This Week’s Share
Share Notes
- Hakurei Turnips: Hakurei (a.k.a Japanese salad turnips) are back for the fall. Keep in mind the tops are completely edible, cooked or raw, and should be treated like mustard greens.
- Potatoes: As we transition further into the Autumn harvest, fall root crops will begin to be more prevalent in your shares. With that, starting this week you will begin to see potatoes more regularly in your shares.
Recipes
Broccoli Recipe
Hearty Broccoli Soup
From Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert
2 cups potatoes, diced
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
½ cup celery, minced
1 cup water
2 cups broccoli, chopped
3 cups milk
2 chicken or vegetable bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
1 cup Swiss or sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Cook the potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, and water together for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and continue to cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Add milk, bouillon cubes, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper and heat to boiling. Meanwhile, in a small bowl blend the milk and flour until smooth. Stir into the soup and cook just until thickened. Turn off heat. Add the shredded cheese and stir until melted.
Celery Recipe
Apple and Celery Salad with Gruyere
From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
3 ounces Gruyere
Salt and freshly milled
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
1 small shallot, finely diced
1 tablespoon walnut oil
1tablespoon sour cream or mayonnaise
1 cup celery, finely diced (save leaves for later use)
2 crisp apples, unpeeled, finely diced
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or hazelnuts, roasted
2 tablespoons chopped celery leaves (or parsley)
Dice the cheese into small cubes and put them in a large bowl. Season with a little salt and plenty of pepper. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Meanwhile, combine the vinegar, shallot, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste in another bowl and let stand for 15 minutes. Whisk in the oil and sour cream, then taste for salt. Add the celery, apples, and nuts to the cheese, pour on the dressing, add the celery/parsley leaves, and toss well.
Eggplant Recipes
Grilled Eggplant and Bell Pepper Sandwiches
Herb Marinade:
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons of oregano
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sandwich:
1 medium eggplant, cut in 3/4-inch thick slices
1 red sweet pepper quartered, stemmed and seeded
1 medium sweet onion thickly sliced
Herb marinade (from above)
4 whole wheat or sourdough sandwich rolls
2 tablespoons pesto
4 lettuce leaves
4 slices provolone cheese
Preheat the oven to about 400˚F or fire up the barbeque grill. Place the eggplant, bell pepper quarters, and onion slices on a cookie sheet and brush generously with the marinade.
Grill the vegetables on the grill for several (five or so) minutes per side, turning once and re-brushing with the marinade or roast the vegetables in the oven for 20 minutes or so, turn them over and brush them again with the marinade. Roast for an additional 20 minutes. Roast until the vegetables soften and begin to release their juices. Brush the sandwich rolls with marinade and grill/roast to lightly toast, turning rolls over after a minute or two.
To assemble the sandwiches spread a thin layer of pesto on the bread. Stack the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion, top with the lettuce and then the provolone. (I actually put the sandwich back in the oven for a minute to melt the cheese – if you want to do this, make sure you add the Romaine after the sandwich comes back out of the oven). Top with the top of the sandwich roll and enjoy.
Roasted Eggplant, Bell Pepper, Onion and Garlic Spread
Note: To prepare your eggplant, slice crosswise into 1-inch rounds. Place the rounds in a colander, salt lightly and allow the eggplant to drain off excess liquid. This initial step removes some of the bitterness from the eggplant and starts the tenderizing process.
1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 sweet pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 cup olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoons Coarse Salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 F˚. Add eggplant cubes, chopped bell pepper, chopped onion, and garlic to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with coarse salt and fresh ground pepper. Toss vegetables to combine. Spread the vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until vegetables begin to caramelize and turn light brown, and become very tender. Remove baking sheet from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Add vegetables and liquids to food processor. Pulse until mixture is smooth and creamy. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Chef’ Corner: October
In addition to the crops SIO grows for our CSA program, we also grown and sell produce to 30-40 Portland area restaurants and kitchens, and this season at SIO we are partnering with some of those restaurants for some culinary inspiration. We have been picking the brains of some of the areas most talented chefs and restaurant owners, and have asked them to provide us with recipes and general cooking techniques based on the crops that you receive in your shares. Out at the farm we crop plan separately for both our CSA program and restaurant sales, so you don’t have to worry that part of your share may be going the restaurant down the street. For the month of October our featured restaurant is Tabla Mediterranean Bistro, located in near Portland’s historic Laurelhurst neighborhood on NE 28th Avenue.
