Birch Point CSA Week 5

In Your Share This Week: Starting to turn this Spring Ship Toward Summer!

Broccoli OR New Potatoes (whichever you don't get this week you'll get next week)- the very first potatoes of the season, or early broccoli. We leave the greens on broccoli because they're delicious (cook any way you'd do kale, and/or toss in with the broccoli head), but they do transpire moisture away from the head, leading to rubbery broccoli. If you won't use it in the next few days, remove the leaves before storing.
Kohlrabi--click though here for a huffpost series called "WTF, CSA?" starting with Kohlrabi :) And yes you CAN use the greens- cook them just like kale.
Beet greens OR mustard greens- or mix the two and make a spectacular sag paneer--you'll notice in this recipe from Saveur, the author specifically mentions that "sag" just means greens, and you CAN use any greens you have on hand for sag paneer. Go on, be adventurous :) Beet greens: super nutritious!
Lettuce- more beautiful reds, greens, butterhead/bibb, or romaines
Cilantro- perhaps tossed at the last minute into a spicy stirfry of kohlrabi, scallions, peas, and broccoli? Or perhaps you have a garlic scape and a few pine nuts or sunflower seeds hanging around the back of your fridge? try cilantro-garlic scape pesto: Yum!
Scallions- so delicious, so versatile, and please DO use the entire thing, greens and whites. All is tender.
Peas- snow or snap-- may be coming to an end :(  It's been a good pea run, but BEANS are almost ready to take over next week!

Announcements

1. Heart of Summer shares start THIS WEEK.  All Heart of Summer members should have gotten a reminder email- here's another one ;)  See you Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday!
2. Wednesday and Saturday shares- PLEASE remember your boxes--  bring back your empty box each week when you pick up your full one. If everyone remembers their boxes, it helps us keep costs and hassle down, AND helps keep your veggies happier than in a plastic bag (the fate of box-hoarders, if we run out of boxes).
3. Reminder: Dilly Bean canning workshop from ISLAND, here at Birch Point: Tuesday Aug. 4, 6-8:30 pm. Details and registration here. CSA members and general public welcome.

Recipes: 

Save these! and/or bookmark the blog entries, because you'll see a lot of these items again, and next time you'll be even more prepared.

Cilantro Pesto
Take a basil pesto recipe (for example, the one below). Swap out basil for cilantro. Voila.  Hint: you can make pesto out of ANY herb, and many green leafy veggies, too. Anything you enjoy the flavor of will make a delightful pesto. Try basil, cilantro, dill (one of my faves), parsley, sorrel, kale, chives, etc.
2 c. herbs/greens of your choice
1/2 c. toasted nuts/seeds (I like a combo of pine nuts and walnuts and/or sunflower seeds)
2 fat garlic cloves or 1-2 garlic scapes
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/2 c. olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice or verjus.
 dash salt and pepper.
Whiz everything in the cuisinart or blender. Adjust salt, add optional heat (ground cayenne, fresh or dried hot pepper), whiz again, taste. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate for a week or so, or freeze for up to several months.

An amazing-sounding kohlrabi soup I found on the abovementioned huffpost kohlrabi article:
http://turmericsaffron.blogspot.com/2011/09/sholeh-maash-persian-green-mung-bean.html
Sholeh Maash - Persian Green Mung Bean and Kohlrabi Hearty Soup
Ingredients:
Serves 6

1 1/2  cups green mung beans, rinse 2-3 times
1/2 cup rice, rinse well
3-4 medium-size kohlrabi, peel and cut into small cubes, leave one cubed kohlrabi for the topping
1 large bunch of fresh tareh or scallions (green parts only), washed and chopped
1 small bunch of fresh tarragon, stems removed and chopped
Water
Salt and pepper to taste
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, diced
1/3 teaspoon turmeric
1/3 teaspoon red pepper *optional
1/3 teaspoon cumin *optional
Oil

Method:

1. Place the beans and the rice in a large pot, add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
2. Add the small pieces of kohlrabi, salt, pepper, cover and cook for 45 minutes on low heat.
3. Periodically check to see if you need to add more water to the soup.
4. Add the chopped vegetables, taste and adjust the seasoning, add more hot water if needed and let it simmer for another 15 minutes for the flavors to blend in.
5. In the meantime, fry the sliced onions in 3-4 tablespoons of hot vegetable oil in a skillet until golden brown. Add the turmeric powder and the minced garlic to the oil, stir and saute further for another five minutes.
6. Add a large tablespoon of the fried onion to the soup and gently mix well.
7. Lightly fry the cubed kohlrabi in 2-3 tablespoons of hot vegetable oil until soft and golden on medium heat. Add a pinch of salt, turmeric, cumin and red pepper and stir well.

