I'm still cook-cooking away my CSA(s), but apparently lagging on blogging it :-)
In this post:
- Kohlrabi - raw! What else do you do with it?
- Basil/Eggplant - Basil light appetizer and thai basil eggplant stir-fry
- Tomatillos - relish or roasted salsa
- Peppers - hot pepper jelly
- Kale - Sweet and Savory kale
- Summer Squash - Summer Squash Risotto
Due to construction of a new burger joint on the first floor of my apartment building we have had intermittent services. It's been nothing but frustration and the timing has been less than ideal. However, when is it a good time to have your gas cut off for a week and a half, your water off multiple days, and your electricity being shut off during your morning prep 8-10am? (That's what I have to look forward to for tomorrow.)
If ever there was a bad time to have no cooking gas, it's when you are the recipient of not one, but two bountiful late summer CSA boxes every week! My Washington Square CSA has been a great experience and I was so surprised when I was called and informed that I had won a membership to the West Village CSA for August. The produce from each has been different, so while I have had the regular doubles of cucumbers, eggplant, and summer squash, the two farms have provided enough variety to keep me guessing about recipes and searching the internet and the "Cooking Away My CSA" google group for inspiration.
Some of the items I've gotten over the last few weeks that have been particularly wonderful:
- Kohlrabi - Something I never think to buy but love the crisp hicima-like freshness. I gobbled it up raw before I even looked for ways to prepare it.
- Basil - I have killed two basil plants since moving to this sunless apartment, so receiving fresh, fragrant, bunches of deliciousness has kept me sane. The huge sweet basil leaves that I used fresh for a light app of roasted eggplant, feta, a think slice of heirloom tomato, salt, pepper, and a garlicky balsamic drizzle were to die for. Tonight I tried this recipe and despite its simplicity it is really delicious! Be warned though, I used one Washington Square CSA jalapeno with the seeds intact and when it hit the hot oil my lungs burned and I coughed and snotted for an hour. Good thing I like it spicy!
- Tomatillos!! I am secretly plotting starting my own business selling my mom's famous tomatillo relish, but I just might have to make a little of this on the side. That roasted tomatillo salsa was just what I was craving. Dry sauteing the garlic, peppers, onions, and scallions while broiling the tomatillos takes only a short time and the smell as you trow it all in the food processor just makes your mouth water. I highly recommend this if you have a handfull of tomatillos around, we made only 1 lb worth, 1/4th of the recipe.
- Hot Pepper Jelly - Now, anyone who is friends with me on Facebook has heard me complain about what I call my habenero-induced stigmata, but it was well worth it. Because of a mix-up with some hot peppers and what were supposed to be sweet, Puerto Rican "ahi dulce" peppers, I ended up with my hands SOAKED in habenero juice. I tasted one pepper and it wasn't hot, so it wasn't until my hands BURNED that I knew that I was in for. It led to taking my marriage one step deeper and allowing my lovely husband to take my contact lenses out for me. That is definitely NOT something I expected to ask him to do for me until much, much later in life.
- Kale - As many people in CSAs experience, there are a lot of prolific cooking greens in the early to mid summer. While this is nice and everyone enjoys it for a little bit, it starts to get tiresome. Also, later in the season the stems are more woody and it's not those young, tender spring greens that are great in salads. I was losing steam with it and found myself in over my head with kale and chard piling up. I put my husband in charge of finding a recipe that would break the kale-with-garlic-and-sauted-onions monotony. This tangy and sweet recipe is definitely one worth trying. We used sour cherries, spicy brown mustard, and roasted almonds along with the red summer onion, garlic, and veggie broth. Surprisingly, the next day it tasted a little like sauerkraut and I served it with one of my mom's venison brats!
- Summer Squash Risotto - This was my first attempt at making risotto. I did not use that recipe exactly, but used it as a guide for the method of making risotto along with one of the recipe books from the shelf. It was not a total flop, but I would like to give it another shot. I only had red wine on hand and I think it was a little strong. I used veggie broth, lemon, garlic, onion, red wine, summer squash (pre-roasted in the oven with the garlic), and pureed some of the squash to improve the creamy texture. I also threw in some wild rice and fresh chopped basil at the end. I also got a little silly and roasted some "space-ship squash" hollowed them out, and served each person their own plate of stuffed squash with a light vinegarette drizzle. All in all, it was good, but I definitely made enough to feed an army!
