November Winter Share

Posted on by
Reply

farm to table (1)

 

Welcome to the first Winter Share of the season! The warm and colorful part of the autumn is very much past, the evenings are dark and it is time to start getting in the wintery culinary mood!

I love this time of year, and I know I’ve said so every winter newsletter for a couple of years now. It’s still true. I love the subdued colors of everything, and cold wind on my face and snow falling in the sunshine. I love planning exactly what I should wear outside, and thinking about how I’m so great at planning outfits for winter activities… until I start shedding extra layers along a trail to retrieve on my way back.

I love eating as many potatoes as I want (job perk!). I love getting into a different “breakfast rut” each winter. Two years ago it was hash browns. Last year it was carrots, parsnips (stay tuned for them in later shares!) and potatoes all cooked in a pan with yogurt or ketchup on top.

This year my favorite part of the season will be coming up in just a couple of months: my infant son’s first bites of food. I am so excited for him to eat with me out of the root cellar at the farm. I haven’t decided which of the veggies will be his first. Probably carrots or squash. Or parsnips. Or potatoes. Or rutabaga. I feel so lucky to start him off with such wholesome, good quality food. What a blessing.

Thinking about my boy, and what and how I want him to eat as he grows has been fun, and also challenging for me. It has required me to look at how I eat and my imperfect relationship to food. I want him to have good food, the best food. Healthy and as much organic as possible. But that’s not really all of it. Not at all. I also want food to be something that he sees is worth spending time planning, preparing, and sitting down for.  I want to show him that there is value in investing time and money in food. I don’t want to treat the preparation of food like an inconvenience that just needs to be got over as quickly as possible. And by the time he’s taking his first bites I want to do less eating above the kitchen sink, and more sitting down. Even if it’s just for a fried egg sandwich in the morning.

I say that now. But I recognize that our meals won’t always be balanced, or include a complete protein, or be organic or mostly local. Maybe sometimes they’ll be mostly take-out pizza. And, I want him to see that too, and not see it as a thing of shame. There should be so much LESS shame and embarrassment around familial and personal food choices. Because it isn’t easy to always make the ideal choices we’d like to imagine ourselves making.

At the end of it all, I want him to learn joy- the joy of food in our lives. Food is work, fun, tasty, beautiful, communal, and sustaining.

So thank you for taking on a counter-cultural approach to food with us this winter season. Thanks for being willing to slow things down a bit and put your money down on something of quality.

Whether this is your first or tenth Winter Share with us, welcome or welcome back! I hope this season of local produce finds you well, and keeps you trying new ways of cooking with old staples.

With joy,

Karin

Potatoes with Shaved Celery Salad

(I think in newsletters of yore, I have mentioned that I don’t tend to be much of a recipe follower. Perhaps some of you are though, and perhaps you also got celeriac instead of celery. Ah! If I were you, I’d still give this recipe a whirl, but I would roast scrubbed and halved celeriac until tender (an hour or so) and chop it after that to toss with the salad. But I am not you, so perhaps you’d like to simply roast it with oil and salt and enjoy as is!)

  • 2 1/2 pounds red potatoes, cubed
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
  • 1/2 cup light sour cream
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill
  • 1/4 cup canola mayonnaise
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons grated red onion
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cups thinly diagonally sliced celery
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Bring 12 cups water and potatoes to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Add vinegar; simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Drain. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet; cool.

Combine buttermilk and next 8 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl. Stir in potatoes. Stir in celery and pepper. Chill at least 1 hour.

 

Curried Carrot and Coconut Soup

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
  • ¾ pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch coins
  • 1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin, to taste
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric, to taste
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander, to taste
  •  Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
  •  Juice from ½ lime
  •  Salt and freshly ground pepper
  •  Cilantro, if you have it
  1. Heat the butter until the foam subsides. Add the diced chopped onions, sprinkle with salt, stir to coat with butter. Add the chopped carrots along with the spices. Stir and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add the stock; there should be enough to cover the vegetables. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the carrots are cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. If you have an immersion blender, purée the soup in the pot. If not, wait until the soup cools slightly, and purée in a food processor. Add enough coconut milk (and a little more stock or water if necessary) to bring the soup to the consistency you want. Adjust the seasoning (depending on the stock you use, you may need more or less salt), and lime juice to taste. Garnish and serve.

