Halloween jalapeño poppers

Saturday, I visited Farmer Rick at the Summer Creek Farm stand at the farmer's market. He had a quart of jalapeños. I said, "I'll take those." He looked at me funny. "You want ALL of them?" "Yep," I answered.

I took them home and made jalapeño poppers. I brought one back for Rick to try when I came back later for the vendor meeting after the market. Will from Whitmore Farm also tried one. I think the consensus was that they were awesome. Yeon and I ate the rest of them on our way there.

Since they turned out well, I made a second batch for my friends for Halloween. I called together an impromptu porch party for anyone who wanted to hang out and give kids candy. I had "adult treats" for us, like mulled wine. I also had a bag of caramel corn from Catoctin Popcorn. I had about 10 friends show up, which was really fun. My friend Charisse brought a giant inflatable Scooby Doo, which we put on the porch with us. We had a good time interacting with the kids and their parents; I think we had about 80 kids come through. Some of the costumes were awesome. My favorite was my neighbor friend Samantha. She dressed as the fruit of the loom grape guy but her grapes were purple balloons. My little buddy Henry dressed as a farmer, and his treat box had a scene with fresh vegetables on it. I did not see him eat any vegetables, however.

Sometimes I would offer the parents treats. One parent dude loved the jalapeño poppers. After he and his kids went to the next house, he wandered back: "hey, I heard you guys had jalapeño poppers." Me: "you look a little familiar." Him: "that's not me. That was my dad." HILARIOUS.

Jalapeño Poppers

• 10 Jalapeño peppers (I used Summer Creek Farm's)
• chevre or cream cheese (I used Caprikorn Farms's chevre)
• Hard cheese like cheddar
• Bacon strips (I used Rohrer's)

Wear rubber gloves if you don't want to have spicy hands. Slice the jalapeños lengthwise in half. Cut out the stem part on top. Use your fingers to remove the seeds and the white pith. Put chevre in each jalapeño half until almost level. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and mound a little on top. Sprinkle with paprika if you have it. Wrap with half a slice of bacon. Have the bacon ends on the bottom of the jalapeño, and stack the bacon ends, don't overlap them. Put in a baking dish. Bake at 450 until the bacon is cooked to your liking. If your bacon is not cooking quickly enough but you don't want to cook the jalapeños too much you can broil them. It depends on your oven. Allow to cool for a few minutes until the cheese won't scorch your mouth. Drain on paper towels. These things are pretty hot.

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Roasted Cauliflower with Apple et al.

It was going to be my Apple challenge, but it turned out to be more of a Cauliflower challenge. I picked up this huge, perfect cauliflower head from Gwen and I wanted do something special. I had this roasted cauliflower with apple idea, and I ended up modifying a recipe from Herbal Kitchen cookbook. I took

• 2/3 of Cauliflower (about 1.5 lbs), cut into florets
• 1 Ginger gold apple, chopped into big chunks
• 1 Asian pear, chopped into big chunks
• 1/2 Onion, cut into strips
• 1 TBS dried currant
• olive oil, salt and nutmeg

Mix cauliflower, apple, pear and onion with olive oil. Season wit salt. Bake in an oven at 425 for about 25 minutes, until cauliflower starts to brown a bit. Add in currant (I want to use golden raisin next time) and bake it for another 10 - 15 minutes till they brown nicely. Stir in freshly ground nutmeg just a bit.

Yum.

With the rest of cauliflower, I made cauliflower puree. Cook cauliflower with milk and cream till it is tender. Puree the cooked cauliflower in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Again, I added a little bit of nutmeg. Very subtle but significant enough to make you wonder what's in it.

I shall follow up with more apples!
Yeon

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Fresh Edamame!

I am sorry there are no pictures, but I left my phone in my parents' truck when I borrowed it this weekend to take down our fair booth. Today, I hung out at lunch with my friends Jessica and Kay, and Kay brought edamame for us! It was still on the plants, so Jessica and I picked them into a bag and gave the plants back to Kay for her compost. We split the pods with our friend Heather and I STILL had enough for a meal tonight. With a fresh honeycrisp apple. What? That's weird? Well then you've never had fresh edamame and a honeycrisp apple, because you wouldn't want to eat anything else.

To make edamame, it's easy. Take fresh edamame pods, put them in boiling water for five minutes, drain, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Squeeze the little soybeans out of the pods with your teeth. The end.

