Spoutwood Farm CSA Harvest Guide: Week 12: August 30, 2007

Greetings, Spoutwood Farm friends! Welcome to the twelfth week of our CSA Harvest season. Although we are still firmly in our Summer season, weather-wise and vegetable-wise, those with eyes to see can easily detect hints of Autumn on the way: from the occasional leaves spinning down from the roadside trees, to the kids returning to school, the birds flocking on telephone lines and geese honking overhead, the fact that it’s finally, blessedly, cooling off a bit more at night, and to the fact that those nights are getting longer, the days shortening.
In two more days it’ll be September, the start of “meteorological autumn” (meteorologists figure the seasons as running September - November: Autumn; December - February: Winter; March - May: Spring; June - August: Summer – a scheme that actually makes a good deal of sense). We celebrate by including in our shares a veggie often associated with Autumn or Winter: Leeks, which are our vegetable of the week for this 12th week of the harvest season. We may miss Summer’s longer days and seemingly slower pace, but in fact, Autumn and Winter are traditionally times of slowing down, taking stock, and focusing inward on those aspects of our lives which Summer’s round of outdoor activities can cause us to forget. Every season has its gifts, every transition its own beauty. Enjoy this one, as we begin to move from Summer toward Fall. 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 inter-active 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. Enjoy! But first, a few notes on upcoming events...

Special Note: Mother Earth Harvest Fair

It’s not too soon to start thinking about the Mother Earth Harvest Fair, to be held here at Spoutwood on the weekend of September 29th and 30th, from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The MEHF is a celebration and showcase of “green,” sustainable, and healthy/balanced living in the Chesapeake Bay bioregion. We are looking for shareholders to man (or woman) our CSA booth, perform demonstrations and provide examples of CSA Cookery and
Preserving the Harvest, and one particularly gifted individual to become CSA Booth/Country Kitchen “Czar” (coordinator) – see detailed description, below. Hours worked apply to your CSA hours!

Farm Happenings

Hail to the Czar!

We are very pleased to announce that we have a CSA Booth/Country Kitchen Czar (Czarina): our wonderful shareholder Heather Woodward has kindly volunteered to fill that slot. Yaaaaaay, Heather!!!

Vegetable of the Week

Leek

(Latin: Allium Poorum)
Leeks have been cultivated since at least 3000 BC. They are native to the broad region
stretching from Israel to India. Relished throughout Europe, they have been cultivated for
so long that their beginnings are uncertain. Phoenician traders introduced the leek to
Wales when they engaged in the tin trade in the British Isles.
Legend has it that in 640 AD the Briton King Cadwaller was sorely pressed by invading
Saxons. To distinguish themselves from the enemy, the Welsh wore leeks in their hats
and subsequently gained great victory over their enemies. Since that time the Welsh have
proudly eaten and worn the vegetable as a matter of national pride.
Take a closer look at the tender scene in Shakespeare’s King Henry V when Fluellen
turns to the victorious young Hal: “Your majesties is remembered of it, the Welshman
did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth
caps, which, your majesty know, to this hour is an honorable badge of the service; and I
do believe your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy’s day.” (Act IV,
Scene7).
Nero was said to eat leeks every day in the belief that they would maintain the clarity of
his voice. The French have long described leeks as “the asparagus of the poor,” and it is
fitting that one of her proudest chefs, Louis Diat, would create an internationally famous
leek soup based on the “poor people” soup of his predecessor Parmentier (see, All About
Potatoes). Vichyssoise, to the surprise of nearly everyone, was created on American
shores at the turn of the century in New York City’s Ritz Carlton Hotel. Chef Diat recalls
in Cooking a la Ritz a hot soup of leeks and potatoes that his mother used to make: “But
in summer, when the soup seemed to be too hot, we asked for milk with which to cool it.
Many years later, it was this memory which gave me the inspiration to make the soup
which I have named Crème Vichyssoise.”
Leeks fall into the same family as chives, onions and garlic. Leeks, unlike many other
vegetables, can withstand cold temperatures. Good quality leeks will have bright white
bulb-ends with dark green leaves. They will be straight, thick-leafed and very crisp. They
are harvested in the fall up until November and again in the spring. Leeks have a flavor
much like onion though more delicate and sweet.
Leeks must be fully cooked before eating. A most favorite way of eating leeks is in a stirfry
or a soup. Here is a food prep tip: Leeks can catch soil in their leaf layers during the
growth process. Simply cut off green leaf ends and root end. Slice leek longwise from
leaf to root and rinse folds under water.
Nutrition:
Leeks are high in Manganese, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin A & B6, Iron.
Like their other allium vegetable family members, leeks can reduce cholesterol, reduce
the risk of cancer (prostate and colon in leeks case) and reduce blood pressure.
Leeks have the nutritional content that supports stability of the human blood sugar level.
Ancient Greeks and Romans used leeks medicinally to clear the throat and to make the
voice stronger.
Leeks are high in oxalates that can crystallize if too concentrated in the body. Those
people prone to kidney or gallbladder problems should avoid leeks. Oxillates can
interfere with calcium absorption; therefore, people trying to increase calcium intake
might well avoid leeks.