To serve ladle the soup into a soup bowl, top with the fried onions and kohlrabi. Serve hot with bread and yogurt.

Enjoy!

Birch Point CSA Week 4

In Your Share This Week: 

it's still a green, green harvest. If we EVER get a true warm spell, the peas and lettuces will slow down, but on the up side, the tomatoes and beans will LOVE it.  For now, enjoy the leafy goodness this extended cool weather has brought.

The sweetest little Napa Cabbage
Kale OR Swiss Chard
Italian Parsley
Lettuces, all kinds
Baby Salad Mix
Beets
Turnips
Peas! Snow or Snap

Announcements:

1. Heart-of-Summer shares start Tuesday July 21, or Wednesday July 22, or Saturday July 25, and run six weeks.  Heart of Summer shares ARE still available. Know someone on the fence about joining a CSA, or just up here for the summer?  Send them our way.
2. Dilly Bean pickling/preserving workshop here at Birch Point, in partnership with ISLAND. Tuesday Aug 4, 6-8:30 pm (during/after CSA pickup). $40 per person, learn the art of dilly bean preserving and pickling/canning safety, and take home jars of the end product! Oryana member discount. Pre-registration required. All details and how to register HERE
3. "Kaia's Cookies," made by our neighbor Kaia herself, are available to purchase at Tuesday CSA pickup. Kaia and her mom bake delicious gluten-free and dairy-free desserts. Support a young entrepreneur, and get a delectable treat next time you're here on Tuesday.
4. Upcoming: Children's Garden workday and events (e.g. cooking demo, fermenting, etc) on the way-  stay tuned!

Recipe:

Farm-ikopita (or Spanikopita made with whatever farmy green-ness you have on hand)
modified from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spanakopita-greek-spinach-pie/

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds spinach, rinsed and chopped OR Swiss Chard OR kale OR beet greens OR a combo of any greens you like. MF note: I also included 4 coarsely chopped turnips into ours- yum!
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
  1. 
     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9x9 inch square baking pan. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve
     while hot.

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 8 sheets phyllo dough
• 1/4 cup olive oil
  
  
  
  

Birch Point CSA Week 3: The Aliens Have Landed

Q: "What IS that?"  (the most common response to encountering kohlrabi for the first time) 
A: It's the spaceship-shaped vegetable in your share this week-- either green or purple, a round or slightly flattened globe, a member of the broccoli/cabbage family, and soon to be one of your (and your kids') favorite veggies. 

In Your Share This Week

Kohlrabi- My fave way to enjoy: raw!  Peel off skin, slice into sticks or chunks, enjoy as is or with salt or dip of your choice.  OR grate onto salad/slaw. OR cook any way you do broccoli: steam, saute, roast, etc.  Leaves can be used just like kale; that's why we leave them on!

Beets-the first of the season!  You can expect a good variety of beets throughout the season-classic dark red, golden, Chioggia (red-white bullseye pattern inside), all kinds. Roots AND greens are delicious.  Roots: roast, boil, or saute (or GRILL whole beetroots wrapped in foil for a special treat).  Or grate raw into salad- yum.  Greens: saute or steam, or sub for spinach or swiss chard in any recipe.

Lettuce- more beautiful heads to make a salad, eat on sandwiches, etc. You know what to do with lettuce.

Either Arugula OR Baby Salad Mix- Some shares got baby salad mix, some got arugula.  We'll make sure everyone gets everything-- we'll keep the baby greens coming so you get a good mix throughout the season.  Note: all leafy greens have been washed to COOL and RINSE after harvest, but are NOT washed ready-to-eat (unless you don't mind a little grit) ;) If you're a fresh arugula person, excellent. If not, try it slightly wilted, tossed with hot pasta, or arugula pesto.  Note: this is VERY mild arugula-- not the high summer spicy stuff that only the hard core arugula lovers can handle. :)

Garlic Scapes- More!  hope you love garlic.  remember, you can use these ANY way you'd use fresh garlic- just chop/mince the whole thing. And they keep for weeks in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge. Try garlic scape pesto (Recipe below) for a pungent pasta sauce.

