Canning is fun! Try it! Week #10
Hello folks,
Just finished a 5 hour canning session with all the folks of Maple Wind Farm today! We made refridgerator pickles, dilly beans, canned pickles, beet relish and zucchini relish today. We were a well oiled canning machine- we were chopping, boiling, grating, spicing, canning… all told we put up more than 4 gallons of food into mason jars. Its time consuming but well worth it. Get together with a neighbor or another CSA member and do a group session, its more fun and tasks can be divided to make the job of canning easier for everyone.
Perfect segway… we have lots more cucumbers this week so think about your own pickle recipes if you have some time this week.
GARDEN NOTES: On a low note…Its official, we have blight on our tomatos and Im in the process of pulling out plants that are really bad and trying to salvage some tomatoes from ones that aren’t yet. The blight travelled over the corn and hit the potatoes (not bad) but enough to take precaution to brush hog the foliage to save the tubers. The blight only can live on a plant that is alive so by cutting the potato foliage we can can save the underground plants for a later harvest. We must wait 2-3 weeks for the skins to toughen up before doing any harvest, so there will be a delay in your next share of potatoes until it is save to bring them out of the ground. As for tomatoes, I hope we all get a few red ones this summer and I will most likely harvest green ones before I have to rip out plants so you might want to try making green tomato chutney or pickle them green(?). I hope your home tomatoes have faired better than mine!
So thats the bad news, the good news is that the rest of the garden looks great!
THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Green Beans, Cucumbers(salad and picklers), Patty Pan Squash, Napa Cabbage, Onions, Cauliflour,Head Lettuce. PYO flowers too!
Next week! Leeks and Golden Beets- yum.
ON THE FARM: A big milestone- our first cut of hay is officially done! This week, we took 6 more big pigs and 4 cows to the butcher. We moved our cow herd across route 2 to the North side of the Andrews Farm. The bulls are now in the pasture with the ladies and we have all our calves for 09!
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Congratulations to our CSA Members, Kevin and Alex McAleer who are getting married this Saturday!
***Read the next farm posting on all the details on our Hoedown & Community Potluck on August 23rd. We hope many of our CSA members will be there!
REMINDERS: Please bring your canvas bags, conserve plastic produce bags or bring old ones back. Bring in your syrup jars. And do call me on my cell if you will be late or not picking up. (233-3862 Beth’s cell).
IN THE KITCHEN: Recipes below.
Napa Cabbage Picnic Salad Recipe
INGREDIENTS (you could substitute this weeks CSA green beans and red onions for peas and green onions)
2/3 cup slivered almonds
8 cups (1 lb) coarsely shredded napa cabbage
12 ounces snow peas, strings removed, rinsed and thinly sliced
1 1/3 cups thinly sliced radishes
1 1/3 cups thinly sliced green onions (including greens)
1 1/3 cups lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves
Dressing ingredients
3 Tbsp rice vinegar (seasoned or unseasoned)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 clove peeled and minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 cup mayonnaise
METHOD
1 Spread almond slivers out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in a 350°F oven for 5-10 minutes, until nicely browned. OR toast in stick-free or cast-iron skillet on medium high, stirring frequently until browned. Set aside.
2 Combine cabbage, snow peas, radishes, green onions, cilantro in a large bowl. Can make this step a day or two ahead.
3 In a separate bowl, mix together the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, ginger, and cayenne until sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the mayonnaise.
4 When ready to serve, gently combine the dressing and almonds with the cabbage mixture.
Serves 14-16.
Potato, Green Bean and Corn Salad
- 4 pounds small white boiling potatoes (about 2 inches in diameter)
- 5 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons coarse-grained mustard
- cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, or to taste
- 1 pound haricots verts (thin French green beans) or regular green beans
- 6 ears corn
preparation
In a kettle cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches and simmer until just tender, about 25 minutes. Drain potatoes in a colander. When potatoes are just cool enough to handle, halve larger ones and in a large bowl toss potatoes with 2 tablespoons vinegar.
In a small bowl whisk together mustard, remaining 3 tablespoons vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. Dressing may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring dressing to room temperature before using.
Trim beans and, working over a bowl, cut corn kernels from cobs. Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water cook beans until crisp-tender, about 1 minute for haricots verts or about 5 minutes for regular green beans, and transfer with a slotted spoon to ice water to stop cooking. Drain beans well and add to potatoes. Return water in pan to a boil and blanch corn 30 seconds, or until crisp-tender. Drain corn in a sieve and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain corn well and add to salad. Salad may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring salad to room temperature before proceeding. Gently toss salad with dressing and salt and pepper to taste until combined well.
from Gourmet 1998