Shannon

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Fresh this Week from Summer Creek Farm

Fresh This Week

• Acorn squash
• Peppers
• Raspberries
• Summer squash
• Cherry tomatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Eggplant
• Beans
• Fingerling potatoes
• Basil

From Farmer Rick

We are already working on planning next year. Over the winter you will get a couple notes on what is going on at the farm. We are currently planning several courses at different places in the state on farming and gardening. I also have been asked to write for a new magazine on local farming and food. I appreciate any comments you want to e-mail on our CSA.

Thanks to all who have blogged about this year’s CSA. I have read several very nice blogs. Thanks to those continuing into the fall season. Food is very important to each of us and growing good food is what we are about! Your most valuable asset is your health; eating fruits and vegetables is the best thing you can do for yourself. I hope you have enjoyed our efforts this year. You can sign up for the 2010 season in November when our new form is available. Thanks for a great season.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are members of the tuber family, like other potatoes. Though sweet potatoes are often called yams, true yams can grow much larger than sweet potatoes, and are rarely produced in the U.S.; yams are generally only available in Latin markets.

Sweet potatoes become soft and sweet when cooked. They are an excellent source of Vitamins A, B6 and C, potassium and dietary fiber. One cup of plain baked sweet potato has 180 calories.
Sweet potatoes should be plump and unshriveled. Keep in a cool, dark, dry place, but do not refrigerate. Sweet potatoes are fairly perishable for tubers, and should be used within a couple weeks.

To bake sweet potatoes, preheat oven to 425°. Wash sweet potatoes and poke a few small holes in each, with a thin-bladed knife. Bake in a foil-lined baking pan, turning once, until very tender (about an hour). Serve with salt and pepper, or butter and cinnamon.

Sources: How to Cook Everything (Bittman), Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (Madison), nutritiondata.com

Recipe Feature

Sweet Potato Biscuits
adapted from How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman

About 10 biscuits, 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• 1 scant teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 to 5 tablespoons cold butter (more is better)
• 1 cup cooked sweet potato or winter squash, pureed (a food mill or potato ricer works well for this)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk (see instructions*)

Heat oven to 450°. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl or food processor. Cut the butter into small bits and pulse in food processor, or use a pastry blender to incorporate the butter into the flour, until butter is smaller than pea-sized.

Add the pureed sweet potato to the butter-flour mixture and mix well. *Add only enough yogurt or buttermilk to form the dough into a ball (will need lesser amount if potatoes are moist). Press the dough to 1/2-inch thick and cut into 2-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter or the top of a glass. Put rounds on an ungreased baking sheet, and repeat until all dough is used.

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, until golden brown, and serve within 15 minutes.

Link of the week

Summer Creek Farm CSA page – bookmark us for next year!

Contact us: farmer@summercreekfarm.com

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Wild Foods: Purslane

My yard is getting wild and wooly, and purslane (verdolaga) is dotting the cracks of my sidewalks. Lucky for me, purslane is a tasty weed. Image from the University of Illinois.

Purslane is a crunchy, mucilaginous succulent. It makes a nice addition to salads and goes especially well with cucumbers and pears. You can throw it in to a blender with other vegetables for gazpacho or scramble it with eggs. It is great in cooked soups. It has a crunch similar to green beans when raw and a texture like nopalitos (cactus) when cooked.

Pickled Purslane

• 1 quart purslane stems and leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 quart apple cider vinegar (or old pickle, jalapeno juice,etc.)
• 10 peppercorns

Clean the purslane stems and leaves by rinsing with fresh water. Cut into 1" pieces and place in clean jars with lids. Add the spices and pour the vinegar over the purslane. Keep this in the refrigerator and wait at least two weeks before using. Serve as a side dish with omelets and sandwiches.

Purslane with Tomato (Domatesli Semizotu)

• 1 bunch or 1 lb purslane (verdolaga in Spanish), washed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced or minced
• 2 tomatoes, grated or petite diced (or 1 can petite diced tomato)
• 1/4 cup rice (soaked in hot water for 15-20 minutes)
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• salt
• black pepper
• 1 cup hot water

Heat olive oil on medium heat and saute onions. Add purslane, tomato, rice (that you soaked and rinsed), salt, sugar, pepper. Stir for a couple of minutes. Pour in water. Cook on low covered for 15-20 minutes until rice is cooked. Serve warm or cold.

