FARM NOTES: Week 2: July 6 – 12, 2014
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Coordinator: Mike Rabinowitz: House Phone: Before 5:30. 895-2884
Mike’s Cell: 6 – 6:30. 749-0561.
Please note: The Cell Phone is on loan from our daughter. Number will not be the same next week.
Our apologies to returning members, who have already learned this mantra! Mike sends an e-mail reminder to everyone the evening before. The List of veggies that are in the bag for a particular week will be posted on the Website before pick-up and on the delivery vehicle window and bulletin board next to chill room on Farm. Any questions, let us know.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON`T PICK-UP.
When Mike arrives at pick-up, he has already put in a full-day. The first week or two he will try to contact people who are not there by 6:30 and wait for late comers. However, delays at drop-off, interferes with the other things he need to do that evening – so, please, set up your own reminders, whether it is a text message from your teen-ager. a call from your mother-in-law or a pop-up on your Google calender. From pick-up, Mike goes on to aquarena for a short work-out before coming home for supper and dropping in his recliner for a rest. From there, he is back at it, in his office upstairs, returning e-mails to Veggie Coop members who didn’t make it, writing work plans for employees for next day and, maybe if he is lucky, taking care of other business.
We will wait in case of emergency, but not if being fifteen minutes late is a way of life. In general, the rule is, if we don’t hear from you before 6:30, we take your veggies back to the farm chill room. E-mail or call to let us know when you are coming. Usually, this works out well. By the time, Mike gets back home and checks his e-mail, this or that person has dashed off the reason for missing the pick up and when they plan to come to farm to get their orphaned vegetables.
What happens to Orphaned Vegetables?. If we do not hear from you by e-mail or farm phone (895-2884, please leave a message if no one answers), we will make plans to pass the veggies along to others who will appreciate the food while it is still fresh. This season, a person is assigned to make sure the vegetables have a good home, so they are not wasted.
WHAT`S IN THE BAG?
Snow peas, green onions, green garlic, lettuce or salad mix and surprises.
RECIPES AND OTHER TID-BITS!
When you join the Veggie Coop, the Farm Notes will convey much more information than you really need to know, especially when Melba (Alias, the Little Red Hen) has time to pass along tales, gossip and recipes. To spare those who only want recipes and bare bones information, we will also try to post recipes on Website for future reference.
SAMPLE TID BIT ! The Inside Scoop on Snow Peas.
Mike is pleased how the snow peas are growing in new Geo-thermal greenhouse; if you visit, you may want to take time to walk to back, to new large greenhouse and take a peek. In past years, when we grew peas on harbours outdoors, we only had enough for one group one week and for the other group, the next week. We are also growing peas outdoors as well. Regardless of how many peas of various kinds are available, they will not be enough. As soon as people know they are available, the e-mails will start coming in, explaining how for this child or that child, fresh snow peas may the only vegetable they will eat. If you want an extra bag at tail gate sales, remember it is small and it is expensive. That is why we use them sparingly in our family dishes; in fact, even though the pickers may have to taste one or two, as they go along, those that get to the house are reserved for salads and stir fries.
Over the Sink Please!
This is something I usually suggest early in the season, especially for new members. It is best to hold the bag over the sink and take out your veggies in a way that any unsuspecting insect will fall into the sink, instead of scurrying across the counter top to hid under the toaster. Chinese cabbage is a luxury hotel for insects and head lettuce is a lower class motel. Although we keep the fields clear of weeds, which is the best way to guard against monumental insect damage in an organic garden, once an insect had found a home to snuggle into and have a good snack, they may decide to have children to take advantage of the good accommodations. You may also find small earth worms nestled in the folds and lower sleeves of brassicas. If you have a compost, add them to the compost; if not, try placing them outdoors near a damp, dark place. These little creatures are part of natures clean up crew. Please return to a natural habitat so they can continue their important role.
STARTING OVER! RECIPES FOR EARLY SEASON.
Braising Mix or Fried salad?
