[local eating] Farm share week 17, and holiday food

[magid]

This week's loot:

• an acorn squash
  
• a delicata squash
  
• a bunch of collards (could've been kale)
  
• a head of radicchio (left behind; I still have some from earlier in the year, and I know the leftover food goes to Food for Free anyway)
  
• a head of cauliflower (or some broccoli, but I adore cauliflower, so went with that, in the classic white rather than the orange that makes me think it's been put in with very pale tomato sauce briefly)
  
• a third of a pound of salad greens
  
• three pounds of bell peppers (I chose red ones)
  
• fifteen hot peppers
  
• eight mini bell peppers (I chose yellow and orange ones to contrast the red ones above)
  
• four red onions
  
• a tomato (I chose a yellow one)
  
• a pound of beets (I chose all golden ones, because my bulk order had come in)

The rest of my bulk order arrived, so I have a 25-pound bag of beets, and a half bushel of plum tomatoes. I expect I'll be oven-drying a lot of them. Also, lots of pickle making, beets and hot peppers both, since I have most of the ones I picked at the farm last week, and ten more jalapenos from my porch (with more ripening quickly).

Tonight is Shmini Atzeret, then Simchat Torah, followed by Shabbat. Lots more meals, one of which I'm out for (bringing the salad greens and likely some golden raspberries in their syrup). I've made whatever food needed using up before today's vegetable infusion, and will likely be cooking a bit more over the holiday, since I'm leaving the oven on low (it'll heat up the house some, but I'll live). Since I'm not hosting any meals, it'll be whatever I'm in the mood for, which makes things pretty easy. Already made:

• collards and baby bok choy sauteed with onions and sesame-soy sauce
  
• roasted broccoli
  
• roasted carrots and beets
  
• baked sunshine squash
  
• maple apple allspice bread pudding (if one can call it that, given the high ratio of apple to anything else....)
  
• chicken slowly baked with rice, tomato, potato, already-roasted tomato, and black pepper

I'm likely going to roast the cauliflower, and make some kind of pepper salad with feta (and perhaps tomatoes and olives). I have nice When Pigs Fly tomato florentine bread and lots of hummus. And there's lots of pickles and sauerkraut, of course.

Chag sameach to those celebrating, and I'll see you on the flip side :-).

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

the orange that makes me think it's been put in with very pale tomato sauce briefly

What a creative description!

The people at the Farmers' Market from whom I have liked getting miniature red bell peppers in the past didn't end up growing any this year, alas.

My farmer friend did, however, kindly suggest a delicious tomato to me this past week based on my cherry tomato preferences. I bought two that he picked out for me, had one sliced on bread late Simchat Torah night and it was pretty good, but the other in a salad on Shabbat was simply marvelous. I think the variety is called Pink Ella. Have you tried those?

The maple apple allspice bread pudding sounds fabulous!

Do you have any suggestions for some sort of sweet potato soup? I was given some huge sweet potatoes! I'm thinking onions, not sure what seasonings, perhaps spinach? I am unsure about whether to include the carrots I have remaining given how they didn't soften so much in the last soup; perhaps if I shred them they will work, but if they won't really add anything I'd rather not risk it.

Florentine bread! Haven't seen that one in the supermarkets. Do you get the bread at local When Pigs Fly stores, or is that from a visit to their headquarters? Do you know what the deal is with the kashrut of their local stores?

Shavua tov.

[(Anonymous)]

Do you get the bread at local When Pigs Fly stores, or is that from a visit to their headquarters? Do you know what the deal is with the kashrut of their local stores?

Please forgive me; I see it could sound like I'm saying you might be buying bread at their local stores without knowing the kashrut status of said stores! Not my intention, of course! Just a request for information if you have it, which of course you would if you are getting the bread from their local stores, phrased clumsily.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I'm not amazingly enthusiastic about the mini bell peppers; if I'm going to have to cut up a pepper anyway, I'd rather it be full sized. Of course, bell pepper of any size better than no bell pepper....

I don't remember which cherry tomatoes I picked last week, other than Sungolds, which I like a lot, yet weren't my favorite of the varieties I picked. I don't know whether Pink Ella was one of the types I've tried or not.

The bread pudding needed something else to add oomph (perhaps more maple than I added...).

First thought for a sweet potato soup: sauteed with onions, then pureed, with cumin. Or spinach and chickpeas, perhaps with a touch of cayenne. I wouldn't add the carrot; too much competing orange!

I was wrong about the bread: I'd debated tomato florentine or baby spinach ciabatta, and ended up with the latter. They only send their fairly 'usual' flavors of bread to the supermarkets; the stores have a much wider variety of flavors (and let you have a taste of whatever you want!). I used to go to Maine, but now I end up at their store in Davis, since it's all baked in Maine, just shipped down that morning (another reason not to get at the supermarkets: possibly not as fresh, especially since already sliced). As far as I know, the bread is pareve, the bread pudding 'cakes' are dairy (and they have a separate oven for them), and the other (shelf) products are unhechshered. I'm comfortable buying their bread. (And no worries about wording!)

