Oct. 9, 2008 The veggies keep coming!!!!
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008Hello Folks,
Reminders: CSA members PLEASE bring in the pint jar to refill for next weeks syrup.
Check out our recipes at the bottom of this newsletter- some great ones.
Still time to order a Thanksgiving turkey. Also our Storage Share Basket is getting some nice response so if you are interested (or anyone you know) for a basket of storage goods in November, please reserve one before the end of the month. Just call or email me.
ON THE FARM: Another group of lambs went to the butcher this week. We are seeing the slower growth of the grass but still there is plenty on the farm for both the sheep and the cows (coming back from Teal Farm) to eat before we have to feed out hay. The longer we can pasture the better, but we wont overgraze it to compromise good regrowth in the spring.
IN THE GARDEN: Time is flying by and I cant believe we have only two more pickups for our CSA. The garden is getting trimmed down to pretty much just the cold crops now. What a great week for the garden and getting clean up jobs done thanks to the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. We had two groups of kids come on Tues. and Wed. this week to do some assistance clean up. We accomplished a great deal of pulling up mulch plastic, bundling drip tape, and pulling up the tomato, eggplant and old squash plants for the compost pile. We brought Herbie and Henry, our Percheron draft horses, to the garden today to harvest the remaining potatoes. Again, with the help of the VYCC, we bagged the potatos, pulled the leeks and picked peppers and brussel sprouts too.
THIS WEEKS HARVEST: New item… Brussel Sprouts! (recipe below) Give them a try, and go beyond the old boiled sprouts option. Also in your share this week: Pie pumpkins (easy recipe below), squashes, Peppers, Tomatos, Chard and Kale, Radishes, parley and Carrots (the last of our garden) - beets next week.
IN THE KITCHEN:
Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts Recipe
This is the only way to eat brussels sprouts: cut in half and cooked until deliciously tender inside and perfectly brown and crusted on the outside.
Use brussels sprouts that are on the small size and tightly closed. You can finish these with many different types of cheese but I tend to go for Parmesan when the weather is good. I trade that in for heavier cheeses like gruyere or Gouda in colder weather. I finished them off with some toasted hazelnuts the other night - delicious!
24 small brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice
Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don’t overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they’re tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.
Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese. While you might be able to get away with keeping a platter of these warm in the oven for a few minutes, they are exponentially tastier if popped in your mouth immediately.
Serves 4.
The following is submitted by Lucy, our apprentice and very good cook. Thanks!
An easy pie to make, and a denser custard than most pumpkin pies thanks to the mascarpone.
Pumpkin Mascarpone Pie
Crust: 1 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt 5 T chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 c chilled non-hydrogenated solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 c (or more) ice water
Blend flour and salt in food processor. Add butter and shortening; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1/4 c ice water; pulse until dough begins to clump, adding more ice water by teasponsful if dry. Gather into ball, flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll out dough on floured work surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1 inch beyond rim. Crimp edges. Chill crust while making filling.
Filling: 1 c pureed pumpkin
1 c (packed) brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (fresh is best)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt 1
8-oz container mascarpone
Using electric mixer, beat pumpkin and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add egs and next 7 ingredients and beat until blended. Add mascarpone and beat just until mixture is smooth. Transfer filling to prepared crust. Bake pie until custard is set, about 55 minutes. Transfer to pie rack and cool.
Notes: Vermont Butter and Cheese makes a great mascarpone that will satisfy localvores. Also, I’ve heard that real lard makes an even better, flakier crust than veggie shortening. Perhaps Maple Wind Farm lard, rendered, would do the trick
This looked quite good. I havent tried it yet but let me know. It uses alot of veggies from this week.
Ribollita (Reboiled Cabbage Italian Soup) from AllRecipes.com
INGREDIENTS - Serves 4
- 2/3 cup dry cannellini beans
- 1-1/3 cups water
- 1 (32 ounce) carton chicken broth
- 1-2/3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1-1/3 sage leaves
- 2/3 bay leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2/3 onions, diced
- 1 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 large stalk celery, chopped
- 2/3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup cabbage, coarsely chopped
- 1/3 bunch Swiss chard, trimmed and chopped
- 1/3 bunch kale, trimmed and chopped
- 1/3 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices French bread, lightly toasted
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping
- 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons olive oil
DIRECTIONS
- Sort and rinse the beans before placing them in a large pot with the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook 5 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and let stand 1 1/2 hours. Drain.
- Place the beans, chicken broth, garlic, sage leaves, bay leaves, and salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until beans are tender, about 2 hours. Cool. Remove 1 cup of beans. Discard the bay leaves and sage leaves. Blend the remaining bean mixture with a hand mixer until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions; cook and stir until transparent, about 10 minutes. Combine the carrots, celery, potatoes, cabbage, Swiss chard, and kale with the onions. Stir in the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and cook until greens have wilted, stirring at least once, about 20 minutes. Stir in the pureed bean mixture, and cook 40 minute until the mixture thickens. Stir in the reserved beans. Adjust seasonings to taste. Add the toasted bread slices; cook until bread is soaked, about 10 minutes longer. Cool, and refrigerate overnight.
- Reheat the soup over low heat until heated through, about 20 minutes. Serve each serving garnished with 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.




