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On Thursday, Charlie pointed out Shannon's full paniers, "got your camera, Mim?" The watermelon held in place with a bungee cord, the top of the fennel blowing in the breeze and the pickle popping out of the other side, what a sight! My foto doesn't do it justice. I had to post the pickles just because they looked so good. Several share holders have been busy pickling them. Any one want to share that process?

Eggplant recipes, gaspacho, and a dessert

Jonah Holland submitted these terific recipes:
Japanese Eggplant
2-3 pounds of eggplant sliced on an angle to expose more flesh and less skin
2 cloves crushed garlic
Nam Pla or fish sauce to taste (Tan A Market)
1 T. yellow bean paste with ginger (fermented soybeans from Tan A)
1T. Canola oil
2-3 Thai bird chili's (Tan A)

Heat iron skillet (or other nonstick pan) when it is really hot, add oil. Sautee sliced eggplant in oil, then cover. Add garlic and a touch more oil if needed. Then add chilies and nam pla. Cook until eggplant slightly yeild to pressure. Serve with brown rice.

Sudi's Gaspacho
1 can Progresso Basil Tomato soup
1 mini can (6 oz) V-8
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
1 pepper (green or otherwise) chopped
1 large cucumber, chopped (peeled and seeded if necessary, but I don't unless it is store bought)
1/4-1/3 c balsamic vinegar
1/8 c virgin olive oil

chill for 2 hours. can be kept up to 4 days.
when serving sprinkle with fresh herbs (especially dill, basil, chives or scallion) and croutons or bread crumbs.

Grandison's Blueberry Cobbler
3 cups fresh blueberries (or Costco wild Frozen blueberries)
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (i use whole wheat)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375° F (190 degrees C).
In an 8 inch square baking dish, mix blueberries, 3 tablespoons sugar, and orange juice. Set aside. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and
fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring
just until ingredients are combined. Drop batter by rounded tablespoons over blueberry mixture. Try to cover as much of filling as possible.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

And from Mim:
Tonight, I made a really good Baba Ganouj. the recipe is from the A to Z cookbook, put out by the Madison WI CSA Coalition.
Use 2 globe (or bell) eggplants - about 2 pounds
Pierce with a fork all over, rub with some olive oil, roast on a pan for 30 min. in a 400° oven. When soft, drain in a colander, then scoop out the insides. Save in the 'fridge' until ready to make the B G.
Using a food processor combine eggplant with the following:
2 T olive oil, 2 or 3 T Tahini, 1 smashed garlic clove, 2 1/2 T lemon juice, some salt and a few flakes of cayenne pepper. Pulse until smooth. If you do this by hand, combine all but the eggplant, then cut up the eggplant and mix into the other ingredients. Allow to sit at room temperature for an hour, then season to taste with additional lemon juice, salt and cayenne.

Note: I roasted the eggplant one day, and made the baba ganouj another day.
Buon appetit

Tomato Festival

The Tomato Festival was, as usual, a crowd pleaser. Lots of people came out to get their Hanover Tomatoes. Our tomatoes were a hit. In fact, Victory Farms little orange ones (Sun Golds) won an award (best slicing-cherry!) Immediately after that, people came over to buy them. Here are Gina and Mae holding the Award Plant. The Keyes kids (share holders) had fun, a lovely butterfly face and a fork balancing act, the duo stopped by to say hello. Conor, Mae and Chris enjoyed their barbecued turkey legs, and I couldn't resist taking these pix of them.

Farm Report: JULY 2007

Farm Report – July 2007

On the 10th of July Victory farms was in full form. Most of the 55 raised beds were stretching towards the sky supported by stakes and twine. The roots of the plants had spread under the paths separating the rows, and the huge pile of compost was regularly spread down the rows and covered with straw. So when the rains come the roots are watered and nourished.

And rains have come fairly regularly – so far (although the last week has been dry). So the drip irrigation has been used sparingly, in special circumstances such as Charlie’s plan to produce mid-summer lettuce. We will see!

