July 15, 2021 - This Week's Box Contents, Featuring New Potatoes!

 

Cooking With This Week's Box

Fresh Porcelain Garlic:
New Potatoes with Garlic & Butter
White Garlic Pizza Sauce

Sierra Blanca Onions:
Crispy Baked Onion Rings 
Caramelized Onion Cheeseburgers 

Zucchini and/or Sunburst Scallopini Squash:
35 Recipes Using Zucchini 
Herb Garden Zucchini Pizza
Basil Zucchini Soup

Green and/or Silver Slicer Cucumbers:
Cucumber and Black Bean Salad
Cucumber Satay Crunch Salad

Broccoli:
Broccoli Quinoa Cakes
Broccoli Manicotti with Burrata Cheese

White Cauliflower:
Spicy Roasted Cauliflower Stir-Fry
Sicilian Cauliflower Salad

Green Top Carrots:
Carrot Top Pesto
Green Top Carrot Soup
Tempura

New Red Potatoes:
Broccoli & New Potato Gribiche (See Below)
Frittata with New Potatoes and Summer Vegetables (See Below)

Italian Basil:
Asian Cabbage Slaw with Basil-Ginger Dressing
Chicken with Lemon Basil Sauce

Rainbow Chard:
Summer Farmer Skillet Dinner
How To Freeze Swiss Chard

Tiara or Sweetheart Cabbage:
Eggroll In a Bowl
Beef & Cabbage Stir-Fry

BONUS LINK:
Farm Share Newsletter from Alexandra Stafford of alexandracooks.com

Hello Everyone!

Photo from Mostly Homemade Mom

We’re really excited to be delivering the first potatoes of the season this week!  We were really pleased with the yield we got from our first digging and I hope you’re pleased with how delicious they are!  If you aren’t familiar with what makes “New Potatoes” special, then take a few moments to read more about them in this week’s vegetable feature article.  This week’s featured recipes come from Heidi Swanson’s cookbook, Super Natural Every Day.  She is also the author behind the blog 101cookbooks.com.  I’ve followed Heidi’s blog for quite awhile and I have to admit, I own three of her four cookbooks.  She is a very talented photographer, in addition to her culinary talents, which makes her cookbooks even more appealing.  The first recipe is for Broccoli & New Potato Gribiche (See Below).  Gribiche sauce is a classical French sauce made with hardboiled eggs, capers, etc.  It’s a simple sauce often used to dress up fresh vegetables.  This is kind of like a warm salad.  The second recipe is for Frittata with New Potatoes and Summer Vegetables (See Below).  In this recipe, Heidi employs a slightly different method for making this frittata, so even if you’ve made frittatas before, you may want to check out her version.

This week we also have fresh, green top carrots for the first time!  Just a reminder that the tops are edible too, so don’t throw away the value they contain!  Use them to make a simple Carrot Top Pesto or Green Top Carrot Soup.  You could also use the green tops when making broth to use in soups and stews.

This week’s “greens” include the gorgeous Rainbow Chard and Spring-Planted cabbages.  If you feel like you have a lot of vegetables to conquer this week and you’d like to preserve some of this week’s box for future use, consider freezing the Rainbow chard.  There’s a great step-by-step explanation for how to freeze chard at Rootsandboots.com.  If you have a collection of cabbage in your refrigerator now, check out our Facebook Group where members did an excellent job of sharing some really good ideas for how to use cabbage.  Two favorite recipe ideas include Eggroll In a Bowl and Beef & Cabbage Stir-Fry.

Photo from Budget Bytes

Before I close out this week’s discussion, I want to share a bonus link with you to Alexandra Stafford’s weekly “Farm Share Newsletter”.  I’ve been following Alexandra’s blog for quite awhile and this year she started putting together this weekly newsletter to highlight some of her recipes for items she’s receiving in her personal CSA box!  She is in a different part of the country, but the contents of the CSA boxes she’s receiving are often quite similar to our seasons.  Each week she highlights recipes using each of the items, so if you like her style you might like to sign up for her newsletter!

