Calliope’s Table CSA Distribution #10-August 5, 2009

Hello Subscribers,

The hot weather we’ve had all week is shifting back to days in the 70’s, but it’s been enough to start ripening tomatoes all over the SE…including these in one of your gardens. This pic was taken on Monday so I expect to have the first tomatoes of the season for you this week.

For me, there is nothing that speaks so loudly of the difference in store-bought produce and local, organically grown produce, than the tomato. You all know what I’m talking about. I don’t believe there has ever been a store-bought tomato that tastes like one grown outdoors, on a small scale, and nurtured by hand. As your farmer, I performed the all important taste test last week on the first ripened tomato and it sent me immediately back to last summer when I last ate them. It’s why I haven’t bought a tomato in years, or notice one in food from a restaurant.

The tomatoes this week will be early season slicing tomatoes, which are so good on sandwiches, salads, and my favorite, Caprese Insalata. This simple salad from Capri, Italy is so refreshing and easy, and really fits the season when everyone is so busy with work and play.

Simply place slices of Mozzarella cheese on a plate, top with slices of tomato, then basil on top, and drizzle with a good quality extra virgin olive oil. Provide salt and pepper for everyone to season to taste. One of my fave dishes, this can also be the basis of a pasta salad I used to make at one of the kitchens I worked in.

Also this week, I’ll have basil you’ll need for the recipe above, broccoli, chard, zucchini and greens.

Have a great week, see you soon!

Peace,

Calliope

Calliope’s Table CSA Distribution #9-July 29, 2009

Hello Subscribers,

It’s the dog days of summer we all dream about during the cold winter months. It will be very hot today during the produce distribution. Bring ice packs or an ice chest if you can to help get the veggies back to your house in good shape.

Today there will be broccoli, zucchini, carrots, beets, mustard greens, and salad greens. And you never know what else. Last week after sending out the blog I discovered the green (and purple and yellow) bean patch I’m sharing  had been picked for the first time this season and so some of you found some of those lovely beans at the distribution. Things are starting to come in from other gardens and so you may find additions to the list by the time the afternoon rolls around. It’s usually an hour by hour thing on Wednesdays.

I came up with an interesting recipe for beets a couple of weeks ago that should really work in this weather. I call it a Beet Mojito and it goes something like this:

Peel and cut a beet or two into 1/2″ cubes. About a cup of cubes is fine.

Place in a bowl and add:

olive oil to coat generously

minced garlic, 1 tablespoon

minced ginger, 1 tablespoon

minced red onion or shallot, 1 tablespoon

juice of 1/2 lime

mix well and let marinate and chill in the refrigerator for an hour or two. When ready to serve, stir and squeeze a bit more lime juice onto the top. Very refreshing on a hot day.

See you this afternoon. Stay cool!

Peace and peas,

Calliope

Calliope’s Table-CSA Distribution #5 July 1, 2009

Hello Subscribers!

This is hopefully the start of a new trend where I get you info about the weekly distribution before it happens, and even some recipe ideas.

This week look for more peas, chard, onions, assorted herbs such as cilantro, parsley, and lemon balm, and probably the last of the salad greens as I fear they will not survive the heat wave we’re expecting later this week. There’s also more raspberries to pick so you might want to get there a bit early. I’ll try and remember to pick a few ahead of time so there will be a few available, but I can’t promise I won’t eat most of them. They’re good!

Also, a sneak preview of the broccoli you’ve been watching get bigger these last few weeks. There are a couple of heads big enough to harvest, and while it’s not enough to provide you all a share’s worth, I’ll have some broccoli and dip for you to sample the first harvest. More center heads are coming on quickly, and these varieties (Thompson and Umpqua) were chosen specifically for their ability to keep producing side shoots the rest of the season after their center head has been harvested. If you have an interesting dip or sauce you’d like to bring, please do.

I’ve been doing some interesting things with the pea harvest from last week including more stir-frys, an ingredient in salad rolls, and also part of an Asian breakfast scramble with eggs. Yum! This week could be the last of our peas so if you’d like to save some for later, here’s a link to info on how to blanch and freeze them. http://www.farmersalmanac.com/blog/2006/06/05/freezing-snow-peas-and-sugar-snap-peas/

Here’s an idea for some of the chard coming this week which looks like it will be a weekly offering for some time. Last nite I sauteed onions in olive oil until they were just about translucent, added chopped chard (and any other cooking green you have such as kale or collards) and let it cook down until just about wilted, turned down the heat to low and added minced garlic. Mix it around a bit to warm the garlic and get everything coated in the oil, and then add cooked and drained pasta (best right from the pasta pot on the next burner where it’s been cooking all this time). Toss it around a bit, add some more olive oil to make sure everything is well coated, and salt to taste. Serve in a nice big bowl with grated parmesan on top. I didn’t use any other seasoning as I wanted to get all that greens goodness. It was yum and made me feel like I was in Tuscany for a minute.

I hope you’re enjoying the salad greens too. I really love growing greens and am calculating how soon I can get some more growing without being affected by the summer heat. I’ve been eating them as a garnish on everything from peanut butter sandwiches, bagels with hummus, eggs, rice and beans, and even as salads.

It could be pretty hot by pick-up time tomorrow. If you’ve got some ice or an ice pack, or a small cooler it could help your produce make it back home while still looking perky. I’ll have the distribution table set-up under the grape arbor again to keep things cool, but all the produce will likely be inside the coolers and we’ll all need to work fast when taking things out so the coolers are open as little as possible.

See you Wednesday, 4-7pm!

Peace and (blanched and frozen) peas,
Calliope