Epic Summer Greens
As our first succession of tomatoes dies, and our second succession is just starting to ripen we will be a little low on tomatoes this week. All of the wet weather has brought so many tomato diseases to the farm and we lost our first field tomatoes a little earlier then normal. There are not many organic treatments for tomato diseases besides copper. Copper is known to cause Alzheimer's disease and dementia, so we enjoy the tomatoes while they are here and luckily have a great source to make sauce, ketchup, butter and salsa for us out of our tomato seconds that we will be able to share with you all later this Fall. Expect more tomatoes back next week and hopefully our high tunnel heirlooms will keep producing for a little longer! They have a ton of green tomatoes on the plants and are only looking like they are half diseases so here's hoping they truck along for a few more weeks. The cool weather has got us all excited for Fall crops! Our first round of spinach is getting planted Tuesday, and all our Fall roots already planted out in the field are starting to size up. Fall root vegetable roasts are one of my personal favorites with goat cheese and balsamic. The rain has been nice for our Fall celery and broccoli and the recent lack of rain has been great for our salad mix which will be back in full force next week. As this has been the wettest farming season we've encountered we were not prepared for just how much the salad greens would rot from the bottom as the warm soil stayed wet. All our salad mix has been rotting from the bottom up over the past month of non stop rain mixed with excessive temperatures and humidity. We have a solution for next year in case it happens again (which probably means we'll have a drought) that includes reusable landscape fabric and shade cloth tunnels, so salad mix will be available most likely every week next year and in the late Fall share this year. Kabocha squash are here! They can be used any way that you would use Butternut squash. They are just a bit sweeter. We made this following recipe the other day and it absolutely blew our minds.
Shakshuka [Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce] Adapted from Saveur
Serves 4 to 6
1/4 cup olive oil 3 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped 1 small yellow onion, chopped 5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced 1 sweet pepper, stemmed, seeded, finely chopped 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon paprika 1 quart plum tomatoes 1 cup tomato sauce Kosher salt, to taste 6 eggs 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley Warm pitas, for serving
Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add jalapenos and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.
Put tomatoes into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt.
Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pitas, for dipping.
Michael Anthony’s Fork-Crushed Purple Majesty Potatoes Adapted from New York Magazine
Serves 4
1 pound Purple Majesty or other purple potatoes, washed 4 small shallots, minced 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice 6 tablespoons good extra-virgin olive oil (we used half, and it was plenty for us) Fleur de sel to taste White pepper to taste 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
In a large pot, cook potatoes with skins on in heavily salted boiling water until tender, approximately 15 minutes. Remove potatoes from pot, and peel them while still warm. Place potatoes in a large bowl and, using a fork, gently smash them, maintaining a fairly chunky consistency. Fold in minced shallots, lemon juice, olive oil, fleur de sel, and white pepper. Finish with parsley.
Share Options This Week Bok Choy- 1 point/each Swiss Chard- 1 point/bunch Bell Peppers- 1 point/ 6 peppers Sweet Frying Peppers- 1 point/ 8 peppers Asian Eggplant- 1 point/ 3/4 pound Italian Eggplant- 1 point/ pound Cocktail Tomatoes- 2 points/pint (limit one) Delicata Squash- 1 point/each Kabocha Squash- 2 points/each Onions- 1 point/lb Blue Potatoes- 1 point/ pound Parsley- 1 point/bunch Kohlrabi- 1 point/ 1.5 pounds Garlic- 1 point/ 1/4 lb Mushrooms- 1 point/pint Beets- 1 point/pound Green Cabbage- 2 points/each Plum Tomatoes- 1 point/quart (limit one) Hot Peppers- 1 point/6 Fairytale Eggplant- 1 point/pint Jimmy Nardello Peppers- 1 point/pint (super sweet!!)
