This Week's Delivery Saturday March 13, 2010

"Why not indulge yourself in this season’s best? It won’t be around forever."


Ten Reasons To Eat Local Food

Store in the Fridge:
Cherry Glen Goat Cheese -Chevre- 8oz
Medium White Mushrooms - Mother Earth Mushrooms
Green Cabbage - Path Valley Farms
Parsnips - Windy Knolls Farm
Jerusalem Artichokes - Windy Knolls Farm

Store In A Cool Dry Place:
Red Potatoes - Windy Knolls Farm


Local Meat:

Roseda Grass Fed Beef Stew Meat from MD
$4.49 per pound

Frozen Gunpowder Bison Chuck Roasts (around 3lbs each, perfect for stews)
$6.99 per pound

Frozen ground Gunpowder Bison in 1lb packs
$5.99 per pound

Amish Chickens from PA, Path Valley Growers
$3.99/#

Some Info:

Mushrooms:
If you can saute mushrooms, you've got lots of options
(don't panic if you don't know, just go here:)





And now that you know how, add these mushrooms, to pasta, quesadillas, scrambled eggs, tacos, soup, pizza, anything! You will never use a soggy canned or raw mushroom again! These mushrooms are really so delicious.

Parsnips

Full of starch and sweeter than its carrot cousin, this white beauty loves the cold. Cultivated since ancient times, it was considered an aphrodisiac by the Romans, used as a sweetener in the Middle Ages, and even served as the base of a beer beloved of Irish cottagers. Though not native to the United States, it has a long history here, having hitched a ride across the Atlantic with 17th-century colonists, who used it mainly as a vegetable side dish or an addition to soups and stews. Parsnips can be eaten raw, boiled, mashed, or, our favorite, honey-roasted.

Jerusalem artichokes

Who named these tubers, which are neither from Jerusalem nor look like artichokes? The most compelling theory we could dig up suggests that the name "Jerusalem" derives from girasole, the Italian word for sunflower—which makes sense, given that this native American vegetable is a member of the sunflower family. Also known as sunchoke or sun root, the sweet and nutty jerusalem artichoke does resemble an artichoke heart in taste and texture and is crunchier than a potato. They can be eaten raw, stir-fried, baked, steamed, or, as we often do, boiled for a warm salad of radicchio and bacon.

Some Recipes:

Parsnip (or other root veggie) Soup

This hearty soup (from New York City's Gramercy Tavern) can also be made with jerusalem artichokes, carrots, or a combination of root vegetables.

3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 large leek (white and light green parts only),
finely chopped and washed
5 medium parsnips, roughly chopped
10 cups milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper,
to taste
6 baby carrots, halved
6 small turnips, halved
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. unsalted butter

1. Heat oil in a 6-qt. pot over medium heat. Add the celery and leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 15 minutes. Add parsnips and milk and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until parsnips are tender, about 40 minutes.

2. Working in batches, transfer 3 cups parsnip mixture at a time to a blender. Puree until smooth. Pour mixture through a medium sieve set over a 4-qt. saucepan and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm.

3. Bring carrots, turnips, honey, and 1 cup water to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender and water has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add butter and swirl skillet to coat vegetables. Serve soup with glazed vegetables.

SERVES 6

Mushroom Ragù for Noodles

(this one seems difficult because it's wordy, but it's super easy)
from Alice Waters

Prepare Ahead: The ragù can be made 1 or 2 days ahead, then briefly reheated to top the freshly cooked noodles.

1/2 tablespoon olive oil plus additional for sautéing
1/4 large onion, peeled and finely diced (about 1 cup)
1/2 carrot, peeled and finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 stalk celery, finely diced (about 2/3 cup)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2sprigs thyme, leaves picked from stems
2sprigs parsley, leaves only, chopped
1 small bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh tomato, finely diced (we suggest canned tomatoes, they surely taste better than "fresh" this time of year)
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms
1tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus additional for sautéing
1/8 cup heavy cream or crème fraîche
1/4 cup water or chicken broth (if not vegetarian)
4ounces wide egg noodles (first choice is homemade fresh pappardelle, the classic accompaniment to such a ragù)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Freshly chopped parsley

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and salt. Cook until very tender, but regulate heat to allow little or no browning. Add the thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Cook for 1 minute and add tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.

Carefully clean and slice the mushrooms. Heat enough olive oil and butter to lightly coat a small skillet large enough to hold each batch of mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms. As they cook, the mushrooms will give off liquid; let the juices boil away or tip off the juices and set them aside (the reserved juices can be added back to the sauce later in place of some of the water or broth). Continue cooking the mushrooms until tender and lightly browned (you may need to add a little more oil or butter). Turn the batch of cooked mushrooms onto a cutting board, chop to the size of the cooked vegetables, and combine with the reserved vegetables and herbs in the larger skillet. Repeat this process for all the mushrooms. Then add the cream and water (here you can substitute reserved mushroom juices for any part of the liquid). Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Taste for salt and add as needed. Moisten with more liquid if desired, though the ragù is not intended to be soupy. Remove from the heat and reserve.

When ready to serve, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until barely tender. While the noodles cook, gently reheat the ragù. When the noodles are done cooking, drain, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the noodles to the pot and toss with the butter and cheese and enough of the cooking water to keep the noodles separate and well-coated. Spoon the noodles onto a warm serving platter or 4 individual plates. Top generously with the ragù and a sprinkle of parsley. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings

Sauteed Jerusalem Artichokes

Half a lemon
1 lb. jerusalem artichokes
Salt
1 1/2 tbsp. butter
2 t. fresh thyme leaves
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Fill a medium pot with water. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon; drop the lemon half into the water. Using a small knife, peel artichokes, one knobby tuber at a time; cut each into oblique 1 1⁄2" chunks and drop chunks into the pot. (It's important to place the freshly cut chunks in the lemon-spiked water as you go, to prevent discoloration.) Pour in more water, if necessary, to cover artichokes by 1". Season generously with salt. Bring to a boil, covered; reduce heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, until just tender, 2–4 minutes. Drain and discard lemon.

2. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until butter just begins to turn golden brown and foam subsides. Add artichokes and spread them out evenly. Cook, without stirring, until golden brown on one side. Then occasionally stir gently until some sides are deep golden brown while some are paler, about 6–8 minutes total. Stir in thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste.


With Thanks,

christy and tom