This Week's Delivery Saturday July 30, 2011

Last week, when our farmer's were making their deliveries I promised them that it couldn't get any hotter. As is often the case, I was wrong! I think we can agree that 104 degrees is a bit much.

The relationship with our some farmer's is curious particularly now that they come to our home. They let us know via email or phone what is available for the next delivery. I then reply via email or phone to let them know what I would like. The exception is Farmer Steve from Northern Neck Fresh Fruits and Vegetables whom I meet at a new undisclosed location early Thursday mornings. Anyway, it takes, at most, 15 minutes for the produce to be unloaded put away, and paperwork to be completed. We don't have have much time to talk, yet week by week you get to know them better. They become our friends. Which brings me to Barry Argento. He's been providing us with fruit for over 3 years. He is presently hospitalized and is waiting to hear about options for treatment. From the hospital, he called me to let me know what was happening with him and that for the time being deliveries would be on hold.

Please keep Barry Argento from Papa's Orchard in your thoughts and prayers.

-Chef Tom

This week's offerings:

Store In The Fridge:

Sweet Corn - Miller Farm

Store In A Cool Dry Place:

Yellow Peaches - Yowell Family Farm

Gold Potatoes - Northern Neck Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Carolina Gold Tomatoes - Northern Neck FreshFruit andVegetables

Jalapeno Peppers - Northern Neck Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Romanian Red Garlic -Path Valley Farms

Ailsa Craig Onions - Whipple Farm

In addition we have for sale:

Pastured Eggs $4/dozen

Amish Chickens - Only have 6! - $14.50 each

Kombucha - it's ready! 750ml Bottle for $6

Homemade Whole Milk(from grass-fed cows) Plain Yogurt - 32oz Jar for $6.

Cash or check and place payments in payment box. checks can be made out to Christy or Tom Przystawik

For those of you who have purchased yogurt or kombucha please remember to return your jars and bottles. We are low and they are expensive.

Recipes and Information

Spiced Tomato Gratin

I don't bother to peel the potatoes, but you can if you like. You're going to want to use a mandoline, if you have one, to slice the potatoes. If not, you can use a knife, it just takes a bit longer.

1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 cups thinly sliced yellow onions (about 2 pounds / 32 oz / 910 g)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/4 pounds / 20 ounces / 570 g Yukon Gold potatoes

1/2 cup / 120 ml heavy cream

2 pounds / 32 oz / 910 g ripe tomatoes

a small handful of basil leaves, slivered

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C with a rack in the top third.

Combine the spices in a small bowl and set aside.

You can get a jump start on the onions while you slice the potatoes and tomatoes. Heat half of the olive oil, 2 tablespoons, in your largest skillet or dutch oven over high heat. When hot, stir in the onions along with a few pinches of salt. Cook for a few minutes, stirring often, until the onions soften up - 4-5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in the butter. Stirring regularly, cook another 10 - 15 minutes at this temperature, or until the onions just begin to caramelize a bit. Dial the heat back a shade more, and cook until the onions are deeply golden, this might take another 20 minutes. A minute before the onions are finished cooking stir in the spice mixture. Remove the pan from heat and set aside the onions.

In the meantime, use a mandoline to slice the potatoes into 1/8-inch thick rounds. Place in a medium bowl along with the cream, 1 teaspoon of salt, and bit of pepper. Toss well, and set aside.

Use a knife to cut the tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices. Arrange across a large plate and sprinkle with another teaspoon of salt and some pepper.

Smear half the caramelized onions across the bottom of a 10x10 inch (or equivalent) gratin or baking dish. Take half of the potatoes and half of the tomatoes and arrange on top of the onion layer (see photo). Drizzle with a couple tablespoons of cream from the potatoes and a tablespoon of olive oil. Season the layer with a pinch of salt and half the basil.

Scatter the remaining onions across the potatoes and tomatoes already in the pan. Then arrange another layer of tomatoes and potatoes on top. This will be the top of your gratin, so do your best to make it look nice. Pour the remaining cream, from the potatoes, and last tablespoon of olive oil across the top. Season with another pinch of salt and the remaining basil. Gently press down on the vegetables so the cream comes up through the layers of vegetables evenly.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 2 hours, or until the potatoes are completely tender throughout. Increase the oven to 450F / 230C, carefully uncover the gratin, and cook another 30 minutes, or until the top takes on a nice golden color.

