Vegetable Feature: Potatoes

By Chef Andrea
     Last week we finished this year’s potato harvest and as the rain falls again today, I’m very thankful our precious potatoes are safely tucked away in the cooler. Even though this year has been a bit on the wet side, we are pleased to tell you it was a bountiful harvest and the potatoes look very nice!
     This year we grew five different varieties. It’s important to understand the qualities of each type of potato variety as it will help you decide how to use them. Potatoes are classified as either waxy or starchy potatoes. This classification is based on the type of starch the potato has. Starch is a stored form of energy and is the whole reason the plant produces a potato. Waxy potatoes are more moist and creamy. They hold their shape after they are cooked which makes them good candidates for roasting, potato salads and soups where you want the potato to hold its shape. These are not good for making mashed potatoes as they get too sticky and are kind of like wallpaper paste. Starchy potatoes are more dry and fluffy when cooked. They don’t hold together as well, which makes them a good candidate for a soup where you might want to use the starch as the component that will thicken the soup. This is also the best type of potato to use for making fluffy, smooth mashed potatoes.

     This week you are receiving Purple Viking potatoes. This is kind of an all-purpose potato that sits on the fence between the two classes. It is waxy enough that it holds its shape well, but it also has enough of that dry, starchy characteristic that you can get away with making mashed potatoes with this variety, and they make an excellent soup. Purple Viking potatoes are characterized by their purple and pink skin with white flesh. This is one of our favorite potato varieties.
     Potatoes are a versatile food and can be prepared in many different ways. You can enjoy them roasted, boiled, baked, pan-fried, deep-fried, in soups, gratins or even breads and rolls. Potatoes pair well with any kind of dairy—cream, cheese, milk or sour cream. They also pair well with other vegetables in summer and fall including tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, winter squash and many root vegetables.
     Potatoes are best stored in a cool, dark, dry place at about 50-55°F. If exposed to light, the potato will produce solanine which is a bitter alkaloid that gives the exposed portion of the potato a green color. If you see this on potato, trim that portion of the potato away.

Potato Cakes with Goat Cheese

1 pound starchy potatoes, roughly grated
1 small onion, roughly grated
1 small carrot, roughly grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp flour
1 oz goat cheese, mashed with a fork
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp high heat sunflower oil

1.  Preheat the oven to 350´̊F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.  Mix everything except the oil together in a bowl and season really well with salt and pepper.
3.  Heat the oil in a large frying pan, drop double teaspoonfuls of the mixture into the pan, and fry them for 2 minutes. Carefully flip them over and fry on the other side until golden.
4.  Pop the potato cakes on the prepared baking sheet and finish cooking them through in the oven—they should take 5-10 minutes.

HVF Note:  The original recipe states this recipe yields 2 servings if served as a side dish, however we felt like it served more like 4-5 as a side dish.  Also, these are tasty served as is or with a little more fresh goat cheese spread on top while still warm.

Recipe borrowed from Mamushka: A Cookbook by Olia Hercules

Vegetable Feature: Eggplant

By Andrea Yoder

   Eggplant is one of the most beautiful crops we grow.  The plants grow several feet tall and, in their peak, are loaded with beautiful glossy fruit hanging heavy on the plant.  There are many varieties of eggplant ranging in size from small round eggplant the size of a golf ball to large globe eggplant weighing over a pound.  They come in a variety of colors ranging from various shades of purple to black, green, lavender, white and orange.  We have narrowed our lineup of eggplant to our four favorite varieties including Lilac Bride, Purple Dancer, Listada and the traditional Black eggplant.
   Eggplant is a member of the nightshade family.  While it is thought to have originated in the area around India and Pakistan, it has now been spread around the world.  Since eggplant is part of so many cultures, you can take your pick on how you’d like to enjoy it.  It is often incorporated into curry and stir-fry dishes in Indian, Thai and Chinese cuisine.  Sicilians are famous for eggplant caponata while Middle Eastern dishes include baba ganoush.  The French put their mark on eggplant with the traditional Provencal dish, ratatouille.  Eggplant has a mild flavor and soft texture when cooked. Many resources will tell you to salt eggplant before cooking it to remove bitterness.  While older varieties were bitter, the new varieties we grow have been bred so they are not bitter, thus you can skip the salting step.  Most of our varieties of eggplant have skin that is tender enough to eat, thus you do not need to peel them.
   Eggplant does not store terribly well, so it is best to use it soon after getting it.  It is best stored at a temperature of about 45-50°F, but your home refrigerator should be colder than this.  Thus, we recommend storing your eggplant on the kitchen counter until you are ready to use it.  Use within 2-4 days of when you receive it.
Use the guide below to identify the eggplant in your box this week.

