Whole Farm CSA - Week of April 11th
Full Share: Spinach, Salad mix (Lettuce and Mustards, Violas), Dill Micros, Scallions, Radishes, 2 Hakurei Turnips, Choice of Herbs
Half Share: Spinach, Salad mix (Lettuce and Mustards, Violas), Dill Micros, Scallions, Radishes
Hello farm friends!
It’s Easter week and we have a delightfully fresh CSA box to base your meals around. Herbs and eggs abound, so keep reading for your new favorite deviled egg recipe (with the option to make it truly from scratch by reserving a few yolks to whip up some homemade mayo! you don’t know what mayonnaise can truly be until you’ve made your own), a customizable quiche recipe, and a couple non-Easter options for those among us who don’t celebrate.
Spring is still steadily gaining ground despite the late season storm -- on the Rocky Creek side we have our first flower bloomed in the greenhouse and the lambs keep coming (there were 26 last I counted). Over on the GVB side (where we grow most of the veggies) we’ve been harvesting spinach like it’s nobody’s business, clearing out greenhouse 4 to make room for the broccolini we’ll be planting there soon. Matt and Jacy spent Friday getting a few heartier crops in the ground before the snow got in the way of planting -- carrots, shelling peas, more spinach and an assortment of lettuces are just around the corner! And both sides are keeping busy seeding and watering thousands of broccoli and cabbages.
CSA recipes:
deviled eggs with dill (uses ¼ cup mayo -- make your own using just one more egg! I use one egg yolk, a teaspoon of mustard, slowly added neutral oil and a splash of lemon juice. This is a good how-to video).
spinach ham and cheese quiche - cook your add ins ahead of time, top with herbs or micros and serve with a salad
borrowing from the Jewish holiday of Passover, try this flourless chocolate cake! A favorite at seder tables that uses 6 eggs and brings a decadent finale to any meal
Today at the farm stand we’re also honoring this late season cold snap with a celebration of winter storage crops. We still have delicious winter squash, beets, parsnips, sunchokes bursting with just as much flavor as when they first appeared in your boxes. With the weather starting to roll in over the weekend, I was inspired to spend Saturday celebrating all of the textures and flavors that have been sustaining us for the past several months, but which are now dutifully taking a back seat to let their springtime counterparts shine. I left the farm on Friday loaded up with squash (several sugar dumplings and one kabocha), red cabbage, beets, sunchokes, and pea shoots. I didn’t get to work in any parsnips or celeriac, but I’ve found a couple of interesting uses, which I’ll link!
The plan was this: roast and puree the squash for squash ricotta dumplings (we used wonton wrappers to cut down time) in a brown butter sage sauce (perfect if you still have last week’s sage! and we’ll have more at the market stand if you don’t); core, shred, and sauté the cabbage for a warm apple cabbage slaw; and top a bed of arugula and pea shoots with quartered roasted beets and sunchokes for a citrusy salad. This plus a loaf of Wild Crumb bread and a lemon upside down cake that brought Betty Crocker to a level I’m not sure she’s ever reached before (though I can appreciate that she very well may have) made for a truly delicious evening. And I loved getting to go back and spend time with some of the many incredible ingredients I’ve been writing to you all about over the past few months! I still have some pureed squash in my freezer that I can’t wait to mix with ricotta, spread on some thick cut toast and topped with pea shoots, a drizzle of honey or herb oil, or some chopped nuts. All of these are available at today’s market stand! Grab a few with your CSA and put the final shreds of your winter creativity to use.
One final note to leave you with: this week I was introduced to pyansky, the Polish-Ukranian Easter egg. My roommate and her family have been making them ever since her mother attended a Passover Seder at a Ukranian friend’s home that ended with egg decorating many years ago. This article does a much better job than I will at explaining the history, but it struck me that during the Soviet Union, Ukranians risked their lives to decorate eggs and uphold their traditions. Two weeks ago, farm friends attended the Montana Cooks for Ukraine dinner (beautiful event photos here) and helped raise $20k for the World Central Kitchen. Click here to learn about everything the organization is doing to care for Ukranians in need and please consider donating! Follow the Montana Cooks for Ukraine instagram for more updates and future events.
”Ukrainians risked persecution to make pysanky when Communists ruled the former Soviet Union. The craft began thousands of years ago, long before Christianity came to Ukraine in 988.
"If they were caught doing this, they would be killed," said Borchick, who has been making the eggs for 44 years. "They only did this at night and they hid in closets."
A pysanky maker starts with unwashed, uncooked farmer's eggs -- grocery store eggs don't hold the dye as well -- a pencil, a stylus to hold heated wax, dye and at least several hours of free time. Choosing and drawing the design is the most important part of the job and takes the most time.
Sasha