Wednesday, November 15, 2023

November 16, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Radicchio

 


Cooking With This Week's Box

Radicchio:  
Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts
Photo from www.wellplated.com
Asiago Cremini Pasta Bake with Radicchio (See Below)

Brussels Sprouts:  

Purple Viking Potatoes: 

Red & Yellow Onions:  

Italian Garlic:  

The Best Sweet Potato Cheesecake
Photo from www.bakerbynature.com
Sweet Potatoes:  

Butternut Squash or Autumn Frost Squash:  

Celeriac:  

Orange Carrots:

Green Savoy Cabbage:  

Sweet Potato & Beet Chips
Photo from www.madeitateitlovedit.com
Red Beets:  

Cauliflower or Broccoli Romanesco:  

Green Curly Kale:  

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we look forward to celebrating the bounty of this year’s harvests….and it certainly has been a bountiful year! We are still harvesting vegetables, including “greens” from the fields! This week one of our “greens” is actually not green, but a beautiful burgundy red color.  You’ll know radicchio when you see it!  This week’s featured recipe is a rich main dish, but the bittersweet radicchio pairs well with salty, fatty cheese in this recipe Asiago Cremini Pasta Bake with Radicchio (See Below). You may also want to check out this recipe collection entitled: 16 Stellar Ways To Use Radicchio.

I have been saving the Purple Viking potatoes for this delivery in particular because they are my absolute favorite variety to use for mashed potatoes and I know there will be many households making mashed potatoes next week!  Personally, I like to put garlic in my potatoes so I included a recipe this week for Easy Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  This is also a great variety to use for Shepard’s Pie!

Celeriac & Sausage Stuffing
Photo from www.jessicaburns.com
As we finish out our final few deliveries, the boxes are going to be heavy on root vegetables including this week’s celeriac. We like to include celeriac in our Thanksgiving meal as it makes its way into either our bread dressing or stuffing. Thus, I included a recipe for Celeriac & Sausage Stuffing.  Brussels sprouts are another Thanksgiving dinner favorite.  Perhaps you want to introduce a new dish to the table this year with this Fall Panzanella with Brussels Sprouts & Apples.  

As for this week’s sweet potatoes, you may get some funny shaped ones in your box this week…. just saying!  The shape doesn’t matter if you’re going to cook them and turn them into puree to make Sweet Potato Bread with Dates & Cranberries or The Best Sweet Potato Cheesecake.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday week. We will not be doing CSA deliveries next week, but we’ll be back in the game the following week to finish our final few deliveries of the year!  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Radicchio

by Andrea Yoder

Radicchio in the field
The brilliant burgundy red and white leafy vegetable in this week’s box is radicchio. Radicchio is a bitter green that does best when grown in cool months, which is why it is one of the last crops we harvest late in the fall. It is a popular winter vegetable in Italy where they grow many different varieties and shapes. Many varieties are named for the regions in Italy which they are thought to have originated or where they are grown. The variety we grow, Chioggia Radicchio, is one of the most common and is named for the city of Chioggia which is a coastal town located in northeastern Italy along the Adriatic Sea. This variety is similar to Boston lettuce in the way it grows round, compact heads, although a head of Chioggia radicchio is usually more densely packed than Boston lettuce.  

One of the reasons it is best to grow radicchio in cool weather is because the cold treatment helps to balance the bitterness with a touch of sweetness making the overall eating quality much more balanced and enjoyable. The challenge for us though is protecting it from critters and extreme cold temperatures. Deer are particularly fond of this crop, so we put up a tall fence to deter them. Radicchio can take some frost, but can be permanently damaged with temperatures in the low 20’s. Thus, we usually cover the radicchio with a double layer field cover held up off the crop by wire supports. The other challenging part of growing radicchio is that the rate of growth slows significantly with cool temperatures making it difficult to grow a sizeable head before our winter truly sets in. Thus, every year it’s a gamble as to whether or not we’ll be able to harvest this crop.  This year we gambled and won!

From a nutrition perspective, radicchio is rich in minerals and vitamins. The compounds which lend to its bitterness also help aid digestion and help support the liver in detoxifying the body. One article found at lacucinaitaliana.it describes radicchio as “a precious ally for our health because it is a true mine of antioxidants, able to counteract free radicals and cellular aging….”  