I hope that message makes up for my slacking and I will try to keep the updates coming.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
This week in CSA - Fava beans and plums
Oh CSA, how do I love thee? I opted for a 1/2 fruit share on top of my veggies and while the cherries and currants were OK in the last delivery this week's 5 lbs of plums and 2 lbs of peaches blew them out of the water. Oh! So wonderful.
While many groans of 'more chard' were heard, I was glad to see some cooking greens in the delivery. In the next few months I'm going to seriously miss those tender early summer leaves. Green smoothies are a great place to get rid of the excess. This evening I had a simple dinner of sauteed chard with ginger, carrots, garlic, green onions, soy, and the last of a nice bottle of red to deglaze the pan with a smoothie for dessert. I left the fresh greens out of the smoothie and I missed their earthy flavor.We may be getting a little tired of chard, but I may never want a smoothie of just fruit again.
This weeks adventures included Fava Bean Pesto and a little foray into preserving these delicious fruits: plum chutney.
Now, I had a little leftover pesto in the freezer from my garlic scape pesto, so I pulled that out and doctored it up with this little recipe:
Fava Bean Pesto
- 1 cup fava beans, peeled and blanched
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves fresh garlic
- handfull of pine nuts
- fresh basil and parsley
Plum Chutney (canned):
There were two wonderful recipes for Plum Chutney that I found online, and using my favorite Ball Blue Book as a guide for the processing, this concoction came out amazing!
I used this recipe for the helpful canning instructions and I used it for a guide on adding the red onion to the mix. I did not use the garlic, but the spices in this recipe from epicurious really called to me, so I stuck to the red wine vinegar, fresh ginger, mustard, pepper, star anise, cinnamon, sugar, red onion, and plums. Using 2 lbs of plums and 1/2 a red onion it made 7 4oz pints of chutney.
Pair it with farmer's market pork and put a jar in gift baskets to share the CSA flavor.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Washington Square CSA
During my time at VISFI they were not running a CSA, for them it was not quite sustainable at that time. I hope that in the future they can get back to CSA fulfillment, because it is a relationship-building mechanism as well as a way to bring fresh produce to people on the island. I know that the goal of Creque Dam Farm is to be a learning farm, but CSAs are a learning tool. Believe me, I'm learning about new vegetables every week! This week I have these small, yellow, super sweet "carrots" that look more like parsnips to me. At a farmer's market I probably would have walked away, but the challenge of the CSA is to roll with the curve balls and expand your cooking repertoire!
- garlic scapes - pesto, phenomenal and freezes well
- green garlic stems - korean pancakes (chijimi or pajang, depending on who you ask), fried rice
- beets and beet greens - roasted basalmic beets and beet greens sauted with spring onion and kosher salt
- turnips - sauted with onions and raisins
- Currants - scones, current syrup
- cherries - cherry vinegar, dried cherries (for cookies and granola), and cherry preserves (amazing over waffles)
- fennel - fennel salad with cherry vinegar-ette almonds, and dried sour cherries
- mint - mojitoes, sun tea, mint sauce
- napa cabbage - stuffed venison roll (leftovers went into the crockpot to make a tender pot roast)
Leftover greens and fresh eggs before I went out of town for a week went in here:
Pretty Darn Healthy Quiche
Like all of my recipes I made quite a few modifications to that one.
- minus the ham and all the cheese
- sub unsweetened soymilk for the dairy
- add more sauteed veggies (next time I'll cut them up just a wee bit smaller)
- Freeze until you come back from vacation, thaw and bake briefly with some fresh grated cheese of your liking on top (I usually choose small amounts of a very strong cheese)
The Current Scones for brunch recipe I also made my own adjustments.
- sub 4 of the tablespoons of butter for 1/2 an apple blended to make smooth
- soymilk for the whole milk and used a whole egg instead of just the yolk.
- dusted them with raw sugar and kosher salt for a little kick
- served them with cherry preserves to offset the tart currants.
More to come!
So far in my CSA box here are some highlights:
- garlic scapes - pesto, phenomenal and freezes well
- green garlic stems - korean pancakes (chijimi or pajang, depending on who you ask), fried rice
- beets and beet greens - roasted basalmic beets and beet greens sauted with spring onion and kosher salt
- turnips - sauted with onions and raisins
- Currants - scones, current syrup
- cherries - cherry vinegar, dried cherries (for cookies and granola), and cherry preserves (amazing over waffles)
- fennel - fennel salad with cherry vinegar-ette almonds, and dried sour cherries
- mint - mojitoes, sun tea, mint sauce
- napa cabbage - stuffed venison roll (leftovers went into the crockpot to make a tender pot roast)
Leftover greens and fresh eggs before I went out of town for a week went in here:
Pretty Darn Healthy Quiche
Like all of my recipes I made quite a few modifications to that one.