[(Anonymous)]

The miniature red bell peppers I got were actually easier for me to cut up. There were fewer parts to cut away, and the slices -- quadrants, really -- were so nice. I liked the shape of them. I do see your point.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I had asked for a recommendation of regular tomatoes based on the cherry tomatoes I liked. My farmer friend went and picked out the Pink Ellas for me.

Would ginger have worked in the bread pudding? Cloves? Or perhaps instead of more maple, another sweetener to complement, like brown sugar? Or served sprinkled with powdered sugar? Or with raspberry syrup?

Thank you for your soup recommendations! I considered what I'd do were it butternut squash, and ended up starting it as you happened to suggest; I did onion in olive oil then the sweet potatoes (which were huge!), a little salt and water. It cooked down well and smelled delicious (and like Pesach). When I scooped out some to taste, I was glad it didn't taste only like just a soupy sweet potato, but it was actually too sweet. The cumin sounded good; I'd done soups with both sweet potato and cumin before. I tried a little mixed into what I'd scooped out, and it was still too sweet. So I've now mixed in the spinach. Alas, I have no chickpeas, except for still-dried ones. Cayenne sounds good. I guess we'll see. The two soups I'm referencing for ideas, butternut-apple and spinach-lentil, don't really mix. So that's my soup report!

Thanks for all the bread information, and for judging me favorably with respect to the wording. The kashrut certificate from the Vaad at the Brookline store if I recall correctly say only the packaged breads were okay, but that the Somerville store was all kosher. I thought that sounded backwards, Somerville instead of Brookline? When I asked at the Somerville store, the fellow had no idea about kashrut. It's good to know what people do in practice.

Sorry this comment is so long!

[magid.livejournal.com]

I hear you about the shape and ease of the minis; I've been in bulk veggie prep mode for long enough now that my automatic thoughts are about how much work it will be to prep $LargeQuantity for some preserving recipe...

All good suggestions for the bread pudding. Unfortunately, I'm about at the 'underinspired and almost ready to be done with it' stage (which isn't too unreasonable, given it was baked last Wednesday before chag, after all).

Sounds like you've got the start of a lovely soup! Depending on how much of it there is, you could heat mini-batches of it with different additions/seasonings each day.

I'd heard about the Vaad certificate in the Brookline store, which sounded strange to me. The Somerville store was set up before the Brookline store; not sure how things might have changed (in Vaad rules, perhaps?) in the interim. Oh, and the two women who work at the Somerville store who I always seem to run into are knowledgeable enough about kosher status.

Long comments mean content. Content = good :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, not quadrants in the strict geometric sense.

Spinach, cayenne, and more salt to combat sweetness worked. Thanks for your excellent help!

[(Anonymous)]

Looks like I was writing my follow-up below at the same time you were replying!

Thanks for all of the great suggestions and helpful information, and for your kind words.

Hope you are having a good day!

[(Anonymous)]

The soup turned out well. Good with a little yogurt, too.

Later, it occurred to me that rice might have been a nice, if not so balanced, addition.

Thanks again so much for your ideas! The cayenne was key, and with the spinach I wouldn't have thought of it.

Long comments mean content. Content = good :-)

This continues to make me smile.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I'm glad your soup turned out well! And somehow I can see rice as an addition. If you didn't want it to be quite as starchy an addition, perhaps fry it first, perhaps with some egg (if you have leftover rice to add, as I do)?

I'm glad to help with the cayenne :-). Last winter I kept making permutations of green and orange stew (spinach, collards, kale, etc + sweet potato, winter squash, carrots, etc + cayenne, hot sauce, spicy sausages, etc), which very much suited my mood.

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't anticipate minding the starchiness, just meant to sheepishly acknowledge the lack of balance. What a great tip, to fry the rice!

I don't know that I've ever made green and orange soup/stew before! I'm sure I read about some of your adventures, which is perhaps in part from where I got the idea. Butternut always becomes butternut-apple soup, carrot become carrot soup or play a supporting role in mushroom-barley or lentil soup. Sweet potatoes I usually don't use in soup, except sometimes like carrots in lentil soup, but these were huge. Spinach goes into spinach-lentil soup. Anyway, your suggestion for spiciness made all the difference. I'll plan for chickpeas next time, too.

Also, I see I still wasn't precise about the tomatoes, though my meaning probably now comes across. In case not: The Pink Ellas were regular, not cherry, tomatoes. I was thinking you might like them.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Somehow if the rice is fried it's sort of like adding soup nuts or croutons to soup, rather than adding bread. In my head, anyway.

