This Week’s Share
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Recipes
Celery Recipes
Braised Celery
Adapted from Recipes from America’s Small Farms by Joanne Lamb Hayes and Lori Stein
6-8 celery stalks (with leaves)
3 bacon slices, quartered, or 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
¾ cup vegetable stock
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, or 1 teaspoon dried
celery leaves, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Rinse, drain, and trim the celery; cut the stalks into 2 inch pieces and set leaves aside. Saute the bacon in a large, heavy, ovenproof skillet for 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to brown. (Or melt the butter). Add the celery and onion and sauté until the onion begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour the stock over the mixture. Cover the skillet with an ovenproof lid or aluminum foil and braise the vegetables in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the celery is tender. Stir in the parsley and celery leaves; season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Cream of Celery Soup
Adapted from the Joy of Cooking
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup (or more) chopped celery with leaves
1/3 cup thin onion slices
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups milk, divided
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add celery and onion, and sauté 2 minutes. Add stock; simmer 10 minutes. Strain or puree soup. Return to heat, add 1½ cups of the milk and bring to a boil. Dissolve cornstarch in remaining ½ cup milk; stir gradually into hot soup. Bring to boil again; stir and cook about 1 minute. Sprinkle with parsley. Makes 4 cups.
Onion Recipes
Delicious Siskiyou Sweets Onion Rings
Recipe from Shannon Raider (SIO Alumni)
Oil for frying
2 large sweet onions
Salt
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup Cornstarch
1 good cold beer (I prefer a Porter)
Pour oil for frying (canola, grapeseed or peanut) 2 in. deep into a cast iron skillet or your favorite frying vessel and heat to 350˚F. Slice onions crosswise to 1/4 in. thickness and separate rings. In a brown paper bag toss rings till dusted with cornstarch and set aside. Mix flour with salt and cornstarch. Quickly stir in 1 good COLD beer and stir till the lumps are pretty much gone. Set the bowl of batter in another bowl full of ice water. Keep batter cold while you dunk rings. Fry onions taking care not to crowd the pan. Too many will cool the oil and resulting in a less crisp ring. Lightly salt if preferred and indulge immediately.
Fresh Summer Salsa
(see Tomato Recipes below)
Tomato Recipe
Fresh Summer Salsa
Recipe from Francesca Benedetti (CSA Coordinator at SIO)
Note: I prefer intense and bold flavors in my salsa so I tend toward the higher amount suggested in the ingredients. Also, increase quantities proportionately for your desired amount of servings.
1-2 heirloom or slicing tomatoes
1/2 to 1 onion
2 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 ear of sweet corn, kernels stripped from cob
2 to 4 tablespoons chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 to 1 lime (can add some lime zest too for and extra pop)
1/2 to 1 hot pepper, minced (optional, but can use jalapeno, Serrano, Anaheim, Hungarian black, ancho, etc.)
salt and pepper to taste
Dice tomatoes and place in a medium size bowl, letting some of the juice drain as you are transferring them to the bowl. Chop the onions coarsely and mince the garlic and place in the bowl. Cut the corn from the cob by resting the cob over a plate or bowl and cutting the kernels off in strips (for even more flavor you can cut them off in two rounds, only cutting halfway down the kernels the first round and cutting down to the cob the second round). Add the corn to the bowl. Chop the cilantro and add to the bowl. Juice the lime either directly over the bowl, or into a separate container to remove any seeds if desired. You can also grate up some lime zest into the bowl at this point as well. Now mince your hot pepper (if using), and add to the bowl (be mindful not to touch your face or eyes until after thoroughly washing your hands, because the compounds that make peppers hot can also transfer to your skin and then to whatever other part of your body you touch ). Mix up all of the chopped ingredients in the bowl, and taste. Add salt and pepper as desired and any more of the already included ingredients as desired. Let sit for at least 10 minutes to allow flavors to settle. Eat with tortilla chips, quesodillas, tacos, on top of fish or chicken, or just by the spoonful.
FIT Spotlight: Kristin
First involved as a volunteer with a CSA Program in her home of Austin, TX, Kristin was inspired to learn more about farming. From there, Kristin and her partner decided to go WWOOF-ing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) and see the world together. After spending time at an egg farm in Western Colorado, a 16-acre asparagus and diversified vegetable farm in the United Kingdom, and another vegetable farm France they were ready to return stateside and settle in the Pacific Northwest. Kristin says she moved to Portland, “for the blackberries and cooler weather,” and remarks that, “farming in Texas is very different from farming in the NW.” Out at the farm her activities are direct seeding crops and harvesting everything. “I really wanted to experience a full growing season in Portland,” says Kristin, “SIO offers the big picture experience and a community.”