GARLIC - ah

While last week was all about garlic and onions - this week Garlic stands alone! (hopefully you are not standing alone due to eating lots of garlic!) Stay tuned for more pictures and highlights from the Garlic Fest.

This week's share had a few new things in it as well.

Week 6 -
Potatoes and onions, carrots, lettuce with a few tomatoes, broccoli, swiss chard, basil and of course -
garlic from the Garlic Fest

Garlic Bubble Bread

1 bag frozen bread dough rolls (need 20-24 pieces)
(or use 1 loaf and cut into 24 pieces)
1/2 cup melted butter
3-4 cloves of fresh garlic peeled & squeezed in garlic press
grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Thaw dough rolls according to directions on package. Add minced garlic to the melted butter. Roll each dough ball into the garlic butter and dip in Parmesan - if using. Put in greased tube pan. Let rise until double.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.

To change the flavor profile, add fresh or dried herbs to the melted butter. Parsley, oregano or dill are all good options. Cheeses can vary as well, if you are using them.

Onions and Garlic, Garlic and Onions

The Share: Week 5
Swiss Chard, Lettuce Mix, Beets, Carrots, Onions, Garlic, Basil

Garlic and Onions

The quintessential beginning to just about every cooking experience - so many ways to be enjoyed. And so taken for granted!! Here are some lists of ways to use both of these staples:

Onions
1. sauteed in just about everything
2. Fresh Onion dip
3. Onion relish
4. Onion pockets on the grill
5. in a salad (raw or cooked)
6. on a sandwich (raw or cooked)
7. Carmelized onions
8. Onion soup
9. in a marinade
10. Onion Tart

Google any of those online for a slew of recipes, but try this one soon:
Fresh Onion Dip
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced onions
fresh minced garlic
Salt and Pepper
1 1/2 c sour cream
3/4 c mayonnaise

1. In a saute pan over medium heat add oil and heat until it shimmers. Add the onion, season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute, stirring frequently until the onions are a deep brown, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic and set pan aside to cool.
2. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl, and then add cooled onions. Refrigerate until chilled. Use additional Salt and Pepper as needed before serving.

You'll be surprised at the delightful taste when using the onions we are getting in our shares right now. It is hard to go back to the packaged dip after trying this.

Garlic
1. Garlic Butter
2. Garlic Oil
3. Garlic Mashed Potatoes
4. Garlic Croutons
5. Garlic Dressing
6. Garlic Vinaigrette
7. Garlic Spread
8. in marinades
9. in cream sauce

10. in pesto

Garlic and Parsley (Herb) Butter
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, stems removed (substitute any herb you like)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 cup butter, cold, cut into chunks
Salt, to taste

Combine herb of choice, and garlic in a food processor and mince/blend until combined. Add butter, scraping down sides until butter is soft and herbs and garlic are well blended. Should be light green in color.
Shape into logs or dish into small ramekins. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate. The butter can be kept in the frig for at least a week or frozen for several weeks. Use on vegetables, as a spread for bread, bagels, or biscuits and delicious on grilled fish.

Both recipes from the Culinary Institute of America, Vegetables

Remember the onion planting party back in the spring?
All your hard work is now being rewarded.
Join us at the Garlic Fest this Sunday (6/26) for another reward and to sample garlic treats!

Inspiration

The one thing about committing to writing a blog every week is…you need to write on the blog every week. I must admit I arrived at Stoney Lonesome on Sunday to pick up my share, lacking in inspiration and even mentioned this to Diana as I began to look through the distribution shed and snap a few pictures. But as always happens by the time I left the farm, veggies in tow, I was inspired. The smells, the textures, the heat radiating from the earth, all worked their magic to bring about enthusiasm for the task ahead.

Here is this week's share

Here is one thing I did with my share

Stuffed zucchini balls
and
Swiss Chard Lasagna

I guess technically that is two things. Essentially I followed a spinach lasagna recipe and decided to mix my chard into the cheese layer. It looked so yummy I made an extra batch and stuffed zucchinis from the Manassas Farmer's Market with it. I think the cheesey layer would have been super zummy wrapped in chard leaves and baked as well but didn't think of that on time. I used some of the roasted tomato sauce I made last year for the sauce. I also took all of the rest of my chard (I still had last week's) and did this..(see below)..and then froze it for later use. This mixture used the onions, garlic, swiss chard stems and leaves. Unfortunately with my family it has to be disguised in some form so this works well. I could stick it in casseroles, eggs, other cheeses, etc. etc. What is the green stuff in the taco meat, mom? Chard is "Old Faithful," it'll grow in any weather so find lots of uses for it. I know many of you saute it with various spices - would love to hear what combinations of spices you use.

Fennel is back in the shares. There are lots of ways to fix fennel as well - especially when we start to get some bigger bulbs, but these are tasty sauted in oil ( I like to use 1/2 butter/ 1/2 oil for a guilty pleasure) and then sprinkled with some lemon juice and some freshly grated Parmesan. Or chop them up and throw them in the crockpot with some beef cubes, a can of diced tomatoes, onions, Italian seasoning and make Italian beef. Serve over rice with fresh basil and some of the fresh fennel leaves chopped on top.

Yay! Fresh garlic - another treat we'll be seeing more of. These are so delicious thrown in the oven and roasted - the sweetest garlic ever. I admit I ate it plain but it would have been lovely if I had waited for some focaccia bread to thaw. Just drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil, and bake until soft. I did a bunch in my slow cooker. You can also use the cloves just as they are in any cooking preparation.