Anthony Cafiero, Chef at Tabla Mediterranean Bistro in Northeast Portland
The food I cook at Tabla has roots in two of my favorite cuisines, Spanish and Italian. I have traveled to both countries back in my high school years, when I was just starting to understand how important a meal and food was socially and personally. Although I am one half Italian, my heart has moved toward Spain in recent years, where the conviviality and hospitality of tapas and their rustic yet sure-flavored country dishes take precedent and have become our inspiration at Tabla. At the same time, being an art major from Reed, my creative eye and mind are always active when conceptualizing a dish or plate design for our menu. Flavor combinations, creative nods to traditional dishes, textures and visual interaction on a plate play a huge role in the food at Tabla. This is only part of what we do, because we also focus on excellent techniques, innovative cooking, and a balance of flavors. The following are a few simple recipes that I have used throughout the years in the kitchen; recipes I use with Sauvie Island Organics produce in my kitchen today.
FENNEL
Pickled Fennel, for serving with everything from fish to burgers
2 Fennel bulbs, green stalks removed
4 C White Wine Vinegar
1 C Muscatel Vinegar
2 C Sugar
1/4 C salt
2C water, Frozen
1. First, measure out 2C of water into a measuring cup, and place in the freezer. This will be added to the pickling liquid at the end of the recipe in order to both cool down the pickle and to dilute the brine.
2. In a medium sized sauce pan, measure out your vinegars, salt and sugar, and place the pan over high heat to bring to a boil.
3. Meanwhile, slice the 2 bulbs of fennel on a mandolin to a 1/16th of and inch, or slice by hand as thinly as possible. Place the cut fennel into a heat proof dish that holds the fennel snugly, with 2 inches of extra space for the pickling liquid
4. Once the vinegar-sugar-salt mixture has come to a boil and all of the solids have dissolved into the vinegar, carefully pour the solution over the raw fennel, allowing 2 inches of free space to remain in the container after you have covered the fennel with the liquid.
5. Add the 2c of ice or frozen water that you measured out in the beginning of this recipe.
6. Place the container in the refrigerator for at least an hour, in order to allow the pickling liquid to fully infuse into the fennel. You can use the fennel once it has cooled down, or place a lid on the container and reserve the pickled fennel for up to 2 months.
WHITE WINE BRAISED TURNIPS WITH LEEKS
2 bunches of Turnips, greens removed and roughly chopped
2 Leeks, green parts removed, sliced in half lengthwise and rinsed
1 C dry White Wine
3T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3T good Butter
Salt to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Once you have removed the greens from the turnips, chopping and reserving them, slice the turnips into quarters if larger, halves if smaller (golf ball size=small, tennis ball=large) reserve in a bowl
3. Cut the leeks crosswise into 1/4 inch julianne pieces, reserving in a separate bowl.
4. Heat a large saute pan, big enough to fit all of the turnips and leeks in, over medium high heat
5. Heat the olive oil until it just starts to shimmer, and add the turnip pieces. Saute them for 5-6 minutes, until the just start to color.
6. Add the sliced leeks, and continue to saute for another 5 minutes, until the leeks soften and begin heading to the bottom the pan to melt.
7. Tune the heat up to high for 1 minute, then add the white wine to deglaze.
8. Add the salt and butter to the pan as well as a few large pinches of salt.
9. Loosely cover the pan with tin foil or a lid, and place it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on how cooked you like your turnips.
10. When satisfied with the doneness of the turnips, remove the pan from the oven, uncover, and season with more salt if necessary. Add a few fresh herbs and a sprinkle of ground black pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice to finish before you plate.
SWEET PEPPERS
The recipe for a piperade is so simple that you just need to put it all together in a pan and see where it takes you. There is no right or wrong way to cook this dish, and it goes great with anything from roasted potatoes, a fried egg, veggie side for roasted pork. When cold, it counts as a refreshing salsa or salad for fish, chicken, or seafood.
Basically, you slice a 2-3 onions very thinly, add then to a large pan with good olive oil in it over medium heat. While that is cooking and sweating down, you slice or chop up 8-10 peppers, green, red, and yellow if available, and throw them into the pan of onions along with a few cloves of peeled and sliced garlic. Add salt, increase the heat, and add white wine or dry sherry, water and a bit of lemon juice. Once the mix comes to a simmer, reduce the heat and allow it to cook down a bit. Add about 3T of sugar and a few drops of sherry vinegar to the mix, allowing it to thicken and cook down some more. Taste it after 10 minutes, checking for acid, sweetness and salt. Add a few dashes of smoked paprika, taste again and your done.