Start your engines… The harvest machines are starting to make their laps through the fields! Heretofore, the veggies you’ve been enjoying have been harvested by hand, with love. Towards the end of last week, the carrots and potatoes were still harvested with lots of love, but with a little extra help from two wonderful harvesting machines that are made specifically for those crops. The added volume means we can now send carrots to local grocery stores like the Co-op & Mt. Royal, as well as more for our CSA members.
Not all the work was machine assisted, however, as the crew also spent many hours crawling on their hands and knees to remove weeds from the beet, carrot and pea fields. This may not be the most glamorous of tasks, but the plants sure are thankful for less competition for water, sunlight and nutrients.
I hope you’ve been enjoying this newsletter as a way to stay updated about the recent happenings at the farm, however, nothing captures the beauty of this place quite like seeing it for yourself. Coming up is the perfect opportunity to do just that! We would love to see you all at our Annual Farm Tour get-together on Saturday, August 26th from 10am to noon!
In your share this week:
Basil – Green Beans – Broccoli – Carrots – Celery – Cucumbers
Green Garlic – Onion – Bell Peppers – Potatoes – Tomatoes – Zucchini
This weeks share features a few new additions in basil, bell peppers, onion, and celery. Also included is a head of green garlic, which is brighter, milder and has less heat than fully cured garlic.
The past couple weeks, I have had multiple friends reach out to tell me about the delicious berry pies they have been making with the freshly foraged juneberries, raspberries and blueberries that are currently in season. We have many wonderful berry farms in our area, but that isn’t the only thing a pie crust is good for. A more veggie applicable method would be to make a quiche! This is also a delicious way to use up some of our girls’ eggs if you happen to have an egg share.
I’ve decided to include my favorite most versatile recipe for flaky pastry crust as the base for both recipes this week. It is somewhat involved, so If you are short on time, a store bought crust will also do the trick.
Flaky Pastry Crust
12oz butter
3/4 cup cold water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- Put butter in the freezer for an hour or so to let it get nice and cold.
- Combine flour, salt & cumin in a large mixing bowl. Stir 3-4 times to combine.
- Combine apple cider vinegar and water in a small cup or liquid measuring container.
- Using the large holes of a cheese greater, grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture. Gently stir to combine.
- Slowly add water & vinegar mixture to the large mixing bowl until a crumbly dough starts to just come together. A little extra water may be necessary depending on humidity levels. Go slow though, as the dough should just barely hold together.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and mound onto a clean work surface. Cut ball in half then form each half into discs. Wrap discs in plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least an hour.
- Roll out when ready.
Broccoli Quiche w/ Peppers and Tomatoes
2-ish cups broccoli florets (about 1/2 pound)
1/2 cup peppers, diced
1 medium tomato, sliced
5 large eggs
3/4 cup milk (whole works, but half and half can be used for extra richness)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 cup shredded cheese of choice (cheddar is great!)
1 9-inch pie crust
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Roll out pie crust, arrange in pie tin, and chill until ready to use.
- Place 1-2 cups water in the bottom of a small pot. Add broccoli and bring to a boil. Cook until the broccoli is bright green and slightly tender (about 3-4 minutes). Transfer broccoli to a colander and rinse with cool water. Chop broccoli into small pieces.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir in the broccoli, peppers, and cheese. Pour into the prepared pie shell.
- Gently pat the tomato slices with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture and place on top of the egg mixture.
- Bake quiche for 35-40 minutes, until eggs are set in the center. Check quiche starting at 25 minutes, and tent with foil if the crust is browning too quickly.
Vegetable Galette
Galettes are a wonderful way to use up vegetables! “Galette” is a french term for a pastry base, filled with sweet or savory fillings, with the edges folded in. I recommend sautéing vegetables such as onion, broccoli, and green beans before baking in a galette. They don’t need to be fully cooked, as they will continue cooking while the galette is baking. Veggies such as zucchini, pepper, garlic can be chopped and mixed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and any other dried spices of your choosing and placed in a galette raw. Grate some parmesan or another hard cheese over the vegetables before folding up the sides. Fresh herbs (such as the basil from this weeks share) can be chopped up and sprinkled over the top of the galette when it comes out of the oven.
Here’s an article from Bon Appetit to shed some more light on the galette-making process.
Channel the spirit of this free-form pastry to experiment with ingredients from this week’s share and whatever is hanging around in your fridge! You can rarely go wrong when pie dough is involved 🙂
For the farm crew,
Charlie
Food Farm 