Fresh Herbs! This week we have Dill, Cilantro and Basil. Since I also grow basil at home and have lots of it, I put a bunch of it in a jar of olive oil and put it in the back of the pantry. In a few weeks I'll strain it and have delicious flavored oil for my fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. I'll write more about herbs soon.

Last but not least, have you tried the farm fresh eggs or the chicken? Oh Boy!! We love omelets and use all assortment of our share's veggies in them. They are super good with these fresh eggs. Seriously could eat these every night for dinner!

So how about that inspiration? Would love to hear your ideas and how the share inspires you. Thanks to those who have shared some of these ideas already. We all want more, more, more.

Week 3 - the Future Field (aka Big Field) Preview

New this week - HERBS - fresh Dill, Cilantro and Basil

along with lettuces, chard, onions, bok choi, radishes, scapes and some peas

The first thing I made when I got home was some tzatziki dip using the fresh dill, some garlic scapes, onions and some cucmbers I had picked up at the farmer's market on Saturday. Those peas and radishes are a mighty tasty treat in that Greek yogurt dip.

It was so refreshing to have a break from the intense heat on the last Harvest day. I've been wanting to check out this new field that Pablo talks about in the week 3 newsletter so when I went to pick up my share, we first headed down the path to find it.

It is big! and spacious! and full of plants! and very impressive to see. The interns got most of the plants in the garden this past weekend and now with just the right combination of sunshine and rain, there should be plenty of treats in our shares in the coming months. We saw varieties of squash, cucumbers, cabbage, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, eggplants, sunflowers and watermelon.

And back up top the gardens are looking good too. The potatoes and cabbage are making great progress and the deer fence appears to be doing its job well.

and we had come full circle - back to the distribution shed to pick up this week's share and to head home and enjoy fresh picked delicious organic vegetables.

Tzatziki (Greek Yogurt) Dip

• 2 cloves garlic, minced finely (use scapes)
  
• a handful of onions, finely chopped
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper
• 1 cup greek yogurt, strained
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp vinegar
  
• 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh dill

Mix all ingredients. Let sit for flavors to meld (at least an hour). Enjoy with fresh peas and radishes, and any of your favorite vegetables. Also yummy as a spread for sandwiches and as a dressing on salad and or on meats like chicken and lamb.

The Stoney Lonesome Gourmet (wannabe)

Chard Chips aka "Kale Chips" made with Swiss chard.

Per discussion today at the Wednesday harvest here is the recipe for "chard chips." Lightly toss chard in olive oil. Arrange in pan so they don't overlap and sprinkle with sea salt . Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. You want them out before the edges start to turn brown. Your "chips" will be light and crispy with an earthy flavor. They don't stand up to dip but they will melt in your mouth. If you "google" kale chips you will find all kinds of variations but since we were wondering what they would be like using Swiss chard, I thought I'd give it a try. Personally I prefer the kale, but this was still tasty in an earthier sort of way.

Before baking/After baking

Below is the Garlic Scape Risotto from the previous post. I used ALL of my scapes in it and it is a bit garlic-y but less intense than in a pesto. I will probably serve it with a cucumber yogurt salad to "cool" it off.

Now it is YOUR turn

Seeing Green

There's a lot of green in this week's harvest

And a few other bright colors to round things out

A small bonus on Wednesday was the half pint of peas. The peas were really hard hit by all the rain of the past few weeks but Pablo says there will be a fall planting so perhaps we'll be munchin on peas, after all.

Versatile greens make up the bulk of the harvest - lots of salad greens for this hot weather when no one wants to cook, both bok choi and tatsoi are in the share - always good in a stir fry or in a frittata and of course the prolific swiss chard is readily available for your favorite recipes.

What are your favorite swiss chard recipes?

Inquiring minds and other harvest helpers want to know. Send your ideas in the comments or email your favorite recipe or a link to CSAfarmgirl@gmail.com
Help us eat the chard in a variety of creative ways.

This weeks bonus recipe and fun facts feature
garlic scapes.

Perhaps you are a big fan of scapes or perhaps like me you are new to them. The scape is the flower stalk that grows on various members of the allium family (onions, leeks, chives and the hardneck varieties of garlic.) The young curling flower stalks are tender, yet crunchy, with a subtle garlic flavor minus "the bite." They can be added to salads, soups and stir frys or processed in vinegars, as pickles or made into "pesto" sauce. I found recipes for sauces, roasted, pesto, frittata and as printed here:

Garlic Scape Risotto
10 whole garlic scapes
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots ( or use your share of leeks)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place garlic scapes on a sheet of foil and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. Fold in the edges to make a packet. Bake for 20 minutes or until scapes are softened. Puree in a small food processor until smooth.
3. Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium high heat in a large saute pan. Cook the shallots until soft. Add the rice and stir until golden brown - about 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of stock and cook until absorbed completely. Add enough chicken stock to cover risotto and stir until liquid begins to be absorbed. Continue adding more stock to cover the rice until the risotto is tender to taste. Risotto should be creamy but not soupy.
4. Remove from heat. Add scape puree, Parmesan cheese and butter. Stir to combine.
Yield: 4 servings
from MaryJane's Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook by Mary Jane Butters