Black Globe Eggplant: This is the most familiar variety of eggplant. It is characterized by a dark skin that looks black. It is best used in dishes like Eggplant Parmesan or to make dips, etc.  This variety will also hold up on the grill or if roasted.

















Lilac Bride Eggplant: Lilac bride eggplant is long and slender with lavender skin and white flesh. It is best used in Thai curry dishes, stews or any other preparation where you want the eggplant to hold its shape better.

Listada Eggplant: Listada is characterized by a small globe shape with dark purple/magenta skin streaked with white stripes. It is an Italian heirloom variety characterized by dense “meaty” flesh that holds up very well with grilling or roasting.

Purple Dancer Eggplant: This superb variety is characterized by an elongated tear drop shape and a bright purple skin. Purple Dancer eggplant is an all-purpose eggplant that has creamy, white flesh.  It is firm enough that it keeps its shape if you grill it or use it in curries, soups or stews. The flesh is also soft enough when cooked to use in dips, etc.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan Penne

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pound ground pork (optional)
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
1 sweet Italian frying pepper, diced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
One large eggplant (approximately 1 ¼  pound), cut into ½-inch dice
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
3 cups marinara sauce
12 ounces penne pasta
½ cup lightly packed fresh basil, torn
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, diced
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
⅓ cup panko bread crumbs

1.  In a large saucepan, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering.  Add the pork, if using, and cook over medium heat until browned.  If you are not using pork, skip directly to step 2.

2.  Add the 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil to the pan.  Add the onion, pepper, mushrooms and garlic along with a generous pinch of salt and pepper and sauté  over moderate heat, stirring, until the vegetables are softened.  Add the eggplant and ¼ cup of water and cover.  Cook, stirring periodically, for 8-10 minutes or until the eggplant is tender.  Remove the lid and add crushed red pepper and marinara sauce.  Continue to cook, gently, until the sauce is hot, about 4 minutes.

3.  Preheat the broiler and position the rack 8 inches from the heat.  Bring a large pot of salt water to a boil.  Add the penne to the boiling water and cook until al dente.   Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the cooking water.  Stir the pasta, cooking water and the basil into the sauce and season with salt and pepper.




4.  Transfer the pasta to a 9 x 13—inch baking dish.  Scatter the mozzarella on top followed by the Parmesan and panko.  Broil the pasta for about 4 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the panko is lightly browned.  Serve hot.

Vegetable Feature: New Potatoes

by Andrea Yoder
The potatoes in your box this week are a variety called Red Norland, an early variety red-skinned potato with creamy white flesh and this week they are classified as a “new potato.” The difference between a new potato and others we’ll deliver this season is not the variety or the size, but the way they are harvested.  New potatoes are classified as such if they are harvested off a plant that still has green leaves on it.  With latter varieties, we’ll mow the potato vines about a week in advance of harvest.  In the week between mowing the vines and actually harvesting the potatoes, changes take place in the potatoes that help to set the skins and make them better for storage.  They are also easier to handle without damaging the skin.
New potatoes have a much more thin, tender and delicate skin.  They need to be handled with care so as not to disturb the skin and expose the flesh.  Potatoes should be stored in a cool, dark place, but not in the refrigerator.  It’s important they are not exposed to light or they will turn green and be bitter.  In general, potatoes will store for a few weeks at room temperature in a brown paper bag.  However new potatoes will not store as well and are best eaten within one week. Do not store potatoes in a plastic bag or in the refrigerator.
New potatoes are tender & creamy with a fresh, pure potato flavor.  This week’s variety is a “waxy” variety.  They lend themselves well to basic boiling, roasting or pan-frying.  You could make “smashed” potatoes with them, but I’d discourage you from making mashed potatoes out of them as waxy potatoes have a tendency to become sticky when mashed.  We still have several more varieties to dig.  Check the newsletter each week to find out more information about each variety and the best ways to prepare them.

Crushed Potatoes with Cream and Garlic

Recipe sourced from Nigel Slater’s book, Tender:  A cook and his vegetable patch.

