
One of my favorite things to do with roasted chilies is to make rajas. Rajas are basically roasted chilies sliced thin with onions and cream.
Rajas can be used as a taco filling, or as an appetizer served with tortilla chips, or as a side dish with fish or meat.
We have a strong Hispanic community working here at Red Wagon and I have asked several of our Hispanic workers how they make rajas.
This is my ‘gringa’ interpretation, with apologies to Marta and Chayo for any in-authenticity and my poor understanding of Spanish.
Rajas con crema recipe
1 pound roasted chilies
1 medium white onion
vegetable, or olive oil
a little garlic, and cumin if you like
1/4 cup crème fraîche, cream cheese, or heavy cream
Cut clean and seeded chilies into 1/3-inch-thick strips. Halve onion lengthwise and cut each half lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
In a heavy skillet cook onion in oil over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add chilies and salt garlic and cumin to taste and cook, stirring, 5 minutes.
Add créme fraîche cream cheese, or cream and cook, stirring, 2 minutes.
Rajas may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat rajas before serving.
Here’s a little love from Red Wagon to our CSA members, courtesy of Maria (Chayo), our budding produce artist. It’s big one….
Regular Share
-Beets
-Edamame
-Cherry Tomatoes
-Choice: Melon OR Tomatoes
-Choice: Bell Peppers OR Eggplant
-Choice: Tomatillos OR Broccoli OR Arugula
-Choice: Roasted Chilies OR Shishito Peppers OR Leeks
Large Share
-Melon AND Tomatoes
-Peppers AND Eggplant
-Extra Choice: Tomatillos OR Broccoli OR Arugula
Fruit Share
-Peaches
I made this yesterday.
I sometimes see this type of salad called Panzanella. Most recipes I have seen for panzanella call for ‘stale bread’. That sounds kind of gross to me, and soggy.
So, being the renegade that I am I think to myself, how can I make this without being soggy?
I used fresh bread toasted it, you could grill it too and I used fresh, not stale bread.
The toasted bread holds up in the salad and toasting adds a nice flavor as well as better texture.
First I cut up what ever tomatoes I have and I add some onions and this time I added some cucumbers. I wish I would have thought to add some peppers too.
I toast whatever bread I had, it was a loaf of whole grain sourdough, and I tore it up.
I added the bread to the tomato mix and made a simple vinaigrette with 1/2 red wine vinegar and 1/2 olive oil, some salt and pepper and a couple garlic cloves crushed. I added the vinaigrette to just moisten everything.
I tossed in some basil.
And some fresh mozzarella and pepper.
Tomatoes are finally here. This is a great way to enjoy them.
Have a great week.