Week 10: Stuff It

A few years back (in this post from 2012) I pondered whether climate change had arrived and was the cause of our ever unpredictable weather. The weather continues to be impossible to predict and I continue to ponder those same questions.

The most pressing (to me) is: Will I ever see stable weather in my farming career? If so, I certainly hope it doesn't stabilize out to end up like it's been this year.

Normally, we are in week 12 or 13 by the second week of September. Normally, we see the first frost of the season in the second week of September. Well, it is only week 10 this year (thanks to the especially late spring), but we are still expecting to see the first frost this week.

Based on the forecast, we predict our first frost will come the night of the 11th or 12th. Unless it's cloudy those nights, then we might squeak through this week without a frost.

And now you know all the secret innermost thoughts of a vegetable farmer.

We are already preparing for the frost by harvesting the winter squash that is ready to harvest, and covering the squash that needs a few more weeks on the plants.

So far we have brought in the Eastern Rise and a few Nutty Delica.

Next on the agenda are two kinds of acorns, the spaghetti
squash and these gorgeous sweet dumplings.

But the winter squash won't be in the shares quite yet. They need to cure for a few weeks after they are harvested to sweeten up. Some of the varieties won't reach peak flavor until January. Those are destined for the winter shares.

What will be in the shares this week is the following: 2 lbs potatoes, 1/2 pound snow peas, Chard and/or Brussels Sprout tops, Cabbage or Kohlrabi, French Breakfast Radishes or Daikon, Cucumbers, Scallions, Parsley, Tomatoes (or Peppers or Eggplant) and Zucchini or Summer Squash.

The summer squash has been a bit stressed due to all the rain we have been having this year. Stressed squash plants means fewer large fruits. Happy squash make many fruits, for lots of seeds. Stressed plants don't, they put all of their energy into producing seed quickly rather than making several fruits

So, most of you will be getting great big summer squash or zucchini this week. Maybe even a few, if you want them.

What should you do with a giant summer squash? Stuff it.

Stuffed Summer Squash

I decided to make the recipe vegetarian this week, but if you would rather make it meaty you can. Just omit the lentils and cook the rice by itself. Brown some ground beef or lamb with the spices, parsley, and tomato. Then combine the meat, rice, squash innards and remaining tomato/parsley for your filling.

• One large zucchini or summer squash
• One cup brown lentils
• Half cup brown rice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp plus 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp plus 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 bunch parsley, separated
• 1 pound tomatoes (two medium or four small), separated

Preheat oven to 350

In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, rice, garlic, 3/4 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp cinnamon. Roughly chop half the parsley and half the tomatoes (hang on to the unchopped halves for later in the recipe). Add the chopped parsley and tomatoes to the lentils along with 2 1/2 cups of water.

Bring the lentil mixture to a boil. Once it is boiling, cover the pot and turn the heat down to a simmer. Simmer until the lentils and rice are tender, approximately 45 minutes. Check the pot for liquid after about 30 minutes of cooking. Add more water if necessary.

Meanwhile, prepare the squash by slicing it in half lengthwise and hollowing out the seed cavities (an ice cream scoop works nicely for this). Sprinkle the remaining salt and cinnamon over the squash.

Like this.

Bake the squash at 350 degrees until it is tender, but still holds it's shape. This will take 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the squash.

While the squash is baking, roughly chop the innards you scooped out of it as well as the remaining tomatoes and parsley.

When the lentils and rice are tender stir the raw chopped squash, tomatoes, and parsley into the hot lentil mixture. Then spoon the filling into the baked squash. 

Like this.

There will be more filling than you need (in fact, this recipe probably makes enough filling for two big squash).

Week Seven: Summer...Sort of

Last week was pseudo fall, so it seems fitting that this week would sort of be summer. (Fitting in the sense that U.P. weather has no rhyme or reason.)

I heard a rumor that there was some frost a few days ago over near Marquette. I'm hoping it was just a horror story.