Turnips-Might be a new-ish thing for some people! If your only experience with turnips is the pungent purple-and-white kind, give these baby turnips a try-- you'll be delighted. The white ones are a Japanese variety called Hakurei, and the pink ones are called Scarlet Queen.  Both are more tender and mild than the old purple-tops, though the pinks are a little firmer and spicier than the whites.  Both can be used raw in salad (grated OR sliced, salted, and let "sweat" before tossing in) or on a crudite platter with salt or dip.  OR make a turnip-beet root roast (toss in the last of last week's radishes while you're at it), with a creamy bechamel sauce with blended garlic scapes.  Be sure to use the GREENS in any saute, soup, or pesto you might be making, too.

Peas -either sugarsnap (fat, sugary) OR snow peas (flat pods, more savory), both are for eating whole, NOT shelling.  We mostly just eat these raw as a snack, but they're delicious in stir-fries too. Hopefully last night's RAIN will crank up the next week's harvest..

Announcements

1. Market and CSA pickup (Wed and Sat) is still in the Old Town parking deck til Cherry festival is over. 

2. BREAD and COFFEE shares still available- please email or call for info if you're interested!

Recipes

Garlic Scape Pesto

1 bunch garlic scapes
1 c. olive oil
1/2 c. toasted walnuts, pine nuts, and/or toasted sunflower seeds- any combo works
1/4 c. grated parmesan (optional)
juice of 1/2 lemon
generous dashes salt and pepper
Optional: 1 c. any greens of your choice (kale, spinach, parsley, turnip greens, basil, etc)

In cuisinart or blender, process olive oil, lemon juice, garlic scapes, salt and pepper.  Add nuts, process til as smooth or chunky as you like (if you want it creamy not at all chunky, toss the nuts in with everything else and whiz away; if more texture is your thing, whiz til nuts are in tiny chunks, but not creamy- try different textures and see what you like best). Add cheese last and blend just to mix. Use immediately, refrigerate for at least a week,  OR freeze for up to several months.  This is a PUNGENT pasta topper, or dip for fries, or serious salad dressing, or sauce for roasted roots or meats.  To mellow it out a little (if you like), add other greens of your choice. Parsley is one of my faves, but any leafy green thing will do. Yes pesto IS adaptable to what's on hand! Check this blog post I found online for more garlic scape/etc. pesto suggestions.

Turnip-Beet-Any-Root Roast with Creamy Garlic Bechamel Sauce

Turnips
Beets
Kohlrabi (not technically a root, but goes GREAT in this dish)
Any other roots you have on hand

Scrub and chop roots into large bite sized chunks.  Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and roast at 375ish for 30-45 min (longer for larger chunks) or til edges are nicely browned and caramelized and centers are tender. 
Meanwhile, prepare this bechamel sauce (thanks Martha Stewart!), substituting 2-4 garlic SCAPES for the cloves in the recipe.

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small yellow onion, diced small
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• coarse salt
• 4 1/2 cups whole milk 
• In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is soft, 4 minutes. Add flour, season with salt, and cook, stirring, until mixture is pale golden with a nutty aroma, 4 minutes. Whisking constantly, add half the milk. Add the remaining milk and whisk until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, until sauce comes to a boil and thickens, 10 minutes. Use immediately.

• Children's Corner

  By Ava Newell

  Hello! What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground beef!

   In the children`s garden, we previously have been planting in 5 different sections. Rainbow food garden, herb garden, three sisters garden (beans, squash and corn), Poncho`s pot pie garden and the flower garden. We`ve grown lots of vegetables, but not rhubarb. And I bring that up because my mom gave me a recipe for rhubarb custard cake. We made it for Fourth of July.
  Rhubarb Custard Cake
  *1 package yellow cake mix
  *4 cups fresh or frozen Rhubarb
  *1cup sugar
  *1cup heavy whipping cream
  *whipped cream and Mint, optional
• Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Pour into greased 13x9" pan. Sprinkle on rhubarb and sugar; slowly pour cream over top. Bake at 350 for 40-45 min or until golden brown.Cool for 15 min before serving; garnish with whipped cream and mint if desired. Refrigerate leftovers. Serves 12-15.
• MF note: sounds like we should plant some rhubarb in the children's garden!

Birch Point CSA 2015 Week 2 (Newsletter #1)

Welcome! or Welcome Back!
We are so glad you've joined our farm for the 2015 season.  Our first newsletter follows, and this is how newsletters normally go:
1. A list of this week's share items (what's in the box)
2. Announcements/ Need-to-Know important stuff (this is where you learn about changes to CSA pickup, optional extras available to order, on-farm events, etc)
3. Recipes featuring this week's items
and 4. (sometimes) Field Notes- what's up in the fields! Also occasional updates from the Children's Garden, "Meet your Farmers" interviews/profiles, photos from the farm this week, etc.