Summer CSA, Week 18

Posted on by
Reply

Well folks this is it. Your final Summer CSA box of 2019. To wrap this season up and to prepare ourselves for the next I wanted give you all a little quiz.

The only rule – No looking back at old newsletter posts or scrolling to the bottom for the answer. Just give it a solid guess. We are all winners when we eat Food Farm produce.

Okay now on to the guessing game. Below is a list of the different vegetables that have appeared in your CSA box throughout the summer.

Which vegetables have appeared the most and how many times did they appear in your CSA box? Rate the top 5!

The answer will be below so you are only cheating yourself if you scroll to the bottom now before attempting to play the game.

  • Radishes – Beets – Head Lettuce – Broccoli – Turnips – Carrots – Swiss Chard – Napa Cabbage – Pac Choi – Greens Mix – Cilantro – Beans – Green Cabbage – Red Cabbage – Green Onion – Kale – Dill – Rutabaga – Zucchini – Potatoes – Lettuce Mix – Cauliflower – Tomatoes – Celery – Peppers – Garlic – Basil – Snap Peas – Rhubarb – Spinach – Cucumber – Onions – Thyme – Oregano – Winter Squash – Parsley – Leeks

Winter is coming and there is a hell of a lot of work left to do. Thankfully there is sunshine on the horizon this week. We could all you a good dose of vitamin D to boost our harvesting spirits.

Fun fact the month of September only saw 7 days with no rain for the twin ports region. Let’s hope October can at least get into the double digits.

So should I get on with it and just tell you the answer already? I did have to look back at the newsletter archives to obtain the stats. It was joyful to watch each box grow from week to week as more food becomes plentiful and ready to harvest.

Without further ado:

First place goes to the Food Farm mascot. The greatest vegetable on earth. The tastiest creature to come out of the ground: The Carrot

The carrot appeared a whopping 15 out of 18 times.

Second place goes to my favorite summer food. A cool refreshment after a scorching hot day. The Cucumber appeared in your CSA box 13 out of 18 times. You can thank Sam next time you see him for diligently caring for them all summer.

Third place belongs to an underdog. A sweet snappy snack to go with every meal. The Peppers, who I lumped together because it’s my quiz and I make the rules. Usually sweet but sometimes spicy, Peppers appeared 11 times this summer.

Fourth place you would have thought higher on the list, but they are late bloomers. Perfect sliced with mayo and bread. The Tomato appeared 10 times.

And last but certainly not least Fifth place goes to the leader in the winter months. The one with their own room in the root cellar. Eaten best as crispy hash browns, The Potato, appeared 9 times this summer.

Regardless of correct answers congratulations you’ve won! And we hope you continue to win for years to come! Thank you for supporting The Food Farm. Thank you for eating that giant list of vegetables. Thank you for finding creative things to do with greens mix.

From a farm crew off finding the joy,

Tiffany

In your box:

Brussels Sprouts, Northeaster Pole Beans, Carrots, Celery, Garlic, Greens Mix, Onions, Oregano, Peppers, French Fingerling Potatoes, Rutabaga, Spinach, Delicata and Acorn Squash, Tomatoes

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

  • 3/4 lb brussels sprouts
  • Olive oil
  • Garlic-sliced very thin
  • Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place Brussel sprouts on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Scatter sliced garlic across pan. Grate Parmesan cheese over Brussel sprouts. Bake 20 minutes or until sprouts are golden brown and crispy at edges.

Harvest Moon Kale Ceaser Salad

  • 1/2 cup pecans
  • 1/2 tbsp tamari
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp paprika
  • 1 delicata squash
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 bunch kale (or greens mix!)
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large apple
  • 2 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 325. Place pecans on baking sheet and roast for 7 minutes. Place nuts in bowl. Toss nuts with tamari, cinnamon and paprika. Set aside.

Increase heat to 400. Slice delicata into half moons. Place on parchment paper covered pan and bake 20 minutes.

Meanwhile de-stem kale. Rip into bite sized pieces. Squeeze half lemon over kale and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pinch of salt. Massage kale in hands until kale is tender. About 2 minutes.

Slice apples and toss in with other half of lemon juice.

Combine everything into serving bowl, drizzle with mustard and maple syrup and eat!