Because, though the weather disagrees, the vegetables are starting to think it's summer...sort of. And I'd like them to keep thinking that.

This week's share will include: Chard, Summer Squash and/or Zucchini, Green Beans or Fava Beans or Peas, Parsley, Rutabaga, Mini Cabbage, Endive and Tomatoes (or eggplant or peppers)

Did you catch the summer squash and green beans? Those are the summery parts.

The squash are finally coming on strong enough that everyone gets some.
The green beans are just starting (and actually they're purple) but
soon there will be enough for everyone :)

The muskmelons think it might be summer too.

Hopefully the frost will hold off long enough for these guys to ripen.

In the meantime, we will eat our summer squash and zucchini and pretend it's actually warm outside.

If you want, you can make your squash into delicious fritters. Like these:

We had them with braised chard for lunch.

Summer Squash (or zucchini) Fritters

• 1 large (or two medium) summer squash, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/2 bunch parsley, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• butter for cooking

When I say large squash, I mean about this size:

This is a large 8 ball zucchini.

Toss together the chopped squash, minced parsley, salt, and Parmesan cheese. Stir in the flour and mix until the squash is well coated with flour.

Combine the milk and eggs and stir the mixture into the zucchini. It will be very very chunky, with just enough batter to glue the zucchini together.

Like this.

Melt a generous amount of butter over medium heat, and cook the fritters more or less the same as you would pancakes. I feel like a lot of my recipes include instructions that reference pancakes...

These will take a bit longer to cook than plain pancakes would, because of the extra moisture in the squash.

Week 12: Summer continues...

I'd like to start with an update on the potential schedule change. If there is a member reading this who has no idea what schedule change I am talking about, please shoot us an email so I can explain. 

As of this moment, we have heard from 52 out of 79 of you. 49 of you have voted yes for the change (which actually hits our 60% threshold) and 3 have voted no. No one has said "No absolutely not, I am offended by the suggestion." (or anything along those lines), but one member brought up a concern about having the time to deal with a double share before things go bad, which makes me think I didn't explain things clearly enough. 

The storage items that we will be giving out in the last few shares are things like spaghetti squash, which will keep for several weeks on the counter and months if you have a dry 50 to 60 degree place to store it,  rutabaga, which will keep for several weeks in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, and cured onions. They are items which will store without any work on your part.

All that being said, we are going to wait until after this week's distribution before we come to a final decision about the change so that members have a chance to talk to us about it in person first.

Now, I'd like to talk about this week's share, which doesn't realize it's back to school time and is once again full of summer's bounty. 

Members can expect: Carrots, Beets, Basil, Summer Squash/Zucchini, Cucumbers, Tomatoes plus Eggplant/Peppers/Tomatillos OR Ground Cherries, Potatoes or Rutabaga, and Chard.

The chard is still a little rough looking from the aphid attack, but it is also delicious so we've decided it's time to add it to the shares again. 

And, of course, there is still summer squash and zucchini coming, though it is definitely starting to slow down. Hopefully everyone has come up with wonderful ways to use it up. Here is another idea for you.

Zucchini Pizza

This is a fun and family friendly way to eat up summer squash or zucchini. For those of you with kids returning to school this week, it would make a great after school snack.

• 2 medium or 1 large zucchini or summer squash
• About 1/3 cup of tomato sauce or tomato slices as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 8 large basil leaves
• 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, preferably water packed, thickly sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Slice the zucchini into half inch slices. Slice small zucchini lengthwise. Larger fruits should be sliced into rounds. Arrange the slices in a single layer in a non-metal baking dish.

Spoon tomato sauce or lay tomato slices evenly over the zucchini slices. Sprinkle a pinch of oregano over each slice, reserving some for garnish if desired.

Slice basil leaves into ribbons and divide them among the zucchini slices.

Cover the zucchini with overlapping slices of mozzarella cheese.

Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the zucchini is just barely tender. If desired, sprinkle with remaining oregano.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Made with tomato sauce instead of slices.