Yeon and I made this dish tonight and it was awesome. We changed a few things- used leeks and garlic scapes instead of onions and garlic, and added roasted peppers. The purslane creates a gumbolike texture.

Shannon

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Fresh this Week from Summer Creek Farm

Fresh This Week

• Hot peppers and green peppers
• Basil
• Raspberries
• Cherry tomatoes
• Zucchini
• Potatoes
• Heirloom tomatoes

Peppers – Hot and Sweet

Summer Creek Farm grows a variety of both hot and sweet peppers, several of which will be featured in upcoming CSA boxes. Varieties include sweet bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, and on the hot side jalapeno (green), habañero (small and very hot, red or orange) and Thai (long and red).

Finely diced hot peppers are a great addition to many recipes. Add to soups, salsas, chili and sauces for added heat. To lessen the heat in prepared dishes, remove the center seeds of hot peppers before adding.

Store all types of peppers unwashed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. If you cannot use them right away, try freezing the peppers (instructions).

Avoid touching your eyes when chopping hot peppers, and wash your hands carefully. If you find the burning sensation overwhelming when tasting the peppers, try drinking milk.

Sources: The Chile Pepper Institute and Recipezaar

Recipe Feature

Not Just Rice and Beans
by April Finnen

Leftover cooked chicken is also a good addition. Add with beans if using.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 hot pepper, finely diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Sour cream (optional)
• One avocado, chopped (optional)
• Cooked rice, for serving

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Then add hot pepper, green pepper, onions and cumin, and cook until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes over medium heat. When the vegetables are cooked, add the black beans, salt and pepper, and heat through. Serve over rice, topped with fresh cilantro, sour cream and/or avocado.

From Farmer Rick

Farmer Rick is too busy to write this week! He will have Fall CSA information available soon.

In the meantime, here are some more ideas for using your vegetables:

• Summer squash gratin
• Zucchini pancakes
• Zucchini and basil lasagna
• Tomato-stuffed peppers
• Oven-baked ratatouille

Kitchen tip

When freezing basil pesto, add a thin layer of olive oil over the top and it will retain its bright green color.

Link of the week

Supercook.com – add ingredients you have, and find free recipe ideas.

Contact Summer Creek Farm at farmer@summercreekfarm.com.

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Sunday Evening

Photo by Dan

It was another beautiful evening. While Dan was grilling food for our dinner, I made very chunky salsa with ever-bearing strawberries that Dave brings to the downtown farmer's market and a pineapple tomato that I just picked from our garden. The salsa was lovely.

• Very coarsely chopped strawberries, about one cup
• One medium sized pineapple tomato, coarsely chopped
• about 1/2 TBS finely chopped onions
• 1 ts of fresh cilantro
• 1 ts of fresh marjoram
  
• Left over vinaigrette from the night before (1 part balsamic vinegar, 3 part olive oil, finely chopped garlic, fresh oregano, fresh basil)
  

Photo by Yeon

With another cup of fresh strawberries, I made strawberry muffins. I used a blueberry muffin recipe from Cooks Illustrated. I substituted diced fresh strawberries for fresh blueberries. The recipe also calls for cooking a cup of fresh blueberries into a syrupy mixture. I used left-over strawberry-rhubarb from making Chef's Christine's strawberry-rhubarb crumble. Dan and I loved these muffins - we have been eating one a day for breakfast. I love the touch of lemon sugar on top of the muffin.

Photo by Yeon

Our simple dinner was ready. Dan marinated the lamb kebabs we got from the Whitmore Farm stand at the farmer's market. I don't know what he did but it was just fabulous. He mixed his own spices and it involved grinding black cardamom and coriander seeds. It had red wine in the marinade. I will have to ask him to write down the recipe for me. Corn was from Jim at the Saturday farmer's market. It was so sweet. Last minute cucumber salad included plain yogurt, minced mint, scallion, salt and pepper.

Compared to last year, I have not put much harvest away yet. I am getting ready to pickle cucumbers, squashes; and preserve peaches and raspberries; and make tomato sauces. Next two weekends are going to be "preserving" weekends.

Yeon

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In Praise of Tomatoes

The tomatoes are coming fast and furious, but luckily I have lots of friends. I just gave a bag of Amish paste tomatoes to my neighbor Robin yesterday and have been supplying the birds all summer.

