In Your Share This Week: GREENS!

 

2 Heads of Lettuce

1 bag of Mesclun Mix

Swiss Chard

Green Tomatoes

 

Your Choice of:

Chinese Cabbage (Napa) OR Open-headed Chinese Cabbage (Fun-Jen)

Mei Qing Choi OR Tatsai

Dandelion Greens OR New Zealand Spinach

 

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Farm Notes

Tonight’s the night to bring in any potted plants you don’t want to be killed by the frost.  We are fairly sure that the hard freeze predicted for last night will come between 1 a.m. and 9 a.m. tonight as the mercury slips down to 25 or so. 

 

But you can be assured of a very full share of undamaged greens this week, thanks to the extra-ordinary harvesting that Henry and the crew have been doing the past two days.  Because the weatherman was predicting a hard freeze for last night, no one around here got their once-a-week Day of Rest.  Instead they were down in the fields harvesting, harvesting, harvesting . . .  to make sure you’d have a lot of great greens this week.  But the frost didn’t materialize because the high winds overnight kept the cold air from settling into our little valley, and the reprieve allowed the tired crew to go out and harvest even more greens and sweet potatoes today. 

 

The past week has been one of near-misses – the frost last night, and the rain-free day last Wednesday, exactly when we needed it. During the many rainy days of September and October, Henry mused that 2008 might be the first year that we wouldn’t be able to plant garlic because the ground was just too wet  . . . meaning no garlic for all of 2009.

 

But the sunny days of the previous week had dried out the soil just enough so that Henry could finally get in with the tractor and plow the earth to make a nice winter bed for the garlic. While Henry was plowing under the cover crop of alfalfa and clover, Matt cut down the garlic hanging from the rafters of the barn.  I caught the long strands of hundreds of dried garlic plants and laid them in the truck bed. And on Wednesday afternoon, during the one and only window of opportunity we were given this fall, we got some 26,000 garlic cloves into the ground. 

 

Henry walked down the rows, laying garlic stems every few feet, and the crew followed, breaking apart each bulb and plunging each clove deep into the waiting earth.  I soon shed layers of clothing, and even took off my boots and socks, and was barefoot in the earth for the last time this year.  We planted swiftly and steadily, row after row after row, all afternoon and into the evening.  As the chill air came down the hillside, I put my socks and boots back on, and then each layer.  There was the barest light still hanging in the sky when we finally quit – just enough to see the white confetti of garlic husks and stems scattered over the black earth.

 

Twenty-four hours later it was raining again, but we didn’t care.  We were tired but happy . . . just like the cloves, which will quickly send down strong roots, and then fall into dormancy until the first days of spring. As soon as the earth warms, the garlic plants will shoot up, seemingly overnight, and you’ll have green garlic in your first shares next year . . . thanks to one warm dry day: October 23, 2008!

 

Speaking of “your shares next year” . . .

Henry will be sending out the sign-up form either next week or the week after.  He has a long waiting list of new members wanting to get into the CSA, so to guarantee your spot, you need to give Henry your sign-up form and your check by the end of this CSA season, which is Tuesday, Nov. 18^th. 

 

As usual, there will be 3 CSA pick-ups in November, but unlike previous years, the last one is the week before Thanksgiving, not the week of Thanksgiving.  Basically, all you need to know is that there are 3 more pick-ups after this one, and that you need to sign-up and submit your payment by Nov. 18 if you want to be in Henry’s CSA ’09.

 

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Food Notes:  Go for Greens!

 

This is the last BIG GREENS week of the year.  If you can’t eat everything in your share this week, go ahead and freeze some for winter–directions are in the back of your CSA cookbook.  All you need to do is blanch them in boiling water and put into a freezer bag.  You’ll be happy come January and February when you are seriously greens-deprived! 

 

Or if you want to eat them all up this week, do what we do here in Brockman-land, and make a Greens Pie.  Even kids love them if you add some ham and cheese, or raisins and nuts.  In the New York Times a few weeks ago, there was a great recipe and beautiful pictures of a Greek Greens Pie.  One of our Evanston customers who grew up in Greece calls it Hortopita - mixed greens pie (Χορτόπιτα) 

There are endless variations to a greens pie – use whatever greens you have handy, and add in ham or bacon or chunks of cheese, or whatever nuts and raisins you have.  The pie can be crustless, or have any kind of crust. I used to make my greens pie with Phyllo, but then simplified to a plain pie crust, and then as I had less and less time, I simply rubbed butter in the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan, and then lined the pan with pieces of plain bread, and put the greens mixture on top.  If you eat it right out of the oven, the bottom of the bread is nice and toasty, and the greens moist and delicious.  Here are a few recipes:

 

Easy Greens Pie (crustless!)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 large onion, minced
• 3 to 4 cups chopped, blanched, and squeezed greens of any sort
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups cottage cheese or low-fat Ricotta cheese, drained
• 4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish. Heat 2-1/2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet and saute the onion until wilted but not browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in the greens and continue cooking until the greens stop exuding moisture. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the greens mixture. Pour into the prepared dish. Drizzle the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over the top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until set.

