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Shared Harvest Winter CSA 2010: Delivery #1
Just like last year, we signed up for the Shared Harvest Winter CSA this season. Gretta puts together local produce from several different farms, including Picadilly Farm, Riverland Farm, Busa Community Farm Moraine Farm, and Cider Hill Farm.
Last year’s share was so plentiful, we opted for a two month share this year instead of the three we took last year. Our first delivery was the weekend before Thanksgiving. We were headed down to Maryland for Thanksgiving week on pickup day, so we picked up as early as we coulde, stashed our bounty at home, and headed the car south.
We were in a hurry to get on the road (and the camera was packed) so I didn’t take a picture of the full assortment of gorgeous veggies. The share included potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, butternut squash, leeks, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, garlic, onion, cabbage, lettuce, parsley, Jacob’s Cattle beans, and apples (Macoun and Mutsu).
This year, there’s a swap area, so we traded lettuce and parsley for some extra Brussels sprouts and turnips which would last a bit longer than the week we were away.
We took the spinach and Swiss chard with us. One night, I sautéed the spinach to go with dinner at my dad’s, and another night, I made the Swiss chard to accompany a dinner at my sister’s. Everything else had to wait until our return home.
Back home, I thought a stir fry featuring the bok choy (the most perishable thing we had left) would be tasty. It would also be a relatively light meal after a week of hearty home-cooked meals, including Thanksgiving dinner, and many meals out.
Taking inspiration for other ingredients already in the pantry and refrigerator, I mixed up a stir fry sauce lifted from a recipe in Didi Emmons’ Vegetarian Planet and stir fried carrots, celery, and mushrooms in addition to the two heads of bok choy. I served this dish over brown rice.
Stir-Fried Vegetables with Bok Choy
Serves 4
Stir Fry Sauce:
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp sake or sherry
- 2 Tbsp Chinese black vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp water
- 2 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp peanut oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
½ cup minced scallions
2 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into ¼-inch slices
2 stalks celery, peeled and sliced diagonally into ¼-inch slices
10 – 12 mushrooms, sliced
2 heads bok choy, sliced horizontally into ¾-inch ribbons
1 Tbsp sesame oil
First, make the stir-fry sauce by whisking together all the ingredients. Set aside.
Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add scallions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and bok choy and cook until carrots and celery are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the stir-fry sauce and cook until it thickens slightly. Drizzle the sesame oil over the stir-fry and toss. Serve immediately over brown rice.
French Fridays with Dorie: Gerard’s Mustard Tart
This week’s recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table was a success. This was part of French Fridays with Dorie. Gerard’s Mustard Tart was a tangy, quiche-like tart filled with carrots and leeks. I’m trying to think of other seasonal vegetables that I can match with the mustardy flavor for next time I make this.
It took a few days to get everything ready, but putting the tart together for a weeknight dinner was relatively quick. I started on Tuesday, stopping at the Lexington Farmers’ Market for the vegetables, and making the tart dough. On Wednesday, I rolled out the dough and prebaked the tart shell, and also went to the store for Crème Fraiche. Then, last night, Thursday, I made the filling and baked it for dinner.
The recipe called for 3 thin leeks and 3 not-too-fat carrots. I actually found thin leeks at the farmers’ market, a fraction of the size of what’s usually at the grocery store. I also found pencil thin carrots. I think the carrots were thinner than what the recipe expected, so I wasn’t sure how many to use. From the picture, it seemed like I wanted roughly the same amount of carrot and leek batons, so, I cut up and measured the leeks and then used the same amount of carrots. I ended up using the entire bunch of carrots. It was a heaping 2 cups of vegetables all together.
I didn’t plant any rosemary in my herb garden this year. However, I have winter savory, which is perennial. I’ve used it in place of rosemary all summer. It’s not exactly the same, but I find it close enough. The winter savory has a similar resiny flavor, and the leaves have a similar texture. So, I snipped a couple of sprigs of the savory and substituted them for the fresh rosemary in the tart.
The tart dough was different from what I usually make. My usual tart dough recipe uses slightly more butter and ice water and no egg, more of a classic pate brisee. I was interested to try to something different. I’m not sure how much I liked this recipe. It was hard to roll out evenly, it cracked a lot, and it didn’t patch easily. The crust was certainly more difficult to handle than what I’m used to. The end result was good-looking, but I thought the baked crust was slightly tough. I think when we do the next tart recipe, I might try a different crust.
One take-away technique from this recipe is using parchment paper on the baking sheet. When prebaking the crust, it didn’t seem necessary. What would leak? I tried it and learned that I could use the parchment as a sling to easily move the tart pan to the cooling rack. Usually that step is a little more treacherous because it’s awkward to pick up the hot crust with potholders. I just lifted the corners of the parchment, and the transfer was a snap.
To accompany the mustard tart, I made a simple salad with romaine lettuce and radishes and dressed it with a VERY mustardy dressing.
Howard’s opinion: “It was a very nice dish”.
A Plateful of Happiness 