- minus the ham and all the cheese
- sub unsweetened soymilk for the dairy
- add more sauteed veggies (next time I'll cut them up just a wee bit smaller)
- Freeze until you come back from vacation, thaw and bake briefly with some fresh grated cheese of your liking on top (I usually choose small amounts of a very strong cheese)
The Current Scones for brunch recipe I also made my own adjustments.
- sub 4 of the tablespoons of butter for 1/2 an apple blended to make smooth
- soymilk for the whole milk and used a whole egg instead of just the yolk.
- dusted them with raw sugar and kosher salt for a little kick
- served them with cherry preserves to offset the tart currants.
More to come!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Great Debate, new blog or old blog..
I haven't updated this blog because I intended it to serve as a chronicle of just my time at VISFI, and then I would return to one of my old blogs or start a new one. Of course, I've grown a little attached to this platform and my VISFI experience is one that has had a lasting effect on my decisions and directions since returning to the grid.
My next project is to collect recipes and ideas inspired by the vegetables that I get in my CSA box. Fresh cukes will always conjure memories of the Gaia garden in the sun; the bumpy, spikey little green gherkins and the mature, oblong splashes of summer. Does it still relate enough to keep the same blog? In a way, it's another segment of the monkey pod; synthesizing and continuing to learn.
My next project is to collect recipes and ideas inspired by the vegetables that I get in my CSA box. Fresh cukes will always conjure memories of the Gaia garden in the sun; the bumpy, spikey little green gherkins and the mature, oblong splashes of summer. Does it still relate enough to keep the same blog? In a way, it's another segment of the monkey pod; synthesizing and continuing to learn.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Day 37 - Final Projects - Ben and Patrick
Renewable Energy
If there was one group that I felt took on a project that they had the most to learn in order to complete it, it was Ben and Patrick. Neither of them came from a science or mathematics background, but they chose an area to focus in that both challenged them and pushed them to learn something they felt would be valuable in their respective post-VISFI futures. Renewable energy is a buzzword these days, and for good reason. We cannot continue to rely on fossil fuels and an inefficient grid for our out of control energy needs. It is up to this generation to say enough is enough and seek healthier ways of living.
With the guidance of our instructors, Donald Young and Dan Glenn, Ben and Patrick delved further into the solar power lessons that we did as a group and worked with a client to design and install a solar energy system. I was often working on education plans and art projects under the deck of the community center and the level of math this group was engaged in was staggering. Just the part I couldn’t help but overhear was enough to make my head spin.
The video I did for them was my favorite. I wish that I had a better tripod for smoother panning, but this farm taught me a lot of things, one is to make what you have work. Always use what you have on-hand first.
This video is one that I will edit again later and work on when I have more hard drive space and some better equipment. However, I am happy that it captures some of the scope of the projects that we took on as individuals and some of the characters that made up our class.
As I typed this I looked at my toaster, working next to me to make me some lightly browned toast. How many watts is that machine drawing?
If there was one group that I felt took on a project that they had the most to learn in order to complete it, it was Ben and Patrick. Neither of them came from a science or mathematics background, but they chose an area to focus in that both challenged them and pushed them to learn something they felt would be valuable in their respective post-VISFI futures. Renewable energy is a buzzword these days, and for good reason. We cannot continue to rely on fossil fuels and an inefficient grid for our out of control energy needs. It is up to this generation to say enough is enough and seek healthier ways of living.
With the guidance of our instructors, Donald Young and Dan Glenn, Ben and Patrick delved further into the solar power lessons that we did as a group and worked with a client to design and install a solar energy system. I was often working on education plans and art projects under the deck of the community center and the level of math this group was engaged in was staggering. Just the part I couldn’t help but overhear was enough to make my head spin.
The video I did for them was my favorite. I wish that I had a better tripod for smoother panning, but this farm taught me a lot of things, one is to make what you have work. Always use what you have on-hand first.
This video is one that I will edit again later and work on when I have more hard drive space and some better equipment. However, I am happy that it captures some of the scope of the projects that we took on as individuals and some of the characters that made up our class.
As I typed this I looked at my toaster, working next to me to make me some lightly browned toast. How many watts is that machine drawing?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Day 36 - The Final Projects - Mandy and Mere
I know this is delayed, so I thank you for continuing to read about my experience at Creque Dam Farm. Now that my move to NYC is over I have my notebooks in hand again and can finish the blogs about R2R2009.
