Week Six: In A Pickle

Another great week at the farm. We got regular AND pickling (Kirby) cucumbers, onions, lettuce, beets, zucchini, carrots, and fennel. I still haven’t made it out to the self-pick field, but I know there’s some dill there, calling my name!

I made cupcakes with the beets (obviously) – I had been planning on making chocolate cupcakes (the beets were red), but I discovered that I’d gotten candy cane beets! They’re striped pink and white on the inside. Unfortunately they don’t retain their color when cooked, so after I pureed them for the batter it looked like a pile of pinkish-orange mush. Not particularly appetizing, but luckily, cocoa powder covers up a lot!

Surprise! We're stripey.

I’m planning to use the onion in fajitas tonight. I also made some pickles and pickled carrots, which are chilling in the fridge with some garlic getting all yummy.

We <3 vinegar and garlic!

Cute, isn't he?

Also on this week’s menu is the beet and potato hash that I made last season, topped with fried eggs. I’m going to try baking it in the oven instead of cooking it on the stovetop so I can avoid the hilarity that is “just slide the thing onto a plate, put another plate over top, flip, and slide back into the skillet to finish cooking”. Because anything that starts with “Just…” is never that easy. (Exhibit A)

I wasn’t over the moon about the fennel slaw I’d made a couple weeks ago, so I’m reevaluating what I want to do with my fennel. Maybe make it into a risotto again (I’ll use the whey left over from my homemade yogurt, cut with water or chicken stock to make it less sour). I did save a couple of chunks of the stalks for stock – hopefully it won’t be overwhelming once cooked! Google also tells me there are both roasted and lightly-fried options for fennel, which also sound good.

Week Sixteen: Autumn Harvest

It's officially here. The equinox has passed and now the days are getting shorter for sure. The days are still nice, but I can feel a chill from somewhere (or maybe that's just the A/C at work?), and the nights are getting downright cold. I don't feel bad about having pumpkin beer now - especially beer that was brewed with pumpkins from the farm! (I do wish that there had been a touch less cinnamon in this sugared rim, though... talk about major dry mouth!)

Watch City Brewery's Pie-Eyed Pumpkin Ale. More sugar on the rim, please!

We were treated to a stunning sunset last night at the farm... I'm bummed that they're getting sooner, but they're so darn pretty that they almost make up for the early arrival:

Hashtag no filter! (See how silly we are here)

We had a good time at the farm again this week. The raspberries, happily, are hanging in there, so while we haven't been collecting our allotted half-pint each week lately, we do take a stroll through the rows to pick what looks good. It's totally worth it for the few perfect berries we find. Back in the barn, we got more leeks, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and beets. 

Leeks, tomatoes, and peppers

I was happy to have the pick of my "regular" haul again, mostly for pickling. We got frying peppers and bell peppers, which I sliced up to have with the carrots. I really do miss the cucumbers... but I made do! I was rather disappointed in my previous batch of pickled goods, where I'd used radishes. They weren't quite as yummy as I'd hoped.

Lettuce and broccoli

We'd split the leeks last week, so we had a double repeat for dinner tonight: potato and beet cake with bacon and leek risotto. I used the stock I made from my roasted chicken for the risotto - delicious! It's really cool to see what I can make with just the local veg - we're considering joining a meat share this winter, so that would be an interesting next step!

Both kinds of peppers, broccoli, and the ends of my carrots

I didn't realize until I started scrubbing my beets tonight that only one of them was a standard "stain everything the juice touches bright red-purple" beet - I had two pink and a golden, too! It's really hard to tell when they're dirty, in my defense... like I care. And so I leave you with these pictures of beet-and-potato cake in the making.

Psychedelic beets!

It's ok if you question the sanity of the food processor in the sink.
I've had a bad experience with splattering, so I opted to try and save my clothes...

They're like an art project.

Shredded potatoes. This took approximately four seconds.

Rainbow beet shards!

