Posts in Cauliflower

Week 14; September 17, 2015

What's in the box?

bell peppers
onions
potatoes
vitamin green
salad or scarlet turnips (medium and large)
cauliflower or broccoli
musk melon or cantaloupe
lacinato kale
sweet dumpling winter squash (large and medium)
acorn winter squash (large and medium)
delicata winter squash (small)
sage

Notes on the box.

More of the likely underripe melons. If they don't smell ripe yet, allow them to sit on your counter until it smells sweet and fruity. Or you can try them in a more savory recipe like the Cantaloupe, lime, chili salad below. Or in a recipe that adds more sweetner, like a sorbet or a smoothie.

You may have quite a pile of potatoes adding up. My favorite way to cook them is to cut into large dice, par-boil them until just fork tender, drain them, put them into a cast iron skillet with lots of butter and salt, and roast until browned in a 450 degree oven. If they don't al get eaten at dinner, they are great added to scrambled eggs in the morning.

Vitamin green is also known as choy sum. It's good added at the very end of a stirfry or added to soups.

Winter Squash season has begun! Your squash does not need to be stored in the fridge. You can set out and start making a festive fall arrangement as you work your way through these beauties. We will be giving Winter Squash through the remainder of the season and we have several different types. But the cooking of any of them is pretty much the same idea... Carefully cut the squash in half from stem to end. Scoop out seeds. Place cut side down onto a greased or oiled baking dish. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep water). Bake at 400 until you can easily stick a fork into the squash through the skin (20- 40 min depending on the squash). Serve with butter. All of the squash this week (sweet dumpling, acorn, and delicata) have skin that is edible, though the acorn skin can be tough. Squash with edible skin are great for slicing into thin cresent shapes, coating with spices (chili powder, curry, cumin, or whatever you feel like) and roasting. I'll link a recipe below.

Cheese Shares.

This week we have a young jack style cheese we are calling Aquila. It tastes clean, milky, and grassy with a creamy paste. It's very easy to eat!

Want to try our cheese at an exciting spot in Minneapolis? GYST fermentation bar just got a couple of wheels from us to add to their amazingly gorgeous cheese plates. Yay!

Recipes.

After School Cantaloupe Smoothie by Otto

Remove seeds and skin from 1/2 a cantaloupe. Chop and put in blender (you may chop and freeze and then use frozen for an icy cold smoothie). Add a scoop of honey or vanilla yogurt, or plain yogurt and add honey to taste. A pinch of cinnamon or cardamom (optional). Add milk. Debate adding peanut butter, but decide against it. Blend until smooth. Yum!

Chili Lime Cantaloupe

medium cantaloupe
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about ½ lime)
1 Tbsp honey
salt to taste
crushed red pepper to taste

Cut the cantaloupe in half and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Cut off the rind. Once the rind is removed, slice the melon into thin pieces.
In a medium bowl, combine the lime juice, honey, salt, and crushed red pepper. Stir until the honey is dissolved.
Add the sliced cantaloupe and toss to coat the melon in the dressing. Serve immediately, or chill until ready to eat. Give the melon a brief stir before serving.

Cheesey Baked Cauliflower Tots

Roasted Salt and Pepper Delicata Squash (you can also use sweet dumpling or acorn)

On the farm.

Ahhh, transitions. We are transitioning into fall, and the weather has been all over the place. It was so hot and humid, then suddenly cold and super rainy, then warm again... We have had plenty of rough Springs, but this season, Fall seems to be hitting us with some disease, crops lost due to too much rain or overtaken by weeds when it was too wet to cultivate, and uneven ripening. This morning, we've had close to 2 inches of rain since 2 AM already, so things aren't looking good for our already waterlogged spinach. During the thunderstorms last night, there was also some hail. We haven't been out to the field yet to see the damage, but hopefully it's not too bad... we have spinach, lettuce and salad mix, radishes, cauliflower, greens, broccoli and cabbage out in the field that we are hoping didn't get too beat up. In the coming weeks we will also Winter Squash, onions, garlic, potatoes, greens, and peppers for as long as the frost holds off. I think in the blog last week I said there were 4 weeks left, but it's actually 4 more after this weeks delivery. Still plenty of veggies to come!

The farm party will be next week, September 26th. We really hope you can make it! We will provide meat and cheese and ask that you bring a side or desert to share. Feel free to BYOB. Kids and guests are welcome! Unfortunately, our dogs aren't friendly with other dogs, so we ask that you leave your fur family at home.

Gold and orange on the farm this week...

