This Week's Delivery Saturday September 25, 2010

"Comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love."
The Song of Solomon 2:5

Store In A Cool Dry Place:

Red Potatoes - Top of the Harvest Farm
Red Tomatoes - Locust Brook Farm
Honey Crisp Apples - Papa's Orchard

Store In The Fridge:

Broccoli - Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables
Red Peppers - Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables
Cucumbers - Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables


Recipes:

Oven Roasted Broccoli
3/4 pound broccoli crowns, cut into florets (about 4 cups)
2 1/4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
Large pinch of dried crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss broccoli and 2 tablespoons oil in large bowl to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer to baking sheet. Roast 15 minutes. Stir remaining 1/4 tablespoon oil, garlic, and red pepper in small bowl. Drizzle garlic mixture over broccoli; toss to coat. Roast until broccoli is beginning to brown, about 8 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Caramel Sauce For Your Apples: Never Buy It Again.


Easy Cucumber Salad

• 1-2 large cucumbers peeled, quartered lengthwise, then sliced crosswise
• 1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill, basil, or Thai basil*
• 2-3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

*To chop the basil, chiffonade it by stacking the leaves on top of each other, rolling them up like a cigar, and taking thin slices from one end to the other.

Method

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, toss to coat. Serve immediately, or make ahead (up to a couple of hours) and chill.

Serves 2-4

with thanks,

christy and tom

This Week's Delivery Saturday September 18, 2010

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
- George Eliot

Thanks to those of you who attended last night's chile pepper dinner!

Please Remember-If You Signed Up For Quarterly Payments Your Final Payment is Due Today. the Payments is $209 (or $219.45 with tax)

Store In A Cool Dry Place:

Amish Plum Tomatoes-Sunny Meadows Farm

Bartlett Pears- Papa's Orchard

Store In the Fridge:

Green Beans-New Morning Farm

Bell Peppers- Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Cucumbers- Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Recipes:

Green Bean Salad with Asian-Style Dressing

Gourmet | April 1995

Yield: Serves 2 Dressing 1 1/2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1 garlic clove, minced a 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon) 1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil 1/6 cup canola or vegetable oil (we suggest olive) Salad 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds 1 pound green beans, trimmed 2 scallions, chopped fine (about 2 tablespoons) In a small bowl, whisk together vinegars, soy sauce, garlic, ginger root, and sesame oil. Add canola or vegetable oil in a stream, whisking, and whisk until emulsified. Season dressing with salt and pepper. In a small dry skillet toast sesame seeds over moderate heat, stirring, until golden and transfer to a small bowl. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook beans until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer beans to a colander and rinse under cold water. Drain beans well. In a large bowl, combine beans, scallions, sesame seeds, and dressing and toss well. Serve salad chilled or at room temperature. Thai Cucumber and Bell Pepper Salad 1 tablespoon sugar 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 2 cups sliced peeled cucumber 2 cups red bell pepper strips 3/4 cup julienne-cut carrot 1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint 2 tablespoons finely chopped peanuts To prepare the dressing, combine the first 4 ingredients in a small bowl, and stir with a whisk. To prepare the salad, combine the cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, onion, and mint. Drizzle the dressing over cucumber mixture, tossing gently to coat. Sprinkle salad with peanuts.

with thanks,

christy and tom

This Week's Delivery Saturday September 11, 2010

3 THINGS!

1. Please return your bags!

We are running very short on bags now. Please return your bags so that there are enough for everyone.

2. This Saturday September 11 Food Matters will close for a private event at 6pm. Please plan on picking up your CSA bag before 6pm or we will not be able to give it to you on Saturday.

3. Just a reminder that if you chose the four payment plan for your CSA then your final payment will be due next week, Saturday September 18. Please do not try to pay this week!
If you have a four pay plan the amount due before tax is $209.


If you are going to be out of town and have already notified us then your payment will be due at your next pickup.

Now, onto this week...

the night i fell in love with a pear

it was sometime last fall, the night I fell in love with a pear.

i stood in juxtaposition

a city apartment not a sunny farm

dishwasher swishing, not crickets chirping

thirsty from a diet-dictated workout not a day of work in the field
i suppose i should have reached for a giant plastic bottle of dayglo sweet sweat but instead it was a pear
i picked up.
sliced into four pieces
i had no idea that
the next few minutes i’d be fighting back tears while
biting through a skin just strong enough to hold a pure subtle sweet water and
with a texture that was soft-granular and reminiscent of the flesh itself.
i took a moment to consider the possibility that i’d finally crossed the line of true appreciation for fruit.
i’d been waiting for that day to come and let me tell you
i never could have predicted it’d be a pear.