Week Fourteen: Mixed Bag of Weather

Over the past few years, I’ve been finding September to be a very strange month. The days leading up to Labor Day are hot and sticky, and then on that darned Tuesday everything gets all confused about what season it’s supposed to be. Do the leaves start to fall now? Do I need to keep blooming? Should it get cold at night? How hot are the days, again? Does it rain, or should it hail instead?

Seriously. Please explain.

We had beautiful days and cool nights this weekend. Friday I had to dress for two seasons: fall on top (sweater and fall-colored nails) and summer on bottom (skinny jeans, sandals, and pink toenails). I can’t say I minded; it really was a beautiful day. I unfortunately wasn't able to post last week, but don’t worry, nothing exciting happened. We got more of our usual: carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, lettuce, and so on.

More tomatoes, including a few "orange blossom", this week.

This week we got a bunch of good stuff: peppers (two kinds), broccoli, collards, a melon, tomatoes, beets, radishes, onions, and carrots. I pickled the radishes, half an onion, and a couple of the peppers... can't wait to try those! Unfortunately it does seem that most of the “delicate” summer veggies are going away for the season since the weather’s turned cooler… thanks for everything, cucumbers! It was great while it lasted

Collards and broccoli (!)

I signed up for some “techniques of cooking” classes over in Cambridge, and the first class this past weekend was knife skills – so I’ve been practicing the proper grip and slicing technique. I’ll try to play with (and document!) my newfound skills and cuts as I get more stuff to slice up. My immediate takeaway from the class was that I have a weird mental block about using the “claw” grip… I totally get that it’s supposed to protect you from slicing off your fingertips, since you have your knuckles out in front, but then I worry about slicing my knuckles off. Even though that’s not supposed to happen at all!

Frying peppers, bell peppers, and onions.

Little radishes and another melon.

I got an “all vegetables all the time” cookbook from my aunt for my birthday (wohoo!), so I’d been eager to try out one of the beet recipes in there. I got a chance to try it tonight – it’s sort of a beet and potato latke thing. I’ve also kept up (of course) with my regular pickled things… the frying peppers I got a couple weeks ago were great, and last week’s tiny bell peppers were, too. 

Golden beets this week

Crisp Beet and Potato Cake (from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop)
We halved this recipe since I was making something else alongside... and I'm very glad! I'm sure we would have had too much for the pan if we'd used the full amounts. I think next time we'll try draining the beets a little bit; the outside seemed to be overly crisp and the inside a little mushy, although it still tasted great! It had the potato-y goodness of a latke and the "red" taste of the beets, which I thought made a great combination. Confession: Most of (okay, all) the hard work of washing, grating, and mixing was done by Dan, so thanks, honey!

1 lb russet potatoes (we used farm potatoes, no idea what kind)
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 medium beets (we used one red and one golden in the halved version)
1/4 c fresh snipped chives (subbed in leeks instead)
2 T butter

Peel the potatoes and grate with a box grater (don't forget your safety glove!) or a food processor. Toss with the salt. Peel and grate the beets, then mix with the potatoes. Throw in the chives and mix well.

Melt 1T butter in a wide (10-inch) nonstick skillet. Once the butter stops foaming, add the beet-potato mixture to the pan and press down to spread in an even layer. Cook over medium heat about 10-12 minutes until the bottom is nice and crispy. Press down with a spatula every now and then.

This is the tricky part: getting the cake out of the pan, onto a plate, and flipping it back into the pan so you can cook the top. Once the bottom is cooked, carefully slide the cake onto a big plate (ours wasn't quite done so it didn't slide very nicely). Melt the last tablespoon of butter in the pan until it stops foaming. As I'm re-reading the recipe now, I realize there is a much easier way to have done this: flip the cake onto another plate and then slide back into the skillet. (In the heat of the moment I just asked Dan for help, since I was stirring risotto and he happened to be there. He saved the day.) Cook the second side another 8-10 minutes until crisp on the bottom.

Slide onto a plate and serve in wedges.

