Spoutwood Farm CSA Harvest Guide: Week 8: August 2, 2007
To return to the 2007 Harvest Guide page, click here
An additional challenge to the Farm this week was the absence of most of our staff! Rob and Lucy are in New Hampshire, helping to prepare Rob’s father’s house for sale, Carissa has completed her internship, Heather has had transportation difficulties, J.B. and Amy are visiting a bluegrass music festival, and yours truly, Tom, has been occupied with a major move. If it were not for our incredible, wonderful, truly amazing shareholders – working and otherwise – who turned out en masse today to help out, harvest would have been, frankly, impossible. So many people assisted that I hardly dare to name any for fear of leaving someone out, but I cannot omit Stephanie, Jessica, and Tabitha, who stepped into field and preparation management duties to save my healing back and allow me to deal with admin¬istrative stuff, including the preparation of this harvest guide. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!
Please feel free to drop us a line if you discover a new recipe, have any cooking tips, or would like to share your favorite way to eat the veggies from our harvest - email us and we’ll share with everyone else! You might also want to post these to our interactive web presence at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spoutwoodcsa . There you can post messages that all members can read, add photos of your favorite Spoutwood memories, and otherwise contribute to our CSA community here at Spoutwood Farm. You’ll find an invitation to join the Spoutwood CSA e-group at Yahoo in your e-mail, and we hope you respond favorably. If you do NOT find this invitation in your in-box in the next 24-48 hours, please let us know!
Tomatoes: The first of our own Spoutwood tomatoes! To
celebrate, they’re our Vegetable of the Week. Rich with flavor and health
benefits, tomatoes are one of the joys of summer. Ours are looking good, having
adjusted our management due to last year’s disappointing experience. Look for
more to come in the weeks ahead!
Lettuce: This
is a difficult time for lettuce, which tends to “bolt” and get bitter in the
heat. Ours are still fairly sweet and tender, considering. Select from green,
red, or oak-leaf varieties.
Squash: What
would summer be without summer squash? Select from zucchini, yellow crookneck,
and two types of patty-pan. Delicious!
Kale: This extremely
nutritious, delicious pot-herb has suffered from attacks by both heat (it tends
to do better in cool weather) and insects (the harlequin bugs find it
delectable), but it’s hanging in there. Enjoy steamed, in soups, sparingly in
salads, or any way you would use a cooked green.
Green Peppers:
Another classic summer vegetable, these delicious green peppers are entirely
our own this week!
Onions: A
lovely member of the allium family,
which they share with garlic and leeks, onions are rich in flavor and nutrients
and form the basis of many dishes. “Sautee onions until golden” is the start of
many a delicious recipe…
Garlic: Another allium,
garlic has been valued as a culinary and even medicinal herb since ancient
times. A staple of Mediterranean cooking: it’d be difficult to imagine Italian,
Greek, or Provencal cooking without it!
Basil: A delicious
and fragrant herb – add to pasta sauces, make a fresh tomato, basil, and
mozzarella salad (toss in olive oil), or pesto.
Please note: Basil should be
placed in a vase with water, as you would cut flowers. Most refrigerators are too cold and tend to
blacken the leaves.
Eggplant: Still another summer vegetable, similarly
associated with summer cooking. Ratatouille, eggplant parmesan, and baba
ganoush are among the many possible uses for this popular veggie.
Parsley:
More than just a garnish! Use in salads, soup stocks, or in place of part of
the basil when making pesto.
Bread: For
those with bread shares, our wonderful
Flowers: This
week’s bouquet will include a potpourri of wild and cultivated blossoms.
Tomato Salsa
1 cups tomato
1 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed
1garlic cloves, minced fine
1/3 onion
juice from 1limes
1/2 teaspoons Celtic Sea Salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes soaked in warm water
? Cilantro leaves, whole
? Basil Leaves
½ a red and yellow bell pepper, seeded
Place the tomato in a food processor and chop into small pieces, set aside in a bowl.
Put the jalapenos, garlic, onion, lime juice, salt, cumin, chili powder and your desired amount of cilantro & basil into the food processor and chop until very fine. Pour this mixture into the bowl with the tomato.
Next, chop the peppers in the food processor until fine and put them in the bowl with the tomato.
Finally, put the sun-dried tomato into the food processor and process until it’s smooth like tomato paste. Then mix this paste with the salsa in the bowl.
Flavors are best if they’ve blended for a few hours.
Tomato Salsa II
2-3 medium sized fresh tomatoes (from 1 lb to 1 1/2 lb), stems removed, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced
1 serano chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced
Juice of one lime
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: oregano and or cumin to taste
Start with chopping up 2 medium sized fresh tomatoes. Prepare the chilies. Be very careful while handling these hot peppers. If you can, avoid touching them with your hands. Use a fork to cut up the chilies over a small plate, or use a paper towel to protect your hands. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water after handling and avoid touching your eyes for several hours. Set aside some of the seeds from the peppers. If the salsa isn't hot enough, you can add a few for heat.
