This Week's Delivery: Saturday May 28, 2011

store in the fridge:
rhubarb-tuscarora organic coop
red romaine lettuce-hartland farm
collard greens-hartland farm
broccoli-northern neck fruits and vegetables
spring onions-tuscarora organic coop

store in a cool dry place:
strawberries-papa's orchard

recipes and information

collard greens with bacon and garlic
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 ounces slab bacon or pancetta, chopped into small pieces
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
pinch to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes (to taste)
1 head collard greens (about 1 pound), tough stems and ribs removed, leaves coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup water

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add bacon and sauté until browned and starting to crisp. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Stir in red-pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in collard greens and 1 teaspoon salt.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add water, and steam, covered, until greens are just tender and water evaporates, about 10 minutes. If greens are ready but there is still water in the pan, raise heat to medium-high, and cook, uncovered, until completely evaporated.

caesar salad

from riceandwheat.com

a couple slices of slightly stale, chewy bread (I used sourdough)
extra virgin olive oil

a small head of romaine lettuce (about 10-12 leaves total)
½ Tbsp red wine vinegar (I used white wine and it worked fine)
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
3-4 anchovy fillets (recipe asked for salt-packed but I used oil-packed)
1-2 cloves garlic, depending on how much you like garlic
1 cold egg
¾ grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, loosely packed
1½ Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Make the croutons: Preheat oven to 350F. Cut bread slices into ½-inch cubes and place in a mixing bowl. Add in a couple glugs of olive oil and toss. Add in a healthy pinch of salt and toss again. Spread on a sheet pan and roast in the oven until golden all over, about 8-12 min. Taste a crouton to make sure it’s well-seasoned and slightly chewy in the middle. Set aside to cool.

Prep the greens: Trim any bruised or wilted spots off the romain leaves but leave them whole. Wash in plenty of water and dry thoroughly – there’s nothing worse than using wet greens in salads. The original recipe recommended layering the leaves between kitchen towels but since I don’t own mountains of kitchen towels, I just used a salad spinner. Once dried, put the leaves in the fridge while you work on the dressing.

Make the dressing: Rinse the anchovy fillets under water and coarse chop. Coarsely chop the garlic, sprinkle with a little salt (it helps with the mashing), then mash the garlic using the side of your knife (here’s a video that shows the mashing technique I’m talking about, at about 2:30 – I prefer mashed garlic in recipes that use raw garlic because you’re a lot less likely to bite into a big chunk). Once garlic is mashed, combine with anchovies and roughly mash them together to create a paste.

Combine vinegar, olive oil, anchovy/garlic paste, another pinch of salt in a small bowl and whisk together. Add the egg, about half the cheese, and lots of black pepper. Whisk again to emulsify – when the dressing comes together and looks creamy, you’re good to go. Add the lemon juice and whisk again. Taste a bit of the dressing by itself and also on a small bit of lettuce – adjust with salt and black pepper accordingly. How you adjust the seasonings will depend both on your personal preferences and how sweet your romaine is.

Assemble the salad: Place the romaine leaves in a large salad bowl. Add in most of the dressing and gently toss. You want to coat the leaves pretty thoroughly, so add more dressing as needed. Sprinkle on the rest of the cheese (but save a tiny bit to dust on top of the finished salad), add the croutons, and toss again.

You can either serve the salad family style or plate it out on individual plates – don’t forget a final dusting of cheese in either case, of course!

rhubarb cake

1 1/2 cups raw Rhubarb cut fine
1  cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour

In large mixing bowl cream sugars and butter, add egg and salt. Stir in applesauce, soda, vanilla, and flour. Add rhubarb. Pour in prepared 9x13x2-inch baking pan and sprinkle with 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Bake at 375-degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. The cake is very moist and needs no frosting.

with thanks,

christy and tom

This Week's Delivery Saturday May 21, 2011

store in the fridge:

rhubarb - new morning farm

green leaf lettuce - landisdale farm

spring onions - northern neck fruits and vegetables

chard - hartland farm

mustard greens - hartland farm

store in a cool dry place:

strawberries - papa's orchard

also, for any mushroom nerds out there, we have locally foraged (PG County) chicken of the woods (latin name: Laetiporus cincinnatus) mushrooms available at $18 a pound.

These mushrooms can be prepared like chicken, they even taste like chicken but have more of a mushroom texture. They need to be cooked all the way through.

If you are interested please contact tom directly: tom(at)foodmattersva(dot)com

recipes and information:

last night we made tapioca pudding and rhubarb compote to go on top. it also works well on ice cream. this compote recipe is a little different because i used butter in the mix as well, just to make it a little richer, so feel free to throw in a couple of spoons of butter if you wish...

rhubarb compote

and here is a link to a great tapioca pudding recipe

3 cups 1-inch pieces fresh rhubarb

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

Combine all ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until rhubarb is very soft and begins to fall apart, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Transfer compote to medium bowl. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, about 3 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.) Serve cold.

sauteed swiss chard with golden raisins and capers

This dish also makes a delicious pasta partner. Tossed with a pound of your favorite pasta and 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, this Swiss chard goes from a sumptuous side dish to a spectacular main course.

1 pound Swiss chard
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon drained capers

1. Trim tough stem ends from Swiss chard. Cut stems crosswise into 1-inch pieces; cut leaves into 2-inch pieces, keeping stems and leaves separate.

2. In nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook about 4 minutes or until onion begins to brown. Add chard stems and cook, covered, 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Stir in raisins. Add leaves to stems in batches, covering skillet after each batch; cook 7 to 10 minutes total or until leaves are tender and wilted, stirring often. Remove from heat; stir in capers.

mustard greens wrapped in proscuitto

1bunch of mustard greens

olive oil

red wine vinegar

red pepper flakes

garlic, 3 cloves finely chopped

salt and pepper

1/8-1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto, about 8-12 slices


Wash greens, remove stems, and coarsely chop leaves. Leave some water droplets on the greens. In a large saute pan, heat enough olive oil to generously coat the bottom of the pan. Toss in garlic. Cook garlic for just a quick moment and then add the greens. Cook covered for about 5 minutes until the greens are wilted and tender. Set aside to cool. Season with a splash of red wine vinegar, a sprinkling of red pepper flakes, and fresh ground pepper. (Go easy on seasoning with salt - the prosciutto adds plenty.)

Slice each piece of prosciutto in half lengthwise. Place a spoonful of greens on one end of the prosciutto and roll. Repeat. Serve at room temperature.