Summer CSA, Week 17

Posted on by
Reply

Rain rain go away,

Come again another day,

Rain rain go away,

We’d like to harvest our vegetables someday

So after the CSA on Monday I think we are going to start building an ark. Two of every vegetable of course. Two Astro vans, thank goodness. Wouldn’t want those to die off.

After a summer of wishing it would rain Mother Nature has decided now would be a much better time to challenge us. The thing is it’s way more fun to get rained on when it’s 70 or 80 degrees as opposed to 40 or 50 degrees.

Endless showers, impeachment headlines and vegetables that need harvesting. If you can find the joy then that could be a recipe for success.

Most of the week was spent harvesting the second planting of carrots. We also picked the last of the outside tomatoes and stacked the squash to store for winter. We took the new potato harvester for a test run. Little tweaks and improvements were made to the design. And it works great!

A ray of baby sunshine came out to the farm on Friday. Bosen and Karin lent a hand and all seemed right with the world again.

From a farm crew out finding the joy,

Tiffany

In Your CSA box:

Northeastern Pole Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Carrots, Cilantro, Cucumber, Lettuce, Yellow Onion, Parsley, Red-ish Sweet Peppers, Hot Peppers, Potatoes, Delicata and Sunshine Squash, Tomatoes, Turnips

Breakfast Huevos Rancheros

Lots of people have very different meanings for huevos rancheros. I like to keep it simple.

  • 2-4 medium potatoes (depending on number of people eating), shredded.
  • Salsa
  • Sour cream
  • Cilantro
  • Shredded cheese
  • Eggs and or meat of choice.

Shred potatoes and squeeze as much water out of them as possible. Heat skillet (cast iron is ideal) to medium high heat with olive oil. Test skillet with sample of potatoes or water to see if it sizzles.

Once skillet is hot place shredded potatoes evenly on skillet about 1-2 inches thick. Salt and pepper top. Drizzle olive oil over top as well.

Leave alone for 5 minutes. Check the bottom often to make sure it isn’t sticking to pan. Flip once golden brown. Salt and pepper other side. Wait another 5 minutes and turn off heat.

Fry eggs to desired consistency. I would recommend over medium-hard. Place shredded cheese on hash browns. Place cooked egg on top of cheese. Apply more cheese. Add a dollop of sour cream and salsa. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Add ground beef or shredded pork if you are into that for a different flavor.

Autumn Harvest Salad

  • Delicata Squash
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 3 cooked beets
  • 1 raw onion
  • 1 bunch of crunchy kale
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 cup farro- cooked
  • 3/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 oz goat cheese
  • Parsley for garnish

Set oven to 400 degrees. Cut delicata into slices. Dress with olive oil, salt pepper and chili powder. Roast for 15 minutes.

Cut beets into small cubes. Toss in olive oil place on baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes or until tender.

Cook farro by directions and cool. Whisk together ingredients for dressing: apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, olive oil, paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper.

In a large bowl add kale, squash, farro, beets and chopped raw onion. Add dressing and mix well. Top with goat cheese and a garnish of parsley.

Summer CSA, Week 16

Posted on by
Reply

Honey Boat is a new variety of squash we grew this year. With their dusty orange hue they look a little different then the bright yellow torpedo shaped Delicata.

Standing alone they appear rusty orange but among the old faithful variety the honey boat looks like pink lemonade. Claiming to be sweeter and more fun the honey boat added a bit of pizzazz to the trays of delicata. An intermingled splash of summer to be enjoyed in the coming winter.

We were slinging squash around all week. We harvested the Delicata in Wednesday. We brought in the Winter Sweet, Kabocha, Acorn and Sunshine on Thursday. And we brought in the pumpkins on Friday.

Also the process of tossing squash to someone on the hay wagon is delightful. We were a well oiled squash slinging machine.

As the daylight diminishes, as we continue to harvest veggies, I think about you all. I think about the people who will enjoy this food come the fall and winter months. I think about the enormous amount of food that is grown here. In one single root cellar we can store enough food to feed shareholders, send food to restaurants, and stock co-op shelves.

The world needs more root cellars and more Fisher-Merritts and more Food Farms.

From our rockstar farm crew,

Tiffany

In your CSA box:

Green Beans, Celery, Carrots, Cilantro, Cucumber, Leeks, Yellow Onions, Sweet Red Peppers, Yellow Potatoes, Tomatoes, Turnips, Acorn squash!

