Week 14B
Sept. 13th, 2018
Hello Threshing Table farm Members!
We are Back!!!!!!
In this week’s box:
Tomatoes Bell Pepper Onions Garlic Carrots
Carnival Squash Acorn or Delicata Squash Sage Potatoes
Leeks Savoy Cabbage Ground Cherries Swiss Chard
We are back. The hail knocked us down for a good two weeks. We’re grateful we were able to put as much into the boxes as we did, but it was a struggle for much of it. The hail damage will likely be with us for the remainder of the season in one way or another. The peppers are still struggling and you can see many of the greens show damage. But it will still taste good and much of the time you are shredding for slicing or cooking the greens, so the damage won’t be noticeable then.
We’re happy to have a nice amount of tomatoes this week too. They’re on a down hill slide as far as production goes, but we’ll put them in the boxes as long as we have them.
Despite the difficulties in the field, this was one of the most memorable weeks of the farming season. Friday night was a lot of fun! Pack Shed Party #4! We had a great crowd with lots of fun people! Thanks to those of you who came out! The food was delicious and plentiful! It’s always a fun pot luck as the food just keeps on coming through out the evening. And Gravel Road was once again- amazing!! We are so blessed to have such a great group of musicians who love to come and play each year! Thanks to Farm Member Scott Herron and the rest of the band!
Saturday started with the 4am arrival of 3 Taher Chefs to start the hog roast. They got right to work. (I assume, I didn’t get out to see them until around 7.) With the hog on the rack over an open fire, we got ready for 20+ volunteers from Excel energy who came out to glean food for United Way. United Way will be sharing this food with the local food pantries. They were hard workers and a lot of fun. Squash and potatoes were picked. (Thank goodness the fields had finally dried out!) Lots of Cherry tomatoes were picked and onions were boxed up. After the Excel volunteers left, it was clean up time in the pack shed again, to get ready for the dinner.
The chefs did an AWESOME job! What an experience!! Appetizers through dessert- absolutely perfection. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed meeting new people as well as catching up with some old friends. There were 8 chefs on hand and a few other helpers as well. We are humbled by the kindness and talent of these people. If you haven’t made it out for a farm dinner yet, put it on your 2019 bucket list.
On to the vegetables!!
Squash: Leave squash on your kitchen counter. Watch for any soft spots. If you spot some spots- cook as soon as possible, cutting out any soft areas. Easy way to make all squash: Slice in half. Scoop out the seeds. Place squash cut-side down in a cake pan. Add 1-2 inches of water. Bake at 350 for 45min-1 hour or until soft. Have a lot of squash piling up? Bake them all at once. Scoop out any left-over squash and put into a freezer container. Freeze until you want to heat up for a meal.
Tomatoes- leave on your counter and watch for spots on those too!
Ground Cherries: On the counter. Eat the ones with brown papery coverings. Leave the yellow/green ones for a few days and they will ripen.
Potatoes, Onions and Garlic- dark, dry place like a cabinet is best.
Everything else- Crisper drawer!
Recipes
Chard and Squash
2 acorn squash, halved crosswise and seeded (Any other Squash will work too.)
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil, plus more for the skillet
1 large leek (white and light green parts only), halved and sliced
1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c. fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 c. raisins
3 tbsp. pine nuts
2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Place squash, cut side down, in prepared skillet. Cover with foil and bake until tender, 34 to 36 minutes. Remove to a plate; reserve skillet.
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in chard and garlic and cook, stirring, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in breadcrumbs, raisins, pine nuts, and Feta. Season with salt and pepper.
Fill squash with chard mixture, dividing evenly. Place squash, cut side up, in skillet and bake until tops are golden brown 15 to 20 minutes.
Squash and Sage Biscuits
1 medium-small delicata squash ( or 1/2 cup other squash purée)
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. cane sugar
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled
1 small bunch of fresh sage (1 1/2 tsp. chopped and 10 whole leaves for garnish)
3/4 cup heavy cream
For the egg wash:
1 small egg
1 Tbsp. milk
Slice the delicata squash in half, lengthwise. Remove all the seeds and stringy pulp around the seeds. Place the squash halves cut-side facing down on a baking sheet. Roast in a 400F oven for about 30 minutes or until a knife pierces the flesh like soft butter. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit. Scoop out the roasted flesh and discard the skins. Mash by hand with a potato masher, or if you wish, purée with a hand blender until smooth. Measure out 1/2 cup of squash purée. Chill the purée in the fridge.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Using a box grater, grate the cold butter into the flour mixture. Place this mixture in the freezer while you prepare the wet ingredients (about 5 to 10 minutes).
In another bowl, mix the chilled cream, squash purée, and finely chopped sage. Whisk together until smooth. In another smaller bowl, make the egg wash by beating the egg and 1 Tbsp. of milk together.
Remove the dry ingredients from the freezer. With a pastry cutter or your hands, make sure the grated butter is fully incorporated into the flour (it should look like bread crumbs). Gently add the squash and cream mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring just until the dough starts to come together. Using your hands, lightly knead the dough in the bowl, until uniform, but avoiding overhandling it.
Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and either roll or simply press the dough out to 3/4 inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2 inch round or square cookie cutter, cut out the biscuits. Brush the tops with egg wash and gently press a whole sage leaf on top of each biscuit. Place on a lightly buttered baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in a 400F oven, until golden on top. Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack and serve warm.
Carrots, Garlic and potatoes
5 large carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch slices
4 medium potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 medium onion, cut into eighths
2 cloves garlic, diced
6 tablespoons butter, melted
salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine carrots, potatoes, onion and garlic with melted butter in 8×8″ square glass pan.
Season generously with salt and pepper, toss.
Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Uncover, stir and continue baking for another 30 minutes (or until browned to your satisfaction), stirring occasionally to lift bottom portions to top to allow to brown and crisp.
Happy Eating!!!
Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm, and Jonas