	Spoutwood Farm CSA Harvest Guide: Week 12: August 30, 2007 To return to the 2007 Harvest Guide page, click here Farm News Today's Harvest Recipes of the Week Farm Happenings Vegetable of the Week Farm News Greetings, Spoutwood Farm friends! Welcome to the twelfth week of our CSA Harvest season. Although we are still firmly in our Summer season, weather-wise and vegetable-wise, those with eyes to see can easily detect hints of Autumn on the way: from the occasional leaves spinning down from the roadside trees, to the kids returning to school, the birds flocking on telephone lines and geese honking overhead, the fact that it’s finally, blessedly, cooling off a bit more at night, and to the fact that those nights are getting longer, the days shortening. In two more days it’ll be September, the start of “meteorological autumn” (meteorologists figure the seasons as running September - November: Autumn; December - February: Winter; March - May: Spring; June - August: Summer – a scheme that actually makes a good deal of sense). We celebrate by including in our shares a veggie often associated with Autumn or Winter: Leeks, which are our vegetable of the week for this 12th week of the harvest season. We may miss Summer’s longer days and seemingly slower pace, but in fact, Autumn and Winter are traditionally times of slowing down, taking stock, and focusing inward on those aspects of our lives which Summer’s round of outdoor activities can cause us to forget. Every season has its gifts, every transition its own beauty. Enjoy this one, as we begin to move from Summer toward Fall. 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 inter-active 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. Enjoy! But first, a few notes on upcoming events... Special Note: Mother Earth Harvest Fair It’s not too soon to start thinking about the Mother Earth Harvest Fair, to be held here at Spoutwood on the weekend of September 29th and 30th, from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The MEHF is a celebration and showcase of “green,” sustainable, and healthy/balanced living in the Chesapeake Bay bioregion. We are looking for shareholders to man (or woman) our CSA booth, perform demonstrations and provide examples of CSA Cookery and Preserving the Harvest, and one particularly gifted individual to become CSA Booth/Country Kitchen “Czar” (coordinator) – see detailed description, below. Hours worked apply to your CSA hours! Today's Harvest Tomatoes: Rich with flavor and health benefits, tomatoes are one of the true joys of summer. Ours continue to produce prolifically. In fact, this week’s harvest may be a Spoutwood Farm record! We picked over 1,100 this week, not including cherries. Plenty to eat fresh or “put up” for later! Several varieties of reds and yellows, plus Green Zebras, Brandywines (the large flattened ones with a pinkish hue) and Sungold cherries. Squash: What would summer be without summer squash? Zucchini is pretty much done for the season, but select from yellow crookneck, and two types of patty-pan. Delicious! Enjoy them now, as their peak season is drawing to a close. Leeks: Native to a wide swatch of Eurasia, leeks are particularly closely associated with the British Isles. A member of the allium family like onions and garlic, leeks are our vegetable of the week. Green Peppers: Another classic summer vegetable: enjoy our Spoutwood Farm green bell peppers in many dishes. 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. Select from Italian-style, Oriental (long and thin), and “Beatrice” – an Italian type also, with a pink-violet complection. Basil: A delicious and fragrant herb – add to pasta sauces, make a fresh tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad (toss in olive oil), or blend your own 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. Oregano: The herb most closely associated with pasta sauce and other forms of Italian cooking, oregano is a popular flavoring in Mediterranean cooking generally. Use fresh or dried, but sparingly: its flavor can be overwhelming in large doses. Bread: For those with bread shares, we continue our wonderful selection of artisanal bread from Atwaters in Baltimore. Flowers: This week’s bouquet will include a potpourri of wild and cultivated blossoms, including flowering basil and mint. Recipes of the Week Baked Leeks 2 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups skim milk 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder salt and pepper, to taste 4 medium leeks, halved lengthwise Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9x12 inch baking pan. Melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk and cheese until cheese is melted. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat. Arrange the leeks in a single layer in the prepared pan and cover with the cheese sauce. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until leeks are tender and sauce is bubbly. Leek and Kale Pie 3 Tablespoons Olive oil 2 medium or 1 large Leeks 1 bunch kale 1/2 c Cheddar cheese or other hard cheese, grated 1/2 lb white fish (or use canned tuna in oil or water) Herbs (your choice) 1 c Béchamel sauce 3 tb Parmesan cheese, grated 1 9" savory pie shell, pre-baked (leave sugar out of a sweet pastry shell, then bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees) Preheat oven to 375 F. Sauté leek and kale in olive oil. Sprinkle cheese onto pie shell. Spread leek and kale evenly in the pie shell. Meanwhile, cut the fish into chunks; simmer in water and herbs. (or skip this step and use drained canned tuna) Drain. Mix with the béchamel sauce and pour into pie shell, covering the kale and leek mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake in oven for 25 minutes. Here's a recipe for béchamel sauce: Béchamel Sauce 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 cups milk 1 small onion studded with 2 Or 3 cloves, optional 1 small bay leaf dash dried leaf thyme, crumbled salt and white pepper to taste nutmeg, to taste In a medium heavy saucepan, melt butter over low heat. When butter starts to foam, add the flour all at once, mixing well with a wooden spoon. Cook over low heat 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly to incorporate and cook flour. Remove pan from heat and let stand, up to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, scald milk (heating it until just below boiling point). Return saucepan with roux to medium-low heat. Add all of the scalded milk at once (to avoid the formation of lumps). Simmer, stirring gently with a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Add studded onion, bay leaf and thyme sprig. Cook, stirring, over low heat, 15 to 20 minutes, until smooth and thickened. Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer. Add salt, white pepper and nutmeg to taste. Makes about 2 cups. From "Nancy Enright's Canadian Herb Cookbook" by Nancy Enright. Leek Tartare adapted from "Happy in the Kitchen," by Michel Richard, as written in the LA Times 4 medium leeks 1 shallot, minced (I'll use green onions or something else since I rarely have shallots in my kitchen) 1/4 cup olive oil 2 T red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 T mayonnaise 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 2 Tablespoons fresh chives (or chopped parsley or green onion tops) 3 drops Tabasco 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/3 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste, who has a 1/2 teaspoon measure!?) Prepare leeks by cutting off the dark green tops and the root ends. (you can wash these and use them in stock if you like.) Cut leeks in half lengthwise, and finish up cleaning them by making sure there's no hidden dirt. Place each half cut side down and slice crosswise into 1 inch pieces. Steam leek pieces for about 8 minutes, or until they are bright and almost translucent. Spread the leeks evenly on a baking sheet, and place in the refrigerator until cool, about 15 minutes. When they're cool, chop them up until they are a mushy consistency. (I might try a few pulses in a food processor, but the recipe didn't 'ok' that method...) Place them on a double layer of cheese cloth or clean kitchen towel, and wring out the excess water. Combine leeks, shallot, and olive oil in a medium bowl. Stir in the vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, sugar, ginger, chives (or parsley!), Tabasco, and S & P. Mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve in with toast, crackers, crostini, or as a topping or bedding for chicken or fish. (this is Julia's serving suggestions, the LA Times and Chef Richard suggest using a mold on individual plates etc.) Serves 3. per serving: 273 calories, 2 grams protein, 2 grams fiber, 22 grams fat, 477 grams sodium Potato Leek Soup large leeks, cut lengthwise, separate, clean. Use only the white and pale green parts, chop. 2 Tbsp butter 2 cups water 2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option) 2 lbs potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch pieces Salt & Pepper Marjoram - dash Tabasco sauce or other red chili sauce 1 Cook leeks in butter with salt and pepper in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover pan, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check often. Do not brown leeks! Browning will give leeks a burnt taste. 