Potato Leek Soup

  • 2 large leeks
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 4 cups veggie broth
  • 4 cups of potatoes-chopped
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • Fresh chopped onion for garnish
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Chop leeks and place in pan with butter, stir until coated in butter. Cover pot and reduce heat to low. Cook leeks 8-10 minutes or until soft. Stir in broth, spices and potatoes.

Increase heat and bring to slight boil. Reduce heat and let simmer 20 minutes. If you desire a creamy consistency add to blender.

Otherwise enjoy chunky.

Acorn Carrot soup

  • 1 acorn squash
  • 2 lbs carrots
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 medium onion
  • 4 cups veggie broth
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups water

Prepare squash, carrots, celery and onion by chopping each.

Add olive oil and butter to stock pot and melt together. On medium heat. Add onion and celery. Cook 5 minutes.

Add the veggie broth, water, squash and carrots. Bring soup to boil and let simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and garlic powder.

Let soup cook for 15 minutes. Working in batches blend the soup in a blender. Re heat and serve!

Summer CSA, Week 15

Posted on by
Reply

There is a lot of beauty and wonder in watching a vegetable from start to finish.

I feel a lot of care and pride goes into each and every field out here. But for some reason the onion field keeps coming to mind as one that gets an extra level of hands on care and love.

Many of the other fields Janaki is able to cultivate with the tractor. But the onion field and the tomato and pepper field get straw mulch, plastic, trellis’ and such.

So let me break the dance of the onion down for you. In early March, with a frozen snowy landscape outside, Dave seeded the onions into 72 cell trays to grow big enough and develop enough root matter to make it in the cold of outdoors. In May we placed thin plastic over each bed and then transplanted the onions into the field.

I believe a day later it snowed. Those little transplants survived, though!

Throughout the summer our mantra has been “When in doubt pull weeds from the onion holes”. And so we weeded the onion holes, action-hoed the aisles, mulched the aisles and weeded more onion holes.

Side bar: when I say onion holes I mean the holes in the plastic which the onions are growing out of.

Then after all that, once the greens of the onions fall down we go out and pull them from the ground and let them sit in the sun for a while.

This past week was spent in the onion field. The weather was dreary. We got rained on often. But we got all the onions out of the field and into greenhouses to dry. The forecast mentioned mist and drizzle which turned into thunder and heavy rain.

And through it all you have to laugh because it was a hot dry summer and we had to get rained on eventually. Of course it would be while trying to pick up slimy dried up onion greens. The next step will be curing them in the greenhouse for a month or so before they move to their home in the root cellar. They’ll stay there all the way until the last winter share in April, at which point next year’s onions will already be over a month old!

I will leave you with a final note regarding Taylor Swift. I had a song of hers stuck in my head while harvesting onions all week. The song is titled London Boy, and she sings of falling for a boy from London. Well somewhere around the 30th bucket of onions I changed the lyrics to “Onion boy”.

You know I love an Onion boy…..

From a clean and dry farm crew,

Tiffany

In your CSA box:

Green Beans, Garlic, Broccoli, Carrots, Cucumbers, Dill, Yellow Onions, Purplette Onions, Parsley, Peppers, Russet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Greens Mix

French Onion Soup

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 cups sliced onions
  • 10.5 oz beef broth
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tbsp dried sherry
  • 4 slices French bread
  • 1/2 cup provolone cheese, shredded
  • 1/8 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Melt butter in with olive oil in a stock pot on medium heat. Add onions and stir until tender.

Add beef broth, thyme and sherry. Summer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven on high broil.

Place soup in four oven safe bowls. Place a slice of French bread on top of each bowl sprinkling three cheese blend over the top of all bowls.

Place bowls on a cookie sheet and into the oven. Cook until cheese bubbles and browns slightly. 10-15 minutes. Watch carefully.

Broccoli and Herb Salad

  • 4 cups Broccoli, chopped into pieces
  • 1-1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
  • 1/4 cup fresh dill
  • 1 handful fresh parsley
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1/4 cup onion
  • 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
  • 3 cups cooked quinoa (about 1 cup uncooked)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • A handful of nuts (I prefer walnuts)

Cook quinoa and chickpeas. Chop broccoli and onions into small pieces. Finely chop herbs.

Combine chilled chickpeas and quinoa into large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over and mix well. Add broccoli, onion, herbs and lemon juice. Mix and season with salt and pepper to taste. Lastly mix in sunflower seeds and favorite nuts.

