Potatoes, My Way

Monday, August 30, 2010

Last year was my first experiment with growing potatoes and it was revelatory.  When you eat potatoes that were harvested that same day, the flavor is unbelievably earthy and complicated.  I never knew potatoes could taste like that and I am truly a convert.

So this year I expanded my crop and grew four different types of potatoes:  ‘Yukon Gold,’ ‘Red Pontiac,’ ‘Katahdin,’ and some mysterious small blue potato that my friend gave me.  By far, the ‘Yukon Gold’ potatoes were the most dense, buttery, and delicious and I am definitely going to be growing more of them next year. 

I planted my potatoes in April, they bloomed in June, and I started harvesting in July.  There are still some potatoes in the ground and I plan on leaving them for a few more weeks while we eat the ones I harvested this weekend.  If I wanted, I could leave them in the ground and harvest as late as November.  Potatoes are amazing.

My favorite way to eat my potatoes is chopped with onions and sauteed in left over bacon fat (from bacon that I sometimes treat myself to from Milk and Honey Market at 45th and Baltimore in West Philly.  Yum).

Toss in a few slices of tomato with salt and sugar and presto!  Lunch.

Canning: Hot Cherry Peppers

It’s no secret that I love hot pepper. And pickles. Pickled hot peppers? Yes, please. I bought some lovely hot cherry peppers on the side of the road in New Jersey, and then got a big bag in my CSA last week, so I decided to give them all the pickling treatment so that I can enjoy them with cheese, and all kinds of other things, later this winter. I’ve been using this recipe from Martha Stewart, and I have to say, it’s just about perfect.

Canning: Pickled Carrots

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Carrots are just fine, but sometimes they feel a little boring to me. Pickled carrots to the rescue! They’ve got more kick than fresh, are easy to make (especially when you have a bag of baby carrots hanging around) and a delicious snack with hummus. You can make these pickles over night in the refrigerator, or can them, like I did above. I love them at picnics!  I started with this recipe originally published in Gourmet magazine. I cut the sugar a bit, and used dried hot thai peppers for extra kick. Adjust the garlic, dill and hot peppers to your liking!

Spicy Tomato Tempeh

Friday, August 27, 2010

If you have a giant basket of tomatoes sitting on your counter, you can always make a quick sauce for dinner. I finally found an opportunity to try the Spicy Tomato Tempeh recipe from Simply in Season when my parents were visiting last week. The weather was a bit cooler out, and we needed an easy, comforting dinner. I baked the tempeh earlier in the afternoon in the toaster oven, and then when we were ready for dinner I started the wild rice, threw together the tomato sauce, tossed in the tempeh, and we were happily eating in 25 mintues.

Canning: Jalepeno Salsa

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Often when I make salsa, I don’t really use a recipe. I glance at a few in trusty canning cookbooks, and then just use what I have. The above salsa is about two parts tomatoes, one part fresh chopped jalepenos, one part diced red onions, a generous splash of cider vinegar, 3 chopped garlic cloves, a dash of salt, and the juice of half a lime. And let me tell you, it’s kicking. I cooked it down on the stove for about 20 minutes just to reduce some of the water, and made two quick pint jars of salsa.

Canning: Gold Tomato Sauce

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

My CSA arrived on Monday, but on Tuesday I was leaving for Alaska for 10 days. What to do? Blanch and freeze the greens and can everything else. Much like Marissa from the local canning blog “Food in Jars,” I enjoy small batch canning. It’s an easy evening project and lets you use up all kinds of odds and ends before they pass their ripeness. This golden tomato sauce is based on a recipe I saw recently on 101 recipes, but I added just a few red cherry tomatoes, languishing on the counter, for a little variation.

Lancaster Farm Fresh 11th CSA

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Monday, August 23 – Half Share

1 Bunch Dinosaur Kale – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 Bag Stuffing Peppers – certified organic – Organic Willow Acres
1 Pint Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes – certified organic – Scarecrow Hill Organics
1 Bag Jalapeno Peppers – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 Head Bok Choy – certified organic- Scarecrow Hill Organics
1 Bag Tomatoes – certified organic – Green Valley Organics

Learn to Can to August Tomatoes!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Does the thought of hot-water bath canning make you nervous? But you still want to preserve your harvest bounty (or the bounty of your local CSA or farmers market) for the winter? Sign-up for this quick workshop, learn what you need to know, and go home with your first jar of canned tomatoes!