Week Twelve: A New England Stir-Fry

What a great weekend. Dan and I were in Newport, RI for our annual trip with a bunch of friends for beaching, polo, and relaxing. We had perfectly sunny weather (as evidenced by my sunburn) for all of the above. I’d cut up half my watermelon from last week and tossed it with a chopped cucumber for a beach snack – unfortunately, though, it did not make it into the beach cooler. I was surprised to discover that it was a white watermelon – normal on the outside but bright yellow flesh inside. So pretty! Tastes just the same as a red watermelon, and the rest of it froze up nicely to put in my water.

Sunset over the polo grounds.

We didn't go for our usual Tuesday pickup this week, and we learned that Thursdays appear to be a lot busier than Tuesdays! With a lot more kids running around being cute. I picked up my usual carrots and potatoes, some Italian (I think) peppers, arugula, and another watermelon. Aly got more tomatoes, some eggplant, lettuce, bell peppers, and collards. We also got a half-pint of raspberries... time-consuming but worth the effort!

Peppers and arugula.

Now I know why they're so darn expensive at the store!

I also took a walk through the herb garden, which I haven’t done in ages. I made a conscious effort to pick stuff I thought I’d use, so ended up with chocolate mint, regular mint, lavender, dill, Thai basil, and purple basil. I had grand plans for a lavender or chocolate mint mojito, but my hopes were dashed upon discovering that we had no seltzer in the house. (I settled for some Newport Vineyards merlot instead. Way more local than Caribbean rum!)

Another yummy watermelon.

Clockwise from top left: Dill, chocolate mint, mint, purple basil, Thai basil, lavender.

New England Stir Fry

I made up this recipe name based on the ingredients and cooking method: a little New England boiled dinner, a little fun stir fry. We grilled some chicken sausage and the ear of corn, tossed the carrots with butter and sugar/cinnamon, and then plopped the potatoes into the peppers’ fry pan. Yum.

1 package chicken sausage (we used precooked Sweet Apple)
3 or 4 small bell peppers, cut into 1” pieces
6 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and then crosswise
2 pounds potatoes, scrubbed, and cut into chunks
Oil for frying, about 2 T
1 ear of corn per person (we only had one on hand, which we decided at the last minute to use)
2 T butter
1-2 tsp cinnamon (to taste)
1 T sugar (to taste)

Put the potatoes and carrots in a pot with plenty of salted water and bring to a boil. Test the carrots for done-ness first, as they cook faster. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and put into a bowl. Mix in the butter to melt, and then add cinnamon and sugar. Cover and keep warm. Check the potatoes – they shouldn’t be too mushy. Fry the peppers in the oil in a big frying pan until nice and crisp. Drain the potatoes and add to the pan with the peppers to finish.

Hot peppers!

Almost-candied carrots.

Meanwhile, grill the sausage and corn (keep most of the husk on but get as much silk off as you can). Alternately, you could probably cook the sausage in the pan with the peppers, adding them later to let the sausage cook through. And the corn could probably be broken up and added to the potatoes and carrots.

Delish!

Recipe: Beef Stew for Steak & Ale Pie

Beef stew is one of my favorite things, especially in the winter. And so easy. I mean, browning the beef is technically optional, but I like the extra flavor, so once you get past that all you have to do is throw chopped veggies in a slow cooker, add liquid, and wait 4 to 8 hours. And then the house smells like comfort food goodness and I know what we're having for at least one meal a day for the next two to three days.

Cutting up the beef

I think the best part is that it's so flexible. The recipe I use make my estimates from is for a 3.5 - 4 quart cooker (mine is 6), so I just ramp up the amounts of stuff I like and reduce what I'm less fond of. I use beer instead of water, and no green beans, handfuls and eyeballed amounts instead of cups. And it turns out great every time.

So many little potatoes!

Potato peelings, thanks to my crank peeler.
I normally don't peel the potatoes, but they were really dirty, despite my best efforts!