Summer CSA, Week 14

Posted on by
Reply

Much of this week was spent conversing around the carrot box. Filling an infinite amount of bags. Some for you, our trusted CSA members. Some for the co-ops and some for Harvest Fest.

I met many a wonderful faces at Harvest Fest this year. I was lucky enough to stand next to John Fisher-Merritt most of the afternoon. To my perception everyone knew John and those who didn’t found themselves buying peppers from him. After he sliced them a sample with his pocket knife of course.

This week I listened. Chose to speak less and absorb more. I gathered from my listening around the carrot box and reading this or that before bed that we are Earth.

Everyone that I talk to and experience daily knows this. Everyone that went to Harvest Fest knows this. Perhaps even those who disagree with us understand this as well.

We are Earth. Everything we created came from Earth. Everything we use today is derived from Earth.

This very broad statement can send you into a head spin. It can make you think of all the ways humans are ruining Earth and causing her pain. Or you can think of all the ways humans can be kind to the Earth and show our appreciation everyday.

Talking nice to the carrots as we put them in their bags. Telling the beans they are growing great and we are happy to be harvesting them in the rain. Listening to the coyotes and wolves roam in the distance. Choosing in any certain moment not to add your own two cents but rather to absorb what others have to say.

We are Earth. Our journey with Earth to grow and evolve has not always been beautiful. But I’m grateful.

I’m grateful someone invented a carrot harvester and that we used it this week. I’m grateful the mini-Food Farmers went back to school and are enjoying learning! I’m grateful the new laying hens are starting to lay little eggs.

f 

But most of all I’m grateful I get to spend each day working with people who make me smile and laugh.

From an Earthly farm crew,

Tiffany

P.S. The Thyme would enjoy it if you hung it in a place in your kitchen with airflow. Maybe a window or such. It would enjoy making your kitchen smell lovely and not being in your refrigerator.

In your CSA Box:

Yellow Beans, Carrots, Cucumbers, Leeks, Onions, Green Pepper, Hot Wax Pepper, Potatoes, Thyme, Tomatoes, Zucchini

Zucchini Muffins

  • 2 Small zucchini
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop zucchini into small pieces and purée in food processor. Combine zucchini purée with sugar, eggs, vegetable oil. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Combine wet and dry mixtures together. Add chocolate chips for pazazzz.

Line a muffin pan with cute liners or grease. Place batter in pan and cook 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Roasted Carrot Soup

  • 1-1/2 pounds of carrots
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1-1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 cups peeled tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp minced basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and cumin two cooking sheets. Enduring the veggies do not crowd each other roast carrots, onion and garlic for 25-30 minutes.

Working in two batches add half the veggies to a food processor. Add half the tomatoes and purée until smooth. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Add both batches into a large pot. Add basil and remaining salt. Bring to a simmer and let sit for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Food Farm open house and art exhibition – September 21

Posted on by
Reply

The Food Farm is hosting an open house on Saturday, September 21st from 2-4pm. We’ll have tours of the farm and a hayride for anyone who wants to spend a couple hours relaxing in the country! Afterwards there will be an art exhibition in the Free Range Film barn from 4-8pm featuring the work of Catherine Meier and Kristina Estell. Farm fresh food will be available at the barn courtesy of the culinary talents of Paul Sapyta.

2-4pm Farm Tours at Food Farm: 2612 County Road 1, Wrenshall, MN

4-8pm “Field Trials: Catherine Meier and Kristina Estell”: 909 County Road 4, Wrenshall, MN

Questions?

Annie Dugan 218-310-4703 or annesdugan at gmail

Summer CSA, Week 13!

Posted on by
Reply

img_9939

This year was a late spring and what seems like an early fall. The actual start to fall isn’t for another couple weeks but with the crispness in the air why not start the festivities early?

The fall equinox is an important event for Pagans around the world. During the fall equinox the hours of daylight and and night are completely equal. There is no single tradition of celebration, more like themes to live by.

These themes coincide nicely with our work on the Food Farm. The themes to live by during this autumn time include:

Balance, think about what in your life is out of balance. Sleep, work, exercise? Perhaps you haven’t had enough candy corn yet this year?

Gratitude, for the bountiful harvest. We are beginning to harvest actual tons of food from our fields. Waves of gratitude wash over me when I imagine how many people will get to enjoy this harvest.