Cantaloupe, Cauliflower, Delicata Squash, UncategorizedTurnip Rock FarmerSeptember 17, 2015chili lime cantaloupe, cantaloupe smoothie, cauliflower totsComment

Week 4; July 9, 2015

What's in the box?

broccoli
cauliflower
rainbow chard
red leaf lettuce
butterhead lettuce
summer squash/ zuchinni
mint
green top beets
hakuri or scarlet turnips
tendersweet cabbage
spring onions

broccoli
rainbow chard
green top beets
summer squash
spring onions
mint
red leaf or butter head lettuce

Notes on the box

Returning members will recognize the tendersweet cabbage from previous years. It's a favorite of ours and perfect for fresh eating. The whole head can be stored in your fridge. Once you cut it, place the remaining portion in a plastic bag in your fridge. Coleslaw week!

Some of the broccoli got comically huge, so some boxes have some really large heads. Did you know that the broccoli stems can be peeled, chopped, and cooked? Some members say it is their favorite part of the broccoli. Give it a try if the giant head of florrets isn't enough for you! If you find yourself with too much broccoli, chop, blanch, and freeze it for winter months.

The beet greens are edible, though they look a little beet up. The globes themselves are young enough that you shouldn't need to peel them. Slice or chop, roast, saute, bake, grill, boil, shred, or.... and eat! Tops of beets and turnips should be removed and roots (and greens if you intend to eat them) should be stored in a plastic bag in your fridge. Add roasted beets, toasted nuts, and mint leaves to salad for gourmet greens.

Rainbow Chard is related to beets. So there's a stand in for your beet greens! The stalks are edible and you can cut them up and add them first (along with onions or garlic) and then add the greens at the end of cooking and cook until they wilt down (this happens quickly and dramatically). Rainbow chard works well in recipes in place of full size spinach. Store in a produce bag in your crisper. Chard is great in quiches, fritatta, or egg tarts.

Mint and be put with stems in a cup of water in your fridge and will last at least a week that way. We like to drop a sprig into a glass of water for a refreshing treat. It's also great in a salad with beets. Or in cocktails. Or iced mint tea. If you don't think you'll get through your bunch, hang it upside down in a dark dry area and you can save the dried leaves for hot mint tea in the cooler months.

Cheese Share

quark - use as you would cream cheese. It's tangier and lighter. We like adding it to mac and cheese and using it for cheese cake. And we like it mixed with herbs and spread on crackers or a sandwich.
tomme- this is a simple farmers cheese, with a flavor that is anything but simple! I read in one book that tomme means "made by the farmer", though I wasn't able to find that information elsewhere. "Tomme" is mostly described as a generic cheese word that is usually followed by the name of the place where the cheese is made. So this could be Tomme de Clear Lake or Tomme de Turnip Rock, more precisely! I am really happy with this cheese and hope that you like it. I have more aging so there will be more in the coming weeks.

Recipes

Salad Dressings:

Favorite Honey Mustard: whisk or blend together -

2 Tbsp. stoneground or dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. lemon juice or your favorite vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. minced herb of your choice (dill or parsley are favories)
3/4 cup - 1 cup oil
salt and pepper to taste

Sesame: (can be used on thinly sliced cabbage as a coleslaw) whisk or blend together

3/4 - 1 cup oil
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. toasteed sesame oil
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 tsp miso
if you want to make it a peanut dressing, you can add 1 Tbsp peanut butter

Creamy Herby Dressing:

3 Tbsp. minced fresh herbs - basil, dill, parsley, mint, thyme, and/or oregano to your liking (you choose your favorite combination)
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar, wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup creme fraiche, sour cream, yogurt, or 1/4 cup quark

Cabbage Slaw with Green Onion, Mint, and Parsley

1/2 large head green cabbage
3/4 cup chopped parsley
2 Tbsp chopped mint
3/4 cup thinly sliced green onion (or more)
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar or white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar, maple syrup,honey, or sweetener of your choice
salt to taste (I used about 3/4 tsp. sea salt)
freshly ground black pepper to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp.)

Thinly slice and coarsely chop slices until you have about 6 cups chopped cabbage. Wash and coarsely chop parsley and mint, and thinly slice green onions.
In small bowl or glass measuring cup, stir together the canola oil, white balsamic vinegar or white vinegar, sweetener, salt, and pepper.
Put chopped cabbage, chopped parsley and mint, and sliced green onions into salad bowl and toss to combine. Add just enough dressing to moisten salad, and toss again. (You may not need all the dressing.) Taste to see if you want more salt or pepper, then serve.

Thin Mint Smoothie