The key component to successful farming is, of course, the farmer(s) and their helpers. That became overly clear at the end of June when illness confined Charlie to bed for almost a week. His sister, Kate, who had been his main helper had returned to her home also for health reasons earlier in the month. So it was a real challenge to get the veggies picked and to the market. Several Sprout members stepped up to take up the slack, especially Drs. Deb Cohen and Theo Wu. (Dr. Koehn also saw to Charlie’s recovery and many tests). Two other folks stepped in and continue to provide regular fieldwork, Sprout Core Group member Amy Banks and Antwan, who discovered Sprout and Victory Farms at the Farmers Market. And others show up to volunteer every few days or so. Charlie is also exploring the possibility of finding one or two farm workers who will be available on a regular basis.

The veggies are mostly picked the day before delivery at the market, but some hardy items such as summer squash are picked daily and stored in a cool room which is kept at 55-60 0F are relatively dry. Tomatoes are kept in shallow cardboard boxes in the shade, but not cooled. (One Sprout member brought a number of vegetable boxes from Costco and Charlie could use more). Charlie has a substantial number of “2nd grade” tomatoes that are available at a good price for any Sprout members who could use them (for canning or sauce). Let Charlie know at .. if you are interested.

Some veggies that should be showing up soon are tomatoes, corn, melons, potatoes, onions and leeks. We saw the first tomatoes a week or so ago, but count on shares with 5+ lbs of tomatoes this coming week. All of this depends, of course, on weather, insects and critters. A raccoon is getting some of the corn, as are Japanese Beetles - and squash beetles are after the winter squash. The field is dotted with “bug bags” that are capturing many of the Japanese beetles, but the squash beetles are controlled by hand. Indeed, the best approach to disease and insect control is providing healthy plants via proper fertilization and moisture.

All-in-all it seems that we can look forward to more weeks with very satisfying shares.

John Gallini

Recipe from Marina: WATERMELON

Watermelon Gazpacho

Blend:
1 cup watermelon, cut into chunks
1 cup tomato, cut into chunks
½ tsp minced jalapeno
½ tsp sea salt
1 small garlic clove
Juice of half a lemon

Sprinkle with any sweet herb, like basil or cilantro. I used my yellow watermelon and tomatoes, but you can do the same thing with red ingredients.

Recipe from Pam: BEANS

GREEN BEANS ITALIAN-STYLE SERVES 4 AS A MAIN DISH, 8 AS A SIDE DISH

As a side dish, it is especially good with an Italian omelet. Try to find Italian flat beans or pole beans, but regular snap beans work as well.

2 pounds fresh green beans, cleaned and trimmed of stem
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 large tomatoes or 1 pound canned, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano or 1-2 tablespoons dried
Salt and pepper to taste

Snap the beans into 2-inch pieces, if desired. Blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes to soften slightly. Drain well.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until softened. Add the tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered, until tomatoes start to break down. Add the green beans and cook, uncovered, until bean are tender. Check often for moisture; cover the pan and reduce the heat if bottom is dry. Taste the beans for seasoning and add additional salt, pepper and oregano as needed. Cook for 10 additional minutes, or until beans are very tender.

Notes: Frozen green beans which have been thoroughly defrosted can be substituted for the fresh, although the effect of the dish is quite different. Do not blanch the frozen beans before using, and cut down on the cooking time. Even when using fresh beans, especially young tender beans, the blanching process may be omitted, but additional cooking time in the skillet will be needed.

Recipe from Pam: TOMATS

LEA’S PICO DE GALLO
A wonderful fresh salsa from texas

3-4 jalapeno or cayenne chilies, seeded and chopped into fourths
½ medium onion, cut into 8ths
small bunch of cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 lime, juiced

2-4 tomatoes, diced

Put peppers, onion, cilantro and lime juice into processor or blender and process until everything is minced but not pureed. Put into a medium bowl. Stir in 2 diced tomatoes. Taste. If too hot add more diced tomato.

if you do not have access to a blender or food processor make sure peppers and onions are finely chopped before putting into the bowl.
This is great with chips or on tacos. A couple of spoonfuls can be added to green beans while the beans cook giving great flavor. Add to baked or roasted potatoes for low fat flavor.
variations: Add any of the following: chopped peach, mango or cucumber to offset the heat of the peppers.

