I must say I am extraordinarily proud of this dish I made up for Saturday's field-to-table dinner. I get so much joy out of planning for these parties - and then there is the joy of HAVING them. Thanks for coming along on this culinary CSA adventure! So for this main dinner dish, I was inspired, as usual, by what was coming out of the gardens. This week the new crop is fennel - a personal favorite of mine. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the bulbs shredded and braised and roasted and sauteed. In fact, one of our appetizers will be grilled flatbread with caramelized I love the pretty fresh fronds, too, but I never can use up as much of them as I get. And thus, this Asian-inspired meatball was born. Don't see the connection? Well - I started with a Szechuan-flavored meatball concept and followed the flavors of Chinese five-spice, with it's strong star anise note, into some admittedly odd territory. The anise flavor in my meatballs come from loads and loads of chopped fennel fronds and stems - which makes for an incredibly moist and unusual texture and flavor, complimented by almond meal, which I used instead of grain so that I could accommodate our gluten-free dinner guests. Also holding the balls together is lots of egg, lots of garlic, lots of cilantro and a little bit of siracha. For presentation, I wound up going toward a Hmong larb-type of dish, since I had the last few small heads of Napa cabbage to use up. I don't want to give too much away, but the light glaze is based on local tart cherry sauce and jazzed up with some Madtown Nutbrown Ale. My great hope, with the CSA shares and meals both, is to inspire you to look at your boxes and gardens with fresh eyes - allowing the produce itself to lead you into new and delightful places.
Speaking of new and delightful places, I've discovered TV and radio lately! Not sure if I am decent at either of them, but I am having a fun adventure. It’s Soil Sisters Tour time and we’re getting some lovely media attention for the area and our lovely, special, rural places. What a blessing to be able to move forward in our efforts, both through the Farmers Union and our other community work, to help people connect to the land. It feels like a very important moment we are having. But a busy busy busy one! I will be on TV again this coming week. If you’d like to see her whipping up some lovely Chocolate Zucchini Yeasted Waffles , tune into NBC15 at 6:10am on Tuesday morning – the 28th. Of course, you’ve got the recipe up at the Recipe Blog, and it includes a recipe for Aronia Jam from Barham Gardens. You will be getting aronia in the boxes within a month. The TV and radio spots have led to lots of print and blog pieces, as well, including a great Friday Farm Crush piece by Lauren Wells, a local writer I just love. ( You can find links to all of these at the Circle M Market Farm facebook page, if you care to check them out)
Did you know that the Pecatonica Grapevine, also on the Soil Sisters Tour, is also one of our CSA members? Christine gets a box from us on Friday night and by Saturday morning at 8, she’s whipped those fresh veggies up into egg bakes (our eggs, too!), salads and soups. That’s creativity!
Blanchardville’s got a Farmers Market now, every other week, and this Saturday is one of them. Come and visit us there from 8am to noon. We bring a few surplus veggies every week, but also healthy veggie muffins, goat cheese and chevre truffles. This week, we’ll have vendors selling bread and honey. And our first visit from our Amish Argyle Market friends! They’ll bring produce and canned goods. Go get a cappuccino at the Grapevine, then walk up to prett Ryan Park and visit the market.
We’re going to do a rather short and sweet harvest list here today, in an effort to squeeze a little more time from this week! And of course, check out the Farmer Kriss Pinterest Page with CSA Box Recipes.
Basil – Beautfiul ruffled, chartreuse Nufar basil. This is a new variety for us and we just adore the color, the texture and the taste. Use quickly or it will fade.
Circle M Salad Mix – Lovely salad mix with lettuce and sorrel and tons of edible flowers. We LOVE the look of this.
Arugula – Wonderful, still mild and not spicy. If you don’t mix this in with salad, then use it on top of a pizza!
Swiss Chard – We may have to give the plants a break if this week heats up, but BOY are these tender and sweet right now. I’m pickling the pretty stems for a dish I’m serving at this Saturday’s Field-to-Table Dinner.
Zucchini – Young, fresh, tender, delish. We are currently eating this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. NO complaints!
Cucumbers – Finally the plants have scrambled up off of the ground and onto the trellises, so we are seeing less bug damage. Yum! Yogurt Cucumber Soup for our Field to Table dinner on Saturday! And you’ve got dill seed heads to pair with them.
Broccoli – Some of you have little heads and some of you have the first cutting of our sprouting broccoli, which makes all side shoots, which we prefer to heads. Let us know what you think! Chop and eat the whole tender stem. Delicious!
Herb Bouquets: Chives, Sage, Tarragon and Dill – All wonderful to pair with the lovely heirloom potatoes we’ve included.
Baby Beets: These are the thinning of small beets from our Fall Beet patch. Enjoy with little scrubbing and just gently steamed or roasted. No boiling necessary! And Don’t Forget to enjoy the greens! Very nutritious, combine with the Chard, to which they are related!
Snow Peas – Lumpy but sweet and delicious. Zip off the strings and sauté in an Asian stir fry. Or just eat right out of the bag, like I do!
Kale – Oh my. So gorgeous this week. Great with fennel and potatoes.