The key to preparing and eating bitter vegetables is balance. Bitter is balanced by sweetness, acidity, and fat, so while you may not find a big bite of a leaf to be to your liking, you may find you really like this vegetable when it is incorporated in dishes with other ingredients that help to balance and complement the bitterness.  I also prefer to thinly slice radicchio instead of eating it in big pieces. Lastly, cooking can help to mellow out the bitterness and techniques such as grilling and roasting help to bring out some of the sweetness in this vegetable as well. So, what I’m saying is, please give this beautiful, bittersweet vegetable a try! 
 
Given radicchio’s popularity in Italy, many of the classic pairings and ways radicchio is used go back to Italian cuisine. Radicchio can be eaten both raw and cooked.  In its raw form, radicchio is often paired with other greens as well as fruits such as apples, pears, figs, oranges, dates, pomegranate, grapefruit, and persimmons to make delicious fall salads. It is also often incorporated into pasta dishes, risotto, savory pies, omelets, baked au gratin, or used as a topping for focaccia or pizza. Many dishes will pair radicchio with other ingredients such as walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, chestnuts, avocados, and fatty cheese such as Parmesan, Gorgonzola (blue cheese) or Taleggio. It is also often paired with seafood as well as bacon or other pork products, eggs, olive oil, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and caramelized onions. 

We encourage you to use the radicchio within a week as it may be more perishable given it has seen multiple freezing nights. Store it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator to keep it from wilting. You can use the entire head, including the core. Carefully peel back the layers, wash well and pat dry before using.



Asiago Cremini Pasta Bake with Radicchio

Yield: 1 9x13-inch baking dish
1-16 oz package shell or macaroni pasta
1 medium or 2 small heads radicchio
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 small red onion, diced
½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
¼ tsp ground black pepper, to taste
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp minced fresh sage
¼ cup butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
3 cups grated Asiago cheese
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
1 ½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water, stirring occasionally until still firm to the bite, about 9 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.  
  3. Prepare the radicchio by cutting the head in half and removing the core. Thinly slice the leaves and set aside.
  4. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onion, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook and stir until mushrooms have browned and onion is translucent, about 7 minutes. Add radicchio, garlic, and sage; cook until radicchio has wilted, and garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in pasta. Set it aside.
  5. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour; cook until foaming.  Pour in milk, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in Asiago cheese, heavy cream, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper until sauce is melted and smooth.
  6. Pour sauce over pasta mixture; stir until thoroughly combined.  Transfer to prepared baking dish. Combine the remining ½ cup Parmesan cheese with the panko breadcrumbs and spread evenly over the pasta mixture.  Bake in the preheated oven until bubbly, about 30 minutes. If you wish, broil for about 1 minute or until the topping is golden brown. 
Recipe borrowed from www.allrecipes.com.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

November 2, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Brussels Sprouts

 


Cooking With This Week's Box

Dehydrated Onions
Photo from www.flouronmyface.com
Red & Yellow Onions:

Italian Garlic:

Sweet Potatoes:

Brussels Sprouts:
Dehydrated Garlic
Photo from www.cravethegood.com

Adirondak Red or Purple Majesty or Peter Wilcox Potatoes:

Black Futsu Pumpkins:

Orange Carrots:

Broccoli:

Cauliflower:

Lacinato Kale Tops:

Escarole:

Tuscan Sausage and Kale Soup
Photo from www.simplywhisked.com
Parsnips: 

This week I (Kelly) am guest writing the Cooking with the box article.  My cooking style runs more towards the ‘Quick and easy’ side; however, I hope you still find inspiration with my choices. I included links with instructions to dehydrate both onions and garlic.  Both of those items store well, but in my house, I do a lot of preserving items when I can. I love to have the ability to grind the dehydrated onions and garlic when I need them. I store the dehydrated pieces whole and only grind them when I need them with a dedicated coffee grinder (who wants their coffee to taste like garlic)!