In Your Share This Week:  Lots of Green Loveliness, some Color, and some Sass

Peas! The very first snap peas of the season- there will be more, if the cool-ish weather holds. Peas love cool, moist times. We've got the cool; if we keep that and add the moist, we're rich in peas. Enjoy fresh (whole pod! these are NOT shelling peas) or tossed in a stir-fry at the last minute.

Baby salad mix- a lovely blend of baby lettuces, baby kales and chards, baby Asian greens, etc.  The salad mix composition changes every week, based on what looks best/what we have lots of.  See if you can identify all the different components!  *Note* All bagged or bunched greens have been rinsed but not washed ready-to-eat.  We recommend submerging in cool water, then spinning dry.

Radishes- more mild spring beauties- spring radishes, esp. those grown in the hoophouse or under row covers, are so much milder than the spicy summer versions of themselves-- the heat or moisture stress really "kicks it up" in the radish world. Enjoy the mellowness :)  If you think radishes are not your thing, give them two more chances: 1. Slice thinly or chop, then toss with a generous amount of SALT. Salt draws out the moisture, making them juicier and more tender, and also cuts the bitterness. Set for 5-20 min, then enjoy as is, or on a toasted bagel/baguette with cream cheese/goat cheese, or in your salad.  2. ROAST them just like potatoes- cut in half or leave whole, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, spread in a single layer in a cast iron skillet or on a cookie sheet, roast at 375ish for 30 min or so, til edges are brown and caramelized, and insides are soft and tender.  They'll taste of radish, but NOT of any bitterness. Mix with potatoes or other roots of your choice.

Bok Choy/Pac Choi (same thing, different spelling)- a most versatile leafy Asian vegetable.  My favorite preparation is a raw slaw (see recipe below), but any variation on stir-fry is a great use of choi as well. Some members will get green choi; others red. The red is starting to elongate, or bolt (send up a flower stalk), but we meticulously taste tested it, and it is still super tender and sweet, not stringy or spicy.  So go ahead and use the whole thing! Leaves, stalks, AND flower buds-- see below for the story of my introduction to "vegetable flower,"

Lettuces- lovely heads of red leaf, green romaine, butterhead, or red romaine.  Use for salad, sandwiches, on tacos, as lettuce wraps, etc. We love growing lettuces, so we hope you'll enjoy the rotating varieties we include with your share-- what are your favorites?

Garlic Scapes!  The flowering stalk of the garlic plant--- use just like fresh garlic, because it IS fresh garlic, just a part of the plant you don't see every day. That's because the scapes only grow in late spring/early summer for a 3-4 week window at most. We remove the scapes from the plants for two reasons: 1. They are DELICIOUS and tender, and a fun variation on garlic, one of our fave foods, and 2. Removing the flower stalk (before it flowers) allows the plant to redirect its energy into growing a bigger bulb instead of a flower, meaning more garlic (bigger bulbs) for us later in the summer.  This way we get two harvests of garlic from each plant!  My favorite preparation is on the grill: toss with olive oil, spread on the grill with anything else you happen to have on there, and let it go til blackened on the tips and soft/tender along the stem. Eat the whole thing. Or steam/blanch, then bread and deep fry, tempura-style, for the most decadent onion-ring-type-thing ever. Or just chop/mince and use in any recipe that calls for garlic.  AND they keep for weeks - just store in an airtight container, i.e. sealed plastic bag, in the fridge.

Locally-grown and milled FLOUR from Grand Traverse Culinary Flours. CSA member Bill Koucky produces both flours and culinary oils from locally grown ingredients!  The Record Eagle ran this story last year- check it out!  Flour AND oil will be available to order soon- this is just a sample to whet your baking whistles (and yes there IS buckwheat flour available for the gluten-averse of ye). Thanks Bill!


Announcements:

1. Cherry Festival Market Relocation: Starting Saturday, July 4, farmers' market is RELOCATED to the Old Town Parking Deck off Eighth or Lake St.  Saturday, July 4, Wed. July 8, and Saturday July 11, come find us and your CSA share on the ground level of the parking deck. As an incentive, the first 100 people to visit the market during festival days will receive $5 of their market purchases!

