Wednesday, November 4, 2020

November 5, 2020 - This Week's Box Contents, Featuring Baby Ginger!

Cooking With This Week's Box



Fresh Baby Ginger: Ginger Syrup (see below); Homemade Pickled Ginger (see below); Butternut Squash & Lentil Curry; Curried Beet Soup with Tandoori Chickpeas; Garlic Ginger Brussels Sprouts









Butternut Squash & Lentil Curry
photo from makingthymeforhealth.com
Many people think we start winding down after the first frost, everything is harvested and we’re ready to close up for the winter.  WRONG!!!  We’re still going strong and have more fun vegetables to send your way, such as this week’s fresh baby ginger!  If you’ve never had fresh ginger, you are in for a treat.  There are many things you might do with fresh ginger, but this week we’re featuring two simple recipes that will serve as a means of preserving the fresh ginger flavor and making it go further.  The first is a tasty Ginger Syrup (see below) that can be used to make homemade ginger ale or add it to lemonade, hot or cold tea, cocktails or just take a spoonful as an immune booster to stay healthy this winter!  The other recipe is for Homemade Pickled Ginger (see below).  Pickled ginger is traditionally made with fresh baby ginger, so this is a very fitting application.  If you think pickled ginger is only for eating with sushi, think again.  This is a tasty condiment to eat with stir-fry, rice, mixed into salad dressing, marinades and so much more!  You can also use fresh ginger in a variety of recipes such as this Butternut Squash & Lentil Curry.  This recipe also calls for cauliflower.  If you have one hanging out in your refrigerator from last week, add it in!

Butternut Squash Enchiladas
photo from makingthymeforhealth.com
We know butternut squash is a popular variety of winter squash and we’ve gotten a few inquiries from members wondering if we didn’t have a good crop this year since we’ve only delivered it once or twice.  Actually, the butternut squash did very well and they’re storing remarkably  which is why we have not delivered them yet!  This week though we’re packing Butternut, Butterkin or Autumn Frost squash.  We grew lesser amounts of the latter two, both of which are spin-offs of butternut squash.  All of this week’s varieties are appropriate to use in any recipe calling for butternut such as this Butternut Squash & Kale Risotto.  This is a perfect recipe to make with this week’s lacinato kale.  It also calls for sage, so I’ll interject a reminder here to harvest the rest of the sage from your herb garden if you have not already done so!  Another recipe I want to mention is for Butternut Squash Enchiladas.  This is a vegan version devoid of cheese and utilizing a cashew sour cream.  Of course, if you eat dairy you could also use dairy sour cream.  The fun thing about this vegetable-centric enchilada recipe is that it includes Brussels sprouts!  This recipe also calls for a jalapeno and salsa verde.  This is a great example of a recipe that blends vegetables from different seasons of the year.  So, if you stashed some jalapenos in your freezer and/or preserved tomatillo salsa, now’s the time to pull them out!  If you did not, but you have a Korean chili pepper still lingering, you could use that instead of the jalapeno.   These are the kind of recipes that come together and are very rewarding to enjoy when you can pull from different parts of the local seasons!

Italian Wedding Soup
photo by Maria Siriano for thekitchn.com
When you open this week’s box you will be greeted by a gorgeous head of escarole!  Escarole is not lettuce, it’s actually a chicory and is a cold-hardy bitter green.  It pairs well with sausage, garlic and beans to name a few other ingredients.  Italian Wedding Soup is a classic recipe featuring escarole. You can also go in the direction of pasta with this simple recipe for Orecchiette with Sausage and Escarole.

Have you ever used red onions to make a jam or chutney?  I don’t do it enough, but my goodness it’s so delicious!  Here’s a recipe for Red Onion & Chili Chutney.  This is a lovely condiment that really highlights the sweetness of the red onions.  Serve it as a condiment alongside roast chicken, lentils or bean dishes.  You can also serve it on toast or crostini with goat cheese or cream cheese.

We eat a lot of carrots throughout the year, but the beauty of this root vegetable is its versatility.  This week lets turn our carrots into pancakes!  I have two suggestions, the first being this savory approach for Carrot Pancakes with Salted Yogurt.  Serve these as a main dish with a salad or use them as an accompaniment to a grilled steak, roast chicken, etc.  The second suggestion is for Carrot Breakfast Pancakes!  You know I love starting the day off with vegetables, but I also love pancakes!  It’s a perfect combo!

