Vegetable Soup

The Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook by Mollie Katzen has, hands down, the best vegetable soup recipe. What makes it so appealing (aside from the white wine broth), is the ease and variety of variations given. Below is the base. Step two and three allows you to add just about anything. Great soup for maximizing CSA pickups.

Vegetable Soup

Step One

• Large potato, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 cups stock or water
• dash of salt

Boil together cover in kettle until potatoes are just tender.

Step Two

• 2 tbs butter
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 stalk chopped celery
• 1 large diced carrot
• 1/2 tsp herbs
• fresh ground pepper
• Any additional slow cooking vegtables (peppers, zucchini, etc.)
  

In heavy skillet add butter and oil; saute onions, garlic, salt on medium heat, stirring for 3 minutes. Add remaining, cook and stir until tender, approx. 8-10 minutes. Add entire skilletful, liquid and all, to potatoes and their water. Simmer an additional 20-30 minutes.

Step Three

• 3/4 c dry white wine
• 1 tbs tamari sauce
• Any quick cooking vegetables (tomatoes, spinach, etc.) and/or bean and/or grains

Add when there are 20 minutes left to simmer before serving time.

Garnish with fresh-minced scallions.

Thank! you! Molly!

Watermelon and Lime

Watermelon was one of the items from my pre-vacation pickup that I didn't need to preserve. Still delightfully refreshing when I had it this week topped with zested lime.

BLTs

Can't think of a better way to use the tomatoes and lettuce from last week's pickup.

From the farmer: share items Sept. 20

The Garden of Eve sends out weekly emails predicting share items. The email this week contained a bit more...

Sorry to say that due to the recent rains and cold nighttime temperatures, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants have already begun their descent into winter. Hopefully you’ll see them again at some point, but not in great quantities.

We are beginning our typical September-early Oct dip in the share volume and diversity, since the summer crops are dying off but the fall crops (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.) haven’t yet matured. Things pick up at the end of October through November as we give out fall greens, winter squashes, beets, stored onions, sweet potatoes and potatoes which we have yet to dig, etc.

We’ve had wet ground for the last two weeks, and have been spraying copper, sulfur, and hydrogen peroxide once or twice a week but the rain and high humidity cause a lot of fungus on the leaves, killing off most of the zucchini plants, tomatoes, winter squash and pumpkin plants, etc.

The potato digger broke and Chris has been running all over town trying to find parts for this machine made in 1945, so that he can dig more potatoes. It looks like he'll have to have them custom made, fortunately there are people around here who do that so we'll be in business again hopefully by next week with potatoes. We’ll be starting to dig sweet potatoes soon (by hand) and will be giving these out beginning sometime in the next several weeks, as well as winter squash which is curing in the greenhouse. Our first carrots of the season will be ready soon (carrots are the hardest crop for us to grow, they grow so slowly and are so easily overtaken by weeds), as well as a lot of beets which are sizing up well.

1 qt green beans ($3.50)
1 bu braising greens ($2.25)
1 bulb garlic ($2)
1 bu Swiss Chard ($2.25)
1 bu med-size beets OR 1 giant beet – cook it like a normal beet (or chop it into chunks to make it cook faster) it tastes just as good, or grate it and eat it as a raw salad ($3)
.5 lb arugula ($3)
1 pint potatoes ($2.50)

TOTAL: $18.50

Fruit: 1 lb black plums ($3.50), 1 lb sekel pears ($3.50), 2 lbs peaches ($6)

Flowers: Ikarus and sunrich sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias, African marigolds, others

To sign up to receive the weekly email, register on their online forum. Once registered, click the USER CP link (on the top left of screen); pick EDIT OPTIONS from the left column choices; and CHECK the 3rd box down in the Messaging section named - Receive Email from Administrators.

Plum Applesauce

Several pickups ago we had an abundance of plums. Not able to eat them all, I looked into other alternatives. Ended up with plum applesauce. The posted recipe is a little too late for future pickups but with a little modification (ie eliminate the plums) will work in the fall for apple season.

