Napa Cabbage
Daikon Radish
Candy Spring Onions
Suyo Long Cucumber
Escarole or Bibb Lettuce
Red Gold New Potatoes
Yaya Spring Carrots
Russian Kale
Cilantro
This past week was very productive and we have been so happy to finely get some rain after almost nothing for 4 weeks. We harvested 65% of our garlic crop, the German White variety just before the rain came. This year’s crop looks wonderful and we think it will cure very nicely. We are waiting on the German Red variety as it is maturing 2-3 weeks slower and hopefully this rain will help it gain some size. We also harvested one variety of our storage onions, the Red Creole, and will continue harvesting onions over the next few weeks. We began digging our earliest variety of potatoes, the Red Gold, this past week and are excited to include them in this week’s share. As we stated when the CSA season began we are very understaffed this year and in April our main tractor broke down for 3 weeks, so we have been in a constant catch up mode since mid-May. We are beginning to see the weeds out grow our hoeing and hand-weeding efforts, this rain will definitely compound this. We are also a bit behind on planting our watermelon, some of the sweet peppers, and latter successions of tomatoes, basil, and cucumbers. But on the bright side the okra, corn, and beans are all in on time and coming along nicely. In the next few weeks you will see the first basil, cherry tomatoes, and beans coming on in your shares , so Summer is on its way.
This week’s share has the perfect mix for making Kimchi, if that is your thing. If it’s a first time for you, check the recipe below and follow the directions, especially regarding the Korean chile powder and rice flour (check Tan A or New Grand Mart for these ingredients). This is the first time you are getting Napa (or Chinese) cabbage, which can seem enormous and overwhelming, so we have included many recipes. It stores well for many weeks in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer in a plastic or protective bag wrapped tight. It is a great addition to stir fries, tempera, soup, pickles, or slaw. This is also the first of the cucumber, a often seen crop of the Summer. The variety you will get this week is Suyo Long, a very long, thin, crinkly looking cucumber, with thin skin and small seeds. It is not necessary to peel and does not get bitter. We love thinly slicing and adding to salads or immersing in vinegar for a quick pickle snack. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share…..Autumn and Brian
Yam Khai Dao (Fried egg salad) – Pok Pok by Andy Ricker
You must find some thai chiles and celery leaf to make this recipe.
Tricolor Vegetarian Salad with Yuzu Recipe: Daikon, Cucumber & Carrots
Crunchy Thai Salad with Creamy Peanut Dressing
New
Potato Tempura – Japanese
Farm Food by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
½ lb medium-sized potatoes
Best quality rapeseed or peanut oil
½ cup unbleached cake flour
½ cup cold sparkling water1
8 tsp fine white sea salt
3 ice cubes
organic soy sauce for dipping
Cut the potatoes into ½” wedges (measured on the thick side). Drop the potato
pieces into a small pot of salted cold water. The potatoes should be covered by
about 1”. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until the centers still have
some give but the outsides are soft. Drain and cool.
Line a cookie sheet with a thick layer of newspaper and top with a layer of
paper towels. Set next to the stove. Over low heat, warm 4” of oil in a
medium-sized heavy, stainless steel saucepan. Whisk the flour with the
sparkling water and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Take out two pairs of long
cooking chopsticks or tongs. Use one pair to dip in the batter and one pair to
remove the tempura from the oil. Increase the heat on the oil to about
medium-high; the oil should not be smoking. Test the oil with a drop of batter
before starting. It should sizzle and immediately form a small ball as it hits
the oil; but should not brown. Adjust the oil temperature as needed.
When the oil is hot, drop the ice cubes into the batter and stir once. Add 5 or
6 pieces of potatoes at a time to the batter. Pick up one piece at a time, let
the excess batter drip off, and slip into the hot oil. Roll the tempura pieces
gently as the batter turns a pale (slightly) golden color. When all sides are
cooked, remove to the prepared cookie sheet. Continue cooking until all pieces
have been fried, but (if possible) serve each batch immediately. Dip in fine
white sea salt or soy sauce before eating.