Combine all of the ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Taste. If the chilies make the salsa too hot, add some more chopped tomato. If not hot enough, carefully add a few of the seeds from the chilies, or add some ground cumin.
Tomato Salad
2-3 large ripe tomatoes
1/8 cup good quality olive oil or vegetable oil
3/4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano leaves
dash pepper
Fresh Tomatoes with Mozzarella and Prosciuto
2 or 3 fresh picked medium sized tomatoes
About 1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced not too thin
A quarter pound of sliced prosciuto or ham, cut to size of cheese, or folded over
Several leaves of fresh basil
Approximately 1/4 cup of Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
On a dinner-sized plate, make stacks of one slice of Mozzarella Cheese, a small slice of prosciuto/ham and one slice of tomato.
Top with a basil leave and if desired some salt and pepper.
Just before serving, drizzle Olive oil over the stacks.
Salsa Di Pomodoro Fresco (Fresh tomato basil sauce)
1/4 c. olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1c. (2-3 lg.) tomatoes, ripe, peeled and cut up into lg. dice
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Salt
Pepper
4 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 c. fresh chopped parsley
Heat oil in heavy skillet add garlic, brown and discard garlic. Reheat oil until very hot. Add tomato pieces and "sear", keep stirring. Add chopped fresh basil, salt and pepper and parsley and continue stirring. Cook for no more than 5 or 6 minutes to keep tomatoes from overcooking.
Drain fresh pasta cooked al dente. Pour tomato sauce over pasta and sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve immediately, tossing at the table before dishing out.
Garden Fresh Tomato Soup
2 large ripe tomatoes, halved crosswise and seeded
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil or cilantro leaves
1 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
1tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Using a grater over a wide bowl, hold the rounded side of a tomato half and rub the cut side against the large holes of the grater until all that remains is the skin; discard the skin. Repeat with remaining tomato halves. Stir sherry vinegar into the tomato soup and season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.
Sir the soup well and ladle into chilled shallow bowls. Drizzle each serving with ½ teaspoon of olive oil and sprinkle the basil and chives on top. Serve immediately.
Serves 4
White Bean and Tomato Salad
Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce can) white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup (2-3) tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/3 cup minced parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 tsp. each basil, thyme, and oregano
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Check it out! Heather found these sites to be helpful when preparing this week’s harvest guide:
www.seasonalchef.com – This site focuses on local, seasonal produce, has interesting recipes, and also gives tips on preserving!
www.whfoods.org – This site is great if you’re interested in the nutritional benefits of food. Very informative!!
Tomatoes
The French referred to the tomato as pommes d'amour, or love apples, as they thought them to have stimulating aphrodisiacal properties.
In Germany they were revered as apples of paradise.
The British believed them to be poisonous. Tomatoes were grown as garden ornaments exclusively. The early New England colonists also carried this belief until 1812 when the Creoles of New Orleans showed them how tomatoes enhanced their gumbos and jambalayas. By the mid 1800's tomatoes became a popular kitchen garden cultivar in the colonies. Tomatoes were in such demand that when the cold weather of the northern states halted their production, Florida became a burgeoning center for their growth.
In 1897, soup mogul Joseph Campbell came out with condensed tomato soup, a move that set the company on the road to wealth as well as further endearing the tomato to the general public
Healthwise, ripe red tomatoes contain the antioxidant lycopene, noted for its ability to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Lycopene is an antioxidant which purportedly fights the free radicals that can interfere with normal cell growth and activity. These free radicals can potentially lead to cancer, heart disease and premature aging. Tomatoes also contain vitamin C and carotenoids, beta carotene being one of the most familiar, which are antioxidants. These offer protection from free radicals that cause premature aging, cancer, heart disease, and cataracts.
Tomatoes are also high in vitamin C (concentrated the most in the juice sacs surrounding the seeds) and contain goodly amounts of potassium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin A and vitamin B.
As a source of fiber, one medium tomato will equal one slice of whole wheat bread with a penalty of only 35 calories.
Loaded with antioxidants and high in potassium, tomatoes are one of the healthiest "vegetables" around. Another benefit--they're low in calories, about 35 for a medium tomato.
Although green tomatoes are wonderful when cooked or pickled, they should be avoided in large amounts when raw. As members of the nightshade family, when green, tomatoes contain a toxin that affects humans (same for green potatoes.)
STORAGE: Tomatoes fresh from the garden will keep quite well at room temperature for about a week, as will those organically grown from farmers' markets.
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