I also do as much kitchen prep as I can since sometimes during the week, I barely have time (or desire) to cook a large meal. Example this week, when I bring my share box home Friday, I will wash and chop up the broccoli, cauliflower, and the parsnips since I plan on using them during the week. If I had a plan in my head for the carrots, I would cut them up and put them back in the bag to store in the refrigerator for a few days until I need them. But this week, I will be storing them for longer than a week, so I will leave them whole. I really like Brussels sprouts, so I will look through those and cut the larger ones in half and clean up any loose leaves, put them back in the bag they came in and plan to roast them in a day or two.  

If I don’t have these things prepared or easy to grab and use, I tend to make what we lovingly call a ‘hot dish’. This is where I ‘clean the refrigerator’ out, cut up and cook what I can find that may go well together and cook it together in one pan, ‘Kelly’s never the same twice hot dish’!  

While I have links to these recipes I will be making in the coming weeks, I found that I would make many substitutions, additions and basically only use these as ‘guidelines’ to my finished product. Enjoy this week share box, there are only 3 left this season ☹

Kelly 


Vegetable Feature: Brussels Sprouts

Transplanting Brussels Sprouts in the Spring
Brussels sprouts are a popular crop many members have come to adore when they realize how delicious they are when harvested fresh, in the peak of their season, AND cooked properly. Brussels sprouts are another selection in the family of Brassicas which include cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. They resemble little cabbages and grow on stalks with leaves similar to collards.  We start Brussels sprouts from seed in the green house in the spring and then plant the transplants to the field where they require a 4–6-month growth period to reach their full potential. 

There are several points that are very important when it comes to Brussels sprouts.  First, frost and cold temperatures contribute significantly to the eating quality of Brussels sprouts. After a frost, the flavor of the sprouts is sweet, slightly nutty, and pleasant. California is a major Brussels sprouts producer for the United States. While Brussels sprouts do grow well there, there are many who are of the opinion that the mild California coastal climate just isn’t quite cold enough for Brussels sprouts.  Thus, consider yourself lucky that you live in Wisconsin & Minnesota where we can grow some delicious, sweet sprouts!

Brussels Sprouts in the field ready to harvest
The second point of importance is DO NOT OVERCOOK THEM! When the color fades from bright green to a dark olive color, the flavor fades too. Overcooked Brussels sprouts go from crisp & tender to soft and mushy in texture and their sweetness is traded for a strong, unpleasant flavor with a pungent smell to accompany it. Larger sprouts should be cut in half or par cooked if left whole. Smaller sprouts may be left whole or cut in half. When you are ready to use them, simply trim the end and remove any spotty leaves. Rinse and then you are ready to use them. They can also be shredded by cutting them in half and putting the cut side down and slicing them thinly with a knife. Brussels sprouts may be sautéed, roasted, or lightly steamed just until the color is bright, and they are tender to slightly al dente. While most frequently eaten cooked, Brussels sprouts may also be eaten raw. This week’s boxes include 1 pound of Brussels sprouts.  One pound of Brussels sprouts is equal to about 4 cups halved.

Brussels sprouts pair well with smoky and salty foods including bacon, ham, aged or sharp cheese, and blue cheese. Additionally, preparations often include mustard, walnuts, pecans, lemon juice, onions, and garlic.

They are definitely worth eating from a nutrition standpoint.  They are high in fiber, folate, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins A, C, and K and are packed full of powerful, cancer-preventing properties as well. Store your Brussels sprouts in the fridge in the bag we packed them in. You should open the bag a bit though and let them breathe.



Spaghetti with Brussels Sprouts & Bacon

Serves: 4
5-6 slices of thick cut bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced in half
¼ cup dry white wine (can substitute with chicken or veggie broth)
1 pound spaghetti noodles
3 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
5 cloves of garlic, minced
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
minced parsley for serving
 
  1. Cook the bacon in a large heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat until browned on all sides. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Pour out half of the reserved bacon fat (leaving about 1 ½ tablespoons in the pan) and add the brussels sprouts. Cook the sprouts for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to take on some color. Add the white wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated, and the sprouts are a deep golden brown and slightly crisp. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
  3. Heat 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil in the same skillet you cooked the bacon/sprouts in over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the pasta to the pan with the garlic and 1 cup of reserved cooking liquid, toss well. Sprinkle in the cheese, bacon, brussels sprouts, crushed red pepper flakes and minced parsley. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and serve warm.
Notes: *Use this recipe as a guide *Adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary

Recipe borrowed from www.dishingupthedirt.com.



Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Pears & Pistachios

Serves: 4
Photo from www.food52.com

1 pound brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
6 grinds black pepper
1 Bosc pear, halved lengthwise and cored
¼cup shelled pistachios, chopped coarsely
Juice of ½ large lemon
  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Place the prepared brussels sprouts on a baking sheet and pour on the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix with clean hands. Place the pear halves, cut sides-down, on the baking sheet, making sure there is enough oil to coat their cut surfaces.
  2. Roast the brussels sprouts and pear for about 20 minutes. Then turn the brussels sprouts with a metal spatula so that both sides will get caramelized. Check the pear—it many not be caramelized at this point.
  3. After another 10 minutes, turn the brussels sprouts again. Flip the pear. Reduce the oven heat to 375°F.
  4. Add the pistachios—you just want to heat them up and toast them slightly.
  5. After 5 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Squeeze lemon juice directly over all the ingredients. Use your spatula to chop up the pear halves. Toss everything thoroughly, check the seasoning, and serve on a platter or in a bowl.
Recipe borrowed from www.food52.com. 
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

October 26, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Sweet Potatoes


Cooking With This Week's Box



Sweet Potatoes:
Sweet Potato & Carrot Cakes with Cashew Lime Sour Cream (See Below)
Thai Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Lettuce Wraps (See Below)

Yellow Onions:
Onion Cake 
Cream of Onion Soup 


Here we are, wrapping up the final week of October and just a few weeks away from Thanksgiving!  We’re preparing for our first potential ‘hard’ frost of the season coming this weekend, which means we’re harvesting cabbage, sensitive greens and as many root crops as we possibly can!  We’re also putting out row covers to protect our late season fall greens including escarole and radicchio.  One of the benefits of this cold weather is the effect it will have on the Brussels sprouts.  We’re planning to harvest them for the next two boxes and they should taste exceptional after this weekend!  While there are still some fun selections yet to come, we’re excited to be sharing sweet potatoes with you this week! 

Sweet potatoes are a very versatile vegetable and may be used in many ways.  This week’s recipes pair sweet potatoes with some of this week’s other vegetable selections.  Check out this recipe for Sweet Potato and Carrot Cakes with Cashew Lime Sour Cream (see below).  This is a recipe from Amy Chaplin, a very accomplished vegetarian chef and cookbook author.  The other recipe makes use of this week’s lettuce for Thai Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Lettuce Wraps (See Below).  Of course, I sprinkled a few other sweet potato recipes in amongst the list this week with crossover pairings with other vegetable selections.  This recipe for Ginger Coconut Sweet Potatoes is one of my favorites.  You may also consider pairing this week’s fresh baby ginger with sweet potatoes to make this simple, yet elegant Silky Ginger Sweet Potato Soup.

This week’s Peter Wilcox potatoes are one of my all-time favorite varieties.  I think they would pair nicely with this week’s carrots and cauliflower in this ChickenPot Pie Soup.  If you’re looking for some other main dish inspiration for the week, check out this Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta or perhaps you may choose to make an entrée salad with this recipe for Kale Power Salad with Sweet Potatoes & Spicy Almond Dressing.

This week’s box has not one but two varieties of squash!  Butterkin squash may be used interchangeably in recipes calling for butternut squash.  There are plenty of recipe options contained in these two recipe collections entitled 28 of Our Best Butternut SquashRecipes To Make This Fall and 30 Butternut Squash Recipes To Make This Fall.  Jester squash is similar in use to either delicata or acorn squash, so you may choose to look for recipe ideas that use these two varieties and may be adapted to the Jester squash.  I am looking forward to trying this recipe for Cranberry Apple Stuffed   Squash.

I’m going to wrap it up here with one reminder for everyone.  Next week is the week when we will be delivering both Green & Brown week deliveries in the same week!  So, if you are a brown week customer typically receiving a box every other week, make sure you check your calendar and give yourself a reminder to go pick up your box!  Have a great week and I’ll meet you back here next week!

---Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Sweet Potatoes

by Andrea Yoder

Sweet potatoes seem to be one of our most popular fall crops that CSA members look forward to every year. They are a staple fall vegetable with a long storage potential that will sustain us for the next 4-6 months! They are also very versatile in their uses, which means you have the opportunity to get creative and enjoy sweet potatoes in a wide variety of recipes over the next few months!  

Freshly Harvested Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a tropical vegetable, which makes it a bit of a challenging crop to grow in our northern climate. Over the years we’ve learned a lot about growing sweet potatoes and have refined a pretty good production system.  We wait until we are past the last frost in late May before we plant our sweet potato slips (slips is the term we use for the young plants we transplant into our field). We plant them into raised beds that are covered with a dark green plastic mulch to trap heat, making the plants think they are in a tropical environment. This summer’s heat wave was actually not too bad for the sweet potatoes, although we had to make sure they received enough water and nutrients through the drip irrigation lines buried under the plastic mulch.  Harvest typically happens in late September or early October. We always cross our fingers for a stretch of several dry days without precipitation to finish the harvest. This fall we were not so lucky as to have the “Perfect” harvest conditions, but with rain in the forecast we knew we had to get them out of the field. So, over the course of just a few days, we had two separate harvest crews in the field at the same time and raced against the weather! Despite a rainy afternoon, the crew pushed on and managed to finish the harvest. Yes, we brought in a lot of mud, and we had a huge pile of very muddy gloves at the end, but it felt great to have 34,000 pounds of sweet potatoes safely tucked away for storage! 

Crates of sweet potatoes ready to "cure" in 
our greenhouse
Straight out of the field, our sweet potatoes taste ok, but not good enough to eat (in our opinion). That’s right, we have a rule around here that you don’t really eat sweet potatoes until they have been 'cured'.  When first harvested they are starchy, not very sweet or tasty, and the skins are very tender requiring careful handling.  Sweet potatoes aren’t truly sweet potatoes until we “cure them.”  Curing is a process by which we hold the sweet potatoes at high heat and high humidity for 7-10 days. During this time, the starches in the potatoes are converted to sugars and the skins become more stable for long term storage. Richard checks the brix levels (a measure of sugar content) before, during and at the end of this process. Once they are cured, we reduce the temperature and humidity levels for longer storage. 

If stored properly you can eat sweet potatoes all winter! The ideal storage temperature for cured sweet potatoes is 55-65°F. If you don’t have the perfect location to store them at their ideal temperature, it’s better to store them at room temperature instead of putting them in the refrigerator.  

Harvesting sweet potatoes!
Sweet potatoes are less starchy and more sweet and moist than a regular potato and have a wide variety of uses. You can simply bake them whole until fork tender and eat the flesh right out of the skin. They are also delicious, cut into bite-sized pieces and roasted or cut them into wedges or thin slices and make roasted fries or chips. Sweet potatoes also make delicious, hearty soups and stews, may be added to chili, shredded, and fried like hash browns, or just simply cook and mash or puree them. They are also delicious incorporated into biscuits, rolls, quick breads, cookies, bars, cheesecake and more! 

Sweet potatoes are also very nutritious! They are a great source of complex carbohydrates and are high in fiber as well as vitamins and antioxidants that are helpful for preventing cancer, reducing inflammation and boosting immunity.  If you’d like to read more about the health benefits of sweet potatoes, you may enjoy this article entitled Sweet Potato—A Valuable Medicinal Food:  A Review.  I also came across an interesting research article entitled Sweet Potatoes for Cancer Prevention citing the health benefits from eating sweet potato peels for cancer prevention! While sweet potatoes are often peeled, they don’t have to be, and you just might want to take advantage of those valuable nutrients!  