2. Bread and coffee shares ARE still available- you can start any week.  9 Bean Rows bread is $4 per week, bread is baker's choice- a rotating mix (one loaf per week).  Coffee is $10 per week, you sign up for light OR dark roast, and get a nice variety from within your roast preference each week (12 oz bag, whole beans).  Please email birchpointcsa@gmail.com to sign up or for more info.

3. Strawberries: if you (Tuesday people) ordered strawberries from Ware Farm, they are here today.  Sat and Wed people-- we are waiting, with baited breath, to hear if more berries will be available. The most reliable thing for you to do is to contact Bernie and Sandee Ware directly (warefarm@centurytel.net or 231 864 3242)and order flats for pick-up at market.  (Skip the Birch Point go-between entirely, since you'll be at market/in town for your CSA pickup anyway.)   I will let you know if we can take orders for more flats next week.

4. Tuesday people: remember BAGS and coolers or boxes to carry your share home.  We don't supply containers for on-farm pickups. However, we do accept donated stashes of used, clean plastic bags.  Bring your collection and leave it in the barn for when you (or fellow CSA members) forget your containers.




Recipe

Asian-ish Slaw, using Choi of your Choice, or any Asian leafy green, for that matter :)

1 head bok choi (or substitute a small napa cabbage, komatsuna, or a few tatsoi heads), finely chopped across the grain, stems,  leaves, and all.
1-3 garlic scapes, thinly sliced
1-3 dried hot peppers, crushed with the side of a knife or mortar-and-pestled, OR 1 tsp ground cayenne (optional)
1 med onion, thinly sliced
1 handful cilantro, coarsely chopped
1-2 sweet peppers, very thinly sliced (optional)
1 carrot, grated or julienned
4 Tbsp black sesame seeds (sub white if black unavailable)
1 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1 tsp ground ginger or one generous knob fresh ginger, minced
juice of one large or two small limes
generous sploosh of toasted sesame oil
salt and pepper

1. Make dressing: lime juice, sesame oil, ginger, cayenne, salt, pepper. Mix well in bottom of large bowl.
2. Add finely sliced/chopped vegetables: choi, scapes, peppers, carrots, onion. Toss with dressing.
3. Add seeds, toss.
4. Add cilantro just before serving, toss lightly-- keep that cilantro fresh til the last minute!
Enjoy room temperature or refrigerated.

"Vegetable Flower"
While I was the farm manager at the MSU Student Organic Farm, we hosted several student volunteer work parties. One spring day a class was ripping out the overgrown, weedy hoophouse that still harbored over-wintered Asian greens, among other things.   Blong, a Hmong student, questioned why we were ripping out the bolted Chinese cabbage, without distributing it to our CSA members. Upon investigation, it turned out that, at least in his family, bolted (flowering) Asian greens were a delicacy! And that there is a Hmong word for it, which translates to "vegetable flower."  We tried it, and he was right-- just as delicious as the non-bolting versions of themselves. Ever since, I've not hesitated to harvest and distribute to CSA members the bolting bok choi, napa, or other Asian greens-- they take a little explaining sometimes, but they are just long, there's nothing wrong!  I hope you enjoy whatever color and shape of bok choi you find in your share this week. And please do share your favorite recipe for bok choi or any other slightly uncommon veggie-- your fellow CSA members would love to hear from you.

Birch Point Fall-Winter CSA Week 7: the penultimate week

Warm weather!  Thursday was the loveliest day since summer, I believe. I hope you all got outside for a good stretch of Thursday. Friday wasn't bad either... this reprieve from bitter cold and gray has got spirits up, even though the ground is still frozen solid.  We'd love to harvest the last few root veggies that were still in the ground when the deep freeze hit, but it may be next week before that happens.    In good news, the sunshine has warmed up the hoophouse to the point where the baby greens are harvestable!  Most things we grow in the winter hoophouse can handle a certain amount of freezing and thawing (e.g. kale, spinach, arugula, lettuce, claytonia, parsley), but quality is much higher when the greens aren't actually frozen solid at the time of harvest! Today they were nicely thawed out and perky, so we were able to harvest a lovely winter salad of arugula, baby kale, and a smattering of lettuce-- mainly arugula and kale, a handful of red lettuce just for color.  Hope you enjoy this special treat!
Remember: next week is our final week of CSA for the fall-winter season.   We look forward to seeing you-- if shares are outside of Bldg 50, be sure to come say hello when you pick up your box!