My favorite tomatoes have changed! Now my favorites are pineapple and speckled Roma. The pineapple is an old favorite, but the speckled Roma has definitely run up on my other old favorites. The tomato is fleshy without being grainy, turns a deep crimson red on the inside, and is the most gorgeous red with squiggled yellow and green stripes on the outside. It's a favorite for slicing as well as sauce. And in my garden this year it has been one of the most prolific.

Yeon gave me a beautiful book this year called "The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook" and I am going to share a recipe with you that I can't wait to try. It also takes advantage of tomatillos, which I happened to grow again this year (actually I stole a neighbor's plants when he moved, but he said it was OK):

Aunt Ruby's Green German Tomato Relish and Goat Cheese Bruschetta

• 1 pound tomatillos, husked and blanched [thrown in boiling water] for 2 to 3 minutes
• 3 Tbsp light olive oil
• 2 pounds Aunt Ruby's Green German heirloom tomatoes (green zebras would also be nice). peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch dice.
• 2 tbsp Champagne vinegar
• 1/4 c torn or julienned fresh basil leaves
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 6-8 thin diagonal baguette slices, toasted (anybody know a recipe for a gluten-free baguette?)
• 4 oz fresh goat cheese (such as Caprikorn farms chevre)

In a blender or food processor, process the tomatillos to a smooth puree. In a large nonreactive pan, heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil over high heat, add the tomatoes, and saute for one minute, then add the vinegar and tomatillo puree. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Reserve the tomatoes in another bowl and return the juice to the saute pan. Cook the juice over high heat to reduce to a syrup, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Stir the reduced juice, basil, and remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil onto the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon the relish onto the toasted baguette slices and garnish with slices of goat cheese. Serves 6-8.

On a related note, I have been wondering what to make with the papalo plant that Nancy from Chesapeake's Choice gave me earlier this year. The smell is lovely, with strong cilantro notes mixed with a more subtle curry smell. I found this recipe for salsa that I think I am going to try. I love to try new things. You probably know that already.

Papalo Salsa

• 2 roasted and deseeded chopped chili peppers
• 2 roasted and deseeded green peppers, chopped
• 3 small green tomatoes, chopped
• 4 roasted garlic cloves
• 6 papalo leaves
• ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• salt
• 2 spoonfuls of minced onion

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and let sit in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

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Following Chef Christine's Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

I so wanted to make this strawberry-rhubarb crumble that chef Christine posted, but when I was ready to make this, we just got out of strawberry season. I don't remember why but I had to make cupcakes and used up last batch of fresh local strawberries. I thought I was out of luck till next year. Then last thursday, I was given a second chance.

Dave of Blue Mountain Farms brought ever-bearing strawberries at downtown farmer's market. They looked a little firm but still smelled wonderful. My rhubarb plant is still going strong, we always have lemon at hands, so with strawberries, rhubarb and lemon, I was ready to make this fabulous cake.
Please follow chef Christine's recipe word by word. I made this cake on Monday night after work, after dinner, while fighting my allergies. Hopefully that explains why I used 9 by 9 pan instead of 9 by 13 and the cake looks much thick rather than nice thin as chef Christine had.
Yeon pointing at her 9 by 13 pan: "Dan, is this pan 9 by 13? It looks awfully big." (Please remember I grew up with meters and centimeters and sometimes I still get confused).
Dan: That's not 9 by 13. It is bigger than that. (He has no excuse. He was probably not paying attention).
Yeon: "Okay. I guess I will use a smaller pan then."

I had minor modification as far as ingredients go:

• I had only 1 1/2 cups of fresh strawberries, and my rhubarb stalks are mostly green with red hue, which meant strawberry-rhubarb mixture was going to lack strawberry flavor and color. I added 3 tablespoon of home-made strawberry-balsamic jam to enhance color and flavor.
• When I combined wet ingredients together for cake batter, I added fresh lemon peels from one lemon. I cut down sugar to 3/4 cup in dry ingredient for the cake.

I placed a parchment paper and buttered it so that I can take the cake pieces out easily. I am not sure if it was necessary step or not, but they do come out very easily.

It is a wonderful recipe. Since it requires cooking strawberries and rhubarb briefly, I could try making it with frozen strawberries. And yes, I have a good amount strawberries that I froze this spring. Did I mention my rhubarb plant is still going strong?