Serves 4 as a side dish
1 pound new potatoes
3 cloves fresh garlic
1 cup heavy cream
8 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

1. Lightly scrub the potatoes but do not peel them.  Boil them in a pan of deep, lightly salted water for fifteen to twenty minutes or so, until tender.
2. While the potatoes are boiling, peel and lightly crush the garlic cloves.  Pour the cream into a small saucepan, and add the leaves from the sprigs of thyme, the garlic, a little salt and some black pepper.  Let the mixture simmer over medium heat until it has reduced by about a third.
3. Once the potatoes are drained, put them in a shallow dish and crush each one lightly with a fork—you want to break the skin and flatten the potato just enough for its flesh to soak up some of the hot cream.  Pour the cream and thyme over the crushed potatoes and eat while hot.

"A Year Of Blooms" - What's Inside the CSA Calendar & Resource Guide?

Is it really July already!?  Time to turn another page in the calendar…the 2015 HVF CSA Calendar that is!  Our new calendars are finally here and have been at your sites for the past few weeks now.  If you haven’t had a chance to pick one up yet, we’d like to encourage you to do so.  Our hope is that you’ll enjoy the beauty of this calendar, but also consider this calendar to be part of your connection to your farm and an important resource guide.  If you are thinking…. “I really don’t need another calendar to hang on the wall,” I’d like to mention that this calendar is more than just pretty pictures and dates to hang on your wall.  It is actually a very useful tool to guide you through your CSA experience this season.   We had extras made, so feel free to take more than one per household if you’d like to have them in more than one location.  Read on to find out what’s inside!

Our CSA calendar is our way of connecting you to our farm throughout the entire year.  Yes, there are pretty pictures to look at each month and hopefully you’ll enjoy the theme of this year’s calendar-- “A Year of Blooms.” Throughout the season we captured pictures of different flowers in bloom.  Some of them are from fruits or vegetables and others are wildflowers.   Our hope is that you’ll keep this calendar handy and hang it in a convenient place where you can enjoy its beauty, but also refer to it regularly.  Beyond the pretty pictures, you’ll find that our calendar has been customized to include our delivery schedule.  If you’re a little unclear about all this ‘Green Week’/ ‘Brown Week’ business, refer to your calendar.  We’ve laid out the entire delivery season complete with color coding for the different delivery weeks.  You can even go a step further and mark your specific delivery dates on your calendar.  We also highlight that time of year when our delivery schedule changes a little bit around the holidays.  This can be a tricky time to remember when you are supposed to pick up your shares, so we encourage you to reference the calendar so you don’t miss out on anything!
Some of the most important and useful information in the calendar is in the very last pages.  If you flip to the back of the calendar, you’ll find all of the site locations including site hours and contact information.  If you need to contact your site host for some reason during the season, it can be very handy to just flip to the back of the calendar for this information.  You’ll also find one of Farmer Richard’s favorite pages in the calendar.  He admires the “Don’t Rip That Box!” page and hopes everyone will take a minute to review these important guidelines for breaking down the CSA boxes.  If the boxes stay at the site and are broken down properly, we will be able to reuse them again instead of having to throw it away after a single use.

Having a CSA calendar in your kitchen might be a handy idea, especially on delivery day when you’re putting away the contents of your shares.  Another important piece of information in the calendar is our “Storage Tips” section.  If you’re not quite sure how or where to store a particular item in your box, just flip to the back of the calendar and refer to the list of vegetables.  This list will answer most of your questions, but we’ve also provided a few recommended resources for storage information that you may find additionally helpful.
I hope you’re starting to see that this calendar really is more than just dates on the wall.  We actually consider it to be a CSA Resource Guide.  In the front of the calendar you’ll find important reminders about how you can make the most of your CSA experience.  Please take a moment to read this brief information so you are fully informed about the details of pickup day, how to use the Choice & Swap boxes, etc.  When everyone follows the guidelines we have smooth and successful pick up days and everyone leaves with the shares they signed up for!
Finally, we acknowledge that learning to eat “out of the box” is a transition and we want to remind you that you are not alone in this adventure.  Page 3 of the calendar and resource guide highlights a few resources you might find helpful to guide you as you learn about storing and preparing the different vegetables in your box from week to week.  It’s a good place to turn to if you’re stumped by a vegetable and looking for more information or places to turn to for recipes.
If you haven’t picked up your calendar yet, or you’d like another one, please look for them at your site this week.  We appreciate your support of our farm and hope you are enjoying  your seasonal eating adventure!
--Farmers Richard & Andrea, Capt. Jack The Dog, and the Entire HVF Crew