Recipes from Andrea: TOMATS, EGGPLANT, CABBAGE

Indian Cabbage with Peas (Bund gobi aur matar)
(from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking)

1 - 1 1/4 lb cabbage, cored and finely shredded
1 1/4 cups peas (frozen is great - thaw first; if fresh, make sure you blanch them)
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp whole cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 cup water
1 fresh hot green chilli, very finely chopped
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp garam masala (Indian spice mix - available in the International section of the grocery store - but better & cheaper bought from an Indian grocery)

1. In a large pot, heat the oil. When hot, add cumin seed and bay leaf. Cook a few seconds, and then add the cabbage and the peas. Cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add the turmeric and cayenne. Stir to mix. Add the water. Cover, turn heat to low, and cook about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
2. Add the green chilli, salt, and sugar. Cover and cook another 2-3 mintues. Sprinkle on the garam masala, stir, remove bay leaves, and serve.


Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic
(adapted from Think Like a Chef, by Tom Collichio)

This is a great way to save tomatoes for the winter. Freeze them, and then use them later in pasta sauces, on pizza, in omelets, in soup, etc. This recipe also leaves you with individual cloves of roasted garlic (yum), which can also be frozen. Also, you save the juices of the tomatoes, which can be added to pasta sauces or soups (the juice can be frozen too).

10 ripe tomatoes
1 head garlic, divided into unpeeled cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
4 sprigs of fresh thyme

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Peel and core the tomatoes. (To peel tomatoes, boil a large pot of water. With a sharp knife, slice a large X on the bottom of each tomato. Fill a large bowl with ice water. One by one, drop the tomatoes into the boiling water. When you see the skin start to loosen, lift them out and drop them into the ice water. The skins should slip off easily.) Slice the tomatoes in half, crosswise (through the equator).
2. Line 2 large, rimmed baking sheets with foil or parchment paper. Place the tomato halves on the pans, cut side down. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Scatter the thyme and garlic over the tomatoes.
3. Roast in the oven for about 4 hours. After the first 30 minutes or so, drain off the juice (I used a turkey baster for this). Continue roasting, and check occasionally for more accumulated juice. After about 3 hours, use a spatula to carefully flip over each tomato half.
4. The tomatoes are done when they are slightly shrunken and appear cooked and concentrated but not yet dry. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the tomatoes. Cool them on the baking sheets. Remove the thyme and discard. Transfer the tomatoes and the garlic to separate storage containers. Refridgerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months.


Slow-Cooker Ratatouille
(From "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker," by Robin Robertson)

Another freezer-friendly recipe. Freeze in plastic containers for up to a year. I especially love this served with soft polenta and sprinkled with really good Parmesan cheese.

Note: This recipe is written for a 3-4 quart slow cooker. For a 5-6 quart slow cooker, double the recipe.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch dice (about 2 cups)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
4 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes with their juices; or 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
3 Tbsp pesto, homemade or storebought

1. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the eggplant, and saute till softened (about 5 minutes). Transfer to slow cooker.
2. In the same pan, heat remaining oil. Saute onion until soft and translucent. Transfer to slow cooker, along with the red pepper, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well.
3. Cover and cook on Low setting for about 4 hours. Stir in pesto and taste for seasoning.

Recipe from Pam:CHARD

Red Chard Saag (serves 4)

1 bunch red or green swiss chard, cleaned
4-6 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee
1 medium onion, minced
3 cardamom pods
2 tablespoons vindaloo curry paste or (Pataks Vindaloo Sauce from Laxmi Palace- Parham and Broad)
1/4 cup water

1. Separate leaves from stalks. Coarsely chop chard leaves. Chop stalks into ½” pieces. Set both aside keeping separate.
2. Heat oil or ghee in heavy bottomed saute pan at med. When oil is hot, add onion (be careful, as the oil may splatter) and cardamom pods and saute until onion is transparent and beginning to carmelize.
3. Add chopped chard stalks.
4. Add vindaloo, stir to incorporate and reduce heat.
5. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally, for 5 mins. Add chopped chard leaves and continue cooking 5-10 more minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
6. If you find the mixture is getting dry, add water.
7. Remove cardamom pods.
8. Serve with Naan bread and/or basamati or jasmine rice.
(NOTE: If you want to add paneer or cooked potatoes, etc, fold them into the mixture 5 minutes before the end).

A very hot Thursday!

