Monday, June 23, 2014

CSA Share #3, Tuesday June 24th, 2014


What You’re Getting: 
Standard Shares:
1 bunch swiss chard
1 head lettuce
1 bunch hakurei summer turnips
½ lb salad mix
2 heads pac choi
1 kohlrabi
1 bunch garlic chives

Family Shares: 
1 bunch swiss chard
1 bunch kale
2 heads lettuce
2 bunches hakurei summer turnips
½ lb salad mix
2 heads pac choi
2 kohlrabi
1 bunch garlic chives
 

Farm News:

Happy Solstice! Now that summer is officially here, harvests and markets are getting busier and busier. Although many of our crops are still behind from the cold spring, things have really picked up as the warm weather continues.
Our major planting projects are done, and we are settling into our routines for the summer season. We will continue to seed and plant our successional crops such as salad and lettuce, and we will seed our fall crops of carrots, beets, cabbage, broccoli and more over the next few weeks.
Enjoy! See you next week!
Christa, Mike, and Lizzy

Recipes:

How to eat: Garlic Chives
            Also known as garlic leeks or chinese chives, these flat leaved chives have a garlicky flavor that can add dimension to many of your favorite dishes. Often used in Asian cooking, they can be used anywhere you might usually use chives, or be stir-fried with other vegetables or meat. One of our new favorites!

Stir-Fried Garlic Chives with Eggs
    1 bunch garlic chives
    1/4 cup cooking oil or fat
    4 eggs
    Salt and pepper to taste

    Wash and dry the chives. Cut into sections 1 inch long and set aside.
    Place a wok (Or other type of pan, if a wok is unavailable) over high heat and heat until almost smoking. Swirl in 2 tablespoons of the oil. Crack the eggs into the wok and stir around with a spatula. Add salt and pepper to taste. When the eggs are nearly cooked in large, fluffy curds (about 30 seconds), remove from the heat.
    Reheat the wok over high heat and heat until almost smoking. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of the oil. Toss in the chives and stir-fry for 20 seconds to a minute. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the eggs back into the wok and mix with the chives. Plate and serve immediately.

From: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/04/seriously-asian-stir-fried-chinese-chives-with-eggs-recipe.html

Sauteed Swiss Chard with Lemon and Butter

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pinch dry crushed red pepper
1 bunch swiss chard, stems and leaves cut into 1/2-inch-wide pieces
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt

Melt butter and oil in heavy large pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper. Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add swiss chard; stir to coat. Cover and cook until tender (stirring occasionally) about 8 minutes. Squeeze juice from 1/2 lemon onto chard. Season to taste with salt.

Other recipes to try this week:

            Here are some recipes that look great, but I haven’t tested yet. If you try them let me know how they are!
Lettuce Soup:
Stir-Fried Lettuce
Fresh Mozzarella and Roasted Kohlrabi Crostini with Crispy Lemons and Shallots

Monday, June 16, 2014

CSA Share #2, Tuesday June 17th, 2014

What You’re Getting:

Standard Share:
1 bunch kale
1 head lettuce
1 bunch hakurei summer turnips
1 bunch radishes
1 head pac choi
1 bunch baby carrots
1 kohlrabi

 
Family Share:
1 bunch kale
1 head napa cabbage
2 heads lettuce
2 bunches hakurei summer turnips
1 bunch radishes
2 heads pac choi
2 bunches baby carrots
2 kohlrabi

Farm News:

Happy Father’s Day! We hope you all got to spend a relaxing day with the Dads in your lives. Mike spent with day with the kids while I took our goods up to Bar Harbor for our weekly farmer’s market there.
Summer is here (almost, anyway!) and the plants are starting to respond to the warming soil with more growth and production. Our crew is out everyday working hard to get things seeded, transplanted, weeded and otherwise healthy for you. This year we have 4 apprentices, our biggest crew ever. With their help we’ve gotten all of the important planting projects in for 2014 and we’re moving into the time of year better known as weeding season with a good handle on things.
Enjoy! See you next week!
Christa, Mike, and Lizzy

Recipes:

How to eat: Kohlrabi (Light green bulb with long leaves)
Ok, last year we got way too carried away and gave our CSA WAY too much kohlrabi, so we promise to cut it way down for 2014… you’ll only be getting it twice.
Peel the touch skin to expose the crisp, juicy bulb beneath. SO good grated into coleslaw or sliced thin to dip in sauces… or just eat it whole, like an apple.