In This Week's Share

Winter Squash-the squash we carefully harvested, cleaned, sorted, and stored is just starting to show signs of not loving its storage life-- parts of the squash field sustained minimal frost damage this fall before harvest, which can shorten storage life.  We've been on the lookout for rot all fall, and I'm impressed that it's just now showing up.  Squash normally keeps for several weeks up to several months, but once soft spots develop, the best thing is to use it up or cook and freeze it for later.
For maximum storage life (of non-compromised squash), keep at approx 50 degrees F in a relatively dry environment.  Attics or garages that stay well above freezing, spare rooms that are minimally heated, or root cellars with good ventilation are all good for squash storage. What's bad for squash storage: temps too close to freezing or much above 60 degrees F, high humidity, bruising.

Brussels sprouts- the last of these little lovelies for the season!  Brenin harvested them frozen earlier this week, and they are still so sweet and tender, if on the small side.  If you think you're (or someone in your household is) not a Bsprout fan, try this: trim and clean, and slice super thinly across sprouts, then fluff into a frizzy, fluffy pile (basically destroying the evidence that they started out as sprouts).  Saute onions with olive oil or butter til tender and browned, add shredded sprouts and a generous sprinkle of salt, saute on med heat til bright, bright green and tender.  If it starts to dry out or stick, sploosh in a spoonful or two of water. Toss in pan with balsamic vinegar and/or lemon juice- balsamic vinegar will add more sweetness, lemon more acidity.  I also like to throw in some dried cherries or cranberries, chopped, at the last moment of cooking. There. See what the haters say now.

Rutabagas!  I think rutabagas are delicious.  The secret?  Bring out their sweetness- they ARE sweet, but also pungent.  If you love pungent, go for it; you're in your element.  If not, take advantage of caramelizing and maximizing surface area-- e.g. rutabaga fries (cut like steak fries, brush with olive oil and bake at 375 til brown and crisp on edges, soft at centers) with  ketchup OR spicy mayo (half-half mayo and your favorite hot sauce), rutabaga-and-potato gratin (see recipe below), rutabaga hash browns --use some combo of potatoes and rutabagas (half-half or any ratio, really), and mashed rutabaga (straight up roasted- not boiled- rutabaga OR mixed with potato).  These techniques maximize the transformation of starches into sugars, not changing the inherent rutabaga-ness, but allowing their inner sweetness to shine through.


Salad mix-- a winter combo of baby arugula, baby red Russian kale, and lettuces (barely any lettuce-- this is mostly arugula and kale).  These greens are so tender I hope you'll try them with the most nominal of dressing- e.g. olive oil and salt, grape seed oil and verjus (the hyper-local equivalent of olive oil and lemon juice), or the like.  Let the delicate greens shine as themselves rather than a vehicle for heavy dressings!

Onions- either Rossa di Milano (big red) or a mix of small reds and yellows.  Try chopped, roasted onions along with your rutabaga and carrot (and last week's potatoes if you still have some) in a roasted root medley.

Carrots- a rainbow mix of orange, purple, and/or white.  Enjoy fresh or roasted.  I made a lovely purple-and-orange carrot slaw the other day with just grated carrots and an apple, onions, toasted sunflower seeds, cilantro, a minced dried hot pepper, and a sesame oil-rice vinegar dressing. YUM!

Ida Red Apples- another installment of certified organic apples from our friend Gene, the organic orchardist in Northport. Ida Reds are great for fresh eating OR baking; they also store well if you can't use them immediately- keep them cold and humid (refrigerator=great, but anywhere that stays slightly above freezing is fine (breezeway, drafty attic, etc).

Rutabaga and Potato Gratin
SERVES 6–8
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup flour
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 lb. rutabagas, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 tbsp. minced thyme leaves
2 cups (about 4 oz.) grated
Gruyére cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 425°. Heat butter and oil in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat; add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring often, until soft, about 6 minutes. Stir in flour, and cook until smooth, about 1 minute. Add milk and cream, and stir until smooth. Add potatoes, rutabagas, and 2 tsp. thyme, and bring mixture to a boil; cook, stirring often, until vegetables are slightly tender and broken apart, about 5 minutes. Stir in half the cheese and salt and pepper, and then transfer to a 9″ × 13″ baking dish; top with remaining cheese and bake until golden brown and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining thyme before serving.