Old-Fashioned Beef Stew (from Better Homes and Gardens' Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes, Volume 2)
These are the amounts given in the cookbook, but I've added my notes, because like I said, I increase and decrease due to my tastes and the volume of my cooker.

2 T all-purpose flour (this has never been even close to enough for me)
12 oz beef stew meat, cut into 3/4" cubes (I usually end up using close to 2 lbs)
2 T cooking oil (again, never enough)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 c cubed potatoes (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 c frozen cut green beans (I skip these)
1 c frozen whole kernel corn (I use more)
2 medium carrots, sliced (more! more!)
2 c vegetable juice
1 c water (I use beer - something not too bitter - a 12-oz bottle/can)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 t beef bouillon (instant)
1 t dried oregano (I skip this)
1/2 t dried marjoram (and this)
1/2 t black pepper (more of this)
1 bay leaf

Dredge meat in flour. Shake off excess and brown meat in hot oil in a big saucepan (not nonstick) - work in batches so you have space to turn the pieces. Put the meat on the bottom of the slow cooker and layer the vegetables on top. If you'd like you can deglaze the saucepan with some of the beer. It will sizzle like crazy, but let it calm down and stir up all the yummy browned bits from the bottom. When the liquid has reduced a little, add it to the slow cooker with the rest of the beer. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5-6 hours (our cooker is still pretty young, so I can usually get away with 8 to 8.5 hours).

Carrot peelings!

For the pie, I skipped the onions - since we had the jam - and poured everything from the slow cooker into a big Dutch oven. Dan rolled out the crust onto the top, and we baked the whole thing for about 30 minutes at 350* - just so the crust was done. If we do this again I'd like to see if we can make individual pies - we've done apple pies like that with pretty good success, so I imagine we could have good results with the stew.

Week Nine: Fancy Dinner Party

This weekend Dan and I are hosting our parents for a “favorite British foods” dinner party: baked cheese, steak and ale pie, and a yummy dessert. And Pimm’s, of course! We had a decent selection of root vegetables this week, so I was able to get most of the veggies locally. I’ll post the recipes (and pictures!) later this week.

I finally wised up and took a picture before I ventured into the picking fields!

The amount of produce I’ve been bringing home every week has started to get overwhelming. It doesn’t sound so intimidating when you check in and are told “nine items today!”… but then you realize that one “item” can be eight cucumbers, or three pounds of tomatoes, or six ears of corn. I picked up for Matt this week since Aly is on vacation, and wow, it was a lot of stuff. I have no idea what Dan and I would do if we weren’t splitting this with Matt and Aly! (Probably turn into leafy greens.) I also got some tomatillos (never mind that I have no idea what to do with them) from the picking fields, along with more dill, cilantro, and a couple jalapeños.

Most of a salad... just add dressing!

The haul this week was huge: eight cucumbers, four zucchini/squash, 3 lbs tomatoes, 1.5 lbs potatoes, 1.5 lbs carrots, chard, lettuce, onions, and some orangey-gold beets. I made (wait for it) fridge pickles with half the cukes and the dill (I know, big surprise), and plan to use the potatoes and carrots in our dinner this Friday. Matt took home the lettuce, some tomatoes, the onions, and squash. I'm not sure what I want to do with the chard yet – I’ve decided I’m not a huge fan – probably sauté it and toss with pasta or something.

Herbs, jalapenos, and tomatillos. Also, Google wants to autocorrect "tomatillos" to "automatism".

Ginormous zucchini and some normal size ones.

 I've never used golden beets before (I’m pretty sure that’s what these are), but since I had such success with the chocolate-beet cake I made a few weeks ago, I searched for a yellow cake recipe that used them. I found a cupcake recipe that looks promising, but I’m not sure how well it will translate to a regular cake pan since the author didn't give a “yield”. I’ll make sure to post about that adventure.

More new potatoes!

I had some squash left this weekend (and now I have more…), so I roasted some to have with a pre-marinated pork loin for dinner on Sunday night. I sliced 2 yellow squash into ¾” discs and laid them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with some Lawry’s. I had to cook the pork at 425º, so I put the squash in at the same time and roasted everything for about 30 minutes. I think next time I’ll flip the squash about halfway through to make sure they get nice and crispy all over.

