CSA Harvest #7

This week's CSA bags feature:

Cucumbers
Potatoes
Basil
Carrots
Shishito Peppers
Onions
Sweet Corn

The shishito pepper's mild and sweet flavor make them perfect for snacking on raw, but can also be a delicious addition to a stir-fry. For a quick and tasty appetizer you can also try frying them.

Heat your skillet or grill pan on high. Toss your peppers with a bit of your favorite cooking oil and then drop them onto the pan. Turn occasionally until the skin is soft and charred in spots. Remove and sprinkle with salt - and if you'd like things a little spicier add some extra heat with a dash of cayenne. Make sure to enjoy them while they're still hot.

We know you have basil in your herb guild, but we feel there is no such thing as too much basil. If you're having trouble thinking of ways to use it try making a fresh pesto with this recipe:

1 large bunch of basil leaves
1 cloves of garlic
small handful of pine nuts (walnuts will also work)
3/4 cup parmesan
extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Add basil, garlic, and pine nuts to a food processor and pulse until chopped. Slowly add olive oil to mixture until you get a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in parmesan by hand.

If your batch is more than your family can eat, or if you have surplus basil that you don't know how to use you can freeze the pesto in an ice tray and cover it with plastic wrap. This will keep for months in the freezer, and then even during winter you can pop out a few cubes to add to your meal and enjoy the fresh taste of summer. If you decide to freeze your pesto make sure to wait to add the cheese until you defrost it.

As for life on the farm the family just keeps growing. The latest addition to the clan is Dennis the billy goat, thanks to Keith and Donna from South Pork Ranch. In the last few weeks we've also gotten ducks, guinea fowl, a long horn bull, a dairy cow, turkey, and a lot more chickens. All of the summer crops are really kicking into gear with all of the sunshine we've been getting, but the heat hasn't kept us from the fields. We're continuing to plant for what looks to be a delicious fall harvest!

CSA Harvest and Beet Video

Here is the harvest list for your CSA's this week.

Zucchini
Cucumbers
Beets
Potatoes
Leeks
Onions
Herbal tea package

This week in your herbal tea package
Lemon Balm
Shiso
Anise Hyssop
Penny Royal
Chrysanthium Flowers
Wild Gooseberries

You can use last week's recipe for the herbal tea, As for the Wild gooseberries you can bruise them a little and add them to the hot water.

I made a cooking video for "how to cook beets" You can add a multitude of different things to your marinated beets. Cooked diced potatoes (Boiled), Sliced cucumbers (without seeds, slice lenghtwise and scoop out with a spoon), Parsley, Basil, thinly sliced onions... All which have been included in your CSA and herb guild.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkNHTO0MExI

Whats new on the farm??

Stu and I are glad that Kenny and Nanam are back from their honeymoon. The whole team is back together on the farm and the addition of our two new interns from Heartland Community College. John and Emma have been kicking major butt on the farm. We got a our first seeder in the mail this week and hooked it up. This thing is the best new tool on the farm other than Henry Brockman's Asian Weeders. I can now seed a bed in about 5 minutes when it would have taken me about 2 hours by hand. Now that the rain has been holding off, we have tilled up new ground and seeded everything for a plethora of winter vegetables.

Hope you enjoy the video, I made it in a new style this week. Let us know what you think of it.

Epiphany Farms-

Meat 'N' Potatoes for the Midwesterner Video

Here is the cooking video for this week. It is a Ribeye with Turnips and Potatoes, You can use your herb guild to elevate the taste. In the video we used parsley but you can use any of those, You can also add more vegetables to the dish, cook them the same way as the turnips (featured in video).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXaZte0z7O4


As for the Herbal Tea bag, You have the following inside.

Chrysanthemum (Flowers)

Shiso (Big Leaves, Tastes like Mint, liquorish & Apple Also has Purple Hue on bottom side)

Lemon Balm (twigs with leaves and buds)

Anise Hyssop (Smaller version of the big leaves taste like sweet liquorish)

Vietnamese Mint (looks like a hand, very leafy and Minty,



The Microwave is the fastest way to heat a water molecule. Put a glass of water in the microwave. Heat for 1 min. the water should be about 160 - 180 it will also depend on how much water you are heating up. I think that 160 - 170 is optimal steeping temperture. Choose your flavors, mix and match, take notes on what you like about the flavor combo and design your own. You only want to steep for 4-5 minutes, by then your water will be about 130 degrees. 130 is optimal honey temperture. add some honey and taste. You only want enough to sweeten a little, too much and you can't taste the flavors, too little and it tastes bland. After adding the honey it should be perfect drinking temperture.