How to eat: Hakurei Summer Turnips
These are SO different from storage turnips that you may be used to. Juicy, tender and slightly sweet, they are meant to be eaten raw. The greens can also be used in salads!

Easy-Peasy Hakurei-Kohlrabi Tuna Pasta Salad

1 bulb kohlrabi
2 large hakurei turnips
2 cans chunk light tuna fish, drained
½ lb spaghetti, cooked
¼ lb salad mix
3 T mayonnaise
1 T rice vinegar (or balsamic, if you prefer)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Peel kohlrabi and wash turnips. Dice finely. Combine vegetables in small mixing bowl with tuna, mayonnaise, vinegar, and ground black pepper to taste. If you don’t like mayo, try using an Italian salad dressing instead.
Arrange salad mix on two plates.  Place pasta over salad, and tuna mixture over pasta. Light and delicious!

  Kale, Radish and Avacado salad

    1 medium bunch kale (any type), shredded
    1 avocado, pitted and flesh removed
    1 lemon, juiced
    ½ medium onion, red or yellow, thinly sliced
    ½ bunch radishes, sliced thinly
    ½  tsp sea salt (optional)
   Seed and spice blend:
    1/4 cup sunflower seeds
    1/4 cup sesame seeds
    1 T nutritional yeast
    1 teaspoon chili powder
    1/2 tbsp ground cumin
    1/2 tbsp onion granules

In mixing bowl combine the kale, avocado and lemon juice. With your hands, press to cream the avocado until thoroughly mixed. Mix in the onions and some of the radishes, reserving a bit of the radishes for garnish.

Finish with sea salt as an option. Sprinkle with seed and spice blend.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

CSA Share #1, Tuesday June 10th, 2014


What You’re Getting:

Standard Shares:

2 heads Pac Choi (Bok Choy)
2 bunches radishes
1 small head broccoli
1 small bunch carrots

Family Shares:

3 heads Pac Choi (Bok Choy)
2 bunches radishes
1 small head broccoli
1 bunch kale
2 small bunches carrots


Farm News:

It’s that wonderful time of the year again…. CSA season!
We are so glad you’ve joined us this season, and we hope you enjoy every bit of the veggies you receive in your CSA bags. If you ever need some ideas on how to prepare anything, don’t hesitate to check out our blog at bahnerfarm.blogspot.com for a list of hundreds of recipes by vegetable.
So far our spring is going well here – The frost we got a few weeks ago didn’t kill the tomato plants, and everything is recovering from the cold April and May temps. We are a few weeks behind, but if the weather stays this warm we’ll be catching up fast!

Enjoy!
Christa, Mike, and Lizzy

Recipes:

Roasted Radishes with their Greens

People seem to be on one side of the fence or the other with radishes, but if you’ve never liked them, this dish has changed many minds! The roasted radishes are juicy and slightly sweet… not spicy!

    2 bunches medium radishes
    1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
    Coarse kosher salt
    2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
    1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice


Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush large heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Cut off all but 1/2 inch of green radish tops; reserve trimmed tops and rinse them well, checking for grit. Coarsely chop radish tops and set aside. Cut radishes lengthwise in half and place in medium bowl. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and toss thoroughly to coat. Place radishes, cut side down, on prepared baking sheet; sprinkle lightly with coarse salt. Roast until radishes are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. Season to taste with more coarse kosher salt, if desired.

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add pinch of coarse kosher salt to skillet and cook until butter browns, swirling skillet frequently to keep butter solids from burning, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in fresh lemon juice.

Transfer roasted radishes to warmed shallow serving bowl and drizzle brown butter over. Sprinkle with chopped radish tops and serve.
From Bon Appetit, April 2011

Pac Choi and Garlic Sausage Stir Fry

Pac choi, 2 heads
1 medium onion
1-2 inches hot pepper
½ cup vegetable oil
1/2 lb garlic sausage
Ginger (a piece about as big as your thumb)
Soy sauce

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Dice the onion and add to hot oil. Add minced ginger, minced hot pepper, and sausage. Sautee, stirring every few minutes, until sausage is cooked through. In the meantime, chop pac choi into large chunks and rinse in cool water. Shake off water, and add to dish with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Cook for about one minute, or until leafy portions are wilted and lightly cooked, while the stem portions remain juicy.

If you’re not a sausage fan, this recipe also works well with crispy fried tofu.

Serve over rice. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.