This Week's Delivery- Saturday March 26, 2011

Special shout out to Kelly and Emily, CSA members-we tore through some Old Plantation Oysters at Food Matters last night, sold out by 7:00! We are thankful to have more delicious and sustainably raised local oysters-yum and thanks for the heads up!

More information on the oysters here.

Store In The Fridge
Mustard Greens - Hartland Farm

Mixed Color Carrots - Sunny Ridge Farm

Parsnips - Windy Knolls Farm

Watermelon Radishes - Country View Farm

Mizuna Greens- Hartland Farm

Store in A Cool Dry Place

Red Pontiac Potatoes - Path Valley Farms

We were short on our precious Amish chickens for a couple of weeks but they are back and oh so tasty!

Whole Organic Pastured Amish Chickens $4.25/pound

Whole Organic Pastured Amish Chicken Eggs $4/dozen

Recipes and Information

Marmalade of Spring Greens

(you can mix the mizuna and mustard greens for this, or add any leftovers from last week)

From the book Mostly Mediterranean by Paula Wolfert

Serves

3-5

Culinate editor’s note: According to Paula Wolfert, this spread is inspired by the fillings found in Sicily’s impanatas. It has several steps, yet none is difficult. Read through the entire recipe at least once, and have all your ingredients ready before beginning. When finished, you will have cooked down quantities of greens into a delicious buffet appetizer you can prepare in advance. Serve with crostini, bruschetta, or multi-grain crackers; it also makes a tasty flatbread topping.

	1	lb. spinach, escarole, Swiss chard, or any mixture of greens
	~	Salt
	1	garlic clove, peeled and lightly crushed
	1 1/2	Tbsp. olive oil
	2	anchovy fillets, drained and crushed with a fork
	1	tsp. capers (preferably salted), rinsed and drained
	¼	cup chopped pitted olives (2 or 4 Kalamatas)
	1½	Tbsp. black or yellow raisins, soaked in warm water, drained and chopped
	⅛	tsp. chile flakes, or more to taste

1. Wash the greens, remove their stems or stalks, and drain. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the greens 3 to 10 minutes or until thoroughly tender. Drain, refresh in cold water, drain, and squeeze out excess water.
2. In a skillet, fry the garlic in olive oil over medium heat until lightly browned. Remove garlic and discard. Add the anchovies and capers and fry, stirring until the anchovy dissolves, about 1 minute. Add the greens and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, or until the greens absorb the flavored oil.
3. Remove the mixture to a large cutting board, allow it to cool, then chop finely or pulse in a food processor with the olives, raisins, and pepper flakes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you're big into salads you might like to add some raw dark leafy greens to your next meal. Since eating raw greens in large pieces is intense and sometimes hard to chew, I suggest that this week you learn the technique of chiffonade. By learning to cut the greens into very thin slices you can add them to salads, pastas, eggs, soups and they can me enjoyed raw or slightly wilted, preserving the valuable nutrients.

Here's a link to learn the chiffonade technique. Great demo but they pronounce it incorrectly.Geez.


Watermelon Radishes

A bit milder and sweeter than regular radishes, and much larger; they average about three inches in diameter. Watermelon radishes can be braised or roasted like a turnip, or mashed like a rutabaga, but we personally hate to cook them because it causes them to lose their beautiful colors, so we prefer to serve them raw in a salad or in a veggie plate with some dip. Watermelon radishes can also be pickled.

Watermelon radishes are a heirloom variety of daikon radishes and originated in China where they are called shinrimei.

Best Way To Eat Radishes

From the book Local Flavors by Deborah Madison

A good radish sandwich can be nothing more than sweet butter spread on bread and topped with sliced radishes and sea salt. But this is an easier way for getting the radishes and butter on quickly (and getting them to stay on), especially if you’re making radish sandwiches for a crowd.

		6 small or 2-3 largeradishes
		4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
		1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
		sea salt or at least kosher salt if you can
		Toasted Baguette slices, for serving

1. Wash and trim the radishes. Thinly slice the radishes into rounds.
   
2. Mix the butter with the lemon zest until it’s soft, then stir in the chopped radishes, radish leaves, and a few pinches of sea salt. Spread on slices of crusty baguette and serve.

Red Pontiac Potatoes

An early season potato with sweet, solid white flesh with a flavor you just have to try to believe! The large, round tubers hold their shape and color during cooking, making them a great all-around choice for boiling, baking, and easpecially mashing, but not so much frying.


enjoy!

with thanks,

christy and tom