 

 Greens Pie in a Crunchy Cornmeal Crust

Swiss chard or New Zealand spinach (or any combination of greens – 3-4 cups cooked)
2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons garam masala (a powdered curry blend) or any herb or spice blend you prefer
½ cup grated cheese (cheddar or Monterey jack are good)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Wash and chop the greens coarsely. Blanch in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Chop again, bite-sized or smaller.

2. Mix greens with cottage cheese and walnuts. Sprinkle with spices or herbs. Stir well.

3. Spoon in to a baked Crunchy Pie Shell. Top with grated cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes, just to melt the cheese.

CRUNCHY PIE SHELL

½ cup yellow cornmeal
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
¾ cup melted butter
¾ to 1 cup ice water

1. Mix dry ingredients. Slowly add butter while mixing with a fork. Add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time. When the dough starts to stick together in one mass, form into 3 balls using your hands.

2. Roll out each between pieces of waxed paper. Place in baking pan or pie pan. Poke gently with fork in several places. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Makes 3 pie crusts.

Torta Verde – Piedmontese Greens Pie

• 2 pounds greens
• 2/3 cup Vialone Nano or similar short-grained rice
• 1 onion, minced
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 2 ounces bacon or pancetta
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon mixed ground spices (nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, mace)
• 3/4 cup freshly ground Parmigiano
• Meat broth
• Bread crumbs
• Salt

Clean, wash, drain, and chop the greens.

Heat the oil and some of the butter in a pot and sauté the onion until it begins to turn golden, then add the garlic and bacon and mix well. Now add the greens, check seasoning, cover, and cook them over a low flame until they're done, about 10 minutes. When they are done add the rice and a ladle of broth, and keep cooking at a very low simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally lest the mixture stick down and burn. When 20 minutes are up, turn off the flame and let the mixture cool, then stir in the eggs, spices, and cheese, and check seasoning again.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a pan of a size such that the pie will be an inch or so high, dust it with bread crumbs, fill it with the mixture, dust the surface lightly with bread crumbs, and bake it for about 50 minutes. Slice it, and serve it at room temperature.

Dandelion Greens.  Last month our sister Beth set some sort of world record by eating (and drinking – she’s a big juicer) 16 bunches of dandelion greens in one day.  You may not want to go quite that far, but dandelion greens are wonderful sautéed, boiled, or in salads with a hot dressing.  They have an intense earthy heartiness with a pleasantly bitter edge, although fall greens are much milder than summer ones.

Some people shudder at the mention of bitter flavors—but I think that’s because we’re so used to overly sweet or salty foods. Bitter foods appeal at a deeper, more visceral level – something in your body just says yes – probably to all the nutrients.  Dandelions are higher in beta-carotene than carrots. And the iron and calcium content is greater than spinach. You also get vitamins B-1, B-2, B-5, B-6, B-12, C, E, A,   and D -- plus potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc.  No wonder the plant has been used since antiquity to treat a whole host of health problems.

If you're not used to the slight bitterness, cook them with sweet vegetables, especially sliced carrots and parsnips. Boiling dandelions in one or more changes of water also makes them milder.   

This week I cooked up a red bunch and a green bunch of dandelions.  I first put them in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes while I sautéed up some garlic in olive oil. Then I put the drained greens in the sauté pan with the garlic, added a bit more olive oil, and cooked them another 2-3 minutes.  I had them on toast with a little goat cheese for a lovely lunch.

Sauteed Dandelion Greens

2 lbs dandelion greens, leaves cut crosswise into 4-inch pieces
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Cook greens in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until ribs are tender, 4 to 5 minutes, then drain in a colander. Rinse under cold water to stop cooking and drain well, gently pressing out excess water.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook garlic, stirring, until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Increase heat to moderately high, then add greens, red pepper flakes, and salt and sauté, stirring, until liquid greens give off is evaporated, about 4 minutes.

 

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And don’t forget to make some Fried Green Tomatoes this week – recipe in your CSA cookbook I think (or just Google it).  Have a great greens week!

 

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