Category Archives: CSA

Connecticut, CSA, farms, locavore, organic, recipes

2013 CSA – Week 7 and Baba Ghanoush

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In the middle of the hottest week EVAH, can you believe this outstanding Sport Hill Farm CSA bounty?!

  • 1 head of cabbage
  • 2 zucchini squash
  • 2 eight-ball squash
  • 2 yellow summer squash
  • 2 cucumbers
  • 2 Chinese eggplant
  • 1 bag green beans
  • 1 bunch bok choy
  • 1 bunch tatsoi
  • 1 bunch scallions
  • 1 bunch collards
  • 1 bunch Tuscan kale

Patti says they the crops are running behind a couple weeks because spring was cold and wet.  Looks like the Earth is giving us plenty to keep us busy while we wait on tomatoes.

I dove right into that eggplant!

baba
Baba Ghanoush

 Baba Ghanoush Recipe

  • 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 cups eggplant (roasted, pureed)
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 2  garlic cloves
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Wrap the eggplant in foil and roast in a 350 degree oven for about an hour (more for thicker eggplant). It was a HOT week. I did mine in the toaster oven.

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth and creamy.

 

 

CSA, locavore

2013 CSA – Week 6

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It seemed like Italian week at Sport Hill Farm! Check out the take:

  • 1 bunch of carrots
  • 4 cucumbers – 2 yellow, 2 green
  • 3 heads of broccoli
  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 bag of lettuce
  • 1 bag of stir fry mix: Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Kamasuna
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1 bunch of broccoli rabe
  • 1 bunch of garlic
  • 1 fennel bulb

Broccoli, zucchini, broccoli rabe, garlic, and fennel! Okay, so garlic originated in Asia, but people generally think of garlic as Italian! And yes, squashes all originated in the Americas, but zucchini was developed in Italy from squash brought there from here and then they brought the zucchini back here.

Food in action

cuke_salad
Cucumber salad with sour cream dressing
Cukes and garlic from Sport Hill, sour cream from Arethusa
kohrabi_burger
Burger with a side of pan-fried kohlrabi
Burger from Stuarts, tomato from Maple Bank, kohlrabi from Sport Hill and sour cream from Arethusa
Sauteed broccoli rabe sandwich with melted MT Tom cheese (Arethusa)
Sauteed broccoli rabe sandwich with melted MT Tom cheese (Arethusa)

 

pickled_radish_saladTurnips
Refrigerator pickled radishes and salad turnips
in brine of ACV, mustard seeds, maple syrup, salt
sauerkraut_pickles
Cabbage fermenting into sauerkraut
Yellow cukes fermenting into pickles
pickling_scapes
Pickling scapes
CSA, locavore

2013 CSA – Weeks 4 & 5

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The lands at Sport Hill Farm are cranking out the veggies!

Week 4 (6/27)

csa_2013_04

The Week 4 share from my 2013 Sport Hill Farm CSA was:

  • 2 heads broccoli
  • 1 bunch radishes
  • 2 heads red crisp lettuce
  • 1 bunch Tuscano kale
  • 1 bunch beets
  • 2 bok choy
  • 1 bunch dandelion greens
  • 1 head of escarole
  • 1 bunch Hakuri salad turnips
  • 1 bunch collard greens

Week 5 (7/2)

csa_2013_05

Week 5 came early (on a Tuesday this week due to the Fourth of July hitting a Thursday). The Week 5 share from my 2013 Sport Hill Farm CSA was:

  •  1 head cauliflower
  • 1 head green cabbage
  • 1 bunch Hakuri salad turnips
  • 1 bunch radishes
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 bunch swiss chard
  • 1 bunch curly kale
  • 1 head escarole
  • 1 head red lettuce
  • 1 bunch garlic scapes

Use it or lose it

I put by most of the broccoli for the dark days of winter, but had to enjoy one of my favorite comfort dishes: broccoli sautéed with garlic and olive oil, tossed with pasta. This dish has a 9.8 Satisfaction rating. The Satisfaction rating is my own metric and is equal to the ratio of enjoyment over the time to prepare. Here’s the math:

satisfaction = enjoyment / time to prepare

broccoli

The pasta is ravioli from Borgatti’s (Arthur Avenue, The Bronx) because if you’re not going to make it from scratch using fresh, local ingredients, you have to get it from an authentic shop that makes it from scratch using fresh ingredients! The cheese on top is from Arethusa Farm Dairy (I’m fairly certain it’s MT TOM. Note to self: save the labels). The broccoli  and spring garlic are from Sport Hill Farm. The chicken broth is from the freezer, simmered from Stuarts Family Farm chicken bones.

As I mentioned, this is the year I embraced salads. It has to do with trying to get more apple cider vinegar into my diet. It seems there is no end to the many benefits of ACV.

My honey mustard salad dressing:

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 4 tsp honey
  • 1-1/2 tsp coarse mustard
  • salt to taste

Put all of the ingredients in a jar and shake until blended/emulsified. This is the base recipe. There’s lots of room here to experiment with herbs and seasonings you like.

CSA, farms, locavore

2013 CSA – Week 3

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Still quite green and I think that’s a good thing, this being the year I embraced salads.

csa_3

This week’s share from my 2013 Sport Hill Farm CSA was:

  • 1 head of red leaf lettuce
  • 1 head of green lettuce
  • 1 endive
  • 2 kohlrabi
  • 2 heads of broccoli
  • 1 bunch of garlic scapes
  • 1 bunch of curly kale
  • 1 head of Napa cabbage
  • 1 bunch of Swiss chard
  • 1 bag of lettuce mix

Big take this week—nature must like us. I was very excited to see the broccoli, one of my favorites. I was also grateful for the garlic scapes, having run out of garlic except for the dried kind and sometimes you need garlic flavor that’s not a powder. I’m happy about the Napa cabbage too because I really liked Patti’s Nana’s dressing recipe (recipe in Week 1).

I “julienned” the kohlrabi and tossed it with my salad for a nice flavor contrast and some crunch. Why is julienned in quotes? Because I’m fairly certain the pieces should have been the size of matchsticks and not fatwood.