Farm Notes – Week 9, August 18, 2013
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Coordinator: Mike Rabinowitz: House Phone: Before 5:30. 895-2884
Farm Cell: 6 – 6:30 p.m. 749-2884 (Please note number change for farm cell.)
What if it is raining?
We had a few calls last Wednesday, wondering if we would be coming in. Yes, we’ll be there but we meet at the doors of the underpass to Science Building. This past week, we also packed in the plastic bags we buy for packing sprouts for restaurants. They are sterile and safe when weather is yucky.
Keep those messages coming. We were held up last week by a couple of late comers, but as long as it is not the same people each week, we are a little more patient.
Sorry about delay in Farm Notes; we are too busy farming and trying to get a walk-in safety tub installed to spend any time on other things. Also, the farm hosted our annual August all day workshop for Newfoundland and Labrador Writers Guild, providing lunch as well as additions to evening pot luck. Time Frame: 9 to 9. Some people come all day; others, part-day. The idea is to find a pleasant place to write and squirrel away with pen, or laptop; then join others for lunch; writing again in the afternoon; helping pull out pot luck for a great spread, a pleasant sit down dinner and reading to each other from 7 – 9:p. m. Weather and food was great and it is a pleasure to have people visit the farm this time of year.
WELCOME TO FENNELVILLE!
Well, the e gooseberries are almost over but not so the fennel. The hills are alive with fennel and fennel will continue to be the emphasis for Farm Notes this week; after fennel, read on and you will find the perfect recipe for using the sage/rosemary herb bouquet in your bag today. In fact, Mike will say that I insisted on setting up things for this recipe, even though the weather is a bit warm for soup. Soup really can be all seasons as demonstrated on Sunday when I made a parsnip-carrot, ginger soup for lunch for Writers Workshop and the Minestra de Ceci, with sage and rosemary. ( See Recipes below). Both were exquisite, even if I do say, so myself.
MEETING THE FENNEL CHALLENGE!
Sharing Fennel Recipes. This section has recipes from members and friends. We are delighted with the response to the fennel challenge.
Canadian Living Website.
As explained last week, I found a good website to start our journey with fennel. It has an introductory page which talks about which part, how to store, how to cook, etc. We tried Chicken Braised with Lemon, Fennel and Garlic/ and Fennel, Apple, Grape salad. If you were at Monday pick-up, you know Mike raved about these dishes . I think he tried to hide left overs on lower shelves of frig. They were good and we will definitely make them again, after we try a few other recipes. I chose the recipe for the Fennel, Green Bean, Mushroom Salad for Saroya and Jessica to make while we were at drop-off on Monday. Saroya is a vegetarian and Jessica is vegan. The dish was on the table when we got home. Both women said they tasted it, although it seemed untouched. Mike is not particularly fond of mushrooms, so he ate very little. Rather than try to push it again, I decided it would make a good stir. On Monday, l cut mushroom and beans into smaller pieces, stir fry sizes, added a hand full of shelled fava beans, some more fresh dill and garlic, oil and soy and served with rice. We will definitely make the stir fry version again.
FENNEL RECIPES FROM MORE SATISFIED CUSTMERS
Hi Mike and Melba,
The bag tonight was so exciting! What a great bounty this summer.
Here are the recipes I mentioned this evening. How was your fennel and fava bean dish?
Nicholas and I have been fans of the British chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for a few years now. He has a homestead and business called River Cottage – lots of good shows to look up on Youtube. His most recent book is called Veg, which we bought at Chapters 3 weeks ago. Many of the veg he uses seem to be specialties of the Organic Farm.
Our favourite recipe is the Swiss chard and new potato curry:
http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/chard-new-potato-curry/
Another one is Fennel and Goat Cheese Salad, from the same book:
2 large or 3 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed (chop and reserve fronds)
1/2 lemon
2 or 3 tablespoons canola or extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
About 1 oz/30g soft goat cheese
Remove and discard the tough outer layer of the fennel bulbs (unless they are young and fresh)
Cut the bulbs in half vertically
Using a sharp knife, slice fennel as finely as you can from tip to root
Put fennel into a large bowl, squeeze over the juice of the lemon half, trickle over the oil and add some salt and pepper
Toss everything together with your hands, then cover and set aside for 30 minutes to allow the fennel to macerate in its dressing
Taste and add more lemon, salt, pepper if you wish
Transfer to a serving dish, then crumble the cheese over the top.
Finish with a scattering of fennel fronds.
(Andrea)
FAVA AND FENNEL SALAD. Here's a recipe for a salad that really suits the current Organic Farm bags! It keeps nicely for a few days in the fridge. I would recommend making it at least a few hours before serving to let the flavors mix. (KJellrun) 2 - 3 lbs fava beans (1 1/2 - 2 c shelled beans) salt 1 small fennel bulb, sliced thin 2 oz Parmesan cheese, sliced thin 10 fresh mint leaves, sliced thin (roll them into "cigars" to facilitate slicing) 2 green onions/ scallions sliced thin olive oil 1 T lemon (or lime) juice black pepper Prepare the beans: remove from the pods and add to 2 qt. boiling salted water. Reduce heat and simmer till tender. Drain beans and plunge into ice water. When cooled, drain and remove peel. Combine beans, onions and fennel in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper and mix. Squeeze 1T lemon juice over the salad, add Parmesan and mint and toss. The recipe I found didn't specify quantity of oil - I guess it's up to personal taste. The recipe called for lemon, but I really like lime and it worked beautifully. I would use at least 2T, but, like the oil, I guess it's up to your taste...
From Michael and Carole. ( Friends who spend a month in Italy each summer).
One thing we have done is to make fennel vichyssoise, a dish we had in Paris . We don’t have a recipe. We either found a specific recipe, or adapted one, from the internet. Can’t remember which right now.
We also roast it, which is done the same as roasting almost any soft vegetable. I cut them into perhaps soup spoon size shell pieces (they are layered like an onion), coat them lightly in olive oil, sprinkle on a generous dash of pepper and roast them in the oven (at anything from 350 to about 425, depending on what else is being roasted and how fast I want them done). Alternately, you can prepare them the same way and do them on the BBQ in a barbecue wok, a simple gadget sold by places like Canadian Tire, for $10 or $12.
Jamie Oliver has a fennel, cherry tomato and squid salad in his Italian cookbook that is wonderful (although I use shrimp instead of squid as I don’t like the latter). Carole can copy the recipe for you (I’m not at home now) but you can actually use it in any salad. The key is to slice the fennel incredibly thin, which cuts the licorice taste so it’s not overwhelming. You also chop the fronds and add them like any other herb. Hope this helps. Michael.
WHO IS READING FARM NOTES?
I was surprised last week when a couple of people asked how to use the gooseberries. I think this means that people are not reading Farm Notes. The main reason for writing Farm Notes is for sharing recipes and encouraging people to try things that are not familiar and more importantly for our Veggie Coop members to share recipes with each other. Last week, I spend the biggest part of the day, organizing ideas about recipes as I imagined that people would be scratching their head wondering what to do with fennel, again. And, the gooseberries! You will find recipes and suggestions for these and more in Farm Notes. Go to Organic Farm Website and click on Farm Notes.
Melba Rabinowitz
August, 2013