Serves 10 as a side.

Recipe inspired by the Tomato Potato Gratin in Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin, Knopf 2005.

Prep time: 30 min - Cook time: 180 min

with thanks,

christy and tom

Jalepeno Breakfast Casserole form the Homesick Texan

This Week's Delivery Saturday July 23, 2011

Gonna be a scorcher. Again.

But our farmers are working hard and here's what they have provided for us this week:

Store In The Fridge:

Ambrosia Melon-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Green Beans-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Cucumbers-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Corn-Miller Farm

Store In A Cool Dry Place:

Roma Tomatoes-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Sweet Ring Onions-Miller Farm

If you have a kombucha bottle to return, you can just leave it on the table.

Also Available:

Organic Pastured Chicken Eggs: $4 a dozen

Whole Milk Plain Yogurt, Made by Christy (Ingredients: Local Pasteurized Grass Fed Whole Milk, Yogurt Culture (from Local Grass Fed Biodynamic Yogurt)-Please Return The Glass Jar

$3 for a 16 oz jar, $6 for a 32 oz. jar

The yogurt is tangy and there is no sweetener added. If you have little ones this is a great flavor to them accustomed to early on, as early as 7 or 8 months. Our kids will eat an entire bowl of plain yogurt without blinking. For a treat we may add homemade granola, fresh fruit, or raw honey. We also use it to top oatmeal, put it in smoothies, or for dressing and dips.

Kombucha is not quite ready-still fermenting. Each batch is tasted and tested until it's at the proper pH before I bottle it for a second fermentation. Hopefully you guys who got some last week enjoyed it! Lots available next week.

Recipes and Information

Ambrosia Melon:

Ambrosia melon is an exotic melon hybrid that might be confused with a cantaloupe, but it’s quite different. Its flesh is very sweet, tender and pale orange in color with a flavor described as “a combination of all melons plus flowers.”

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Quick Picked Cucumber Melon Salad

from food52.com

4 small or 2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thin (if using large remove seeds)

3 cups sweet melon, cubed

2 tablespoons plus two teaspoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon salt

black pepper, to taste

2 slices proscuitto or favorite cured meat or 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

In a bowl, mix together the cucumbers and melon. Sprinkle over with the sugar and salt. The salad will begin to expel liquid almost immediately. Let sit 10-20 minutes and drain well. Return to the fridge until ready to serve.

Before your picnic/casual lunch/classy dinner party, drain the salad again and remove to a serving bowl. Add a grind of black pepper and sprinkle over the prosciutto or feta (using both will add too much salt; not recommended). Spoon into bowls or eat straight from the serving dish with your fingers, trying to keep the cucumber-melon juice off your chin.

Chili Oil Green Beans

1/2 LB green beans (washed and make sure the stem end it snapped or cut off)

2-3 TBS of Chinese chili oil (depending on how much heat you like)
2 TBS soy sauce or Tamari sauce (Tamari is a Japanese version of soy sauce that is deeper, richer and earthier, and gluten-free)


1 TBS sesame oil


Heat the oven up to 450 degrees.
Mix together the soy sauce, chili oil and sesame oil.
 Put your green beans in a big bowl and toss with the sauce mixture.
Pour out into a baking tray lined with foil, pop in the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Once in a while you can go in an toss the green beans around to avoid the bottom layer burning.
 Enjoy!

with thanks,

christy and tom

This Week's Delivery Saturday July 15, 2011

Ahem...bags. We need bags.

Just want to thank all of the volunteers who covered pickups last week while we were at Polyface Farm. What an incredible experience! We attended a whole day of workshops on raising rabbits, raising chickens, gardening, composting, growing mushrooms, and marketing. Our kids spent most of the day in the chicken house. Yep. We had an incredible lunch and sat and ate on bales of hay with 1500 other people! Such and amazing inspiring day and we were thankful to have been there. You helped make that possible. Here are some pictures:

This is Dan, a former Polyface apprentice, who now gets space to garden at the farm for free. He grows produce to sell to local chefs and in exchange he cooks for a team of 25 people weeknights at the farm. His daughter and wife were there with him and he spoke of how his daughter gave him absolute purpose and confidence in his mission at the farm.

