Greetings CSA Members,

We dodged several storms yesterday, but not the one that arrived in full force, filling the window sashes to overflowing. The sheets of rain appeared to be coming in every tiny crack or crevice. But luckily, just as quickly as this storm came up, it vanished. The sun rays became strong in the late afternoon as if it were mid-day. And once again our devoted crew splashed back into the fields to prune the tomatoes and cut strawberry runners! Next week I plan to talk about Late Blight possibility on the farm and share a fabulous piece from Jeannine, one of the long-standing crew leaders and CSA member, whose strength at 55+ outshines most of the newcomers on the Denison Farm block! But this week I will leave you with a wonderful prose/poem composed by Mary Oliver (Many of you already know how much I admire her).

Tiger Lilies

They blew in the wind softly, this way,
that way. They were not disappointed
when they saw the scissors, rather they
braced themselves sweetly and shone
with willingness. They were on tall and
tender poles, with wheels of leaves.
They were soft as the ears of kittens.
They felt warm in recognition of the
summer day. A dozen was plenty. I held
them in my arms. They were silent the
way the deepest water is silent. If they
wondered where they were going they
didn’t show it, as they sprinkled freely
over my shirt and my hands their
precious gold dust.

This week in your share you will most likely find: Spinach, Radish, Onions, Sage, Green Beans or Cucumbers, Fennel, Tomatoes or Eggplant or Sweet Peppers, and Lettuce.
** Keep your fingers crossed that the raccoons don’t eat all of your corn! **

Have a great week - Justine

Tips for Using and Storing Sage
(Peggy Trowbridge Filippone)

Wrap sage leaves in paper towels and store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Use within 4 to 5 days.

Fresh leaves may be covered in olive oil and stored in the refrigerator up to 2 months. Use the flavored oil for sautéing or in salad dressings.

To freeze fresh sage leaves, wash and pat dry, remove leaves from the stems, and pack loosely in freezer bags. Freeze up to 1 year. Be aware that freezing will intensify the flavor of the herb and adjust accordingly.

Alternate sage leaves with cubes of meat and vegetables on skewers when making shish kabobs.

Heat 1/2 stick of butter in a skillet and add two tablespoons chopped sage and toss to cover. Warm through and serve over pasta or mixed into rice.

Slide a few sprigs of sage under the skin of chickens and turkeys top be roasted. Put a few in the cavity, as well.

Combine two tablespoons chopped sage with 8-ounces of cream cheese and three or four tablespoons white wine as a light spread or dip.

When frying or sautéing onions, a few sage leaves added to the pan intensifies the richness of the onion flavor.

Mince a couple tablespoons sage leaves and add to bean pots near the end of cooking - likewise add to chili and other hearty soups and stews.

Add two or three tablespoons finely chopped sage to a cup of flour for coating chicken for frying or baking.

Mix two tablespoons finely chopped sage to one stick of butter and whip through. Roll in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill. Slice off small "coins" and put on steaks or chicken pieces immediately.

Fried Polenta, Eggs, and Sage
(Martha Stewart)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
8 pieces set polenta (about 1/3 batch) Basic Polenta (Soft or Set)
8 fresh sage leaves
4 large eggs
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Heat half the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the polenta, and cook, without flipping, until bottom is golden brown and polenta can be moved without tearing, 9 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, flip polenta, and move to edges of skillet.

Add half the sage and 2 eggs to center of skillet, and cook, spooning oil over sage and eggs, until polenta is crisp on bottom and egg whites are set, about 4 minutes. (Add up to 2 teaspoons more oil if needed.) Season with salt and pepper. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Spinach Salad With Tomato and Onion

½- ¾ lb Spinach
4 tsp. lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 red or white onion (thinly sliced)
1 clove garlic (peeled and split in half)
4 tsp. Olive Oil
1-2 Tomatoes (cut in wedges)

Wash the spinach well and discard the tough stems.. Drain spinach leaves (chill in a damp cloth – optional). Tear into bite sized pieces. Rub bottom of salad bowl with garlic. Add lemon juice and oil. Chill the seasoned bowl. Just before serving, add spinach leaves and sprinkle with pepper. Garnish with tomato wedges and onion rings.

Salad with Fennel and Orange

Dressing:
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herb (Basil, Parsley, or Mint)
3 tablespoons olive oil

Salad:
1 head of Lettuce or ½ -3/4 lb Spinach
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 orange, peeled and segmented
1/2 red or white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Whisk together the sugar, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, herb, and olive oil in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves; set aside. Toss the salad greens, sliced fennel, orange, onion, almonds, and cranberries in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to serve.

