But here’s a sneak preview of what you’ll see at Henry’s stand: lots more lettuce, plus chois, plus more roots -- carrots, kohlrabi (actually an enlarged stem), and probably Japanese turnips. And along with all those old favorites, is a new one: a rustic Italian green called sculpit or stridolo that has its very own festival in the town of Galeata in Emilia-Romagna. . . read more below.

 

As many of you know, we went to Yale last weekend for my eldest daughter’s graduation. It was an exhilarating weekend, filled to the brim with obscure Yale traditions, exciting celebrity appearances, and fabulous refreshments—fried ravioli, coconut chicken, raspberry-brie tarts…but there was one thing that was not fabulous at all: the strawberry shortcake.

 

No offense to the hardworking Yale cafeteria workers, but that shortcake was so far from delicious it must’ve had a passport. A proper shortcake biscuit is delightfully flaky and not so sweet as to overwhelm the berries; this one was doughy and saccharine and stuck in your throat. The strawberries were white inside and utterly flavorless. And what madness was this? No juice to soak into the biscuit and mix with the melting ice cream?! Pure blasphemy. 

 

To avoid creating the shortcake version of an Invasion of the Body Snatchers pod-person, I’ll provide you with my mother’s strawberry shortcake recipe below.  

 

But first, the back-story on these berries, which have had a challenging spring: In April when we removed their winter mulch blanket, they were shocked with 85 degree heat and a mini-drought. Between then and now we have had cool, wet weather that included four frosts (we had to cover them with giant row-covers), although they were conveniently followed by bright sun in the morning and did minimal damage. Then, just two weeks after the last frost (remember that cold, windy market?) we had mid-90 degree weather that has fast-forwarded the ripening schedule.  Now we have boxes and boxes of red-ripe, sun-sweetened, ORGANIC strawberries ready to pick tomorrow and bring up to Evanston on Saturday. [According to the Environmental Working Group, strawberries are the 2^nd most toxic fruit (after peaches) you can buy, wi th 13 pesticides on a single sample.]

 

Our berries have no pesticides, and plenty of flavor. The first berry to ripen is Earliglow, a smallish, very sweet, flavorful berry and most market-goers’ favorite.   We will also have some Honeyoye and maybe some Darselect and Glooscap as well. Eat them straight out of the box, or make . . .

 

·         1 quart fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled

·         1 cup sugar

·         vanilla ice cream

·         2 cups flour

·         1 tablespoon baking powder

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         3 tablespoons sugar

·         1/3 cup shortening

·         1 cup milk

Slice strawberries; sprinkle with sugar and let stand to let juice out. Heat oven to 450°. Grease an 8-inch round layer-cake pan. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or 2 forks until crumbly. Stir in milk until just blended. Pat dough into prepared pan; bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. Split horizontally and fill with berries; top with small scoops of ice cream when served. Top with more berries and berry juice. Alternatively, you can make individual small shortcakes. Bake them until they are golden, split each one and serve with strawberries and ice cream just like the larger one. Serves 6.

 

 Don’t Wait any Longer to Plant your Tomatoes!!

 

Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup each finely chopped pars­ley, fresh cilantro, and mint (125 ml each)
2 cloves finely chopped gar­lic
1/2 cup olive oil (125 ml)
1 tsp each paprika and ground cumin (5 ml each)
salt to taste

Mix all ingre­di­ents. Makes about 1 1/2 cups (375 ml).

 

Citrus mint cooler
      1 cup minty simple syrup  

2        cups fresh lemon juice (or the juice of about 12 lemons)

1 bottle (33.8 ounce) club soda (try one with a lime or lemon twist for more citrus flavor)

Mix all of the ingredients in a pitcher, and add some lemon and orange slices and some fresh mint leaves. Beautiful and refreshing!

Minty simple syrup
This sweet concoction is made from sugar, water, and mint leaves. You can store it in the fridge for about two weeks, so make up a batch using the following recipe 

1/2 cups packed fresh mint leaves

1 cup organic sugar or honey (or 1/4 cup agave nectar)

1 cup water

2 drops peppermint essential oil (optional)

1 drop spearmint essential oil (optional)

Chop the mint leaves. Boil the first 3 ingredients and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Boil gently for another 2 minutes. Strain your syrup, but squish all the yumminess out of the mint leaves as you do. Add the essential oil if desired.

 

 

 Last year we introduced you to the Italian herb agretti, and this year we’re bringing you the relatively unheard of (outside of Italy) sculpit, from s’ciopet (battling botanists classify it as either Silene cucubalus, S. vulgaris or S. inflate – but it’s know commonly as bladder campion). And from what we would consider a weed, the Italians have created the classic Veronese "Risotto con gli s'ciopet" (recipe below)

 

 

 

 

Ingredients: 2 sausages, 2 slices of pancetta, 4 ripe tomatoes, 300 g. of sculpit, 400 g of tagliatelle pasta, extra virgin olive oil.

Preparation: Cook the sausages in a pan with a little oil and the diced pancetta; cook until golden brown, then add fresh tomatoes and sculpit. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, drain it, and place the pasta in the pan with the sauce, frying it for a few seconds

Risotto Veronese
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 celery stems, and a few leaves
1 onion
1/2 bunch Italian parsley
2-3 new carrots, coarsely chopped
1 kohlrabi or Japanese turnip - it adds a nice touch of sweetness
1.5 liters of water
10 peppercorns
1 or 2 bunches of sculpit leaves
coarse sea salt to taste

Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the celery, carrots, kohlrabi, onion, and parsley for 2-3 minutes before adding the water. Add the peppercorns, bring to a boil, cover and then simmer for about 15 minutes. Then add the sculpit and simmer another 15 minutes. 

For the rice:
1 onion

2 Tb olive oil or butter
3 cups of risotto rice (Vialone nano)
100 ml Soave or other dry white wine
one bunch of sculpit leaves, finely chopped
2 handfuls of Grana Padano/Parmigiano Reggiano (or half/half with Pecorino Romano for an intenser flavor)
a knob of well chilled butter
a drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

Chop the onion and cook in the olive oil or butter. Add a little salt and when the onion  turns glassy add the rice. When the rice is translucent slowly add the wine. Just before turning off the heat, add the finely chopped sculpit leaves, stir well for one minute and turn off the heat.
Stir in the Grana Padano/Parmigiano and the butter. Let the risotto rest for one minute.
Decorate the plate with 2-3 sculpit leaves, drizzle with olive oil, and add some chips of Grana/Parmigiano. Grind some pepper and ...enjoy with more Soave Classico.

And finally . . .  don’t forget that radishes are great cooked.  (We knew this long before the NY Times brought it to your attention a week or two ago.)  Simply slice and add them to a soup, or into a stir-fry. 

 

 

 

 

Happy Eating, and Thanks from all of us at Henry’s Farm