2 Add water, broth, and potatoes. Cook for 20 minutes. Scoop about half of the soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to pan. Add dash of marjoram and chili sauce to taste - about 1/4 teaspoon. Serves 4-6. Tom adds: Given my Scots ancestry (MacLaine of Lochbuie on my mother’s side, a Borderman of Selkirk on my father’s), I couldn’t help including this classic recipe, from the website http://www.soupsong.com/rcockale.html: Cock-a-Leekie Soup (Scotland) A fine and traditional Scots appetite stimulant to solid fare. As early as 1598 Fynes Morrison recorded that it was served at a Knight's house with boiling fowl (thus the "cock") and prunes. By the late 18th century, French statesman and gastronome Charles Maurice de Talleyrand opined that the prunes should be cooked with the soup but removed before serving. Ultimately they were removed from the recipe altogether. Sir Walter Scott in St. Ronan's Well cannot help exclaiming: "Such were the cock-a-leekie and the savoury minced collops...." Serve hot to 4-6 people. * 6 leeks, sliced into half moons after cutting away the roots and dark green and washing * 1 teaspoon salt * 5 cups strong chicken stock * 3 Tablespoons butter (even better, chicken fat) * 1/2 cup whipping cream * salt and pepper to taste Garnish: optional: julienne of prunes (which a reader assures me is still traditional) Bring the stock to a boil, add leeks, then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Whisk in butter (or fat) and season. Stir in the cream (and prunes) at the end, ladle into bowls, and serve immediately. Farm Happenings Hail to the Czar! We are very pleased to announce that we have a CSA Booth/Country Kitchen Czar (Czarina): our wonderful shareholder Heather Woodward has kindly volunteered to fill that slot. Yaaaaaay, Heather!!! Vegetable of the Week Leek (Latin: Allium Poorum) Leeks have been cultivated since at least 3000 BC. They are native to the broad region stretching from Israel to India. Relished throughout Europe, they have been cultivated for so long that their beginnings are uncertain. Phoenician traders introduced the leek to Wales when they engaged in the tin trade in the British Isles. Legend has it that in 640 AD the Briton King Cadwaller was sorely pressed by invading Saxons. To distinguish themselves from the enemy, the Welsh wore leeks in their hats and subsequently gained great victory over their enemies. Since that time the Welsh have proudly eaten and worn the vegetable as a matter of national pride. Take a closer look at the tender scene in Shakespeare’s King Henry V when Fluellen turns to the victorious young Hal: “Your majesties is remembered of it, the Welshman did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps, which, your majesty know, to this hour is an honorable badge of the service; and I do believe your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy’s day.” (Act IV, Scene7). Nero was said to eat leeks every day in the belief that they would maintain the clarity of his voice. The French have long described leeks as “the asparagus of the poor,” and it is fitting that one of her proudest chefs, Louis Diat, would create an internationally famous leek soup based on the “poor people” soup of his predecessor Parmentier (see, All About Potatoes). Vichyssoise, to the surprise of nearly everyone, was created on American shores at the turn of the century in New York City’s Ritz Carlton Hotel. Chef Diat recalls in Cooking a la Ritz a hot soup of leeks and potatoes that his mother used to make: “But in summer, when the soup seemed to be too hot, we asked for milk with which to cool it. Many years later, it was this memory which gave me the inspiration to make the soup which I have named Crème Vichyssoise.” Leeks fall into the same family as chives, onions and garlic. Leeks, unlike many other vegetables, can withstand cold temperatures. Good quality leeks will have bright white bulb-ends with dark green leaves. They will be straight, thick-leafed and very crisp. They are harvested in the fall up until November and again in the spring. Leeks have a flavor much like onion though more delicate and sweet. Leeks must be fully cooked before eating. A most favorite way of eating leeks is in a stirfry or a soup. Here is a food prep tip: Leeks can catch soil in their leaf layers during the growth process. Simply cut off green leaf ends and root end. Slice leek longwise from leaf to root and rinse folds under water. Nutrition: Leeks are high in Manganese, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin A & B6, Iron. Like their other allium vegetable family members, leeks can reduce cholesterol, reduce the risk of cancer (prostate and colon in leeks case) and reduce blood pressure. Leeks have the nutritional content that supports stability of the human blood sugar level. Ancient Greeks and Romans used leeks medicinally to clear the throat and to make the voice stronger. Leeks are high in oxalates that can crystallize if too concentrated in the body. Those people prone to kidney or gallbladder problems should avoid leeks. Oxillates can interfere with calcium absorption; therefore, people trying to increase calcium intake might well avoid leeks.

	If you have comments or suggestions about this website, please send email to:
	blacksmith@spoutwood.com
	and we will hammer things out.
	Home - About Us - Education - CSA - Observatory - Events - Contact
	©2006 Spoutwood Farm, Inc.