Greetings CSA Members,

I can’t be happier with this cool, puffy-cloud July we are enjoying. I am reminded of Maine weather and am so appreciative. Not so the melons and hot peppers, however. But nonetheless, this week you will be receiving green peppers and green beans – a sure sign of Summer. This week I am including a wonderful excerpt from Rebeca Torres-Rose, our once CSA Member who now runs the show in the barn and at the Farmers’ Market in Troy. She has been gathering her thoughts and doing her research about Herbs. Hope that you find her tips useful.

This week in your share you will most likely find: Green Beans, Garlic, Lettuce or a bag of Arugula, Some delicious Cooking Green – Sauté as you would Bok Choi or Braising Greens), An Herb, Cucumbers, Mesclun, Green Peppers, and Carrots.

**Please check the white board when you pick up tomorrow for what herb and cooking green you actually are receiving – Thanks. **

Have a great week - Justine

“I have a fantasy of one day having (and using) a beautifully laid out herb garden outside my kitchen. I love the diverse smells and flavors of herbs and am intrigued by their medicinal properties. In preparation for this day when my herb garden comes to be, I have made a conscious effort to start using more herbs in my cooking. Since you will often receive herbs as part of your CSA share and some of you may be at a loss as to what to do with them, I thought I would share some of the ways in which I have been using or plan to experiment with them.
We grow some herbs in the garden at my husband’s parents’ farm, but I get most of my herbs here at Denison Farm. This year we are growing basil, cilantro, flat and curly parsley, dill, fennel (we grow it for the bulbs, but the fronds can be used as an herb), sage, thyme and rosemary. We also have delicious wild mint growing by the lettuce beds that we have been harvesting.
I try to use up the fresh herbs in my daily cooking. This is easy for me with basil, cilantro and parsley as many recipes in my repertoire call for them. Even if a recipe does not call for herbs, I’ll finish it of with a chiffonade of basil, or chopped cilantro or parsley. I love the bright color and taste they add to dishes. Herb additions work especially well in green, pasta, bean or grain salads (try a mixed herb tabouli) and with roasted or stir-fried dishes. Favorite pairings for dill are with green beans, beets or salmon. I add fresh herbs to marinades for veggies, tofu or meat (when I think ahead enough to marinate!). I also like to use fresh herbs to make infusions to drink hot or cold. My latest favorite is a sage-mint herb tea with lemon and honey as a late-day caffeine-free pick-me-up.
When I have an over abundance of herbs, I save them for future use by either drying or freezing them. Basil, cilantro, parsley, and dill all freeze really well, either whole in a freezer bag, or finely chopped and mixed with just a bit of water and then frozen in ice-cube trays (and then placed in a labeled bag) for convenient tablespoon-ish portions to plop into dishes. I have dried basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme by hanging them on the stem on a rack in a dark spot or in my oven (which has a pilot light to help along the drying). I then store these in airtight jars out of the light and heat.
This year I want to experiment with herb butters, oils and vinegars. Here are some basic instructions that you might want to try out too.”

Herb Butter - Delicious on warm breads, on broiled meats, veggies (especially corn on the cob!), fish or with eggs.

1-2 Tbsp well packed fresh herbs or 1-2 tsp dry ones, finely chopped
¼cup (half a stick) butter, salted or unsalted
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

Soften butter and cream in herbs. Add lemon juice, if desired. Shape into a log in parchment paper of plastic wrap and place in freezer to re-solidify.

Herb Oil – For salad dressings, marinades and sautéing.

4 Tbsp (1/3 cup) herbs
2 cups olive oil

Remove herb leaves from stalks and pound lightly in a mortar. Add oil a bit at a time and continue to pound leaves to release the flavor. Pour oil/herb mix into a wide-mouth jar and seal tightly. Place on a sunny windowsill and shake it every other day.. After two weeks, strain the oil and label, adding a fresh stalk or two of the herb for decorative purposes if desired.

Herb Vinegar – For salad dressings, marinades, soups, gravies and sauces.

10 Tbsp herbs
2 cups white wine or cider vinegar (feel free to experiment with other vinegars but distilled vinegar may be too harsh)

Pound leaves lightly in a mortar to bruise. Heat half the vinegar until warm, but not boiling and pour over the herbs in the mortar. Pound a bit more. Cool mixture and then add remaining vinegar before transferring to a wide-mouth jar and seal tightly. Place on a sunny windowsill and shake it every other day. After two weeks, strain the vinegar and label, adding a fresh stalk or two of the herb for decorative purposes if desired.

Tuscan Carrot Top Soup (another great CSA member’s recipe)

3 T Olive Oil
1 Medium onion, diced
2 Carrots, diced
1 Stalk celery, diced
3 Cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
6 Cups vegetable broth
1/4 Cup rice uncooked
1 1/2 Cups carrot tops, chopped
1/4 Cup parmesan cheese

Sauté onion, carrots, celery and garlic in oil approx 5 min. Add broth, salt, pepper and rice and let simmer 15 min until rice is tender. Add carrot tops and let simmer 5 minutes. Add cheese and serve.