I grew up in Tennessee, where greens, both wild and farm grown was considered a staple, much like Newfoundland; our greens were always boiled and seasoned with meat, usually ham or bacon. Turnip greens were served on a shallow platter, encircled with boiled eggs cut in half, set in the centre table with a small bottle of vinegar, some home made hot pepper sauce and the salt/pepper shakers. After our greens were on the plate, we sprinkled with chipped up eggs, splashed with vinegar, etc. This along with corn bread and a heaping plate of sliced ripe tomatoes from Mom’s Garden could make a meal, especially lunch. For dinner, the greens might be a side dish along with fried chicken or baked ham and pones of crisp, fresh baked cornbread. For the record, my Mom made fresh baked biscuits, dozens each morning, not only for molasses or honey, but also to clutch ham or sausage which we often put into lunch pails for my brothers and Dad. She made yeast breads, buns and pineapple rolls on Sundays.
Braising Mix was a new dish for me. That’s why we began carefully following recipes such as the one from Emily Sokowe, Farm Notes, Week 1. Today, in our kitchen, Braising Mix will be a mixture of many things, seasoned many ways and served as a main dish or side dish. In fact, this week, we may clip in some green garlic with scissors, if we didn’t use it all in the omelet this morning. Mike and Fumiko sometimes use braising mix as a salad. They both really enjoy it.
JAMIE’S RECIPE FOR GREENS.
Stove Top: Collards or Kale.
From: Jamie Parsons/ Veggie-Coop Member August, 2012
Here is a great recipe for Kale or Collards. It is from the cookbook “How To Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman
2 TBSP of Olive Oil
2 or 3 cloves of garlic minced
250 t0 500g of collards, kale, or Swiss Chard – washed and chopped
1 / 4 cup of chicken stock
3 TBSP of Tahini
Salt and pepper to taste
2 TBSP of Lemon Juice
Heat Olive oil in pan; add garlic until tender and golden but not brown. Add collars, kale or Swiss Chard, stock, tahini, salt and pepper. Cook covered for about 5 minutes.
Remove lid and reduce heat… adding more stock if it looks dry. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Serve
Wilting Greens Salad
A couple of years ago, we got this e-mail from another Veggie Coop Member.
“ So I was quite famished by the time my husband and I rushed home for my new addiction – fresh salad mix with apples, cheese and red onions.
I whipped it together, fried some rice and enjoyed the oddest tasting but most delicious salad . It had a bite to it and is was very crisp. About half way through, my husband and I realized we had made a great salad out of the wilting greens. It was a hit!
I can’t wait to try the real salad tomorrow as intended. ( Cheers/ Maggie Keiley)
EGGS IN A NEST
Source: Animal, Vegetable and Miracle by Barbara Kinsolver. Harper Collins, Publishers, 2007. This is a first for us, easy and will accommodate different kind of vegetables and greens. We used five eggs and it made good portions for five.
2 cups uncooked brown rice. Cook rice with 4 cups pot of water in a covered pot while other ingredients are being prepared.
Olive Oil – a few tablespoons
1 medium onion, chopped and garlic to taste. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil in a wide skilled until lightly golden. Carrots, chopped. (1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes.) Add and saute for a few more minutes, adding just enough water to rehydrate the tomatoes.
1 really large bunch of chard, coarsely chopped.
Mix with other vegetables and cover pan for a few minutes. Uncover, stir well, then use the back of a spoon to make depressions in the cooked leaves, circling the pan like numbers on a clock.
Eggs.
Break an egg into each depression, being careful to keep yolks whole. Cover pan again and allow eggs to poach for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve over rice.
A Perfect Early Season Dinner.
Mike was reading the Kingsolver book. When I asked him if we had enough fresh broccoli for a couple of quiche for the vegetarian friends our daughter invited for dinner, he suggested this recipe, instead. I was out of brown rice and used basmati. One of the guests avoids garlic. I substituted a few sprigs of fresh dill instead. No sun fried tomatoes; used l/2 C. fresh zucchini, cubed and three or four mushrooms, thinly sliced. Other than that, I tried to follow the recipe, clipping several small green onions in first, next chipping the chard stems and adding them early with the carrots, followed a few minutes later by the zucchini; finally the chard leaves which had been made into wide, open strips. This served beautifully, poached egg in a nest of colourful greens, fresh carrot strips on individual plate along with the rice. I added fresh tomato wedges as a contrast to the greens, the eggs and carrots. A bowl of steamed broccoli/cauliflower was placed on the table along with home made bread. Salad: The salad mix spread lightly in a large wooden salad bowl, then sprinkled with Alpine strawberries and cashews. We usually serve our salad with a side dish a variety of salad fixings such as small green onions, sliced avocado, tomato wedges, fresh mandarin sections and sprouts. Later, in the evening after much conversation with the guests whom we had not seen all summer, the dishes were cleared and Mike brought out the rhubarb-strawberry ice cream he made earlier in the afternoon. Toby, our daughter, set out her chocolate brownies.