Yeon

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Fresh this Week from Summer Creek Farm

Fresh This Week

• Tomatoes
• Edamame
• Italian beans
• Garlic
• Hot peppers
• Potatoes

Edamame
Edamame (pronounced eh-dah-MAH-meh) are fresh young soybeans. Japanese cuisine has long included these tasty tidbits as snacks, but only recently have Americans began to catch on, even though soybeans are the most widely grown bean in the world. Edamame are high in protein, with 8 grams per half-cup serving, and only 3 grams of fat. They have a buttery flavor and firm texture. To enjoy raw, wash the beans and use a brush to scrub some of the fuzz off the pods (optional). Squeeze the beans out of the pod and serve raw with a little salt.

If you choose to cook them, edamame can substitute for lima or fava beans in any recipe. They are younger beans, so lessen cooking time accordingly. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week in a plastic bag. Edamame also last in the freezer for a few months if wrapped well.

Sources: Cooking Light and How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman, 2008

Recipe Feature
Edamame Succotash w/Shrimp
Recipe: adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups blanched shelled edamame
3 bacon slices
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 to 2 hot peppers, finely chopped
2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)
3 tablespoons white wine
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

To blanch, boil water, add beans, cook 1-2 minutes, drain and set aside. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in pan; crumble bacon. Reduce heat to medium; add celery, onion, garlic, and hot pepper to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in edamame, corn, and wine; cook 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add shrimp; cook 5 minutes or until shrimp are pink, stirring
frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in salt and pepper to taste; sprinkle with crumbled bacon and parsley. Serve immediately.

From Farmer Rick
We are finally seeing the heat at the farm. We now are working faster to pick the produce while it is still young. Irrigation becomes more important to maintain good quality. Finally we are seeing peppers to harvest. They are about 3 weeks late due to all the rain and cool weather. I hope you are all enjoying the produce. Things are very busy trying to stay ahead of the produce.
-Farmer Rick

Link of the week
WSU Vegetable Research and Extension - more edamame recipes!

Contact us: farmer@summercreekfarm.com

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breakfast, lunch and left-over dinner

My new year's resolution was to do less and have a simple(r) life. I am miserably failing. It is time to remind myself that it is okay to do less. In my attempt to catch up with blogging (and make a simple posting), I present you with three photos of the meals that we recently had. For a Sunday breakfast, I made chestnut scones. It pretty much follows a basic scone recipe but has a bit of chestnut flour which gives a subtle nutty flavor. The texture becomes very crumbly though. Blueberries from Glade Link Farm and peaches, plums from Scenic view orchards accompanied the warm scones right off the oven.
Dan and I never made BLT at home, so we asked ourselves why not? Pineapple tomatoes from our garden, lettuce from Chesapeake's choice, bacon from Rohrer's Meats etc, and gluten-free bread from A Better Choice Baked Goods.
We had friends over for a gathering on Thursday night and these are left-overs that we ate the following day. Potatoes were from my garden (yukon gold) and Whitmore Farm (red bliss? I will ask Rose today at the market Will and Rose told me they were red thumbs potatoes). I followed Chelsea's recipe and it was fabulous! Speckled roma and basil from our garden. Cucumbers, sungold tomatoes, onions, garlic, peach to make a nice relish. What didn't make it to this photo are grilled veggies - grilled sweet corn and yellow squash were just phenomenal.

What are you cooking with the abundant summer veggies and fruits? Send us your photos, stories and recipes to share!

Yeon

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Another 60's era recipe card photo: gazpacho

I think April is doing this on purpose now, creating 60's era photographs of modern food. Look at her earlier photo of Caprese salad and you'll understand what I mean. Check out her most recent post up at 1000 pizza doughs with a recipe on how to make gazpacho and not have it taste like salsa (I have often wondered what the difference is).

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Fresh this Week from Summer Creek Farm

Fresh this week

• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Basil
• Squash
• Cucumber
• Melons
• Basil (Presto Pesto!)

Presto Pesto!

Originally from central Africa and Southeast Asia, basil has long been cultivated as a culinary and medicinal herb.

Traditionally, basil has been used in treatment of headaches, coughs, diarrhea, constipation, warts, worms and kidney malfunctions.

If you have an abundance of basil, try making pesto, which can be used as a spread (it’s great in grilled cheese sandwiches) or a sauce for pasta.