Quinoa Pilaf
(Pronounced Keen-wah - a delicious gluten-free grain, similar to couscous)

1 cup Quinoa
2 cups Water
2 Tbl. Olive Oil
2 tsp. minced Garlic
½- 1 lb. Green Beans, ends snipped and beans cut or snapped)
3 Carrots, sliced thinly
2 Tbl. sliced Thyme leaves (Basil will work as well)
2 Tbl. Lemon Juice

Rinse Quinoa and then add water and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 15 minutes or until all of the water is absorbed.
While Quinoa is simmering, heat olive oil and sauté garlic, green beans, and carrots until tender.
Add remaining ingredients. Add the Quinoa last and serve..

Greetings CSA Members,

No pity-party today, for the sun is shining magnificently and the leaves on all of the plants are drying out nicely. Dry leaves don’t invite many insects or disease. Thank goodness! However, due to the abundant rainfall, Brian has been pacing the floor trying to figure out the best box to send your way this week. Lots of vegetables are not quite mature and some were lost. So this week, my listing is not very clear. I do know that you will receive green beans. But there are a few holes in the list for right now. By tomorrow, be assured that there will be a full box delivered. Check the white board for the most accurate list.. An additional piece of business - It has come to my attention that the delivery sites are in need of organization so that they can remain neat and tidy. Please remember to flatten your recycled box and pile in an appropriate place. If no pile has been started, please create one. Remind those picking up for you what the process is. And finally, please remember your third installment due in July. Thank you all so very much.
I have just finished reading a humorous gardening piece (written by John Hershey and published in a magazine called GreenPrints) that I thought that I would share with you all.
So here you go – enjoy:
“To help us cope with our harvest, newspapers and magazines publish many recipes at this time of year. The recipes all sound great, but I never follow any of them. They aren’t really useful for gardeners, because, in addition to my vegetable, they always call for some strange ingredient I don’t have – shallots or caciocavallo cheese or ostrich steaks or whatever. I know there are gardeners out there growing Belgian endive, Portobello mushrooms, and so forth. But for most of us this time of year brings a superabundance of a few basic crops. I need a recipe where the only ingredients are three quarts of cherry tomatoes and 15 cayenne peppers.
You know what would be a useful recipe for me right now? Roasted medallions of zucchini in a tangy zucchini sauce over a bed of zucchini-stuffed zucchinis topped with a caramelized zucchini glaze. As a side dish, perhaps a nice zucchini-spear salad with our house dressing, a zesty zucchini-infused vinaigrette. For dessert, may I suggest the positively decadent triple-zucchini cake? And don’t forget to try our signature cocktail, the crisp, refreshing zucchini-tini…
Despite my gourmet ambitions, here’s the only recipe I ever use: Pick everything that’s ready in the garden, throw it all in a big pot with some olive oil and garlic, and cook on low heat until it turns into some sort of pasta or pizza sauce… Sure, toss it in! Just about anything you dig up in your garden can be blended into the sauce with hardly a trace, its taste and color cleverly concealed by the flavorful, bright-red tomatoes. And, of course, no pizza sauce would be complete without the frappe’d remains of a two-foot-long zucchini.
While that simmers, I need to head back out for a few more baskets of tomatoes to start the next batch. If my boss calls, tell him I’m in the garden with my zucchini-tini.
Make it a double.”

This week in your share, you will most likely find: Green Beans, a bag of Salad mix or Spinach, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Basil, Carrots, Radishes………..

Have a great week – Justine

To accompany this week’s excerpt, here is a killer Zucchini Chocolate Cake Recipe

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 ½ cups all purpose-flour
½cup cocoa
2½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
¾cup soft butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
½cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Glaze (directions to follow)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, orange peel and zucchini.
Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture, including the nuts with the last addition.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45) or until a wooded pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in a pan 15 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool thoroughly.
Drizzle glaze over cake.
Glaze: Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tbls milk and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat until smooth.

And now a recipe selected and tried by Rebecca!

Pan Fried Cucumber with Perilla (Basil would be an excellent substitute)

2 Large Slicing Cucumbers, peeled, sliced in half lengthwise, seeded, and cut crosswise into 1/4" slices
3-4 Cloves of garlic chopped
2 tsp Premium quality light soy sauce
1-2 tsp Clear Chinese Rice vinegar
1/2 tsp white sugar
2 dried chilies de seeded
1 Tb Chili Oil w/flakes
1/3 Cup of perilla leaves, cut into a chiffonade (shredded or finely cut leaves)
1 tsp Sesame Oil
3 Tb peanut oil
- Heat wok over high heat until smoking
- Add oil and swirl around wok. Add dried chilies and scald, but do not burn.
- Add the cucumber slices in a single layer around the wok and fry until the cucumber slices start turning golden brown
- Turn cucumber slices as necessary.
- Once slices start developing color, add sugar, garlic, and chili oil, and stir fry.
- When dish becomes fragrant, splash in soy sauce and vinegar, and mix well.
- Remove from heat and mix in perilla leaves. Stir in sesame oil and serve.