Letting go, because winter is coming. Autumn marks the turn towards the dark time of year. A time when we all look inward. Discard what will hold you back on the journey through the darkness….aka -30 degree winter days.

img_20190901_084516171

Summer came and went in the blink of an eye. Now it’s time for long sleeves, long pants and rubber boots. It’s time for soup and baked potatoes and warm bonfires. It’s almost time for watching the leaves change and apple cider.

From our farm family to yours,

Tiffany

This is a gentle reminder the Food Farm will be at the Harvest Festival in Bayfront park this Saturday from 10-4!

Come talk to us and come get some veggies!

In your CSA box: Green Beans, Beets, Red Cabbage, Carrots, Cilantro, Cucumbers, Dill, Red Russian Kale, Greens Mix, Sweet Onions, Green and Hot Peppers, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Zucchini

Borscht Soup

Beef stock

  • 2 lbs stew beef
  • 1 lb beef bones
  • 2.5 quarts of water
  • 2 large bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp coriander
  • 1/2 tbsp peppercorns

Soup

  • 3 medium beets
  • 1 medium sweet onion
  • 2 medium carrots
  • 1 head of red cabbage
  • 2 to 4 red potatoes
  • 8 oz baby Bella mushrooms
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3 tbsp fresh dill

Preheat pot over medium high heat with a little bit of canola oil. Add beef and bones to pot and seat for a few minutes.

Add water to pot and bring to simmer. Add bay leaves, coriander and peppercorns and reduce heat to low.

Loosely cover with lid and let cook for 2-4 hours.

About half way through cooking the meat add whole unpeeled beets. Cook until done and set aside.

Strain off the stock and remove bones, coriander, bay leaves and peppercorns. Set meat and beets and stock aside.

Prepare the veggies! Slice thinly: onions, shrooms, cabbage. Grate carrots. Cube potatoes. Mince garlic.

Using same pot on medium high heat add a little canola oil. Add onion and carrot and sauté until soft. Add garlic and stir well.

Add potatoes and mushrooms stirring occasionally.

Add cabbage, stir until cabbage softens.

Add tomato paste, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until tomato paste is evenly mixed.

Break apart beet and add to pot, now start adding stock! Add enough stock to completely cover veggies. Add more if you desire more broth.

Cook over medium heat for 25-30 minutes. Taste, make sure there is enough pepper and salt. Stir in dill.

Peel beet and grate into soup.

Garnish with sour cream and more dill!

Dilly Vegetable Dip

  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 tbsp sweet onion
  • 1 tbsp dill
  • 1 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients well in a medium bowl. Best served with fresh Food Farm carrots or topped on Borscht Soup!

Summer CSA, Week 12

Posted on by
Reply

No need for witty banter or endless anecdotes about potato bugs. This week has been a whirlwind of excitement and organized chaos.

When Janaki starts out the day on Monday saying “It’s going to be a big week” you know we are in for a wild ride!

Thankfully our farm crew is loaded with young blood. We are the next generation of farmers, we are full of energy and excitement.

As the summer winds to an end the cultivating season does as well. We shined up the cabbage field. Pulling weeds, wheel hoeing and spot hoeing.

This week also saw lots of trailer loads of vegetables. The potato washer came out of storage after Patricia and I tucked it away so nicely. The pack shed is a professional game of Jenga now.

We loaded and unloaded carrots, potatoes and onions all week long. With lows getting into the high 40s dare I say it, we are all thinking about fall.

The Food Farm made an appearance at the State Fair! Janaki, Annie, Truman and Ellis along with many other cast members of the Food Farm crew made the pilgrimage down to the great Minnesota get together. Truman and Janaki made it on stage to talk about good food alongside Tom Hanson from the Duluth Grill.

Work around the farm went from zero to 100 real quick this week. We all know the further into the season we get the more work and the faster the pace. However I don’t think anyone was ready for it to happen this fast!

I personally love the fast paced energetic days. The go-go-go feeling keeps you on your toes. I love thinking about the people picking up their CSA boxes and smiling after seeing the beautiful vegetables waiting for them to enjoy.