To make a basic basil pesto, blend the following in a food processor:

2 cups (packed) fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
1/2 cup grated hard cheese (like Parmesan or pecorino)

Serve pesto at room temperature. It freezes well for later use.
Sources: Purdue University and Food Network

Recipe Feature

Braided Basil Bread
Recipe and photo: Jessica Hibbard

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
2 cups unbleached white flour + 1 extra cup for kneading
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 package (1/4 ounce) rapid rise dry yeast
1 tsp salt

Mix milk, olive oil, and honey in a small saucepan over low-medium heat on the stovetop. This takes a little while, so let it heat up while you prepare the basil: Remove the stems, wash the leaves, and pat dry with a towel. Chop coarsely.

In a mixing bowl, combine salt, yeast, basil, whole wheat flour, and 2 cups of the unbleached white flour.

Let the liquid mixture get fairly hot, but try to avoid curdling the milk. Remove from heat and wait until it's no longer hot, just warm. (To test the temperature, I try to see if I can put my finger in it without burning myself. I'm sure you'll come up with a more scientific method, but I'm pretty lazy about all this baking stuff.)

Add the liquids to the mixing bowl and beat until everything is combined. (The original recipe says to beat 100 times with a spoon, but I use a KitchenAid mixer. Please refer to above comment re: laziness.) Knead in the final cup of unbleached white flour. I use the kneading hook on the KitchenAid, and make sure I let it run for at least a few minutes.

Spray a baking sheet with olive oil. Oil the top of the dough, place on the baking sheet, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let it rise until doubled in size. (With rapid rise yeast, this usually takes only about 20 minutes.)

Punch down the dough, and divide in half. Make 3 ropes from each half and braid together into 2 loaves. Spray a second baking sheet with olive oil. Cover both loaves with plastic wrap and a towel and let them rise until doubled in size. (This takes about an hour.)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove plastic wrap & towel and bake each loaf for 15-20 minutes. The bread is done when it turns golden brown on top and sounds hollow when knocked.

If you keep this bread in a sealed container or ziploc bag, it will stay fresh-tasting for a few days. The honey acts as a natural preservative, so it doesn't become stale as quickly as homebaked bread made with sugar.

From Farmer Rick

Wheat harvest is done, and we are busy planting fall crops, beans, peas, broccoli, beets, etc.

Always something to plant, something to harvest and something to weed this time of year!

Editor’s note (April Finnen)

Yes, my backyard is a testament to that… seems I can only successfully grow those hardiest of plants: weeds!

Link of the week

Waste Not Cooking (from Edible Vancouver)
Includes tips on using food scraps and leftovers.
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/vancouver/Cooking/waste-not.htm

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Sunday Lunch

I had a great time visiting friends that I haven't seen for a while. I was well fed during the trip, visited a farmer's market, a community garden and a really nice Italian garden, shopped a bit, and chatted a lot with friends. After all the fun and excitement, it was nice to come home, sleep in the familiar bed, and wake up in the morning and walk out to our garden.

On Sunday morning, I pulled out some carrots (yellow and orange) and a beet. Potato plants looked yellow but I wasn't sure if it was because they were ready for harvest or because they were stressed out from lack of rain. Feeling impatient, I decide to harvest one of the two potato bags. I simply dump the soil out of the bag, started going through and picking up potatoes! Oh my, that was so fun!!

For lunch, Dan decided to make grilled shrimp dish with lime, cilantro, garlic and peanuts, which happens to feature in martha stewart Living magazine. He marinated the shrimp in lime juice and garlic, grilled the shrimp first, and then in the skillet cooked the peanuts and cilantro briefly which later joined by grilled shrimp. He also made a small batch of fried potatoes with freshly dug yukon gold potatoes. Since we had a grill going, we also grilled the beet, and smallest potatoes from the harvest.

For salad, I made a quick thai-style slaw with sliced cucumber from the farmer's market, julienned carrot, chopped mint, vinegar, sugar and fish sauce.

First tomatoes are coming in too. We were very excited with our first two striped roma tomatoes, and made the classic combo of basil, tomato, fresh mozzarella drizzled with olive oil, and some salt and pepper. I know, we eat this a lot throughout the summer with different tomatoes, sometimes with different cheese, and sometimes dressed up more with balsamic vinegar and so on.