Tuesday July 7, 2009

Greetings Saratoga CSA Members,

Remember I began last week's memo with this:
"Once again this year, the heavy rains and hail in Columbia, Washington, and Rensselaer County have drastically diminished the perishable berries and leafy greens. Big Box stores have brought Late Blight into the area with the tomato plants they sell. Farming is risky enough, but producing such delicate fruit crops takes courage. This is precisely why we stick to vegetables. But lettuce and all of the baby greens can be demolished within a 10-second hailstorm."
I spoke too soon and unfortunately last Wednesday that is just what happened. It could not have been more than 15 seconds and the hail was in the form of little chips. But Brian reported to me the next morning that the latest spinach planting was destroyed, much of the lettuce was mush, and some of the baby greens were shredded. As those who pick up at the farm know already, a massive amount of rain continued to pour from the skies for approximately 4 hours. Route 40 was closed and Ruby (our sweet dog) suffered terribly with over 3 hours of thunder and lightning. The potatoes were under water and everywhere we could spot where those icy hail chips had sliced through leaves. The leaves of the eggplant and pepper plants show signs with numerous holes and bruises, but the fruits are not yet formed and so the plants will more than likely all rally once again. It always amazes me how resilient plants are. Corn can be almost knocked down to the ground and within a day or two, up those stalks rise towards the sun again - so keep your fingers crossed that within the next few days, we are all spared any more damage.

****With regard to the fruit share, please remember that only those members who paid for a fruit share are able to take it. Several members whose names were on the list did not receive their fruit share last week. Please let me know ASAP if your name was not listed on the fruit share sign-in sheet.

**** Please remember to tell those friends or relatives who are picking up your share for you when you are unable to exactly what they need to pick up. There has been confusion at the sites when someone unfamiliar with the process has picked up without having the information or instructions. They can always email me with questions. Thank you so much.

This week in your share, you will most likely find: Cucumbers, Carrots, Lettuce, Parsley, Beets, Mesclun, Swiss Chard or Kale, and one additional vegetable not yet determined.

Enjoy your share this week - Justine




Swiss Chard Side Dish (Serves 2)
("It will seem like a ton of swiss chard, but it shrinks a lot during cooking" says Elinor Brook)

1 Lb swiss chard (1 bunch)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F.
Wash chard leaves in several changes of cold water.

Pull the stems out of each leaf and cut stems into 1/2 inch chunks. Dry the leaves on paper towels or spin in a salad spinner.
Put the stems in a 2 inch deep baking dish that is large enough to accommodate all the chard leaves later (I use an 8 by 8 pyrex). Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. Roast in the middle of the oven until the stems are tender and golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Pile the leaves on top of the stems. Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil. Toss with tongs and return to the oven. Roast until the greens wilt, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the cream, taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Sprinkle with parmesan and return to the oven until cream is bubbly and parmesan is melted.


Another long-time CSA Member recommends the following:

"Slow Roasted Beets are a sweet yummy treat, great for lunch boxes. 300 degree oven, covered baking dish w/ a small amount of water, baking time varies on size of the beet, check with after 40 minutes. Allow to cool and then peel and dice. Dress w/ a bit of balsamic or cider vinegar, a drop or two a maple syrup, a dash of sea salt and a bit of olive oil. Yummy!"


Cucumber-Carrot Pinwheels

* whole cucumbers, unpeeled
* whole carrots, peeled

Cut cucumber in 3" lengths. Hollow out seeded middle section. Push a carrot into the hollowed out center of the cucumber. Slice the cucumber/carrot wheels into 1/2-inch slices. You end up with a cucumber slice with a carrot center. Try scoring the cucumber skin before using them in this recipe: run a fork lengthwise down the cucumber skin all around the cucumber. Actually, this method makes pretty cucumber slices with or without skin.


Cucumber Lemonade (Agua de Pepino)

* 1 cucumber, peeled and cubed
* 1 lemon
* 5 c water
* Sugar to taste

Add cucumber and water to a blender and puree. Strain. Add juice of lemon and sugar to taste. Serve over ice. Or grate the cucumber into the pitcher of lemonade. Stir well. Garnish glasses with a thin cucumber slice or very thin slices of both cucumber and lemon slit and placed on the rim.