It was a hot and busy Thursday at the market. We had lots of beautiful tomatoes and melons. Members shared many good ideas for recipes. Someone had a cold tomato soup recipe...oh please send it in so I can post it. The Illian's brought baby Jack to his first share pick up.

A gathering of vegetables!

Don't we have the prettiest vegetables ever ?!

A quick tomato sauce: sauté onions and garlic in olive oil. until translucent. Add lots of cut up tomatoes, some oregano, basil and a bit of sugar. cook over medium heat, until it cooks down to a thicker sauce. . Add some tomato paste if you have it. If you like, you can sauté some green pepper, too. When the sauce is thick, put in blender and mix it until it's smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.

Food styling and image by Shannon. Thanks Shannon, You play well, with your food!

Thursday Market

What a busy day at the market today, with members weighing their produce on two scales, chatting about food, recipe sharing, and more. Happy news: the Illian's had their baby. Little Jack arrived on July 10th. Congratulations to them on the newest little Sprout. Some members have promised to share recipes, including one for an easy gazpacho.

Bags initiative!

Because of our concerns regarding plastic bag use, several of us Sprouters, Me, Shelia and Kaley, so far, have decided to make and sell, below cost, cloth or recycled plastic fabric bags. We've decided to charge only $5 for these. (If Shelia adds a pocket, she'll charge a bit more) Sprout members have been great about bringing bags! General Market shoppers haven't been so good about it.

Fun with produce

Who could resist these cute eggplants. I'm wondering, is our produce amused by us? Share your funny produce with us.
(nosy eggplant image by Mim, smiling bell eggplants by Shannon.)

Chard pie!

Here's what the chard pie looks like...too bad I can't give you a virtul taste of it. I made the following changes: no crust what-so-ever, and I used only 5 eggs and added 1/2 C more cheese which was a mixture of jalapeña jack, extremely sharp cheddar and feta, whatever I had available. The result was very delicious. The recipe is given below.

Banana Peppers/Hot Peppers

Here's a photo of our HOT peppers! The following recipes are for BANANA peppers. At Thursday pick up, several members inquired about recipes for the peppers. Here are several that sounded good. Let us know which one you made and how it tasted!

Heidi's Zucchini Soup
(from the Internet!)
1 # Italian sausage (Vegetarian or animal)
1 chopped onion
1c sliced celery
2c peppers (1 c bell pepper and 1c banana peppers) sliced
2 large chopped zucchini
1 tsp Italian seasoning or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2 (28 oz) cans tomatoes

Fry sliced Italian sausage with onions and drain. Add remaining ingredients and simmer at least 1 hour. May add cooked pasta if desired.

STUFFED BANANA PEPPERS #1

12 large sweet banana peppers
1 small tomato, finely chopped
1/ 2 cup finely chopped onion
1/ 4 cup finely chopped sweet pickle
1/ 4 cup finely chopped green pepper
2 small hot peppers, seeded and finely chopped
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
12 slices bacon

Slit each banana pepper lengthwise and carefully remove seeds. Wash and set aside.
Combine next 8 ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well.
Stuff each banana pepper with cheese mixture. Wrap a bacon slice diagonally around each stuffed pepper, securing well with a wooden pick.
Place peppers on a well-greased rack in broiler pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

Serving suggestions: May be served with dill sauce, fresh tomato sauce or any sour cream sauce. Vegetarians can use soy bacon or no bacon.

Source: The Southern Heritage Vegetable Cookbook

STUFFED BANANA PEPPERS #2

INGREDIENTS:
8 banana peppers
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 (28 ounce) can crushed
tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground black
pepper, divided
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
cheese
1 pound hot Italian sausage
1 pound mild Italian sausage
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cut off tops of peppers, and remove ribs and seeds. Chop edible portions of tops; set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add peppers, reduce heat, and simmer until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat butter in a medium skillet. Saute reserved chopped pepper, onion and celery until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and garlic. Season with basil, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan. Mix in sausage (meat or vegetarian ), bread crumbs and 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture.
4. Using a piping bag or sausage stuffer, (or your fingers) fill each pepper with the meat mixture. Place in a 3 quart casserole dish, and pour remaining tomato sauce mixture over peppers.
5. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 1 hour.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2007 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 7/5/2007

Caponata appetizer and Chard pie!