The culmination of our VISFI Ridge to Reef Beneficial Farmer Training Program is the completion and presentation of an individual project. Throughout the program we have seen evidence around the farm of the work of the previous class. These projects ranged from an herb garden to the landscaping design in front of the community center. I hope to see that area completed next time I visit. We were all eager to make our mark and contribute positively to the farm.
I have already posted the video I made for Judith and James' projects in Slow Foods, so I will move onto the next two; Mandy and Mere. Mandy and Mere chose the focus area of Agroecology and Organic Gardening.
Meredith Tully
The first presentation was from Mere. Mere and Mandy shared the cabana below mine, "guama." The area surrounding their cabana was bare, unlike the lush garden in front of my "conuco" cabana and the others across the cabanaland field.
Mere chose to take this space and turn it into a useful and productive bug-repelling garden. When you live in a cabana in the rain forest with only screens and slatted floors to protect you from the other woodland creatures you become acutely aware of the sheer number and variety of insects that exist. Mere researched the types of plants that are native to the region that can be used to repel insects either simply by growing there or by making a tincture or tea. She sprouted catnip and passion fruit vines and planted sour oranges, to name a few. Mere ran into some challenges with the soil and the locations of the water and power cables, but overcame these obstacles by changing her design to a mounded bed. I hope that the next inhabitant of that cabana cares for her babies.
Mandy Foskey-Jeffers
Mere's cabanamate, Mandy, presented her project on Thursday, with me, but I will explain it here because I grouped them together in my video of their projects.
Mandy chose to approach her demonstration of what she learned through a research and design project. She did an excellent presentation slideshow of her plans to landscape her backyard and I am happy to report that she has begun the implementation phase of her project back in Georgia. I'm proud of you, Mandy! Get the chickens!
The culmination of our VISFI Ridge to Reef Beneficial Farmer Training Program is the completion and presentation of an individual project. Throughout the program we have seen evidence around the farm of the work of the previous class. These projects ranged from an herb garden to the landscaping design in front of the community center. I hope to see that area completed next time I visit. We were all eager to make our mark and contribute positively to the farm.
I have already posted the video I made for Judith and James' projects in Slow Foods, so I will move onto the next two; Mandy and Mere. Mandy and Mere chose the focus area of Agroecology and Organic Gardening.
Meredith Tully
The first presentation was from Mere. Mere and Mandy shared the cabana below mine, "guama." The area surrounding their cabana was bare, unlike the lush garden in front of my "conuco" cabana and the others across the cabanaland field.
Mere chose to take this space and turn it into a useful and productive bug-repelling garden. When you live in a cabana in the rain forest with only screens and slatted floors to protect you from the other woodland creatures you become acutely aware of the sheer number and variety of insects that exist. Mere researched the types of plants that are native to the region that can be used to repel insects either simply by growing there or by making a tincture or tea. She sprouted catnip and passion fruit vines and planted sour oranges, to name a few. Mere ran into some challenges with the soil and the locations of the water and power cables, but overcame these obstacles by changing her design to a mounded bed. I hope that the next inhabitant of that cabana cares for her babies.
Mandy Foskey-Jeffers
Mere's cabanamate, Mandy, presented her project on Thursday, with me, but I will explain it here because I grouped them together in my video of their projects.
Mandy chose to approach her demonstration of what she learned through a research and design project. She did an excellent presentation slideshow of her plans to landscape her backyard and I am happy to report that she has begun the implementation phase of her project back in Georgia. I'm proud of you, Mandy! Get the chickens!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Day 35- Bush Skills Rendezvous Week
To be honest, I'm a little behind on on my blogging. I'm back in DC as of last night. However, I want to finish documenting this experience at Ridge to Reef to have a complete educational tool for potential students to reference. Also, I plan to continue to share my own research and experience post R2R. I think everyone left that program a changed person.
Although I am back in DC where there are no cistern water levels to be concerned about and I don't have to worry about the batteries when I forget to flip off a light, it's important that we all reflect on our usage and our needs. I turned the water off while I lathered up in the shower this morning. It is a small part of what we can all do to be more aware of where we waste energy, water, fuel, food, and other resources.
I want to give a shoutout to Kenny who stayed with us at VISFI for over a week. He wrote a wonderful blog about his experience and I appreciate his perspective. Check out veggiegardeningtips. It's a great blog in general and I look forward to his next adventure!
Agrotourism week started with my media preview event. I invited over a dozen local media representatives and a few national outlets (for shits and giggles) to come to the farm and get material to do preview and feature stories on the third annual Bush Skills Rendezvous. Although not many media outlets did show up, we succeeded overall with three stories in the local papers and a radio show. Hopefully these contacts will lead to more media exposure in the future.