Fennel – I LOVE fennel and it’s delicious anise-y crunch! But I know there are some haters out there. Maybe you can enjoy how pretty it is as you pass it to a grateful Italian neighborJ. We will be making flatbreads on the grill for our field-to-table dinner that are slathered in fennel, caramelized onions, potatoes and blue cheese. YUM! Look for lots of great recipes on Pinterest.
Fresh Onions – One beautiful round Walla Walla and a squat Cippollini. Store in the fridge – not cured.
Heirloom New Potatoes – We’ve got gorgeous yellow Superior and purple Magic Molly varieties for you this week. Skins are very soft, not cured, and so store in the fridge and scrub gently before cooking.
Garlic
Gift from the Goats: Dill Goat Cheese, spreadable!
Speaking of new and delightful places, I've discovered TV and radio lately! Not sure if I am decent at either of them, but I am having a fun adventure. It’s Soil Sisters Tour time and we’re getting some lovely media attention for the area and our lovely, special, rural places. What a blessing to be able to move forward in our efforts, both through the Farmers Union and our other community work, to help people connect to the land. It feels like a very important moment we are having. But a busy busy busy one! I will be on TV again this coming week. If you’d like to see her whipping up some lovely Chocolate Zucchini Yeasted Waffles , tune into NBC15 at 6:10am on Tuesday morning – the 28th. Of course, you’ve got the recipe up at the Recipe Blog, and it includes a recipe for Aronia Jam from Barham Gardens. You will be getting aronia in the boxes within a month. The TV and radio spots have led to lots of print and blog pieces, as well, including a great Friday Farm Crush piece by Lauren Wells, a local writer I just love. ( You can find links to all of these at the Circle M Market Farm facebook page, if you care to check them out)
Did you know that the Pecatonica Grapevine, also on the Soil Sisters Tour, is also one of our CSA members? Christine gets a box from us on Friday night and by Saturday morning at 8, she’s whipped those fresh veggies up into egg bakes (our eggs, too!), salads and soups. That’s creativity!
Blanchardville’s got a Farmers Market now, every other week, and this Saturday is one of them. Come and visit us there from 8am to noon. We bring a few surplus veggies every week, but also healthy veggie muffins, goat cheese and chevre truffles. This week, we’ll have vendors selling bread and honey. And our first visit from our Amish Argyle Market friends! They’ll bring produce and canned goods. Go get a cappuccino at the Grapevine, then walk up to prett Ryan Park and visit the market.
We’re going to do a rather short and sweet harvest list here today, in an effort to squeeze a little more time from this week! And of course, check out the Farmer Kriss Pinterest Page with CSA Box Recipes.
Basil – Beautfiul ruffled, chartreuse Nufar basil. This is a new variety for us and we just adore the color, the texture and the taste. Use quickly or it will fade.
Circle M Salad Mix – Lovely salad mix with lettuce and sorrel and tons of edible flowers. We LOVE the look of this.
Arugula – Wonderful, still mild and not spicy. If you don’t mix this in with salad, then use it on top of a pizza!
Swiss Chard – We may have to give the plants a break if this week heats up, but BOY are these tender and sweet right now. I’m pickling the pretty stems for a dish I’m serving at this Saturday’s Field-to-Table Dinner.
Zucchini – Young, fresh, tender, delish. We are currently eating this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. NO complaints!
Cucumbers – Finally the plants have scrambled up off of the ground and onto the trellises, so we are seeing less bug damage. Yum! Yogurt Cucumber Soup for our Field to Table dinner on Saturday! And you’ve got dill seed heads to pair with them.
Broccoli – Some of you have little heads and some of you have the first cutting of our sprouting broccoli, which makes all side shoots, which we prefer to heads. Let us know what you think! Chop and eat the whole tender stem. Delicious!
Herb Bouquets: Chives, Sage, Tarragon and Dill – All wonderful to pair with the lovely heirloom potatoes we’ve included.
Baby Beets: These are the thinning of small beets from our Fall Beet patch. Enjoy with little scrubbing and just gently steamed or roasted. No boiling necessary! And Don’t Forget to enjoy the greens! Very nutritious, combine with the Chard, to which they are related!
Snow Peas – Lumpy but sweet and delicious. Zip off the strings and sauté in an Asian stir fry. Or just eat right out of the bag, like I do!
Kale – Oh my. So gorgeous this week. Great with fennel and potatoes.
Fennel – I LOVE fennel and it’s delicious anise-y crunch! But I know there are some haters out there. Maybe you can enjoy how pretty it is as you pass it to a grateful Italian neighborJ. We will be making flatbreads on the grill for our field-to-table dinner that are slathered in fennel, caramelized onions, potatoes and blue cheese. YUM! Look for lots of great recipes on Pinterest.
Fresh Onions – One beautiful round Walla Walla and a squat Cippollini. Store in the fridge – not cured.
Heirloom New Potatoes – We’ve got gorgeous yellow Superior and purple Magic Molly varieties for you this week. Skins are very soft, not cured, and so store in the fridge and scrub gently before cooking.
Garlic
Gift from the Goats: Dill Goat Cheese, spreadable!
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