Herbed Goat Cheese & Root Vegetable Galette
photo by Bobbi Lin for food52.com
Thanksgiving is coming soon and bloggers and foodie websites are starting to post their Thanksgiving recipe suggestions and collections.  I love these collections because it’s a great way to collect recipes you can prepare all winter!  I took a look at a few sites this week and have already found some good recipes.  Lets start with Food52’s collection entitled “50 Best Thanksgiving Appetizer Recipes.”  While these are appetizer recipes, that doesn’t mean you have to serve them as an appetizer.  This recipe for Ricotta Crostini with Kale Pesto could be served for breakfast or a light lunch or dinner along with scrambled or fried eggs.  This Herbed Goat Cheese & Root Vegetable Galette could also serve as a vegetarian main dish for any meal of the day.  It calls for sweet potato, carrot and turnip, but really you can use any root vegetable you have available.  The third recipe I pulled from this appetizer ensemble is for Bright Red Beet Hummus.  Serve this with raw vegetables or crackers for a snack or spread it on pita bread or a wrap and stuff it with vegetables for lunch.

Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions & Goat Cheese
photo by James Ransom for food52.com
I also looked through Food52’s “Best Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes Collection” where I found a few recipes I want to try.  This week’s Asterix and russet potatoes are both good selections for mashing, so we might as well try these Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions & Goat Cheese!  This recipe does call for 3 pounds of potatoes, but your box only contains 2 pounds, so plan accordingly.  While stuffing is associated with Thanksgiving and the turkey, you can eat it any time of the year!  So lets try this Butternut Squash, Brussels Sprouts & Bread Stuffing with Apples, an interesting and flavorful alternative to the traditional stuffing recipe.

Thanksgiving Root Vegetable Pie
photo by Eric Moran for food52.com
There are a few more side dish recipes I pulled from the aforementioned collection.  This recipe for an Autumn Root Vegetable Gratin with Herbs and Cheese is a good recipe to keep handy as it is a great way to utilize root vegetables and you can change up the vegetables you use to make it depending on what you have available.    The same is true for this Thanksgiving Root Vegetable Pie, a vegetarian main dish built on root vegetables which serve as the “pie filling” and a sweet potato topping.

I also found one more recipe possibility for escarole.  This recipe for Stewy White Beans with Escarole, Garlic and Sizzled Rosemary.  This sounds like a cozy dish of comfort for a chilly winter night!

Curried Beet Soup with Tandoori Chickpeas
photo from minimalistbaker.com
We’re nearly at the bottom of the box, but before we finish I want to share this recipe for Curried Beet Soup with Tandoori Chickpeas.  The ingredient list for this recipe is pretty lengthy, but don’t be intimidated by that.  The different spices and ingredients are what build flavor in this recipe, so take a little time and invest in this interesting soup recipe!

Have a great week and remember, we change to every-other-week deliveries for the remainder of the season.  We’ll have another delivery the week before Thanksgiving and then we’ll return after the holiday to finish up our final two deliveries in December!  See you back here in two weeks!---Chef Andrea


Vegetable Feature: Baby Ginger

By Chef Andrea

This week we’re featuring Fresh Baby Ginger, a tropical plant we have been growing for nearly a decade!  Our growing season is much different than Hawaii and other ginger-producing regions, however it is possible to grow ginger in this climate!  Ginger is actually a rhizome, which is a stem that grows horizontally underground.   It produces roots to anchor it and sends up shoots to grow into foliage above ground as it grows and expands.  Ginger grows best in an ideal soil temperature of about 65°F.  In our northern climate, we have best results growing ginger in a greenhouse as we just don’t have a long enough growing season to get any kind of appreciable yield when grown in the field.  The ginger we produce is actually referred to as baby ginger as we don’t have enough warm days, even when grown in the greenhouse, to produce fully mature ginger.

Ginger sprouts emerging in trays of soil
Ginger is a sterile plant and does not produce actual seed like other crops.  It is vegetatively propogated meaning you plant a piece of the ginger rhizome and it grows and spreads to produce more ginger.  We receive our ginger “seed” pieces in February or March.  The first thing we do is put the ginger in trays of potting soil in our warmest greenhouse.  We water the trays once or twice a week and keep them warm.  This is the pre-sprouting phase which can take 3-4 weeks.  During this pre-sprouting phase, the ginger piece starts to swell and produce shoots.  Once we have established some good sized plants, we prepare trenches in the greenhouse, load them up with plenty of compost and then transplant the ginger into the soil.

Lupe transplanting Ginger sprouts
As the ginger gets established and grows, it continues to send out more shoots from the main rhizome.  Throughout the growing season we manage weeds by hand weeding and deliver water through underground irrigation lines.  As with any crop, ginger has its own set of diseases it is susceptible to.  Some of the diseases live in the soil and can persist from year to year, making them a real challenge to manage.  One of the keys to organic ginger production is to prevent the onset or spread of disease by using “clean” seed.   We get our seed stock from Puna Organics in Hawaii.  They have a process for producing certified organic, disease free seed.  It isn’t a quick process, and can take up to 5 years to produce actual seed.  As with many other crops, good quality seed is an important first step to producing a healthy crop.  Crop rotation is also an important part of disease management, which is why we don’t grow ginger every year.