Week Eight: Summertime

I know it has been summer for a while already, I mean, every share has come with a pound of tomatoes for two weeks, but the summer squash and zucchini are coming on strong here so the season is now official at our place.

Sunburst pattypan, the most photogenic of our
summer squash.

As happened with the snow peas, they took us by surprise. They were trickling in. The harvest for last Wednesday's pick-up had a few nice zukes. The harvest for Saturday was a flood.

We'll be taking a lot to the Keweenaw Co-op this week, so as not to bury the members in summer squash, but members will definitely get some too and the squash should keep coming until frost. Start posting you favorite summer squash and zucchini recipes on the facebook page now!

This week's share will also include: Head Lettuce, Chard, Thai Basil, Beets, Fennel, Sorrel, Cucumber(s?), Tomatoes etc. from the hoophouse, and another selection of herbs or edible flowers.

Several people have asked about the Thai basil at pick-up. And because it is new to so many of you, we decided that everyone should have a chance to try it. That's just the way we CSA farmers roll. I LOVE to use Thai Basil in rice noodle dishes, especially with eggplant. Try sauteing some tomato, summer squash, and eggplant, if you have it, lightly in peanut oil and your favorite soy sauce (add a bit of five spice powder, ginger, garlic, fish sauce or other favorite Asian flavors as well). When the vegetables are just finished cooking, pull the pan off the heat and stir in a generous handful of coarsely chopped Thai Basil. Serve this over rice noodles that have soaked in hot water for ten minutes (or prepared according to the package) and dressed with peanut oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar or honey, and garlic. If you aren't a rice noodle fan, serve it over rice with the same sauce on the side for diners to season with.

Thai Basil, with its dusky purple hue.

Sorrel was heavily featured in the early weeks of the CSA. As summer progresses it gets a bit tough and unruly. Now that the nights are growing cooler (and we know they will continue to do so quickly) we want to clear out the sorrel plantings so that they will put on tender growth again in the fall. The tender spring and fall growth is good for cooking or salads. The summer growth is perfect for soup. So, we are including a generous quantity of sorrel in every share this week and passing along this traditional Polish sorrel soup recipe, which was shared with us by Eva, a member of ours who spent her childhood in Poland and says this recipe is particularly delicious.

U.P. Fennel is never quite as large and luxurious as
California grown, but it makes up for that with FLAVOR.

Finally, we have fennel from the field this week. When members had a choice of baby fennel from the hoophouse way back in the first share of the season I know many folks were unsure how to prepare it. If you need an idea, I suggest the following recipe. I've made it with local pork from the Kolpack's Family Farm and grocery store pork from who knows where. It is, of course, better with the Kolpack's meat, but it's delicious either way.

Glazed Pork Chops with Braised Fennel 

Use a jam that is fruity and acidic. Apricot, peach, and raspberry all work very well. Blueberry would not.  I've made this with homemade cherry tomato jam with particularly good results.

• 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
• 4 pork loin chops
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup jam
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 medium fennel bulb, bulb and stalks chopped into bite sized pieces, fronds reserved

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a pan that is large enough to hold all four pork chops in a single layer.

Lay the pork chops in the pan, sprinkle both sides of each chop with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Briefly brown both sides of each chop, about 30 seconds per side.

Stir together the jam and balsamic vinegar. Turn the heat down to low. Spoon the jam and vinegar mixture evenly over the chops. Allow the pork to cook for approximately five minutes on each side, spooning glaze over the chops whenever they are turned, and frequently as they cook.

When the chops have reached your desired degree of doneness, remove them from the pan and keep them warm on a serving dish.

Turn the heat back up to medium and add the chopped fennel bulb and stalks to the glaze and pan drippings that remain in the cooking pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes or until the fennel is just tender. Overcooking the fennel will cause it to lose much of its unique flavor.

Meanwhile, finely chop about half a cup of the reserved fennel fronds.

Arrange the cooked fennel bulb and stalks over the pork chops and sprinkle the minced fennel fronds over the entire dish.

I have got to hook up with a food photographer...