Store In the Fridge:

Sweet Bell Peppers- Old Meadow Farms

Okra-Windy Knolls Farm

Yellow Squash-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Cucumbers –

Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Store in A Cool Dry Place:

Red Tomatoes- Hares Valley Growers

Pears-Papa's Orchard

Cherry Tomatoes-Pineview Acres

Recipes

Pear Flan

8 1/2 oz. rice milk, hemp milk or coconut milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
Half a pear, thinly sliced

Whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Slowly add in the milk and whisk until thoroughly combined. Strain through a fine sieve and pour the custard in your ramekins. Place ramekins in a baking sheet or deep baking dish and add some hot water to go up about an inch high. Bake at 300F for about 25 minutes, but it will depend on the size of the ramekins. The center should still jiggle a little but the rest should be set. Let them cool for a bit and store in the refrigerator.

recipe from:

http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com

Tomato Bread Salad

Newest favorite hot-weather activity: tearing day-old bread into shards, tossing them with olive oil, baking them for ten minutes or until crispy, then tossing them while piping hot with halved garlic cloves, adding chunks of deep crimson and/or green zebra heirloom tomatoes, splashing on balsamic, splashing on olive oil, scattering slivered basil over the top, salting, peppering, letting the whole sit and get juicy for ten or so minutes, removing the garlic cloves, and eating aggressively. But aggressively. This is heirloom tomato-bread salad.

this one courtesy of:

http://www.orangette.blogspot.com/

with thanks,

christy and tom

This Week's Delivery Saturday September 4, 2010

Please Return Your Bags! We are Running Low and You Should Only Take a Bag With You if You Are Returning One. Please-We need Bags!

Here's an event that you might be interested in attending and there's a discount for CSA members!

Local Chile Pepper Dinner

Friday September 17

7pm

$65 for food and pairings

($55 for Food Matters CSA Members)

Late Summer and Early Fall are prime time for chile peppers in this area. Tom is so inspired by the local bounty that he has decided to do a chile pepper dinner! This is a four course dinner (plus some other goodies) with pairings that may include wine, beer, or liquor.

Please call 703-461-3663 to make a reservation.

Now, onto this week's delivery!

"Onions can make even heirs and widows weep."
Benjamin Franklin

Peaches-Papa's Orchard

Cantelopes-Papa's Orchard

Okra-Mose Hostetler

Tomatoes-New Morning and Locust Brook Farms

Onions-Jubilee Organic Farm

Cherry Tomatoes-Hare's Valley Growers

Recipes

Cantelope or Watermelon Agua Fresca

4 cups diced, peeled ripe watermelon or cantaloupe

3 cups water

2 to 3 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1. Blend together the watermelon or cantaloupe with 1 1/2 cups of the water, the lime juice and the sugar at high speed until smooth. Strain through a medium strainer into a large pitcher or bowl. Stir in the remaining water. Refrigerate for 1 hour or longer. Fill a glass with ice, pour in the agua fresca, garnish with a mint sprig, and serve.

Yield: Four servings.

Curry Okra

• 1/2 cup / 125 ml onion (sliced)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic (minced)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
In frypan saute onion in 2 tablespoons oil until golden. Add ginger, garlic and spices and saute for a few minutes.

• 1 pound okra (cleaned and trimmed)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Add and cook a few minutes.

• 1 cup tomatoes (sliced)
Add and fry for a few minutes until liquids evaporate.

Onion Rings

2 large onions
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup white cornmeal
Cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil

1.Peel onions, cut into 1/2''-thick slices, and separate into rings.

2. Pour buttermilk into a bowl. Combine flour and cornmeal in another bowl and season to taste with cayenne, salt, and pepper.

3. Heat about 3'' vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Dip a few rings into buttermilk, shake off excess, dredge in flour mixture, shake off excess, then repeat, coating again with both buttermilk and flour mixture.

4. When oil is very hot, add rings and cook until golden, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Repeat process with remaining rings.