Our youngest Harper takes a break under a tree and enjoys a peach.

All four of our kids on the porch swing at Polyface. Ha! Not fighting!

Lunch in the main barn. We sat on bales of hay that were lined up on top of, yes, manure! Seriously fertile land! Barbeque pork, chicken, and beef, sliced cucumbers, sliced peaches, and buttermilk chocolate cake-yum!

Store In the Fridge:

Apricots (unless you are eating them right away-also, let them come to room temp before eating)-Papa's Orchard

Summer Squash-Hartland Farm

Japanese Eggplant-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Gypsy Peppers-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Store In A Cool Dry Place:

Tomatoes-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Also Available This Week:

These items will be located in the fridge in the garage. If we're not there just grab what you want and leave your money on the box on the table. By the way, we're looking for an old cigar box if you have one laying around.

Eggs! Yahoo!: $4/dozen, cash or check

Kombucha! Yahoo!: $6 for 75o ml (Please Return the Bottle!) cash or check

Kombucha Ingredients Are: Organic Fair Trade Black Tea, Organic Cane Sugar, Kombucha Culture Started By Christy

There is only a little Kombucha available but production will increase, especially if you like it! Please give me feedback if possible. I have been making Kombucha at home since December of last year and we all drink it regularly (kids, too!) Sometimes I mess around with flavors-look out- but apparently the sign of a good Kombucha Brewer is their ability to make a great unflavored Kombucha.

Just sayin'.

New to the world of Kombucha? Here's a great site to learn more.

If you have questions, please e-mail me. I love to talk.

Checks can be made out To Tom and/or Christy Przystawik

Recipes and Information

Whole Grilled Japanese Eggplant with Lemon and Soy Sauce Epicurious | May 2011

by Tadashi Ono & Harris Salat

The Japanese Grill

Japanese eggplants have thin skins and few seeds, just meaty, flavorful flesh that transforms into tender, creamy textured, fragrant, smoky goodness when grilled. The classic way to enjoy this dish is with just soy sauce or Ponzu and a mound of katsuobushi, dried shaved bonito flakes (a type of tuna). The dressing below is more contemporary but also fantastic. Either way, get your hands on these eggplants and grill them. Yield: Serves 4 2 tablespoons soy sauce 4 teaspoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons olive oil 4 Japanese eggplants (about 1 pound) 1/4 cup katsuobushi, dried, shaved bonito flakes (a type of tuna), optional Whisk together the soy sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil in a bowl to make the dressing; set aside. Score the stem end of each eggplant, making a circular cut in the skin (this will make the eggplant easier to peel). Poke a few holes into the eggplants with a skewer or fork to allow steam to escape as they grill. Preheat a grill to medium. Grill for about 8 minutes, turning the eggplants a quarter turn every 2 minutes. Try to grill the eggplant all around. Test the eggplants for doneness by pressing against their sides with a pair of tongs. If the eggplants give easily, they're ready. Transfer the eggplants to a plate. As soon as the eggplants are cool enough to handle, carefully peel off the skin (the skin comes off more easily if the eggplant is warm; don't let it cool completely). Once you've removed the skin, remove the stems, and slice each eggplant into 4 pieces, cutting on an angle. Transfer the eggplant slices to a platter. Drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with the bonito, and serve.

Best Way Ever To Eat A Tomato

(btw, I publish this every year)

a tomato, at least one

salt

pepper

extra virgin olive oil

a loaf of quality crusty bread, sliced

Ok first prepare to wonder why you've never done this with a tomato because it's so delicious and simple.

Grate the whole tomato on a box grater over a bowl. It will seem weird at first but just trust me and keep grating until you have nothing but peel left. Eat, freeze, or compost that peel. Now you have the grated tomato in a bowl. Season that with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Next, toast your really delicious bread until nice and crispy. Spoon your tomato mixture over the bread. (Do not do this ahead or things get soggy.)