How local was our lunch? Let me list. Tomatoes, beet, potatoes, carrot, basil, cilantro, mint and garlic were from our own garden. Fresh Mozzarella cheese was from South Mountain Creamery in Middletown. Cucumber was from Whitmore farm in Emmitsburg. Peanuts were from Virginia. Olive oil came from Spain, salt from Portugal, peppercorns from India, and shrimps from Thailand. I wish we had local shrimp but overall we did pretty well. All the vegetables were very local, most of them being from our own backyard.

Dan and I are proud of our small garden and our on-going patronage to local farmer's markets. But really, it simply comes down to the pure joy of eating fresh delicious food. I can't wait to go to downtown farmer's market at Everedy Square this afternoon and buy fruits and vegetables at their peak. Oh, I shouldn't forget fresh eggs!

Yeon

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Fresh this Week from Summer Creek Farm

Fried Green Tomatoes
Green tomatoes are simply regular tomatoes that haven’t ripened yet. They are firmer in texture than ripe tomatoes, which are usually red. Being from the South (N.C.), I can testify that many Southerners don’t recognize (much less eat) vegetables unless they have been deep fried. There are probably as many fried green tomato recipes as there are Southern cooks. There are plenty of ways to coat and fry your tomatoes. You could use bread crumbs (try Panko), cracker crumbs, cornmeal, or flour. Some people dip them in beaten eggs before dredging, while some just dredge then fry. Be sure to salt and pepper them first. A deep skillet with a generous amount of oil is a reasonable substitute if you don’t have a deep fryer.

Sources: about.com and wikipedia

-April

Recipe Feature
Baked Green Tomatoes

Try them for dessert!
Serves 6, Recipe from Diana Rattray, About.com
4 large firm green tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup coarse buttery cracker crumbs (like Ritz crackers)
4 tablespoons butter
Cut green tomatoes in 1/2 inch slices; arrange green tomato slices in a greased baking dish. Season sliced green tomatoes with salt and pepper and spread each with about 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar. Cover sliced green tomatoes with crumbs and dot with butter. Bake at 350° until green tomatoes are tender but still firm, or about 25 to 35 minutes.

Link of the week
Fried Green Tomatoes: A Taste of New Orleans (NPR story)
Includes recipes for fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade, and fried green tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and tomato sauce.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5692200

From Farmer Rick
We are almost finished with our wheat harvest. Harvest has been slow due to machinery breakdowns and the fact that we have been working hard to get irrigation up and running. It is very dry now so we have switched from mud to dust. Since vegetables are 80% water we really need to get it running! It takes about 3 days of work to set our system up every season. We are also busy planting fall crops like squash, hard squash, beans and peas. The crops are running late but we will have red tomatoes and other summer vegetables soon.

Fresh This Week

• Yukon gold potatoes
• Green tomatoes
• Chard
• Cucumber
• Grape tomatoes
• Garlic
• Green beans

Have a favorite way to use all those great CSA tomatoes, green peppers, squash and other veggies? Please e-mail aprilfinnen@yahoo.com if you’d like to share your ideas!

[I usually make fried green tomatoes by dredging in flour, then beaten egg or buttermilk, then cornmeal. The crust will come off the tomato if you don't have a good nonstick surface. I also like to eat these at the end of the season when you have to pull your tomato plants before the first frost, when there are lots of green tomatoes. This year, the tomato season is late because of cool temperatures and so this is a great way to have tomatoes early. -Shannon]

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Strawberry Crepe with Black Raspberry Jam Topping

I don't know why but I love cooking black raspberries. I will buy these beautiful berries at the market, maybe eat a few fresh, and then the rest of them go to a pot with sugar and then get cooked. I don't even measure how much sugar I put in. Just enough sugar to cover the berries in the pot.  I like my jam slightly syrupy with not too much sweetness. 

I am not a huge jam person, so a small quarter pint of jam  lasts for a while kept in a refrigerator. I love eating a toast with a smear of home-made black raspberry jam though.  The jam makes excellent cookie filling. You can put a spoonful on top of your vanilla ice cream and instantaneously transform it to black raspberry ice cream.

One saturday morning we had a bit of beaten egg left (after making Dan's fabulous French toast), so I made crepes following this recipe, and then topped with the black raspberry jam. Yum. Maybe I need to make more black raspberry jam. This time I will do canning so that I can enjoy the flavor in the middle of winter.