Canning Workshop 2: Learn how to preserve your food
Saturday, September 11, 11am-1pm
The Restaurant School, 4100 Walnut Street (entrance on 41st Street)

Learn how to capture the flavor of late summer in this free introductory workshop on canning tomatoes. Join local food blogger Audra Wolfe (Doris and Jilly Cook) for an introduction to water-bath canning. Suitable for beginners as well as more experienced canners looking for a safety check-up, this class will cover the range of choices available for preserving tomatoes. All participants will leave with instructional hand-outs and the confidence to go forth and can. Jars of freshly preserved tomatoes will also be given away as door prizes. Space is limited and our first Canning Workshop sold out in less than 24 hours, so RSVP soon to reserve your spot! RSVP to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or (215) 243-0555.

Kohlrabi - a delicious recipe

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

One of my favorite things about my Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA is the weekly email newsletter I receive. It lets me know exactly what I’m going to get in my share, usually includes an interview with one of the farmers who contributes to my CSA and photos of the farm, and recipes for some of the more unfamiliar vegetables. This week, I got a beautiful bunch of kohlrabi - a cross in flavor between turnips and cabbage. This recipe, included in the newsletter (originally taken from the blog Sustainable Pantry) was incredibly delicious. If you don’t have chard, blanch and add your kohlrabi greens! And make sure to peel the kohlrabi very well - it has a pretty hard outer “shell.”

Kohlrabi Curry

2 kohlrabi, peeled, quartered and sliced
1/2 onion, choppedcimg3633
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 T fresh chopped ginger
3-4 chilis (optional, I like things spicy so I used the Vietnamese chilis pictured)
Garlic scapes, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups chard, washed and chopped
1 can coconut milk
2 T red (or green) curry paste
2-3 T peanut butter (I prefer chunky for this, but smooth is fine)
Scallions (for garnish)
Salt

1.        In a medium sized pot, Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and chilis in a neutral oil (canola, safflower) over medium high heat until browned

2.        Add the kolhrabi, scapes and chard and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes, until the chard wilts and the kohlrabi softens up a little; season with salt

3.        Add the curry paste and coconut milk, then fill the coconut milk can about 1/2 way with water,  swish it around to get any remaining coconut milk, and add to the pot.  Stir until the curry paste is dissolved. After the mixture boils, lower heat to a simmer and stir in the peanut butter until dissolved.

4.        Cook for about 10 minutes. Taste and season as necessary with salt. Garnish with sliced scallions and serve over rice.

What to do with Garlic Scapes?

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Perhaps garlic scapes have popped up in your CSA share, or you’ve seen them recently at a farmer’s market and thought “what do I do with these?
You’re not alone. Before I signed up for my first CSA last spring, I’d never seen a scape or even heard of them. A garlic scape is the greens that garlic bulbs shoot up out of the ground while they are growing (much like onion greens). Farmers remove the scapes so that the garlic bulb devotes more of its energy to making itself big and fat. While farmers used to throw scapes into the compost or feed them to animals, they’ve become a popular market produce and herald of the new Spring season.

So what do you do with them? Basically, anything that you would already do with garlic. Scapes taste like garlic, but with a milder, greener flavor. You can chop them (all the way through the flower) and add them to stir-fries, soups, salads, casseroles, burritos, and really, anything else. Many scape lovers find them especially delightful ground into pesto. I like to fry the scapes before using them (like garlic). Because they are milder, you can use many more scapes than you would white garlic cloves. A good estimate is about one full scape per garlic clove (if you are substituting) and you will still have milder flavor. And if for some reason you just can’t stand garlic, they also look beautiful in a vase!

Sprout your own Beans

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Not only to sprouted bean pack a great crunch, they are also higher in enzymes, fiber B-vitamins and protein than cooked or canned beans, an easy protein-pick if you’re eating raw, and easy to make yourself. Garbanzo beans (or chickpeas) work especially well and make a wonderful hummus, as do green lentils. Mung beans, adzuki beans are other popular choices.*

1. Place 1 cup of dried beans in a large jar. Fill with water and soak overnight.
2. Drain the beans, leaving them in the jar.
3. Every day, rinse the beans and drain again.
4. When the beans have sprouted long white tales, they are ready to eat and should be kept in the refrigerator.

The beans will “grow” as they sprout, so make sure to leave extra jar room. I like punch holes in a few jar lids with a hammer and nails so I have a permanent straining solution! Enjoy on salad, in curries, as spreads, in pasta - however you usually eat beans!

* Do NOT eat raw sprouted black beans, kidney beans or soya beans as they produce a poison before they are cooked and will likely make you sick. You CAN sprout black beans and then cook them.