CHINESE CABBAGE. Another early season vegetable not fully appreciated by some North American folks, including me. Before we started growing Chinese Cabbage, my main experienced was seeing it in box stores, usually heads slashed down the middle, sometimes a bit brown where it was cut or in Farmers Markets in Berkeley or North Carolina.
It Goes A Long Way, Baby! , Steamed is the easiest the way to serve Chinese Cabbage. However, when it is in season, it is abundant – and then, it is gone, so, we usually have Chinese Cabbage one way or another almost every day in season. After you have tried Chinese Cabbage in stir fries, a sweet and sour soup, layered with other veggies dribbled with olive oil and roasted on high heat in the oven and tossed with Chinese pasta, why not try making Cole slaw and/or Mock Cabbage Rolls.
Chinese Cabbage Cole Slaw? In Tennessee, various forms of Cole slaw were much more popular than green salads; few summer meals would be without Cole slaw. My mom’s recipe for Cole Slaw was three ingredients – cabbage, fresh ripe tomatoes and onions; no grated carrots and certainly not raisins or poppy seeds. I choose the largest bowl I have in the kitchen, filling it with thinly sliced, Chinese cabbage strips, cut crosswise, then added three or four tomatoes, thinly sliced and chopped along with one large thinly sliced and chopped onion. The dressing is mayonnaise, vinegar, cider or white, a tablespoon of sugar, a teaspoon of salt, combined to lightly cover other ingredients. Taste; add more of whatever – probably another cap or two of vinegar, if it is too dry or too sweet. Or another tomato?
Cole Slaw/ Pork Sandwiches. Mike makes smoked pork on the barbecue. It usually lasts several days. For supper, it is served with sweet potatoes, green beans and Cole slaw. Plans for Lunch the next day – pork sandwiches with Cole slaw and baked beans which is the pairing we have in Tennessee to celebrate July 4th . . The challenge was that there was no cole slaw left; not a tablespoon except the l/2 cup I set aside in a secret place for Mike’s mid-night snack. Not really a problem – A short trip to back forty and more slicing and mixing to have make the Cole Slaw for the pork sandwiches. .
Mock Cabbage Rolls .When I was Director of Daybreak Parent Child Centre, a service for children with special needs and their families, we offered a weekly cooking program, using the kitchen in the parent centre. The idea was to bring in recipes that the women might like to use with their families, so they could taste it for themselves. When we finished, we sat together for a quiet meal, sharing ideas about cooking and parenting. We made all kind of things, but, usually started our cooking program each fall with dishes which using ingredients that were already familiar such as cabbage rolls. Instead of making actual cabbage rolls which would take more time, the women made a casserole, with layers of cabbage leaves, rice, seasoned ground beef, and tomato sauce. Everything was cooked separately in advance; the cabbage was steamed, the rice and meat prepared separately, then layered in the casserole. First cabbage, then a first layer of rice, then meat, more cabbage leaves and tomato sauce on top. It was certainly a hit among the women, some of whom had never cooked rice from scratch.
Back In the Family Kitchen. A few days ago, I adapted this idea with the Chinese cabbage, using European Style Italian Sausage. I started with several layers of steamed cabbage because it is so thin; next cooked rice, then thick Italian Sausages that had been braised in a hot skillet. These were put together closely, to make a single continuous layer almost like a meat loaf, then topped with more steamed cabbage leaves and finally topped with tomato sauce or your favourite pasta sauce. I was in a hurry and just opened a jar of basil, organic tomato pasta sauce. Slip into oven at 350 degrees about 45 minutes, until sauce has oozed down toward bottom and is bubbly. Sound Good? It was. I could close my eyes and imagine the real thing – European Cabbage rolls at Wolfie’s Restaurant in North Miami where we used to have dinner with Mike’s folks many years ago. .
PLEASE SEND ALONG RECIPES OR IDEAS. THIS MAKES THINGS MORE INTERESTING FOR THE LITTLE RED HEN AND RESIDENT COOK!
Written from Family Home in Tennessee
July, 2014