Yeon

 

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Blueberry Yogurt Pie

Of course it was an awesome weekend full of picnics and friends and family, in gorgeous weather. In a weekend of really great food, today's picnic stood out. The lamb kebabs at my friend Jackie's house were awesome- the lamb was from Rohrer's meats, and the zucchini and squash were stolen from my neighbor's garden since they are on vacation. Jackie's mom made a chicken corn soup that had carrots in it from my garden. She said the carrots were gorgeous- she had never seen any that weren't orange. I had given them some yellow ones and a few beet-colored ones that were orange in the middle with a little white star in the very center. She really loved those. I also made a blueberry yogurt pie:

This was a big hit and was loved by all. I got the blueberries from Glade Link Farm and the yogurt from South Mountain Creamery. The recipe is modified from Sundays at Moosewood.

Blueberry Yogurt Pie

Crust
1/3 c butter
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 c unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Filling
2 eggs
3 Tbsp sugar
1 c plain yogurt (I used plain kefir from South Mountain Creamery)
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (I left this out to make a less obviously tart pie)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 c blueberries, fresh or frozen

Butter and flour a 9- or 10- inch pie pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer or by hand, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and blend well. Combine the flour and baking powder and mix them into the wet ingredients to form a soft dough. With flour-dusted fingers, push the sticky dough into the bottom of the buttered and floured pie pan. Push the dough up to cover the sides of the pan. Refrigerate while making the filling (I put in the freezer).

Mix all the filling ingredients, except the blueberries, until smooth. Put the berries into the pie shell and gently pour in the filling so the berries are coated and evenly distributed. (At this point I put a strip of foil around the top of the pie where the crust was exposed to prevent it from getting burned.)

Bake for 50 or 60 minutes, until the crust is browned and the custard is set. Chill well.

As I was leaving, Jackie's mom asked, "do you want to take the blueberry pie with you?" I figured since she asked, I would say no. I can always make another one and get the pie plate later :D

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Turnip fritters

I have not eaten many turnips in my life, or parsnips for that matter. It's nothing personal. My parents just weren't big on them, and I never got in the habit of eating them. Same with beets. But I have discovered beets in adulthood in a big way (anybody want any? My garden is full of ripe ones) and am on the verge of discovering turnips and parsnips too. I actually prefer them to potatoes. Sadly, I did not grow any this year. But for those of you who subscribe to CSAs or who want to get some at a farmer's market, turnips are in. Here's an awesome looking recipe for turnip fritters from my friend Ilene at her House in the Woods CSA Blog. Ilene is the same person who sold tomato seedlings to Hilda and John Staples and me, and who sells her tomatoes to the Common Market. Thanks Ilene!

Shannon

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I love you, grilled pizza

Remember when you were a kid and you said, "I love pizza" and then one of your jokester friends said, "Then why don't you marry it?" I think I would marry this pizza. I don't think I can live another week without trying Chef Christine's grilled pizza recipe, posted at her Frederick Foodie blog.

I need to check my tomato plants. If Yeon has tomatoes coming in then I hope that mine aren't far behind. They would be great on this pizza. And I have basil ready for the picking. All I need next is some fresh mozzarella from my friend Juliet's Italian Market or from South Mountain Creamery.

I also want to try this with grilled eggplant and zucchini and some tahini sauce and crumbled falafel. With some pretty, plain yogurt drizzled on top and a few blossoms from an allium or chive thrown in for looks. But I digress.

The picture of the pizza is from Chef Christine's daughter Anna.

Shannon

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Strawberry and Chocolate

These little cupcakes came out pretty good. I followed the recipe for One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes to make the cupcakes and made Strawberry Buttercream for the icing (only half the recipe).
Aren't strawberries so versatile? They taste awesome when they are fresh, they can be cooked into sauce and jam, you can make yummy baked goods, and they freeze so well. I need more strawberries to make Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble posted by Chef Christine. I am crossing my fingers that Gwen would bring strawberries this Thursday to the Everedy Square market. I've heard that they stopped pick-your-own for strawberries last Sunday so we might not have fresh strawberries any more.
On an upbeat note, we had cherries at the market last Saturday and I hear blueberries are getting ready. You know cherries and blueberries are also versatile. We can eat them fresh, cook them into sauce and jam, make baked goods, freeze...... you get the idea.

Yeon

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