As always from a fantastic farm crew,

Tiffany

In your CSA box: Beans, Broccoli, Basil, Carrots, Cilantro, Cucumbers, Garlic, Lettuce Mix, Onions, Red and Hot Peppers, Potatoes, Parsley, Tomatoes, Zucchini

Perfect Potato Salad

  • 1 lb red potatoes
  • 1 fresh small onion
  • 2 tbs parsley
  • 2 ears of corn
  • 2-4 stalks of celery
  • 1/2 cup of mayo
  • 2 spoon fulls of dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper

Cube potatoes and steam until fully cooked. This takes about 20 minutes but keep watch. Potatoes are easy to over cook. Also boil water to cook corn. Once water has come to boil place corn cobs in water for 4 minutes.

Chop onion, celery and parsley. Cut corn from cob. Rinse potatoes in cold water to cook them down. Place potatoes in large bowl for mixing. Combine onions, celery, corn and parsley to potatoes.

Add mayo and Dijon mustard to mixture. Add extra mayo as necessary and salt and pepper to taste.

Tomato Peach and Cucumber Salad with Pistachio Vinaigrette

  • For vinaigrette

    • 1/2 cup roasted pistachios

    1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
    2 tbs white wine vinegar
    1/2 cup water
    1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
    1/2 tsp kosher salt
    Ground pepper

For the salad

  • 1 lb tomatoes
  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 peaches
  • 1/4 cup mixture of mint and basil

For vinaigrette roast pistachios for 5-10 minutes in oven at 350 degrees. Transfer all but two tbs of nuts to food processor (save 2 tbs for garnish!) combine olive oil, wine vinegar and 1/2 cup of water to food processor as well. Mix until smooth. Also add basil, salt and pepper to mixture until smooth.

For salad slice tomatoes into large slices of using large tomatoes. Peel cucumber and chop into slices. Peel peach and cut into 1/2 inch wedges. Layer tomatoes, cucumber and peaches onto plate. Drizzle with dressing and top with pistachios!

Summer CSA, Week 10

Posted on by
Reply

The smell of new babies and milk weed is in the air. Fresh cabbage, new potatoes and a delightful week of rain.

Above is a photo Janaki took harvesting kale in the pouring rain for Monday’s share box last week!

Janaki took a hiatus from the farm this week while the rest of us tried to fill his shoes. Also Karin greeted us with her baby boy!

We are entering the tomato season. Outside tomatoes are starting to ripen and the greenhouse tomatoes are taking off. If you are wondering what to do with all the tomatoes in your box…..you should try sun drying them!

I experimented with sun drying tomatoes in my car this weekend. It worked great. I would recommend using slicers because cherry tomatoes take twice as long as slicers do. Also place them on parchment paper. If you place them directly on tin foil them will likely stick.

The sun gold tomatoes were not completely dried after 12 hours in the car. The slicers and Juliet’s that I cut into 1/4s were!

To minimize strange looks and bugs avoid driving your car with tomatoes on the dash board.

With gratitude and grace we thank you for finding creative ways to eat tomatoes, greens mix and all the other delightful veggies we put in your box week after week.

From a smiling farm crew,

Tiffany

In your CSA box:

Green Beans, Cilantro, Cucumbers, Dill, Greens Mix, Lettuce, Onions, Snap Peas, Green Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper, NEW Potatoes, Tomatoes, Zucchini

Turmeric Roasted Potatoes with Green Beans

  • 4 cups potatoes chopped into small cubes
  • 1/2 lb green beans chopped into small pieces
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tbs finely chopped basil
  • 1/2 tsp garlic finely chopped
  • 1/2 tbs turmeric (for some spice in life!)
  • Salt and pepper

Place oil in pan on medium heat. Once pan is hot place potatoes in pan. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes. Uncover and add green beans, herbs and spices. Cook uncovered for another 5-10 minutes. Serve immediately for maximum deliciousness.

Tomato Tart

  • Use your favorite pastry dough recipe or buy some ready to bake stuff at the co-op
  • 1 lb tomatoes
  • 1 lb ricotta cheese
  • 1 clove of garlic, sliced thin
  • Fresh chives to garnish
  • Salt and pepper

Prepare dough and place in refrigerator for later. Slice tomatoes into colander, sprinkle salt over them and let them rest for 10-15 minutes.

Roll dough out into a 14 inch round circle. Spread olive oil over it and the ricotta cheese. Add the garlic and place sliced tomatoes on top. Fold over the edges to keep everything in place.

Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes and enjoy!