Category Archives: Eggplant

CSA Sep 23 Eggplant

2017 CSA Summer Sept 23rd shishito & eggplant

2017 CSA Summer Sept 23rd shishito & eggplant

 

  • Eggplant
  • Thyme
  • Shishito peppers
  • Thai Basil with flowers (separate box)
  • Beet Greens
  • Chervil Chef Box
  • Squash/Zucchini
  • Multi-Color Anaheim Hatch Peppers
  • Red bell pepper
  • Baby Mix
  • Watercres

Eggplant, seen at right. So many exotic delicacies in the farm share this week; we hope you find new joy in the kitchen this week. Mix baby greens make a great salad or addition to sandwiches. Watercress is a wonderful healthy peppery green for salads and again a favotite on sandwiches. The Thai basil flowers are sweet and have a great anise flavor which is wonderful on desserts. The thai basil itself is terrific in curries or just as a bright floral alternative to Italian Basil. The red bell peppers are sweet and juicy – a pleasure to roast and stuff or just eat fresh. The Anaheims add a bit of spicey heat but not too much. The Shishito are rarely anything but mild but make a great pan fried snack with salt – just  braze them on a hot skillet with olive oil and sprinkle a bit of coarse sea salt. Blistered Peppers: Heat a little olive oil in a wide sauté pan until it is good and hot but not smoking. Add the shishito , tossing and turning them frequently until they blister. They shouldn’t char except in places. Those green thai eggplants go great with the Thai Basil chopped into the curry or just roasted.  To your health and pleasure, always! Have a great week everybody

 

Watercress

2016 CSA Fall November 5 Watercress

2016 CSA Fall November 5 Watercress

  • Hatch type peppers
  • Bell peppers
  • Eggplant
  • Sweet Potato
  • Fresh Ginger
  • Butternut Squash
  • Cucumber
  • Patty Pan Squash
  • Watercress
  • Baby Salad Mix
  • Chervil

Well, it looks like we might have the killing frost tonight (Friday night) so do consider storing your eggplant as a dried pasta replacement or maybe baba ganoush frozen for a later date.

A different herb for you to try this week: Chervil. “Chervil is used, particularly in France, to season poultry, seafood, vegetables soups, and sauces. More delicate than parsley, it has a faint taste of licorice or aniseed. Chervil is one of the four traditional French fines herbes, along with tarragon, chives, and parsley, which are essential to French cooking. Unlike the more pungent, robust herbs, thyme, rosemary, etc., which can take prolonged cooking, the fines herbes are added at the last minute, to salads, omelettes, and soups.” (partial quote from Wikipedia page)

Watercress is one of the world’s healthiest foods…from the way we grow the watercress to the way we cut and chill it, great care is given to create the most potentiality for taste and nutrition. Known for being a peppery, dark, leafy green that grows with a wet foot along creeks and ditches, we bring it up off the ground and grow it on benches…it cascades over the sides, looking for more footing.  This herb brought a happy smile to my face whilst i was hiking high in Western New Mexico…the excruciating altitude change had brought on a massive headache and i sought comfort in shaded wet rocks along a creek run. There, nestled calmly and absolutely was the watercress. What a relief to see such a welcome plant from home! I checked up stream and around about, found the land to be in use for cattle, probably a land management deal, and set about getting a clean cut. That cut was just magnificent. With time, water, watercress and rest, i was able to move onward. To your health and pleasure, always, love, leslie.  

Premium Baby Arugula

2016 CSA Summer September 24

2016 CSA Summer September 24

2016 CSA    Summer September 24

  • Bell Peppers
  • Eggplant Mix
  • Okra
  • Tatsoi 10×10
  • Yukon Gold Potatoes
  • Fresh dug Baby Ginger
  • Tomatoes (pick from set)
  • Gourmet Cucumber
  • Farm Fresh Eggs
  • Baby Arugula 8×8
  • “Hatch” peppers

There are several eggplant varieties for you this week to try. Let us know which one you like best because your vote counts! There are many ways to enjoy eggplant and to save some for after frost, consider making baba ghanoush and popping it into the freezer to savor later. Baba ghanoush is easy to make, as it is essentially cooked eggplant pureed into a dip. A basic core recipe for it is 1 eggplant, 1 lemon, garlic, tahini, and salt. There is a nice recipe at http://minimalistbaker.com/simple-baba-ganoush/.

We have a LOT of fresh eggs right now so we included a dozen in your CSA share this week. If you already get eggs as part of your share, your case will include 2 dozen. We also included a couple of Hatch peppers this week for a spike of flavor classic to the southwest. All of our pepper seed comes certified from the Chile Pepper Institute and none of their seeds are genetically modified. Our farm has taken the Safe Seed Pledge so you can rest assured that none of our products contain gmo material. Although no longer certified, we maintain the original organic growing methods that Mike helped to spearhead decades ago. The tomato house was the very first certified organic greenhouse in the state of Virginia.

Don’t forget that this is the last week of this season’s CSA program and now is the time to sign up for next season. Fill out the back and return to us or go online to sign up today. Delicata coming soon!               To your health & pleasure, always, love, leslie.