More carrots - it's fun to see the natural shapes I get at the farm instead of the Bugs Bunny style from the grocery store.

Stay tuned for adventures in dinner parties and baking with beets!

Chard and beets

Week Six: Roots and Ears

I can’t believe we’re on week six already! I guess that’s what happens when you go on vacation. Dan and I just spent ten days in the UK for our honeymoon, and we’re already thinking about our trip back. I can’t say I missed the heat back here, having spent so long in the apparent “heat wave” of 75 to 80-degree heat with a breeze J

Things at the farm really picked up while we were gone. Matt and Aly got a huge harvest of “actual” vegetables like onions, leeks, and squash the past couple weeks (maybe Aly will post her recipe for the dinner they had at our house while we were gone?). This week we got cucumbers, carrots, corn, new potatoes (so cute), lettuce, fresh garlic, onions, yellow squash, and zucchini. The pick-your-own options were great, too: each share was allowed to take four basil plants (yes, whole plants!), Thai or purple basil, a single jalapeño, 5 serrano chiles (I skipped those), dill, cilantro, a bunch of flowers, Mason jars, and green beans. 

Jalapeno and the cilantro.

Just one of my basil plants!

This week I had found a recipe for fridge-pickled vegetables, so when I got back on Tuesday I immediately set about slicing and chopping some crunchy stuff from the farm and the grocery store to soak. I ended up with dill-pickled veggies… yum!

Fridge Pickled Vegetables (based on SK’s pickled veggie slaw)

1 cup white vinegar
4 heaping teaspoons sugar
4 heaping teaspoons salt (I used Morton’s Sea Salt)
Fresh dill to taste (I used about 3 3-inch fronds of fresh), chopped
1 cup cold water

Crunchy vegetables of your choice

Put everything but the water and veggies in a small pot over medium-high heat. Still until sugar and salt are dissolved, then remove from heat. Add the cold water and let cool.

Meanwhile, julienne (using a mandoline with a julienne blade or a really sharp knife), about 4 or so cups of your favorite crunchy vegetables. I used our CSA carrots (scrubbed), a CSA cucumber, and two grocery store red bell peppers. Put the sliced veg in a large bowl with a leakproof lid and mix everything up with your hands. Pour water/vinegar mixture over everything, put the lid on, and shake a little bit to distribute the liquid. Put the bowl in the fridge for at least an hour – I left mine overnight and think it was a great idea. Eat straight up, on a burger, with a salad...

Mmmm. Pickly!

 Next time, I’ll be more careful about keeping my veggies all the same size and shape – my pepper slices are a lot bigger than my cukes, and my carrots are just chunked instead of sliced (I wasn’t thinking too much about this, apparently). The taste wasn’t really affected, though! Also, I forgot, after such a long time eating cucumbers from the grocery store, that farm- and garden-fresh cucumbers have pricklies on them! Make sure you rub these off when you wash the cucumbers.

Last night we had a grilling fest with some friends, so I sliced up the enormous zucchini for kebabs, and made a potato and corn salad to go with.

Potato, Corn, and Basil Salad (based on David Lieberman's)

1 lb new or baby potatoes (I had about 1/5 pounds), scrubbed clean and quartered

5 ears corn

1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 large bunch basil leaves, rinsed and dried

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 lemons, juiced

Salt and pepper to taste

Put potatoes in salted water and bring to boil. Cook  until fork-tender, 15 minutes or so. Remove and dunk into ice water to stop the cooking process (don't toss the water if you can avoid it). Shuck the corn, and if needed, break each ear in two. Put the corn into the same water you used for the potatoes and cook 6-7 minutes until tender. Stop the cooking process by dunking the corn into an ice bath. Cut the kernels off the corn and add to large bowl with the potatoes.

Add the onion and basil and mix everything together, then toss with the lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve right away.