Caponata (Sicilian Eggplant appetizer)
From Madonna Dersch-Cheney with Mim adaptations.

Olive oil
1 large onion
several cloves of garlic
celery
1 large eggplant
2 C diced plum tomatoes
¼ C green pitted olives,
¼ X black pitted olives
capers
red wine vinegar
balsamic vinegar,
tomato paste
fasil
oregano
salt and pepper

Cube and liberally salt the eggplant. Leave skin on. Let sit in colander for 30 min. Rinse well to remove salt. This will take out excess moisture, and I’ve been told, prevent bitterness. Also, the eggplant soaks up less oil in the cooking process.

In a deep sauce pan, sauté, until translucent, the onion, garlic and about 2 cups of celery, roughly chopped. (I didn’t have celery but I had some sliced up squash so used that instead.)

Add the eggplant & sauté until lightly brown for about 7 minutes or less. Add the 2 Cups of tomatoes (I used one 14.5 ounce can diced with the juice) Add ¼ C each of cut up green and black pitted olives, 3 T capers minced up, 3 T red wine vinegar and 3 T balsamic vinegar (I found this a bit vinegar-y for my taste so next time I’ll reduce the vinegar to half the amount) ¼ c tomato paste, 1 t oregano, 1 t basil, salt and pepper to taste.

Bring ingredients to a low boil (I added a bit of water as I didn’t seem to have enough liquid to boil) Simmer and reduce until thick, stirring to prevent sticking to the bottom of pan. Take off heat. Cool, then chill in refrigerator. Good on toasted Italian bread, or on crackers. I’ve served this on pasta for a cool summer meal with a side of cucumbers.

Buon appetito
mim

CHARD -
Here’s a chard fact that I just learned, the common beet root evolved from the leafy Swiss Chard. These greens are high in vitamins A, E and C and contain no oxalic acid. It freezes well. Just blanch chopped chard for 3 minutes, rinse under cold water to stop cooking process, drain and place in an airtight container (like a zip lock bag.)

Chard Pie
From the A to Z -Madison WI CSA cookbook

1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T oil
1 bunch Swiss chard
6 eggs
1 C shredded cheese
1 t salt
2 pie crusts

Heat oven to 400°. Brown onions and garlic in oil. Trim and chop chard, add to pan and cook down until wilted. Beat eggs in a bowl, mix in cheese, salt and chard mixture. Pour into pie shells and bake 20 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted into middle comes out clean. Makes 2 pies. (I’m going to try this in a rectangular baking dish rather than 2 pie pans . I’ll use a simple pat-in pie crust recipe) It sounds yummy.

About well-being...

I was catching up on reading my magazines and came across this:
"Consumers have 10 times as
many conversations at farmers' markets as
they do at supermarkets...by itself, that's
hardly life changing, but it points
at something that could be: living in an
economy where you are participant
as well as consumer, where you have
a sense of who's in your universe and
how it fits together. At the same time,
some studies show local agriculture
using less energy...than the 'it's
always summer somewhere' system
we operate on now."

You can find a link to this article by clicking
on the link below, then on the Bill McKibben article.
www.motherjones.com/happiness
See you at the farmers' market.

Asian Eggplant

Eggplant Szechuan
from Rhoda Yee's cookbook

about 1 to 1 1/2 lbs of Asian eggplants
(I've used other types of eggplant, too)
1 - 2 t dried chili pepper, crushed (to taste)
2 t garlic minced
3 green onions cut into 1" lengths.

sauce: 1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C water
1/4 t ground pepper
1 t sugar
1/2 t rice vinegar (regular will do fine)
2 t cornstarch
and a dash of sesame oil

1/3 C cooking oil

Cube eggplant
Combine sauce ingredients
In wok, or large frying pan, heat oil. Add eggplant, a few pieces at a time, tossing until all well covered in oil. Salt lightly. Cover for 2 minutes. Uncover and cook another minute. If eggplant looks dry, add a little water. Add garlic, onions and crushed pepper. Continue cooking until eggplant is tender. Add sauce and green onions. Stir until sauce thickens. This dish holds well for 10 to 15 min. in a warm over. Adjust seasonings to your taste.

bon appetit
Mim
(image: Gina Collins at the Market)