Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 1

CSA 1 Response »
Jun 082012
 

Today was the first of our 22 weekly pickups for our Fresh Fork CSA.  We decided to switch from Beachwood to Mayfield for our location this year.  Mayfield is a new site for pick up and it’s close to our house.  We were glad there was also some shade for the stop.

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This year, we upgraded from the small to the large share.   This is what we were expecting today:

Small CSA Share

  • 1 whole chicken, approx. 5 – 6 lbs.
  • 1 head kohlrabi
  • 1 bunch collard greens
  • 1 quart strawberries
  • 1 bunch red Russian kale
  • 1 bunch garlic scapes
  • 1 head green leaf lettuce
  • 1 bunch radishes
  • 1 quarter lb. bag pea tendrils

Large CSA Share Small contents above plus:

  • 2 bunches spinach
  • 1 lb. shelled peas
  • 1 head broccoli
  • 1 lb. sweet pea and black pepper linguini from Ohio City Pasta

Here’s a group shot of the items:

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Our quart of strawberries was full when Dan gave them to us.  The kids ate some in the parking lot before we left for home.  The rest of the berries will be gone by the end of the night.    We received zucchini instead of broccoli.  I’ll probably use the squash in my squash fritter recipe.  Everyone here likes them.  The squash will be fine for a few days in the fridge, so those will probably make an appearance at lunch Monday or Tuesday.

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This time of year, I use garlic scapes every chance I get.  I chop them and use them in salads, casseroles, when sautéing greens, etc..  They keep well so, I don’t have to freeze them often.  We haven’t had an Ohio City Pasta that we didn’t like.  I’m sure this sweet pea and pepper variety will be no exception.  I’ll probably make a béchamel sauce for it.  I tend to like most of the pasta with a white sauce instead of red.

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I’ll use some spinach with our pasta.  I like to wilt it just a bit in the pasta water and then serve it together.  Sometimes I also chop it and add it to the sauce first.  It will depend on my mood.  Our chicken is thawing in the fridge.  I’ll probably cook it for lunch Sunday or dinner on Monday.  Once cooked, we get a couple of meals out of it.  The rest of the weeks bag will complement our chicken nicely.  I’ll also make stock with the bones.  I love not having to buy chicken stock.

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One kohlrabi isn’t really too much.  I’m either going to fix it for myself for lunch one day or roast it with some beets and radishes if we grill a meal in the next few days.  I haven’t mastered kale yet.  We’ve had it several ways, but I don’t have a favorite way to prepare it.  I’ll probably just sauté this with garlic scapes and olive oil and serve it with a splash of lemon.

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I need to verify what type of peas these are.  If they are sugar snap, the kids will devour them quickly.  If the are snow peas, we’ll cook them for a side dish this weekend.  I’m thinking about steaming the collards and letting the leaves cool and then using them for wraps instead of tortilla.  I have some taco flavored meet and peppers left over and I think it would make a good filling.

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We’ll probably roast a few radishes, use a few in salad and maybe try the newsletter recipe that uses them.  Pea tendrils was a brand new item to me this week.  I’ve heard that they are good in salads or sautéed.  There’s aren’t really very many, so I don’t think I’m going to cook them.  I’d thinking of just using them in a salad.

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In addition to our bag, I also picked up a couple of extras.  We were out of eggs, so I picked up a dozen.  I also decided to pick up a half gallon of milk.  I’m hoping to switch to local milk 100% of the time soon.

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It’s going to be a great week in the kitchen.

Fresh Fork CSA–week 4

CSA No Responses »
Jun 232011
 

Today was the 4th pick up for the Fresh Fork CSA.  We were expecting the following items.

Small CSA:

  • 1 package chicken bratwursts (1.25 lb)
  • 1 bunch garlic scapes
  • Approx 1.5 lb tomatoes
  • 1 quart strawberries
  • 1 bunch green onions
  • 1 bunch spinach
  • 1 head leaf lettuce
  • 2 ct zucchini or yellow squash
  • 4 oz tub fresh chevre goat cheese

Here is what we received.

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So, our cheese was different, but it should be tasty.  And we ended up with one of each for the squash.  I could tell that strawberry season was ending as they aren’t in the best shape.  It’s another yummy week.

Also, we bought 2 bags of the corn chips that were included a couple of weeks ago.  I have taco salad on the menu and these are delicious.  They were $3 each – $6.

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We did pretty good with last week’s items.  I haven’t really thought about the new batch.

Geauga Family Farms CSA–week 2

CSA 2 Responses »
Jun 212011
 

Today was the second pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA.  As usual, we had no idea what we would receive.  A newsletter comes out that gives us an idea of what we may receive, but I usually don’t see it before our pickup.  Today was the second pick up and also the second time the truck was late.  Both times, it arrived before we did, so we haven’t had to wait for them.  I’m not sure what will happen next week since we want to come to the farm visit.  Maybe I’ll enlist some assistance from my husband.  Even with an on-time truck arriving at Whole Foods by 4pm, it will be tough to pick up, store and get to the farm by 6pm.

Here’s what we received:

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Let’s take a closer look.

1 bunch of kale, 2 containers of strawberries

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2 tomatoes, 1 dozen eggs

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garlic scapes, green onions

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pickling cucumbers, lots of lettuce (3 bags with 4 heads total)

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Here’s our plan of attack:

This week, we plan to have several salads with the lettuce.  I’ve been making spelt and quinoa and also using beans in some salads.  I’ll pickle the cucumbers.  I’m glad I stocked up on the spices for them.  I’ll need to double check our vinegar stock.  Some of the onions and garlic scape will be used in a batch of taco filling and the rest will be used in a sauté with mushrooms for the top of burgers or chopped and frozen.  There aren’t too many of them, so that might all got in the taco filling.  The tomatoes will go in the taco filling also.  I’ve been making baked oatmeal, scrambled eggs and hard boiled eggs so the eggs have been easy to use in a timely fashion.  Also, they have a long shelf life.  We just picked some strawberries and made jam today, so these will most likely get eaten.  If we feel like we have too many, we’ll make some strawberry ice cream or freeze them for later.