And an Even Fancier (more delicious sounding) Brussels Sprout Recipe
Brussels Sprouts Chiffonade with Caramelized Onions

Birch Point Fall-Winter CSA Week 6

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!  Brenin was out in Portland visiting old and new friends, and Jess and I hosted all our parents plus a handful of friends here at the farm for dinner-- check out some menu/recipe suggestions at the end of this blog inspired by our Tday dinner (it was delicious and almost entirely raised/grown by the people at the table!).
Note: we were packing shares as dusk turned to darkness this evening.  While we're careful to sort and select the nicest produce for your shares, it can be difficult in the dark, as you might imagine, to be as thorough as we'd like ;)   IF you find squash with soft spots, or a green potato, for example, please let us know-- it's possible we missed some!  Suggestion: if you ever are faced with squash with soft spots, the best thing is to cook it and freeze the cooked squash ASAP-- it'll keep for months in your freezer.

In this week's share:

Celeriac-- the alien-looking root veggie that's the most versatile winter food ever.  Use them any way  you'd use a potato- boiled, mashed, fried, roasted, pureed, etc.  Or go the traditional route and use in soups and stews-- chunked into bite sized pieces or pureed for creamy soup.  Save the skins (you have to peel these b/c it's nearly impossible to get all the grit out of the root hairs) and use in soup stock. I often find great recipes and info on other CSA farms' blogs and newsletters, and recently came across this celeriac page from Radical Roots farm in VT- enjoy!
Potatoes: either red (Red Maria), white (Katahdin) or red French fingerling. Oh potatoes, we'd be hard pressed to find a food as versatile and universally appreciated (perhaps celeriac ... one day!!!).
Leeks: hope you enjoy these lovely alliums as much as we do! Besides using leeks any way you'd use onions, also try them in this frittata recipe OR baked (sliced lengthwise) in a casserole dish with plenty of cream and/or plain yogurt, goat cheese, and bread crumbs. YUM.
Winter Squash: Kabocha or Buttercup (both dark green with sweet, flaky flesh-- even better than pumpkins for "pumpkin" pie, but so, so delicious baked whole/halved, or sliced into wedges, brushed with olive oil or melted butter, and roasted in a single layer on a cookie sheet).
Cabbage: harvested frozen solid out of the field, most of these cabbages are best for cooking rather than fresh eating. Chances are good they'd be fine fresh, but since we've had some REALLY cold nights without the protection of deep snow, it's possible the cell walls sustained enough frost damage to change the texture of the leaves-- which doesn't matter for cooking but can make fresh eating less satisfying. In honor of Jess's Polish heritage, and his dad's constant quest for good Polish food, here's a recipe for golumpki, or traditional stuffed cabbage rolls. Note: you can stuff cabbage with anything you like/anything you've got-- feel free to stray from the traditional suggestions!
Onions- sweet little roasting onions-- peel and roast whole or halved, OR slice and use exactly like large onions.
Sunchokes/Jerusalem Artichokes: a most versatile and tasty root veggie!  Check out this Brooklyn foodie's blog entry about sunchokes if you missed it the first time around.
Kale OR braising mix-- hoophouse-grown, the braising mix is a blend of kales, swiss chard, and parsley and can totally be eaten as salad if you're into non-lettuce salads. The big kale is from the field and as sweet as it ever can be!

Our Thanksgiving Feast (can be replicated any time this fall/winter!)

Roasted Winter Squash-- slice into 1" wedges, skins still on but seeds/inner pulp removed, brush generously with olive oil, arrange in a single layer on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake @ 365 for 20 min OR til tender and caramelized/browned around the edges. YUM.
Celeriac Remoulade-- a variation of Farmer John's involving matchsticked celeriac, chopped cornichons and capers, dijon mustard and mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper. So tangy!
Turkey- raised, slaughtered, cooked, and served by our friend Andy (he called her Annabelle)
Chicory-Pomegranate seed salad: Finely chopped Sugarloaf chicory from our friends and neighbors Nic and Sara of Loma Farm, English walnuts from our friend Todd Springer of Gray's Fruit Farm on Old Mission, sliced Spygold apples from our friend Gene of Garthe Orchard in Northport, and gorgeous pomegranate seeds from our 24-hour pal, Fred Meijer. Toss with a lemon-olive oil-tarragon dressing.
Mashed potatoes with garlic- need I say more?
B&B (Beets & Brussels)- beets chopped and roasted, B-sprouts sliced in half or left whole and roasted. Tossed together with a light vinaigrette, served warm.
Tomato Tart from Kate Fiebing: (something like this recipe) her own garden's sungold cherry tomatoes, roasted and frozen back in August, brought out to share in the cold and grey of November! A savory pastry-crusted delight.
Panade with kale, tomatoes, and gruyere from Barbara Piskor- a savory "bread pudding" in a shallow baking pan. Yum!  Try panade with any combo of veggies you happen to have on hand.
Cornbread we made here, sourdough from Nic, and fruit-nut nearly-journey-bread from Nic.
Pumpkin, Pecan, Apple, and Chocolate pies from Barb Ferrarese and Kate Fiebing- drowned in Shetler's whipped cream of course.