CSA Harvest #4

Hello everyone! We are super excited about some of the new product today in your bags. We have been harvesting all morning and think that you will really enjoy. It's been raining so much and we can not wait for the clear skys to come.

Todays Harvest:

Spring Peas (Most likely the last week)
Baby Onions
Purple Top Turnips
New Potatoes
Red Beets
Assortment of Berries (Mulberries and Alpine Stawberries)
New Zealand Spinach
Fresh Chamomile for tea
Chervil

We hope you enjoy. Good luck with this week's recipe, "Spring Onion Flan".

The Turnips, Peas and New Zealand Spinach are perfect for the sauteed vegtables on top of the flan.

Spring Onion Flan

This flan acts as a great base for some freshly sauteed vegtables. We will use any combination of vegtables based on what is in season. Cook the vegtables seperately in salted boiling water to insure uniform doneness. Cool the vegtables and then once the flan is finished in the oven, saute the vegtables in butter or oil, season with salt and place on top of the Spring Onion Flan.

Onion Flan: Step One
6 spring Onions
4 cloves Garlic
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 Tbs. Butter

- Slice the onions and Garlic very thin
- Heat a non- stick saute pan and add the butter. Once melted add the onions, season with a few pinches of salt.
- Once the onions and garlic become very aromatic but not colored add the cream and continue to cook for about 10 minutes on low. The onions and garlic should be completly soft.
- Once the milk mixture is cook through, place in a blender and puree until smooth.
- Be sure there are no lumps. We always blend the mixture for three minutes longer than we think we should. This insures a velevety smooth base.
- Let the base cool and proceed to step two.

Step Two:
Onion Puree
1/2 cup Half and Half
4 whole eggs
4 oz milk
2 Tbs Parmesan
Salt and Pepper

Method:
- Combine the onion puree with the “Step two” ingredients and taste. Adjust seasoning and strain.
- Portion the mixture using a scale (if you don't have a scale use a laddle and mesure the same amout of each dish); make sure each dish is filled with exactly the same amount of liquid.
- Cover each dish with aluminum foil.
- Place into a hot water bath inside a 325 F oven. (The water level should be higer than the flan level inside the dish)
- Bake until set (the flan will be solid when set) and assemble the dish.




Some Pics of a recent variation.


Sauteed carrot, celery root, sunchoke and arugula.


A set flan with vegtables on top. We usually add some sort of foam to finish it.

This is a very rewarding recipe so good luck and enjoy!

Basic Salad Dressing

Emulsified Vinaigrette:

1 part Vinegar
.5 part H2O
Dijon Mustard
Honey
Red Chile
Pepper
Salt
1 Yolk
3 parts Oil

Method:

- Combine all ingredients except for the oil and stir. Using a whisk, blender or immersion blender, begin to agitate.

- Start incorporating the oil one drop at a time. Then progress to a very small stream until all is added.

- Once the ingredients are together you will need to adjust to the taste. Questions that you will need to ask yourself are:

o Is it too tart?
o Does it have enough sweetness?
o Enough salt?
o Does it need more flavor? Mustard, Pepper, Chile?

Use this dressing on anything that you need to season. Sometimes we will even add a little to sauteed vegtables and fresh herbs.

Enjoy!

Cooking Demo Vinaigrette

I'm having difficulty uploading videos directly to the blog. The link below will take you to youtube and you can see our cooking demos

Here is the first of many cooking videos. Hope you enjoy this vinaigrette!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7mAx2HmdU4

Bloomington Farmers' Market

Epiphany Farms is having a booth in Bloomington Farmers Market on every Saturday from 7:30am till noon.
Come and check our booth and catch up with our Epiphany Farms team in person!

For locations and more information about farmers' market, please check Bloomington Farmers' Market website. (http://www.downtownbloomington.org/index.php?id=6)

Upcoming Event

New Photos

We have been taking a lot of photos in the recent weeks. We have posted some today and will continue to post often, Keep checking the site. Let us know what you think of them.