Ok, that’s a wrap for this week.  I’ll see you back next week with more potatoes and hopefully some yellow beans to start cooking with!  Have a great week!—Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: New Potatoes

By:  Chef Andrea Yoder

Description:  Potatoes are a vegetable everyone’s familiar with, but not all are created equally and this week’s potatoes are, in our opinion, very special.  If you’ve been with us for previous CSA seasons you know we draw attention to this point every year because frankly, we just don’t want you to miss out on this experience!  There is a short period of time early in the summer when we have the opportunity to eat “New Potatoes.”  New potatoes are not a variety, but rather a term used to describe potatoes that are harvested off of a plant that still has green leaves on it.  Our usual practice is to mow down the potato vines about a week in advance of harvest.  In the week between mowing down the vines and actually harvesting the potatoes, changes take place in the plant that help to set the skins and make them easier to handle without damaging the skin.  It also gives them a more durable skin to protect the flesh and make them better for storage.  These potatoes were dug earlier this week from plants with green vines.  Freshly dug new potatoes have a flavor and texture unlike other potatoes throughout the season.  It is a fresh, pure potato flavor and the skin is tender and delicate.  When you cut them you’ll notice they are very crispy and sometimes a little brittle because they have retained all their juiciness!  Once cooked, the flesh is moist, creamy and smooth with a distinctive flavor that’s hard to describe.  Trust me, when you taste it you’ll know what I mean! 

Preparation & Use: 

Tomas with New Potatoes

The new potatoes in your box this week are a variety called Red Norland.  They are an early red-skinned potato with creamy white flesh.  They need to be handled with care so as not to disturb the skin and expose the flesh.  We’ve given them the “white glove treatment” through the harvest and washing processes, but we encourage you to handle them with care as well.  Wash them just before use and just give them a gentle scrub if needed. There is no need to peel them, so my recommendation is to just skip that step.

I encourage you to slow down and really savor the flavor of these new potatoes as these first few weeks will be the only time during the season you’ll be able to have this taste experience of freshly dug potatoes.  You really don’t need to do much to them and, in fact, I’d encourage you to do as little as possible!  Honestly, most often I simply boil or roast them with fresh garlic and top them off with butter, salt, pepper and sometimes fresh herbs.    This week’s featured recipes are also good options.  These recipes are a little more involved, but the flavors and ingredients are still very simple so the potatoes will still shine in all of their fresh-flavor glory!

Storage:  Potatoes should be stored in a cool, dark place, but not in the refrigerator.  We store our potatoes in a warmer cooler at about 48-50°F which is most ideal.  If potatoes are stored in colder temperatures (such as your home refrigerator), the starches will convert to sugars which is not what we want in a potato (save that characteristic for sweet potatoes!)  So in a home setting, it’s best to store them in a cool, dry location outside of the refrigerator where they will not be exposed to light which can cause the potatoes to turn green and bitter.  If the potatoes have set their skins, in general they will store for a few weeks at room temperature in a brown paper bag (never in a plastic bag).  However, because new potatoes are so fresh and we have not allowed them to set their skins, they will not store as well and are best eaten within one week.

Additional Information:  As we progress through the season, you will be receiving more varieties of potatoes.  It’s important to know that some potatoes are classified as “waxy” while others are classified as “starchy,” or possibly a mix of the two classifications which we label “all-purpose.”  These classifications are assigned based on the type of starch that comprises the flesh of the potato and it’s important to choose the appropriate cooking method for each type.  Waxy potatoes are generally more moist and hold together better.  They are best used for roasting, boiling or steaming, and are a good choice for soups and potato salad.  I do not recommend mashing them because they usually become sticky and pasty.  This week’s variety is a waxy potato.  Starchy potatoes tend to be more dry and fluffy.  This is a variety of potato appropriate for mashing as well as for making roasted potatoes, pan frying, etc.  Starchy potatoes are also useful in soups, but they’ll likely fall apart which is actually good for thickening.  As we progress throughout the season, make sure you read the “What’s In the Box” portion of the newsletter each week as we’ll give you information about the specific potato varieties as we deliver them so you’ll know the best ways to prepare and enjoy them.  In the meantime, enjoy the fresh flavor and creamy texture of these freshly dug new potatoes!