Baby ginger is different than fully mature ginger, which is what you have likely purchased if you’ve bought ginger from the store.  Baby ginger has a very thin skin with some pink coloring, especially at the points where the stems have grown from the main rhizome.  If you store baby ginger for a few weeks it will start to develop more of a brown skin similar to fully mature ginger, but it will never quite offer the same coverage as when fully matured.  Baby ginger is more tender, juicy and has a bright and perhaps a bit more mild flavor than some fully mature ginger that can be quite spicy.  In many ways, young ginger versus fully mature ginger is very similar to the differences you experience with using fresh garlic harvested in late June versus mature garlic that has been cured.

Ginger, Apple & Cardamon Compote
Ginger is used as both medicine and food.  As a medicine, it has anti-inflammatory properties, can sooth a whole host of gastrointestinal maladies, and can also be an effective pain reducer.  It is a common ingredient in many Asian cultures, often pairing with garlic and scallions in Chinese stir-fry or combine it with chiles, lemongrass and a variety of other ingredients to make Thai curry pastes.  Ginger has a spicy, warm flavor which also makes it an excellent ingredient to pair with other spices and rich, comforting foods such as sweet potatoes, winter squash, mushrooms, broccoli, etc.  It can be used extensively to make beverages, teas, baked goods, stir-fry, salad dressings, vegetable dishes, curries, and much much more!

To use baby ginger, simply cut a piece from the main chunk and peel if necessary.  Because it doesn’t have much of a protective skin, we recommend you use fresh ginger within a week of receiving it for the full fresh baby ginger eating experience.  If you’re looking for ways to preserve ginger, consider trying one or both of the recipes featured in this week’s newsletter.  The first is a recipe for Ginger Syrup that can be used as a base to add to beverages or just eat a spoonful each day for an immune boost.  The second recipe is for Pickled Ginger.  Traditional Japanese Pickled Ginger that is commonly served with sushi is made with baby ginger.   The pink hue of pickled ginger comes from that pink color you see on the skin of baby ginger.  This is also the preferred form of ginger to use as it’s more tender and delicate compared to fully mature ginger.  Pickled ginger is very easy to make and will keep for up to six months in the refrigerator.  You can use it as a condiment for more than just sushi.  I like to chop it finely and add it to salad dressing, mix it into vegetable salads, layer it onto sandwiches or eat a little alongside rice or fish.

We’ve come to appreciate this crop over the years and hope you enjoy this little taste of the tropics! 

Ginger Syrup

Yield:  1 cup

photo from theharvestkitchen.com
¾ cup water
1 cup fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
¾ cup honey
  1. Peel ginger if necessary and cut into pieces.
  2. Bring ginger and water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
  3. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes
  4. Strain through a sieve and reserve ginger for another use or discard.
  5. Set ginger water aside to cool for 5 minutes
  6. Add honey, ¼ cup at a time, and mix with the ginger water until honey dissolves and you achieve the desired sweetness.
The author offers the following suggestions for how to use this ginger syrup:
  • Ginger Water:  Add 1-2 tsp ginger syrup to a glass of water and serve over ice.
  • Lemon Ginger Water:  Stir the juice of ¼ to ½ of a lemon with 1-2 tsp ginger syrup in a glass of water and serve over ice.
  • Hot Ginger Tea:  Heat a cup of water and stir in 1-2 tsp ginger syrup.
  • Hot Tea:  Instead of using honey, stir in 1-2 tsp ginger syrup to a cup of your favorite hot tea.
  • Ginger Lemonade:  Use this simple ginger syrup instead of a simple syrup when making homemade lemonade.
  • Homemade Ginger Ale:  Mix ¼ cup ginger syrup and ¾ cup sparkling water.  Serve over ice.
Recipe borrowed from www.theharvestkitchen.com.

Homemade Pickled Ginger

Yield:  1 pint

photo from loveandoliveoil.com
8 ounces fresh baby ginger
1 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
  1. Wash and scrub ginger well to remove any remaining bits of dirt or soil.  Use a spoon or the back of a paring knife to scrape off any papery bits of skin.  
  2. Thinly slice ginger across the grain using a vegetable peeler, mandolin or a sharp knife.  You want the ginger to be as paper thin as possible.
  3. Place sliced ginger in a bowl.  Pour 2 cups of boiling water over ginger and let set for 5 minutes.  
  4. Drain well, then pack ginger into one pint jar.  Be sure the jar is thoroughly washed or, even better, sanitized in boiling water prior to using. 
  5. In a saucepan, bring vinegar, sugar, and salt to a simmer, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved.
  6. Pour hot liquid over ginger in the jar.  Secure the lid and allow the jar to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.  The pickled ginger, which is ready to eat after several hours, will keep in the refrigerator for up to six months.
Recipe borrowed from www.loveandoliveoil.com.

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