Escarole
Fennel
Beets -bulk
Tomatoes (taxi, orange blossom, valley girl, or sub artic)
Sweet Candy Onions
Spanish Roja Garlic
Padron Peppers
Tomatillos
Eating a warm tomato, be it a cherry, slicer, salad tomato or whatever, in the field immediately after its picked is like nothing else. This week as we rush around getting things weeded, planted, tied, trellised, mulched, harvested, and whatever is needed after tons of rain has ravished the fields, eating a warm tomato makes it all worthwhile. The things that make farming so special and ultimately doable, are often these tiny little moments.
We are excited to be getting you a number of new crops this week. The tomatoes are determinates, a mix of colors, flavors, and styles (slicers, salad, and all purpose). The padron peppers are a true Spanish delicacy. For those of you trying these for the first time, please check out the recipe and info link below. I really recommend trying them for the first time cooked on their own, not thrown in with other ingredients, so you can experience their greatness. The Spanish Roja garlic is the first of our garlic to cure, meaning it will last in a pantry or on the counter for a long time. It is our spiciest garlic, so even though it has small cloves, they are deliciously pungent. Oh and lastly, tomatillos. People often seemed stumped about what to do with tomatillos, but for us we are always so excited to finally have them available. Often we blanch and freeze a lot of them to use throughout the fall and winter. In the fall, a salsa made of fresh cilantro, chiles, and tomatillos is so wonderful and also very easy to make. tomatillos are also great roasted with slow cooked pork, made into a sauce with avocado, or used to make a homemade green enchilada sauce. Enjoy the share.
Autumn and Brian
Bruschetta al Pomodoro from the Kitchen Garden Bread, Tomatoes, Garlic clove, Extra-virgin olive oil, Basil leaves, Salt
Toast slices of good bread and spread them out on a platter, rubbing each with a clove of garlic. Drizzle good quality extra-virgin olive oil over all. Arrange slices of fresh tomatoes on the slices of toast, and season with salt & pepper (and slices of fresh garlic, if you want). Tear basil leaves so that they cascade down onto the tomatoes, and finish with another thread of olive oil. Have extra bread ready to clean the plate with.
Blistered Padron Peppers – from Epicurious
The most famous produce of Padrón are its peppers (Spanish pimientos de Padrón), which are small green peppers from the Capsicum annuum family. They are served fried with olive oil and coarse salt. Most taste sweet and mild, though some are particularly hot and spicy, which gives its character to the dish and is perfectly captured in the popular “Os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non” (Galician for “Padrón peppers, some are hot and some are not”). The level of heat varies according to the capsaicin of each pepper. Although it’s not always the case, the peppers grown towards August/September tend to contain more capsaicin than the ones of June/July. About 15,000 kg of peppers are grown in Padrón each year (mostly in the valley of the parish of Herbón) between June and September. In 1979 the first Festa do Pemento de Padrón was organized in Herbón, a popular gastronomic event that has been held every year since, the first Sunday in August. The festa takes place in the carballeira of Herbón’s Franciscan convent, since it was the Franciscan monks who brought the first pepper seeds from Mexico in the 16th century, which then were adapted to the soil, the Oceanic climate of the Valley and grown with special techniques. –Wikipedia
Chicken with Tomatillo and Cilantro Sauce -from Epicurious
work party
- tomatillos