Sweet Potato & Carrot Cakes with Cashew Lime Sour Cream

Makes about 14 2 ½-inch cakes
1 ¼ cup red lentils, rinsed
1 ½ cups water
2 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil, plus more for brushing pan and cakes
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
Sea salt, to taste
1 tsp dried turmeric
1 red chili, thinly sliced, plus more to garnish
⅓ cup finely chopped cilantro stems, from one bunch cilantro
3 medium carrots, grated, divided (about 6 cups)
2 small sweet potatoes, grated
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves, plus more to garnish
2 scallions thinly sliced
1 tsp tamari, plus more to taste
1 ½ tsp brown rice vinegar

Cashew Lime Sour Cream
1 cup cashews, soaked 4 to 6 hours
Zest of one lime
3 to 4 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp filtered water
½ tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
  1. Combine lentils and water in a small pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover pot, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, remove from heat and set aside covered while you prepare the other ingredients.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, brush paper with coconut oil (you may have to melt it first) and set aside.
  3. Preheat oven to 375°F if you have a convection setting, or 400°F if you don’t have a convection setting.
  4. Warm coconut oil in a wide skillet over medium heat and add onion. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until golden. Add garlic and a large pinch of salt and continue cooking for another 3 minutes. Stir in turmeric, chili and cilantro stems and cook 2 minutes longer. Reserve about 1 cup of grated carrot and add the rest to the skillet along with the grated sweet potato. Cook, stirring for 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender but not soft. Remove from heat, stir in remaining carrot, cilantro leaves, scallions, tamari, and rice vinegar and set aside.
  5. Remove 1 cup of red lentils from the pot and save for another use. Place remaining red lentils into skillet and mix to combine. Season to taste with salt and tamari and set aside until cool enough to handle.
  6. Shape into cakes, using a ¼ cup measure as a guide. Flatten them a little, place on prepared tray and brush with coconut oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until browning on the bottom. Flip over and continue baking for another 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on each side.
  7. To prepare the Cashew Lime Sour Cream, drain and rinse cashews and place in an upright blender. Set lime zest aside and add remaining ingredients. Blend until completely smooth and velvety, scraping sides, as necessary. Season to taste and add reserved lime zest. Pulse to combine and pour into a bowl. Place in the fridge for an hour or until ready to serve. This will last 2 to 3 days in an airtight container.
  8. Serve the Sweet Potato and Carrot Cakes warm and topped with the Cashew Lime Sour Cream.
Recipe borrowed from www.amychaplin.com.


Thai Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Lettuce Wraps

Yield: 2-3

1 cauliflower
Photo from www.cupfulofkale.com
2 medium-large sweet potatoes
2 tbsp oil
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
Salt and black pepper, to taste
250g firm tofu, drained
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
Fresh lettuce leaves, washed and dried
Thinly sliced red onions (optional)
Fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped (optional)
Sesame seeds, toasted (optional)

Peanut Sauce:
1 heaping tbsp peanut butter
3 tbsp coconut milk 
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp red Thai red curry paste
½ lime
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into ½ inch cubes. Cut the cauliflower into similar sized pieces and place in a large roasting pan with the sweet potatoes.
  3. In a small bowl mix together the oil, garlic, onion, Thai red curry paste and some salt and pepper.
  4. Pour the mixture over the vegetables and toss so they are all coated. Pop in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
  5. Make the peanut sauce by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl. Thin with a little water if needed. Set it aside for later.
  6. Heat a frying pan on medium high heat with 1 tbsp soy sauce and some oil. Using your hands crumble the tofu into the pan.
  7. Fry for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally and cook until the tofu turns brown and crispy.  When done, remove from heat and set aside.
  8. Check the roasted vegetables. The sweet potato should be soft through and the cauliflower crispy and browned. 
  9. When the vegetables and tofu are finished, put both in a serving bowl and mix together. Serve with the peanut sauce, lettuce leaves and toppings ready to assemble your lettuce wraps!
Borrowed from  www.cupfulofkale.com.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Fall Pasture Update

By Richard de Wilde 

Muscovy Duck with ducklings.

While our focus is on growing vegetables, animals have always been an important part of our farm. At present we care for our small herd of goats and Angus cattle along with pigs, ducks, and chickens. Not only do they add ambiance to our farm, but they also help us better manage our land. Given our valley location, we have hillside areas that are too steep for vegetable production and are better managed as pastures. Without proper management, these hillside pasture areas can quickly be overtaken by undesirable “weed” trees and invasive species such as garlic mustard, honeysuckle and buckthorn which would choke out more desirable pasture grasses. Our animals also help us by fertilizing the land which keeps the pastures nutrient-rich and lush with vegetation to prevent hillside erosion. Pasture grass is also a great way to capture carbon and store it in the soil.