So, I’m left without a plan for kale.  It’s an item that we only received twice last year, and I don’t have a “go to” dish in mind.  Some quick searching in Google gave me lots of ideas.  Now, I have to think about it.  We have plans to eat dinner away from home Wednesday and Thursday , so kale will have to be lunch for us one day or for dinner on Friday.  I’m leaning toward steaming it with vinegar, garlic scapes and green onion.

Update on last week:

Since the bread was opened for a snack on the way home, Nick, Sally and my husband had no trouble making sure it was eaten.  The bok choy went into an Asian tofu stir fry along with some of the garlic scapes and green onions.  The eggs were used in regular cooking and the cucumber and lettuce were used in salads.  Some of the strawberries were eaten and the rest went with some others we had to make jam.  The rest of the green onions and garlic scapes went into a Mexican filling for salad.

Recipe: Taco Salad

CSA, Recipe No Responses »
Jun 192011
 

This week in our CSA, we received many items that fit into a Mexican theme.  It seemed appropriate to create a taco salad.

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Recipe: Taco Salad

Summary: All ingredients are approximate as I don’t really measure much.

Ingredients

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 3 garlic scapes, chopped
  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • 1 pound local grass fed ground beef
  • 1 cup black beans (already cooked or canned)
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 T Penzeys taco seasoning
  • 2 cups quinoa with cilantro, prepared
  • handful of corn chips per person
  • bed of lettuce per person

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in skillet.
  2. Add garlic scapes and onion and cook for a couple of minutes.
  3. Add ground beef and cook until beef is almost done.
  4. Drain off grease and return to pan.
  5. Add tomatoes, beans, water and taco seasoning.
  6. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, simmer until tomatoes are done and sauce is thickened.
  7. Assemble 1/3 cup quinoa and 1/6 of the filling on top of the lettuce.
  8. Add a handful of corn chips to each plate.

Quick notes

To make the quinoa, use a rice cooker. You need 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water. I used previously frozen chopped cilantro that was frozen into ice cubes with water to make up some of the water. Add the cubes to a measuring cup and fill with water to desired level. You can always add fresh cilantro or leave it out.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

 

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Geauga Family Farms CSA–week 1

CSA 2 Responses »
Jun 142011
 

Today was our first pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA.  Sometimes we get a “what’s in season this week list”, but usually surprised when we pick up our items for the week.

Here is what we received.

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Let’s take a closer look.

2 containers of strawberries (approximately 2 quarts), 3 tomatoes

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loaf of wheat bread (that was sampled on the way home), 1/2 dz. eggs

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small head of green leaf lettuce, 2 small heads of another variety of leaf lettuce

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bok choy, 2 different views

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garlic scapes, cucumber

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green onions

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I’ll be back tomorrow to share our plan of attack for consumption.

Recipe: Chunky Tomato Béchamel Sauce

CSA, Recipe 2 Responses »
Jun 112011
 

This week in our CSA, we received garlic scapes, tomatoes and Ohio City whole wheat linguini pasta.  This sauce was created to utilize these ingredients as well as some other items on hand.  I needed a sauce with some flavor since I was out of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese which I usually add to my Béchamel sauce.  I served this sauce on top of my linguini with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese.

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Recipe: Chunky Tomato Béchamel Sauce

Summary: All ingredients are approximate as I don’t really measure much.

Ingredients

  • 2 T butter
  • 2 T whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1 t black pepper
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 tomato, chopped with seed removed
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 2 garlic scapes, chopped
  • 1 T Penzeys pizza seasoning
  • 2 T Penzeys red and green bell pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions

  1. Melt butter in a non-stick skillet.
  2. Incorporate flour a small amount at a time to make a paste.
  3. Add milk slowly and stir.
  4. Continue to stir frequently until thickened.
  5. Add black pepper.
  6. In another pan, heat olive oil.
  7. Add remaining ingredients.
  8. Continue to cook until it looks like sauce, stirring occasionally.
  9. Once thickened, combine with Béchamel sauce.
  10. Serve over pasta with or without cheese.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

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Fresh Fork CSA–week 2

CSA No Responses »
Jun 092011
 

Today was our second pick up for the Fresh Fork CSA.  We were expecting the following items.

Small CSA:

  • 1 lb Berkshire chorizo sausage
  • 2 lbs spelt berries
  • 1 lb whole wheat linguini
  • 1 bunch garlic scapes
  • 1 head assorted leaf lettuce
  • 1 quart strawberries
  • 2 lbs hoop house tomatoes
  • 1 dz brown eggs

Here is what we received.

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The radishes were owed to us from last week since ours were missed.  The yogurt was an add on.  Most weeks, there are additional items for sale at the back of the truck.  It was $5 and although it’s expensive, we really like it.

Update on last week:  I ended up serving the tomatoes to my husband and son on their salads.

Here’s our plan of attack for this week:

We like the yogurt with jam mixed in and as the liquid for overnight oats.  I’m going to make whole wheat honey strawberry shortcake with the strawberries  I have radish top soup on the stove now.  Some of the radishes will be used in salad and the rest will be blanched and frozen.  The lettuce and tomatoes will get eaten in salad.  The sausage and pasta will be eaten as a main course.  We will sauté most of the garlic scape with other veggies during the week.  We may make some garlic pesto pizza as well.  Eggs and spelt berries are staple items and have a long shelf life, so we don’t have specific plans for them yet.