I'm mostly very flexible about soup, making it more out of what's around than soup x or soup x-y (when I was growing up my dad would make what he calls garbage soup, which was pretty much going through the fridge and adding anything he wanted, especially veggies towards the end of their fridge life). The advantage of sweet potato over carrot in soup for me is that sweet potato doesn't hold its shape, making a thicker soup. (The only winter squash I use for soup on a regular basis is butternut, because it's easily peeled. The rest are if-I-have-leftovers only.)

*nod* about the tomatoes. (It's been so chilly this week, and I keep mourning the end of tomato season...)

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not as rigid about soups as I may have represented myself to be earlier. *grin* I do also make soups with what's around. But certain soups have to be made just so. I described to someone once how to make my butternut-apple soup, and he later reported having added kidney beans (?!), which upset me.

When I was growing up, my mother would have me make soups like your father would make. Once later on, I heard a television chef use the term "garbage" -- in reference to pizza, but same idea -- and found it incredibly unappetizing, even though the idea described was of course fine.

Yes, sweet potatoes are great in that they fall apart, even more easily than butternut squash. Carrot soup is the one soup I make that does have to be pureed; since the carrots as you point out hold their shape and I do not have an appliance to help me puree, I don't make it much, even though it is a comfort food.

Otherwise, I'm glad carrots hold their shape! That's how I like them in lentil soup and mushroom-barley soup. Oh, and to accompany matza balls! Didn't mention that before. Also, I failed to mention my using sweet potatoes in non-chicken chicken soup.

Good point about the weather. I wonder whether (ha!) the Farmers' Market will have more Pink Ellas this week.

May your recent bulk influx of tomatoes comfort you as you mourn. *grin*

[magid.livejournal.com]

*nod* about soups. I can't quite picture kidney beans in butternut-apple soup. But then, kidney beans mostly say "chili" or "refried beans" to me, anyway.

Sweet potatoes are lovely for adding color as they disintegrate, definitely! That's why I always add them to turkey soup, since it can be a bit grayish, which I find unappetizing compared to the yellow of chicken soup. I'm surprised you don't have an immersion blender, since they're fairly inexpensive and don't take up much room. Oh, and yes to carrots that are supposed to stay themselves, when they're in a supporting actor role.

My half bushel of tomatoes has been transformed to less than a gallon of frozen tomato stuff, some roasted in halves and slipped out of their skins, others roasted longer to the point of almost-dry, and yet others midway between these poles.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know what he was thinking with the kidney beans. I do know that I shuddered when he told me.

Smart reason to add sweet potato to the turkey soup!

Thank you so much for the very thoughtful suggestion of an immersion blender. I will look into that!

Oh, and yes to carrots that are supposed to stay themselves, when they're in a supporting actor role.

This got me giggling.

Aw, so it really is the end of the tomato season. May your preserved tomatoes comfort you among the other mourners of the season of tomatoes and summer produce. *grin*

I was wondering over Yom Tov, with both your canning expertise and your bulk tomato order in mind, whether you've ever made tomato paste. Or would that not be the best use of lovely farm tomatoes?

Oh, and sorry about the double comment on the more recent post. Can you delete the first of the two?

[magid.livejournal.com]

Some people have a very different aesthetic when it comes to riffing food; I assume your friend did...

Thank you for your best tomato wishes. I'd thought about trying to make a tomato(-basil?) liqueur, but perhaps I left it too late. There's always next year... (I hope :-)

I've never made tomato paste: I don't have a food mill, which makes getting the seeds and skins off that much more of a pain. I don't mind the seeds in sauce, and the skins are ok if diced up small enough, but for paste, I'd like a very even consistency. (Oddly enough, this question came up tonight completely independently of this post!)

No problem with the double comment; I wasn't sure why it happened, so I'd left both.

[(Anonymous)]

Helpful perspective, thanks! I'm just very protective of that recipe (or whatever the word is for directions that do not include quantities or other precise instructions), as I made it up and am proud of it and it has significance attached to it.

Best tomato wishes!

Are you certain there will be no tomatoes at the Farmers' Market tomorrow? I guess even if there are, bulk is non-trivially less expensive.

How tomato paste would be made would have been my next questions. Yes, much more complicated than sauce. (Isn't that funny!)

Thanks! Hope you liked the joke.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I hear you about familiar recipes. I've been surprised by how people have permuted things I cook regularly, too.

There might be tomatoes at the farmer's market. I could check. It feels a bit silly, since I'll be getting my farm share, but I'm fairly sure there won't be tomatoes in that. And I don't need bulk quantities for a liqueur experiment :-).

If you make paste sometime, I'd love to hear about it.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for your continued validation!

Doesn't sound like you'd need to feel silly about buying some tomatoes.

If I ever make tomato paste, I will plan for you to be the first to have the full report!