Eat.

That's it. So, so good.

Extra bonus experience: Top tomato bread with really good quality anchovies, or chile peppers from your garden, or fresh picked and ripped up herbs, or your favorite olives, or schmear with grassfed butter before the tomato.

with thanks,

christy and tom

This Week's Delivery Saturday July 9, 2011

Thanks again to this week's volunteers!

PLEASE RETURN YOUR BAGS. WE KNOW YOU HAVE THEM STASHED IN A CLOSET, IN YOUR TRUNK, OR BY YOUR FRONT DOOR. WE NEED THEM. A FEW PEOPLE WILL BE THE LUCKY RECIPIENTS OF PINK GIANT BAGS THIS WEEK. NO JOKE.

Store In the Fridge:

Corn-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Wax Beans-Ashland Farm

Cucumbers-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Cubanelle Peppers-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

Store In A Cool Dry Place:

Tomatoes-Northern Neck Fruits and Vegetables

German Butterball Potatoes-Berry Simple Farm

Sugar Plums-Papa's Orchard

Recipes and Information

Cubanelle Peppers:

A long slender banana-shaped pepper that is considered to be a sweet pepper, despite having a mild to moderate spicy heat. Ranging in color from green to yellow or red, this pepper has a glossy outer skin that is smooth and firm in texture. Also known as Italian frying pepper, this pepper is mildly hot and very similar to an Anaheim pepper. Cabanelle peppers are often used in casseroles, salads, pizzas, and as a pepper to be stuffed with a savory filling.

Warm Parslied Potato Salad

(adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers)

1 lb potatoes cut into 1 inch chunks
1 tablespoon tightly packed, coarsely chopped, fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
4 ounces salami, sliced 1/16 inch thick, totally optional
1 large red roasted pepper cut into strips
12 oil-cured meaty black olives with pits removed, such as Nyons

Place the potatoes in a 2-4 quart saucepan and add cold water to cover. Salt the water, stir to dissolve, and taste — the water should taste a little too salty. Bring to a simmer, uncovered. Cook at a bare simmer, stirring once or twice, until the potatoes are tender and the edges soften, usually about 6 minutes Drain well.

As soon as they have stopped steaming, transfer the potatoes to a wide bowl. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the parsley and enough olive oil to coat. The edges will break down a little, shredding potato into the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and leave a few minutes so the parsley really gets into the oil. Fold in the vinegar and black pepper, both to taste.

Arrange the slices of salami and the strips of roasted pepper on plates or a platter, and mound the juicy potatoes and the olives on the side.

Need an easier potato recipe? Try these delicious salt potatoes!

Cheese-Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers

• 4 large cubanelle peppers (also. mild Italian frying peppers, Hungarian hot wax peppers)

• 8 ounces monterey jack cheese, grated

  1. 
     

  1. On a medium-hot grill, roast the peppers or chiles, turning occasionally, until completely charred (about 10 minutes).

  1. Place charred peppers in a paper or plastic bag to steam for a further 10 minutes to loosen the skins.
  1. Peel peppers, then cut a slit down the length of each and remove the seeds & membranes.
  1. Stuff each pepper with the cheese.
  1. Secure with toothpicks to hold the peppers closed.
  1. Using heavy foil, wrap the peppers so that a packet is formed that will hold in any juices.
  1. Grill the packet until heated through (about 10 minutes).
  1. Allow packet to cool for 5 minutes. This will give the cheese time to harden us and make the peppers easier to handle.
  1. Remove toothpicks and serve warm.

  

  Yellow snap or string beans that probably picked up the name “wax beans” because their color is similar to bee’s wax.

  
  

  Honey-Glazed Wax Beans Gourmet | April 2002

  1 1/4 pounds wax (yellow) or green beans, trimmed 1 tablespoon mild honey 3/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest 1/4 teaspoon salt Cook beans in a 4-quart pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 3-5 minutes. Drain in a colander, then immediately toss with honey, zest, and salt in a large bowl. with thanks, christy and tom