Frittata with New Potatoes & Summer Vegetables

Photo from Heidi Swanson's
Super Natural Every Day

Yield:  8 servings

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or melted clarified butter, plus more for drizzling

2 small onions, chopped 

8 oz new potatoes, unpeeled, sliced into paper thin rounds

2 shallots, chopped

Fine-grain sea salt, to taste

8 oz seasonal vegetables, such as summer squash or broccoli, cut into ½-inch pieces

10 large eggs, well beaten

¼ cup crumbled goat or feta cheese

Small bunch of chives, chopped

1. Heat the oil in a heavy ovenproof 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Stir in the onions, potatoes, half of the shallots, and two big pinches of salt.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are just cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the seasonal vegetables and cook for another minute or two, until they soften up a bit.  Set aside half of this mixture on a plate.
2. Whisk ½ tsp salt into the eggs and pour the eggs into the skillet.  Cook over medium-low heat until the eggs are just set and there isn’t a lot of liquid in the pan, about 5 minutes.  To facilitate this, run a spatula underneath the perimeter of the frittata and tilt the pan so the uncooked eggs run to the underside.  The key is to avoid browning on the bottom.  Top with the reserved vegetable mixture and sprinkle with the cheese and the remaining shallot. 
3. Place under a broiler (a low setting will give you more control, if you have that option) for a couple minutes, or just until the top or the frittata is puffed up and set.  Resist the urge to walk away---the frittata can go from perfect to burned in just a few seconds.  Remove from the broiler and let sit for a minute or two.  Sprinkle with the chives, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, and serve warm or at room temperature, right out of the pan.

Recipe borrowed from Heid Swanson’s book, Super Natural Every Day.

Note from Heidi Swanson:  “Frittatas.  For years I started them on the stovetop, then finished in a hot oven—a perfectly acceptable approach.  But it wasn’t until I began to finish my frittatas under the broiler that they became exceptional.  The eggs puff up and stay light and the toppings brown and crisp perfectly, while the frittata bottom escapes scorching.  An added bonus is this approach takes less time.”

Broccoli & New Potato Gribiche

Yield:  6 servings

Photo from Heidi Swanson's
Super Natural Every Day

Sauce Gribiche is a classic French sauce consisting of a thin mayonnaise like base accented with capers and sometimes cornichons along with fresh herbs.  It may be served with a variety of dishes and foods, but is often used to dress fresh vegetables such as steamed green beans or new potatoes.  In this recipe, Heidi adapts this classic sauce just a bit and uses it to dress roasted new potatoes and broccoli.

1 ½ pounds new potatoes, unpeeled

½ cup plus 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Fine-grain sea salt, to taste

12 oz broccoli florets

4 large eggs, hard cooked and peeled

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon-style mustard

1 Tbsp capers, chopped

2 shallots, minced*

3 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs including parsley, chervil, chives and/or tarragon

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F with two racks in the top and middle of the oven.
2. If the potatoes are small, you can leave them whole, otherwise cut into pieces no larger than your thumb.  Use your hands to toss the potatoes with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil, sprinkle with a big pinch of salt, and turn out onto a baking sheet.  Roast until they are cooked through and starting to brown, about 30 minutes.  About 15 minutes before you think the potatoes are done, toss the broccoli with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil, sprinkle with salt, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in the oven as well.  You are aiming to have the potatoes and broccoli finish cooking at (roughly) the same time.   
3. To made the dressing, mash just the yolk of one of the hard-cooked eggs in a medium bowl.  Very, very slowly add the remaining ½ cup olive oil, beating constantly;  the dressing should look smooth and glossy.  Whisk in the vinegar, then the mustard.  Stir in the capers, shallots, herbs, and ¼ tsp salt.
4. Coarsely chop the remaining eggs and egg white, and fold them into the dressing.  Put the warm potatoes and broccoli in a large bowl and gently toss with three-quarters of the dressing.  Taste, adjust the flavors, and add more dressing, if needed.  Serve turned out onto a platter or in a bowl.

*May substitute any other onion variety for the shallots.

Recipe borrowed from Heidi Swanson’s book, Super Natural Every Day.