Dandelion Wine

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

All this sun and rain and sun again left me with a bumper crop of dandelions. Before I covered the lot next door with raised beds and obliterated their yellow-bloomed bliss, I decided to use this bright “weed” for something useful. Crouched in the yard on a 70 degree Saturday, my basket of dandelion blooms garnered a lot of attention. Folks walking by stopped to ask what I was doing. A mini-van of curious neighbors pulled over to discuss my harvest, and turned out to be State Representative and her husband. My elderly neighbor got so excited he dug up a giant ceramic crock from his basement and donated it to my wine making effort. But what exactly is dandelion wine, and how do you make it? I’ve done some internet and word-of-mouth research and this is what I’ve discovered:

1. You only use the buds of newly opened, non-sprayed dandelions. If you want less bitter wine, use only the yellow petals.
2. Many old recipes call for the addition of orange juice and zest, cloves, even ginger to enhance the flavor.
3. Dandelion wine needs a LOT of sugar. Depending on how little you use, you can brew with traditional yeast, but a larger sugar addition needs champagne yeast (available at brewers stores) and will produce a drier, more alcoholic wine.
4. The wine needs to ferment anywhere from three weeks to one year.

I’ve started my first batch, but who knows if it will be a success. Have you ever tried dandelion wine? Ever made your own? Post your tips here and we’ll all benefit from this old recipe for “liquid sunshine” that makes good use of a lovely, if bothersome “weed.”

Make your own granola!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Granola can be filled with healthy grains, protiens and dried fruits. But it can also be filled with a lot of saturated fat, oil, and sugar. Make a visit to your local co-op or natural food store (or Reading Terminal Market) and pick up some healthy bulk grains and nuts and make your own! It really only takes about 20 minutes, and you’ll be able to control the amount of fat and sugar. I change-up my granola mix all the time - the latest involves sliced almonds, dried cranberries and goji berries for extra antioxidents. I also always add ground flax for the good omegas and wheat bran and rolled (not quick) oats for fiber. You can make a variation of my recipe here, or search online or in your own cookbook collection. I find in general that fat and sugar can easily be reduced!

DIY Sauerkraut

Hello!  My name is Erica and I’m excited to join the Farm to Philly team!  I’m a community garden organizer and local food lover from West Philadelphia, check out my bio for more info on the gardens I tend in Philadelphia and Camden, NJ.

For my first post I decided to go with a tried-and-true recipe that I am constantly making in my kitchen; sauerkraut.  Cabbage is a great winter staple, I get mine at Mariposa Food Co-op where they’ve recently been selling small cabbages that are perfect for a mini batch of kraut.

The first step is to assemble your equipment:  a ceramic crock or (food-grade) plastic bucket and a dish that fits snugly into it.  I found my crock at a second-hand store, but you can sometimes buy them at housewares stores.  You’ll also need a cutting board, a glass mason jar with lid, a knife, a dish cloth and a large bowl.

Your ingredients are one small cabbage, sea salt, and water.  The amounts depend on the size of your crock, but I use one small head of cabbage, ½ cup of water, and 3 or 4 Tbs of salt in my ½ gallon crock.

Thinly shred the cabbage.  I find that the best way to do this is to cut it in half and slice thinly from the cut side.  When you’ve cut off a handful of cabbage, put it in the bowl and sprinkle it with salt.  Keep doing this until you’ve shredded the entire cabbage, layering the cabbage and salt as you go.  Put the cabbage in the crock and mash it down with your fist to get it tightly packed.  Mix together one teaspoon of salt in a cup of water and pour it over the cabbage until the cabbage is submerged.  Put the dish into the crock and put it down so the cabbage is under the salt water.  Fill the mason jar with water and use it to weigh the plate down.  Cover the entire thing with a dish cloth to keep away flies and dust, and place it in a dark corner of your kitchen.

Taste the sauerkraut daily to observe the fermentation process.  When it has reached the perfect amount of “sourness,” take it out of the crock and place it in a mason jar in the fridge.  For me, it takes between 1.5 and 2.5 weeks in the winter to reach the perfect point (less time in the summer).  To see the original recipe I used and more fermented food recipes, check out wildfermentation.com.  Enjoy!

New March GRID - seasonal recipes and more!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Hey friends! The March GRID is hitting the stands. Full of season-friendly recipes (including mine for a winter vegan shepard’s pie), and resources for using salvaged materials in your home. Go pick your up now! If you’re outside of Philadelphia, you can still enjoy GRID by reading it online HERE.