Birch Point Fall-Winter CSA Week 4&5: Rolled into one box!

Remember: this week's box is the DOUBLE share, and next week (Sat. Nov 29), there is NO CSA pickup.  In case you missed earlier communications, members (you) voted to double up on this week's box, to ensure extra bounty for Thanksgiving!  And also to skip next week, since many folks will be out of town for Thanksgiving, and/or still in a food coma from Thursday :)

In this week's double share:

Beets: either giant specimens suitable for roasting or grating fresh, or smaller roots for boiling/roasting/steaming
Carrots: Rainbow mix of orange, purple, and white, many of which are small and perfect for roasting whole.
Potatoes: either gold or redskin
Onions: either yellow, red, or cipollini
Leeks: Life is bleak without a leek.  Use interchangeably with onions.  Stores well! (and don't believe anyone or any recipe who says to only use the white parts-- the green parts are totally edible and useable; just slice across the grain finely and cook a minute longer)
Cabbage: a savoyed (crinkly-leaved) variety called "Dead On," one of our faves! Use for slaw OR cooking.
Brussels sprouts: as per earlier note, be sure to double check sprouts on the lower end of the stalk for quality-- we sorted as much as we could, but may have missed some funky sprouts.  Slice in half to examine the insides.  Halved, caramelized sprouts make a lovely Thanksgiving dish on their own OR with cubed, roasted winter squash and sauteed leeks/onions, and sherry vinegar.  If your stalk happens to have leaves on it, slice them up and include them with your Brussels sprout dish and/or with your kale- delicious!
Kale: Holy kalesicles, batman!  Harvesting frozen solid kale from under the snow is an adventure, as you might imagine!  It also means the kale will be a little wilty when it reaches you-- never fear, just thaw out (if it's still icy), store and/or prepare as usual, and it'll be delicious-- extra sweet from the cold.
Winter Squash- You may see either Buttercup/Kabocha (dark green outside, with dry, flaky orange flesh inside-- makes the BEST "pumpkin" pies!!!), Potimarron (red, teardrop shaped, sweet and creamy), Sunshine (also red, but a kabocha type so a little dryer than Potimarron, which it closely resembles), or Blue Ballet- a baby hubbard-type, blue-gray, moist fleshed, and an excellent keeper, if you need to store it rather than use this week.
Celeriac- the funny-looking, alien-like root with hairy skin (requires peeling!) that tastes like celery but cooks up like a potato. In fact, mashed potatoes WITH celeriac is one of our fave Tday dishes!  They'll store reliably for a good long while, so no rush to use them up.  Once you're in the mood for a winter soup, celeriac will be happy to help.
Garlic-- also delicious with mashed potatoes. Or just about anything for that matter!
Parsnips- the tannish-white root veggie that resembles a fat carrot.  Look carefully at the long, white roots in your box-- some are parsnips; some may be white carrots!  Parsnips are slightly scraggly-looking (usually) with tan overtones. Carrots have a much thinner skin and slightly crispier texture.  You can always taste them to get a positive i.d- carrots taste like carrots; raw parsnips are similar but much earthier AND denser and slightly fibrous.  Cooked, parsnips are even sweeter than carrots, but raw parnsips are only for the hardiest palates and jaw muscles.
Last but not least- organic Apples from our friend Gene Garthe in Northport!  These are a variety know as Spy Gold, and excellent eating OR cooking apple.  Firm and slightly tart, they're delicious out of hand but also make an amazing pie or applesauce.  We hope you enjoy this special addition to our own farm-grown produce.

We hope you'll enjoy some lovely ROASTED ROOTS,
Cabbage-Apple-Pomegranate Salad,
Squash pie,
Caramelized Brussels sprouts with Squash and Cranberries,
Kale and Leeks (perhaps with chickpeas?)
and Apple-Celeriac Slaw
with your family and friends this week.

Thank you SO much for being part of the farm this fall!  Remember: no CSA pickup next week (Nov. 29).  We'll see you the following week (Dec. 6) as usual.