All of our animals, as well as the land they graze and live upon are certified organic.   Every year at our organic inspection, the inspector asks to see our animals, where they reside, records of feed purchases, etc. Our beef cattle are all grass-fed. We use managed or rotational grazing for our beef cattle, which means our pastures are divided into paddocks and the animals are rotated systematically through the different areas. They are only in a paddock until they have eaten the grass to 4-6 inches high and then we move them to the next paddock. After an area is grazed, the animals don’t return for at least 30 days which gives the grasses time to regenerate.  This system also provides a great habitat for grassland bird nesting!

Pigs hanging out in their pasture.
We choose to raise our animals in an environment that allows them to exhibit their natural behaviors and characteristics. We treat them gently and with respect so they do not live in fear of human touch or presence.  This creates a much more pleasant environment for them to live in and allows us to work amongst them more safely. Our pigs have a 20-acre pasture which they cover daily eating grass and clover as well as digging up roots with their amazingly strong snouts! We often only see glimpses of them moving through the woods throughout the day, but rest assured they return to their home base for dinner at night and they are front and center for breakfast in the morning! We feed them a modest ration of organic corn, barley, and flax seed, but they also enjoy a wide variety of vegetable trimmings that we take to them from the packing shed every day. In the fall they enjoy checking on the wild apple trees in their pasture where they gobble up the dropped fruit. They also fill up on hickory nuts, acorns, and hazelnuts. They have a pretty good life, eat well, and from time to time they appreciate a little scratch behind their ears.  

Cattle grazing in their pasture.
Our black Angus beef come to us each fall from John and Denise Hildegard who farm in Auburndale, Wisconsin. They are set up more appropriately than we are to raise calves. The young animals come to us when they are fully weaned and weigh about 500#.  Their farm and animals are also certified organic, but the thing we really appreciate about John and Denise is that they are excellent animal caretakers. The nature of their animals clearly demonstrates they have been raised with love, care, and gentleness. While they are very large animals, they are also very gentle and calm.  Our cattle are on pasture their entire lives. They eat only pasture grass and clover during the summer months and in the winter, we feed them hay that we bale from our hillsides. They also get a free choice mix of kelp meal and natural mineral salts mixed with garlic and diatomaceous earth (DE). This mix is kind of like their daily “multi-vitamin,” plus the DE acts as a natural wormer.  When they stick their head in the feeder their face gets wiped with a blend of organic sunflower oil mixed with citronella which helps to keep the flies away from them. They also meander down to the creek bottom each day to get water. They are large creatures to be respected, but we also appreciate how they contribute a serene vibe to our farm.

Healthy animals that are allowed to live in a natural environment seldom have health problems. However, sometimes in the cold of winter or during the changing of seasons they may get a little sniffle or a cough. During these vulnerable times, we feed them pellets containing aloe, garlic, and molasses. Sometimes we put them in a feeder, but some of the cows really like them and are tempted to take more than their fair share which leaves us feeding them by hand. 

While we do enjoy living amongst our animals and they serve an important role in helping us manage our land, we do also raise our pigs and cows with the intention that they will be harvested for meat.  We realize the decision to include meat in your diet, or not, is a very personal one and may be based on a variety of reasons. We certainly respect each individual’s decision and do our best to be transparent about our practices, so our customers have the information they need to make a fully informed decision when purchasing meat.  Unfortunately, there is a wide array of practices amongst meat producers, so it is important to make sure you know what your purchases are supporting. Our fall meat delivery dates are quickly approaching. At present, we do still have beef & pork available for November and December. However, we are likely going to sell out pretty soon for November delivery.  If you’re interested in purchasing meat this fall, we encourage you to send your order in as soon as possible!

In closing, we just want to reiterate how important it is for consumers to be well-informed with their purchases. Not all meat is produced similarly and there are some practices in the industry that are, in our opinion, unacceptable. We value our animals, the value they add to our farm and our lives, and we will continue to do our best to treat them with the respect they deserve. If ever you have a question or would like to see them for yourself, don’t hesitate to give us a call!


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)