Plum Applesauce

• 2 lb Gala or McIntosh apples, quartered and seeded (left unpeeled)
• 2 lb red or black plums, quartered and pitted
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar

Cook all ingredients in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until fruit is very tender and falling apart, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Force mixture through a large medium-mesh sieve using a rubber spatula, discarding peels.

Plum applesauce keeps, covered and chilled, 1 week.

from Gourmet September 2006

Greek Fish in a Packet

At my last pickup (which at this point was pre-vacation), I was speaking with Gina, one of the volunteer core members, about fennel. Here is one of her favorite dishes:

Greek Fish in a Packet

• 2 sheets aluminum foil, 12 x 24 inches
• 2 5- or 6-ounce firm fish fillets, or one 10-ounce fish fillet, cut in half
• 1 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb
• 1 small tomato, sliced
• 8 thin slices of red onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon or lime
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (1 teaspoon dried)
• dash of salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Fold each sheet of foil over to make a double-thick square. Brush a
little oil on the ceter of each square. Rinse the fish and prepare all
of the ingredients.

Layer half of the sliced fennel, tomatoes, and onions on each square.
Top each with half of the fish. In a cup, combine the olive oil, lemon
or lime juice, and dill and pour it over the fish. Sprinkle on salt
and pepper. Fold the foil into an airtight packet. Bake for 20
minutes. Place the foil packets on a plate and, being careful to avoid
the steam that will be released, open the foil and check that the fish
is cooled.

With a spatula, transfer the fish and vegetables to individual serving
dishes, and pour the liquid remaining in the foil over each serving.

Serve with rice, couscous, or orzo and top it with some grated or
crumbled feta cheese.

from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

Frittata

My friend Caitlin is a member of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint CSA. Her solution to weekly egg pickups – become friends with the frittata.

Potato and Onion Frittata

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 baking potato, 8 ox, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
• coarse salt and pepper
• 5 large eggs
• 5 large egg whites
• 1/2 c whole flat leaf parsley

1. In medium 10" nonstick broiler proof skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil on M Add onion, potato, rosemary; season with s&p; toss to combine.

2. Cover skillet and cook fro 10 minutes. uncover. Toss mixture occasionally until onions and potatoes are tender 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile in medium bowl, whisk eggs, egg whites, parsley 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

4. Heat broiler with rack set 4 inches from heat.

5. Add remaining oil to skillet. Pour in egg mixture.

6. Cook on stove over low heat lifting mixture a few times around the edges with a spatula to let egg flow underneath. cook until frittata is almost set in center 10 minutes.

7. Place skillet in broiler until frittata is set and top is lightly golden brown 3 minutes run clean spatula around the edges to loosen then slide the frittata out onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges.

Fourth Annual Long Island Garlic Festival

In case you missed Elliot's post to the KWT CSA google group...

The KWT CSA is hoping to sponsor a trip to the Garden of Eve for Garlic Fest 2008 on Sunday, September 28^th. Ellen and I went last year and had a great time. We would like to leave from the Garden at 9:00 AM on Sunday and are hoping to carpool. Please email kwtcsa@gmail.com if you are interested in going and have room in your car for an additional rider.

For more information about the festival, click on the attached link, http://www.gardenofevefarm.com/events.htm#GarlicFestival.

Preserve

Apologies to all my loyal readers (which I think equals 3: one being my boyfriend, the other my mother, the last myself) for the shocking lack of posts in the last month. However, this week will display several posts that were written over this time period. The first is below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My last CSA pickup happened one day before I went away for two weeks. Not able to take anything with me, I decided to see how much of it I could preserve.

Ended up with frozen bean, corn, and purple pesto...

...as well as peach jam and pickled beets.

Lesson learned: if you have 30 doughnut peaches, look for preserving options that do not require peeling.