St. Croix Source and the VI Daily News are online, but the St. Croix Avis story is only available in print. I will try to scan it for people to read later.
I will continue to work to try to increase the availability of information on VISFI events and programs. This is the story of our lifetime and our future. Will we learn to exist in a sustainable manner, reconnect with our primitive skills and survive? I will. I hope you are there with me.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Culmination - Slow Foods Week
This will be my first attempt at adding one of the videos that I produced for my project. Wish me luck :-)
The Slowdown Dinner that the Ridge to Reef students prepared for the farm to sit down and eat together (all 28 people) was a wonderful food experience. Here are the courses as they were done by each group:
Appetizer (Mandy and Judith)
Lightly roasted okra served on a polenta round and topped with tomato chutney and sprinkled with crushed pumpkin seeds
Soup (Ashley and Ben)
Cucumber coconut soup, served cold, and sprinkled with a sorrel powder.
Salad (Marshall and Mere)
Hearty roasted vegetable salad with a sorrel reduction, topped with fresh field greens and a tamarind vinegarette.
Entree (me and James)
Coconut crusted mahi-mahi, on a bed of bok choi, topped with fresh green moringa curry, and served with ylang-ylang infused rice.
Dessert (Patrick and Ryan)
Coconut sorbet served on a warm pumpkin bread pudding with a rum sauce and a tiny lime basil leaf.
WOW.
Day 34 - Slowdown Dinner (vegan green curry recipe)
One of the wonderful value-added products here at Creque Dam Farm are our "Slowdown Dinners." Beyond being an important revenue stream, they are an opportunity for people to come to the farm and see what goes on here. Many of the students here were first introduced to VISFI through a Slowdown (Ryan, Ashley, and to an extent, me.) Once you see the love that goes into a meal prepared from scratch with local and fresh ingredients, everything else just seems flat.
The Slowdown Experience here is a six-course pre-fixe menu for $60, pretty reasonable considering it's BYOB so no restaurant-priced drinks on top of that. Some people may think that is steep for a meal, but I've been to omakase (Japanese for chef's choice) meals that are twice the price and pale in comparison.
The culmination of our slow food week is to prepare a complete Slowdown Dinner for all of the farm staff to eat together. On Monday we each drew from a hat to determine which course we would be preparing and who our partner would be. I held my breath and drew a card..
"Entree"
Intimidating! However, the other person who drew the entree card was James, the youngest person in the program who will be attending Johnson and Wales Culinary school in Colorodo at the end of this program. He has some level of comfort in the kitchen, so that was good to have.
After a few attempts we made this recipe for a green curry sauce, gathered the coconut pulp for the crusting on the fish, and convinced the farm that we should purchase some local mahi-mahi because we never get seafood and we live 1.5 miles from the beach! We played with the recipe for many hours. We decided on grilled coconut-crusted mahi served on a bed of wilted bok choi, fresh green curry drizzle, and ylang-ylang infused rice. For the vegans we used the bok choi and rice but cut up an edible loofa squash and saute'd it with the curry and served it in a baked papaya.
Here are our recipes:
Modified Vegan Moringa Green Curry Paste
1 Stalk sliced lemongrass
2 t coriander (ground)
3 T Soy Sauce (use fish sauce if you aren't particular about it being vegan)
1 t brown sugar
1 green pepper
1 habenero pepper
1 onion (or a bunch of green onions because that's what we had on-farm)
1 inch piece of ginger
3 kaffir lime leaves cut into strips (more for garnish)
1 cup loose chopped cilantro (we used a bit of cilantro and recao, a similar herb in the tropics)
2 T moringa powder
1 T lime basil
Place all of these ingredients in the food processor with a dash of coconut milk to thin it out and keep it blending.
Once it is blended into a paste, put it in a skillet and heat it for a few minutes to help the flavors mature. You may need to blend it again to get it smooth enough. Line the plate with a wilted bok choi leaf and form the rice into a smooth ball. Once you have all of it put together, drizzle the curry over the top, and garnish with a fresh ylang-ylang flower, tiny strips of kaffir lime leaves, and diced red seasoning peppers.
That's all well and good, but the pressure of doing 28 of those between the courses (we sat for each course and then got up to prepare our part) was intense! The stress became exponential because after we had begun plating a group of teachers for Bush Skills arrived from the airport and we suddenly had 32 plates to prepare. It was wonderful how people stepped up to make it happen. I love you guys.
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